The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • 2019: NGO enlightens Akwa Ibom women, disabled on voter rights

    Women United for Economic Empowerment, a nongovernmental organisation, in collaboration with Action Aid has mounted voter rights enlightenment campaigns for Akwa Ibom women and physically challenged persons in the state.

    The NGO in a sensitisation workshop yesterday in Uyo, the state capital, challenged Akwa Ibom women and disabled persons to hold elected officers accountable.

    The workshop which had participants from eighteen communities across the six local government areas of Abak, Nsit Ubium, Ikot Abasi, Uyo, Ikono and Okobo council areas also educated the attendees on the electoral process.

    Addressing representatives from security agencies, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Disabled Associations and Communities, the programme coordinator Aniema Udo said after 2015 general election, Women United for Economic Empowerment carried out a post-election research to know the level of citizenship participation through questionnaires distributed to villages to know their problems in terms of amenities required in their respective areas for government intervention.

    Aniema who represented the Executive Director of Women United for Economic Empowerment in Akwa Ibom Mrs Patience Umanah remarked that the purpose of the workshop was to examine the success of striving citizenship engagement in Electoral process (SCEEI) in the past four years in their chosen communities and how they can internalize their ideas and change the narratives of our citizenship participation through the community facilities who would in turn discriminate the message without any impact from the parent organisation.

    She further said that the worship would provide an opportunity for reflection on their projects in Akwa Ibom to prepare citizens for 2019 general election and enlightened them to prepare for participation in the electoral process.

    Narrating the success story of how the programme helped them to attract government development project to their community, the facilitator of Abia Okpor community in Otoro Abak Obong Emmanuel Umoren said Women United for Economic Empowerment have taught them how to mobilize the electorates in their area as they elected a member of Akwa Ibom House of Assembly Hon. Friday Iwok who later helped them to build a town hall for the community.

    Obong Emmanuel Umoren said they went through the Advocacy Wing of the organization to Friday Iwok who represent Abak State Constituency and he donated ¦ 500,00 which they used as their lake off fund for the ¦ 4.9m Town Hall project.

    He concluded that the ministry of rural development later gave the balance of the money for the completion of the Town Hall and gave kudos to the Women United for Economic Empowerment for their enlightenment that assisted them to hold elected officers accountable to the people.

     

  • Tale of three Delta housewives

    Mrs. Pep Asama, a hat maker and doctoral student, shares something in common with Mrs. Igbudu Mary,  a weaver of Anioma traditional fabric “Akwaocha”, and Mrs. Precious Nwaise,  a fashion designer.

    The three housewives participated in a Products Exhibition and Business Fair to showcase the products of beneficiaries of  Delta State  youth empowerment scheme.

    The Delta State government’s twin youth empowerment programmes, Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP) and Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs Programme (YAGEP), have turned around the lives of the three Delta women, who enrolled into the schemes to escape the drudgery of housekeeping and nurture their entrepreneurial skills.

    The initiative, with the goals of tackling unemployment and nurturing Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSME’s), has impacted positively on the local economy with many individual families including that of

    using skills acquired under the initiative to augment income.

    Although, the three housewives have widely different educational backgrounds, but the shared zeal for entrepreneurship have bond them together.

    For Mrs. Asama, the training programme could not have come at a better time. According to her, marriage brought her to Delta State, adding that she grew tired of the drudgery of keeping home and finding something that would engage her was a challenge.

    She said when she got an offer to train in hat and beads making under the Overseas Development Agency and UNDP in collaboration with STEP and YAGEP in 2014, her joy was boundless.

    Mrs. Asama said the skill she  earned has helped her achieve financial independence, adding that aside from engaging in a financially rewarding business, her self- esteem has been boosted.

    She said:“It happened with the intervention of Delta State government in 2014.I was nominated and trained to make hats and beads sponsored by Overseas Development Agency (ODA), and UNDP in collaboration with STEP and YAGEP.I was honoured when I was invited a month ago to show what I have done over the years and be part of the business fair. I have come to display what I have done. Initially when I came into Delta State, marriage brought me here, so I was a housewife doing nothing and with this skill I have been able to support my family financially especially during festive periods, people buy hats .It has made me vibrant, I am no more just a housewife but now a business wife, thanks to Delta State Government”.

    On how she juggles her responsibilities as a wife and mother and business, Mrs. Asama said being self -employed has helped her manage her time between business and her home saying “there is no competition between job and family.”

    Narrating her experience, Mrs. Asama said her products at the outset were rejected but with perseverance, she mastered her trade and she now the toast of clients from across the country.

    Her words: “It can be discouraging. I was ordered to do wedding. I was paid N10, 000.00 for the job. I toiled day and night to get the job done. When I got to the wedding, to my amazement, the bride did not wear it. I was very disappointed. I approached the bride later on to find out what happened. She told me they did not really like the hats I made. But one week later I saw my hats being worn by the family to church and they are still wearing it as I speak to you. The fact that they say it is not good, it is not really true. It may not be the best but it can stand out.So, when rejection comes it should not make you quit, find out why you were rejected, perhaps it your finishing. I have been favoured to get help from experts in this business, they have been able to guide me.”

    Mrs. Igbudu ,who hails from Aniocha South, earns enough to contribute towards paying for the educational needs of her three children at different tertiary institutions.

    She said the art of traditional weaving of the local fabric (Akwa-Ocha) received a boost with the introduction by the Delta State government of modern machines, adding that it has improved productivity and reduced production times.

    Mrs. Igbudu said the training received through the STEP training has been of immense benefit to her and other local fabric weavers, adding that the 300 member strong association has formed a cooperative to access government loans.

    Her words: “ Before we weave Akwaocha manually, but now our Governor trained us .And we were empowered with a mechanized system that enables me produce two Akwaocha fabric within three days .With the traditional manual methods it takes two weeks to make one fabric. Although Akwaocha as the name implies is white cloth, but we have introduced other colours into our designs and we see that people like these new designs. With this innovation Gov. Okowa has nicknamed the fabric Akwaoma .Now we use blue, gold and any colour depending on what my customers want.”

    Mrs. Nwaise said:  “Fashion designing has improved my life tremendously, since I started I have travelled all over the world .Just three days ago I returned from Dubai .I have been exporting my clothesline around the world”.

     

  • Emmanuel presents certificates of recognition to 230 traditional rulers

    The Akwa Ibom State government accords great respect and recognition to the traditional institution. It prides itself as regarding traditional rulers as dependable and indispensable partners in building a peaceful, economically and politically vibrant state.

    Governor Udom Emmanuel recently issued certificates of recognition to 230 traditional rulers as part of government’s commitment to build and sustain a working bond between the traditional institution and his administration.

    At the colorful event, which held at the Banquet Hall, Government House, Uyo, Emmanuel said the traditional institution has a major role to play in the maintenance of peace and security in the state, and tasked them to increase efforts at ensuring  security in their respective domains.

    The governor, who decried the rate of moral decadence in the society, asserted that threat to security in communities is traced to cultism and charged the royal fathers to assist the state government in the provision of adequate security measures in their respective domains.

    While explaining that traditional rulers are closer to the people at the grassroot, Emmanuel said: “It is your duty as village heads, clan heads and paramount rulers to rise up and make sure that we have adequate protection to lives and property within your communities.”

    He stressed that security should form the major agenda in the traditional rulers council meetings to stem the tide of cultism and vandalisation of public infrastructure, assuring of government readiness to support security measures taken at their individual domains.

    The governor added that with the increase in the population of communities, it has become extremely difficult for the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies to monitor every nook and cranny, imploring them to offer useful information on perpetrators of crime in their areas.

    He mentioned that the state government is vested with the authority to issue certificates of recognition where there are no legal injunctions, adding that the certificates can also be withdrawn at the final determination and judgement of the court.

    The State Chief Executive solicited for grassroot support through the royal fathers, tasking them to mobilise the people in their separate communities to ensure continuation of the present administration beyond 2019 for the consolidation of ongoing development programmes in the state.

    Emmanuel appealed to the traditional rulers to encourage their subjects to partake in the ongoing voter’s registration exercise.

    The Supervisory Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Nsikan Nkan, said  the issuance of the certificates was an exposition of the state government’s friendly disposition to the traditional institution, applauding the newly recognised traditional rulers on their emergence from their respective communities.

    Nkan said the recognition of the royal fathers was in tandem and consistent with the provision of Akwa Ibom State Traditional Rulers Law 2000, Section 15, Cap 134, informing them that by the official acknowledgment of their status, they have automatically become officers of the state government.

    Obong Ikamaise Udo Ekong, the village head of Itu Andem in Ibiono Ibom local government, during an in interaction with our correspondent at the event, expressed gratitude and joy for receiving his certificate of recognition from the state government.

    The highpoint of the event was the formal presentation of the certificates by Nkan, assisted by Paramount Rulers. The event was witnessed by the Secretary to the State Government

    Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, Chairman of the State Traditional Rulers Council and Paramount Ruler if Ini Local Government Area, Edidem Ntoeng Udo Effiong Akpan, State Chairman of  the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Obong Paul Ekpo, former Commissioners in the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Udo Ekpenyong and  Chief Uwem Etuk as well as some members of the State Executive Council among others.

  • Community leaders partner Dickson’s aide to end insecurity

    Enough of this violence. That was the expression on the lips of grassroots leaders from Ogbia, the Local Government Area of former President Goodluck Jonathan, in Bayelsa State, when they visited Yenagoa, the state capital, recently.

    The Community Development Committee (CDC) chairmen from Ogbia were at the Information House to visit one of the illustrious sons of Ogbia and Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson.

    They had followed up the activities of Iworiso-Markson in Ogbia and they were convinced that the commissioner is genuinely interested in the development of the council. He has been preaching the unity of Ogbia and sponsoring programmes and projects aimed at restoring peace, unity and progress of the council in line with the body language of his boss, Governor Seriake Dickson.

    In Iworiso-Markson, they found a dependable ally, a friend and a leader for the Ogbia rebirth. Having been jolted by series of violence in their domains, the CDC leaders decided to meet with their kinsman to find lasting solutions to the problems.

    They were unhappy that a council hitherto known for peace was gradually sliding into violence and confusion. They traced their current crisis on persons, who masqueraded as their leaders but only protected their selfish interests. It was time for a crop of new leadership powered by Dickson’s Restoration Government to emerge and the commissioner has shown the required character and attitude.

    As their name implies, the CDC plays crucial roles in the development of each community in a local government area. Every community in Bayelsa has a CDC leadership that oversees and coordinates the activities of the community. It is the eye and the messenger, which acts as a go-in-between for the community.

    So, the meeting that held in Yenagoa between all the CDC chairmen in Ogbia and Iworiso-Markson was key to the eventual resolution of the problems in the council. The community leaders first pledged their support for the administration of Dickson, describing the governor as a righteous man, whose government brought joy to their council,

    The Chairman of CDC chairmen, Chief Sylvanus Egele, said the governor had done well in education, health, agriculture and infrastructure. He referred to the airport projects, senatorial road projects, Agge Deep Sea Port, flyover, sports academy, Ijaw National Academy, boarding schools and others as the key achievements of Dickson.

    “We have vowed from this day to partner with the Restoration Government to move Bayelsa State forward”, he said.

    He, however, lamented the recent insecurity in Ogbia such as armed robberies, kidnapping, cultism, piracy, killings among others and sympathised with the families of policemen murdered at Ogbia Town waterfront by unknown gunmen.

    He said: “This body had, therefore, unanimously decided to walk closely with all security agents to fish out all suspected criminals from all our communities and hand them over to government for possible prosecution”.

    Iworiso-Markson said he was humbled by the visit and promised to channel some of the demands of the chairmen and their goodwill message to the governor.

    But he said: “The security of Ogbia is very paramount. Security is key. To drive to Ogbia town now, you need personal security. But that is not who we are. We are peaceful people.

    “For more than 50 years, they carried out exploration of oil activities in our communities, we cooperated with them. Not one day did we hear that any of the oil workers were kidnapped in Ogbia land.

    “Out of that same land they took oil that built bridges in cities across the country but neglected us. Yet we didn’t do anything. We remained peaceful and we have continued to remain peaceful.

    “So, it is a source of concern to some of us who are from that area that the peace that we want seems to be evading us. There are some people coming to create insecurity in our community. We must not allow it. You are CDC chairmen and you have a duty to protect our kingdom.

    “We have the duty to maintain the peace in Ogbia. I want to work with you to ensure there is peace. I am tired of the report we are getting from Ogbia kingdom. I know all of you are tired. We want to live in a place where there is peace.

    “It is when you have peace and security that development can come. If Ogbia is not peaceful, people will not come. This security challenges must stop and you need to make it possible.

    “I am very concerned about the peace and development of Ogbia more than anything else. It is a must that we develop Ogbia. Nobody can develop Ogbia apart from us”.

    He insisted that the council would not develop in disunity and urged the people to shun divisive tendencies, which he said were propelled by greed and selfishness.

  • Dear Uncle Donald

    I guess the time has come for me to tell you how I feel about our nation, Uncle Donald, since you opened the communication channel – with the letter you (or your team) sent to me at the weekend. In the letter, Uncle Donald, you addressed me as ‘dear friend’. I really felt flattered. Me, Olukorede Yishau, a struggling journalist and about-to-be-published novelist, described as a friend by the one-and-only Donald Duke, who was two-term governor of Cross River State at an age many of your peers were not sure of their purpose in life. But on a second thought, I felt Uncle was only borrowing a leaf from politicians in advanced democracies. After all, I still get letters regularly from politicians in the United States who obviously got my email in their pool because of the privilege of once covering the American presidential election on the bill of the Department of State’s Foreign Press Centre.

    In your letter, Uncle, you sounded so much troubled by the state of our nation. You lamented. You cried. You screamed. You acknowledged the discontentment in the land. You foresaw a ‘bleaker, riskier and dangerous future’ if something drastic was not done.

    After the lamentation, Uncle, you asked questions: “What are we doing about it?” “Are we prepared to do something or whine about it as we have been doing for years without end?”

    Uncle, you also referred to the daily migration of Nigerians through the Sahara desert, a development you considered as people walking with their eyes open into enslavement, unlike what obtained in the past when people were forced into slavery.

    With the right phraseology, you did not forget to prick our conscience. You reminded me that we must be ‘soulless and inhumane’ if we are pleased with the Animal Farm we currently inhabit.

    “The fact that this is happening in an age of enlightenment by relatively enlightened young men and women is even more telling.  If this does not set off alarm bells among us, then we are soulless and inhumane: the very essence of a human being!

    “Enough of whining let us together take up the gauntlet and demand the course of action that would ennoble our society and her people. And if this is not done now, when? And if not by us, whom? In every struggle, there is a result. If you try, you may succeed, but if you don’t, you are definitely bound to fail.  I choose to join others and with every breadth in me, be in the vanguard for a better society, ksnowing that together we can make the difference,” you said.

    You did not end the letter without welcoming me aboard the flight to end our woes. But something was missing, you never told me in what capacity you were welcoming me. I, however, guess that having been governor twice, you will only be looking forward to leading our country as President.

    Uncle, I share your sentiment. Our dear nation is in trouble. At a time when we were expecting the remaining Chibok girls to return, Dapchi girls were snatched. Their parents are inconsolable. Their relatives are in tatters. Their school mates are daily expecting them to return and wondering if their wish would ever be a reality.

    Many out there are looking for jobs that are not available. Not a few have died this week all because what we call medical centres are consulting rooms that they have been since military era. Even the private clinics where we pay through our noses cannot compete outside of our shores.

    Uncle, there is graveyard silence in the Niger Delta. Boys have become used to free cash and they use every available excuse to demand cash from contractors handling developmental projects and so on. There is an interesting drama in Bonny and Bodo as I write. The Federal Government and the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited contributed N120 billion and gave it to Julius Berger to build a road that will see people being able to drive from Port Harcourt to Bodo and finally to Bonny, the amazing Island where Nigeria gets billions regularly. But no thanks to internal wrangling between communities and what I suspect to be the give-us-cash syndrome, the project is on hold. What this shows is that the fault is not always in our leaders!

    Uncle, officially, we are out of recession but many in their private lives cannot feel this. In fact, millions are in depression.

    While I admit, Uncle that things are bad, I must also point out that the party under whose platform you governed for eight years, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), was callous in its management of our resources for the bulk of the time it was in charge. Of course, I am the first to admit that this is no excuse for the current government not to change our fortunes like it promised.

    Uncle, in Abubakar Adam Ibrahim’s award-winning novel Season of Crimson Blossom, a woman was well over 50 before she got her groove and experienced what it really means to be a woman! It is not too late for Nigeria. We can experience the much-desired orgasm even at this age!

    And this brings me to what you have to offer. There is no doubt that you have got age on your side. I also believe that you have got the intellect. It is also my opinion that human support should not be a challenge for a man of your caliber.

    I certainly have no advice about how you can surmount the obvious challenges and realise your ambition but I certainly have a Nigeria of my dream to share with you.

    I want a Nigeria where nepotism is a thing of the past. I want a Nigeria where no one feels left out because of which part of the country he or she comes from.

    I seek a Nigeria where epileptic supply of electricity will become a thing of the past. I will be glad that day when our electricity generating sets will only be useful for picnics at beaches and such places where temporary source of power is required.

    I want a Nigeria where members of the National Assembly will truly legislate in the interest of the people and not out of any pecuniary interest. I am sick and tired of the current situation where everything but national interest seems to take the first position.

    Uncle, I also want a Nigeria where our schools can compete with others in the advanced world. I long for a Nigeria that will cease being a Third World. What is wrong with being a First World?

    Importantly too, Uncle, I look forward to a Nigeria where we can reap from medical tourism instead of the current situation where we are the major loser to this trend.

    I certainly want a Nigerian whose economy is so robust that we can hold our head high anywhere in the world and our green passport will command respect and not scorn.

    Uncle, let me also tell you this; I look forward to a Nigeria where oil takes the back seat and agriculture and tourism take the front seat and contribute more to our foreign exchange earnings and Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    “Oil equals power,” wrote Alain Mabanckou, a Congolese novelist listed as a finalist for the Man Booker Prize in 2015, in his book Lights of Pointe-Noire. He also importantly pointed out that ‘where there is oil, there is war’.

    Mabanckou also said: “Oil has screwed up everything between the north and the south.”

    I am sure you cannot fault this, given our experience as a nation. Oil should no longer equal power. Enough of the pain of oil. Enough of the silent oily wars. Enough.

    Now, we need new songs, not songs of sorrow, not songs of despair, not songs of lamentations, but songs of joy, songs of a country, which experiences orgasm at old age and hold on to it forever!

    Can you give me this Nigeria? If yes, so help you God!

    Sincerely yours, Olukorede.

     

  • Professionals offer solutions to Rivers’ challenges

    Professionals across various fields of human endeavours gathered at the Juanita Hotel, No. 28, Herbert Macaulay Street, Amadi Flats, old Government Reservation Area (GRA), Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, for a brain-storming session to move Rivers forward.

    The professionals, under the aegis of Business Rivers, did not spare the Nyesom Wike’s administration by declaring that the Niger Delta state is not safe, with many people, companies and businesses relocating to Lagos and other safer parts of Nigeria.

    Convener of Business Rivers, Utchay Okorji, who is into real estate, stated that the group was non-political, but made up of critical stakeholders who live and do business in the state, thereby being concerned about the progress and development of Rivers.

    Okorji, who declared that: “Many people, companies and businesses are now relocating from Port Harcourt and other parts of Rivers State,” pointed out that members of the group wanted a better Rivers.

    The convener said: “We are here as Rivers people, those of us who do business in Rivers State and we are looking at Rivers State not from the perspective of political parties. We are here to tell ourselves the truth about Rivers State.”

    The well-attended event had as the special guest of honour/lead speaker, the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, who accused Wike of losing focus and not taking governance seriously, but playing politics with development of the Niger Delta state, making people, businesses and companies to be leaving Rivers in droves, because of insecurity and multiple taxation.

    While also speaking at the evening of truth-telling to power, a lawyer, Ibrahim Yakubu, noted that majority of the lands in Rivers state did not have titles, stressing that no bank would give loan with lands without sound titles.

    Yakubu said: “In Lagos, the fact that they have titles to their lands paves the way for owners of lands to get bank loans. There is a lot of success stories in Lagos that make businesses to thrive there.

    “Rivers State is number 33 in the list states with the ease of getting Certificate of Occupancy (C of O). People are moving to places like Benin, Uyo and Lagos.”

    An engineer based in Port Harcourt, Femi Asolo, in his remarks, stated that in Rivers state, there is a misplaced sense of entitlement.

    Asolo said: “Wherever you have to work in Rivers State, you have to factor in the community. It is almost impossible doing business here (in Rivers State), because of this. No matter how you do this, the cost of production multiplies.”

    In spite of Wike describing himself as Mr. Projects, a businessman, who simply gave his name as Uchenna, said: “Government of Rivers is not putting infrastructure in place. Government has not provided roads, water and some other necessary infrastructure. These (infrastructure) are what can attract people to build houses and invest in the state.”

    Another businessman, Nwokoma, disclosed that officials of the local government councils in Rivers state would always come to harass landlords and tenants for tenement rates.

    Nwokoma said: “We had a situation where a property owner in Obio/Akpor LGA (within Port Harcourt metropolis) was asked to pay huge sums of money to officials of both Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt City Local Government Councils. This makes people not to have interest in your property and that makes the value of the property to decrease.”

    While defending Rivers government, the state’s Commissioner for Information and Communications, Chief Emma Okah, insisted that there was no failure of governance in Rivers.

    He also maintained that people, companies and businesses were not leaving Rivers state in droves, as alleged by Peterside.

    Okah, a lawyer, said: “Peterside is not correct. Part of the problems we have in Rivers State is lack of adequate infrastructure, caused by the Federal Government. The Port Harcourt International Airport has been described as the worst in the world. The two seaports in Rivers State (at Onne and Port Harcourt) are not functioning, due to the deliberate policy of the Federal Government to kill the Rivers ports.

    “On insecurity in Rivers State, Peterside is indirectly blaming the Federal Government that has the constitutional duty to secure lives and property. The focused administration of Governor Nyesom Wike has been providing logistics to support all the security agencies in Rivers State.

    “Posting of heads of security agencies is the duty of the Federal Government. Peterside and his cohorts are always influencing the posting of heads of the security agencies. They are politicising security in Rivers State and are not allowing the security agents to do their jobs professionally.

    The NIMASA chief shared his thoughts on Rivers economy, the way forward, pointed out that to tackle insecurity in the state, Wike must have zero tolerance for crimes, invest in intelligence/work with community people, invest in military hardware, as an interim measure, and the Rivers governor should stop compromising in the enforcement of law and order.

    He wondered why the Wike’s administration decided to outsource taxation to touts, leading to multiple taxation, without the Rivers government considering streamlining taxation as a priority.

    The ex-member of the House of Representatives (Peterside) said: “A society does not change by accident.

    “The latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) states that Rivers State is number one in unemployment and underemployment in Nigeria. In 2010, Rivers state’s unemployment rate was 27 per cent. Today, the unemployment rate is 41.82 per cent. We have made progress in unemployment and underemployment. Rivers State has a huge unemployed population.

    “In the misery index, Rivers State is at 79.87 per cent and number one in the country. That means eight of ten persons feel miserable in Rivers State.

    “In 2010, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Rivers State was $21 billion, while GDP of Lagos State in the same 2010 was $31 billion. Today, the GDP of Lagos State, after seven years, is $91 billion, meaning that the volume of products and services have grown three times in a period of seven years.

    “Within the same period of seven years, the GDP of Rivers State grew from $21 billion to the estimated GDP of $22 billion, a growth of just $1 billion. The GDP between Lagos State and Rivers State is widening by the day geometrically.

    “Rivers State now has the highest inflation rate in Nigeria, because the state produces nothing literally. Another indicator is the Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR). Whereas, other states are making progress in IGR, Rivers State is not making commensurate progress.”

    Peterside, a former Rivers Commissioner for Works, also stated that the crude oil and gas-rich state had no excuse not to be prosperous, but could not get the leadership right.

    He expressed displeasure that of recent, Rivers government had not invested in human capital, stressing that building roads is good and to support other infrastructure, but it would not grow an economy.

    The NIMASA chief said: “Businesses are no longer thriving in Rivers State, because the Rivers government does not give serious attention to security. Rivers State is now crippled by insecurity. Police records, based on data, show that Rivers State has remained number one in kidnapping and other crimes for a very long time.

    “The quality of leadership determines the quality of the economy. The quality of the economy we have determines the quality of life the people live.”

     

  • 28 jobless youths become poultry farmers in Bayelsa

    The retired Brigadier-General, Paul Boroh is no longer the Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP). He was recently rested by President Muhammadu Buhari. But Boroh will always be remembered for introducing agricultural revolution into the programmes of the amnesty office.

    In fact, many ex-agitators benefitted from various trainings on different aspects of agriculture. Just before he was fired, about 28 beneficiaries graduated from the Evagreen Ventures where they learnt the rudiments of poultry farming. For about a week beginning from March 4th to 10th, the trainees were camped in the farm.

    The Director of Evagreen Ventures, Bidi Emmanuel, said the delegates were selected and sent to the farm by the amnesty office. He said the training was aimed at making the beneficiaries self-sufficient to stop them from relying on stipends from the government.

    He said: “The essence of the training is just to encourage them on how to be self-reliant and not necessarily rely on stipends. It is a life-sustaining training. Though the period is short, with what they’ve gained, they could start somewhere and amnesty has also asked us to empower them after now”.

    Emmanuel said when the trainees arrived the farm, most of them were pessimistic and doubted their ability to start and run a successful business. But at the end if the training, he said they all became optimistic and willing to apply their knowledge.

    He also added that all the beneficiaries were issued certificates to signify their successful completion of their programme. “We expect them after now to become a potential farmer by ensuring that they put what they have learnt into practice, and later follow them up to ensure that the proper thing is done”, he said.

    After the training, questions were raised on how the participants would be empowered to practise their trade. Emmanuel, however, said there was nothing to worry about as everything had been worked out by the amnesty office.

    Indeed, the participants commended the office for the training and praised the facilitators, who taught them how to fish through poultry farming. They pledged to utilize the opportunity and their starter packs to become successful farmers.

    One of the beneficiaries, Tom Austin, said he was interested in growing and selling browsers. He said he paid attention on techniques of growing broilers following the market needs of chicken.

  • Human trafficking…Benin monarch, ancient deities to the rescue

    Last Friday, the ancient city of Benin was rapped around by red apparels-wearing  chiefs, priests, witch doctors and sorcerers on the auspices of the Benin monarch, Omo Nova N’ Edo Ukuakpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare 11, to purge the city and its environs of the infamy known as the city of “blood and prostitution”. The purpose of the rituals was to activate deities, grooves, shrines, idols and other deified antiquities to blend ancient and modern in the monarch’s bid to rid Benin Kingdom off the disheartening social strifes that have enveloped the state, desecrated the land and debased our humanity, as a people.

    Sometimes in July 2011, Oba Erediauwa, who has joined his ancestors, activated a similar ritual on some unknown group of cultists who had beheaded Endurance Obanor, a 100-level student of the College of Education, Ekiadolor, stuffed his mouth with grass and posted his severed head on a metal school gate! A month later, Edo State Police Command arrested two of the suspects – Osagie Omorodion (23) and David Odigie (24). Both Omorodion and Odigie were said to have participated in the killing of Endurance, a member of a rival cult group. Omorodion (aka Musa), told journalists that fighting broke out among the two rival gangs, the Neo-Black Movement (aka Black Axe) and the Eiye confraternity, resulting in casualties on both sides.

    In a similar incident in May 21, 2015, the Edo State Police  Command through its then spokesman, Mr. Emmanuel Ojukwu, paraded 41 suspected cultists, including 30 Auchi Polytechnic students who were arrested for allegedly killing members of the public and destroying property. Eleven of the suspects were alleged cult leaders. The rest were students and artisans who played various roles in the crimes plaguing Edo State.

    Mr. Ojukwu had further stated that the suspects were nabbed by an Anti-Cultism team set up by the then Inspector General of the Police, Solomon Arase. In his words, “the suspects who are leaders of cult confraternities are being interrogated for their conspiratorial involvement in the murder of ten Nigerians. The Black Axe Confraternity, Nosman Confraternity, and Judas Confraternity were among the names of the cults involved in the killings”.

    These are very few reported cases of mass killings resulting from cult-related violence or Community Development Associations (CDA) motivated bloodbath in the state that prides itself famously as the ‘Heart Beat’ of the  Nation. In 2013, yours sincerely became a victim of the CDA-motivated blood-soaked enterprise that happened between Amagbon and Evbukhu communities land profiteering. Several lives were lost and property worth millions of naira destroyed, including a building consisting of six number flats of three bedrooms.

    The seeming impunity with which violence erupts and hopelessness of the security agencies to contain the perpetrators have again lent credence to the activation of deified antiquities which appear to have been accepted for their efficiency and effectiveness in arresting the orgies of violence from non-state actors. Through Chiefs, the Odioweres, (clan leaders ),  Priests, sorcerers and sorceresses, witch doctors— the Benin monarch placed  curses on all the pastors, churches, individuals, groups, families and parents, who sponsor, promote, indulge, contract or participate or encourage perpetrators in any of the vices that have defiled the present security architecture. Also cursed were the native doctors who also subject the victims of the heinous crimes to oath of secrecies, cultists, violators of the order banning the activities of the Community Development Associations and others whose businesses are to initiate the sons and daughters of the ancient Kingdom into various cult groups.

    The Benin monarch further warned those aiding and abetting human trafficking through the use of black magic and subjecting the victims to the oaths of secrecies to desist or face the wrath of the gods and the ancestors of the land.

    In his own words: “You native doctors whose business is to subject people to the oath of secrecies and encouraging this evil act on the land, you have to repent, stop doing it.

    ”We want to use this medium to tell those who are under any oaths of secrecies that they are now free. We revoke the oath today.”

    Now, Oba Ewuare’s alliance with chief priests and some palace chiefs, placing deadly curses on sponsors and perpetrators of all forms of social vices that hinder development in the state and those putting the image of the Kingdom in disrepute have been received with mixed feelings. Apart from priests, priestesses, traditional religious worshippers, Benin chiefs, dukes, village heads, market women, shrine worshippers who were in attendance, Directors and officials of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) as well as the diplomatic corps and security agencies were in attendance.

    Is anyone surprised that of the nearly 5,000 Libyan returnees or repatriated Nigerian migrants — those who died in the desert or submerged in the Mediterranean Sea unaccounted for are 85% Edo State origin? What does that say about the people and the successive political leadership of the state? What is the present government doing to bring the scourge to an abrupt or instalmental end?

    Strictly speaking, who can then fault the monarch’s patronage of the traditional means of social control to boost the nation’s security architecture which appears to have failed? Why will the State House of Assembly abandon the legislation against human trafficking and elect instead, to legislate itself into bondage by rejecting autonomy for itself, local government and the judiciary?

    Shouldn’t the monarch be praised for adopting traditional means or ‘ancient science’ to solve our modern day crises resulting from some of the rebellious African children visited upon the continent that is now threatening to erase her humanity? Africa is the only continent on the planet earth that has failed to develop her medieval science methodology to the point of acceptability in solving social problems imposed on her by modernisation.

    The crises of human trafficking, cultism and other acts of violence associated with the CDA have all conspired to threaten to erase Edo State, using global indices of civilisation. For instance, the total collapse of the family, educational, political, economic and religious institutions put in place to secure and safeguard our primordial civilisation is a culprit. It’s now common place in Benin City to see some pre and/or post-secondary school students soliciting for a pay for sex to fend for their family upkeep! It is even more debasing when families now boastfully pound their chests to announce the number of their children whom they have sponsored abroad usually by land through  the Sahara desert enroute Europe with most of these not having basic skills nor education. Most of these parents would have sold off their thriving businesses and sometimes their houses.

    More damming — on the other hand — is the fact that nobody aspires to become successful in Edo State politically. This is because no one can except she/he must one way or the other belong to a member of the deadly cult groups. Yet, in the midst of these, one is rattled by government’s casual and shallow approach to bringing these known charlatans and the vices to book. We want to see Edo State Government on the auspices of Mr. Godwin Obaseki convoke inter-institutional conference to address the menace of unwarranted bloodletting and human trafficking. His government can come up with educational policy such as the one being implemented in Kaduna State where parents who refuse to send their kids to schools to be educated are liable to be imprisoned for upward of 10 years.

    • Ikhide, an analyst, writes from Lagos

     

  • Why govt should make Koko, Warri, Sapele ports work, by don

    Why govt should make Koko, Warri, Sapele ports work, by don

    Professor Jim Nesin Omatseye, a respected voice in the Niger Delta, in this interview with BOLAJI OGUNDELE,  talks about the economy of the region, the power sector and the performance of the Muhammadu Buhari administration. Excerpts:

    Economic Potential of the Niger Delta

    It has been said over and over again that the oil era is over; they even say ‘nearly over is an understatement’. We’ve talked about agriculture, manufacturing, things that will give jobs to our children, but these aren’t working. First and foremost, government can facilitate creation of jobs, it can only do very little when it comes to creating jobs by itself. For instance, look at what is happening to our ports in the Niger Delta; Koko, Warri and Sapele Ports have been fallow for a long time, so also many other such facilities in the region. People who do business say it is far cheaper for them to import through Lagos than to use any of the ports in this area, but it is false thinking to think nearness is not an opportunity. Government knows what to do.

    Security concerns with the eastern ports…

    They haven’t given any viable reason because if it is security, the Nigerian armed forces, especially the Navy, should know what to do to ensure there’s no criminal interference in the waterways. Here is a naval base here in Warri, another one in Koko. Are we saying that these waterway robbers or criminals stronger than our navy that are based in these places? Definitely not, it is because government has not really given thoughts to what to do about these waterways.

    Also, I think that the idea that the people in the region responsible for not developing these ports is wrong. If they say there’s a cartel responsible for keeping the ports and waterways unsafe, are members of this cartel also stronger than government? Will the cartel also prevent government from sorting out the issue of the shallowness of the channels, which has prevented big vessels and ocean liners from coming into Warri and Koko ports? These are things that can be done without anyone stopping the work.

    Effect on lives of the people

    Niger Delta is more or less the gateway to the Southeast, if ships can come to these ports and discharge cargoes and people can have access to them, I don’t see any reason why anybody will prefer to spend up to six or seven hours from Lagos to Onitsha to spending a mere two and a half to three hours from Warri to Onitsha or Nnewi or anywhere else in the east. If the ports in Calabar, Port Harcourt, Warri are all open and these ocean liners can come, jobs will be created as a result of the activities taking place in these ports. In the absence of this, our children have no work, they go to the university, get degrees, come back and there’s no job. The idea that they should create their own jobs is there, but how many of them have the wherewithal? Government should create the enabling environment in order for the children to get job and create some themselves.

    The power sector

    As a matter of fact and to say the least, although I know a tree can’t make a forest. When Fasola was brought in as Minister of Power, Works and Housing, we expected more, but the so-called DISCOs and GENCOs have all failed and the reason they have failed is because they have enjoyed the sort of monopoly that does promote competition. What we need now in a major town like Warri is room choices for consumers to pick DISCOs to subscribe to because when you are stuck with one, you have no choice. For instance, this is about the third week in Warri since there been no light. It’s only in this country that light will be taken for that long and nobody gives you an explanation why it is so.

    Whatever the minister and those controlling the power distribution and generation companies are doing, I don’t know, but I know that people have been having to use huge sums to buy fuel to power their generators, causing more pollution to the atmosphere, leaving their food bad in the refrigerators and nobody is saying anything. For God’s sake, let these companies be disbanded ansd let there be a fresh bidding for the operation of the power distribution in this country, which will make room for real competition because if they know you have a choice of one or two distributing companies to make from then they will all sit up, but as long as we are stuck with one DISCO, the user complaint will continue. So let us disband them and create more so that customers have choices to make when it comes to power distribution. The one currently operating in Edo and Delta, to say the least, is useless. They are inefficient, useless and not worth keeping.

    That light will be out for this long and there’s no explanation from anyone is totally unacceptable and the minister of power should do something about this because people are tired. When the Buhari administration came in many of us were happy, believing that something like this will not happen, but we are surprised at the level of inefficiency, the ineptitude that has taken place in the performance of people. It is poor and unacceptable and inevitably people are going to call for change because the change that we thought we’ll find is not happening. Yes, the president has done a good job of, as I said before, fighting corruption, but we still say that it’s only the small fries who are getting convicted and being sent to jail, no big fry yet. I agreed that the big money so far saved should be put into a project that we can all see and appreciate.

     President Muhammadu Buhari

    At the heart of the problem, which confronts the president, is the tendency to lean towards the North most of the time in order to get advice and people to serve his administration. Frankly speaking, I believe that Buhari is an honest, straightforward leader; his intension to get rid of corruption is real and credible, but he has a weakness; he seems to always look towards the north as the only source of getting people to work for him. Forget the fact that there are ministers from all the states, some of those ministers don’t have real powers, especially those ministers from the South. Let’s take what has just happened in the Ministry of Health as an instance, where a director general was accused of doing whatever wrong he has done and a minister put him on suspension. Even without any declaration that he has been found blameless, he was reinstated by the presidency. This is someone who said he has no responsibility to the one who’s supposed to be his boss, being the minister. What kind of message is that?

    The real power is with a small group of people around the president and that is the source of the president’s biggest failure. Nepotism is so glaring in the appointments and it’s been said to him many times, but he doesn’t want to listen. We have a lot of intelligent people from the north who can do a lot, so it is from the south. When he appoints people from the south, he puts people who will be insubordinate, who will come to say they have no responsibility to their boss, simply because they are from the north and they have godfathers within the cabal ruining the president’s image and administration.

    The Maina saga is also there. If not for the pressure that was mounted on the president in order to get justice, Maina could have come back the same way that the man in the Ministry of Health came back. That is the glaring weakness of the president. If the president can manage to purge himself of this ethnic cleavage, it will solve a lot of problem. He’s a man of integrity, but he does not seem to believe that solution can come from outside the north. My suggestion to the president is to free himself from the cabal and be every Nigerian’s president. He has somehow been capture by the cabal, he needs to free himself from these people because they are the greatest source of his undoing.

    If Nigerians are telling him to leave, it’s not because they see him, as a person, as being bad, but because of the wrong steps that the cabal has taken in his name. He needs to be decisive, axe these people and convince Nigerians that it is the no nonsense, incorruptible president they elected in 2015 that is still in charge. When I look at those running up and down that they want to replace him, I see no one that is as good as Buhari, but if he cannot free himself from these group of individuals from Daura or wherever it is these cabal members are from, Nigerians aren’t going to take it.

    On the issue of fighting corruption in Nigeria, I want to go on record as saying that it is good that a lot of money has been recovered from alleged looters, but it is not good enough that no one of significance has gone to jail because it sends a wrong message; that if you are caught looting, all they’ll do is to recover the money from you and allow you to walk free and that’s in fact what promotes the impunity we are talking about.

    Having said that, you cannot directly blame the president for that, you should rather blame those around him, whose job it ought to have been to replace those not doing a good job of prosecuting these accused looters.

  • Group seeks Chevron headquarters’ relocation to Warri

    Chevron Host Communities Contractors Association (CHOCOPROCO) has sought the relocation of Chevron corporate headquarters to Warri, its operational base, as directed by the Federal Government.

    Its Chairman Comrade Emmanuel Adidi and Secretary Enaefewan Friday, said this is “because we are aware of the process this will take; we, therefore, demand the immediate relocation of the procurement supervisor’s office and Warri area manager’s office to Warri forthwith.”

    The group reiterated its 45-day ultimatum to Chervron. It said from next Monday, no truck/trailer of any Chevron contractor/vendor/supplier would be allowed to enter Chevron dockyard/TOPCON or be allowed to park on the Warri-New Port Expressway.

    The group condemned the marginalisation the region. It said: “Host communities contractors have equal stake in the activities of operations on in their communities and are entitled to live peacefully and benefit maximally from her government and resources.

    It, however, praised Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for tackling the problem. “We call on all Nigerians to support Delta State and the Federal Government to not only assist in resolving this crisis, but to also help restore peace to the aggrieved parties, which is another way of moving Nigeria to a greater height.

    “We believe strongly that the unjust and unfair handling of affairs in Chevron Lekki office gave birth to most of the restiveness that is being experienced in parts of the Niger Delta area, which gave rise to agitation from various parts of zone. It, therefore, behoves on a responsible management to address the basis for these agitation.

    “CHOCOPROCO must be carried along with 65 per cent of all opportunities in the daily contract awards in facilities engineering department, construction department, logistics department, facilities management department, procurement/purchasing department forthwith.

    “It is fatal to allow selfish individuals and groups through their actions, gang-up and activities, to plunge their host communities into chaos and anarchy. We must, therefore, rise above ethnic, religious and sectional interests and sentiments and put the interest of all Nigerians above every other.

    “We call on leaders to act as bridge-builders to promote unity, healing and soothing, which our nation needs desperately.’’

    The group sought the deployment of Mr Emmanual Agbongiague, the FM supervisor in the Warri office.

    It said this would serve as a warning to others, especially those supporting and working with him.