The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • Group endorses Odey for Cross River governor

    A group in Cross River State has endorsed the governorship aspiration of Mr John Upan Odey jnr in next year’s election.

    The group, known as Cross River Good Governance League, made up of politicians and stakeholders across three senatorial districts of the state, rising from a meeting in Calabar, said after a proper assessment of all governorship aspirants, they agreed that Odey stands out as one with the qualities to take over from the incumbent, Professor Ben Ayade.

    Addressing reporters at the end of the meeting Chairman of the group, Comrade Edward Effiom, said that the delegates at the meeting deliberated on all the aspirants, their qualities and came to the conclusion that Odey represents the future leader the state needs.

    “The meeting we just finished has been very revealing and rewarding because about 500 delegates including youths, women leaders, opinion leaders, politicians, students, and representatives of various political parties, came together under one roof to chart a way forward for Crossriverians, because 2019 is fast approaching.

    “At the meeting, it was unanimously  resolved that John Upan Odey, should be given all the necessary support to succeed Ayade in 2019, and as  delegates from across the state, we agree and  endorsed Upan Odey jnr  to  become the next governor of the state.

    “By our assessment, he cuts a true picture of the future of Cross River State, being a young man, and a professional banker with so many parts, and years of experience. He is an author, banker, micro-biologist, banker, entrepreneur, philanthropist and politician.

    “Upan Odey has what it takes. He has the development attributes of former Governors Donald Duke and Liyel Imoke, put together, and will surely lead the state to greater heights.

    “You know he is from the northern senatorial district, and he is most suitable to complete the second term of four years for the zone, and when you  look at his curriculum vitae,  our  people will be convinced he is the young man we should support/vote  in 2019,” Effiom said.

    Born in December, 1977, Odey is from Obudu local government area of Cross River State.

  • UNICEF partners Cross River govt to tackle branding kids as witches

    The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is supporting the Cross River State government to tackle the branding children as witches.

    UNICEF Nigeria, Enugu Field Office Child Protection Specialist Mrs Nkiru Maduechesi spoke at a two-day workshop on the amendment of the state’s 2009 Child Rights Law in Calabar.

    The workshop was organised by the Cross River Ministry of Women Affairs and the Enugu State Ministry of Gender Affairs and Sustainable Development with support byUNICEF.

    Maduechesi said child witchcraft branding is a manifestation of a weak system, which is not just about law.

    She said the workshop, whose participants were stakeholders and experts on child protection and child rights from Lagos, Imo, Enugu and Cross River States, was to brainstorm in fine-tuning the 2009 law to be more responsive to the contemporary realities.

    She said: “The essence of the workshop is to make it to be in tune with the present happenings, like issues of child witchcraft branding is not in the law, we need to have that addressed. We also have issues of birth registration. Even though it is in the law, there is no penalty for parents who neglect to register their children. There are issues of right to health. So the stakeholders are rethinking this law in such a way that it makes real impact in the lives of children. There are a whole lot of issues.

    “UNICEF is supporting the state because the child witchcraft branding is a manifestation of a weak system and the system is not just about law. It starts from the home, it starts from parents having the right parental skills and information about child development. Because sometimes when children are in their teen years, some people expect you to behave like adults, but they are not. So part of those behaviours, when parents don’t have the right parental skill, they attribute it to witchcraft branding which is not the case, but because they lack the information and the skill.

    “So, UNICEF is supporting the state to set up and effective child protection system that would address both the formal and informal sectors. Informal in the sense that we have rolled out our community actions to educate parents on this issues so that they would understand better and then also to make the social welfare to be more responsive in identifying these issues, but most importantly this year, we are looking at profiling these children on the streets because majority of them are on the streets as a result of branding them as witches and wizards.

    “We want to support these children to reintegrate them because that is where the abuse will always start from. Being on the streets they don’t have guidance. There is no one correcting them or being in charge of their basic necessities. So they are vulnerable to being in conflict with the law, in problems with the police and of course, the criminals out there in society. So, UNICEF is working with NGOs and women affairs to start supporting this programme the state through the child protection system strengthening.

    “The law is a great milestone, because it has codified the rights of children. It is no longer an assumption. It is no longer left to chance. What we need more is the political will and of course the leadership of the various sectors to enforce the standard in the law to serve as deterrent, but most importantly to prevent this abuses because the law has stated grounds and standards that if fully implemented, would have less of child rights violation in the state. But we still have more work to do. We have covered to a great extent, milestones in reaching to the desired goals.”

    Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Sustainable Development and Social Welfare, Cross River State, Mr Takon Asu Takon, said the amendment of the law was necessary as life is dynamic.

    Takon, a lawyer, said: “We have experienced changes which were not contemplated in the law. So there is need once in while to look at the law and see if there are new developments that can be inserted and probably issues that are no longer relevant could be extracted from.”

    Director of Public Prosecution in the state, Gregory Okim, also said: “there are certain provisions in the law that inhibits the effective take off of the family court. So we are trying to see how we can address such challenges, because the law is aimed at protecting the child.”

    In February, the Basic Rights Counsel Initiative (BRCI) in Calabar  released horrific images of three children who were tortured for witchcraft in Cross River State. Grace, 3, Lillian, 5, and Juliet, 13, narrowly escaped death after their accusers tried to extract confessions from them. Their grandmother said to be suffering froma terminal disease was said to have accused the kids of being behind her illness.

    In another instance, Emmanuel David Akpan was arrested for allegedly inflicting grievous injuries on his three kids. Akpan and his wife, the stepmother to the kids, were arrested by the police from the Federal Housing Police Station, Calabar for allegedly bathing the three little girls, Imaobong, 7, Nyenime, 5, and Joy, 3, with hot water, after binding their hands and legs with   electric cables.

    Akpan said: “These children always attacked me in my dreams, they want to kill me”.

    But Mrs Lilian Ekanem of Women, Youth and Children Uplifting Foundation said UNICEF, and the Child Rights Act said: “The action of some parents and family members is evil and such should be condemned. How can you tag an innocent child God has blessed you with as a witch?”

  • Obaseki and sacked lecturers in Edo

    It sounds thorny that Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, who prosecuted his governorship mandate on job creation premise, could scrap the College of Agriculture, redeploy 261 students of the college and sack the school’s 231 employees. This happened nearly four decades after the institution’s establishment. But the devil in the kitchen remains thus: at what point did job creation, productivity and quality education meet?

    The state government, in a letter signed by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Monday Osaigbovo, announced the termination of the lecturers’ appointments. In the letter entitled, “Restructuring of the College of Agriculture, Iguoriakhi,” the commissioner said, following the restructuring of the college and subsequent closure, government decided to terminate their services with effect from January 31, 2018.

    The letter reads: “I am directed to refer to the above mentioned subject and to inform you that following the restructuring of the college of Agriculture, Iguoriakhi and its subsequent closure, government has decided that your services are no longer required with effect from 31st January, 2018.

    ”You are requested to handover all government properties in your possession to the permanent secretary, ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources immediately.

    “Furthermore, I am to add that in line with your terms of engagement, your cheque for January 2018, monthly Bursary with one month in lieu of notice is herewith attached.”

    The staff, on a protest march to the palace of the Oba of Benin, insisted that their sack did not follow due process. The staff also dropped a copy of their protest letter entitled, “Special Letter for Your Intervention Into The Massive Sack of All Staff of Edo State College of Agriculture, Iguoriakhi,” in the House of Assembly for onward transmission to the Speaker of the house, Kabiru Adjoto.

    They said: “There was no due process followed by the governor in relieving us of our duties as permanent or confirmed staff in public service and this contravenes the provisions of the public service rules.

    “By record of service, majority of the staff had put up to a minimum of 10 years in service while others have put in almost 20 years and since the governor visited the school on August 7, 2017 and its subsequent temporary closure till date, there is no evidence of any form of infrastructure or administrative restructuring by the governor as against the six months he promised during his visit.”

    However, a visit to the institution has shown that the college has been run aground with a traumatic history of not achieving/actualising the purpose for which it was established, 37-year down the road. For the record, the institution was established by the civilian administration of late Ambrose Ali in 1981.

    But the school was later shot down by the successive military governors and was only reopened by the Lucky Igbinedion administration in 2001. From the foregoing, it is obvious the college has suffered criminal neglect or outright abandonment by a generation of self-imposed leadership that are bereaved of the value of education without arresting the college’s banal fate of churning out half-baked graduates, year in year out.

    It is heartrending that a critical institution, such as College Agriculture saddled with the responsibility of offering Ordinary Diploma and Higher National Diploma in Agricultural Technology, Animal Science, Crop Science, Agricultural Extension and Management, failed to meet her obligatory role to ensure food sufficiency in every material respect. But for the temporary closure of the college on August, 2017 by Governor Obaseki with a promise to revamp it, nothing of note has been heard about the college.

    But the counsel to the sacked members of staff, West Idahosa debunked, said the school entered its golden era about 2014 under the leadership of Dr. Obasogie as the Provost. He stated that the school has never been de-accredited, rather the school has gained ascendancy and it’s on the upsurge.

    “The school’s courses have been further recognised by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) which elevated the school to HND awarding institution in 2014. The college graduates became eligible to participate in NYSC scheme in 2015.

    “The staff strength of the college is 300 plus. The breakdown; Academic staff constitute nearly 40%, Registry staff constitute nearly 10%, Farm Laborers constitute the rest. The students are over 300 plus. It must be further pointed out that the college is a monotechnic and only Agric is taught there. Many students were not interested in Agric until lately when FGN prioritised it,” Dr. West said.

    Like a house divided against itself, twenty eight members of staff of the college who were illegally sacked two years ago by the institution’s management wrote and commended Obaseki “for scrapping the institution to revamp it in the interest of quality education and productive output”.

    Comrade Osawemwemze Osaro, a former registrar and a victim of the sacked management of the college, said: “We applaud government for paying the salary arrears of the 28 workers who were victims of management’s high-handedness. Also, we laud government’s current efforts at revamping the College. However, rather than the legal option, I humbly, but strongly, advise that all stakeholders appeal to His Excellency’s good reason and sound judgement on the fate of the sacked workers. More importantly, the one who has repeatedly been indicted in crises rocking the College should be sanctioned. The College has been a mess for a long time.”

    The Secretary to the Edo State Government, Osarodion Ogie, also perforated the claims made by Dr. Idahosa, saying the institution was shut down because it was not worthy of being a school of agriculture due to its poor standard.

    Ogie said the government is in talk with Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc., Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR) and PRESCO Plc to join hands with the government to revamp the school, help train students and provide them with employment.

    It is clear from my findings that the derailment of the once enviable college began to falter from the core mandate when the institution’s management ethicised and appropriated the college for self-motives at the detriment of the workers and students alike. The kernel of the matter however remains that until government prioritises quality education over and political patronage and unwarranted settlement for the “boys”, poor education and outright stagnation will continue to envelope that.

    Obaseki needs to be encouraged to clean the Augean stable and obvious rot and inanities in the public institutions across the state because no nation can be greater than the sum total of her own teachers.

    • Ikhide writes from Lagos

  • Bayelsa Govt, Microsoft, IGNITE to train teachers, students on ICT

    The Bayelsa State government is desirous of making Information and Communication Technology (ICT) a driving force of its educational system.

    The government wants to equip teachers and students with prerequisite skills to explore evolving technology eco-system in the country.

    So, the government in partnership with Microsoft and IGNITE recently commenced the training of 150 teachers and 2000 students on digital literacy.

    The weeklong training is supervised by  Bayelsa state ministries of education and Information. It is taking place at the St. Judes Girl Secondary School, Yenagoa, the state capital.

    Kicking off the Bayelsa State computer science week, the Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, noted that computer education was the bedrock of of modern education. He said a foundation in computer science would place the state in an envying position.

    He said: “The essence of education is to produce a well-rounded child, noting that because technology is not new in today’s world, computer science has come to stay.

    Dickson, who was represented by Secretary to State Government, Kemela Okara, said the state would be at the happenings if it embraced the ICT.

    “A foundation in computer science is what will put Bayelsa State at the fore front of everything happening in the country today.

    “I want to commend Microsoft, IGNITE for the great feat, and we are open to many other partnership on computer and digital entrepreneur”, he said.

    Also speaking, the Commissioner for Education, Jonathan Obuibite, described the partnership as heroic and historic. He said the state was the third in the country to partner Microsoft on training its teachers.

    Obuibite said the training was designed for teachers and students.  “As a government we need to think outside the box because education is successful when everyone is involved”, he said.

    He added: “Our society will be properly educated with this mark, we can all remember that in 2012, the governor declared a state of emergency in education and this is one of the many benefits”.

    The Chief Executive Officer IGNITE, Chichi Okafor, commended the state government for the intervention, promising that the beneficiaries would never regret the initiative.

    A representative of Microsoft, Mr. Ade Olowojoba, noted that the partnership was a landmark initiative, adding that the company believed everyone should have access to computer education.

  • Farmers, oil palm firm clash over land in Cross River

    Farmers in some communities in Akamkpa, Biase and Odukpani local government areas of Cross River State have lamented the activities of an oil palm company, Biase Plantations Limited, run by Wilmar, in their domains.

    The farmers complained that the activities of the company, who owned thousands of hectares of land of oil palm plantations in these areas, were affecting them negatively. They alleged that toxic water from the company’s estates was destroying their farmlands and crops worth hundreds of millions of naira. They also alleged that their land was forcefully grabbed by the company with no compensation. They accused chiefs of colluding with the company to grab their lands.

    Mr Paul Asuquo, a farmer in, Ayukaba Village, Akamkpa, who conducted our reporter round his farm that shares a boundary with the oil palm plantation, said the company had dug a ditch to serve as a boundary and this had an adverse effect on them.

    Asuquo said: “This happens to be my farm and I share a direct boundary with Wilmar. Before now we did not have this. When they came in they decided to dig round their estate. From the time they did this they tried controlling water from their estate and they have not even given us any outlet. If you look over there, you will see a big pond of water. It is becoming a river everyday as it is increasing. These were my farms, but they are all gone. The chemicals from the fertilizers they are using have killed nearly everything. Everyday this water is growing and this is our source of livelihood. My aged mother this is where she used to send us to school and now I have inherited it. This is where I am using also to keep my generation coming. So if you look at it now, we are not benefitting anything from Wilmar, but look at the damages we are facing every day. So I don’t know, if there is any way we can get assistance or compensation because we are really losing. They have grabbed the land. Now what is the economic value given to the people? I farm in cash crops like cassava, palms, vegetables and so on. Now we don’t have anything again.

    “We have lost crops and the land is gone. We cannot use the land as it is now because it would take resources to pull this water out for us to have the land again. The company has not talked to us. The people staying around this area, this was their source of water, now cannot have the water anymore.

    “We want compensation. But they still need to create an outlet so the water would go out of this place, because even if they give us compensation and the water keeps growing, it makes no difference.

    Mrs Veronica Dickson Asuquo, an 88-year old, from the same community, also complained about the same thing.

    “The water has over flown into everything that I used to plant. Now I have no other place to plant. I am a widow and you see my age, am I going to beg and eat? So I want collect compensation to help me. I don’t know how I would live so my children and grandchildren will benefit because I have no other land apart from that one. The company has never one day come to me to tell me anything. We have complained to them but they have not done anything. I am a native of Akamkpa. I am not a stranger. So they cannot take my land and leave me to die hungry,” she lamented.

    Another farmer in Ibogu community of Biase local government area, Deacon Williams Ojobe, complained that their land was forcefully taken from them by the plantation without any compensation.

    “I am here this after to tell the whole world the condition we are facing in this land. I have been a farmer from birth. Growing up I was not educated because of financial problems. I was farming here and at a time as I was growing up, I decided to extend from cassava and plantain to cocoa, which God helped me to put a large farm here. Around 2012 we started hearing rumour that Wilmar is coming and started protested and we did all we could, but there was no way. We could not withstand them. Finally last year 2017, they used force. They came with force and through the chiefs. They bulldozed and destroyed everything. As I am speaking to us now, we don’t have where to farm. Look at the youths now, they are doing nothing. Apart from this Okada, there is nothing for them to survive with. All of us are now roaming about the street and nothing to do. Now I am calling the whole world to come to our help. I am calling on the Federal Government and the State Government to do something. We have been crying. If I tell you the living cost now in my community you would not believe it. The old people are remaining like that and they are dying. Last week one old man of hunger. The children could not cater again and the man died. If it continues like that what would be the condition of Ibogo. Children are no longer going to school because their parents cannot pay school fees because their land has been taken. Today we are just remaining like that. So if there is anything you can do to help us by talking to the government to come to our rescue I am begging you in the name of God to help us. We have talked to Wilmar. We have done a lot of demonstration and when they come they promise a lot of things but in the end would not do anything,” he said.

    Dr Maurice Olory, with the Community Forest Watch, said they received complaints of the activities of the oil palm company from the farmers in the area and had to come and confirm for themselves.

    “We are here to carry out a field study. We have heard a lot of complaints from members of this community. We are of the Community Forest Watch Nigeria. We work in collaboration with Environmental Rights Action to help communities against issues as it relates to degradation and land grab in terms of mining of companies, in terms of oil palm plantations. We look at the adverse impact and benefits, if any to us. In Community Forest Watch, we say our community is our life and we owe ourselves the duty of preserving and protecting our forests and that is what we are here to do. Cross River State is housing a 75 per cent of the remaining rich biodiversity in the country and if we don’t make conscious efforts to preserve the remaining parts of this forests, then we would not be able to address the issues of climate change and the issues of global warming and all that,” Olory said.

    However, the company in its reaction debunked all the allegations.

    Sustainability Manager of the company, Asen Ako, who also conducted our reporter round the estate, said they have not received complaints.

    Ako said: “We would like to place on record that both Calaro Estate and Ibiae estates are long existing plantations set up by the State Government in 1954 and 1963 respectively. Biase Plantations Limited (BPL) through a state government privatization process purchased Ibiae Estate (5,594.012 ha) with survey plan No. RIU/CR/113/11 and Calaro Estate (5,549.801 ha) with survey plan No. ASC/CR/EBA/11/254.”

    He said there has been no additional land acquisition from chiefs or any individual to increase the size of their estates beyond what was handed by the state government.

    According to him, it was not possible that that anyone to claim that they used chiefs to grab individual and family land to add to what the state handed to them.

    “Biase Plantations Limited does not use or discharge any toxic chemicals into nearby waterbodies or the environment. All crop protection and crop nourishing compounds that are used in our operations are all approved for use in Nigeria by NAFDAC and are used in minimal extent after detailed analysis. There are detailed standard operating procedures that guide the use of any chemical in the operation. We conduct routine water quality analysis in line with Federal Ministry of Environment and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements and all parameters are within allowable standards. BPL has also not discharged any effluent of any form to the environment since its inception. Our first palm oil mill is still undergoing test runs and is yet to start full scale commercial operations and hence no effluent discharges.

    “Thus, saying that toxic chemicals have left our plantation to destroy palms, cassava, vegetables, etc. is not true as all agrochemicals used in our estates are also used by other agro-industries and local farmers and have not been proven to have such adverse effect on surrounding farms.

    “As said earlier, we are not aware of any incident as described. However, like we did in 2015, we are ready to collect water samples in the presence of community reps, with whom we can select an accredited government laboratory to analyse the water sample that will be collected, should there be any new grievances. The results shall guide on the way forward.  The allegations are not true. There is no land grab or land destruction.”

    Ako, who disclosed that the company has invested N45 billion in the state, said the company has a robust corporate social responsibility package for communities around its operation, geared towards education, capacity building, health, employment, and economic development.

  • Osinbajo, Obaseki partner to give Edo life-changing projects

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Governor Gowdin Obaseki made history yesterday with the inauguration of projects capable of restoring hope in Edo State, writes WALE AJETUNMOBI

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo runs an office with soft spot for small and medium enterprise. The office also cherishes the magic technology hubs are capable of igniting. It was thus not surprising that has collaborated with the Edo State government in these areas.

    Governor Godwin Obaseki, who has ample experience from the boardroom, horned through years of brokering deals as an investment banker, appears to be on a mission to rebrand governance. And in Osinbajo, he has an ally.

    The Vice President yesterday launched the South-South Innovation Hub in Benin and met with Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). He also was at the Edaiken Market and thereafter performed the groundbreaking of the 1800-unit Emotan Gardens and the Edo Azura Power Plant.

    Osinbajo’s collaboration with Edo earlier saw him inaugurating the Edo Chemical and Fertiliser Company Limited, Auchi and doing the groundbreaking of the Benin Industrial Park (BIP),

    Some of these projects are in collaboration with the Office of the Vice President. The housing project and the expanded Edo Innovation Cluster, which houses the South-South Innovation Hub, are efforts by the Obaseki administration to reset the local economy for growth and expansion. The Innovation Cluster will train young people on top-of-the-range skills to stimulate a local tech ecosystem. This will empower youths to provide digital solutions to everyday problems.

    1,800-unit of housing project

    This project is a plus for local manufacturers and low income earners. The Emotan Gardens in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State is remarkable in a lot of ways. It is the first government housing project in Edo State in the last 16 years. The project is being developed through a joint-venture partnership between Edo Development and Property Agency (EDPA) and MIXTA Africa, a private property development company.

    EDPA Executive Chairman Isoken Omo said the Gardens would also be the first of kind, given the scale, offerings and class.

    Mrs Omo said the project was well planned to provide affordable homes, adding: “We are building affordable houses from bungalows to high-rise buildings with flexible payment plans. We have looked at the housing needs of the people of the state and know exactly what to do.”

    Obaseki promised that the state would provide the land for the project and link local makers of building materials in the state to the project to ensure that costs were minimal.

    “We want to use the project to develop the supply chain of inputs that are locally produced in the state. This would grow local businesses. We have insisted that raw materials to be used for constructing the 1,800-unit housing, should be sourced locally from industries in the state. This will assist the industries contribute to the growth of the local economy,” Obaseki said.

    MIXTA Africa Managing Director Kola Ashiru-Balogun said the first phase of the project which, which commenced with yesterday’s ground-breaking ceremony by the Vice President, would be completed in 12 months.

    The different payment plans being considered for the affordable housing project, he said, include a 24-month interest free payment plan, as “MIXTA Africa is discussing with financial institutions to see how arrangements can be made to provide longer tenured financing payment plans.”

     The Innovation Cluster of hope

    With yesterday inauguration of the hub, Edo has finally caught the tech bug. This collaboration between the Federal and state government will provide youths avenue to develop skills for survival in the digital economy  and channel their strength for social good.

    The Cluster, which is situated at the Institute of Continuing Education (ICE), in Benin City has been remodeled to meet the requirements of co-working spaces.

    Obaseki said the facility “will host over 25 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies. These companies will use the facility as innovation hub for different forms of training and certification. Those that will benefit from the facility are both the young and old residents in the state as they will get skills and certification.”

    Commissioner for Wealth Creation, Cooperatives and Employment Emmanuel Usoh said the facility was a testament of how public facilities could be transformed for effective use.

    Usoh said over 25 technology companies would be accommodated in the hub. They include Google Cisco, Miscrosoft and Oracle. He explained that the Hub would up the skill youths, stimulate tech-focused small businesses and curb human trafficking and illegal migration.

    Usoh said, “The hub will offer youths who are interested in travelling abroad for jobs, opportunities to acquire up-to-date skills in technology. The training programme will be as intense as obtainable in similar hubs across the world, as we are partnering with global companies in setting up the facility.

    “International certifications will be obtainable at the hub. This will offer youths unique opportunities to discover their talents in the use of technology and improve these skills and promote innovation as the world has become a global village, where technology is key in transforming the society for the better.”

    A partnership on MSMEs and Start-ups

    Edo has witnessed an increasing focus as a hub for economic opportunities given the state government’s posture, which has promoted growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). With the coming of the Innovation clusters, more start-ups will find expression in the state, with the use of the facilities provided at the innovation hub.

    At Hub, the state government, has provided the space and other structures for the hub, while the Federal Government is bringing in some experts to operate at the Southsouth hub. However, there is also a strong partnership between the state government and technology companies, which is likely going to make the facility one of the most equipped to accommodate start-ups in the region.

    The commissioner said the Edo Innovation Hub would also accommodate a training facility where small business owners would be trained on how to leverage digital solutions to transform their businesses in line with Obaseki’s vision to create more jobs and wealth for the people.

    ”Individuals and groups who own small businesses in the state and intend to transform their businesses in line with global standards can acquire innovative skills at the hub,” he said.

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Industry, Trade and investment Dr. Jumoke Oduwole explained that Edo State is part of the vast business corridor in the Southsouth, which explains its choice for the project.

    The happenings in Edo have ended the era where Nigerians were exposed to tokenistic solutions to problems. Edo is taking governance beyond a borehole here, a road there, ill-planned agricultural initiatives and many such schemes. It has focused governance on intervention capable of improving livelihoods and do so much.

  • Amnesty office to take over furniture firm

    In 2013, the Federal Government secured a deal to buy the Bob Oshodi furniture firm located at Sapele Road in Benin City, the Edo State capital for the purpose of training repentant militants in the Niger Delta region. Millions of dollars were paid to the firm as part payment but the death of Oronto Douglas stalled further processing of the deal.

    The Federal Government Amnesty office opted to send ex-militants to learn furniture making abroad instead of ensuring to secure ownership of the firm. Ex-militants were thus sent to Italy, Germany, Trinidad and Tobego and other countries for training.

    Five years on, the Amnesty Office under Prof. Charles Dokubo appeared keen to conclude negotiation with the owner of the furniture and take possession of the place.

    During a facility tour of the factory last week, a Consultant to the Amnesty Programme, Mr Gallant Paul, blamed the delay in taking over of the factory by the government on the demise of Oronto Douglas.

    Mr. Gallant noted that Prof. Dokubo requested them to visit the facility and see how the issues could be resolves for the purpose of getting ex-militants to train learn furniture making.

    Gallant said the owner of the factory was desirous to see that the government take over the place and utilise same for the benefit of the Niger Delta youths and that of the country in general.

    He insisted that the place was owned by the amnesty programme because ‘legally and otherwise, money had been paid and MOU has been signed’.

    According to him, “I am aware of this place because I had the opportunity to come here with the late Oronto Dauglas, who was in the presidency of the former government when the negotiation was on.

    “I also knew and opportuned to know that money was paid for this place, millions of dollars, the money was for the purchase of the factory and the training of the ex-agitators. The drivers, the promoters of this wonderful interest, where huge millons of dollars have been committed into this facility, are late.

    “The few hundreds we have trained here are doing very well and if we can bring them back to train the trainer programme, I am sure a whole lot could be achieved without having to spent much in achieving it.

    “I am aware and also obliged to know that we train carpenters in Italy, Germany and various places. These carpenters can come here and see what we have here.

    “The detail of what was paid and what is left is not fully available to me. What know is that he (The owner) confirmed to me that huge money, millions of dollars, was paid to him for this factory.

    “There is no country in the world that will have this kind of huge facility and will go home without utilising it.

    Prof. Dokubo, who was represented by his Special Assistant on Legal Matters, Mr. Richard Okolocha, said the visit was aimed at finally taking over possession of the facility.

    According to him, “I am impressed not only with the seize of the factory, but the state of the art of equipment, as well as the products. I have not seen this kind of factory before in the entire West Africa Sub-Region.

  • Firm exposes Bayelsa residents to business skills

    Bayelsa residents recently assembled in Yenagoa, the state capital, to receive training on entrepreneurship. They were obviously tired of joblessness and waiting hopelessly for the government to create jobs for them.

    Those who attended the training organised by the Professional Entrepreneur World popularly known as the Propreneurs had embraced the reality that government lacked the capacity to employ everybody.

    They were also aware that the available white collar jobs could no longer go round. So they came to learn from the Propreneurs how they could become their own bosses and employers of labour. The invitation was thrown open to all residents of the state who were interested in generating wealth and living above the poverty line.

    In fact, to underscore its seriousness in empowering people in the country with the basic skills to own, grow and develop their businesses, the Propreneur World, a limited liability company sent one of its directors, Mr. Stephen Chukwu, to Bayelsa State.

    Chukwu, a motivational speaker, developer of business strategies and entrepreneurial ambassador, is known for helping people discover and mold their business talents. Popularly known as Cashflow in the multi-level marketing business, Chukwu and his compatriot, Okpara Lucky, known as Dollarwise, who is also a Director in the company, have raised an army of successful entrepreneurs.

    Chukwu in his captivating presentations took the audience through the basic requirements of entrepreneurship. He asked the participants to look for ways of creating jobs with their innate skills and talents despite their courses of studies in schools.

    He said some persons had abandoned the courses they studied in schools such as law, medicine and others to make money from their cooking and trading skills. He highlighted the essence of establishing the Propreneur.

    He said: “Becoming a professional and successful entrepreneur is a journey of great commitment. But in the Propreneurs, we share the simple but evasive principles that create the extra-ordinary life. We are committed to exposing the simple habits that make true and mega success of ordinary people.

    “Our approach is quite unconventional, exciting and guarantees success. The most interesting thing we do is to make you learn and earn. We will continue to inspire you to succeed in your chosen businesses”.

    The director encouraged people to attend weekly trainings organized in almost all the cities across the country to be exposed to money-making ideas. He said most persons became successful following business ideas they got from their seminar centres.

    Besides, helping people to own and grow their businesses, Chukwu said the Propreneur World also takes care of the health of its business partners. He said the company‘s members across the world are entitled to free medical care in best hospitals. He said the company had signed agreements with such hospitals to provide free healthcare to its business partners.

    He said: “Through the Propreneurs, network of over 400 hospitals and many more to come across the African continent, we provide topnotch zero cost healthcare delivery services to all our affiliate members”.

    The cashflow said the healthcare services cover eye and dental care, wellness checkups, primary outpatient care, radiology, impatient care, accident and emergencies, maternity services, pediatric services, surgeries and HIV/AIDS management. He said affiliates access the services by possessing and presenting the company’s Propreneur Medical Alert Card (P-MAC).

    Indeed, after the training, the participants tanked the Propreneur for exposing them to simple ideas of setting up their businesses and growing them. Solomon, one of the participants said and entrepreneurial idea struck him during the training.

  • I remember Frank Kokori

    Tuesday marked the 25th anniversary of the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. I was fifteen at the time and old enough to remember how it all went down: the protests, the killings, the harassments and many others that I fictionally captured in my debut novel In the Name of Our Father.

    My elder brother, Olumuyiwa, and some of our fellow students at the Ansar Ud Deen Grammar School, Isaga-Orile had to walk from Arigbajo in Ogun State to Agege in Lagos in the heat of the madness the military foisted on us. But that is not the concern for today.

    Not a few figures from the Niger Delta, such as Pa Anthony Enahoro, Pa Alfred Rewane and others, played critical roles in the quest to get the despotic regime of the late Gen. Sani Abacha to right Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida’s wrong. Rewane even paid with his life. He was taken out by agents of the government of the time who went to his home in a vehicle painted as though it belonged to one of his companies. Enahoro, who went on exile, returned home after democracy was restored and died. He died not long after I visited his apartment in GRA, Ikeja for an interview. He was in Benin at the time and the interview could not hold.

    But today, it is Frank Kokori, who is still alive and kicking, that I remember. The Kokori I remember today parades sterling credentials from institutions, such as the University of Ibadan and the Institute of Social Studies, The Haque Netherland (ISS) where he bagged a master’s degree (M.A) in Labour and Development Studies in 1984. Kokori was conferred with the fellowship of the Petroleum Training Institute (FPTI). For 22 years, he  was the Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer of NUPENG,  which, for me, was Nigeria’s most visible trade union.

    He is a recipient of several national and international awards, such as the revered George Meany Labour/Human Right award by the American Federation of labour/Congress of Industrial Organisation (AFL/CIO) for the most outstanding Labour Leader in the world for 1996 and the Febe Elizabeth Valasquez Trade Union/Human Right Award of the Dutch Labour Federation (FNV) for the most outstanding Labour Activist and Human Right Crusader in the world for 1998. He was declared Prisoner of Conscience by the late Nelson Mandela and Pope Saint John Paul II in 1997.

    I remember Kokori today because of his role in the struggle for democracy, which made the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Amnesty International (AI) and labour federations across the globe declare him prisoner of conscience between August 1994 and June 1998. Kokori was in solitary confinement for four consecutive years in the infamous Bama Prison. He was just dumped there with no charges preferred against him by the evil regime of Gen. Sani Abacha.

    As the secretary-general of the NUPENG, an affiliate of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Kokori shone. The NLC was divided and could not provide direction. There was no unity of purpose on the need to challenge the poison Babangida forced down our throats. Kokori provided leadership by rallying oil workers to challenge the annulment.

    His action provided tonic for the activities of other pro-democracy forces and it was not surprising that the Abacha junta saw him as an enemy that must be cut to size. That we still have him alive now can only be a result of God’s abiding grace.

    It was thus understandable that Kokori was ecstatic about the declaration of June 12 as Democracy Day and the honour done Chief M.K.O. Abiola who won the June 12, 1993 election, which Babangida shamelessly annulled and still tries to justify till this day.

    Kokori, in a statement thanking President Muhamamdu Buhari for the justice done on June 12, said: “First of all I thank God for everything, I thank God that today the country has finally come to end that big controversy about June 12 and May 29. I thank the president for doing that, at least, at this time. He was the least person I actually expected to do this because we had expected that during the 8 years of President Obasanjo, with the pressure at that time, with Gani Faweyinmi still alive, with people like us still active, we thought he would declare that day the national democracy day and make it a public holiday.

    “I am the happiest man in this country today because I now realise that the struggle we made, especially my union; NUPENG and PENGASSAN, was not in vain and most of us who suffered terrible deprivation at that time. I am happy to be alive this day. They even said it is above October 1 because that was the day that we really fought for freedom and I have always said it everywhere. I am one of the happiest people on earth today and I appreciate this government because it is this government to come to realize the importance of that day.

    “Before it used to be only Lagos and some Yoruba state that were recognising it, but now it is a national holiday. What a good news for me and those of us who are still alive, who fought in that struggle in the civil society and labour. I give a special tribute to my union; NUPENG and PENGASSAN. We suffered deprivation, just as people must suffer deprivation in struggle and some will pay the supreme sacrifice.

    “This is to say that no matter how long injustice lasts, at the end of the day goodness and truth will triumph. That is what has happened to us today. The significance for Nigerians is that it tells us that when you struggle for your country, such struggles are never in vain. Many have mocked us that we have been forgotten, they say those who never struggled for democracy are the ones enjoying our democracy today.

    “Today we have been recognised and though I’m no more in the union, I will want NUPENG to get involved in this from now on; all June 12, NUPENG can come out and flaunt their muscles that they were the heroes and the arrowhead of that struggle.”

    As I celebrate this great man today, I am sad that some eight months after Buhari appointed him chairman of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), the board remains not inaugurated. I join the Urhobo Patriotic and Transparent Movement to urge Minister of Labour and Employment Dr. Chris Ngige to inaugurate the board so that Nigeria can benefit from his wealth of experience.

    The group said: “Chief Frank Kokori was incarcerated for several years by late Gen. Sani Abacha while he was the Secretary General of NUPENG for refusing to call off a nationwide strike that crippled the Nigerian economy over Abiola’s June 12 struggle, it is the same person that is being denied what is due for him.

    “President Buhari appointing Chief Frank Ovie Kokori as Chairman of NSITF was as a result of the confidence and trust he repose on him as a credible statesman whose credibility is guaranteed owing to the fact that his unique leadership qualities and roles and positions he has held while in active service.”

    My final take: Kokori has a lot to offer Nigeria and he should be given all the support to serve us. Anyone standing against us benefitting from this outstanding Nigerian should have a change of mind and let us have the benefit of the Kokori touch at NSITF.

  • Teachers, pupils get oral health education in Port Harcourt

    A group of medical professionals gathered in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, at a two-day conference to educate primary school teachers and pupils on oral health of the child.

    It was a bi-annual conference of the members of ”The Nigerian Association of Paediatric Dentistry” with the theme,  “Holistic and multi-disciplinary perspective to Paediatric oral health.”

    It was equally the first of its kind in the state since the insecticide of the group in country in 2005.

    Lady Irene Edward Nkangwung, the chairperson of the Association of All Primary School, Port Harcourt branch, said: ”We have been in the teaching profession for years, but some of the things we heard from the conference we did not know about earlier. Part of such revelations was that a child’s teeth or tooth as the case may be can be replanted if taken early to a paediatric dentist.

    “We were also informed that pregnant every pregnant want is expected to visit a dentist as she is visiting a gyeneacologist for the oral health of her unborn baby.

    “Also we have also been though on the right method to brush our teeth to without injuring the gums as well as the need to introduce tooth brush to a child from a year old, and that there is a paediatric brush specially designed for them, these and more we did not know about and so were not been teaching to these children both at home and in school.”

    She called on the education authorities in states and Nigeria at large to deepen health education curriculum in Primary and secondary schools to include this aspect of children’s’ health for the good health of children at home and school and pledged to create the awareness in  every forum she attends,  especially those of teachers and women.

    Paediatric dentistry is unarguably a rare branch of medical profession with less than 50 persons to face over 38 million Nigerian children.

    Yet not all the numbers are not all found in hospitals, some are in the classrooms, trying to see a way to ameliorate the obvious shortfall in the field of medical practice and Paediatric medicine in particular.

    “This suggests the reason Paediatric dentistry services can only be accessed in just four federal governments own hospitals across the country, with the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State among the four,” said the chairperson of the association, Prof. Folakemi Oredugba during the conference.

    Oredugba said:  “We are more than 40 Peadiatric Dentists in the Country, this statistic was achieved following intensive training we employed in training medical personnel in the branch of Paediatric medicine.  We have been training Paediatric Dentists for a long time in the country, but there were few, because they o what we are doing, because we are trained specialists to take care of children oral health.”

    The chairman Local Organising committee , Dr. Mrs.  Eminue Odegwa, said the meeting in Port Harcourt was meant to extend paediatric oral health to Rivers publicise with the view of improving the general well-being of the child.