Denouncing War As Solution To Differences

Every new year offers an opportunity to evaluate the conduct of world affairs and make projections for the future. Respecting the tradition yesterday 8 January, 2026 at the Unity Palace, President Paul Biya and the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, the Ambassador of Equatorial Guinea to Came- roon Armando Kote Echuaca, did not miss out on the salient issues, least of which is not peace and development. Such a come-together equally served as an opportunity to sound the merit of international solidarity where the quest for ge- nuine peace is pivotal in seeking stability and human progress. Responding to New Year wishes form the diplo- matic corps, the Head of State was categorical that violence, conflict, and war have never in any situation offered a better solution to pro- blems. It might not have been necessary to get into specific situations to illustrate the point, but the ever present malaise of seeing commu- nities fight hard to eliminate other from the face of the earth remain disturbing. Others simply think that to be understood, people must commit mayhem and carnage. Nearly all countries, rich or poor, have been witnessing a rise in violent extremism with cases of killings and kidnappings for ransom growing by the day. Instances of this nature cannot leave any res- ponsible leader indifferent. In most of those cases, women and children have often been sa- crificial lambs; paying for crimes that they never committed. For several decades, the international community has worked so hard to ensure that world peace becomes a priority even if the arms-race has continued to preoccupy major powers and in the process, developing nations are even obliged to spend their meagre resources in the purchase of such weapons as pre-emptive measures for self-defence and protection. In some cases, they buy the arms to tackle growing insecurity in their backyards. Yet, it may not require any rocket science to demonstrate that ideological differences may be hard to reconcile, but war only helps to create more suffering and disillu- sionment while rendering families, communities and even nations poorer and backward. Thus, it is time that world leaders should come to terms with the realities and take the right decisions. That is why the Head of State pointed out that: “Despite the commendable efforts of the inter- national community, our world continues to be confronted with the scourge of terrorism, multiple violations of State sovereignty, and the decline of international law. The proliferation of crises and conflicts, with their accompanying loss of life and destruction of all kinds, spares no region of the world. This situation, as we know, has negative consequences for the development of our countries and the well-being of our popula- tions.” It may not require that people look so far to have perfect illustration of the bleak picture that the Head of State painted to members of the diplomatic corps who gathered to wish hi...