The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • Suleiman bows out of Central Naval Command in style

    Suleiman bows out of Central Naval Command in style

    After seven months of holding sway as the Flag Officer (FOC), Commanding Central Naval Command (CNC), Rear Admiral Apochi Suleiman, bowed out in style.

    Undoubtedly, Suleiman left indelible marks in all the Areas of Responsibility (AoR) of the CNC, especially in bringing vandals and other maritime criminals to their heels and in remodeling the headquarters of the command in Yenagoa, the state capital.

    The outgone commander, who was redeployed to Defence Headquarters, inaugurated five projects he initiated and executed within seven months before handing over the mantle of leadership to the first indigenous FOC, Rear Admiral Tarioworio Dick.

    Suleiman built and commissioned the senior rates mess, a17-self content apartment ratings transit accommodation and galley. He remodeled the main gate of the headquarters and the command’s provost and regulating office.

    Since the command headquarters was far from the sea, he created an expansive swimming pool to keep the navy familiar and abreast with its natural environment. He said after every three months, the ratings and officer are expected to undergo a swimming test.

    “Cultivate water because it is your theatre of operation”, he charged them adding that a 22.5KVA generator was dedicated to pool to ensure it continuously flow uninterrupted.

    Under his command, the CNC for the first time began its publication entitled, Central Searchlight, a publication of the CNC. He launched the glossy magazine which was edited by the command’s Public Relations Officer.

    While asking the officers and the ratings to cooperate with the new FOC, Suleiman said the navy was determined to crush pipeline vandals and oil thieves within its Areas of Responsibility (AoR).

    He said concrete foundation had been laid by the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Ibok Ibas, to actualise the mandate of the Federal Government against oil thieves and pipeline vandals. Suleiman said the naval headquarters recently fortified the assets of the CNC with additional 10 patrol boats.

    He said within seven months, the command destroyed 100 illegal refineries, arrested many suspected oil thieves and impounded ships and other vessels used by vandals.

    He said: “We advise thieves to desist. The command will sanction offenders severely in accordance with the extant rules and regulations. We will continue to curb maritime crimes”.

    He said within his seven months stint, the command maintained adequate presence at sea and fully deployed operatives in strategic maritime assets adding that oil theft was highly reduced. He said the Shell a Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) reported almost zero crude theft adding that CNC was adjudged the best command in the Nigerian Navy within his period.

    He thanked the officers, ratings, the state government and residents of the state for their cooperation and asked them to extend such partnership to the new commander.

    In recognition of his excellent performance, the Community Media Network (CMN) led by Delight Ozoegbe, the publisher of a local newspaper, Delight, presented an award to the FOC. He thanked him for reducing maritime crimes especially in the state.

    Also Dick, who hails from Nembe Local Government Area of the state, vowed to deal with crude oil thieves, pipeline vandals, kidnappers and pirates.

    He, however, appealed to the communities to cooperate with the navy by volunteering information.

    He said: “We solicit the community to provide information for us to act. Those who perpetrate this criminality do not represent any community but the live in communities and the communities are not happy with what they are doing.

    “I am disturbed by the actions of crude oil thrives because they dig the ground and use it as a storage facility. It damages the environment to the extent that our own children may not recover from what they have done.

    “They are not friends and so there should be the whole community approach towards tackling crude oil theft, sea robbery and piracy”.

    social commitment and responsibility, in the earnest efforts to facilitate the sustainable development of the Niger Delta region.

    At the grand finale of the GEMS competition, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari was placing high premium on science and technology, in order to ensure sustainable development in Nigeria and diversification of the nation’s economy.

    Onu was represented by the Director, Gender Desk of the federal ministry, Dr. Nnenna Okoronkwo.

    The acting managing director of NDDC, in her welcome address at the GEMS’ grand finale, urged the nine governors of states in the Niger Delta to partner with the Federal Government’s intervention agency on science and technology.

    Mrs. Semenitari stated that the greatness and power of countries were interrelated, in no small measure; with the top priority they accord science and technology.

  • Land dispute: War looms in Obio/Akpor communities

    There are indications of imminent battle in communities in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area  of Rivers State, if the state government does not intervene urgently.

    This follows a protracted land dispute between the indigenes of Eli-Kpokwu-Odu community of Rumukpokwu clan and Eli- Weligbe community in Rumuagholu clan.

    The parcel of land known as Omuodudoro-Ali–Nweli-bo is  at the communities’ boundary and is stretched towards  Rumuosi, Rumuekini and Rumuodamanya clans, all in same local government.

    They are contesting the rightful ownership of the land.  According to the communities, the problem has lasted for more than 15 years.

    The land, according to the parties, spans over 500, 000 acres and both parties have its own side of the story on how the land became theirs.

    No life has so far been lost in the  skirmishes, but a tractor belonging to an indigene of Eli-Kpokwu-Odu was burnt down on the land by youths. There is fear of reprisal attacks if the state government and security agencies do not intervene speedily.

    Eli-kpokwu-odu community claims that it is their ancestral inheritance, while co-contender, Rumuagholu says they won it following a Supreme Court verdict.

    The confusion has led to serious racketeering on the land by members of the both communities. Each party is busy selling out the portion of the land especially the area close to their community, despite subsisting court order.

    The immediate past chairman of Eli-Kpokwu-Odu Community Development Committee (CDC), Kelvin Samuel, in a telephone interview with The Nation claimed that his community is the rightful owners of the land.

    He said his community had at a time mortgaged a portion of the land to the Rumuagholu for a sum which according to him has long been repaid to them.

    Samuel noted that his community had never had any form of dispute on the property until 2002 their contender (Rumuagholu), showed up with a suit against my community, the matter has since then lingered within and out of court.

    According to him, the judgment delivered by 8-man Peace and Arbitration Committee jointly set up by the warring communities after several years of being in court were rejected by Rumuagholu people, who took the matter back to court.

    He alleged that the court placed a ban on the land pending the determination of the case, but he noted that despite the ban, their rival community have continued to sale of the land.

    He claimed that over 4000 acres of the land have been sold by their co-contender, while his Eli-Kpokwu-Odu people have complied with the order 100 per cent.

    The CDC chairman of Rumuagholu community, Omunakwe Amadi, accused the Eli-Kpokwu-Odu people of trespassing and selling portions of the land despite a subsisting court order on the property, he called for the intervention of the state authorities.

    Samuel said: “The land in dispute is rightly owned by Eli-kpokwu-Odu community in Rumukpokwu clan. We have been farming on that land before the trouble started 15 years ago. “It all started when in 2002 Rumuagholu filed a suit against us over the parcel of land, claiming that we are encroaching over their land.

    “Before then my community had not had any form of problem with Rumuagholu regarding the portion of land, but they had with Rumuodumanya community which also shares boundary with us on that land.

    “Because my community mortgaged a part of the land known as Okporo Eli-Kpokwu-Odu to Rumuagholu, we provided the plan which helped them (Rumuagholu community), won the case against Rumuodumanya community at the Supreme court in 1961.

    “Judgment of the Paramount Ruler of Rumuigbo clan, HRH Eze Wobo who led Arbitration Committee was not accepted, whereas the judgment favoured the both parties.” he stated.

    But Amadi said the people of Rumuagholu got the property after a Supreme Court judgment they got against their neighbouring Rumuodamanya community on the parcel of land.

    He insisted that  Eli-kpokwu-Odu people have nothing to do with the land and warned that they stop further laying of claims or encroaching  the land in the interest of peaceful co-existence and called for the intervention of the state government and security agencies to avoid breakdown of Law and order in the area.

    Amadi said: “There is fear in the two communities because of the land. The people of Eli-Kpokwu-Odu have been threatening, harassing and intimidating us (Rumuahgolu people), innocent civilians with armed security men to scare us out of our land.

    “The land rightfully belongs to us, but Eli-kpokwu-Odu people in the bid to create crisis jettisoned, overlooked the 1961 Supreme Court judgment which affirmed us the rightful owners of the property have continued to tresspass and sell portions of the land to whosoever they like.

    “I am calling on the Rivers State government, to as a matter of urgency, intervene in the matter before it gets out of hand. And I would also like to at this juncture call on members of the public, groups and organisations to stop buying any part of the land from Eli-Kpokwu-Odu community, because the dispute over the land is yet to be resolved.”

    There is fear that Eli-Kpokwu-Odu community youths may seek revenge of the burnt tractor.

  • NDDC boosts girl-child education in Niger Delta

    NDDC boosts girl-child education in Niger Delta

    The Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, shortly after assumption of office, initiated the Girls in Engineering, Mathematics and Science (GEMS) competition, to bridge the gaps that exist in gender-related issues and reposition the Niger Delta.

    The maiden competition started with rigorous elimination process, which began with 2,880 girls from Senior Secondary School (SSS) 1 and 2 in the nine states (Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ondo, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Abia and Imo) of the crude oil and gas-rich region.

    From the first screening test, 1,110 girls were selected. From the 1,110 girls, 270 of them were selected at 30 girls per state.

    The girls progressed to the state finals, where 11 girls qualified from each state, leading to the regional finals (in the NDDC’s regions of Western, Central and Eastern), where 11 girls were selected from each of the three regions, totaling 33 and they exhibited various Science, Technology and Mathematics projects, which were thoroughly assessed by eminent scholars.

    Of the 33 girls who participated in the grand finale on April 6 at the Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital, ten were selected for recognition, while each of the top five received awards, prizes and N5 million scholarships, among other benefits/gifts.

    The GEMS that made the top ten were Maryanne Ukachukwu (Abia), Ebi Agbodobiri (the only representative from Bayelsa), Esther Ademeta (Ondo), Deborah Doghor (Ondo), Grace Mbora Bassey (Cross River), Uzamere Nowe Edobor (Edo), Blessing James Jeremiah (Cross River), Edidiong Bassey Francis (Akwa Ibom), Amarachi Orjiugo (Rivers) and Ayomide Adeyeye (Ondo).

    One of the nine representatives of Ondo state, Ayomide Adeyeye, emerged the overall winner of the competition.

    Adeyeye went home with a trophy, the latest tablet computer for educational programmes, gold plaque, N200,000 cash and N5 million scholarship for her 5-year tertiary education at N1 million per annum, while her school would also have a Chemistry laboratory from NDDC.

    The first runner up (second position), Amarachi Orjiugo (Rivers) got cash of N100,000; N5 million scholarship, plaque and tablet computer, while the second runner up (third), Edidiong Bassey Francis (Akwa Ibom) got N50,000 cash, N5 million scholarship, plaque and tablet computer.

    The schools of the girls that came second and third would also get from NDDC, Physics and Biology laboratories respectively.

    The fourth position went to Blessing James Jeremiah (Cross River), while Grace Mbora Bassey (Cross River) had the fifth position. Each of the best five GEMS would benefit from the N5 million scholarships for their tertiary education, while each of the 33 girls would have mentors.

    All the directors of NDDC in Bayelsa State contributed N300,000, which was given to the only representative from the state (Ebi Agbodobiri) to motivate her for better performance in future competitions.

    The directors of the Federal Government’s intervention agency also made N500,000 available for the only girl, Esther Ademeta of Ondo State, whose project was on Mathematics, for thinking outside the box and being creative, thereby encouraging her to always put in her best, while Ondo won the award of the competition’s most supportive state.

    The overall winner (Ayomide Adeyeye), while responding on behalf of the 33 finalists, stated that she never thought her project could be adjudged the best, while giving God the glory and she lauded NDDC for the initiative.

    As the winners were celebrating with their parents, guardians, relatives, friends and well-wishers, while taking photographs in the beautifully-decorated Atlantic Hall of Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt, the girls who did not receive any award, prize, recognition or scholarship started crying uncontrollably.

    It took the intervention of the Master of Ceremonies (MC), for the crying girls to be pacified. Adeyeye (overall winner) also pleaded with them to try and improve on their projects to emerge winners next time. It was indeed an emotional moment.

    It was obvious that the 33 finalists had begun to see the practicality of science, even at the young age, thereby becoming a foundation upon which they and other children of the Niger Delta, as well as the schools in the region would build their collective future.

    Two of the three assessors also addressed the finalists and persons in attendance on the criteria for selection, which they said included content, demonstration of brilliance and intellect, interest in the project, confidence, practical relevance of project to the society, clear understanding of the project, use of technology and potential for further studies, among others.

    Grand finale of the GEMS competition was attended by a former Deputy Governor of Rivers state, Sir Gabriel Toby, and his wife, as well as a member of the Rivers House of Assembly, Chief Victoria Nyeche, who represents Port Harcourt Constituency One and other eminent personalities.

    Mrs. Semenitari, on April 4, at the Conference Room of the NDDC’s corporate headquarters on Aba Road, Port Harcourt, addressed a news conference, in company with other directors and top officials of the commission, ahead of the April 6 grand finale of the GEMS competition.

    She revealed at the media event that the Federal Government’s intervention agency voted N113, 169,500.00 for the GEMS initiative, which she said was borne out of NDDC’s desire, social commitment and responsibility, in the earnest efforts to facilitate the sustainable development of the Niger Delta region.

    At the grand finale of the GEMS competition, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari was placing high premium on science and technology, in order to ensure sustainable development in Nigeria and diversification of the nation’s economy.

    Onu was represented by the Director, Gender Desk of the federal ministry, Dr. Nnenna Okoronkwo.

    The acting managing director of NDDC, in her welcome address at the GEMS’ grand finale, urged the nine governors of states in the Niger Delta to partner with the Federal Government’s intervention agency on science and technology.

    Mrs. Semenitari stated that the greatness and power of countries were interrelated, in no small measure; with the top priority they accord science and technology.

  • Cross River CAN inaugurates new exco

    Cross River CAN inaugurates new exco

    The Cross River State Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), has inaugurated it’s new state executive members in Calabar.

    The event which was held at the Apostolic Church, Edgerley Road, and themed “Unity in Diversity” was attended by church leaders and members from various denominations.

    The new chairman of the Association, Archbishop Joseph Ukpo (Emeritus), said for CAN to survive as a united Christian organisation, ecumenical dialogue must be taken seriously.

    He said no religion can exist in isolation anymore and any religion that is not open to others becomes irrreligious as exemplified in fundamentalism and religious fanaticism.

    He said the Church promotes the spirit of dialogue in the world in order to resolve conflict, advance common good and strengthen human solidarity.

    Deputy Governor of Cross River State, Prof Ivara Esu, charged the new executive council  to build on the achievement of predecessors to ensure good working relationship among Christians and other people in the state irrespective of their background.

    He urged religious leaders to constantly pray for the government to deliver on its promises  to improve the lives of the people of the state.

    The deputy governor said the government was open to Godly counsel to enable them take the state to the heights desired.

    Commissioner for Information Mrs Rosemary Archibong was grateful to God for keeping CAN together, through a peaceful election.

    While describing the church as an epitome of unity in diversity, she urged that they continue to work together as a viable army for God.

    “As diverse as we are in the body of Christ, we need to be ready to be used by God to bring down most difficult situations,” she said.

    South South chairman of CAN, Archbishop God-dowell Avwomakpa, urged that despite all challenges, Christians should still keep faith in God.

    Prof Mrs Ebele Eko presented a keynote address on the theme of the event.

    The new executive council has Archbishop Joseph Ukpo as chairman, Rev O. B. Ekpenyong as Vice Chairman, Elder James Ekabua as Secretary, Ms Olive Effanga as Financial Secretary and Apostle Frank Umo as Treasurer.

  • Dreams from Omoni Oboli

    Dreams from Omoni Oboli

    Omoni Oboli—Nollywood actress, producer cum director and proud daughter of Niger Delta— has a dream that one day women will go on strike and make live hell for men who keep silent over the child-bride issue.

    She has a dream that one day men will beg their wives for intimacy and all they will get from the creeks to the city will be resounding nos.

    She has a dream that one day a senator will feel bad that he has compromised too much and failed to be the conscience of the upper legislature on matters such as the bride-child.

    She has a dream that one day international news organs will take interest in a strike called by local women traders to force men to see the evil in child-bride.

    She has a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of the creed that a boy-child and a girl-child deserve equal treatment.

    She has a dream that one day in the troubled nation called Nigeria, the daughters of the poor and the not-so-poor will be allowed to grow and be ready for marital life and not sold into bondage.

    She has a dream that one day this nation of injustice and of oppression will let the girl-child have the best of education and others.

    She has a dream that daughters will not be judged by their breasts and other feminine contours but by their brains and will power.

    Before the University of Benin-trained Omoni, Martin Luther-King jnr had dreams too and it took decades for almost all of the dreams to be fulfilled. I am not sure Omoni is willing to wait for decades for her dreams to become reality. I can hear her screaming: ‘Child-bride is evil. Stop it now!’

    To realise these dreams, she decided to be serious and unserious at the same time. She made a movie called Wives on Strike. The movie, which I saw last Friday in a packed cinema hall in Ikeja, has a bunch of pidgin-speaking women and men whose acts made us laugh and also think. It has also a group of senators and the wife of one of them whose acts made us think and ready to stop the child-bride craze.

    The movie is not comedy for comedy sake. It is comedy for social change. It is comedy for re-evaluation of our social mores. I doubt having seen this sort of socially-responsible comedy before. Omoni employed the trick of the rat, which usually fans its victims before attacking. Call it the carrot-and-stick approach to fighting against child-bride advocates and you won’t be wrong. You will laugh at the seeming jokes in the film while being hit unconsciously by the message: She is a child, not a bride!

    I suspect those guilty of the abuse against the girl-child will even laugh at many of the scenes before realising they are the ones being told to embrace change and abandon their archaic ways.

    Another thing I like about the movie is the clean language. Omoni deploys creative coinages to describe acts which kids are not supposed to be exposed to. One very creative coinage is ‘janglova’, which means love making. There is also ‘kongea’, which means pent-up sexual passion. I doff my hat for this laugh merchant with a mission.

    I also like the way the movie is being marketed. Last Saturday, Omoni was in Benin, the Edo State capital promoting this great work. She has also been in Akure, Lagos and others for the same purpose.

    Last weekend, Julius Agwu, one of the lead actors in the movie, was in Port Harcourt, the capital of the almighty Rivers State, which he last year dreamt of governing, to encourage people to see the movie. Ufuoma McDermott was at the Silverbird Cinema in Ikeja spreading the gospel according to Omoni Oboli.

    Other stars of the movie were also in different parts of the country to encourage cinema goers to see Wives on Strike.

    I foresee a situation where this movie will break the box office records. Yet, Omoni, I understand, was afraid to take it to the cinema because she feared people may not like it. Perhaps this fear explained why another movie she shot after it titled The First Lady came out first.

    Interestingly, some weeks before the premier of the movie, it was engulfed in a controversy. Reason: its central idea of women going on strike and preventing their husbands from having sex with them has a similar ring with the theme of Spike Lee’s satirical musical drama Chiraq. So, when the trailer of Wives on Strike came out, the mother of three was accused of copying Lee.

    The controversy forced                 Omoni to give vital background information on the movie.  The movie’s concept, she said, came to her about four years ago when she wanted to do a movie about women going on strike, but could not find a sensible reason for the strike.

    Her words: “We felt there was no sense in making comedy, just for comedy sake. At least, that’s how I think, and I like to stick to what I know and leave others who are better at their own areas of expertise to do theirs. So when my husband and I wanted to do something concerning the Child-Not-Bride issue which was steaming up back in 2013, we decided that we had found a good enough reason for the strike. I wrote the script, and when we were ready we started principal photography in April 2014.”

    She added that she got to know after her shoot that some women in South Sudan suggested a sex strike to end the war in their country.

    “The idea of going on strike was just fantasy and wishful thinking, not knowing that it had really been conceived by other women in practice, or by other filmmakers and playwrights in theory,” said Omoni.

    The director of Being Mrs Elliott said she heard of Chiraq for the first time last year, when her  husband sent her the trailer. Knowing what people could be capable of, she foresaw a situation whereby she would be accused of stealing Lee’s idea.

    She said she expected a reaction like this: “Nollywood is at it again! Copy! Copy! Copy! Omoni Oboli has joined the bandwagon of Nollywood producers who steal original works and make it their own.”

    She continued: “Spike Lee commenced principal photography (that means he started shooting) in June 2015, and released in select theatres on December 4 of the same year. Heaven forbid that Spike Lee would copy little old Omoni Oboli, who is in our Nigeria here! How can that happen?! If I had released it first on October 1st, instead of The First Lady like I did, then Spike Lee was definitely being artistic and the similarities were just mere coincidences, but since I decided to release later, then I ‘definitely’ (beyond a shadow of a doubt) copied Mr Lee. Case closed!”

    As a result of the good cinema run the movie is having, I ask Omoni to emulate Jesus Christ by declaring: forgive them because they know not what they are doing. God has also been good to her. So, resenting rumour mongers should not have a place in her heart. Like the great Nelson Mandela said: “Resentment is like drinking poison and hoping it will kill your enemy.”

    From the look of things, this amazing daughter of Mosogar, Delta State—who shares not just birthday with me but also birth year — will continue to break a leg. And God will keep her, the three boys and the eternal treasure in her life called Nnamdi.

    My final take:  Although I have not seen First Lady and Being Mrs Elliot, the reviews have been great. This is another reason while forward should be the place Omoni looks to. And I am giving her an advice she gave her fans in a recent interview.  She should continue to trust in God and keep holding on to her dreams and they will come to pass and child-bride, VVF and other evils against the girl-child will die and be interred in unmarked graves.

  • Police parade two arms dealers, seven others in Akwa Ibom

    Police parade two arms dealers, seven others in Akwa Ibom

    Police in Akwa Ibom State Force have paraded  a group of nine suspected criminals for gun running and others.

    They were paraded at the State Command headquarters at Ikot Akpan Abia area, Uyo, the state capital by the State Police Commissioner, CP Murtala Mani.

    Emmanuel Akamaba , 38, and Ezekiel Adie, 35, were among the nine suspects paraded at the police headquarters for their involvement in gun running.

    The commissioner, CP Mani told journalists that the paraded suspects were arrested by operatives of the command at various locations in the state during stop and search operations on highways and roads.

    Mani said a stop-and-search exercise is one the proactive measures taken by the command to rid the Akwa Ibom State of criminal elements.

    According to him, two suspects, Emmanuel Akamaba  and Ezekiel Adie both from Ogoja in Cross River state were arrested with four locally-made pistols along Calabar/Itu Highway by Safer Highway Patrol team who carried out a search on the vehicle which they traveled with.

    In their confessional statement, both Emmanuel and Ezekiel admitted to the crime. “When the police stopped us at their Check Point in Itu, and searched the vehicle we boarded, they discovered the four pistols in our traveling bag. We were going to sell the guns to our agent in Bayelsa at the cost of N100,000.00 each. We bought the guns from the manufacturer in Benue state and we have been in the business for about a year now.”

    However, Mani, who was represented by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the command, ASP Cordelia Nwawe, said among the paraded suspects was one Blessing Effiong Ambrose who was arrested for human trafficking.

    Blessing was allegedly arrested by the Patrol team stationed along Oron-Mbo Highway who intercepted a white colour Toyota Hiace commuter bus with registration number Lagos – JJJ454 XD which Blessing was among the passengers and were travelling from Oron in Akwa Ibom state to Lagos state.

    Among the passengers in the bus were six children aged between five and fifteen who were victims of child trafficking by Blessing who was taking them to buyers in Lagos state. The children were however rescued and handed over to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) in Uyo for investigations, the ASP Nwawe stated.

    Also paraded were those who robbed worshippers of a Presbyterian Church at Okopedi Itiam village, along Uyo – Ekim Itam Highway, those who were caught with three stolen Perkins sound proof generators purportedly removed from the University of Uyo (UNIUYO), those who were caught with stolen power transformer and other electrical  appliances on the way to Lagos from Uyo.

    Police said upon proper investigations into the crimes, all those found involved would be prosecuted accordingly.

    Mani called on members of the public, especially commercial vehicle drivers to always check the luggage of passengers to ascertain the contents before carrying them.

    He also warned that the command would not condone crime of any kind in the state, therefore parents should warn their children and wards against keeping bad friends or indulging in crime.

    The police appealed to members of the public to bear with the Police when they are asked to stop for a brief check, that it is done for the overall good of all.

  • ‘Why Yenagoa remains underdeveloped’

    ‘Why Yenagoa remains underdeveloped’

    A real estate guru based in Bayelsa State, Mr. Emelike Ifeayinchukwu Ossy and Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, F Global Properties Limited, in this interview with MIKE ODIEGWU, identified the problems mitigating the development of Yenagoa as a modern capital city.

    How far has it been in the real estate business in Bayelsa?

    The greatest challenge is Yenagoa. It has been a strong challenge. It has been a tough one. But so far we appreciate God for where we are today for his wisdom and prosperity over the company, but it has not been an easy one, we have many challenges starting from the communal, government policies, lack of funds public misinformation and many more. But we are doing our best to change the face of Bayelsa State.

    Do you agree with the claims of past and present administrations which attribute slow pace of infrastructural development in the state to bad terrain?

    When you talk about terrain in real estate, I will agree partially with the past and present government of Bayelsa State. But I blame the government so much. If God gives you a seed he gives you sand. When God gives you a desert, he gives you stone. God always has a soft-landing for all. Bayelsa State is blessed with a lot of mineral resources.

    In Lekki, Eko Atlantic City is doing one of the best development in Africa. The terrain is far worse than Yenagoa but they have transformed that place to a hub, a business hub that will attract investors. I don’t really see the terrain as a challenge. I see the policies and politics as challenging.

    I have come to see lack of continuity in most of the real estate policies. When one government starts one thing, it is difficult for another government to carry on. New government comes, abandons what the previous administration started and begins its own.

    The question the public should be asking is: has the government really sat down to look at the future of Bayelsa State? Have the concern sector in the state asked in 20 years, what kind of Yenagoa do we really want to have. Do we want to have the Yenagoa we are proud of or Yenagoa we will be running away from?

    The government should put their house in order, so the terrain shouldn’t be a problem. They are missing the track. The government I see has human capacity that does not have productive strength to accommodate the level of needs of Bayelsa State in real estate development. They don’t know that Bayelsa terrain is very virgin, natural and fresh. So, in real estate when it is fresh it is easy to handle than when people have erected unwanted structures. The town is still fresh. The government needs to sit up and do effective planning because planning is what government is expected to do now.

    Whatever Abuja is now has been planned 15 to 20 years ago, so government  needs to do planning. How much planning has past and present governments done. Most of them do what I call paper planning. They come on air and say they have done planning. We want to see what’s on the ground. The planning on ground is what you need to work with. The past and present governments have made some mistakes and are still making mistakes.

    How do we correct the problems with town planning  of Yenagoa?

    First, there will be a new city and secondly, the defects could be corrected. The problem with Bayelsa is the government and lack of information to the public. People build on water channels and natural drainage. People build along the expressways beyond the approved lines. Serving politicians are building along the major expressways beyond the approved lines which is a risk to the public and against modern planning.

    Now imagine a city that cannot enforce the laws; some people are above the law. In Bayelsa State, they have to start applying the laws. The government needs to come up with a new city. Let me use this opportunity to call on the government to set up what is called Government Community Initiative Programs; that’s what Bayelsa needs. The program will set free, crisis in land; it will set free Bayelsa communal problems. It will make the communities have spirit of ownership.

    Community initiative programmes are done all over the world. They are done in UK and they are using it to establish new cities. You don’t expect to pay compensation every time. I think the government can come up with a city that befits the name of Yenagoa. Yenagoa is the heart of ijawland but how many ijaw people can decide to come and buy land in Yenagoa. I urge the governor to start in a way and manner that people will know that Bayelsa is the heart of ijawland and the Dubia of Africa and that  can only be done by planning.

    I have attended many business summits the government of Bayelsa State hosted in search of investors. I have always said you can’t  bring an investor to a town that is not planned. It is not possible. In a city, the first place to look out for is the town planners; they are the best people to work out a city, a city that can last for hundred years.

    What is the motive behind the Iko Palm Estate and Paradise Gardens in Yenagoa?

    Iko Palm Estate came as a result of the challenges people are facing when you build in the state. Some people find it difficult to access their housees because some landlords sell their roads; some build on drainage. So, with all these, we came up with the plan. We decided to have a city, a mini estate that can be well planned and people can actually buy.

    We also look at the financial capacity of the people in Bayelsa, and 80 percent are civil servants. We initiated a system of paying for the land within three years for the low income earners. You can buy land and build with N25,000 monthly.

    In Paradise Garden, we are partnering with foreign partners and is going to be a high profile project. We are starting starting in Port Harcourt with about 5000 duplexes. It is ongoing and we will compete with Eko Atlantic in Lagos . Our drive is to bridge accommodation challenges between the low and high income earners.

    Are you getting any support from the government?

    The Government of Rivers State has been very supportive. They have encouraged us and are ready to help us meet all documentation. I give Kudos to His Excellency, Governor Nyesom Wike who has given the investors all the support. I can authoritative say we have the backing of Rivers State government. In Bayelsa State we are using this medium to call on the government to set up a team of professionals that will look into the planning of the city, especially new Yenagoa. It can be achieved without government spending so much money. The government can spend as much as zero naira. What they need to do is to give the legal backing. I expect the government to set up a committee that will initiate this project.

  • How Akwa Ibom water company pipes are used for illegal sand dredging

    How Akwa Ibom water company pipes are used for illegal sand dredging

    Kazeem Ibrahym writes on how sand dredging is posing serious environmental degradation to many communities in the Akwa Ibom State.

    I am giving a one-week grace for owners of barges to remove all the dredgers they brought to destroy our environment. As we sit today, we cannot build a bridge at Ekpene Ukpa, we cannot build a bridge at Mkpok; because the entire surface that should hold the bridge has been taken out. Now if you remove the clay, you remove the entire sand that is supposed to hold the column. When you put the column, it floats. Some of these things are damaging our environment. If those things are allowed to continue, our generations, our children will not have where to call their own.”

    These were the words from Ephraim Inyang-Eyen, the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Works while lamenting his frustration following the devastation done to the environment from the activities of those involved in illegal sand dredging.

    The activities of illegal sand mining otherwise known as sand dredging came under the attention of the Akwa Ibom State Government following public outcry over the devastating effects posed on the ecosystem.

    Many communities in the state have suffered untold hardship following the activities of the sand dredgers. Their economic livelihood, farming and fishing is no more. Many have also left the communities for fear of environmental degradation as many of the dredging sites have been abandoned by the dredgers and left with mighty gully.

    Worried by the unpleasant stories emanating from some of these communities, the State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, dispatched his foot soldiers to the sites of these sand dredging. Commissioners in three different ministries went on a surveillance tour. Works Commissioner – Ephraim Inyang-Eyen, his counterpart in the Environment Ministry, Dr. Iniobong Essien and Commissioner for Information, Aniekan Umanah.

    The three commissioners saw that there was high level connivance between officials of the Akwa Ibom Water Company Limited and those involved in the business of illegal dredging of sand. The commissioners didn’t visit the site alone, they went with heavy armed security agents where some arrest were made.

    At the dredging site, there were hallowed pipes of Akwa Ibom Water Company Limited used by the dredgers to dredge sand.

    A visibly angry Umanah vowed that the State Governor would get to the root of the matter. Umanah, who expressed shock over the development, said there was high network of people sabotaging the interest of Akwa Ibom state and the government of the state.

    He said: “I want to say that this revelation is shocking. We are shocked to our marrows because what this revealed is high level connivance. It has revealed a network of people sabotaging the interest of Akwa Ibom State and the government of the state.

    “The sincerity of investment of government in providing public water is sabotaged by a group of people who moved hallowed pipes for public water to dredge sand for their private interest. I know that Governor Udom Emmanuel will get to the root of this to safe this state from this level of abuse and rape of public interest against private interest.

    “What we have seen here through this exercise today is as devastating as the devastation we have seen here. We can see that this is only one or two communities in one local government. We understand this is going on in the totality of Akwa Ibom state. Some people have designed the destruction of this state and its ecosystem. We need to rise up against this.

    “We have to urgently arrest this situation. Community leaders and village heads must rise up. We cannot mortgage our future for peanut for people who come to connive from different parts of Nigeria because they want to dredge sand and make money. Our people must understand the depth of this destruction so that we can keep the state safe.”

    The Works Commissioner also said if urgent steps are not taken by the state government to ameliorate the situation, in another three months of heavy downpour, the state would have lost communities of Afaha Ikot Ossom and Ebieretu in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area.

    Hear him: “At the rate of what we are seeing here, we guarantee that in another three months of heavy downpour, we would have lost this community. It is not make-believe, it is a practical thing. So I think at this point in time the entire Akwa Ibom people will have to rise up together in unison, no division in order to arrest this devastation. We will lose our environment and generation after us will not forgive us for this.

    “There is something I find very interesting here. In Lagos state or in other states of the federation, I understand the Nigerian Water ways are saying they are the ones to give mining licences. These licences are not given in other states because you can’t dredge sand in Lagos state, why is it dredged in Akwa Ibom?

    “We are sounding it loud and clear that whoever goes outside to get a licence even from the Presidency, Akwa Ibom people will resist it because this is our land and nobody will destroy it for us because after this destruction they will go somewhere else but we have nowhere to go to. Akwa Ibom people will resist this because we cannot surrender our environment to anybody.”

    The Commissioner for Environment said the activities of sand dredgers should be properly regulated in the state.

    He said: “Our clarion call to all and sundry in the state is that whoever wants to mine sand should follow clear cut procedures. We have set up a body which even includes the association of miners or dredgers in the state.

    “We have called on all of them to come forward because for whatever mining that is taking place in the state should be regulated. What you have seen here is total degradation of our environment and it is not sustainable because farming and fishing cannot take place in some of this areas. The source of livelihood for the people is totally gone. It is a call to all to come together and condemn this illegal act because that is the only way we can have sustainable development.”

    Akwa Ibom people await the next line of action from the state government.

  • Bad roads: Delta residents brace for horrid rainy season

    Bad roads: Delta residents brace for horrid rainy season

    The season of rains is here and residents of the twin cities of Warri and Effurun in Delta State are living in fear of what this year’s hold for them. The season is friendly to none in the area; the rich and poor suffer from bad roads, flooding and other agonies that come with it.

    The state governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, sensational declaration last August that only “mad men” construct roads during the rainy season had assured residents of the bad roads and flood prone areas of the cities that 2016 would be there year of relief. But the strand of hope is wearing thinner with every gathering cloud.

    The dry season has come and gone without a hint of any repair being done on the trouble spots in the cities’ roads. It is back to the basics for the people of the area. It has been about a year since Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, an Agbor, Delta North Senatorial District indigene, was inaugurated as the fourth Executive Governor of the state and not much has changed in Effurun/Warri, except that the roads in the financial hub of the state are in more deplorable condition and relief is far from sight.

    Almost all the major roads in the twin cities are badly in need of repairs: the Okere-Ugborikoko, NNPC Housing Complex, Sokoh, Commissioner, Ovie Palace Road, Alegbo, Uti and others are crying for help. Access roads like the Water Odili, Oil Field, Etuwewe and Esisi roads are not faring better; they are pothole ridden and without working drainage system.

    The Okere-Ugborikoko road is next in significant to only the Airport road, which is the main link between Warri and other satellite suburbs in neighbouring Uvwie LGA. The NNPC Housing Complex and Sokoh Estate roads are no less significant; they take traffic to and from Jakpa, Refinery, Niger Cat roads to Airport Road, through which the Okumagba Avenue, Okere road and Ajamogha business districts can be easily accessed.

    Over the past years the two roads have grown in importance as project development and population creep into new enclaves like White House, New Layout, Okuisoko and other fast growing areas. Ironically, as the traffic increases, the road has become more or less like canals because of the ubiquitous potholes, which have grown in size and propensity to break down vehicles and cause pains for drivers.

    Residents of the area had hoped that with the governor’s declaration in 2015, The NNPC Complex and Sokoh Estate roads would receive facelifts. But how wrong they have been!

    Beyond dismantling the controversial BRT lane on the busy Effurun/Warri road, the present administration has failed to take advantage of the dry season that the governor said is most suitable for ‘sane men’ to work. The repair (surface scrapping) of Airport road – which the past administration inexplicably resurfaced – has been on forever and its end is nowhere yet in sight.

    It is against this background that the performance of the governor and his team has become a subject of beer parlour banters and debates.

    “Our governor is one of the best performing governors in the current regime and I think all Deltans need to support his administration”, Ovie Sunday quipped as he and his friends drown bottles of beer at a popular bar around Marine Quarters area of Warri recently.

    If the appraisal was bait, Clark, one of Sunday’s friend snap at it immediately as he retorted: “Are you a fool? How can you say that sort of nonsense here, trying to destroy the mood of everybody here? Why are you talking as if you live in the moon; what part of Warri has received a facelift?”

    “They (government) have been there for how long now, by May they’ll be one year in office and the only ‘dividend of democracy’ Okowa has given the state so far is that endless list of his S.As (Special Advisers); no roads and no social amenities”, Clark went on about his anger against the Dr Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration.

    “His excuse last year for not doing anything about the terrible state of roads here was the rainy season, now the rains are back and not even a shovel has been moved to site and you want me to be clapping for that person?”

    One might be initially tempted to judge Clark harshly and sum him up as one irrational and unduly intense person, especially when you consider how innocent the topic that got him started was. However, those conversant with the appalling situation of roads in the oil city and attendant notorious knotty traffic within and around the Warri metropolis and environs may be kinder.

    The situation is deemed to be well known to everybody, including those in the political class, that Warri roads can be anything but pleasant to whoever has to move on them – even during the dry season. Residents have over the years endured terrible, vehicle-damaging streets, from where they drive to join needless, but endless traffic jams on supposed highways, where countless deep gullies and unattended bad spots have without fail daily wasted man-hours and further batter an already beaten economy.

    The Warri/Effurun/Sapele Road, the NPA Expressway, PTI Road, especially between the Effurun Market to Jakpa Junction axis, Shiaguolo/Jeddo Road, Ubeji Road, Ugbolokposo Road, Okere /Ugborikoko Road, Giwa Amu Road, Enughe Road are just some of the roads that have turned worse than when they were just footpaths.

    The Warri/Effurun/Sapele Road has a special case, which sources a special kind of anger of residents and road users. Among several things that the previous administration, under Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, did to displease the people, the abandoned 4 kilometer Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), valued at N6 billion stood out. It was not that fact that it was abandoned, but because it was ever conceived, started and then abandoned.

    When it was started and contractors started marking out and installing boulders to demarcate and divide an already insufficient space to create a BRT lane, the people were angry. They got angrier when it became obvious that the work would be abandoned, but the last administration continued to insist that it was its A-List project. Time lapsed out on Uduaghan and stakeholders made it clear to governor Okowa, that they wanted the ‘impediments’ removed from the road so that even if the road would be a headache, deliberately installed nuisances would not be part of their headache. It took the succeeding administration over nine months to remove the barriers.

    Now, as the rains begin to hit the roads (mostly misnomers) again, the words of Governor Okowa is ringing in the ears of residents.

    “I am sure that you are aware that the rains are still on”, he told reporters at the Palace of the Olu of Warri, when he met the late Ogiame Atuwatse II in September, shortly before the monarch transited. “Only mad men construct roads in the rainy season because you will destroy the road rather than repair it.”

    Nevertheless, with the dry season over, residents are back to living in fears of what the season holds for them.

    “In the past at times like this, the government makes some palliative repairs at least to give the feeling that it cared about the people, but there is no motion and certainly no movement.

    “We cannot expect this government of sane men to do anything during the rainy season; so we can only hope that the heavens open up less frequently and dumps fewer gallons of rain this season,” a motorist navigating a section of the terrible Sokoh Estate Road in Effurun, told our reporter.

  • Boost for Akwa Ibom women’s, youths’, disables’ participation in governance

    Boost for Akwa Ibom women’s, youths’, disables’ participation in governance

    A Non-Governmental-Organisation (NGO) under the aegis of ‘Women United for Economic Empowerment’, (an NGO for women economic empowerment) working in partnership with an international Agency in Nigeria, ActionAid Nigeria, has taken further their drive to  increase effective political participation among  women, the youths and the disables in Akwa Ibom State.

    In a two week event titled “Strengthening Citizens Engagement on Electoral Processes” ( SCEEP) in Akwa Ibom State, which took the groups to 18 communities in six local government areas in the State covering the three Senatorial Districts, the groups also officially launched and presented to each of the 18 communities the WUEE/ActionAid Community Development Charter.

    The Programme Officer, Aniema S. Nyong said the collaboration is to last for four years, 2015 to 2018 and  slated to cover a total of 180 communities in 10 States of the Federation.

    She said,”before the 2015 general elections, the Women United for Economic Empowerment (WUEE), an NGO with the mission to promote women/children rights, human development to the rural and urban poor and other vulnerable groups through empowerment programs, stormed randomly selected 18 Akwa Ibom Communities in six local government areas of the state with the project tagged “Strengthening Citizens Engagement on Electoral Processes (SCEEP).

    “With Actionaid Nigeria as implementing collaborator in Akwa Ibom State, WUEE came with the mandate to work with women, youths and persons with disabilities with the objective of not only enhancing citizens participation during electoral processes, but to also promote inclusiveness in the Nigerian electoral system by understanding duties owed communities by politicians and how to go about getting political office holders to fulfil those obligations”, the Program Officer stated.

    She said the programme which was  directed at 18 Akwa Ibom communities drawn from six equally randomly chosen local government areas of Abak, ?Ikono, Nsit Ubium, Uruan, Okobo and Ikot Abasi local Government areas of the state, WUEE, before the 2015 general elections organized training workshop where participants brainstormed to identify challenges communities are confronted with during elections.

    The forum provided the select communities the opportunities to identify and tackle issues mitigating against peaceful elections. Having gathered insight into how to present needs of the communities to politicians seeking votes, the communities were better prepared not only to participate during the election but on how to bring political office holders accountable to the people.

    Since non of the select communities had any written document which identify the people, who they are, their resources, occupation, means of earning a living, income/expenditure, health, number of persons with disabilities, education, origin, constituent families, rulership, community map, social conditions, assets, climate / weather, challenges and other things that could aid easy identification and presentation of their needs and expectations to politicians in return for votes. This therefore provided need for what WUEE tagged “The Village Book”.

    Aniema explained that after the 2015 general election, WUEE and Actionaid once again stormed Akwa Ibom communities earlier educated on electoral processes to brainstorm and come up with the Village Book, tied to the need of individual community.

    To achieve this goal, the NGO said it  selected 15 members from each community for a focused group discussion and were able to come up with the map of such community, resources, challenges, festivals, seasons and what obtains during each season.

    Explaining the rationale behind such investigations, the Executive Director of WUEE, Mrs Iniobong Frank, during the official launching of Community Development Charter (CDC)/Village Book at Abak Local Government Secretariat said the intention was to empower and give insight into the challenges facing communities.

    “It is that empowering process that also equips them with the right skills to bring about solutions to these challenges and subsequently built their active agency as a people and recognising the inherent power they possess as a group to bring about transformation in their respective communities”.

    “The near absence of accountability has often characterized Nigeria’s electoral democracy. The community charter is an attempt ?to initiate an accountability spectrum that transcends the pre-election period into the period of the public officer when elected and in office. Often, promises made by politicians are almost forgotten as soon as they are elected.

    Drawing from the engagement platforms, the Community Charter/Village book has provided a structured approach towards ensuring that the needs of the people are at the core of development interventions at their level of priority”, she said.

    With the community challenges clearly articulated, the Executive Director said it had become very easy for policy makers to key into the people’s development plans and actually use them to engage different levels and tiers of governance and different arms of government.

    The representative of Actionaid Nigeria, Mr. Effiong Obo said the target of the SCEEP project was to discourage citizen’s mentality of merely participating in electoral processes and thereafter leave politicians unaccountable to the people. He expressed optimism that with  the village books, communities were  better equipped to identify their problems and know how best to tackle the most pressing ones, using political office holders.

    The communities of Ikot Iyire Ukpom, Abia Okpo and Eriam Afaha Obong in Abak LGA, Nkwot Ikot Obok Idem, Ukpap Ikot Idang and Nung Ukim Ikot Etefia in Ikono, Ikot Okoro, Ikot Okwot and Ndiya Ikot Ukap in Nsit Ubium, Idu, Nwaniba and Ibiaku in Uruan, Akanawana, Annua and Akai Ndyo in Okobo and Uta Ewa, Ikot Akpaidiang and Atan Ikpe in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area,  took active parts and appreciated WUEE and ActionAid for the opportunity. They saw the relationship with the WUEE/ActionAid as a huge eye opener.