By Onwa Ekor
Touched by the mercy of God to see and celebrate members birth month, a group under the aegis of “Made in June Association,” recently embarked on a security summit and medical outreach in Calabar, the Cross River capital.
The group, a humanitarian initiative committed to promoting service to humanity, community development, leadership excellence and meaningful social impact, used the opportunity of its birth month to examine the root causes of insecurity in the nation and, explored sustainable solutions rooted in community engagement, inter-agency collaboration and citizen participation.
The event with the theme, “Securing Nigeria together: A Cross River initiative for national peace,” was held at the College of Health Technology, Calabar drawing participants from the academia, security agencies, government officials, media and civil society organisations, among others.
Coordinator of the group, Rev. Adat Obona, remarked that the gathering goes beyond celebrating those born in the month of June, but a call to patriotism, national responsibility, community service, collective action and total submission to service for humanity.
Reasoning that every prosperous nation must rest on two pillars of security and health, Obona maintained that the burden of safeguarding the nation remains the responsibility of all.
“Security is everyone’s responsibility beginning with vigilance, integrity, mutual trust, respect for the rule of law and willingness to protect one another irrespective of tribe, religion, political or ethnic affiliation,” Obona said.
He charged members to choose unity over division, dialogue over violence, cooperation over suspicion and love over hatred, maintaining that “sustainable peace is achieved when communities work together, when young people are meaningfully engaged and citizens become ambassadors of harmony.”
State Security Adviser (South) in the state, Patrick Odion, lauded the Cross River governor, Prince Bassey Otu, for offering residents of the state a unique environment through pragmatic governance to continuously dwell in peace and harmony.
Going philosophical, the Security Chief who was also born in June said, “only people born in June are expected to look blue because they love, bright because they are holy in the spirit and their hearts, simple, care, are creative, rich, influential and powerful.”
In his keynote address titled, “Complimentary reflection and the quest for national security in Nigeria: Building bridges for sustainable peace through an ibuanyidanda framework,” Dr Efio-Ita Nyok, traced the reasons for insecurity in the nation to broken relationship and weakened social solidarity.
Nyok, a journalist and public affairs analyst, argued that for security to be effective, there must be collaboration between government agencies and the citizenry.
“Military responses alone cannot guarantee lasting peace, security is not merely the absence of violence but the presence of social conditions that foster trust, justice inclusion and collective wellbeing,” he stated.
Nyok further advocated for holistic discussion by government, security agencies, traditional institution, civil society organisations, media, among others, if issues surrounding insecurity must be put to check.
Chairman of the Conference Planning Committee, Pastor Patrick Okon, in his presentation, called for the building of security network including morals and the gains of contentment from homes.
Okon who doubles as the Secretary of the All Progressive Congress in the state, expressed fear that considering the fact that certain individuals are stronger than institutions, the issue of community policing could be hijacked as the said Community Policing goes beyond uniforms and badges extending to finances, gadgets, equipment, offices and mobility to track the wrongdoers.
For representative of the Department of Security Services, Joyce Philips, she encouraged the citizens not to wait for white collar jobs but embrace skills in order to eke a living.
She enjoined the public to be responsive and vigilant at all times while sharing intelligence with the various security agencies especially on strange and criminal activities around their vicinity.
The event featured medical outreach programme and awards presentation to deserving June babies in recognition of their outstanding contributions to society.
