IKPOBA HILL YOUTHS FORUM FETES YOUTHS FOR BEING AMBASSADORS OF PEACE

The Ikpoba Hill Youths Forum over the weekend hosts its Youths to its annual end of year celebration to commemorate the end of year and the beginning of the New year 

The 3 day long event tagged "Standing Together 2024" began on the 5th of January with a visit to the orphanage and the 6th of January with free medical checkup and culminating on Sunday the 7th with Music, Comedy, Drama, lots of fun and enough food and drinks for all.

Speaking with newsmen at the event, the Chairman of Ikpoba Hill Youths Forum, Comrade Kingsley Osemwingie said that Ikpoba Hill Youths Carnival is an annual event held at the beginning of the New year to thank God for the past year and to ask for God's blessings and peace for the Youths and all the residents of the community in the New year. 

According to him,"We recognize the essence of peace without which there can never be any meaningful development and that is why we are bringing our Youths together to further reinvigorate the entrenched fabric of peace existing amongst us and that is the essence of the carnival as it affords us the medium to preach peace to ourselves.

"As you are aware that there is lots of killings going on in recent times in the Benin metropolis but here in Ikpoba Hill, we are peace Ambassadors who abhor violence and killings. It is not as if there are no problems in Ikpoba Hill but once it is detected we swing into action to nip it in the bud so as to mitigate any escalation. So, I can categorically tell you that here in Ikpoba Hill, we are doing a lot in this regard. Here in Ikpoba Hill, our primary preoccupation is to save lives and properties not to kill or to destroy and so far we have been able to achieve so much in this regard.

"We have been able to record so much success because here in Ikpoba Hill the Youths are law abiding and most importantly they listen so much to the leadership because this platform is a forum that emphasizes so much on peace and advocating so much on zero tolerance on crime and violence and I think that is why we have had so much peace in this part of the city.

"The essence of this carnival is to reinforce and reinstate the need for continuous and sustainable Peace through the year 2024 and beyond and this is drummed into the consciousness of every Youths and my advice to Youths in other communities is that they shouldn't allow anyone to mislead them into any unwholesome behavior in this year 2024, So, they should emulate the ways and pattern of Ikpoba Hill Youths 

On his own part, Barrister Happy Omoruyi, the financial Secretary who spoke to this reporter said that this carnival represents so much for Ikpoba Hill Youths as it symbolizes peace, love and unity. 

According to him," we are here United as one and as you can see the whole of Edo state has been hot for some time now but so far Ikpoba Hill has remain calm because of our concerted efforts to make the environment calm and peaceful and we are organizing the carnival to further reinvigorate and propagate sustainable Peace in all our communities in Ikpoba Hill and we continue to maintain our stance on NO TO KILLING

"Let me quickly use this medium to appreciate the chairman Comrade Kingsley Osemwingie and his EXCO for the great job done in the year under review and we are hopeful that the new year is going to be more fruitful and peaceful than ever before and I advice Youths in other communities to put a stop to the killings and emulate Ikpoba Hill so that peace can be restored and sustained in their communities as well.

The Sector Commander Of Edo State Security Network in Ikpoba Hill, Ehis Ekhator why Speaking with this reporter at the Carnival said that he is an indegene of Ikpoba Hill which comprises different communities. 

According to him, " we the indigenes of the various communities that make up Ikpoba Hill decided to come together to form this group to folster peace,unity and Harmony in our communities so that we can live in peace and I am glad that the essence of the organization is being actualized. As you can see there is fighting and killings recently in various communities in the Benin metropolis but here in Ikpoba Hill has been peaceful because we the Youths here in Ikpoba Hill have decided to remain peaceful and I will want to use this medium to appreciate the chairman Comrade Kingsley Osemwingie and his EXCO for a great job and I will not lie, his efforts has made my job as a sector commander easy as we sleep peacefully in Ikpoba Hill because he has been able to bring all the Youths together and harmonized them and making them see the disaster and disadvantages of cultism and this has been inculcated in our youths and you can see that we are all standing together for everyone 

" I want to use this medium to speak to Ikpoba Hill Youths in the diaspora to join hands with the Ikpoba Hill Youths Forum to ensure that this forum and all that it stands for is sustained and I want to see Ikpoba Hill Youths celebrating 2025 and beyond in great peace.

"My advice to Youths in other communities where there are violence and killings should copy Ikpoba Hill Youths blueprint for peace so they can as well have peace in their domains.

Also speaking at the event, the Vice Chairman , Osaigbovo Peter Idele, said "We are determined to sustain the tempo of peace in Ikpoba Hill. This is Ikpoba Hill Youths Carnival, we are celebrating with ourselves for the end of year celebration because the year has come to an end and we are happy that we are alive and we have every reason to celebrate because of the peace in our community while other Youths in other areas are busy killing themselves but here we say no to cultism and no to killings. This is one of the major reasons why our chairman, number one peace Ambassador said we should all come together to celebrate the end of year because of the peace we have witnessed in Ikpoba Hill community.

According to the group's Public Relations Officer, Comrade Osaretin Vincent. "This is our Carnival to celebrate the end of year because 2023 was a very successful year for us because we were able to organize a massive protest which was able to draw the attention of the government to fix the dilapidated road in Ikpoba Hill. The protest was peaceful all through the period and there was no violence, no break down of law and order and we decided this time around to bring the Youths together to reinforce that peaceful conviviality that exists between us and it is a way to thank the Youths for being so well behaved. Here in Ikpoba Hill, we abhor violence and killings but we are for peace and for protection of one another. Here in Ikpoba Hill we don't kill one another instead we protect ourselves no matter the difference or disagreement. Different colors are separating and tearing us apart. Whatever colours that may exist, Ikpoba Hill Youths is one color which represents peace. We are brothers and we are one and therefore we will not kill ourselves for whatever reason.

On his part, Comrade Osarebore Etinosa- Assistant Secretary of Ikpoba Hill Youths Forum said that the measure of success that they have recorded in Ikpoba Hill Youths, was dependent on God the Almighty, who has given the leadership of the Forum resources of wisdom to navigate the intricacies of its affairs. "We have decided that we should come together to help ourselves and our people instead of segregating one another. We believe in the power of unity and that is why we have decided to come together and my advice to Youths in other communities in Edo state in particular and Nigeria in general is that they should eschew violence and crime but should emulate what we are doing here in Ikpoba Hill so that they can enjoy peace as well.