“Peace is not a silence you force into people’s mouths,” writes Maryam Bukar Hassan, a Nigerian spoken word artist and poet known as Alhanislam who has become the UN’s first Global Advocate for Peace.
Peace “is not the absence of war; it is the presence of understanding,” she continues in her latest poem “Peace is a verb” written to mark the occasion.
Born in northern Nigeria, Bukar’s childhood was tragically shaped by the insurgency. Forced to move between Borno and Kaduna States, she witnessed firsthand the devastating violence perpetrated by armed groups like Boko Haram. It was in this region, over a decade ago, that nearly 300 schoolgirls, known as the Chibok girls, were abducted by the group; many are still missing today.
“I can remember the first war I experienced was when I was four-years-old,” she says, describing a time when armed men broke into her home.
“They were going house to house and if you were a Muslim, they would bring you out and slaughter you.”
“No child should remember such a thing at age four. They should remember smiles, not that they were almost killed because they were Muslim or Christian.”
Resilience and hope
Bukar’s poem not only captures her lived experience, but it also tells the story of struggle and resilience among people coping with crisis and conflict. It urges people to give peace a chance.
“I wanted to encapsulate the human spirit. People don’t just wake up one day and decide to start bombing each other. It comes from history, from the lack of choice, from resentment. It's the war in the heart.”
For Bukar, investing in peace means addressing the root causes of violence and conflict. She envisions a peaceful world “where world leaders actually discuss how citizens can benefit and grow in their own countries and feel grounded.”
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This original story was published on the African Renewal
