The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • Rotary district 9141 vows to intensify fight against polio

    Rotary International District 9141 has pledged to intensify effort in the fight against polio with a view to removing Nigeria’s name from the list of the endemic countries.

    It said cases of children infected by polio in Nigeria have been reduced by 99.9% but that until polio is eradicated forever, every child remained at risk.

    New District Governor for district 9141, Ikponmwosa Osagie Ogiemudia, stated this shortly after he was installed.

    The new district 9141 was created out of the old district 9140 covers Edo, Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa States.

    Mr. Ogiemudia said Rotary District 9141!would soon commence treatment of children with heart defects within the district.

    Ogiemudia said plans were already at an advance stage to begin the treatment this month.

    Ogiemudia who spoke shortly after he was installed as the pioneer governor of the district said he would work hard to ensure communities within the district benefit from the humanitarian services of Rotary.

    Mr. Ogiemudia stated that besides the free heart treatment to be provided for children, there were plans for communities under the district to feel the impact of Rotary services to community development.

    Ogiemudia said there were already offers from counterparts in Mexico for community water projects as well as support from India for any project the district comes up with.

    He noted that many promises of Rotary to communities have not been achieved because Nigeria has the least number of Rotarians to assist in solving identified problems.

    According to him, “We need more Rotarians to deliver the promises we have made to the children of the world. If the people in the continents and countries that have fewer challenges are joining Rotary, why can’t we?

    “This year, we will come to you and beg you to support our Rotary Foundation. Help me to save mothers and children I will never know. Help me to provide water I will never drink and help me provide books I will never read.

    “When Rotary clubs are closer to the people and when we increase our passion for service, Rotary will be more effective and more communities will benefit.”

  • Bayelsa ANA boss bows out in style

    Bayelsa ANA boss bows out in style

    A prolific writer, Michael Afenfia recently bowed out as the Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Authors  (ANA), Bayelsa State chapter. During his reign, poetry poured in torrents to wet Ijaw land; prose cracked the endless walls of papers and drama was never in short supply.

    Afenfia undoubtedly proved his mettle leaving big shoes for his successor and first female chairman of the association in the state, Mrs. Bina Nengi-Ilagha to step in. The new chairman is the wife of Nengi Josef Owei, an author of many interesting and sometimes controversial epistles, one of which once got him into jail.

    The former chairman, an unassuming, soft-spoken and articulate orator wrote his name in gold. He ushered in an era of seamless literary activities, which kept the genres of literature burning in the hearts of the initiated and uninitiated. The period resurrected and resuscitated the works of art and celebrated accomplished writers from Ijaw extraction.

    In fact, fresh young writers emerged on literary stage; old accomplished ones got their grooves back and persons who exited the literary world came back with big bangs. Many award winning events were held to reward outstanding writers in the fields of literature. It was a source of motivation that wired literary spirits in the state.

    Indeed, Afenfia bowed out in style. He organised a unique poetic event that brought award-winning and experienced poets to Yenagoa, the state capital. The event, which was held recently, showcased literary talents in a deliberate effort to make the state a preferred destination for literature. A globally celebrated poet, Amu Nnadi, was made the focus of the event.

    Nnadi, whose latest collections of poems, the Field of Echoes, has been receiving global accolades, brought a team of budding literary talents to add colour to the Bayelsa event. In a crowded hall, the poets, who accompanied Nnadi from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, thrilled their audience with performances.

    But Bayelsa lived up to the occasion. The state had many talents on parade. Their voices wafted sonorously from the stage compelling their audience to listen in tranquillity.

    Nnadi shared his experience of how he rose from his dislike to poetry to become a celebrated poet. He also performed a poem he wrote to immortalise the late former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieseigha. In fact, he was a pillar of motivation for rising literary stars in the audience.

    Indeed, the event, a Special Poetry Reading Featuring Amu Nnadi, was a memorable parting shot organised by Afenfia. The outgone chairman said the event was in line with his vision when he took over the mantle of leadership of Bayelsa ANA.

    He said: “When we took over, we sat down and thought of the direction to take ANA Bayelsa in the next  two years. Two things were prominent for me. The first was the ability to identify young talents and mentor them.

    “We have had a couple of events that involved children in secondary and primary schools. Only recently we got two teenagers from Bayelsa to represent the state at the national event in Niger State Minna. On that front we have recorded some measure of success.

    “The second thing was to make Bayelsa the capital of literature, the capital of poetry, prose and drama in Niger Delta. If we didn’t achieve that goal in the first one year or second year, we have accomplished it today with this event because we have succeeded in bringing out everybody in Bayelsa who is a poet.

    “We have even brought an award-winning poet all the way from Rivers State to be with us here today. It is worthy of commendation. But ANA Bayelsa will not take the glory alone because we have a lot of associations working with us”.

    Afenfia also said his leadership conceived the idea of building fun into all their literary activities. “We also dreamed of bringing an element of fun into what we do as creative people. Something connects us and one cord unites us and that is our love for poetry”, he said.

    He said the event was first in the history of the state. He said it brought all the poets and people with creative minds in the state to share their talents and pass a message that Bayelsa is a home of creative talents.

    Afenfia said: “Bayelsa is more than the negative that is sometimes portrayed about the state. We are more than kidnapping, armed robbery and the militancy that takes place in the creeks.

    “This is what we are, the talents displayed today, the messages behind the poems and presentations. It is the Bayelsa story that we are telling. A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated Gabriel Okara at 96 and people were like whether there would be a renaissance of poetry again in the state.

    “But this event has answered that question definitively. Bayelsa is blessed with abundance of talents and that is the story that we should begin to tell. People go to UK to watch football matches because they have created an industry out of soccer.

    “We want to create an industry out of the talents that God had given us. So that people can pay money to come to Bayelsa and watch these talents and become entertained, informed and educated.

    “We did a lot of things with young people. We had a lot of competitions where talents were mentored. Beyond the dinners, award ceremonies, those times we went to school to organise competitions for them, those times we identified talents and made them a part of us are our greatest achievements”.

  • PANDEF’s song

    PANDEF’s song

    Dynamites were thrown. Grenades caused chaos. Gun shots rented the air. The scenes were Niger Delta. The victims were not human-beings but oil facilities. Strategic ones for that matter. And the effects on oil production and export were huge and scary. The economy bled and needed oxygen to be on the path of recovery.

    President Muhammadu Buhari and his team put up their thinking cap. The grievances of those blowing up the pipelines must be addressed. His deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, now acting President, got the matching order and from one creek to the other, Osinbajo preached the gospel of peace.

    He has visited oil-producing communities, listened to the people and spelt out the Federal Government’s commitment as captured in the ‘New Vision for the Niger Delta’. The vision, he told them, has answers to the 16-point Demand Agenda submitted to President Buhari by the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) in November 2016.

    Thanks to the New Vision, the Nigerian Maritime University in Delta State is set to commence operation, additional N35 billion was approved for the Presidential Amnesty Programme,  approval has been granted for the establishment of Modular Refineries across the nine states in the Niger Delta and work has resumed on abandoned projects in the Niger Delta, including the East-West Road.

    The engagements with the Niger Delta and the Organisation of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) have helped to raise oil revenues to the extent that external reserves have grown by about $7 billion in the last six months. $87m have also been added to the Excess Crude Account and $250m to the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF).

    The engagement with OPEC involved rallying the organisation and Non-OPEC members to discuss stabilisation of the global oil market in Doha and in Algiers. This led to an exemption from the OPEC production freeze and led to a rise in oil prices to $55/bbl for the first time in 16 months.

    But the people like Oliver Twist want more. On Tuesday, PANDEF insisted its 16-point should be implemented with urgency. This is a song the group has refused to stop singing.

    The forum spoke after its third General Assembly in Yenagoa, with the theme, “Appraisal of 16-Point Agenda: State of the Nation and the way Forward for a Sustainable Peace and Development in the Niger Delta region”, the group also called for the implementation of the 2014 National Conference Report.

    PANDEF leader Chief Edwin Clark said the Federal Government said the patience of the youths of the region was running out.

    The Federal Government, he said, must raise a team to commence dialogue with PANDEF to ensure the sustainability of peace in the region. He added that the six states of the Southsouth were not part of Biafra as claimed by some of its agitators.

    The elder statesman decried the nonchalant attitude of the Federal Government in prevailing on the oil giants to relocate their headquarters to their operational base.

    Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson added his voice. Dickson told the PANDEF that the Southsouth governors, who he leads, were committed to working with them to promote and protect the interests of the region.

    Dickson said: “There are parts of this country that are very happy to promote crisis and spread propaganda about insecurity in our region as a deliberate strategy of weakening this region economically.

    “So, I want to use this opportunity to charge all our people-political, opinion and community leaders to continue to work for a stable and prosperous Niger Delta because in the end, whether we are able to bring prosperity and development to our people depends on the presence of security and stability.

    “I want to also use this opportunity to make the point again that militarisation of any community within any state in our region is not a solution. And in this Niger Delta, the battles to be fought are not the ones that tanks and soldiers should be deployed; the battles all of us should unite to confront and defeat in the Niger Delta, are the issues of environmental terrorism as I have always called it and the issues of gross neglect, under-development and lack of economic inclusion.”

    The PANDEF wake-up call is coming at a time when new groups appear to be springing up and threatening the peace of the region.

    The seeming impatience of the region and its people can only make sense when juxtaposed with its reality.

    Poverty walks on all fours in the midst of plenty. Degradation,  rejection and desperation are not in short supply.

    There are houses, made of wood, covered with palm front, which the owners must change from time to time as they wither away. There are imageries of luxury here and there, but in short supply. It is something many hear about and see when the rich choose to throw their weight about. So many children could not go to school. But, do they really have any reason to be poor? I don’t think so. They were born into wealth. Not that their fathers were rich. What I mean by being born to wealth centres around the fact that the oil of Nigeria’s prosperity is drilled in their domain.

    A constant reminder of what this wealth can do is evident in the Residential Area or RA, as we are wont to call it, of the multinational the government gave the licence to drill oil on its behalf. The homes of multitude when compared with the RA cannot be described better than saying “heaven and hell, side by side”. The majority lives in hell; the minority in heaven.  It is like the people have sinned and come short of the glory of God to be consigned to that sort of existence. Or is it that they have sinned against their leaders, the men they elect to lead them? Or, better still, the men who forced themselves on them as our leaders.

    In some parts of the Niger Delta, they never see night. The multinational operating in these areas have their flow stations so close to homes and send out gas flares throughout the day. So, the only way to differentiate between night and day is to check their wrist watches.

    In many towns, oil pipelines are not underground. They are in the open. And often they burst or are burst and our soils and existence are damaged in the process.

    The people have shouted, protested and threatened violence over their fate, yet change has refused to come. It is as if the multinational also has another licence: to send them all to their early graves so that their leaders can have all the wealth for themselves, including the little they manage to spend on basic amenities. This environmental genocide, as some have called it, is having serious effects on the people. Strange diseases are killing the people. Pregnant women are developing strange allergies. Yet, health centres are ill-equipped to take care of their health needs. They have several people with aggravated asthma; there are increases in respiratory symptoms, such as coughing and difficult or painful breathing, chronic bronchitis and decreased lung function. Premature death is not uncommon.

    My final take: The truth is, the oil majors are more interested in the oil than in the people’s well-being. They can die for all they care. Oil is more important than man; that is their mantra. The government is an accomplice in this man’s inhumanity to man. Once the royalty keeps coming in, to hell with the people. Meanwhile, they will regularly scream “Power to the people”. Soon, they will come around distributing rice, George and wrapper and all kinds to buy their consciences and votes. Willingly, they will sell. No thanks to poverty.

  • LAPO disburses N2.2bn Agric loan

    The Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO) said it disbursed the sum of N2.2bn to 92,156 persons as agricultural loan between January and May 2017.

    It said the disbursement of the loan was part of the its commitment to address the problem of food security in Nigeria

    Executive Director of LAPO, Mrs. Sabina Idowu-Osehobo, who disclosed this at a a 2-day training for staff of the LAPO Agricultural and Rural Development Initiative (LARDI), said  people that benefitted engaged in agricultural activities.

    Represented by Manager, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Tessa Anota-Aizebeokhai, Mrs. Idowu-Osehobo said LAPO  want to address challenges limiting farmers’ productivity and income such as non-availability of inputs for improved farm yield and limited access to finance.

    She stated that the organisation also helped to build capacity of rural farmers through on-farm demonstration and training.

    Mrs. Idowu-Osehobo said beneficiaries have expanded their farm enterprises with improved income for their families and savings for future investment.

    Idowu-Osehobo said the organization has just developed a 5-year growth strategy with People, Technology, Products and Performance as strategic pillars.

  • Agriculture revolution in Niger Delta

    As an officer in the Army, I took to farming believing that is the future of the country and that  on a personal level, I could better sustain my family. Our lands are so fertile that I did not need much fertilizer; the inputs were minimal and the yields were much. Our climate, by God’s grace is predictable; it rains when it should rain and the sun shines when it should; so why not take advantage of what nature has freely given us as Nigerians.

    When in July 2015, His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed me Special Adviser on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, I had the primary responsibilities of streamlining the Programme and transforming it back on track, working for peace in the Niger Delta and sustainably reintegrating some 30,000 Amnesty beneficiaries back into society.

    Although we have various integration programmes which include education, vocational training, professional training in Aviation and Maritime, automobile engineering, entrepreneurial training and tourism and hospitality, I had no doubt that the best way to integrate such a huge number of beneficiaries quickly and sustainably, is through aquaculture and agriculture. However, I also realized that  this requires a lot of planning and painstaking implementation; like other programmes, we had to conceptualize, plant, culture and  water  the ideas to the germination and harvest stages.

    We approached a number of agencies and embassies especially the Israeli Embassy. We have also  gone into partnership with various Agricultural bodies. But as a basic step, we had to get the beneficiaries interested so they can buy into the Programme. In keying into the Federal Government’s Agriculture Initiative, we presented our  ideas and the facts on the ground.

    The facts are that agriculture creates mass sustainable jobs and empowerment; advanced  technology and high yield varieties ensure good harvest, and costs can  be drastically reduced by building locally fabricated integrated feed mills which rely entirely on local products. Also,  our country of over 180 million people is a huge market in itself and additionally, the ECOWAS (West African Region) provides a market that is more or less limitless. On the national level, we know that in   taking to agriculture, the country is moving towards  food self- sufficiency and security.

    I am happy at the level of enthusiasm for agriculture amongst Amnesty Beneficiaries and to harvest this, we had turned to the  National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) with an agreement to train an initial one thousand beneficiaries and youths at its Bio-Resource Centre in Odi, Bayelsa State. Unfortunately, budget delays have not allowed us to take full advantage of this agency which uses  technology and the principles of science to produce high yields in farming.

    However, the Presidential Amnesty Office  has  trained and began to empower Amnesty Beneficiaries in crop farming,  fishery and  poultry. As at June, 2017, 1,000 Amnesty beneficiaries across the nine Oil-Producing States are being trained in agriculture and will be empowered to establish their own farms.  These include 105 Beneficiaries undergoing training in Agro-Business with the Songhai  Rivers Initiative at the Songhai Farms, Rivers State,  and 100 Beneficiaries training in fish farming under  kabocastle Services  at its Perecastle Fish Farm, Patani, Delta State.

    Also, an average of 25 Beneficiaries each are being trained in fish farming in   six centres including  the Delta State University by  Gedisco Energy solutions, Infinite Farms in Ozoro, Delta State and     Orus Resources Farm, Aluu, Rivers State. At the  Institute of Oceanography, University of Calabar, Cross Rivers State,  96 Beneficiaries are undergoing training in fish farming. The Ma-Atari Farms,  Port Harcourt are training some Amnesty Beneficiaries in agriculture and poultry farming, the Ogbebor Leadership Institute, Ologbo, Edo State is training some in rubber processing, TSC Services is training 24 in General Agri-Business  at the  Edo State College of Education, Iguoriakhi, Edo State while  Eunirusk Investment is training 18 in  Cassava, Corn and Oil Palm at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State. Forty eight Amnesty beneficiaries are  being trained in crop farming by the Faculty of  Agriculture,  Imo State University.

    The  training in  agriculture is designed as a full value chain ; from farming, production, processing, packaging, marketing to  Agri-Business Management. By our planning, each farm  will require the services  of at least four farmers. This has the prospect  of creating 4,000 farm workers in the Region under this phase.

    Also, some leaders of the Amnesty Beneficiaries have bought our argument that  building houses is not sustainable as they have to be serviced and  maintained, but in contrast, taking to agriculture is a money-yielding venture. So many of them have bought  into the agriculture revolution.  One of them is into large scale rice farming in Bayelsa State while another which has taken to plantain  cultivation, is emerging as  the biggest farmer in Bomadi, Delta State.

    It is not only the consciousness of the Amnesty Beneficiaries that  need to be transformed but also  that of the Niger Delta and country as a whole; oil is a wasting asset, it may dry up in the foreseeable future. In contrast what the future foresee is that agriculture would enrich us all. So let us start with the basic policy of eating only what we grow, and growing what we eat. Change should begin with each of us.

    • Brig.-Gen. Boroh (rtd) is the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

  • Bayelsa ministry decries low local govt revenue

    The Bayelsa Ministry of Local Government Administration on Wednesday decried the dwindling revenue accruing to the councils, resulting in their inability to pay workers’ salaries.

    Commissioner for Local Government Administration Dr Agatha Goma told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that local government workers were being owed nine and half months salaries.

    Goma, in a statement on Wednesday, said the state had received from the Federal Account, the sum of N1.11 billion accruing to the eight local governments for the month of June 2017.

    According to her, the money is insufficient for the councils to meet their salary obligations to local government.

    “After the statutory deductions of N70 million for pensions, staff training, and bailout repayments of N16.28 million, the net allocation amounts to N1.02 billion.

    “With a local government workers’ salary bill of N609.17 million and primary school staff salary of N648.73 million, amounting to N1.26 billion, there will be a shortfall of about N233.2 million.

    “This means that without some assistance/support, the June 2017 federal allocation to the councils will not be able to pay the salaries of workers.

    “This also means that there will be no funds available even to administer the local governments. This has been the plight of the local governments since 2014, wherein the allocations have been far less than the wage bills.”

    The commissioner noted that persistent shortfalls had continued in spite of the intervention efforts by the present administration.

    The intervention, she said, included civil service reforms and other policies aimed at addressing the huge wage bills and other fiscal challenges.

    She applauded Governor Seriake Dickson for non-interference in the local government funds in the state and all the support he had provided in the form of policies, administrative guidelines and financial bailouts.

    The national headquarters of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in June listed Bayelsa as the most indebted of 23 states with 16 months’ salary backlog.

    NULGE National President, Mr Ibrahim Khaleel, alleged that Bayelsa owed between 10 months and 16 months while Kogi owed between seven months and 15 months.

  • Akwa Ibom govt approves 10,000 capacity stadium for Eket

    Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel has approved the construction of a 10,000 capacity stadium for Eket town.

    The Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Monday Uko, made the disclosure while inspecting the old Eket Stadium on Wednesday.

    Uko said the action of the governor was a renewed move to develop and expand sports infrastructure in the state.

    He said the construction of the new facility would be completed before May 2018.

    He said the stadium would have tartan tracks for athletics, practicing pitch and a main bowl.

    The commissioner said the facility when completed would decongest state-sponsored football competitions from Uyo and offer the residents of the city opportunity to watch top flight football.

    “We are not going to inherit anything from the old stadium. Everything here will give way for a brand new stadium which by the grace of God will be completed before the end of May 2018.

    “We are going to construct a stadium that will take at least 10,000 spectators and going by the enthusiasm and quality that the governor attaches to projects, the stadium should attract international matches.’’

    On the National Youth Games, the commissioner said athletes who excelled at the last state games would represent the Akwa Ibom in the forthcoming competition in Ilorin.

    He said the decision was to assist them develop their talents.

    The Eket Stadium was constructed by the Eket Local Government Area in 1994 and had hosted top flight club, Mobil Pegasus FC.

  • ‘Rivers govt is working with security agencies to free kidnapped medical doctor’

    The Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Ipalibo Harry-Banigo, has assured that the Nyesom Wike’s administration is collaborating with the security agencies in the state to ensure the unconditional release unhurt of a kidnapped medical doctor, Alex Akani, of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH).

    She noted that as a medical doctor and mother, she was deeply pained by the kidnap and sometimes gruesome murder of medical doctors by assailants.

    Harry-Banigo, yesterday in Port Harcourt, pointed out that by training and the Hippocratic Oath sworn to by medical doctors, they were trained  and obliged to save lives at all times, wondering why anybody would want to harm a medical doctor, pointing out that even at war times, medical doctors were spared.

    She also pleaded with the Medical and Dental Consultants of UPTH to suspend the proposed strike, occasioned by the kidnap of Dr. Akani.

  • Paris Club refunds: Bayelsa and imperative of Transparency Briefing

    Paris Club refunds: Bayelsa and imperative of Transparency Briefing

    When the Federal Ministry of Finance introduced the publication of funds allocated to various tiers of government, it was designed to let the public know the resources available to government at all levels.

    The publication of funds allocated to states from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee was also meant to promote transparency and avoid rumour mongering as one cannot expect government to perform beyond its finances.

    Unfortunately, that policy was not adopted by many states, thereby creating crisis of confidence, especially when state governments claim that they cannot fulfil some obligations because of paucity of funds.

    However, the recent publication of money received by each state of the federation by the Federal Ministry of Finance under the Paris Club Refund had generated controversies.

    Though the controversy cut across all the states of the federation, in the oil rich Bayelsa, the government had to brief the people on the true situation.

    There were conflicting figures on what was published by the Federal Ministry of Finance and what the Bayelsa Government said it received.

    The figure published by the Federal Ministry of Finance showed that Bayelsa received N24.895 billion, while the Bayelsa Government said it received N21.168 billion.

    The Deputy Governor of the state, retired Admiral Gboribiogha Jonah, who addressed the issue during the Transparency Briefing in April, said the state received N14.5 billion in November last year out of the N21.168 billion due to the state for the first tranche of the Paris Club refund.

    The deputy governor, however, disclosed the receipt of additional N6.61 billion in the month of March, as the balance of the N21.168 billion, out of which N1.9 billion was released to the local government councils.

    His words: “The Paris Club refund to states is not a gift from the Federal Government to pay salaries; it is state governments’ money that was deducted without consulting the states. At a meeting, it was decided that the money should be paid in two installments.

    “A chart was drawn up and the entitlements of every state were written. But, the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria decided to pay the money in four installments that is 25 per cent at a time.

    “When the first 25 per cent was paid, Bayelsa ought to get N21.168 billion, but then, when the money came, they only released N14.5 billion to us.

    “ The first tranche was supposed to have been N21.168 billion. But again, the N14.5 billion was not for the state government alone because out of the amount, N1.3 billion was for the local government councils. So, what actually came to the state government was N13.2 billion.’’

    The deputy governor also said that the state recorded N1.13 billion as its internally generated revenue in March 2017 as against N983 million declared in February, attributing the increase to deliberate efforts to beef up the revenue base of the state.

    He said the government would sustain the current drive, particularly in the area of wooing investors to boost the revenue.

    As a result of public outcry after the release of states’ shares from the Paris Club refund, governors have pledged to judiciously spend the second tranche recently approved by Acting- President Yemi Osinbajo.

    A statement by the Nigerian Governors Forum said all the 36 governors made the pledge at a recent meeting held at the Abuja residence of Gov. Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara.

    Mr Bello Barkindo, the governor’s spokesman in a statement, said the governors met in anticipation of the release of the money approved by vice-president.

    “The governors met in anticipation of the release of the other half of the Paris-London Club refund which has been gratuitously approved for payment by the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and the funds are expected to hit the states accounts within the month.

    “We all agreed that a substantial amount from the next tranche of the Paris-London refunds be used in the settlement of workers salary and pension arrears,” Barkindo quoted Yari as saying after the meeting.

    Also, ahead of the release of the second tranche, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC ) had enlisted the support of anti-graft agencies to ensure judicious use of the funds.

    The TUC President, Bobboi Kaigama, said that the union had involved the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to probe states which defaulted in using the disbursements to pay workers.

    “We have asked the ICPC and the EFCC to probe those states; we already called for their probe. The call we made to the EFCC and ICPC is not only for the first tranche, but subsequent tranches; the agencies and the TUC have been interacting well on the probe.

    “We are working with the Federal Government which directed that the fund be used first for the payment of arrears and pensions before the states do anything else. So if the states do anything else, it would be contrary to the directive.

    “We have been liaising with the anti-corruption agencies to make sure that they follow these disbursements. We also asked our TUC state levels to monitor the disbursements,’’ Kaigama said.

    Similarly, the NLC Secretary Peter Ozo-Eson said, “We have involved the anti-corruption agencies.

    “From the first bailout, we partnered the ICPC to monitor the funds and we expect this to continue.

    “Our directive to the NLC state councils is to also monitor the funds and ensure that the payment of arrears of salaries and pensions take priority.’’

    In the light of this, analysts commend the Bayelsa Government, observing that it is not surprising that the state government took time to address the controversies associated with the Paris Club refund.

    They also note that regular briefings on state finances are already part of government’s policy.

    They observe further that Governor Seriake Dickson, during his first tenure in office in February 2012, adopted the monthly publication of state finances by introducing the Transparency Briefing.

    An executive bill, The Bayelsa Transparency Initiative Bill, was then passed by the Bayelsa House of Assembly to provide legal backing to the policy.

    The Transparency Law makes it mandatory for the governor or his representative to make public on a monthly basis, the financial standing of the state.

    Dickson insists that he introduced the briefing because the people have the right to know about the affairs of government.

    “On transparency, we believe that it is the right of the people of the state to know what funds accrue to the coffers of the state and the various local government councils and how they are utilised.

    “This is the only way to secure the trust and confidence of the people in whom sovereignty lies.

    “I have directed all local government chairmen to comply with this paradigm shift on the issue of transparency, probity and accountability to reflect the new Bayelsa we are building.

    “The government also widened the scope of access to public perusal of government’s income and expenditure by introducing a website, Bayelsa Watch,’’ he said.

    While inaugurating Bayelsa Watch, Mr Jonathan Obuebite, the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, said: “It is specially dedicated for the publishing of government’s income and expenditure profile, including the Federation Account Allocation Committee receipts and other monthly deductions.

    “When this administration came on board, precisely Feb. 14, 2012, it introduced the monthly Transparency Briefing, which was the first of its kind in the country.

    “The sole aim was to intimate people and the world at large with government’s earnings and spending, including award of contracts.

    “As a responsible and responsive government, we have decided to take a step further with the launching of our website, so that people can take advantage of it and scrutinise our financial records in line with our transparency and accountability policy.

    “The introduction of the website is aimed at letting the people know that there is absolutely nothing to hide.

    “And this effort of ours will definitely shut down the rumour mill factory trailing government finances for some time now.’’

    He noted that the Transparency Briefing was meant to showcase the state government’s transparency and accountability policy.

    Stakeholders, nonetheless, note that although the Bayelsa Government has publicly made it known what it received from the Paris Club refund, the onus is on the authority that published the figures to dispute the claim.

    They also advise other state governments to emulate Bayelsa and brief their people monthly on their finances for transparency and accountability.

    • Ukoh is of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

  • Uncle Ebele must sue Obama

    At first I thought it was a joke. Now, the truth is out. Better still, the truth has been reconfirmed. The wind has blown and we have seen the fowl’s anus. The evil Barack Obama did against ex-President Dr. Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan has been scientifically exposed by a renowned researcher of no mean standing, Reno Omokri. The snippets are out and later this month when the details of the research as packaged in Omokri’s book are out, the world will ask for Obama’s head.

    The about-to-be-released book, written by Omokri, who was Special Assistant to Jonathan—my one and only Uncle Ebele—on New Media, quoted a top intelligence analyst with the Obama administration, Mr. Matthew Page, who he claimed admitted that his boss was not against a change of government in Nigeria because Uncle Ebele disappointed the U.S. on a number of key issues.

    Please let us take some excerpts from this book, which is bound to win a Nobel prize. The excerpts will open your eyes to the wonderful job Omokri has done Jonathan, Nigeria and the world.

    Omokri quoted Page as saying about a meeting the Obama administration had with Northern governors: “Admiral Murtala Nyako read out a memo he had written itemising the case against Jonathan. He was so openly and almost violently against the Jonathan administration in his speech that he had to be openly rebuked at the meeting by the then Nigerian Ambassador to the US, Ambassador Adebowale Adefuye of blessed memory.

    “Admiral Nyako’s belligerence to the Jonathan administration was so venomous that it prompted a rebuttal from the Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, who showed loyalty to the then Nigerian president. This prompted most of the other Northern governors present to turn on him.”

    He went on: “The Obama administration was a bit disappointed (I know that sounds paternalistic) but there were some issues they had felt let down on.

    “The human rights situation in the North-east, which has still not changed under Buhari, and Diezani Alison-Madueke, who they felt should have been removed. There were some issues with some clauses in the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill 2013.”

    Desperate to draw a link between the governors Washington meeting and the presidential election, Omokri wrote: “Another interesting connection is that these high level meetings arranged for Northern governors by the Obama administration took place in 2014, at the same time that Obama confidant and former White House Senior Advisor, Mr. David Axelrod’s firm, AKPD Message and Media, began to work as a paid consultant to the then Nigerian opposition party, All Progressive Congress.”

    He added: “Subliminal messages were communicated by President Obama when he took the unusual step of addressing Nigerians on March 23, 2015, just five days to the presidential elections on March 28, 2015.

    “In that broadcast, Obama told Nigerians: ‘Now you have an historic opportunity to help write the next chapter of Nigeria’s progress by voting in the upcoming elections…Boko Haram wants to destroy Nigeria and all that you have built. By casting your ballot you can help secure your nation’s progress.’

    “Note the words ‘next chapter’. During the present Fourth Republic, Nigeria had had four successful presidential elections before 2015. 2015 was not a ‘next chapter’. The only way it would have been a next chapter would be for the incumbent to be unseated by the opposition.”

    More excerpts please: “The issues were human rights situation in the North-East, which has still not changed under Buhari and Diezani Alison-Madueke, who they felt should have been removed. There were issues with some clauses in the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill 2013.

    “Although he listed three reasons the Obama administration felt let down by Dr. Jonathan, my conversation with Mr. Page gave me a sense that the first two reasons were just excuses and that the main reason was the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition ) Bill 2013.

    “That issue was a deal breaker for the Obama administration because of the strong support they had from the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender) community for Mr. Obama’s re-election in 2012. “From the foregoing, it would appear there is a strong circumstantial case for the belief by Dr. Jonathan and other people who were on the front burner of Nigerian politics, that the Obama administration, for reasons bordering on the Jonathan administration’s seeming anti-gay stance, was determined to unseat the Goodluck Jonathan administration as part of its efforts to ‘stabilise’ Nigeria.”

    On Chibok girls kidnap, this is the outcome of Omokri’s painstaking research: “Let us connect some dots. One of the governors who was most vociferous against Dr. Jonathan at those meetings was Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State. Bear in mind that he and his colleagues had a closed-door meeting with the then US National Security Adviser, Ms. Susan Rice, on March 18, 2014.

    “Is it a coincidence then that three weeks after Governor Shettima returned from his meeting with Ms. Rice, Boko Haram struck at Chibok town and kidnapped 276 girls at Government Secondary School, Chibok?

    “The meeting with Ms. Rice occurred on March 18, 2014, the kidnap of the Chibok girls occurred on April 14, 2014. Prudent-minded persons may be wise to take a second look at the Chibok kidnapping.”

    Omokri is not the first to reveal Obama and others’ secret regarding the 2015 presidential election. Jonathan let out some cats out of the bag in ‘Against the Run of Play’ by ex-presidential spokesman and This Day Editorial Board chairman Olusegun Adeniyi.

    The book is full of drama. Of course, the main character is our dear Uncle Ebele. He really gave it to Obama. Obama, said Uncle Ebele, played a major role in the debilitating defeat, which ended his quest for a third oath of office as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He did not spare immediate past United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron and ex-French President Francois Hollande.

    Uncle Ebele revealed the secrets that Obama, Hollande and Cameron thought he would be afraid to let out. He caught them red-handed scientifically juggling figures for now ailing President Muhammadu Buhari and doing all manners of things which led to his defeat. They thought he would not talk. Now, Uncle Ebele has spoken and Obama, Hollande and Cameron must take cover. Omokri’s book has further compounded their woes. When the details are eventually out, there will be no hiding place for them.

    If I were Uncle, I would not take this lightly. Thank God, Hollande is also out of power, which means all the three of them who denied Nigerians of corruption-free democracy do not enjoy any form of immunity. Uncle Ebele should drag the three of them before the International Criminal Court. These guys deserve to stand trial for crimes against humanity.

    By their actions and inactions, they have robbed Nigerians of Boko Haram insurgents carrying on as if they were God’s anointed; they have robbed us of the treasury being open for every Dick, Tom and Harry to have unfettered access to; they have robbed us of the theatrics and good dictions of Dame Jonathan; they have robbed us of having the special privilege of having the beautiful Diezani Allison-Madueke in government and in power; and they have denied us of the honour of having the ‘boy is good’ in power. What evil these oyinbos have done us! What is their own in our own self?

    I must point out that the conspiracy against Uncle Ebele was not only international. There were local collaborators. Some of them include: ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, ex-Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman Adamu Mu’azu, Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal and Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi.

    These four guys and some others did unforgiveable damage to Uncle Ebele’s good intention to take Nigeria to the Eldorado.

    My final take: With the evidence at the disposal of Uncle Ebele and Omokri, Obama must be sued. Hollande and Cameron should also be accessories before, during and after the fact of election manipulation. They deserve to be taught a lesson not to influence Nigerians on where to cast their votes!