- Emma Sunday, Port Harcourt
A coalition of Rights Activists have advocated Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms as the best option in mitigating the ongoing political crisis currently bedeviling Rivers State.
The activists said the crisis will only end when all stakeholders prioritise the interest of the state above their personal interest and become intentional in engendering peace, healing and progress in the State.
The disclosure was made at the 3rd edition of the “Rivers We Want” town hall meeting, over the weekend, themed “Restoring Peace and Building a Prosperous Future for Rivers State.”
Delivering the keynote address, Director for Policy, University of Port Harcourt, Professor Fidelis Allen described political Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism as the best option in mitigating the ongoing conflict in Rivers
Prof. Allen emphasised that in ADR warring parties can decide who adjudicates in the resolution of their impasse, adding that while litigation does not restore damaged relationships, alternative dispute resolution does.
He said, “One advantage a political dispute resolution mechanism would have is that parties in dispute can decide on who they want to meditate, so if parties say they want Mr X to meditate over this dispute, they would be committed to enforce the agreement.
“So one good thing about alternative dispute resolution is that it restores relationships, litigation does not.
“With alternative dispute resolution, you spend less money and you restore relationships, people will walk out of ADR embracing each other, but when people come out of the courts, they are planning other things, infact if the court does not work violence can work.
“So you see, to move society forward to make society more cohesive, the best peace approach is alternative dispute resolution and in Rivers, it is a better option.”
In his welcome address, Obinna Igbogidi, Convener, Rivers Peace Initiative, said the meeting was convened not for anyone to take sides, but for all to jettison their personal sentiments for peace to reign and injuries sustained in the conflict heal, for the sake of the unborn children.
Igbogidi said, “This Town Hall, this moment, is not about who wins or loses. It is not about validating one side over the other. It is about something far greater: saving what still binds us.
“This is a call not to our titles, not to our tribes, not to our factions but to our humanity.
“We are first Rivers people, before the party, before the office and before the bitterness. So, we are people of a proud and rich land, a people who have survived, built, and dreamed through storms.
“And this storm too, shall pass. But only if we choose each other now.
To our youth listening your voice matters more than ever. To our elders your wisdom is needed more than ever. To our leaders your conscience must rise higher than ambition.
“Let this day be remembered not just as another dialogue, but as the day Rivers State chose its soul over its scars.
“Let our children look back and say, They could have torn each other apart but instead, they came together. And that changed everything.”
Speaking from the United Kingdom through online video conferencing application, His Majesty, Mene Suanu Baridam, paramount ruler of Ancient Bangha Kingdom in Khana Local Government Area, insisted that peace is sacrosanct in Rivers State, stating that without peace development would be impossible.
He identified youths unemployment as one of the key factors fueling crimes and by extension conflicts in the state, adding that “when we collectively agree to have peace in the state, we will have it.”
He said, “We have to understand that if there is no peace in Rivers State, we will not have development, there is development that can thrive where there is no peace, there is going to be conflict everywhere and when you hear there is conflict everywhere, no company will come to Rivers State to invest because one of the cardinal points of any investors is, what is the risk of my business? So, if Rivers State is on chaos and we don’t have peace here, then there is not going to be any development.
“One of the things that causes crisis is when the youths are unemployed. When the youths are not meaningfully engaged, they would begin to engage themselves in crimes and when crime is happening everywhere, there is bound to be conflict.
“As traditional rulers, we preach peace all the time, because peace is important in anything we do, in our communities, in our churches peace is very important. I believe that if all of us agree that we want peace in Rivers State, then definitely we will have peace.”
On his part, Nathaniel Akporuvweku, Coordinator, Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) said until sections of the constitution are amended and the right thing done about initio, staining the society of our dreams would remain a mirage.
“Not until we go back to getting it right, to what we used to know as the rule of law, the ground norm, we cannot begin to look at what the future holds for us, so we must go back to the roots so that we can begin to see the fruits of ADR in political conflicts.”
Meanwhile a veteran Rights Activist, Everest Nwankwo, Managing Director, Ampez Centre for Environment and Development, called on all stakeholders to join hands in making Rivers State great again.
Nwankwo noted that, “Rivers State holds so much, Rivers State offers Nigeria and its people so much, the blue economy, the glass economy, the steel economy which we have not even explored.
“We have the natural resources, we have the industrial resources, if you have been to Warri road, every morning of Tuesday or Thursday, around 4am, you will see trucks loading raw materials out of Rivers State, to the north, those raw materials come back to Rivers State as plastics and fertilizers and these are opportunities that can become useful for industries.
“This is why we must come together and say this is what we want. Going forward, we have two years to come up with this plan, there has to be a plan, everybody has to be involved, the women the youths, the politicians have to be involved and come up with a systemic plan that will build this state and turn it into the Lagos now see.”
On her part, the Deputy Director, United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Youths International, Rivers State Chapter, Opunne Tonye Amah, condemned the ongoing political fallouts going on in the state.
She recalled a once thriving Rivers state that is now a shadow of itself following retrogressive government policies,. stressing that only peace can engender the development we desire.
“Growing up I know very well that in the Trans Amadi area, we had glass industries, we had so many industries that were working, but because of high tariffs here and there, all those industries are no more in Rivers State and now we are crying for employment, we are crying for development.
“So when we have peace, definitely, there will be sustained development.”
Also speaking, a Rivers Youth Leader, Joy Oyaghiri, urged youths in the state to begin to develop the mindset of tolerance.
She emphasised that irrespective of political leanings everyone should put their hands on deck to ensure peace returns in the state.
“I’m a stickler to live and let’s live, we can consist, we don’t have to quarrel, we don’t have to fight, you believe in what I do, I believe in what you do, we can come together and agree to disagree.
“If we have that mindset or orientation that we are the same people irrespective of where we stand or our belief system, we agree that we want peace and development, we would have it and that is what I stand for.”
