Author: The Nation

Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II, has voided the unauthorised installation of Pa Godwin Efosa Usiomoifo as Odionwere (Head) of Iguomo in Ovia Northeast Local Government of Edo State, for breach of Benin custom and tradition.

The Oyeoba of Benin, Chief Oghafua Oyeoba, yesterday conveyed the decision of the special committee set up by the first-class monarch to look into the crisis in the village, where some elders, including Messrs. Henry Idemudia and Osabuohien Osarogiagbon, gave their perspectives in the crisis.

Oyeoba, who was joined by other Benin palace chiefs, addressed the actors in the crisis, and declared that Usiomoifo, the Ozukpogieva (second-in-command) of Iguomo, failed to get the palace’s approval, before the installation of the new Odionwere.

The Benin palace, according to the Chief Press Secretary to the Oba of Benin, Osaigbovo Iguobaro, also restrained Usiomoifo from parading himself as Odionwere of Iguomo, until approval was given for his installation.

Chief Oyeoba, who was supported by the Aghamioba of Benin, Chief Ogbemudia Emovoen, faulted the appointments, including that of Okaighele, allegedly done by Usiomoifo in his capacity as the Ozukpogieva of Iguomo, noting that they were done in error, thereby making them to amount to nullity in Benin Kingdom.

Iguobaro said: “When an Odionwere dies, the Okaighele (youth leader), who the transited Odionwere appointed, remains until the installation of a new Odionwere, who reserves the right to either retain him or replace him with another person.

“When a new Odionwere emerges, and he appoints another Okaighele, the immediate past Okaighele becomes eligible to be elevated to Edion (village elders) group, if he has been found worthy in character by the elders.”

The chief press secretary also revealed that the palace of Oba of Benin frowned on the alleged violation of the rights of one of the female elders in Iguomo, Mrs. Nowamagbe Egharevba Idemudia, who told the palace that her farmland was grabbed by some villagers, who destroyed her economic crops during the crisis.

The Ozukpogieva was urged to ensure unity in the village, and make peace with the septuagenarian and other aggrieved people, for overall peace and development.

The leader of Biafra Independence Movement (BIM), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, has said non-violent principle towards the carving out of Biafra as a separate and independent state from Nigeria is still on course.

In commemoration of the 2023 Biafra Day celebration to mark the 23rd year of the historic re-declaration of the ‘New Biafra’ on Faulks Road, Aba, on May 22, 2000, Uwazuruike said the struggle for the actualisation of sovereign state of Biafra had not failed.

A statement yesterday signed on his behalf by the Director of Information/ Senior Special Assistant to BIM/MASSOB on Media and Publicity, Mazi Chris  Mocha, said according to world history, “there is no revolutionary struggle, no matter how long it takes, that has ever failed to achieve its goals and objectives.”

He admitted that starting a revolution as he did 23 years ago on Faulks Road, Aba, Abia State was the most trying times and difficult decision anyone could take in his life and he did it and carried the cross for the sake of the oppressed and marginalised people of Biafra.

Uwazuruike listed some of the activities lined up for this year’s anniversary to include, among other things, to bring to the attention of the Unrepresented Nations and People’s Organisations (UNPO) and other United Nations (UN) bodies to the fact that Biafra struggle for independence from Nigeria was still on course.

He enjoined the world body to avoid being double standard on the issue of Biafra, noting that the UN had in recent years accorded recognition to some nations in Europe with smaller population.

“Free Biafra from Nigeria by doing the needful according to your own laid down principles on self-determination,” Uwazuruike tasked the world body.

On why he had chosen May 22nd every year as Biafra Day, as against May 30th, Uwazuruike said what he re-declared in Aba on May 22, 2000 (23 years ago) was  ‘New Biafra’.

He said BIM-MASSOB as the main body genuinely fighting for the struggle for independent Biafra, was not in conflict with the Biafra of the old, adding that every May 30th was set aside by BIM-MASSOB for football matches in memory of the fallen heroes of Biafra.

He said the name ‘New Biafra’ was derived from the fact that the Biafra of today was different from the Biafra of 1967.

The Biafra of 1967, according to the BIM leader, was characterised by violence and this led to loss of about 3 million lives, while the New Biafra, which he started on September 13, 1999, and submitted the Bill of Rights to the United Nations on November 1, 1999 was built on non-violence  and non-exodus philosophy.

He advised members of BIM-MASSOB wherever they were found at home or in the diaspora to celebrate the 23rd anniversary in their regional offices.

The MASSOB leader said: “The former Biafra led by Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was discontinued after about three years of war (1967-1970), while the New Biafra is a continuation of the former, with a new method, new concept and new ideology.”

Uwazuruike told Ndigbo that to avoid jeopardising their huge investments outside Igbo land and loss of lives, MASSOB had, since inception in 1999, adopted the principle of non-violence and non-exodus philosophy to guide the struggle.

Abia State chapter of the Labour Party (LP) has reportedly pulled out from the planned Abia local government election holding on May 19, by the Abia State Independent Electoral Commission (ABSIEC), led by Mkpa Agu Mkpa, a former Education commissioner in the state.

LP in a statement issued by its Publicity Secretary, Jerry Njoku, alleged that the leadership of ABSIEC was planning to use local government workers to rig the poll.

The LP claimed that there was an existing court order at the Abia State High Court against the election and accused the ABSIEC chairman of being desperate to please his employer and members of his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government.

Abia LP, describing the local government election as a waste of the state resources, wondered why the state government would want to organise a council election when it owed some workers up to three months’ salary.

LP in the statement said: “We are also aware of the attempt by Abia State Local Government Workers Union to illegally conduct the Local Government Workers Staff Union election before the handing over date of May 29, 2023 even before the expiration of their tenure, which is statutorily fixed for September 2023.

“More so, I have come across political advertisement for the local government elections on the social media platforms by individuals who I will consider as ‘unfortunate’ to allow themselves to be misguided by paid sycophants and stooges of the outgoing PDP government of Abia State.

“For the benefit of doubt; there is an existing court injunction that has restrained ABSIEC from conducting any council election, pending the determination of the motion on notice with suit No. HAR/8/2023 of Abia High Court

“Therefore, Labour Party, Abia, after deliberations by members of her State Working Committee (SWC) on the 9th May 2023 has resolved not to participate in the forthcoming local government elections scheduled to take place on May 19, 2023.

“As a law-abiding party, we owe the people of Abia State a moral obligation to lead by example in discipline, principle, responsibility and accountability.

“Perhaps ABSIEC Chairman, Mr. Mkpa, in his desperate bid to please his employer and members of his PDP government, is not aware, the Attorney General of Abia State is certainly aware that ABSIEC does not have any constitutional power to conduct any local government election or provide funding for such activities, especially where such matters has been raised and submitted to a competent court of jurisdiction as an aberration and a distraction from the legal business of government.

“Therefore, any person who attempts to flout such rules is certainly calling for anarchy because conducting the council elections will amount to a gross illegality of electoral activity in Abia State and where such matters are not backed by law, is an invitation to conflict and disruption of the business of incoming government.

“That said, we are hereby using this medium to call the attention of the public and the good people of Abia State to take special caution and refrain from falling victims of this glaring deception and fraud.

“Do not waste your money on any planned local government election; you will be doing so at your own risk and the consequences shall be upon your head, as the law does not recognise any act of ignorance.

“No amount of blackmail and campaign of calumny against the incoming Labour Party-led government of Dr. Alex Otti will make Abia people accept PDP back.

“Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and his Halleluiah boys’ attempt to lay landmines for the incoming government, in order to frustrate development and ease of government operations, is enough evidence for every sane person of Abia State origin and residents of Abia to see that these individuals are very wicked and never meant well for the development of this state at no time, otherwise why would any reasonable human from Abia State indulge in such wicked and unpatriotic act of doing everything to frustrate the incoming government.

“The business of government is a continuous process. It is not the property of any individual or group as the PDP Halleluiah bunch of choristers suffering from self-delusion is made to believe.

“They have been defeated and will remain defeated. Only good behaviour will bring them closer to the people and not this display of arrogance and foolishness

“It is sheer act of arrogance and fraudulent act for anyone in the outgoing government to engage in the conduct of council elections just a few days to the expiration of the government when you could have honourably used such funds to pay off the local government workers, whom it is alleged are owed over three years’ salary.”

Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission (BSOEC) will today formally present the final report of its investigation into the impact of oil exploration activities on the state to the international community.

BSOEC is chaired by a number of renowned dignitaries in the governance and international development arena, including Baroness Valerie Amos and former Ghanaian president, John Kuffuor.

The report will be presented at the House of Lords in London to further draw global attention to the devastating effects of oil pollution in Bayelsa and indeed Niger Delta, according to a statement yesterday by the Chief Press Secretary to Bayelsa Governor, Daniel Alabrah, from London, the United Kingdom.

BSOEC was set up in 2019 by former Governor Henry Seriake Dickson, who is now the lawmaker representing Bayelsa West Senatorial District in the National Assembly, to conduct extensive investigation and research, in order to establish the environmental, human and economic impacts of oil pollution on the state.

The commission’s findings and far-reaching recommendations are in the report titled: ‘An Environmental Genocide: Counting the Human and Environmental Cost of Oil in Bayelsa, Nigeria,’ and seeks global attention and partnership to mitigate the effects of environmental degradation on people of the state.

The findings showed that “few places have suffered more than the state of Bayelsa, which sits at the heart of the Niger Delta. Home to Nigeria’s first commercial oil well, Bayelsa accounts for about 18-20 per cent of Nigeria’s oil production.

“While the state accounts for only slightly over one per cent of Nigeria’s total population, it is estimated to have suffered over a quarter of total recorded instances of oil pollution.”

Among those to attend the event are Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri, Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Amb. Sarafadeen Tunji Isola, renowned environmentalist and Ibenanaowei of Ekpetiama Kingdom in Bayelsa State, King Bubaraye Dakolo and former Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu.

Anambra State Governor Prof. Chukwuma Soludo has inaugurated housing estates of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Nigerian Employees Consultative Association (NECA).

The housing project, located at Hill View Estate, Nkwelle Ezunaka in Oyi Local Government, is under the national affordable housing delivery programme for workers.

Soludo, represented by his Chief of Staff, Ernest Ezeajugh, described housing as a cardinal point of his government.

He assured the people of government’s readiness to provide land and other infrastructure for the scheme.

He said: “Apart from civil servants, we still look for housing for others. We encourage banks and other mortgage providers to make available leisure parks on the estate.

“You should also look for means to enable low income civil servants afford the cost of the housing scheme.”

Managing Director, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Madi Hamman, said the project was funded by the bank in fulfilment of its commitment to the realisation of workers’ home ownership dreams.

Hamman, represented by the Executive Director, Business Development and Portfolio Management, Kingsley Chukwuma, said the organisation’s strategic collaborative engagements with workers had grown beyond mere rhetoric to reality.

He said: “This project, developed under phase 2 of the collaboration, consists of 180 housing units, comprising 120 units of 2 bedroom semi-detached bungalows and 60 units of 3 bedroom fully detached bungalows at N7million and N8million.

“The estate is fully serviced with basic infrastructure, including internal road network, drainages, electricity and water to create a conductive and livable environment.

“The FMBN remains the only institution offering affordable mortgages to Nigerians at less than 10 per cent interest rate through products like Individual NHF Loan, Individual NHF Construction Loan, Home Renovation Loan, Rent-to-own Product and Cooperative Housing Development Loan.”

NLC National President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, stressed the need for civil servants to procure the housing scheme at affordable price, saying their present salary would not go for such costly price.

The Managing Director, Housing Corporation, Anambra State, Chike Anyaonu, said the housing fee slash was to support civil servants and other individuals to become landlords.

Representative of Nigerian Employees Consultative Association (NECA), Samuel Chukwudi, described the inauguration as another success story, as similar projects had been inaugurated in four states.

The Federal Government has said violent agitations and general insecurity are major reasons it cannot fully develop Niger Delta region.

Speaking in Uyo yesterday during a one day Town Hall meeting, a representative of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Dr. Chukwudi Njoku, said the hostile nature of the oil-rich region was scaring away investors.

“Businesses are being shut on certain days in some states, there is an increase in armed robbery, kidnapping, communal tension, pipe line vandalism, oil theft, etc. across the Niger Delta region.

“The destruction of national assets such as pipeline vandalism and oil theft has resulted in the country’s dwindling oil production.”

The meeting tagged: “Promoting sustainable peace and economic development in the Niger Delta region” was in collaboration with the Foundation for Partnership Initiative in the Niger Delta (PIND).

Njoku noted that “this has exposed the country to a lot of economic uncertainties, as it has become difficult to meet up with its OPEC quota, control a fast rising inflation and adequately fund the annual budget.”

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He disclosed that in an effort by the Federal Government to reverse the ugly trend, President Muhammadu Buhari had mandated the ministry to develop a security framework for participatory incident reporting and strengthening of rural-urban security in the Niger Delta.

 “This non-kinetic approach seeks to bring together critical stakeholders to a roundtable discussion to brainstorm and develop a regional peace building strategy for the Niger Delta region.

“Given this background, the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, in collaboration with PIND, has carefully selected and invited you all, considered as critical stakeholders to be part of the Town Hall meeting that will assist in carrying out this all important national assignment.”

He said the efforts being made by the Federal Government would not yield optimum results without the participation of the states and local governments, traditional institutions and other critical stakeholders, as they had a better understanding of their localities and therefore in a better position to provide the most accurate data possible “to guide this important assignment.”

“Therefore, there is need for an effective collaboration by all and sundry, and this is the critical essence of our gathering here.

 “The Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs is committed to fostering more opportunities and fora that will enhance this kind of required collaborative effort,” he said.

Speaking for PIND, Mr. Peace Edem said conflict issues in the Niger Delta included communal tension, political competition, organised criminality and resource-based conflicts, among others.

He said any initiative aimed at addressing conflict  in the Niger Delta should adopt an approach that viewed the issue from a security and a peace building perspective.