The community members and chiefs of Tema Community in Asari-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State, on the 19th of July 2022, came out in mass to attend a Community Town hall meeting which was organised by Support Initiative for Sustainable Development (SISDEV), in partnership with the British Council.
The meeting was part of the implementation of the Agents for Citizen-Driven Transformation (ACT) project on Enhancing Community Peace and Electoral Violence abatement Through Local Conflict Mitigation, targeted at sensitizing 10 communities in Asari-Toru and Degema Local Government Areas of Rivers State, on the importance of Quality Leadership and Peace building in the growth of the grassroots areas.
The meeting which held at the Tema Community Town hall had in attendance, Men, Women, Youths, people with disabilities and the chiefs of the Community.
The Executive Director of SISDEV, Philip Kalio who facilitated the meeting, delivered a lecture on Quality Leadership, highlighting the qualities of a good leader and the need for the units of the community to choose credible leaders who have placed the progress of their community above selfish interest.
A co-facilitator, Sunny Dada who spoke on Non-Violent Conflict Resolution and Elections without Violence, admonished the people to always seek out non-violent ways to resolve conflicts in the community, to avoid the destruction of properties and the loss of lives.
The meeting also open the floor for questions and comments from participant. They spoke on the existing conflicts in their community and agreed on possible ways to resolve the conflicts and ensue peace among all units of the community.
Some community members spoke to the SISDEV media team after the meeting. Below are their success stories:
Kelvin George Orubibisima (Chief)
It was a fantastic meeting. My people are happy for such sensitization and enlightenment. Let us be guided in the scheme of things. Like this election that is coming up, we have been told to avoid fake news and to be peaceful. Our people will abide by it because peace is important to us. Without peace, there will be no development.
Ibiduwoi Innocent Warmate (Female)
I so loved the program because I learnt so many things like how to talk to elders, how to respect them and how to approach the youths and to work with them.
In this election, we will not sell our vote because if I sell my vote, I cannot demand anything from politicians.
Orotibo George (Youth Leader)
I am very very grateful for this kind of opportunity. We find it difficult to learn such lectures. It will cost us much if we want to pay to learn what we have learnt here today.
We should shun electoral violence, do not sell our votes and to vote in the right people.
