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Pulse of Unity, 14 Edem Ekpenyong Street, Timber Market, Port Harcourt (2025)

08/09/2025

59TH EPISODE IN PICTURES... Solution Journalist/Editor Ogar Monday was our guest last week Saturday

06/09/2025

PULSE OF UNITY with Ukorebi Esien and Efio-ita Nyok

Episode 59
Saturday 6th September 2025

Episode Topic:
When Leaders Clash: Local Government Conflicts and Grassroots Peace in Cross River State

Synopsis:
In recent weeks, Cross River State has witnessed a troubling wave of conflicts between the legislative and executive arms of local government councils. From suspensions to impeachment attempts, these internal battles are shaking the very foundations of grassroots governance. Etung, Abi, Yala, and other LGAs have all made headlines for the wrong reasons, raising critical questions:

When leaders clash, who suffers most? How do these disputes affect the delivery of essential services, the stability of our communities, and the trust of the people in governance? And most importantly, how can we transform political conflict into opportunities for dialogue and reform rather than division and unrest?

In this episode of Pulse of Unity with Ukorebi Esien and Efio-ita Nyok, we dig deep into the roots and ripple effects of these crises. Through expert insights, community perspectives, and practical peacebuilding tools, we examine how citizens, civil society, and traditional institutions can play a role in de-escalating tensions and promoting accountability.

As always, we open the phone lines to hear your thoughts:
👉 How have leadership tussles in your LGA affected development in your community?
👉 What peaceful solutions can restore trust and stability at the grassroots?

Join us on Pulse of Unity this Saturday, from 8:15 am to 9:10 am, only on FAD 93.1 FM, as we continue to build our communities peace by peace.
If you are not in Calabar, you can join us through Radio Garden
https://radio.garden/listen/fad-fm-93-1-calabar/C4OkZBzL

24/08/2025

🎙️ Pulse of Unity— Episode 58 Summary

Topic: When Politics Meets Terror: The Canadian Court Ruling on APC and PDP
Date: Saturday, August 13, 2025
Hosts: Ukorebi Esien & Efio-Ita Nyok
Station: FAD 93.1 FM

🔍 Episode Summary

In this week’s episode of Pulse of Unity, we turn our spotlight to a landmark ruling from a Federal Court in Ottawa, Canada, that has sent shockwaves across Nigeria’s political landscape. On June 17, 2025, the court upheld a decision classifying Nigeria’s two dominant parties — the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) — as “terrorist organisations” for immigration purposes under Canadian law.

The judgment, delivered in the asylum case of Nigerian politician Douglas Egharevba, cited decades of electoral violence, voter intimidation, ballot stuffing, and subversion of democratic processes linked to both parties, particularly in the 2003 and 2004 elections.

Unsurprisingly, the ruling has triggered heated reactions: the PDP described it as “biased and misinformed,” while the APC dismissed it as “ignorant of Nigeria’s political realities.” The Nigerian government has also urged Canada to reconsider, warning of possible diplomatic strain.

But what does this ruling truly mean? Does it amount to a blanket declaration of APC and PDP as terrorist groups? Or is it simply a legal interpretation limited to Canadian immigration law? More importantly, what does this mean for Nigeria’s global image, its democracy, and the credibility of its political institutions?

Join Ukorebi Esien and Efio-Ita Nyok as they unpack the facts, probe the political and diplomatic implications, and engage expert voices and citizens’ perspectives on whether this ruling is a wake-up call for Nigeria’s democracy or just a courtroom technicality blown out of proportion.
Victoria Omini was our guest.

18/08/2025

🎙️ Pulse of Unity – Episode 57

Topic: The Flight Ban Controversy: Comfort Emmanson Bob Vs. Ibom Air
Date: Saturday, August 17, 2025
Hosts: Ukorebi Esien & Efio-Ita Nyok
Station: FAD 93.1 FM

🔍 Episode Summary

In this edition of Pulse of Unity, we revisit a case that has gripped public attention across Nigeria’s aviation and legal circles: the Comfort Emmanson Bob vs. Ibom Air controversy.

💥 The drama began when Bob, a passenger onboard Ibom Air, reportedly refused to switch off her mobile phone during a flight despite crew instructions. What followed was a heated confrontation that spiraled into national headlines. Ibom Air swiftly imposed a lifetime flight ban on her—a move some hailed as a strict but necessary step for aviation safety, while others condemned it as an abuse of corporate power.

🛑 Matters escalated when a magistrate court sentenced Bob to one month in prison, raising public outcry. Was the punishment fair or excessive? Should such disputes be handled through punitive justice, corporate sanctions, or mediation and dialogue?

This case resonates with wider Nigerian experiences of corporate-citizen clashes:

* When banks froze accounts without due process, sparking protests.
* When telecoms barred subscribers over SIM issues, triggering lawsuits.
* When airlines delayed or canceled flights without refunds, leaving passengers stranded.

Each episode reminds us of the delicate balance between corporate authority and citizen dignity. The Bob case has now become a flashpoint for rethinking how rules, power, and justice intersect in Nigeria’s public life.

📢 At the heart of this episode, we unpack the multiple peacebuilding perspectives:

* Conflict Prevention: Could Ibom Air staff have de-escalated the situation with tact and communication rather than confrontation?
* Restorative Justice: Instead of a prison term and permanent ban, could community service, fines, or structured apologies have better restored peace?
* Corporate Responsibility: Where do airlines draw the line between protecting safety and upholding customer rights?
* Citizen Responsibility: How do personal discipline and respect for rules prevent small disputes from turning into national controversies?
* Systemic Lessons: What this case teaches about the intersection of law, corporate policy, and peacebuilding in Nigeria’s democracy.

🎧 Tune in as we analyze testimonies, explore government and community responses, and hear from voices calling for justice, fairness, and reconciliation.

👉 Join Ukorebi Esien and Efio-Ita Nyok this Saturday at 9 a.m. on FAD 93.1 FM for an in-depth conversation that goes beyond the headlines to ask: Is this about aviation safety or a miscarriage of justice?

✨ Peacebuilding Reflection: “When justice is heavy-handed and rules are rigid, peace takes flight before the plane does.”

09/08/2025

🎙️ Pulse of Unity – Episode 56

Topic: Breaking the Cycle: Understanding and Ending Cult Violence in Cross River
Date: Saturday, August 9, 2025
Hosts: Ukorebi Esien & Efio-Ita Nyok
Station: FAD 93.1 FM

🔍 Episode Summary

In this edition of Pulse of Unity, we turn our focus to the disturbing resurgence of cult-related violence across Cross River State—an epidemic of killings and clashes threatening public safety and community life.

💥 From Ugep in Yakurr LGA, where a broad-daylight confrontation between rival cult factions left one man dead, to Obudu, where internal gang rivalries turned deadly, and Ikom, which recorded its first fatal cult clash in Olulumo Ward, the wave of violence is spreading. These incidents have left multiple fatalities, survivors nursing serious injuries, and entire communities living in fear.

🛑 Authorities are responding. The Cross River Commissioner of Police has deployed tactical units to affected areas, vowing to arrest and prosecute those responsible. In some communities, peace accords—like the one recently signed in Obudu—are helping to defuse tensions, but underlying causes remain.

📢 Experts and community leaders warn that cultism thrives on compromised values from the nascent phase of the family and religious institutions, youth unemployment, poverty, political exploitation of gangs, and unresolved communal disputes. Without tackling these roots, enforcement alone will not bring lasting peace.

🎧 In this episode, we discuss:

* The root causes of cultism: from economic hardship to political complicity
* The human cost of the recent killings and why communities are feeling unsafe
* Solutions that work – combining strict law enforcement with youth empowerment programs and local peacebuilding
* The role of ordinary citizens in resisting and reporting cult activities

💡 Key questions we ask:

* How can Cross River break free from the cycle of cult violence?
* What’s the right balance between policing and prevention?
* Can community-led initiatives, like peace accords, make a real difference?

📢 Call to Action:
Cult violence is not inevitable. It can be stopped when communities unite, leaders show political will, and young people are given hope and opportunity. The time to act is now.

02/08/2025

🎙️Pulse of Unity – Episode 55

Topic: Land, Loss, and the Long Road to Peace: Inside the Ochon-Alesi Conflict
Date: Saturday, August 3, 2025
Hosts: Ukorebi Esien & Efio-Ita Nyok
Station: FAD 93.1 FM

🔍 Episode Summary

In this edition of Pulse of Unity, we shine a spotlight on the smouldering conflict between Ochon in Obubra LGA and Alesi in Ikom LGA—a long-standing communal dispute in Cross River State that has, once again, flared up violently.

💥 Triggered by land disputes, boundary disagreements, and alleged farm thefts, the latest violence has left at least eight people dead, over 2,000 displaced, and countless properties destroyed. Most recently, renewed hostilities in July 2025 forced authorities to act fast.

🛑 The Cross River State government, led by Deputy Governor Hon. Peter Odey, convened a peace meeting on July 30, 2025, bringing together traditional rulers, security heads, and local officials. Key decisions included:

* A temporary halt to land activities in the disputed area
* Formation of an 8-member peace committee
* A follow-up review scheduled for August 13
* Threats of suspension for any local government chairmen who fail to enforce peace

📢 Governor Bassey Otu has taken a firm stance: “The time for rhetoric is over. We must act now.”

📷 Meanwhile, disturbing images of past violence—including the 2022 clash—continue to circulate online, reminding us of the human toll. The Obubra-Ikom highway, once blocked by aggrieved youth, has reopened, but tension still lingers.

🎧 Join us as we hear testimonies, analyze government response, and ask critical questions:

* Can peace truly hold this time?
* What role should local communities play in enforcing agreements?
* Is land ownership worth more than human lives?

21/07/2025

🎙️ Pulse of Unity – Episode 54
🕊️ “When Brothers War: Obudu, Vandeikya & the Burden of Unresolved Boundaries”
📻 Aired on: FAD 93.1FM
📅 Saturday, July 20, 2025
🕘 8:15–9:10 AM

In this emotionally charged edition of Pulse of Unity, we turn our lens to the renewed communal hostilities between Obudu in Cross River State and Tiv communities in Vandeikya, Benue State, a conflict stretching back to the early 1990s.

The episode explores:
🔹 Why years of intergovernmental dialogue and local peace meetings have failed to yield lasting peace
🔹 The impacts of recurring violence on education, livelihoods, and social trust
🔹 Eyewitness and community accounts from Obudu, Vandeikya, and border communities
🔹 The role of boundary demarcation, state inaction, and community fatigue
🔹 Tensions between internal communal conflict and the external threat of herder encroachment

Listeners are expected to later in the show call in, however while there are ongoing calls for urgent action, at Pulse of Unity we rather echo one common question:

“When will this cycle of violence end?”

We will also spotlight a brewing cult clash in Ikom, where gang violence has claimed lives in Olulumo Ward and homes have been razed in Alisi Community, further deepening concerns over youth radicalisation and weak conflict prevention systems.

🎧 Pulse of Unity continues to amplify community voices in conflict and peacebuilding, offering a platform for truth-telling, accountability, and healing.

12/07/2025

PULSE OF UNITY | EPISODE 53
🗓️ Saturday, 12th July 2025
🕕 8:15 to 9.10AM | FAD 93.1 FM and online

🎙️ TOPIC: Education in Crisis – UNICAL Dental Scandal and the Fallout of Institutional Power Abuse

Hundreds of dental students at the University of Calabar have just discovered that their department has no valid accreditation—after years of study, exams, and heavy financial sacrifice. Now, many—including final-year students—have been sent home indefinitely.

Who is responsible? What happens to their future? And how did this pass under the radar for so long?

Join your hosts Efio-Ita Nyok and Ukorebi Esien as they unpack the conflict, injustice, and silence surrounding this shocking development.

🎧 Guests:
👤 Abanda J. Uket – Public affairs commentator
👤 Cletus Asuquo –Journalist and peace building practitioner

💬 Join the conversation with your thoughts and questions.

👉 Listen live on FAD 93.1 FM

06/07/2025

Episode 52

Broken Brothers: The Ovonum–Ofatura Crisis in Obubra LGA

Episode Summary: This episode of Pulse of Unity examines the recurring communal conflict between the Ovonum and Ofatura communities in Obubra Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria. Once united under the historic Adon Kingdom, these two communities have been embroiled in a decades-long boundary dispute, recently reignited with devastating consequences—hundreds of homes burned, lives lost, and thousands displaced.

Despite a 2023 and 2024 peace agreements brokered through civil society and traditional rulers—including a symbolic signing on donated Bibles—the violence resurfaced, raising pressing questions about the durability of grassroots peace accords, the role of the government, and deeper issues of trust, justice, and land ownership.

This episode brings together community voices, conflict resolution practitioners, civil society actors, and government perspectives to reflect on:

* The roots of the Ovonum–Ofatura crisis
* Efforts at peacebuilding and where they faltered
* Sustainable solutions for long-term peace in Obubra and other similar conflict zones.

Talking Points:

1. Background & Context

* Overview of the Adon Kingdom and shared history between Ovonum and Ofatura.
* How colonial boundaries and modern land ownership disputes have contributed to communal tensions.
* Timeline of the conflict (notably 2023 and 2024/25 resurgence).

2. Recent Developments

* Destruction: 300+ homes razed, multiple deaths, 3,000 displaced (per Vanguard & Converseer reports).
* 2023 Peace Accord facilitated by Partners for Peace (P4P), traditional leaders, and CSOs.
* Formation of a 10-member peace committee by Obubra LGA Council.

3. Failures and Challenges

* Why the 2023 peace agreement failed to hold.
* Lack of enforcement mechanisms and persistent boundary ambiguities.
* Youth retaliation, poverty, and trauma as drivers of renewed violence.

4. Government and Security Response

* Governor Bassey Otu’s deployment of the military and his public calls for calm.
* Role of Hon. Egbe Abeng and the House of Assembly.
* Community perceptions of bias or neglect in state response.

5. The Role of Civil Society and Traditional Institutions

* Significance of symbolic peace gestures (e.g., Bibles, royal mediation).
* Role of CSOs like Partners for Peace and PIND Foundation in dialogue facilitation.
* Opportunities and gaps in community-level conflict management.

6. Proposals for Sustainable Peace

* Community-driven boundary demarcation and land-use planning.
* Joint youth empowerment initiatives (skills training, farming cooperatives).
* Early warning and response systems at the ward and LGA level.
* Integrating women and youth more intentionally in peace committees.

7. Voices from the Ground

* Testimonies from displaced families and residents of Ovonum and Ofatura.
* Civil society responses to displacement and trauma healing.
* What reconciliation could truly look like going forward.

28/06/2025

Episode 51

Blood in the Hills: Understanding the Roots of Youth Violence and Communal Conflict in Cross River.

Episode Summary

In Episode 51 of Pulse of Unity, we confront two harrowing incidents currently shaking the peace of Cross River State — the brutal cult-related alleged killing of Eugene Adie in Obudu, and the renewed communal bloodshed between Isobendeghe and Boje communities in Boki.

Our guest, Dr. Wisdom Owa, of the Department of Conflict Resolution, Office of the Deputy Governor, joins us to unravel the layers beneath these tragedies. From cultism’s grip on young people to land disputes manipulated by elite interests, we ask: What fuels the recurring violence in our state? Why do government-led peace efforts struggle to hold? And most importantly, what can be done differently?

This episode challenges political silence, probes systemic failures, and seeks answers for a safer, saner Cross River.

23/06/2025

Yipeee! It's our 50th episode!

At the 50th episode of Pulse of Unity, PoU we had two cerebral guests, Anthony Archibong and Endurance Okpa Agbor Esq who joined co-hosts Ukorebi Esien and Efio-Ita Nyok to discuss “Cross River Central Conflict Dynamics: Assessing Governance Responses”. The episode torchlighted Yelewata in Benue Massacre and the Failure of Early Warning and Early Response, EWER systems.

Agbor Esq, during the discussion, hinted at his recent tour of the 60 wards which constitute the Cross River Central Senatorial District of the state and his discovery of immense economic potentials in the district. He suggested that senatorial districts in Nigeria should not just be deemed political areas but, economic centres. Do you agree?

14/06/2025

Pulse of Unity – Episode 49

Theme: Democracy on Trial: Power, Accountability, and the People
Date: June 14, 2025
Hosts: Ukorebi Esien & Dr. Efio-Ita Nyok

Broadcast Station: FAD 93.1 FM

🎧 EPISODE SYNOPSIS

This 49th episode of Pulse of Unity examines the paradoxes of democracy in Cross River State—especially as Nigeria just celebrated 26 years of uninterrupted democratic rule. Yet, recent events raise serious questions about the health of democracy at the state level.

We explore three interwoven stories:

1. Legislative Overreach: The controversial summons of Ejim Johnny Agogo by the Cross River State House of Assembly—initiated by Congressman Omang Charles—and the subsequent withdrawal following public backlash.

2. Alleged Assault and Executive Impunity: The slapping incident involving Cross River State Water Board MD, Godwin Nyiam, allegedly by the Security Adviser to the Governor, Major General Obono (rtd).

3. Intergovernmental Tension: The political fallout from the NDDC projects commissioning in Calabar South, and the state government's strong pushback against perceived false narratives.

Through this episode, we ask: How democratic are our institutions when citizens feel threatened for speaking out? When elected officials overstep their constitutional boundaries? And when development becomes politicized?

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