Unity In Diversity: My Personal Experiences As Head Of State Of Sri Lanka
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga
I wish to express my gratitude to the Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation for giving me the privilege of being with you today, to deliver the Thirteenth Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Lecture. I am also glad, this has given me the opportunity to visit Nigeria for the first time. I must hasten to add, I am not a stranger to Nigeria since that I have read much about Nigeria, its people, its politics and I am also familiar with some of your great writers.
Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation has been created to fulfil the noble philosophy expressed by Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe. His vision was to work for the good of humanity. His philosophy envisioned a holistic view of the world and the place occupied by Man in this world. He believed in a Truth and Ultimate Reality which was a higher knowledge and understanding of human existence and its purpose, at a level that is higher than the mundane.
He did not only expound his philosophy but his quest also led him to action. He created the West African Academy of Science to continue in his search to understand the spirituality of Man. At the same time he has created an organization for the purpose of spreading the message of democracy in Africa. This was called the Mission for Democracy in Africa. He has also undertaken various enterprises for rural development, as well as other philanthropic initiatives.
His family and followers have undertaken the laudable initiative of creating the Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation to progress the great philosopher’s thinking and objectives. This is a rare occurrence in the third world. I wish the Foundation good luck and much strength to continue along its inspired path.
I wish to talk to you today, of the need to build inclusive and integrated societies in our countries. I shall attempt to demonstrate the relationship between inclusion of all groups of citizens in the process of governance and achieving sustainable progress and prosperity, or in the inverse case, the relationship between exclusion or marginalization and conflict.
Poverty and conflict are two issues that have caused many setbacks for developing Nations.
Poverty is considered to be the greatest challenge facing all countries. Governments have formulated and implemented thousands of programmes to alleviate or end poverty and deprivation.
However, rarely do governments recognize the importance of searching out the causes of conflict and resolving them. Unresolved conflict invariably leads to violence and civil war. This in turn compounds the problems of poverty. Read More
