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… Mulls Programme Expansion For Greater Impact
By Amos Odhe
The Bayelsa State Government has commended a non-governmental organization, the Spaces For Youth Development and Social Change (S4C), for its public safety pilot project in three local government areas of the state.
Dr. Peter Akpe, the Deputy Governor, gave the commendation during a courtesy visit by the S4C team to his office in Government House, Yenagoa, on Monday.
The Deputy Governor, who conveyed the appreciation of government over the public safety project being implemented by the NGO in Bayelsa, said the Governor Douye Diri-led Prosperity Administration “does not joke with partnerships on development and security-related projects.”
Dr. Akpe reiterated the administration’s commitment to improving the prevailing peace and security in the state and called on Spaces For Change and its strategic partners, including the Open Society Foundations to collaborate with government to expand the public safety project to all the eight LGAs in the state.
He equally acknowledged the efforts of security agencies and community leaders for cooperating with government to safeguard lives and property, noting that Bayelsa would not have been adjudged as one of the safest states in the country without their contributions.
According to Dr Akpe, the present administration will continue to apply a multi-prong approach to tackling issues of security with particular emphasis on youth empowerment, skills acquisition and sports development programmes.
His words: “We appreciate you for your thoughtfulness to set this up for the development of humanity and better living for our people. This administration does not joke with people that come to partner with us, especially on very important issues like security.
“As a government, we run with the ASSURED Prosperity Agenda with specific areas where the government has its focus on, and one of the major areas is security, which is a constitutional requirement. The Government of Bayelsa State has taken security as number one priority on its agenda.
“As we speak, we are rated as one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria. This assessment is not from us; it is from the national security operatives. Any time they speak, they tell us that within the past three or five years, we have done extremely well in security.
“This your initiative is extremely welcome. We also pray that you expand your coast in our state. We are ready to partner with you to cover other areas. We have eight local government areas which are more than 18 or 20 in some other states.”
Earlier, the Executive Director of Spaces for Youth Development and Social Change, Ms. Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri, informed that the organization was currently implementing the People-Centred Public Safety (PCPS) project in Bayelsa and Benue States.
Ibezim-Ohaeri said the PCPS pilot project which is being run in the three local government areas of Southern Ijaw, Ogbia and Yenagoa in Bayelsa, focuses on environmental clean-ups, evolution of community watch structures, digital skills training for neighbourhood watch groups, situational analysis and stakeholder mapping, among others.
She said the visit was intended to formally introduce the group to the state government, seek its cooperation to scale up operations and institutionalize the PCPS project model beyond the NGO’s lifetime of activities in the state.
The Vice President of Open Society Foundations, Mr. Pedro Abranovay from Brazil; as well as the Director of Security, Ugo Tovar, and Ehlers Louise also made brief remarks on the activities of the NGO in Bayelsa.
