My name is Uduak Etuk; I’m from Ekono Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. Currently, I’m a woodworker. I graduated with a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Business Administration. After my NYSC (National Youth Service Corps), I have worked for several corporate bodies as an administrator, but I never saw the satisfaction in the job, so I had to stop. Then I picked up a form to start my post-graduate diploma, but along the line, there was no money for school fee, so I paused.

They [conflicts] reflect differences in values, clashes of interests, and the ensuing tensions between the various, different groupings. It is not the conflicts per se that is the problem, but the manner in which they are resolved…I didn’t know anything about conflict management. But ever since I started attending the P4P [Network] trainings, I now step up to get involved in conflict situations. In my community— Ossah, Umuahia North LGA, Abia State—there was a boundary dispute, and with the knowledge acquired from the P4P [Network] training on conflict management, I mitigated this conflict.

With strong field work experience garnered over the years as a member of the Conflict Prevent Committee of the Partners for Peace in the Niger Delta (P4P) Imo State Chapter and the Oguta LGA sub-chapter, I have navigated the nooks and crannies communities, building community and family peace and resolving conflicts across Imo State and some Niger Delta states

After participating in PIND’s training on EWER (early warning and early response), Amamogiran set up an early response subgroup in the five (5) communities that his organization works with Amatu 1, Amatu 2, Bilabiri 1, Bilabiri 2, Bisangbene in Ekeremor LCA of Bayelsa State. The subgroups make use of the EWER system to get timely information and mitigate conflict quickly before it escalates. This has greatly helped in reducing conflict incidences in those communities.

“During training by the P4P [Network], I was taught how to use various methods to address conflicts in my communities. When I became the CSO, I tried to use force to end the conflicts, but it was not working. Then, I introduced a football competition. I give a little token to the first, second, and third winning teams. And after that, I will gather both winners and losers back to the community and tell them that, “You are one (1), both winners and losers.” I teach them how to be together, be their brother’s keepers. And they go home very happy.”

My name is Blessing Samuel. I live in Rivers State. I got to know about the NDYEP training project through a friend who happened to be a member of the Rivers State Youth Empowerment ministry. Before I joined the PIND training program, I had no idea whatsoever with anything that has to do with aquaculture. In short, I felt when you talk about fisheries or talk about poultry, It had to do with farmers who are from the rural villages. The PIND empowerment training program has changed a lot of things for me.

My Name is Tari Jackson. I have been living in Fish Town since 2002. And, in 2003, I started the fish drying business, which we send to Yenagoa. We are always drying fish every day. So, when we heard that there is a cold room here in Fish Town and this is really going to help us a lot because sometimes our fishes get spoiled because there is no firewood to keep it from getting spoiled and as a result of that, we lose a lot of money…

My name is Kehinde Emmanuel Tayo, CEO of Vectis Business Option, a company built on the promises of renewable energy to bring power to the people of this great country. Our quest to solve energy challenges has brought us into the mini-grid-energy space to provide power for the people in the underserved and unserved communities of rural communities in Nigeria. Our partnership with PIND has brought about this relationship where we are able to reach out to more communities in the coastal region to provide them energy access to power.

’Training these farmers, they always complain. Some of them say,” We want to expand, how do you come to our aid’’? So, we package them together in groups in clusters. And, as I am talking to you right now, they are being taken to the CBN under the Anchor Borrowers programs so that it can help them to maintain their plantation. It can help them to expand their farms. They are following their CBN processes; they have been introduced, they have been trained by DDI (a PIND-trained BSP), interviewed, asked to package their papers. And they have done all those things. They are now feeling the impact of PIND.

My name is Peter Wealth. I am from Akwa Ibom State, married with four (4) children. I am into movie production, which has been a long-time passion since I was 16. I heard about PIND for the first time from Filmatura Film Production (a PIND-trained BSP (business service provider)], who did several trainings for a group of us on movie making, music video, photography, and cinematography.

My name is Nzeota Prince Uche, from Abia State, married to a lady from Osun State, and we have three (3) children. I am a poultry farmer and poultry service provider too. I am also into fish and snail farming. I have known PIND for about four (4) years now. When I came to PIND, I was doing like 50-100 broilers.

I am Akandu Godwin from Port-Harcourt, Rivers State. I deal on agro-input, mostly fertilizer and agrochemicals. I received some orientation and training from PIND (on palm oil best management practices) in 2018—2019 and started officially partnering with them. Since I met with PIND in the first place, they broadened my knowledge. They added value to my business, so it’s not just to tell a customer, “please buy fertilizer.” Now, I can tell them the right fertilizer to buy and the method of application, and those things have increased my output.

“I am Anthony Akinmade, a farmer from Ondo State, and also one (1) of the agro-dealers that PIND trained through Saro Company in farming cocoa, farming in palm oil, farming in cassava. I have five (5) to seven (7) people that I have, in turn, trained on how to use the machines to prune cocoa trees, to clear, to apply chemical, and different types of chemicals to be applied, and they have joined me, and we are working together. If I get some little job at a farm, I call them so we can go together. Right now, I have maybe 5000 farmers I have trained that I know with their numbers, their names, with their villages. At least one (1) of them calls me per day. I go to one (1) farm and send my boys (co-trainers) to the other villages. We go there, we negotiate fees, and it’s been moving fine as we are getting more profits and more gain from it. PIND has added so much income for me. They (PIND and Saro Company) trained us, and we went outside there and told some people, and through us, they have gained so many things too”.

I am Mrs. Vivian Dada, a fish smoker in Madangho coastal community, Warri South local government area, Delta State. Before, I used the local drum to smoke my fish, and it gave me a lot of stress. When they did a demonstration of the Chorkor oven to us, I bought five (5) of them for my business. The Chorkor oven has really helped me save money because it does not consume a lot of firewood, it does not stress me, and it does not take a lot of time to dry the fish.

My name is Alfred Ukane from Delta State. My journey started in 2013 when I was a farm manager in a fish farm for three (3) years, and after that time, I decided to move on to start doing my own business in agriculture. At the time, I was, literally, just running about with no structure, nothing. One (1) day, somebody introduced me to PIND.

It (the loan) has helped me a lot in my expansion because there were things that I needed to get, some equipment I needed to get…then I needed to get irrigation materials because the main thing involved in farming on an expanse of land is irrigation. If you have proper irrigation, you can use as much land as possible…the poultry area had to employ three new people, two males and one female “

Thank God another door has opened to me…before now, I was just engaged in tailoring…being a tailor is good but when I came to know about solar and started doing this installation, more funds are coming…. I now pay more bills which I couldn’t afford before, put more food on the table which I also couldn’t do before…it has helped a lot, and it has doubled the standard of my living. “

The Warri MSP has done great. You can find out too that if an Ijaw has an occasion, Itsekiris will join them. The people are now living together and doing things together. I can assure you that if we continue like this, the sky will be our limit. Because the rate at which we are relating and communicating to each other shows that the future will be bright as far as conflict management is concerned.”

One of the most important first term achievements/deliverables which history will give you much respect for is the 30-year Growth and Development Strategy for Cross Rivers State.
The document is so good that it can be a standard/reference point for all States and the Federal Government of Nigeria. You should be very proud of it, show it off and use it. “

“Before, we can get like 10,000 Naira from one plot after harvesting but now, because of the improved variety of cassava, one can make around 25,000 – 30,000 Naira from one plot. I have 4 kids with my mother and brothers and others…at least we have been feeding very well now…I can send my children to private school . I can treat them very well and I can pay for all those things because of this improvement.”

“Now that we have solar power, the amount of noise pollution by generators is reduced. Situations where you want to sleep but can’t because of the noise from your neighbors’ generator, that doesn’t happen anymore… it has been a long time we have seen something like this …we don’t see such often here so we are happy and grateful.”

“Following the CAPABLE trainings, my organization’s efforts at transforming life of women in rural areas have started yielding results. Besides serving as a mentor to others, it has trained and empowered women in soap making, batik and climate friendly fish smoking. Today, because of our organizational capacity, we have been able to access the status of co-facilitator in promoting access to new smoking technology to women fish smokers in riverine areas.”

I came in contact with PIND a few months ago. But before then, I had been hearing about their impacts across the Niger delta. And I have seen their support for women in the Niger delta. When you tell people that you are a woman in construction, people wonder, but with the support of PIND I am more confident in my work since I know what I am doing.”

“We started adopting the best management practices in 2018 when a team from PIND introduced it to us. As soon as we now went into pruning and the best management practices, we were having more yield. This period, we have about 250 liters per week because I have more bunches where before it wasn’t up to 50 liters. There is increase in production, so the staff strength increased so as to be able to cover the entire farm. In 2018, I had just five (5) workers, in 2019 seven (7) workers and in early 2020 now, I have fifteen (15) workers.”