The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • All for John Okon Ene

    All for John Okon Ene

    Cross River State and Nigeria on March 15  lost an illustrious son, John Okon Ene. Ene, who was from Ikot Ndarake,  was a highly decorated footballer.

    He played for Acada United of the University of Calabar, the BCC Lions of Gboko, Akwa United of Uyo, Rovers of Calabar, the Flying Eagles and the Super Eagles.

    Ene died at 47  at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) from an undisclosed ailment.

    Until his death, he was the chief coach of the Unicem Rovers Football Club of Calabar jointly owned by the Lafarge Cement and the Cross River government.

    In a bid to honour the late Ene, the Eastside Sports Club organised a football match and Tribute Night in Calabar.

    Vice Chairman, Eastside SC and chairman of the Planning Committee, Mr Charles Itu, lamented that the late midfield maestro had not gotten what he deserved given the contribution he made to the country.

    His words: “We are here to celebrate and honour a great a man. This man’s contribution to football was legendary. We were so close to him because he was our coach. A lot of us in Eastside are not professional footballers. We learnt football and used it for recreation. John Okon Ene was there for us. The minutest thing we can do for him is this. This is the novelty football match by veterans. The veterans include Unified Breed, Sokkow Worldwide, Tinapa FC, All Stars, Crown FC and Victory FC.

    “There will also be a night of tribute of tribute where we would invite people to join us and honour and preserve the legacy of a great man. I hope that this message gets to Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) and all other football authorities. I hope they can do more to immortalise his legacy. This was a great man. He was a hero that walked among us as a normal man. He deserves more. We can do more to honour him.”

    Provost of Eastside SC, Franklyn Odere, also speaking about Ene said: “We scored just two goals in Chile 87 and he scored the first goal, which was a bullet of a shot according to the commentator then. He was not recognised that much so this our way of letting people know that there was somebody from Cross River State, who played for Nigeria and Super Eagles and won a lot of laurels.

    “This is the little we can do. We are not the government. We know the government will do something to immortalise his name in this place. I think it has become a cultural thing that we don’t recognise those that have contributed to the development of the country. This is our way of trying to awaken people’s feelings about what we should do for them while they are alive.

    “The society should contribute to people who have contributed to the growth of the country. It is bad that you give your all to Nigeria. You know people that play for Nigeria in those days don’t have the players have today. That is why when you see some players, when they play for their clubside, but when they play for Nigeria it is not like that. You hear them say, after all if I get injured nothing would happen. So we need to change that culture. We need to celebrate our heroes so those coming afterwards would want to give their all to the country. It is not just sports. It is in every sphere of Nigerian life.”

    Chairman of the State Sports Commission, Mr Orok Duke, Chairman Cross River Sports Commission, was also irked that more should have been done to honour the late Ene.

    He said the state government would foot the bill of the funeral.

    “It is unfortunate that the NFF has acted rather irresponsibly towards us. There was no one armed band for and no one minute silence for him. It is so saddening.

    “Okon Ene played for the country and never benefitted in any way. He had to fall back to the state. We hope upcoming athletes don’t have to go through what Okon Ene passed through. It is a sad thing,” he said.

  • NDDC appeals for financial support from oil firms

    Acting Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Mrs Ibim Semenitari on Wednesday appealed for more financial support from oil companies operating in the region.

    A statement issued by the commission’s Head of Corporate Affairs, Mr Chijioke Amu-Nnadi, in Port Harcourt, said that Semenitari made the call when Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) visited the commission.

    The statement quoted Semenitari as requesting oil companies in the area to improve on their contributions to enable the commission fast-track development of the region.

    “OPTS must provide support by pulling resources together so that NDDC can make impact and deliver on projects that would touch the lives of people in communities.

    “We support OPTS leaders to immediately re-activate meeting of Chief Executive Officers of the group to discuss issues affecting the region by ensuring that the region becomes functional for all stakeholders.

    “In all activities in 2016, we promote stronger partnership to enable us provide quality service delivery to the people.

    “We are concluding construction work on Ogbia-Nembe road that would be extended to Brass.

    “This means that we must begin talk early and also talk to several communities to get their support, while pulling resources together,” the statement quoted Semenitari as saying.

    She said that the Nembe-Brass section of the road project would be a tripartite arrangement that would involve Agip and the Bayelsa Government.

    She said that Agip would provide support for the project since it operated largely on the Nembe-Brass axis.

    According to her, we will also have meetings with the Bayelsa Government to make contributions even if they don’t put money on the table.

    “If we pull our resources together, it will be a win-win situation for all parties which would impact positively on the lives of people in the communities,” she said.

    Mrs Semenitari said that clean-up of oil spills in Ogoni area of Rivers was an issue that stakeholders must show concern and take greater responsibility.

    She maintained that oil companies must show more commitment to finding greener ways of doing business in the region.

    The statement also quoted, Mr Ibitoye Abosede, Chairman of NDDC/OPTS Working Level Committee, as assuring that the group would mobilise resources and create a platform that would prosper the region.

    He promised that OPTS would embark on joint inspection of projects executed by NDDC and the multinationals.

    Abosede, who is also NDDC Director and Head of Community and Rural Development unit, assured that the partnership would strive to reduce youth restiveness, vandalism and conflict in the region.

  • Oil spill: Communities groan, seek FG’s intervention in Delta

    Residents of Edjophe and neighbouring communities in Okpare-Olomu, Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta on Wednesday decried the impact of oil spill on their communities.

    They consequently appealed to the Federal Government to come to their aid as their means of livelihood were being destroyed by the oil spill.

    The chairman of Edjophe community, Mr College Akpoughegbe, who made the call in interview with newsmen in Ughelli, said that the spillage emanated from a pipeline belonging to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).

    He said that the incident started on Friday, adding that it had spread to other communities like Iwhrekan and Otor-Edo.

    Akpoughegbe said that spillage had affected farming and fishing activities in the affected communities.

    Akpoughegbe, who attributed the development to equipment failure, alleged that the NPDC officials in a self defence linked the oil spill to activities of saboteurs.

    ‘’The oil spill, which started on Friday, has impacted severely on farming and fishing activities in our communities.

    ‘’The spill emanated from a pipeline belonging to the NPDC but they attributed it to activities of saboteurs.

    ‘’Officials of NPDC, Department of Petroleum Resource (DPR) and the Delta Government carried out a JIV test on Tuesday to ascertain the cause of the spill but the result is not available yet,’’ he said.

    One of the residents, Mr Omonigho Edafe, a farmer, corroborated the chairman’s view, saying that his farmland was greatly affected by the oil spill.

    Effort by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) to get response from Mr Ugo Atugboko, External Relations Officer of NPDC was unsuccessful, as he said in a text message that he was out of the country.

    ‘’I can’t pick your call, kindly send me a text,’’ Atugboko’s told NAN in a text message.

  • Fed Govt’s suit against Shell for Bonga spill commendable, says ERA

    The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has commended the federal government for dragging Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, claiming N1.3 trillion against the oil firm for the December 20, 2011, Bonga oil spills.

    The spill which caused massive pollution in coastal communities in Delta and Bayelsa states occurred in Shell’s Bonga Field located about 120 kilometres off the Nigerian coastline.   The project itself was linked to a scam involving Vetco International Limited whose officials were discovered to have paid $2.1 million bribe to Nigerian officials to undercut customs regulations, following which a US court fined Vetco International $26 million fine for violating the U.S Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The bribes were paid between September 2002 and April 2005 when Vetco International was providing engineering and procurement services and subsea construction equipment for the Bonga project

    The suit is protecting the interest of fishermen and persons, numbering about 285,000 from 350 communities and satellite villages, affected by the crude oil spillage. The government is demanding N884 billion as compensation for the impacted communities and another N495 billion as restitution and restoration of the devastation of the economic zone of the Nigeria’s territorial waters. It is also asking for N50 million as cost of the legal action.

    Co-defendants in suit are Shell Petroleum N.V, B.V Netherlands International Indusrie-E Handel Maatschappij, Shell Transport and Trading Company Plc, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, who are all allied companies of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company. In an affidavit sworn to by a Deputy Director, Oil Field Assessment Department of National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Mr. Akindele Olubunmi in the suit, counsel to the plaintiffs, Awosika Adekunle, averred that he had the consent and the authority of President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr. A. Mallam (SAN), Attorney General of the Federation and Director General of NOSDRA, to depose to this affidavit.

    In a statement issued in Lagos, ERA/FoEN Executive Director, Godwin Ojo said: “This is cheery news no doubt. The days of impunity by Shell in Nigeria is nearing its end. The Nigerian government has by this decision taken a giant leap in siding with the people against a corporate bully. It is commendable”

    Ojo explained that it was however sad that the road to justice for the impacted communities is only coming now, more than five years after their lives and livelihoods were rudely obfuscated even as he noted that justice cannot be denied ultimately.

    “The Buhari administration has shown the way. If British Petroleum (BP) was made to pay for the Gulf of Mexico spill in …why Should Shell not pay double for its shameful impunity all these years? Nigeria’s sovereignty over oil companies cannot be compromised. Corporate capture of the state and resources has led to untold hardships for the local fishermen who were stopped from fishing while the spill wreaked havoc on marine life and fishing in the Nigeria’s coastal communities”.

    “ERA/FoEN pledges to support the case and provide technical support that will ensure justice is done. We want to add that however that while environmental remediation is important, compensation for the impoverished fisher men and women was not mentioned in the suit and this should immediately be a part of the suit. The time of Shell’s impunity is over”, Ojo insisted.

  • Obasekis of Benin … Invasion 1897 and other matters

    Obasekis of Benin … Invasion 1897 and other matters

    Before he died 60 years ago, Chief Ikuobase Gauis Obaseki, the Iyase of Benin Kingdom, left a very important instruction in his Will. His wish was to have all his children educated. One of his sons, the former Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Jackson Gauis-Obaseki was just 10 years old at the time.

    When his surviving children led by Justice Otutu Obaseki, a retired Justice of the Nigeria Supreme Court, rolled out the drum to celebrate the 60th anniversary of his passing, one thing they said made them happy was that their father’s wish to have all of them educated was achieved.

    The late Chief Ikuobase was a farmer, an industrialist and a legislator representing Benin Kingdom in the British Empire during the reign of Sir James Robertson as Governor General of the country. His mother was a daughter of the Oba of Benin and his father was the famous Chief Agho Obaseki, a sole administrator in Benin Kingdom between 1897 and 1914 when the Benin Monarchy was restored. He was said to have established the first dairy farms and saw mill in the region.

    During the celebration observed by family members and friends, cows, goats and rams were slaughtered. Justice Otutu Obaseki, who is now frail and weak, was supported out on a wheel chair. Justice Otutu, who holds the title of Obaseki of Benin Kingdom, wore beads and his voice was rarely audible.

    One of his younger brother, Williams, bent over to hear from him and announce to the people what he said.

    Justice Otutu said: “It has been 60 years since our father died. I am happy that we are alive to celebrate the life of a man that inspired all of us. This House will not fall. We will be here together to celebrate next year.

    “I called all the family members to celebrate with me for the good life our father lived. He gave us a legacy nobody can take away from us.”

    A former staff of the Federal Ministry of Education, George Obaseki, told our reporter that he used to follow their father to legislative council meetings in the North, Ibadan and Lagos.

    According to him, “As young as I was at that time, my father believed in education. Education does not mean going to see the four walls of the university. He believed that his children should have the knowledge of traveling, acquiring knowledge whether in the farm or anywhere. He did not want any of his children to be lazy.

    “My late brother was trained in several cities. My father never believed in pampering his children. He wanted them to work so that they will experience what life is. He believes in hard work. His dream in his Will which was education for all of us was met. My elder brother, the retired Justice, believed in carrying out father’s Will to the best of his ability. He made sure many of us were educated. He also believed in hard work. His mother was a Princess from the Oba Palace. He was the first person that started dairy farm in Midwest.”

    Williams Obaseki, who was 12 years old when their father died, said their father’s action united the family members.

    His words: “He was not just a legislator; he was a mechanised farmer and an industrialist. He established the first saw mill in Western region. He was a member of the ruling council in the country then. Sir James Robertson was the Governor General representing the Queen, Alakija represented the Western region, Mbonu Ojukwu represented the Eastern region and he represented Midwest as at that time. That photograph you see is today’s Tinubu square. They just finished Federal Parliament when the shot was taken. He died when I was just about 12 years. What he said in his Will was that every child of his should be given education and that is the future we all have today. Education has made us to be what we are today. He was a father that was loving and united us. He made sure we stood together as a unit. He was not up to 59 when he died.”

    The decision of one his grandsons, Godwin, to contest for the governorship race on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has received some backlash. Some governorship aspirants have bought copies of the movie, Invasion 1897 and commenced free distribution apparently to tell their supporters about the role played by the late Agho Obaseki in the British punitive expedition.

    Asked why talks about the Palace not being happy with the Obasekis are gaining ground, Williams said it was the perception of the people that didn’t know the relationship between the Palace and Obaseki.

    His words: “Our father was a grandson of Eweka. The mother was a daughter of Oba Eweka. His position at that time calls for jealousy. The British has moved past the 1897 punitive expedition but we are still where we are. This same family is still relevant. Why don’t we look at the good part of every human being? All of us are imperfect. What we appeal is for people to look for the good side of every human and forget the bad side if it actually existed. This man loved his people.”

  • Bayelsa NSCDC, DPR compel marketers to sell at regulated price

    Independent petroleum marketers in Bayelsa State were recently compelled by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to sell fuel at the regulated price of N86.50 per litre.

    The state Commandant, NSCDC, Mr. Desmond Agu and the Controller, DPR, Mr. Asuquo Antai, in a major monitoring operation, stormed the filling stations to check excesses of marketers.

    Apart from mega stations owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), other filling stations in Yenagoa, the state capital, were seen dispensing fuel to buyers at between N150 to N180 per litre.

    But Agu and Antai who were accompanied by armed NSCDC operatives and other officials of DPR forced the station owners to revert to the regulated pump price.

    Residents who were on queues to buy the product were seen jubilating and thanking the law-enforcement agents for their intervention.

    Such jubilation was witnessed at Unless God filling station when the DPR and NSCDC bosses insisted that the station should either sell at the regulated pump price or close for business.

    Residents who were initially buying the product at N150 per litre immediately increased their demands with some ceasing the opportunity to fill their fuel tanks.

    One of the residents, a chief from Nembe Kingdom, Nengi James, described the monitoring exercise as a welcome development and appealed to the law-enforcement agencies to sustain the operation.

    “We are happy that the government has not abandoned us to the profiteering tendencies of these marketers. We are still scared that if they leave now, the marketers will go back to their high prices. So, we are appealing to the NSCDC and the DPR to step up their monitoring”, he said.

    There was, however, a skirmish at a NNPC filling station in Tombia, between the two agents and a colonel of the Nigerian Army attached to the Joint Force (JF) Operation Pulo Shield (OPS).

    Agu and Antai discovered at the filling station that army operatives working for the colonel who drove a JTF Toyota Hilux with registration number OPPS 082 AHQ were bullying the fuel attendants and other people at the queue.

    The colonel who drove into the filling station through the wrong way were reportedly angry that the fuel attendants did not sell to him on time and allowed the army operatives to unleash violence on them.

    Agu and Antai who immediately intervened stopped the violence and engaged the colonel in a shouting match.

    Speaking on the exercise, Antai said some filling stations were compelled to sell fuel at the regulated price.

    He, however, added that Bayelsa needs daily supply of 825,000 liters of fuel to address the scarcity of the product in the state.

    He said the state currently receives between 150,000 to 300,000 liters describing the quantity as grossly inadequate.

    He said the DPR was against sharp practices such as hoarding, under-dispensing and overpricing adding that a filling station under investigation for product diversion would paid N6.5m fine if indicted.

    “We are appealing to the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) to increase their supply to Bayelsa. The product is not just used in Yenagoa, people at the hinterland rely on it to meet their energy needs. Of we can meet 50 per cent of our daily needs, we will go ahead and wet the state with fuel.

    “The government has emphasised times without number that all retail outlets should sell at N86.50. We have embarked on this operation to enforce government directive.

    “Most of the filling stations have not been selling at the appropriate price. We had a meeting with independent marketers on the issue. We have told them that henceforth, they should sell at the regulated price or face severe sanction.”

    Also speaking, Agu said the NSCDC was backing the DPR to ensure marketers complied with the regulated pump price.

    “My men are on 24-hour patrol of filling stations and persons cheating members of the public would be dealt with according to the law. We are also warning those who are selling the product in black market to desist because we will confiscate the product and arrest them.

    “Let me sound it loud and clear that diversion of petrol is prohibited. Anyone caught diverting products meant for Bayelsa to another places will be decisively dealt with. My men will be on 24 hour surveillance and patrol.

    “We are aware that some filling stations sell only at night to rip customers off. We have mandated our operatives to henceforth patrol in the midnight to fish out errant marketers. We are poised to ensure that fuel consumers do not suffer in Bayelsa.”

    But James, who is the Chairman of Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) in Bayelsa said. “It is not a one-off operation. If the relevant enforcement agencies carry out such operation continuously,  all the sharp practices going on at filling stations will be reduced to the barest minimum.

    “The PPMC should also ensure that the right quantities are brought into the state. By so doing,  enforcement will be easier and erring filling stations will have themselves to blame.”

  • Ijaw youths seek legalisation of ‘bush’ refineries

    Ijaw youths seek legalisation of ‘bush’ refineries

    IJaw youths want ‘bush’ refineries legalised. The youths represented by the President of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide, Mr. Udengs Eradiri, spoke at the Glasgow Caledonia University on the invitation of the Africa Future Matters (AFM).

    They also desire lasting solutions to the myriads of economic and political issues bedeviling the Niger Delta.

    Eradiri used the Glasgow opportunity, to tell the world the major headaches of the Niger Delta, a region that almost single-handedly finances the Nigerian economy. In fact, Eradiri stood tall among intellectual experts and reputable scholars who listened to him as he delivered the keynote address that touched all aspects of the Niger Delta issues.

    Among other issues, his address dwelt more on the environmental degradation of the region arising from activities of persons who try to crudely refine crude oil for commercial motives.

    He told the world that criminalizing ownership of what he described as bush or local refineries was counterproductive. To harness the benefits of ingenuity, intellectual capacity and skill associated with the establishment and ownership of such ventures, Eradiri asked Nigeria to decriminalize bush refineries.

    He said the Federal Government’s approach of treating persons linked to such refineries as criminals has exacerbated the problems posed by bush refineries such as ecological degradation, loss of revenue, incessant vandalism of oil infrastructure, health hazards and emergence of armed gangs.

    “Government must decriminalize the act of crude refining techniques and local oil refining. This will help to increase the current abysmal refining capacity in the country and permanently solve the problems of scarcity of refined crude oil products currently wrecking havoc in the country’s economy.

    “Besides, decriminalizing the practice will help to create jobs for the youths and finally put paid to the problems of restiveness and militancy in the region. It will also stop all forms of vandalism thereby increasing the revenue of the government”, he argued.

    To decriminalize the practice, he said the government must establish a legal framework to regulate the operations of bush refineries. He said the regulation must include the framework for sourcing crude, quality control and ecological maintenance.

    He said: “Government should set up local refiners into cooperatives in order to control their activities. By so doing, the government will be in control of the registered community cooperatives which must ensure that their activities are within the regulated practice”.

    Eradiri argued that currently most of the refined petroleum products sold in filling stations across the country are sourced from bush refineries. He said such products even find their ways to the Aso Rock Villa and are unknowingly used by the Presidency.

    “I challenge the Presidency to carry out a forensic examination of refined petroleum products used in the Aso Rock Villa to ascertain my claims. There is no gainsaying that bush refiners have always come to our rescue especially in time of scarcity and if we legalize the practice it will not just create jobs, it will bring down the prices of petroleum products in the country”, he said.

    He added: “The government should study the ingenuity of local technology involved in the process of bush refineries and improve upon it. This will help in our drive to use local technologies in solving our problems.

    “We insist that legalizing bush refineries will safeguard the environment, increase revenue to government, create jobs, reduce crime and motivate communities to take ownership of oil infrastructure and protect it from vandalism”.

    Besides local refineries, another issue that stole the attention of the Ijaw Leader is the clean-up of environment negatively impacted by oil exploration and exploitation. Eradiri welcomed the move by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to clean Ogoniland.

    But he said: “Ogoni clean-up must be done by a globally known companies in accordance with international standard. It should act as a catalyst to the entire Niger Delta clean-up because cleaning Ogoni without cleaning other parts of the Niger Delta would be an exercise in futility.

    “We insist that the cleaning must not be politicized. We have it on good authority that many unknown companies are lobbying to get the contracts for political considerations. Government should not allow such persons to derail its genuine intentions to clean-up the Niger Delta region”.

    Eradiri further drew global attention on some policies and strategies that had stifled the development of the region. He said the marginalisation and exclusion of the people from the ownership of assets and lack of access to social amenities defined poverty in the region.

    He said: “It is only if and when development strategies address these factors holistically that the possibility of alleviating poverty and reducing vulnerability exists. There should be a people-centred development agenda founded in the region’s natural and human capital.

    “Nigeria needs to change the distribution of revenue in order to reverse poverty in the Niger Delta, a region that has seen few gains from the nation’s 50 years of oil production.

    “The people of the oil-bearing communities should no longer experience the gross social infrastructural neglect, poverty, ecological catastrophes and other deprivations they face deity their contributions to the development of Nigeria”.

  • Madmen and herdsmen

    Madmen and herdsmen

    This is an open letter to the men of the moment. Or are there women in the house? Well, going by their name, it is all about men.

    First, I say congratulations to you, the herdsmen on rampage. My main reason for congratulating you is your strides in the Niger Delta. You guys rock. Wao! I am impressed. Your popularity – don’t mind those who say it is notoriety– is growing day-by-day.

    Forget Agatu, forget Enugu, forget elsewhere, you, the madmen– sorry the herdsmen– are taking new territories in Delta, Edo and Rivers.

    The fear of you guys is the beginning of wisdom in Cross River.  No wonder the plea by the chairman of Ogoja Local Government Council in Cross River State, Rita Agbo Ayim, that some of you who came in from neighbouring Benue State should return home because her people can no longer sleep well.

    “More than five thousand cattle have been shifted to Ogoja and the community is not happy over the development, and the Fulani herdsmen are danger to the people,” she said.

    As I was about to start this intervention, another headline jumped at me: “Fulani herdsmen hold 8 persons hostage in Delta” and my reaction was “there is no stopping these guys”.

    According to the report, residents of Obiaruku community, Ukwani Local Government Area of Delta State were thrown into confusion following the kidnap of eight persons for several hours by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

    Comrade Chika Uwabuofu, the community’s Youth Leader, told reporters that the victims who were working in a farmland were held hostage at about 6am by the herdsmen and released at about 1pm. Of course, after serious torture.  Reason: four cows, which you guys laboured so much on, were killed by some people in the community who failed to realise that the lives of four cows equal the lives of eight men.

    Uwabuofu added that you guys (herdsmen) had over time been terrorising the people. He urged the government to assist the community in evacuating the herdsmen from their farmlands, which have been destroyed by cows. He also spoke of a meeting where you guys agreed to quit the farmlands.

    “They left, but after some days, some women came to report that some Fulani herdsmen were seen with their cows in the community. Then today, they held eight of our men hostage,” he said.

    For you madmen – not again, I need to change this keypad which keeps substituting herdsmen with madmen or is there a relationship—the Biblical injunction ‘touch not my anointed’ means absolutely nothing and that explains why you caused the death of a cleric in Rivers. That was early this month.

    According to the police, Ohali-Elu town in Rivers State was invaded by suspected herdsmen. By the time they left, six people, including a cleric, lay in pools of blood. Public Relations Officers DSP Ahmad Muhammad said the men were killed over a case of missing cows. He said of the six men said to have been slaughtered only the pastor was confirmed dead. The bodies of five were not seen for confirmation.

    Muhammad punctured the claim that you guys used guns to kill your victims. Machete, according to him, was all you need to revenge the killings of your beloved cows, which you will choose over your biological children any day, any time.

    The PPRO said: “The command found it instructive to state that last Thursday, at about 5:30a.m, the police in Egi Division received a report  that on Wednesday at about 10:00 p.m, unidentified assailants suspected to be herdsmen struck in Ohali-Elu town leaving one Pastor Geoffrey Ogagaghene with severe cutlass cuts that later led to his death.

    “It’s also pertinent to state that in the build-up to the attack, there was a case of stealing of unspecified number of cows belonging to some herdsmen allegedly perpetrated by the youths of the community, but the case was never reported to the police.

    “It is reasonably suspected that the attack might have been carried out by the herdsmen as reprisal for stealing their cows.

    “Unconfirmed sources indicated six other persons lost their lives after the attack, the death of these six persons still remain unconfirmed for the simple reason that the police neither recovered nor visibly saw the corpses at the time of responding to the incident.”

    Another great exploit of you madmen— at this stage, I think we should just accept there is a relationship between you guys and madmen— happened some days before your men held hostage eight Delta men. In this particular case, you were not lenient. May be it happened when you had not taken your medication and you went all out to slaughter 31 people as though they were cows.

    The people of Uwheru in Ughelli North Local Government of Delta State will never forget that day. Wao! Thirty-one people sent to the grim reaper just like that.

    Speaking at the funeral of one of your victims, the community’s President General, Chief Ogarivi Utso, said: “The genesis of the problem started in 2004 when Ohoror community, in Uwheru, was invaded by the Fulani herdsmen with the collaboration of some soldiers. Many houses were razed, including the home of a former President General, Mr. Emmanuel Enivwegha-a.”

    You guys have even become landlords in the community forcing residents to pay between N10,000 and N70,000 to enter their farms. Utso claims this has been going on for five years, despite several complaints to the police.

    Still in Delta, some days ago, you guys abducted a non-academic staff of the Delta State University, Abraka, Mr. John Ogeleke, at Kwale, Ndokwa West Local Government Area. Ogeleke was heading towards Ogume from Kwalein his Nissan Pathfinder Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) when he was abducted at gun point.

    The police said four of you guys armed with guns and sticks emerged from a bush, forced the vehicle to a stop and seized the 54-year-old Ogeleke. There is no evidence yet that you guys have set him free. You are probably waiting for ransom before letting him go.

    How can I forget the bloody nose that you guys earlier this April gave irate youths of Okada community in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State who tried to burn one of your camps. You matched them gun for gun and there was serious exchange of gun fires. The youths said they took the action against you guys because of the killing of a 64-year-old farmer identified as Alex Idemitin.

    Idemitin’s neck was sliced and he was also stabbed in the stomach with several cutlass cuts all over his body a fortnight ago.

    There is something I need to beg you about, do not disturb Comrade Governor Adams Oshiomhole. Since you guys took over, he has had to be speaking big grammar. The key words I pick from his speech at a meeting with stakeholders are: rapists, kidnappers, robbers and cattle rustlers. You guys just rock. All these names for only you and to add salt to your injury, my keypad has forced another name on you: madmen.

    In talking about rapists, may be His Excellency remembered an incident last year when a middle-aged woman was raped and subsequently killed by three Fulani herdsmen at Odighi village in Ovia North East Local Government.

    Oshiomhole also spoke about rewarding good behaviour and being hard on bad behaviour. I hope you guys can read him. I need to also point your attention to these vital points he made: “ If they kill, we will try them, and if they are guilty, under the law they will also be executed, that is the law of the land.”

    There is also another takeaway from Oshiomhole. His words: “We can’t ban farming and we can’t ban grazing. The two must co-exist.”

    My final take: No one should blame my guys, the herdsmen. They are in a country where we love easy fixes and they are only taking advantage of it. If in this nation, things are not just buried or swept under the carpet, no one, not even a madman, will take law into his own hand. There must be punishment for crimes of whatever hue because only then can human lives be valued more than cows’.

     

  • Ogiemwonyi and the people’s mandate

    Integrity is holding fast to our convictions regardless of the consequences and never compromising our ideals or values even though it affects the bottom line but at the height of his career in 2009 as a top boss at the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation NNPC, Ogiemwonyi dared to serve in a higher capacity as a Minister and how he navigated his way through what has now been labelled a corrupt government can only live one in bewilderment. Yet he was able to preserve his unblemished record of integrity, discipline and incorruptibility.

    A seasoned technocrat and a revered administrator, Chris Osa Ogiemwonyi has always been a mover and shaker of the system, skilled in the art of negotiation and management. Amongst his prized career experience spanning the best part of more than three decades are some of the largest federal government portfolios in the energy sector. As an Exploration and production chief, he managed a staggering seven oil and gas companies, ranging from NAPIMS, NGC, NPDC, IDSL, crude oil marketing, to LNG and power division. Under his stewardship he initiated some of the best ideas that has been churned out of this sector such as the local content policy which now allow Nigerian own indigenous companies a competing chance at securing bids. For this, on retirement he waslauded by the Benin Kingdom in recognition of his contribution to the progress of the Edo people as many of its sons and daughters have made gains from this initiative.

    But Ogiemwonyi in his true nature has never coveted individual accolades rather his efficiency speaks of a man who has pursued service for the glory of servitude, and his most sincere desire is to contribute as much as possible to uplifting his people and eliminating poverty. Born in Orhionmwon L.G.A in 1951, Chris came from humble beginningsand early on had to help his mother trade to support the family before his father became one of the prominent transporters in the old western region. In a meeting with some party delegates, he narrated how he has always felt the need to give back considering his background.

    From a foundation that caters to children educational scholarship to borehole projects aimed at eradicating river blindness, Engr. Chris Ogiemwonyi contributed as a civil servant without fanfare and has encouraged everyone to practice this method of philanthropy. As the unemployment numbers sky rocketed and the economy plummeted into a recession, Ogiemwonyi pushed for an economic drift back to agriculture in form of the two acre Modupe Palm Farm and a skills acquisition centrein his community which employs hundreds of personnel bi-annually. As a junior Minister of works he ensured Edo State secured two quality projects on the federal government budget in the form of the Dawson/Ofusu road in Benin cityas well as the rehabilitation of the Igarra Bridge. In the same year he extended his influence even further by facilitating a budget for the dualisation of the Benin/Abraka highway on the Niger Delta Ministry’s portfolio. However in May of 2011, barelyless than a year as Minister he went on to resign and then quit the ruling party on the grounds of the massive scale of corruption under the PDP lead government. It was amidst this tough decision that the legend of Mr Integrity was born.

    In all, Engr. Chris Ogiemwonyi has been tested time and again and he has always proven that he will not stand for corruption, insisting that a good name is better than riches. Now once again he desires to shake up the status quo as he solicits for the people’s mandate but this time around this election is asking questions of far greater importance because we are in a frugal period. Are we prepared to defeat an ideology of rewarding unqualified opportunists with leadership? Are we ready to begin a change process of nominating leadership based on character, accomplishments and an unwavering antecedent to share with kith and kin? Whether Engr. Chris Osa Ogiemwonyi getsthe nod and one more chance to etch his name in historyas a progressive phenomenon, only time will tell. But in my own opinion it has already been written.

    • Momodu wrote in from Benin City

  • Kickboxing competition restores hope in Bayelsa youths

    In Bayelsa State, businesses are folding up. Families are relocating to better cities in other states. Civil servants have not been paid for about five months and local government workers are owed between six to 12 months salary arrears.

    The economy of the state has collapsed leading to systemic effects of increase in crime rates especially armed robberies. In fact, there seems to be nothing to cheer about the state as many people practically exude poverty in their physiognomical countenances.

    But a firm, Renew Entertainment, recently brought the joy of the state, initially known for riches and wealth, back. The firm singlehandedly floated a kickboxing competition that changed the psyche of many youths. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Renew Entertainment, Mr. Gospel Obolo, who hails from Otakeme in Ogbia Local Government Area of the state was the brains behind the competition.

    Obolo, an engineer and member of the Nigerian Kickboxing Federation (NKF), kept residents of Yenagoa, the state capital busy for three days. Youths, men, women, singles and couples found their way to Renew located along the Azikoro Road to watch participants deploy their energy to fight for relevance and medals.

    The competition had the trappings of professional tournaments. There was a ring built by Obolo himself within the expansive compound of Renew, a firm that combines talent hunts with bar, restraunt and club. Different categories of awards had been earmarked for champions with certificates of participation to be issued to persons who partook in the competition. Besides, Obolo from his pocket gave cash awards to persons who came tops in the competition.

    In fact, Renew was a beehive. People who paid tokens sat and watched different fights with excitement. They reclined with their choice drinks. Youths from different parts of the state and the Niger Delta region were allowed to thrill the audience with different performances in music and culture which acted as interlude to fights scheduled for the competition.

    Comedians and rising stars in music lightened up the place and compelled the spectators to temporarily forget their economic woes. Some established musicians such as Eno A and a sensational female singer Lady IB made the place livelier. Delectable and elegant ring ladies who announced the round of a fight by walking round the ring with a cardboard excited the men. The Bayelsa State Sports Council was represented.

    Coaches dished out energetic instructions to their fighters and well-dressed referees ensured that the fighters obey the rules of the game. In fact, everything was present and readily available. Well-trained doctors and nurses manned the first aide department and Renew ensured that an ambulance stood by in case of an emergency.

    Indeed, in kickboxing, Obolo demonstrated that there are untapped enormous potential and talents in the country. Many youths were eager to enroll in the competition. They were seeking such opportunities to divert their energy from crimes to meaningful engagements. Margret Nzerem, Ochefu Godwin, Epere Prince and Ozioma Orji won in different categories of the competition.

    Obolo said the Renew project was aimed at honing talents in sports, music and other related areas of entertainment. He said the kickboxing competition was christened, the Battle of the Mangrove, to underscore the terrains of the Niger Delta. He said Renew was developing similar project for the six political zones in the country.

    He said he decided to singlehandedly sponsor the programme to prove a point that individuals could help the government in empowering the youths and getting them out of the streets.

    Furthermore, Nzerem thanked the organiser for giving the young people an opportunity to grow. “It is good to catch them young”, she said. Other persons who attended the event including the Technical Director, Bayelsa State Sports Council (BSSC), Miekpo Korubo, eulogised Obolo and his vision.