A renowned Cleric of African Church and good governance Advocate, Revd.Richard Peters has passionately appealed to youths heating up the polity over the recent official mapping of the state to desist in the interest of peace and continuous development of the state.
It could be recalled that the state House of Assembly penultimate week passed the official map of the state into law and had been accented by Governor Udom Emmanuel.
Revd Peters who addressed Journalists on Friday in Uyo Akwa ibom state explained that the now officially gazetted map will bring tremendous development while ending incessant communal clashes and crisis that bedeviled some areas of the state before now.
According to him,” The Mapping of the state is about knowing the official boundaries of each local council area. It has no bearing on our social coexistence, it is about providing accurate information on every specific geographical features and location in the state”.
The Clergy while allaying fears expressed by some protesters explained that the mapping was never done to oppress, victimize or marginalize any group or community in the state.
“The essence of the Mapping is to show the size of each council, shape, boundary and other important features, it also shows the distance between the council areas and was never done for the purpose of suppression”.
He pleaded with some Politicians allegedly sponsoring the youths on protest to have a rethink stressing that what should be paramount now is peace and overall development of the state.
Revd Peters further highlighted, “The exercise has not disrupted our social coexistence, edged any group or community out of the state nor deprived any community of thier settlement not even any area’s name has been changed. The map will neither deny any community of what they are benefiting presently or what they are entitled to in the future”.
He further pleaded, “We are all aware of the havoc unleashed by communal clashes and crisis which bothers on land boundaries disputes, are we satisfied with the blood letting?, We have lost precious souls, property and businesses to the menace. Thus the option of the state mapping is to end the ugly incidents cement our unity while accelerating the development of the state”.
The Clergy who acknowledged Governor Udom Emmanuel’s giant strides in almost eight years of his administration in the state noted that he should be appreciated more now as he keeps inaugurating projects weekly rather than being hunted and insulted over misunderstood lofty idea.
Contact: Nationnewslead.com
