A former member of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Victoria Nyeche, has appealed to the warring factions in the state political crisis to sheathe their swords and embrace peace.

Ms Nyeche made the remark on Friday, during the ‘’Rivers We Want” Town Hall Series II meeting organised by a non-governmental organisation, the Rivers Peace Initiative in Port Harcourt.

She urged the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, the Rivers State Assembly and Governor Siminalayi Fubara to toe the path of peace.

She said that the state could not continue to be in the news for a wrong reasons, adding, “Peace is everyone’s business, and we all have a role to play, especially women.’’

Ms Nyeche urged the women to embrace their role of peace building, saying that they could not be silent when things were going wrong.

She said, “So as nation builders, we’re actually peace builders, and we need to start from our homes and teach our children to have values, We need these values to remain with us through life so that we’ll know what we are standing for, and not fall for everything. We are here to remind Rivers people that this crisis is actually our crisis because we are the ones at the receiving end of the political crisis.’’

She stated that the women should not join in the crisis, but should be part of the solution to the crisis, since without peace; there would be no progress which everyone needed in the state.

She added, “This is not about taking sides with one thing or the other; we are standing for what is right and standing for the people and the interests of Rivers people.’’

Ms Nyeche said that after elections, “We should not be talking about politics, we should be talking about governance and it is time for governance.’’

She said that unfortunately, those involved in the political crisis were still seeing politics and not governance.

She further said that two wrongs could not make a right, adding that people had made mistakes in the crisis

She noted, “My stand is, if we don’t put the interest of the Rivers people first and continue to put our interest first, we will continue to have what is seen playing out.’’

According to Ms Nyeche, people are not thinking about the state but about themselves and things will continue to be the way they are until the focus is on the state.

She said that if the interest of the state was taken into consideration, there would have been a middle ground to stop the crisis.

She, however, appealed to members of the assembly and the governor as well as the FCT minister to consider the interest of the state so that it could move forward.

“On every side, people are being hurt and an eye for an eye leads to total blindness, that’s not what we want, we want peace in Rivers State. I also appeal to them to listen to good advice especially from their wives; most politicians don’t listen or take their wives’ advice,” Ms Nyeche said.

In her keynote address, a former Ambassador of Nigeria to Ethiopia, Nkoyo Toyo, emphasised on the role of women in peace building, saying that women were the key drive to peace in society.

Ms Toyo, who is also an ex-member of the House of Representative, advised women not to take sides in the crisis rocking the state but mediate for peace among the gladiators.

She said that women who felt that their voices could be heard by the actors should intervene but avoid partisanship.

She urged the women to call the state actors, negotiate and make peace among them for the state to move forward.

Ms Toyo, who is also the Founder, Gender and Development Action, advised women to actively take part in shaping the Niger Delta region and Nigeria at large.

She mentioned some of the key issues causing the Rivers State political crisis as a quest for resource control, party structure, and selfish interest by the political elite.

She advised the political gladiators and their supporters to shift ground, come to a roundtable and agree to lose some of their personal interests for the interest of the state.

Also, a former Head, Department of Film and Theatre Art Department, University of Port Harcourt, Prof. Faith Aminikpo, called for peace in the state.

She said that with the political crisis in the state, women and children were the most vulnerable and called on the gladiators to sheathe their swords and allow peace in Rivers State.

Earlier, the Convener, Rivers Peace Initiative, Obinna Ebogidi, said that the theme, “Women’s Town Hall: Navigating political crisis for peace, unity, and prosperity in Rivers State,” resonated deeply with the challenges and political instability in the state.

Mr Obinna said that the town hall meeting was organised in collaboration with the Centre for Peace and Security Studies, University of Port Harcourt and Super 93.3 FM, Port Harcourt.

He stated that the meeting which was supported by the Kebetkache Women Development Resources Centre, and Faraa Coffee Lounge, Port Harcourt, was aimed at finding solutions to the current political crisis rocking Rivers State.

(NAN)