Love to the Streets - Ilorin Pictures and Report

LTTS Ilorin was slated for 3pm with the meeting point as Tipper Garage. Only five volunteers were present by 3. We proceeded to share a little on what the initiative is about and the itinerary for the day but then decided to wait till 3.30pm to allow more volunteers join us.

While we waited, we moved a bit further towards Tanke to find a more conducive spot to wait for others where we took a few pictures before take off. We were lucky to find a business owner kind enough to accommodate our bags while we took #LoveToTheStreets.

We shared briefly on what the initiative entailed and what information the questionnaire hoped to achieve and then divided into two groups to begin our research. At this time 10 volunteers were present.

One group started with some bikers at Tipper Garage and worked all the way back to where we convened while the other group worked on the other side and eventually split into two with one group going back to the Tipper Garage roundabout as a lot of the people we interviewed commented that it was the only site of any major conflict in that area.

We also met a woman who really seemed pained with the situation of things in the country stating that lack of family values really is the core of societal ills. She went on to educate the two volunteers with her on building values so as to maintain peace and raise well rounded individuals for leadership in our future Nigeria.

One person went to get snacks and two more volunteers joined us along the way. We reconvened at our dispersal point introducing  ourselves and sharing our experiences. We then took the placards and walked with the peace message to NNPC petrol station with volunteers occasionally stopping for people to read the messages inscribed.

At NNPC, we shared snacks, concluded with talking about OCI and the importance of continuing the message of peace. We also got final feedback from volunteers about their experiences.

A few things we noted are these:

1) A couple of people wanted a contact for NSCDC and we promised to get back to them.

2) Tipper Garage was a relatively peaceful area for infrequent scuffles between bus drivers over passengers or okada drivers with tax collectors. These incidents seemed to be intense when they occurred as shop owners reported closing their shops in such occurrences.

3) We realised that though some people knew about the NSCDC, they were not aware of the Peace and Conflict Resolution unit and we were glad to enlighten them.

4) A lawyer some members of our team met, talked about a branch of NSCDC that the Kwara State Government has specifically created located at Flower Gardens and we promised to check them out.

Generally at Tipper Garage, we admonished them on the importance of peace and love and where to drop complaint if conflict arises.

It was an opportunity to do the little we can, where we are, with what we had (our knowledge, time and the available resources)


Signed,
Adeboye Oluwaseun (Volunteer City Coordinator)