By Anwuli Utulu, Port Harcourt
As the political crisis in Rivers State continues to generate national and local attention, select women leaders, have called for a change of approach to alter the current narrative which has not allowed peace to reign since the return of civilian rule in 1999.
Top woman leader and former House of Representative member from Cross River State, Ambassador Nkoyo Toyo, spoke at the women dialogue themed “Engendering sustainable political peace in Rivers State,” organised by The Rivers Peace Initiative in collaboration with the University of Port Harcourt Center for Peace and Conflict Studies and Super 93.3FM.
The town hall was supported by Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Center, Farao Coffee Lounge, and Firfour Properties Ltd.
Nkoyo Toyo said, “The politics of Rivers State needs to change if there is going to be a leadership that is going to be one built on peace and progress. The history of political leadership in the state has always followed this pattern. This trajectory has been evolving since the time of Odili. So, it is Rivers State’s own way of doing things and Rivers State.
“The crisis in Rivers State is cantered around Governor Sim Fubara and the minister, Nyesom Wike over control of political power and share of the state’s economic resources an elite war that does not reflect the interest of the citizens whose peace and progress is now being threatened by the conflict arising from the division among their supporters.”
Noting that the political tension seriously affect women in political leadership, she said the voices and needs of women in the state are not being heard or addressed and so, women in leadership have to step -in to bring about matriarchal influence-
”When your two children are fighting you step in to build peace not take sides. The wellbeing of the state is the wellbeing of the people and should not be about just the wellbeing of the individual. Women leaders need to take the argument away from the two gladiators to bring in how the conflict is impacting the communities, the women,” the GADA founder charged.
On the peace panel were respected women drawn from varied sectors. They include, Prof Faith Ibarakuma Aminikpo of the University of Port Harcourt, Rotarian Ibinima Amachree, Rivers State coordinator, Rotary International Group for Peace; Hon Victoria Nyeche, former Rivers State House of Assembly member; Barrister Hilda Desmond Ihekhire, past president African Women Lawyers and chairperson, NBA Ahoada; Chief Constance Meju, coordinator, Centre for Media Environment and Development Communications, CEMEDEC and Mrs. Anya Faith, MD, Chifour Properties Ltd
The women leaders agreed that the crisis in the state is more personal than public interest and called for mediation and negotiation to pull the state out of the current quagmire that is attracting nationwide attention. They pointed out that after elections, personal interests of the elected is supposed to be overtaken by public interest under governance but this has not been the case in the state.
They also called on the media to reduce the tension in the polity. “The media has to be toned down its toxic content which is fuelling the political tension. There is toxic environment within the media; needs to be toned down the unhealthy rivalry and instead, beam attention on the voices of people being impacted by the conflict in the communities”.
They called for strategic advocacy approaches to build peace, peace education programmes and, youth and women empowerment to economically emancipate the crowd being used to fuel agitations in the state.
Suggestions were also made for a mass peace march by women, prayers sessions, and honest leadership to engender peace in the now fragile state. .
Earlier, executive director of a foremost Niger Delta women non-governmental organisation, Kebetkache Women Development and Research center, Dr Emem Bridget Okon, represented by the centre’s research officer, Dr Charles Cimezie-Okoye, had called on women to rise and be heard and seek political offices to help change the existing narrative on women political leadership in the country.
“In Kebetkache, we encourage women to speak up, join politics if you can. Imagine that in the Senate of 109, we have only four women; that is very poor. And also, we encourage women to support their own whenever they come out.
“Look at what is happening to Natashia (Akpoti-Uduaghan) at the Senate and you know that some women are there but many of them didn’t support her and that is very bad. We should try to always support our women whenever things like this happen,” Dr. Okon admonished.
Kebetkache Women Development and Research Center was one of the sponsors of the Women Leadership Dialogue on the Rivers State political crisis.
One of the organizers Of the peace dialogue, Mr. Obinna Egbogidi in his welcome address, stated that there is need to tackle the political tension in the state before it tips over, noting that they found it important to engage women leaders to lend support to existing efforts at peace-building over the matter.
He said women have the special attribute of contributing to seeds of reconciliation and peace, noting that peace is built brick by brick.. as he explained that the forum was targeted at getting women to form a collective force for change.
With the sudden declaration of a state of emergency in the state by President Bola Amhed Tinubu, it is expected that some of the issues raised by the women would be given serious consideration.
