The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • Excitement as road links Bayelsa community to civilisation

    Excitement as road links Bayelsa community to civilisation

    It is an unprecedented feat. A road to Ekeremor Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, after 40 years of waiting in traumatic vain, is worth the celebration. In fact, Governor Seriake Dickson, rode to Ekeremor on Saturday last week. He is the first person in history to have accessed the local government area by land.

    Dickson could be considered for the Guinness Book of Records. He has done what many politicians in Bayelsa, who occupied a similar position and even higher privileged state and national offices before him failed to do for the people of Bayelsa. It was a moment of inexplicable joy. People residing along the Sagbama-Ekeremor Road saw vehicles drive into their communities for the first time.

    Though the project has not been completed, bulldozing the swampy mangrove forest to create a road and sand-filling it from Toru-Orua, where the asphalt base has so far terminated, to Aleibiri in Ekeremor, gives an indication that the road which targets Ekeremor Town in the first phase, will soon be completed for the usage of all kinds of vehicles.

     

    Significance of the road

    The Sagbama-Ekeremor Road is one of the three senatorial roads in the state. It is designed to connect all the communities in the Bayelsa West Senatorial District. Other big ticket senatorial road projects in the state are Yenagoa-Oporoma-Koluama Road to link the Central Senatorial District and Ogbia-Nembe-Brass Road  for the East Senatorial District. All of them are conceived and designed to link the state capital and all communities to the sea, where the wealth of the state is believed to be domiciled.

    The main objective of the Sagbama-Ekekremor project is to hit Agge, a riverine community that lies on the fringes of the Atlantic Ocean. It is in Agge that the government has proposed to establish the deep seaport project. From the inception of his administration in 2012, Dickson has continued to emphasise the importance of linking Bayelsa to the sea through three flanks, the three senatorial roads.

    In fact, the Sagbama-Ekeremor road project has been on the drawing board since 1979. Late former political leader, Chief Melford Okilo, mounted pressure on the Federal Government to construct the road. But he could not live to see any significant work done on the project.

    In 1993, the Oil Minerals Producing and Development Commission (OMPADEC), which metamorphosed into the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) awarded the road project valued then at N888m. The commission reportedly paid 50 per cent of the money to a contractor, who fled with the money.

    The project, which was inherited by NDDC sat in limbo, remained in its abandoned state throughout the administrations of late Chief Diepreye Alamieyeiseigha, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, who later relocated to the Presidency and Chief Timipre Sylva. People were miffed that former President Jonathan showed no interest in the three senatorial roads including the Sagbama-Ekeremor until he was booted out of office.

    Dickson, however, toed a different path. He remained adamant that the three senatorial roads were essential ingredients to the development of the state. Dickson was the brains behind the eventual completion of the Ogbia-Nembe Road in the eastern flank of the state.

    The Ogbia-Nembe road, a joint project of NDDC and the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) was abandoned by the contractor until Dickson gave the firm N3bn cheque to return to site. He has also not abandoned the Yenagoa-Oporoma-Koluama road in the central flank. In fact, the central senatorial road has been constructed up to Igebiri and sand-filled close to Oporoma.

    But the governor has vigorously pursued the completion of the Sagbama-Ekeremor road in his Western Senatorial District. After taking over the project from NDDC, he first constructed the road to Toru-Orua, his hometown in Sagbama. All kinds of vehicles can now drive to Toru-Orua, a community that was hitherto only accessible through water.

    Sand-filling of the road, which is about 100km has been done up to Aleibiri, a community in Ekeremor. Special vehicles with capacity to maneuver sand can now be driven to Aleibiri. The governor and his entourage used such special vehicles like Hilux vans to inspect the project up to its terminal point.

    The Sagbama-Ekeremor road was awarded at the cost of N30bn to both Dantata-Sawoe and Setraco?. The terrain is the most difficult as it cuts across mangrove forest, rivers, rivulets and swamps. There are two major bridges to be constructed from Aleibiri to Ekeremor main town which is the section of the road project handled by Setraco.

    There is no gainsaying the importance of the road to the communities in Ekeremor. The local government area can only be accessed by water. To cut down on the number of hours it takes to get to Ekeremor by water transport, some persons halve the journey by road through Bomadi in Delta State and complete the rest by water. Water transport is generally replete with dangers following the activities of sea robbers, Pirates, kidnappers and other maritime criminals.

    Little wonder, the communities were thrown into jubilation when they saw the vehicles of the governor and his entourage. The people of Angalabiri, Ofoni, Ayamasa and Aleibiri trooped out en masse to give Dickson a rousing welcome.

    Excited communities linked by the Sagbama-Ekeremor road such as Angalabiri, Ofoni, Ayamasa and Aleibiri in Sagbama and Ekeremor local government areas, came out en masse to cheer the governor and his entourage. Women wore their best wrappers and blouses. They sang and danced various renditions of Ijaw songs.

    Children rushed out in their numbers to behold line of endless vehicles that came into their communities. Community leaders, elders, Chiefs and their traditional rulers floated red-carpet receptions for Dickson. At each community, residents received their governor and gave him gifts. He is their hero.

    The people of Alaebiri were particularly happy. To them, the governor had fulfilled one of the promises he made to them when he visited their community by water during the last electioneering. The governor graciously told them that next time he would come to their community, it would be by road.

    Excited Dickson addressed the communities in Ijaw dialect. He promised to fully complete the road in December 2018. He thanked the people for their reception and show of love. He said the road project was part of the fulfillment of his campaign promise in 2012.

    He said it was one of the three Senatorial road projects he promised to deliver in order to open up the state from three flanks. He assured them that ?by December all manner of vehicles would travel along the road. Dickson directed the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure to make his promise a reality saying he would be coming back during the yuletide season.

    He said the need to connect communities in the state to the capital Yenagoa necessitated the construction of the three senatorial roads. He assured them of the commitment of his government to improve on their living conditions, adding that the few communities around the area that were yet to be connected to the national grid would soon be hooked up.

    Dickson said: “This road is very beneficial not just to this local government or this senatorial district, it is very important to this state. It is important to the Ijaw nation, the Niger Delta and to Nigeria because all the communities across the other side of the River is Delta State as you all know.

    “So, this road connects so many communities and peoples cutting across the local government. It is important so, I want to get it delivered before the end of my tenure.

    Dickson was accompanied on the tour by some ?eminent personalities including the former Deputy Governor of Sokoto State, Murktar Shagari, who also expressed surprise at the boldness of the governor to construct the road in a difficult terrain.

    He said even though it was obvious recession slowed ?down the work, the governor must be given kudos for continuing with it even with the persistent economic hardship in the country.

    Shagari said:  “When the people of Bayelsa have a person that is completely selfless, that believes in development and opening up the Niger Delta area to the world, they should count themselves fortunate”.

    The people believe that the road when completed would fast-track development and increase economic activities in their areas. They vowed to continue supporting Dickson and his administration for transforming and developing their areas. Most of them said they would never forget the governor.

    The Spokesman for the Aleibiri Federated Communities said since 1979 during the second republic under Chief Melford Okilo that the road was conceived, no administration was able to execute it.

    He said: “It is in this context that when in 2012 you came on board and announced the take over of the project and your desire to go all out to construct the road, not many thought that it would ever see the light of the day.

    “Today, you have shamed the doubting Thomas, the cynics, the political jabbers and all those who have over the years played politics with this critical economic road. We lack words to appreciate you for what you have done for us as a people. You have wiped away our tears, you have made us feel that we are part of this country”.

    Indeed, Dickson has given politicians in the state especially the ones from the western part of Bayelsa a run for their money. Most of them, occupied positions of authorities but added no value to the development of the state.

    The Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, is among the prominent politicians from Ekeremor. Many people believe that Lokpobiri, a former speaker and two-time senator, may lose his political relevance if he for the first time drive to his community on a road built by Dickson, his avowed political enemy. The governor is fast rising to becoming an indisputable political leader, a rallying point to the people.

    Though some persons accuse Dickson of paying much attention to his senatorial district, others reply them by citing examples of projects including road infrastructure executed by the governor in areas other than his senatorial district.

    Besides, they argued that if former President Goodluck Jonathan had used his position as a deputy governor, governor, Vice-President and President to attend to the infrastructural needs of his Eastern Senatorial District, that area would have reduced the burden of governing and developing Bayelsa.

    Dickson’s efforts have attracted the admiration and commendations from unusual quarters. A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Tokpo Coronation, praised the governor saying he was doing well in the area of road construction.

    He said: “Much as we see all the faults of governor Dickson and criticise him as l also do, we should be bold and objective enough to encourage him where he is trying.

    Take it or leave it, Dickson is doing relatively well in the area of road construction, linking the communities in the Sagbama/Ekeremor axis. You may say he is doing it only for his area, yes, but if every past governor had done same, Southern Ijaw, Nembe-Brass, Ogbia and others would since have been linked by roads.

    “There is nothing that brings physical development to a place like connecting them with roads to the metropolitan centres. The next is electricity.

    “Thank you Dickson for giving hope to the communities in Sagbama and Ekeremor local government areas of driving to Yenagoa by road, thereby avoiding the scourge of sea piracy and other maritime crimes.

    “Most of those communities now being linked by road didn’t hope to see motorable roads in their communities in their life time. Some of the old men and women may have seen cars for the first time in their lives”.

  • Local govt poll: AKISIEC boss seeks stakeholders’ cooperation

    The Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission (AKISIEC) Chairman, Mr Aniedi Ikoiwak, has appealed to stakeholders to support the commission for the attainment of credible local government election in the state.

    Ikoiwak made the appeal on Wednesday in Ukanafun Local Government of the state after touring AKISIEC area offices in Mkpat Enin, Oruk Anam and Ukanafun council areas.

    The AKISIEC boss said that the conduct of free and fair council poll on Dec. 2 will only be accomplished with cooperation of the citizens, especially all the stakeholders.

    “We will do our best at AKISIEC to conduct the election in accordance with the provision of the law.

    “We want to appeal to the Akwa Ibom people, the electorate and the political parties to support AKISIEC in the quest to conduct a credible election,” Ikoiwak said.

    The AKISIEC chairman said that the commission was ready to conduct elections in the 31 local government areas of the state.

    He said that his tour of the 31 area offices of AKISIEC had afforded him the opportunity to assess the state of affairs in the offices.

    “We needed to tour the area offices to assess the facilities and also boost the morale of the staff members in the area offices.

    “AKISIEC conducted the last local council election in 2012, so the staff members needed to be gingered to prepare for the forthcoming election,” Ikoiwak said.

    Ikoiwak said that a total of 12 political parties had presented candidates for the elections and the final list of candidates would be published at the completion of screening procedures.

    Briefing the AKISIEC boss at Ukanafun area office, the Electoral Officer, Mr Samuel Akpan, said that he had been interacting with the security agencies in the area in preparation for the election.

    Akpan said that the local government area had 101 polling units spread across 10 wards.

    He appealed for additional staff members, disclosing that his office did not have a store officer.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the commission will deploy 10,000 ad hoc staff for council elections in the 329 wards across the 31 local government areas in the state.

  • My dear Governor Wike

    My dear Governor Wike

    I must start this letter with a confession sir. I have been a very naughty boy — especially on this space — since you became governor of dear Rivers State. I am sure you know what I mean Your Excellency; so, I won’t waste time giving details here. All I ask is your understanding for the sake of the future of Rivers and Nigeria.

    I am sure you are wondering ‘what is this mischievous boy up to again?’, but fear not Your Excellency, I mean well, really well.

    Sir, I am writing you because of 16 Rivers indigenes studying medicine at the All Saints University in Saint Vincent and Grenadines. These guys, which I have chosen to address as All Saints 16, found themselves overseas after they went through thorough screening under your predecessor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. I know you do not like hearing that name. So, pardon my mentioning it.

    The Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency Scholarship (RSSDA) scheme found these guys worthy of overseas scholarship and sent them abroad. The overseas scholarship covered Medicine and allied courses. It was received after an aptitude test. After this, RSSDA secured admissions for successful candidates and entered into a bilateral agreement with students and the universities.

    Sir, I understand that the scheme underwent a review after you took over. That review led to the suspension of these guys from medical school two months to their graduation. The school had no choice than to take this line of action because of the inability of the Rivers State government to pay outstanding tuition fees and living allowance. I understand this ran into $39,975 for five semesters.

    Your Excellency, their plight made them upload a petition on www.change.org. Through the petition, the All Saints 16 pleaded with you to pay their allowance and tuition, which was stopped in November 2014.

    Permit me sir to quote from their petition. It reads: “We have not been paid our upkeep allowance for about two years and 11 months. Our tuition fees have not been paid for 5 semesters (Clinical rotation [CR2 to CR6]), and as a result of this, all 16 of us were suspended from school in September, 2016 (2 months to our scheduled graduation date of November 2016).

    “Ever since our suspension, we have been staying at home, not being allowed to conclude our remaining elective clinical rotations and all efforts to contact the Rivers State government for the release of funds proved abortive.”

    One of the All Saints 16, Promise Adimele, spoke with our award-winning star reporter Hannah Ojo last week, Your Excellency. He was full of lamentation.

    Let me quote him Sir so that you can feel their pains: “Feeding has been very difficult as we rely on the charities of friends and school colleagues. Most landlords have evicted us from their houses due to non-payment of rent and threatened us with legal proceedings in order to recover the outstanding rent. Life has been tough and unbearable for all of us since we were abandoned by the Rivers State government and RSSDA.”

    Your Excellency, I understand that in a letter dated July 16, last year, the RSSDA wrote the school’s management to announce changes to the scheme.

    Kindly permit me again to quote from the latter: “The point that needs to be emphasized here is that we will only sponsor students that are completing their studies in 2016 as well as settle outstanding commitment to date.

    “Kindly be assured that the outstanding tuition payment for our students in your school have been adequately captured in the list of payables that are on the front burners of the Rivers State government. We will plead strongly with you to continue to show understanding and to kindly allow a little more grace and period specifically for the 16 final year students who also fall in the category of students that the government has pledged to continue their sponsorship.”

    The letter, which was signed by Mr Lawrence Pepple, the Executive Director/CEO of the RSSDA, shows that the All Saints 16 still fall under the category the scheme is willing to sponsor. But it has been over one year since that letter and nothing has happened Your Excellency and the students are in quandary.

    Sir, I understand that the fees and allowance were usually paid in advance. But all that changed eight months before Pepple wrote the school’s management. Your erstwhile  Commissioner for Agriculture Onemin Jack, in December 2015, told the students’ parents that only final-year students would complete their programmes abroad. The rest were to continue their studies at home.

    Your Excellency, some mischievous people claim you see the All Saints 16 as children of your political opponents.

    Hannah’s attempt to get the reaction of your Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr Kenneth Kobani, saw him blaming it all on the man whose name you do not like hearing.

    “You are from The Nation newspaper. Have you asked the APC zonal leader who was governor who refused to pay the fees of these children since 2014?  When you ask him you can come to us and ask us what we are doing,” he told Hannah and hurriedly hung the phone.

    Sir, while it is true that the payment stopped in November 2014 before you came into office, the situation has remained the same. Please, help the All Saints 16, who have refuted the claims of being children of political opponents in the state.

    “We have no political affiliations, we are just young people trying to better our lives and become productive members of society,” the students told The Nation.

    Your Excellency, I understand there are other final year students who are stranded in India, Europe, Canada, UK and the Caribbean. Their parents have pleaded for your compassion.

    A beneficiary of the scheme in the United Kingdom, Derefaka David Direh, said: “I am signing this (petition) because it is a painful experience to start a programme and not conclude it. Apart from the feeling of failure, it is demoralising for these young ones to have to waste so many years of their lives in foreign lands. A commitment made by one government should be a liability or responsibility of the new government.  Not only should  the 16 final year students  be catered for,  others who were awardees on the programme  should be apologised to and  compensated for the suffering and humiliation they have been put through as a result of non- commitment on the part of Rivers State. Is it stressed or traumatised doctors that we want to produce?”

    Sir, unlike Kobani, Commissioner for Information Emma Okah made a lot of sense in explaining the situation to Hannah.  He alluded to the bad economy, which only a dead person, would not have felt in the last two years.

    Let me quote Okah Your Excellency: “For those who are in final year pursing speciliased courses like medicine, the state government planned to pursue their welfare to the extent it can take. Some people have been coming and cases have been dealt with on merit. I do not know what has happened to these set of students.  I am just hearing it for the first time today.”

    He said it was baseless to feel the students were abandoned on the assumption that they are children of political opponents.

    Sir, on behalf of Adden Babeye Paul  (Asari/Toru), Amaechi Promise Adimele (Oyigbo),   Amadi Udochukwu Junior (Etche), Maakai Baribor          (Gokana), Precious Wifa (Khana), Baritore Princewill Ikpe   (Tai),Victor West Kpelene (Tai),  Nsiipu Namene Nsiipu (Tai) and other final year RSSDA scholars, please help work out an arrangement that will see them earning their degrees.

    And as I sign off sir, please care more about the message. The messenger is inconsequential.

    Bye for now.

  • Okocha dedicates Asaba Award to Sam Amuka, Asiodu

    At the end of the weeklong programme marking the 50th anniversary of the Asaba massacre, notable contributors to the successful jubilee exercise, were given awards by the Asaba community.

    Among the Awardees were Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Dr. Getrude Okogwu Ogunkeye, Nduka Eze and Ogbueshi E. O Okocha, travelling from Houston Texas.

    Towards the end of the award ceremonies, the whole hall was brought to jubilation and fulfillment when Charles Ojugbana, former veteran of the NTA Sports, who was the compere, called Ogbueshi Emma Okocha to come up to the podium to receive the Most Exceptional Award of the Asaba community.

    Presenting the trophy to the author of ‘Blood on the Niger’, former Cross River State Governor Donald Duke extoled Okocha’s courage.

    The former governor urged Okocha to continue on that honorific journey advancing that with his people’s support, the ultimate reconciliatory efforts would eventually see the light of the day.

    Okocha, who was full of tears, said: “This surprise award, coming from the Asaba community, is very encouraging. I congratulate the Chairman of the Organising Committee, Ogbueshi Alban Ofili, who in spite of our principled differences went ahead and pushed for this award. I dedicate this recognition and award to the Publisher, Vanguard Group, Sam Amuka. Sam Amuka ran the serials of ‘Blood on the Niger’ in the Vanguard, when it was very risky to do so. The Vanguard contributed in making the ‘Blood on the Niger’ the first to tell the Asaba Genocide story and now the book has been catapulted to a global text. I will not forget my teacher, Chief P.C. Asiodu, who though belonged to General Gowon’s war cabinet, exhibited the most courage when he wrote the Foreword to my book and confirmed the cold deliberate plan of the Second Division that wiped out our people. He was with me at Tampa Florida, when we organised the first International Conference on Asaba Genocide. The Award finally goes to Professor Erin Kimmerle, who may have been forgotten by us, is the world Anthropologist who connected me to the University of South Florida.”

  • Day soldiers fought with brooms, hoes, rakes, cutlasses

    Day soldiers fought with brooms, hoes, rakes, cutlasses

    Residents in Bayelsa State woke up to an unusual sight recently. They saw soldiers fighting their common enemies vigorously. But this time not with guns, bullets, Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC), bombs and their usual arms and ammunition.

    The soldiers including officers battled with hoes, cutlasses, rakes and other domestic implements. Their choice of weapons was determined by the nature of their enemy. Dirts were the common enemy and the soldiers were united against heaps of refuse and improperly disposed used items.

    Troops temporarily abandoned their weapons of mass destruction and took up brooms to sweep public places. They raked dirts and mopped places in Yenagoa, the state capital. It was part of their social responsibility factored into the ongoing military operation in the Niger Delta region, Operation Crocodile Smile II.

    Much fuss about military operations in the country. In Niger Delta, most people, including the Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, believe the military exercise is a welcome development. Prior to the operation, the creeks and waterways were replete with dangers.

    Criminal elements were on the prowl killing and maiming innocent travelers. Piracy, sea robberies and other maritime crimes were on the increase. After their onslaughts, the hardened criminals hide in their camps, share their loots and return for fresh operations. So, it is hoped that the military exercise will restore maritime peace in the region.

    Therefore, the environmental sanitation conducted by the military was a clear message that the military operation was not all about arms and ammunition. Soldiers led by the Commander 16th Brigade in Bayelsa, Brig.-Gen. Kelvin Aligbe, rolled up their sleeves to give residents clean environment.

    It was a sight to behold by passersby. Most of them for the first time saw soldiers undertaking such civil activities. After hours of cleaning Aligbe led his civil troops to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Yenagoa, where they donated medical items to the hospital.

    Aligbe said the citizens should see the army as their pride. He appealed to them to take ownership of the army. He urged the people not to panic during the period of the military operation. According to him the exercise was also designed to improve the professional capabilities of soldiers. He said that all insinuations and suspicions against the military exercise were untrue. He insisted that there was no cause for alarm.

    He said: “Nigerians should take ownership of the army and see the army army as the pride of the nation and that’s exactly what we have come here to demonstrate within the context of operation crocodile smile II.

    “Operation Crocodile Smile II is intended to increase the rhythm of our combat operations in the creeks and land-based activities.

    ”At the end of the day, the operational skills of all those participating will be sharpened and of course, we would have gained more mileage in our operational capabilities.

    ”This, of course, you know a lot resources have been committed to the operations to boost what we are doing and so what probably we would have covered in three months will be able to cover in just one month.

    ”So, the operation is going to increase the rhythm of our operations as well as the mileage we are going to attain in terms of our operational gains”.

     

    Immunization Not Part of Military’s Medical Mission

    There was a period of commotion following insinuations that the military as part of its exercise was administering monkey pox vaccines to children in school. It started in Onitsha, Anambra State.

    Pandemonium took over the city as parents ran to schools to withdraw their children. The rumoured poisonous vaccines grew in proportion and made an inroad into Bayelsa State. It spread to Edo and other parts of the country.

    But all was hogwash; a lie from the pit of hell as some people would say. As the commotion lasted, nobody was able to produce a pictorial evidence of soldiers clutching vaccine kits to school.

    Aligbe explained that vaccination has never been a part of military exercise. He said military operations included medical outreaches and not immunization of children.

    Aligbe said: “During our medical outreaches, we do not give vaccines, we do not do immunisation. We do basic medical checks and then offer medical materials to individuals that need them and it is not by force.

    ”You will be surprised that in this time and age when you have social media that not even a shadow of the so-called people dressed in military uniform were caught on camera, especially with everybody having a cell phone that has camera in it.

    ”Not even one school, not anywhere the same message, the same rumour that was heard in other states. Unfortunately, the rumour was replicated here in Yenegoa on Friday and caused a lot of apprehension. But as leaders, we must stay on the path of truth in making sure that the services that is expected of us are delivered to the people.”

    He added that the military operation would include routine activities in the creeks, rivulets and land patrols for confidence building. He said the donation was part of the medical outreaches of the Army within the context of its community relationship in their area of operations.

    In his remarks, the FMC Public Relations Officer, who received Aligbe and other Army officers on behalf of the hospital management, said they were highly elated to receive the medical items.

    Akpedi said: ”As a federal government facility, we are highly elated to receive the medical items.

    ”We know very well that this is the beginning of better relationship with the Nigerian Army not just for the staff of this hospital but Bayelsa State in general.”

  • Rivers Legal Aid Council receives 477 cases in nine months

    The Legal Aids Council of Nigeria, Port Harcourt office, said on Wednesday that it received 477 cases in the past nine months.

    The state coordinator, Mrs Frances-Bianeyin, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that out of the figure, 202 were criminal cases, while 275 were civil.

    She said 147 of the criminal cases were completed at the court, while 360 civil cases were also completed during the period under review.

    Bianeyin traced the council’s success to hard work and determination.

    The state coordinator noted that the council needed additional ten lawyers to work in the council, to bring the number to twenty.

    The coordinator attributed the prison congestion to the judicial system in the country.

    She said more judges should be employed by state government to achieve speedy dispensation of justice.

    The state coordinator of the council noted that judges are still using hand to record proceedings and statements, instead of recording statements electronically.

    She said judges in developed countries no longer use hand to record court proceedings and statements.

    According to her, all departments in the judiciary are lacking adequate manpower and needed to be addressed.

    The Nigeria Legal Aid Council of Nigeria was established to assist indigent, who could not afford to pay for legal services.

  • Green Shirts of the Niger Delta

    When T.Y. Bello (Toyin Sofekun-Bello) sang: “The land is green, is green, oh oh oh; the land is green, is green, can’t you see” she might have had the Niger Delta in mind. No part of our country  is more lush fully green than the Niger Delta  with its all-year round rainfall.  Even in times of tragic oil pollution, some plants stubbornly sprout with their  green coated in oil, as if to say, ‘this land is ours’

    The irony however is that the rich natural vegetation of the Region has not translated into food self-sufficiency or security. Like most parts of the country, the Niger Delta has become like Abdul, the man in the fairy tale who wants to get rich without working. Yes, oil is a rich resource, but as we know, it is a wasting one; not only will it not last, but also, its  importance is diminishing daily with humanity finding alternative ways of powering energy and automobiles. In fact, future cars will be run on recycled water. This is why the Government of President Muhammadu Buhari harps not just on the need for alternative sources of income for the country, but with its Green Initiative, backed by various programmes like the CBN Anchor Borrowers Programme and those of the Bank of Industry, point at agriculture as what would save the country.

    When in July, 2015, I was appointed the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme with the sustainable reintegration of 30,000 ex-Militants as a main target, I  worked out in the back of my mind, the fastest and best way to achieve this. My conclusion is   to let the Amnesty Beneficiaries blend with the greenery of the Region by attracting them to return to culture the land and fish ponds.

    This I also found as the answer to the Federal Government’s primary objectives in the Niger  Delta which are to ensure peace and sustainable development. So apart from continuing the existing projects such as developing the human capital resource of the Region through tertiary education, professional and vocation training and empowerment, my team and I took the sure turn to agriculture. We entered into partnership with various organisations like the Bio Technology Resource Centre, university Agriculture faculties and established farms to train the ex-Agitators.

    These seedlings we are planting are beginning to sprout. You can imagine my joy when on Friday October 13, 2017, before the chiefs, elders and people of George Town, Okrika, Rivers State, twenty young men in green overall stood before us, the mass media and the world, as I handed over to them a modern, zero-waste, integrated cluster farm. These were part of the 105 youths the Presidential Amnesty programme had trained under the Songhai Rivers Initiative Farm. While their colleagues are being empowered with single stand- alone farms and ponds, this was our first experiment to group ex-Agitators into cluster farms, register them as cooperatives and watch them become not just self-employed, but also employing other unemployed youth.

    The model farm, fully funded by the  Presidential Amnesty  Programme which we handed over to the Beneficiaries, has 30 Ponds, one  Run-off Earthen Pond, 5000 Bird Poultry including Broiler and  Layers, Free Range, Cropping and Processing Sections,1 Administration and Sales Office, 2 Feed Stores, 2 Implement Stores and one Control Room.

    I told the Beneficiaries that they have a once in a life time opportunity not just to make a decent living for themselves and their families but also to employ a number of the unemployed. I also  informed them that  the Amnesty Office was further empowering them by handing over to them as a start-off package, 1000 fingerlings to 2000 post fingerlings,  100 Point of Lay Birds and an additional 200 broilers, 10 Piglets  and a Crop Section with  Cucumber, Pepper, Pumpkin and Okra.

    Perhaps the most critical aspect of this farm is that it is designed to be one  with an all-year round production by running a staggered stocking and harvesting plan. With this, commercial sales have been programmed  with the sale of eggs by  November 1, 2017 and, smoked fish, broilers  and vegetables in December, 2017.  We opted that smoked fish, rather than fresh fish be sold, first to add value and secondly to make more profit.

    I was also very happy with  George Town  which provided the land for the farm. I was elated when the traditional leader of the town, Chief Akuro Richard George said with this project, we had brought  Federal presence to them  and that the  project has established a bond between the George Town  people and the Federal Government. His request that the Presidential Amnesty Programme establishes   a skills acquisition centre in George Town to cater for lots of unemployed youths, is one that sits well with the Presidential Amnesty Office.

    My happiness knew no bounds when the  Chairman of the ex-Agitators  Cooperative, Mr. Emmanuel.T. Promise,  thanked the Federal Government for giving them the opportunity  of  their lives to  run a  viable and sustainable business of their own.  These are men who had picked up arms to fight the country, but who are now a role model for their peers and are resolved to run their lives in peace and security.

    The occasion further convinced me that this is the way to go; that this cluster farm which we registered with the  Rivers State Government as “Okrika Agro Farmers 105 Cooperative and Investment and Credit Society Limited”  must be  replicated in other parts of the Niger Delta. Already, we have 1,000 Beneficiaries   who have either been trained, being trained or are on the waiting list to be trained in agriculture.

    As we continue with this, our attention is also directed at rice farming for which we have already trained 305 Beneficiaries with two of them establishing their rice farms in Ughelli. My vision is to produce tens of thousands of youths in the Niger Delta cladded in their green overall and shirts, turning the Region into a Green Belt and blending with the green vegetation.  This is the beginning of what I call the “Green Shirt Movement” The Land is green and is becoming greener, can’t you see?

    *Brig-Gen. Paul Tarela Boroh is the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

  • Foundation, Rivers govt take hand-washing campaign to schools

    Foundation, Rivers govt take hand-washing campaign to schools

    The Partnership Initiative in the Niger Delta (PIND) Foundation, from Monday to Wednesday, held a hand-washing programme in furtherance of its campaign to enlighten Nigerians on the importance of imbibing the culture of hand washing.

    The programme, organised by the Chevron Nigeria sponsored NGOin partnership with the Rivers State government and Rotary Club, was aimed at promoting high level of hygiene in Rivers State senior secondary schools.

    The event had “Our Hands Our Future” as its theme, and apart from promoting hygiene, participants and stakeholders where taught how to protect themselves from diseases through constant washing of the hands.

    PIND’s Analysis and Advocacy Manager Mr. Asonye Chime stated that the project is to ensure three vital things: “ensuring that young people turn ambassadors in there various schools, as this will enable them to disseminate the good message of ‘hand washing culture’ into the society.

    “Secondly we want to ensure, through all our major partners – Rotary club, H20 for life, the Rivers State government – to ensure proper sanitation in the state and also to ensure that good portable water is available for everyone in the society.

    “We have been hearing of all sort of diseases like monkey pox, Ebola etc and we think it is more critical for the society to practice hand-washing culture and we also want people to know that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a global international call in order to enhance sustainable development in the society,” Chime added.

    Rivers State Commissioner for Water Resources and Rural Development, who was represented by Opurum N. Sylvanus, remarked that “washing of our hands before anything can save us from various contagious diseases.”

    He disclosed that the state government was taking proactive measures to sustaining life and ensuring good health through sanitation and provision of clean water.

    The Chairman, Rivers State Senior Secondary Schools Board, Chief Briggs David, explained that “hand is one of the bodies that disseminate; it draws bad to you and also sanitise bad things away from you.

    “Hygiene should be the first thing a parent transmits to their children, because the only thing that can enable us to be healthy at all times is to always sanitise our hands; hand sanitising shouldn’t be once in a while advocacy, it should be our culture”.

    The President, Rotary Club of Port Harcourt GRA, Mr. Jerus Uvieghara, lauded the global hand washing day, vowing on behalf of the club to work towards encouraging high standards in education and also to enable good and proper hygiene at various schools. He enjoined various schoolteachers and parents to imbibe the hand washing culture in their wards.

    Students from Government Technical College (GTC) and Okrika National Secondary School (ONSS) attended the event, and they commended the organisers for the initiative, stressing that it was an eye-opener.

    One of the secondary school participants, Wisdom Daminabo from Government Technical College (GTC) Port Harcourt, lauded the organisers of the event, describing it as a good initiative.

    “I never took this hand washing serious but now that I know the profit in it I will disseminate this message to my friends at home and to my parents too,”he added.

  • Rivers medical students stranded abroad as Wike abandons agreement

    Rivers medical students stranded abroad as Wike abandons agreement

    The gleam has gone out of the light of 16 Rivers indigenes studying medicine at the All Saints University in Saint Vincent and Grenadines. The 16 students who are beneficiaries of the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency Scholarship (RSSDA)  scheme  were  suspended from medical school  two months to their graduation as a result of the inability of the Rivers state government to pay outstanding tuition fees and living allowance running into thousands of dollars.  An invoice for an individual student obtained by The Nation pegged the tuition fee for 5 semesters at $39,975.

    In an online petition uploaded on www.change.org,  the 16 stranded students pleaded with Governor Nyesom Wike to pay their upkeep allowance and tuition, which was last paid in November 2014.

    “We have not been paid our upkeep allowance for about 2 years and 11 months. Our tuition fees have not been paid for 5 semesters (Clinical rotation [CR2 to CR6]), and as a result of this, all 16 of us were suspended from school in September, 2016 (2 months to our scheduled graduation date of November 2016).

    “Ever since our suspension, we have been staying at home, not being allowed to conclude our remaining elective clinical rotations and all efforts to contact the Rivers State Government for the release of funds proved abortive,” the students wrote.

    One of the stranded students, Promise Adimele told The Nation that the non -payment of upkeep allowance has exposed the stranded students to untold hardship and suffering.

     

    “Feeding has been very difficult as we rely on the charities of friends and school colleagues. Most landlords have evicted us from their houses due to non-payment of rent and threatened us with legal proceedings in order to recover the outstanding rent. Life has been tough and unbearable for all of us since we were abandoned by the Rivers State Government and RSSDA”, he lamented.

    In a letter dated July 16, 2016 addressed to Dr Terace Marcelle, the  Dean of  Students Affairs, All Saints University, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;  the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency had written to the school pleading for understanding whilst also intimating the school management of some changes to the scheme.

    “The point that needs to be emphasized here is that we will only sponsor students that are completing their studies in 2016 as well as settle outstanding commitment to date.

    “Kindly be assured that the outstanding tuition payment for our students in your school have been adequately captured in the list of payables that are on the front burners of the Rivers state government. We will plead strongly with you to continue to show understanding and to kindly allow a little more grace and period specifically for the 16 final year students who also fall in the category of students that the Government has pledged to continue their sponsorship”, the letter, signed by  Mr Lawrence Pepple, the Executive Director/CEO of the RSSDA read.

    Charged with the development of human capital and agriculture resources in the state, the RSSDA was inaugurated as an agency under the ministry of agriculture and natural resources in 2008 by the Rotimi Amaechi administration.  The former governor introduced the overseas scholarship scheme in critical areas such as Medicine and allied courses, to deserving indigenes, after an aptitude test, where qualified candidates were selected and prepared for academic programmes in A-level and/or international degree foundation. Admissions were secured in universities overseas for successful candidates by RSSDA, which entered into a bilateral agreement with students and their host institutions.

    Usually, the living and tuition allowance of the students were paid in advance but problem began when the  former Commissioner for Agriculture, Onemin Jack, in December 2015, informed parents of children under the RSSDA overseas scholarship programme that only final-year students would complete their programmes abroad, with the rest to continue their studies in Nigeria.

    Finding revealed that not only did the agency reneged on the agreement to see the final year students through the scheme,  governor Nyeson Wike who spoke during a recent interview aired on channels TV claimed the RSSDA overseas scholarship beneficiaries were not Rivers State indigenes. He also added that the beneficiaries are children of his political opponents.

    When The Nation sought the reaction of the SSG to the Rivers state governor, Mr Kenneth Kobini, he directed the reporter to ask the former governor, Rotimi Amaechi;

    “You are from The Nation newspaper. Have you asked the former APC zonal leader who was governor who refused to pay the fees of these students’ children since 2014?  When you ask him you can come to us and ask us what we are doing,” he hurriedly stated and hung the call.

    The students refuted the claims of being children of political opponents in the state.  “We have no political affiliations, we are just young people trying to better our lives and become productive members of society.”

    Apart from the  16 RSSDA sponsored final year medical students are stranded at the All Saints University, St. Vincent Grenadines, there are also other final year stranded  students in fields such as engineering, Law, Science, ICT, etc scattered in various schools in India, Europe, Canada, UK and the Caribbean. Last month, parents of stranded final year medical students in the University of Debrecen in Hungary pleaded with governor Wike  to show compassion on their helpless children by fulfilling his promise by  enabling  the students  obtain their certificates and return to Nigeria.

    Also, the  petition was started one month ago by Udochukwu Amadi on www.change.org with the title “ R/State Govt: Please pay the tuition fee of 16 final year RSSDA medical students in the Caribbean” has been circulating online.  The petition targets the executive governor of River as well as some stakeholders including  the speaker of the  Rivers State House  of Assembly, Rt Hon Ikuinyi Ibani,  Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyema, Rivers Commissioner of Education, Prof Kainye Ebeku amongst others.

    Derefaka David Direh, a Rivers indigene in the United Kingdom who signed the petition, said: “I am signing this because it is a painful experience to start a programme and not conclude it. Apart from the feeling of failure, it is demoralising for these young ones to have to waste so many years of their lives in foreign lands. A commitment made by one government should be a liability or responsibility of the new government.  Not only should the 16 final year students be catered for,  others who were awardees on the programme should be apologized to and compensated for the suffering and humiliation they have been put through as a result of non- commitment on the part of Rivers state. Is it stressed or traumatized doctors that we want to produce?”

    Another respondent Owhorchukwu Anwuri who was a past beneficiary of the RSSDA scholarship believes the students who have put much effort in their studies should get what they are entitled to.  “It is wicked to leave these sons and daughters of Rivers state in limbo, they deserve better,” he intoned.

    Rivers State Commissioner for Information, Barr Emma Okah, in a phone interview, explained that the state experienced an economic downturn which affected revenue generation and as such,  government decided that for courses that can be easily pursued in Nigeria, there would be no need to pay for tuition in foreign universities.

    “For those who are in final year pursing specialised courses like medicine, the state government planned to pursue their welfare to the extent it can take. Some people have been coming and cases have been dealt with on merit. I do not know what has happened to these set of students.  I am just hearing it for the first time today,” the commissioner stated.

    He said the 16 students were not abandoned on the assumption that they are children of political opponents.

    As Wike works towards the infrastructural development in the state with an enthusiasm that has earned him the toga “Mr Project”, it is only hoped  that he reconsiders his  stance on the stranded medical students  by rescuing them from an abyss of despondency.

    Reporting done as part of BudgIT 2017 Media Fellowship

  • Much ado over Ibom Hospital’s closure

    Much ado over Ibom Hospital’s closure

    Controversies, disappointment and blame games have continued to trail the closure in September of the much touted ‘world class’ 308-bed Ibom Specialist Hospital, Itu, Akwa Ibom State.

    Built and hurriedly inaugurated on May 26, 2015 by ex-Governor Godswill Akpabio three days before his exit from office, the hospital, according to him, was going to stand neck-to-neck with other ultra-modern health facilities anywhere in the globe. The state-of-the-art hospital was said to have cost between N30billion and N41billion.

    Akpabio, now Senate Minority Leader, said: “We lose billions of dollars every year to medical trips abroad. We have also lost a lot of people, not because we don’t have the expertise in the country.

    “We also decided to have a hospital that would answer to the needs of Nigerians in terms of advance health management and that was why we built the Ibom Specialist Hospital. It is not like a teaching hospital, it is like a quaternary hospital, it is higher than a teaching hospital.

    “We are starting it with about six modular theatres with equipment, that if for instance you are doing a cardiological investigation on a patient, cardiologists from around the world can hook up to the theatre and see real time what is going on and make their contributions to the examination and operation. So, instead of rich and wealthy Nigerians and nationals of other West African countries going abroad, it is easier to come here.

    “Sometimes, people die in the air while being transported abroad for treatment. We wanted to shorten travel time for patients going abroad and at the same time get revenue for the state from health tourism”.

    True to his avowed promise to deliver the best medical services comparable anywhere in the world, and perhaps dwarf university teaching hospitals in the country, the Akwa Ibom state government engaged the services of no fewer than 150 Indians to run the facility.

    However, two years after, not a few Akwa Ibom indigenes and Nigerians seeking top class medical attention adjudged the hospital as not meeting the vision and standard for which it was originally built.

    Governor Udom Gabriel Emmanuel in June attested to the fact the hospital was ill-equipped and far below standard, hence not capable of delivering the much-expected cutting-edge medical services.

    As if to establish a lack of confidence in the hospital, Akpabio himself flew out of the country for medical treatment for minor injuries sustained in an accident. He corrected that later by coming to the hospital for check-up.

    Commissioner for Health Dr. Dominic Ukpong, in a recent media interview, said: “The whole thing wasn’t totally completed. The dialysis section didn’t come through. Three modular theatres were not yet completed. Some of the areas were not completed because the contractors did not have all their money”.

    Administratively, our correspondent gathered that there was a missing link between Cardiocare Ltd, the managers of the hospital and the state government, with both accusing each other of not living up to its contractual terms and agreement.

    While the state government blamed Cardiocare Ltd of the hospital for non-remittance of revenue to government coffers, the Indians accused the government of poor funding.

    But an official of Cardiocare Ltd, who does not want his name mentioned, said the management of the hospital struggled with lack of funding from the state government.

    It had to depend on high fees in to meet up its needs.

    He said: “The current administration does not care much about how the hospital was faring. The governor himself has never visited or promoted the hospital in order to encourage local patronage.”

    He said the state government has been frantically trying to do away with the hospital.

    Another source confided in The Nation that Emmanuel is actually not keen on the specialist hospital and regards the facility as not been useful to the health needs of the common man.

    He said: “Early last year, some foreign based consultants wanted to take over the management of  Ibom Specialist Hospital.  The first question the governor asked was why were interested in the hospital. He told them he could build a brand new ultra modern specialist hospital in Awa, Onna for them to manage. The consultants were shocked.  They gave him many reasons why such a venture would be a total waste as the ISH was going to be grounded and may likely shut down.

    “The governor now told them he wasn’t going to be able to terminate the existing contract except they were ready to pay $100 million to the consultant as stipulated fee for breach of contract; the consultant answered in the negative that that was almost impossible, and that their financiers wouldn’t be able to raise such funds to pay off the consultants.

    “The second option was to wait until the contract with the managing consultant expired; of course that wasn’t a workable idea. The only option left was to murder the hospital indirectly by starving it of funds.”

    An insider said the Reigners Church tragedy in December last year added to what really brought the hospital to its knees.

    “What may have eventually brought down the hospital were the huge resources it spent on the treatment of the victims of the December 2016 Uyo Church building collapse.

    “Our hospital was where they brought almost everybody to; even people that were taken to other hospitals still came back to our hospital for treatment.

    “We had up to 80 surgeries or more. We had over a hundred patients at that time,” the source said.

    He said the state government did not pay for the treatment of the patients until things became really bad for the hospital.

    “The governor released money in July, but by that time things were already bad.  The surgeons that were making money for the hospital left,” he said.

    Dr. Ukpong said the N180 million the state government gave to Cardiocare Ltd was partly meant for the treatment of the victims of the Reigners’ Bible Church collapse.

    “They gave me an outrageous bill which I couldn’t agree with as a doctor.

    “They were asking for N294 million for 300 out-patients and about 70-something in-patients. The hospital was complaining about money before the church incident. So, let nobody use that incident as an excuse,” he said.

    The health commissioner added that his ministry did not have any supervisory role in the the hospital, even though the hospital was built with state government money.

    Also, he said he was not aware that the hospital managers ever paid any money to the state government, despite the agreement stipulating that they would be paying some revenues to the government.

    The blame game between Cardiocare Ltd and the state government also helped in fueling the long-standing rumour in the state that the hospital is a ‘huge’ deception, and that it is probably owned by the ex-governor.

    Uyo-based social critic Udeme Uyoatta is of the opinion that the hospital was ‘another white elephant project’ and destined for failure from the outset because it was constructed rooted in corruption, and shrouded in mystery and deception.

    Uyoatta added: “The Ibom Specialist Hospital was built by Senator Akpabio to massage his political ego, especially for him to be seen as having achieved above his predecessors.

    “I am of the strong belief that the project was used as a ‘drain hole’ to funnel the state’s oil resources into private pockets, and the result is what we are seeing today with the closure of the hospital which did not even have any economic benefits to the state”.

    State Chairman of the Civil Liberty Organisation, Clifford Thomas, told The Nation that the Ibom Specialist Hospital is a private hospital built with public funds.

    Thomas, a lawyer, said the hospital has never been useful to ordinary Akwa Ibom people.

    “The Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly should launch a full-scale investigation with the aim of unearthing the real owners of the ISH.

    “The governor should also explain how much money has been spent on the hospital. To me, the hospital is a complete fraud and failure,” he said.

    Our correspondent also gathered that the Indian medical experts and managers of the Ibom Specalist Hospital lived in an estate in Ewet Housing Estate suspected to be owned by Akpabio, thereby fueling the suspicion that the controversial hospital is owned by the ex-governor.

    Akpabio has reportedly intervened in crisis involving the state government and the management of the hospital.

    Speaking with our correspondent in Uyo, the member representing Itu State Constituency in the State House of Assembly, Idongesit Ituen, said lawmakers in the state were still studying the situation and would bring the matter up for deliberations after proper investigation.

    Ukpong said the state government would soon come out with an official position on the matter.