RSG Launches Network For Peace

L-R: Representatives Honourable Asita, Dakuku Peterside and member, Rivers State House of Assembly, Dr Innocent Barikor, at a news conference to announce Amaechi loyalists’ boycott of the PDP National Convention in Port Harcourt, Yesterday.

The Rivers State Government is seeking collaboration with civil society organisations to build peace across the state.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Ethics and Good Governance, Hon Eloah Ake, who said this during the official launching of partners for peace network at the TAP centre, Iriebe, also called on the citizenry to see advocacy and dialogue as the only necessary factors for conflict resolution in the state.
The special adviser said that government was willing and ready to work with individuals and groups that have the interest of the state at heart, pointing out that this was  the time civil societies must embark on peace campaigns across the communities.
He commended the Foundation  for Partners Initiative for Peace in the Niger Delta (PIND) for initiating the programme, and urged other groups to emulate it.
Also speaking, the Executive Director of the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA), Mr Noble Pepple, described peace as a major condition for sustainable development of the Niger Delta
Pepple said for Niger Delta to be in peace, all stakeholders, including non-governmental organisations must contribute their quota to development and peace of the region.
He commended the organisers for the initiative, and urged for determination among all stakeholders to ensure the sustenance of peace in all communities of the Niger Delta.
In a lecture entitted ‘Peace; the Foundation for Better Livehoods’, the Director, Centre for Ethnic and Conflict Studies, University of Port Harcourt , Prof Mark Anikpo, stressed the need for peace building across the region.
Anikpo also  urged the government to create the necessary conditions for peace in the region through the equitable distribution of resources to all segments of the society.
The university don also stressed the need for government in the region to support civil society organisations in their effort to preach the message of peace to different communities in the region.
The Executive Director, Foundation for Partners Initiatives for Peace in Niger Delta , Mr Sam Daibo, said that the focus of the group was to seek ways to enhance the region.
He  said that in line with these objectives, consultation workshops had been organised across the Niger Delta, and stressed the need for all stakeholders to see themselves as partners for peace in the region.
Earlier, the Programme Director of PIND, Dr Dara Akara said that the group was a key partner in the transformation agenda of government while at the same time helping in the promotion of small and medium enterprises in the region.