New Telegraph

Group set to Partner A’Ibom Media on Peace Advocacy

* As A’Ibom SA on Local Media says peace building must start from homes

 

A pro-peace group, Partners for Peace in the Niger Delta, P4P, has made known its intention to partner media in Akwa Ibom State in its advocacy for peace building in communities across the state.

This formed part of the group’s agenda when it paid a courtesy visit to the Special Assistant to the Governor on Local Media, Akparawa (Prince) Emmanuel Sam, in his office at Government House, Uyo , on Friday July 31, 2020.

 

In his remarks, Prince Sam thanked the organization for the laudable initiative which seeks to bring sustainable peace to communities and states in the region. He stated that what Niger Delta needs now is total peace and unity in order to pursue the growth and development of the region.

 

“We don’t want to manage peace, we need total peace in the Niger Delta and the leaders and stakeholders must play a major role.

 

“Akwa Ibom is the most peaceful State in the region, we thank God for giving us a peaceloving leader in the person of His Excellency, Governor Udom Emmanuel, who has demostrated that politics can be played without strife, violence or kidnapping.

 

 

“The governor has done a commendable work in building peace and rehabilitating communities that were engulfed in crisis. As the National Leader of Akwa Ibom Liberation Movement, AILM, I’m happy to partner with another group whose objective aligns with ours.

 

 

“One of our roles is to advocate for sustenance of the peace we are enjoying under Governor Udom Emmanuel even after he has left office. In the course of our work, we’ve however discovered that there are a lot of dysfunctional and broken homes and this affects the peace in our communities”. He stated.
Prince Sam also pointed out that to achieve peace in the Niger Delta it is important to discourage young men from joining cultism, indulging in abuse of illicit drugs and dissuade politicians from arming youth for political thuggery.

 

 

He made an appeal to the organization to go beyond peace building to investigate the root cause of conflict in families and seek to correct it through sensitization. He therefore indicated interest to join the group in propagating peace and development in communities across Akwa Ibom State and other parts of the region.

 

 

Earlier, in his address, National Coordinator of Partners for Peace in the Niger Delta, High Chief Pius Akomolafe ( Ondo State rep), informed the Special Assistant on Local Media, Akparawa Emmanuel Sam, that the group is a network supported by Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND) with a mission to build social capital around peacebuilding and equitable economic development by amplifying the voices of positive actors.

 

 

Akomolafe further disclosed that the group has representatives from all the states in the region with expertise in various fields of endeavour that are relevant to the peace building, adding that their work involves intervening in volatile and war prone communities in the Niger Delta to ensure peace, mitigate conflict and prevent criminalty.

 

 

The group is currently embarking on a conflict resolution and peacebuilding project in Itu Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State.

 

 

“We have identified relevant stakeholders to help our organization succeed and we are here to equest for media partnership in propagating our message of peace to communities in the state”. He said.

 

 

Also speaking, the National Secretary of the group, Pastor Edewor Egedegbe (Delta State Rep) commended the SA on Local Media on his contributions to peace in the state through media relations.

 

 

He promised that the group will make efforts to address the root cause of crisis in order to sustain he peacebuilding endeavour and congratulated Akparawa Emmanuel Sam for coming on board the group while pledging to work with him to achieve set goals and objectives.

 

High point of the event was the acceptance of Akparawa (Prince) Emmanuel Sam into the Partnership for Peace in the Niger Delta by the National Coordinator, High Chief Pius Akomolafe, who said a date will be set aside for the reception and presentation of award to the former as an ambassador of the group.

 

 

Part of the delegation of P4P included Mrs. Loretta Ahuokpeme – Deputy National Coordinator (Rivers State Rep), Amb. Peace Edem – Deputy National Secretary (Akwa Ibom State Rep), Efio-Ita Nyok – Research and Documentation Officer (Cross River State Rep), Nancy Wodu – National Treasure (Bayelsa State Rep), Kingsley Kefe – National Financial Secretary (Edo State Rep), Tina Anya – National welfare Officer (Imo State Rep) and Pastor Theophilus Torty – National PRO (Abia State Rep).

 

Read Previous

PDP, APC bicker over purchase of PVCs for N20,000, N50,000

Read Next

Arthur Eze tasks Obiano, other govs on LGAs’ funds, election

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *