{"id":417,"date":"2026-07-07T21:16:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=417"},"modified":"2026-07-07T21:17:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:17:00","slug":"opinion-nigeria-violence-and-the-need-for-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=417","title":{"rendered":"OPINION: Nigeria, Violence And The Need For Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Vivantra Nwokobia <\/strong>
Have killings become a national pastime in our land? News of violence spreads daily across Nigeria\u2014 from the North to the South, and from the West to the East. Herdsmen attacks, terrorism, ritual killings, cultism, political violence, and struggles for power and territorial control have continued to claim innocent lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is often said that when beggars die, no comets are seen, but when princes die, the heavens blaze forth. The gruesome killing of Dr . Obi Wali on the 26th of April 1993 in his bedroom, a prominent<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nigerian politician from River state remains one of those tragic incidents that shook the nation and raised many unanswered questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the week Dr. Obi Wali was murdered in his home, reports emerged that he had quarrelled with Baba-joo, a successful Yoruba businessman who shared a fence with him. Dr. Obi Wali had many enemies because of his outspoken nature and his boldness in standing for what he believed in \u2014 intellectually, traditionally, and politically. As a respected scholar and public figure, his influence was far-reaching, making the list of possible suspects wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of his wives Nnenna was later accused of aiding and abetting the crime and was subjected to intense scrutiny in an attempt to force out the truth. Tension gripped the community. The police eventually intervened and rescued her from the angry atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In another dramatic turn, some youths identified one of the policemen involved in the rescue case as someone who lived within the neighbourhood. In a swift reaction, they stormed his residence and burnt down his house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Till today, police investigations have not conclusively revealed the real killers of Dr. Obi Wali. Time has passed, yet successive governments and commissions have failed to make a definite pronouncement on his murder, just as many other unresolved killings \u2014 including that of Marshall Harry \u2014 remain unanswered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, there is the Dr. Obi Wali Event Centre, established to immortalize his name and honour his contributions and legacy. Yet, despite these memorials, the killings across the nation have not abated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the 2027 election season approaches, all hands must be on deck to stop the killings, regardless of the reasons behind them. Political leaders, religious bodies, community associations, opinion groups, traditional institutions, and citizens must unite in the pursuit of peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every life matters. Life is given by God Almighty alone, and no one has the right to take it unlawfully. Peace is priceless, and only a peaceful nation can conduct free, fair and credible elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The labour of our heroes past must not be in vain. Nigeria can work, and Nigeria will be great again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vivantra Nwokobia is a Journalism and Media Studies student at Delta State University, Abraka<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Vivantra Nwokobia Have killings become a national pastime in our land? News of violence spreads daily across Nigeria\u2014 from the North to the South, and from the West to the East. Herdsmen attacks, terrorism, ritual killings, cultism, political violence, and struggles for power and territorial control have continued to claim innocent lives. It is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[30,20],"class_list":["post-417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-viewspoint","tag-insecurity","tag-tinubu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=417"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":419,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417\/revisions\/419"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}