*PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY THE NATIONAL COORDINATOR OF THE PEACE ADVOCACY GROUP (PAG), ENGR. ANIEKAN JAMES UNAH ON SUSTAINING PEACE FOR CORDIAL COEXISTENCE AND DEVELOPMENT IN AKWA IBOM STATE ON MARCH 12, 2022, IN UYO, AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA* .

All protocols duly observed.

*Preamble*
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you all to this memorable Conference with men of impeccable character and virtue. I am indeed overwhelmed and deeply humbled by the large turn out and your visible commitment towards sustenance and promotion of peace in our dear State. This conference specifically offers us the opportunity to express our gratitude to God for His numerous blessings to us as a group with a peace agenda and as a people of one great state. Today I welcome each and every one of you for this great honour done to us by honouring our invitation and we pray that the Almighty God bless, guide and protect you all. Thank you for your love and affection.

*WHY WE ARE GATHERED HERE*
We are here today to re-emphasize the importance of peace in our dear State. Since God in his infinite mercy has found us worthy to enjoy peace in the past seven years plus, it's imperative to continue to sustain it in order to create enabling environment where entrepreneurs, investors and government can invest to enhance living standards of our dear youths. We must guard it jealously. We must ensure peace is enshrined in our villages, clans, local government areas, we must be peace ambassador in our villages or towns in the state and this will required constant collaboration with traditional rulers and other government agencies that will help sustain the peace in our locality and indeed the entire State. So we have come to let you understand that it is our collective duty to ensure sustenance of peace in Akwa Ibom State.

The peace enjoyed in Akwa Ibom State today has created a conducive environment that makes the state a safe place to visit, live, and do business. This is happening because when His Excellency Governor Udom Emmanuel assumed office in 2015, he was fully aware of the factors needed to transform the state from a civil service-oriented state to an economic and industrial hub where businesses will thrive. Having identified insecurity as an impediment to any meaningful development.

Despite the abundance endowments, the state before the emergent of the present administration was characterized with incessant cases of kidnapping, unresolved murder, robbery and cultism that created unfavorable environment that made it difficult for potential investors, or even visitors to invest or visit the state. To reverse the ugly trend, the governor took the first major drastic step of tackling insecurity by enacting a law banning cultism which was then fast becoming a phenomenon in the state, with almost daily reports of killings associated with cult related activities. His Excellency Governor Emmanuel granted amnesty to repentant cultists and got quite a number of them rehabilitated into the society by being positively engaged.

A major crackdown on criminals and their activities no doubt saw a drastic reduction in crime rate, which helped to create the enabling environment that has encouraged investments inflow to the state in the last six years plus. This is in addition to the various incentives put in place to enhance the ease of doing business in Akwa Ibom state by this present administration. The number of industrial establishments set up by the government as well as various investments by private sector players point to the fact that indeed the state is safe and peaceful, relative to the situation in many other parts of the country today.

The immediate benefits of this development are job creation, improved standard of living by our youths, increase in state revenue which will give birth to more industries, corporate reputation and stability of economy growth thus enhancing living standards and socio-economic sufficiency in many homes/families across the state. Without doubt, the atmosphere in Akwa Ibom State today has been jealously guarded and Ibomites are not ready to take it for granted, having seen the level of transformation that has taken place since the return of peace to the state.

We have seen many things people thought were impossible become seamlessly possible under the Akwa Ibom of today. From Aviation, to Industrialization, from a revamped Secondary Health Care system to a overhauled Educational system, from entrepreneurship development, to skill acquisition in core Technical areas, from SME growth and development to agricultural revolution, the list is endless.

Our people have found peace amongst themselves. Peace has seen us tap into our creative wells and our people are embracing the entrepreneurial culture, especially the youth. We must maintain this peace with every fibre of our beings.

Any one, who, for selfish political purposes, wants to reverse this peace, must, and should be rejected, anyone who aims to grab power through the instrument of violence must be stopped and rejected.

Anyone who aims at getting power by using violence against his or her people, will end up ruling with violence. May our dear state never go through such politically-motivated years of violence again.

It is instructive to note that the Udom Emmanuel template has enabled the Akwa-Ibom state government to effectively manage contending interests, achieve harmony among the political class, enhanced public/private partnership, create enabling atmosphere for greater citizen participation as well as harmonious living in a multifarious state.

We commend His Excellency, Governor Udom Emmanuel’s commitment towards ensuring a peaceful state, a situation that enabled him to effectively deploy the resources available to the state to impact lives, create enduring infrastructure, attract investors, provide jobs and improve on the living standard of the people, in line with His Completion Agenda mantra .

We urge our dear Governor, His Excellency Governor Udom Emmanuel not to relent but continue to deepen harmonious living which is sine qua non for development.

We also express confidence in Pastor Umo Bassey Eno, the choice of His Excellency's successor and Honourable Commissioner for Lands and Water Resources for his commitment under Governor Udom Emmanuel, towards the success this administration has recorded so far.
For us as a state to continue to sustain the peace for cordial coexistence and development in Akwa Ibom State, we are admonished to adhere to below recommendations.

Recommendations:

i. That, the 2023 General election should not be seen as a do-or-die affair. Innocent blood should never be sacrificed on the altar of political contest for temporary power.

ii. Politicians in Akwa Ibom State should use politics as a platform for building peace and strengthening cooperation across cultures, religions, ethnicity and political alignment;

iii. Efforts towards strengthening democracy should focus more on the delivery of good governance in the polity and allow for people participation;

iv. Stakeholders in the 2023 general elections should play by the rules and avoid utterances and actions that may precipitate violence;

v. Akwa Ibom State leaders and politicians should refrain from labelling opponents as liars; looters and enemies as such unsubstantiated name-calling could trigger violent reactions;

vi. Efforts should be made by national governments, civil society organisations and community leaders in Akwa Ibom State to prevent pre and post election crises;

vii. Inclusive and people-centred leadership should be the focus of our state and local governments in order to mainstream peace-building in the course of governance;

viii. Based on the foregoing,the Peace Advocacy Group will leverage on the vision of its core objective in developing programmes to promote the conduct of peaceful elections and democratic consolidation in Akwa Ibom State for sustainable development.
Viiii All indigenes of Akwa Ibom State above 18 years should ensure to register for PVC as this is the only means to elect credible leaders that will sustain peace and development in Akwa Ibom State.
10, All PEACE ADVOCACY GROUP members are admonished to act as peace ambassador at their domain and ensure sustenance of peace at all times.
11. All PEACE ADVOCACY GROUP must ensure they partner with community leaders for effective voters sensitization within their villages, communities and LGAs for overall interest of electing credible leaders that will sustain prevailing peace and development in our dear State.

PEACE ADVOCACY GROUP as a non governmental organisation aimed at promoting and fostering unity and progress among all indigenes of our dear state irrespective of tribe or religion, is perhaps a way of ensuring the peaceful status quo is not derailed but sustained into the future, long after the present administration has ceased to exist come 29 May, 2023.

The time has come and now is the time for Akwa Ibom people irrespective of party, tribe or religion to come together to embrace the Peace Advocacy Group and join hands towards ensuring the enthronement of sustainable peace, development and consolidation of our democratic gains and state’s glory.

Truly, that same God will never fail Akwa Ibom people.

*Signed by:*
*Engr Aniekan James Unah*
National coordinator PAG.