A coalition of youth groups under the aegis ‘Vote Not Fight, Election No Be War’ has urged the electorate to shun all forms of violence as the 2023 general election draws near.
The group in collaboration with ‘AWA INITIATIVE’, which represents ‘A Well-Informed Adolescent Initiative’ and Onyx Foundation Africa as well as the Bridge Leadership Foundation took to the streets and markets of Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, southern Nigeria to educate the people about the importance of the Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs.
Enhancing PVC collection
The young people carried various placards as well as banners with inscriptions such as “It is your turn to choose, who you want. Go get your PVC” and “Youths With A Difference” as well as “Your Vote Will Count” and “Your Vote Na Your Voice” along the streets equally distributing hundreds of flyers to drive home the message.
The Deputy Coordinator of ‘Vote Not Fight’ campaign, Miss Ukeme Ekong said “the Vote Not Fight, Election No Be War is actually a coalition of youths’ groups in Cross River State engaged in activities targeted at women and young people.
“We decided that at this point, we as young people needed to take the message of non-violence to the communities and others like us. Our message also centres on the collection of PVCs. In Cross River State, more than 300 thousand PVCs are yet to be collected,” she noted.
“we cannot say ‘Vote Not Fight’ when we have not even collected our PVCs. So, it is our civic responsibility as citizens and young people in Cross River to take the message to our people. It is not just enough for us to make all the noise, we must learn to lead by example.
“Our message is to encourage Nigerians to go and collect their PVCs and shun all forms of violence before, during and after the elections. We also emphasized the importance of casting of votes properly. We discouraged vote buying and selling as well as other vices that might rob the people of the opportunity of free, fair and credible elections,” the deputy coordinator said.
Rewarding outcome
According to the deputy coordinator, the people they met were ready to be engaged and asked questions on the locations of the PVC collection centre and the full meaning of the acronym PVC.
Ekong said, “at the various political wards we went to in Calabar Municipality and Calabar South local government area, citizens had the opportunity to interact with us on a personal level. They needed to know the different PVC collection centres in their areas, which we oblige them.
“Some people especially in the rural areas and even in the semi-urban and urban centres do not know the meaning of PVC and what it represents. We were able to help them understand what the acronym PVC stands for. We showed them our own cards as examples of the PVC. So, we had a satisfactory outing because we were able to take the messages to the hearts of most of those we met,” she said.
The young people used the main local language Efik and Pidgin English to educate the people in addition to distributing INEC flyers and stickers designed for awareness creation.
Olusola Akintonde
