Agitators against the recently passed Akwa Ibom State Map Establishment Law 2023 have been urged to sheath their swords and embrace the new law.
The Special Assistant to Governor Udom Emmanuel on Media, Richard Peters made the appeal on Friday, shortly after the President General of Traditional Rulers Council, Ntenyin Solomon Etuk called for peace over the law.
In an interview with some journalists in Uyo, the Media Aide noted that the law was not maliciously intended but aimed at bringing tremendous development while ending incessant communal clashes and crises that had bedevilled some areas of the state.
Noting that the mapping of the state is about knowing the official boundaries of each local council area, he said it has no bearing on their social coexistence.
He said, βThe 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.β
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.
His words, βWe are all aware of the havoc unleashed by communal clashes and crisis which bothers on land boundaries disputes, are we satisfied with the bloodletting? We have lost precious souls, property and businesses to the menace. Thus the option of the state mapping is to end the ugly incidents, and cement our unity while accelerating the development of the state.β
Peters also urged the people to extol the giant strides of the governor on project commissioning rather than being attacked over misunderstood lofty ideas.
