The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • Bayelsa pupils get financial literacy lessons

    Pupils are always preoccupied with learning alphabets, arithmetic, current affairs, social studies and religious knowledge. They are not always bothered with issues about money, although they spend some cash everyday to buy snacks and soft drinks. Most times, they lack knowledge of basic and core financial concepts.

    But not anymore. Things have changed. The Central Bank of Nigeria, in collaboration with the Sky Bank and the Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN) have started a special campaign to educate pupils on money and its management.

    In a bid to catch them young, CBN and Skye Bank believe that introducing financial literacy to children will help them grow to become better managers of resources, successful entrepreneurs and in general evolve a country with an army of successful and self-sufficient individuals, myriads of profitable firms and efficient employable job seekers.

    Indeed, it was exciting how the Financial Literacy Day (FLD) turned out in Biedomo Premier School, one of the popular private schools located in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. Pupils were selected from different classes to attend the literacy lecture spearheaded by the Sky Bank. A team of the bank relocated to the school and spent hours to interact with the children on money matters.

    To underscore the importance of the programme, the bank sent its South-South regional manager, Mr. Raphael Abiaziem to teach the children financial matters. The children were enthused when their Principal, Oluwotoyin Ebojela introduced the event that held at the school’s assembly hall. The pupils were happy that the CBN they usually hear of and a bank whose branches they had seen were in their midst.

    But they became more excited when the Head, Sustainability and Consumer Protection Unit of Sky Bank, Bolanle Adesanoye introduced Abiaziem as their teacher. In fact, Abiaziem made them happy. He used objects they were familiar with and habits they had formed over the years to teach them lessons on money.

    The lecture was very interactive. The teacher said it was time for them to begin to know how to manage money, matrix of money and sources of earnings. He said money when earned could either be saved or invested. He asked the children not to save their money in piggy bank alone but to also take it to commercial banks for safekeeping.

    He said it was wrong to invest all the money in stomach adding that such investment yields only faeces. “Investing in stomach yields nothing. It only yields faeces. It is safer to keep your money in a bank. If you save in a piggy bank, it does not yield interest”, he said.

    He said children could buy shares through their parents and gave them an experience of a child who grew to become a billionaire because his parents bought shares for him in a blue-chip company. The manager engaged the pupils on definitions of some financial concepts.

    He explained the concepts of Bank Verification Number (BVN), Account, Account Number, Cooperative, POS, Insurance and ATM to them. The children also learnt fundamentals of risk management, profit and production.

    The manager told them some of the problems with the economy. According to him, Nigeria is more of a consuming country than a producing one. He said: “Nigeria does not produce anything. We import virtually everything. But the President has insisted that we must produce the things we consume. Commodities will be cheaper when we produce”.

    In fact, Abiaziem took the lessons to some of the realities in the economy. He raised the question: do we devalue the Naira? He explained the concepts of devaluation, foreign exchange, domiciliary account and foreign currencies.

    The attentive pupils provided answers on what should be done to help the Naira become stronger. They said diversification of the economy, reduction of importation and supporting the growth of infant industries will help the Naira.

    CBN and its partners made some books on elementary financial management available to the school. Such books are, Kente the Money Wise Ant by Nneka Osili; Basic Financial Education and Management by Clearone Concept; Organising Your Future by Opume Onuoha and the Path of Fate by Fumilayo Braithwaite.

    Also, Mr. Ibironke Toba of the Sky Bank was concerned about the Sky Bank Rainbow Account. He said the account is designed for children and appealed to the pupils to ask their parents to open the accounts for them. He said it is developed to ensure their education and future growth.

    The elated principal thanked the CBN, Sky Bank and JAN for remembering a school in Bayelsa and appealed to the pupils to start the culture of saving by opening accounts with the Sky Bank. “Don’t invest all your money on soft drinks and biscuits”, she said.

  • Environmentalists seek probe of explosion at Agip oil field

    Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has called for probe into Sunday’s explosion that killed three persons at Agip Oil field in Bayelsa.

    The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) had on Tuesday confirmed that a pipeline blast at an oil field, operated by the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) in Bayelsa, killed three people on Sunday.

    ERA/FoEN, an environmental rights NGO, made the call while reacting to the pipeline blast in Olugboro Community, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.

    Mr Morris Alagoa, Head of Field Operation at ERA/FoEN in Bayelsa, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa on Wednesday that the explosion was one too many and urged the government to investigate the cause.

    He expressed regret that a similar explosion occurred in July 2015 at another oil field operated by the NAOC in Southern Ijaw area of Bayelsa.

    “The news of another tragic incident in the oil industry, which claimed three lives and several persons sustained various degrees of injuries, came to Environmental Rights Action (ERA) as a great shock.

    “While industrial and other accidents are part of the realities of our existence, some are preventable.

    “And, this is where, we in ERA, will not stop calling on the authorities and regulators of the oil industry to make safety and best practices the mantra of the industry; not just profit.

    “We are calling for a well-constituted panel of inquiry made up of professionals, stakeholders, Civil Society Organisations to investigate this incident, and the recommendations and report made public.

    “It is worrisome because; it is another sad commentary of the unsafe working environment and loss of lives.

    “This is more so considering the fact that it happened less than a year from the Azuzuama incident which claimed over 12 lives last July,” Alagoa said.

    Officials of Nigerian Agip Oil Company declined comments on the explosion.

    Mr Fillippo Cotalini, International Media Relations Manager at Eni, parent company of NAOC did not respond to an email seeking his comments on the incidence.

  • UNICEF, EU harp on clean water, better jobs in Bayelsa

    It has always been said that water is everywhere inBayelsa state, but there is no potable water to drink. Bayelsa is, indeed, about 80 per cent water and 20 per cent land. But the residents still suffer from lack of drinkable water.

    The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the European Union (EU) have insisted that there is no alternative to clean water. Both EU, UNICEF and the Bayelsa State Broadcasting Corporation embarked on massive campaign for clean water and the role of water in creating better jobs across the state during the 2016 World Water Day christened Better Water, Better Jobs.

    UNICEF and its partners got children especially pupils in schools involved in their clean-water campaign. The team held one of the water events at the Rev. Proctor Memorial School, Kaiama, Kolokuma-Opokuma Local Government Area.

    The venue of the event was congested with over 200 students in attendance. It was a programme that exposed the students to significance of water and the need to avoid having contacts with contaminated or polluted water.

    In his speech on water, a representative of the Bayelsa State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), Winikime Asingbe, said everybody needs access to clean water. He said any attempt to use contaminated water will lead to water-borne diseases.

    Addressing the attentive students, he said: “We need to have access to clean water. There are many things we do with water like washing, drinking, cooking our food and others. We should always endeavor to drink clean water.

    “We should not drink dirty water from the well, from the water tunnels or gutters that carry stagnant waters and also the rain water we collect with our drums. When we drink dirty water we are exposed to water borne diseases like cholera, typhoid fever, malaria and tuberculosis.

    “So we should drink clean water everyday to avoid being sick. We should also wash our hands with clean water. We should always wash our hands. There shouldn’t be a time frame for washing of our hands.

    “We should wash our hands whenever we wake up from sleep, before we eat, after playing football, after going to the toilet, when we come back from school, before we go to sleep.

    “We should wash our hands after each activity of the day and after washing our hands we should not clean our hands with towels because our towels might be dirty rather you shake off the water or leave your hands to dry off.”

    Speaking on the theme; water and jobs, Asingbe said water has created many jobs across the world. He said many people work in water-related companies adding that water has been able to stimulate the economy.

    He said: “Water means Jobs. Water is essential building block of life. But it is more than just essential to quench thirst or protect health; water is vital for creating jobs and supporting economic, social, and human development.

    “Today half of the world’s workers – 1.5 billion people work in water related sectors. Moreover, nearly all jobs, regardless of the sector, depend directly on water.

    “Yet despite the indelible link between jobs and water, millions of people whose livelihoods depends on water often not recognized or protected by basic labour rights.”

    He said the year’s theme focused on the central role that water plays in creating and supporting good quality jobs.

  • Ogoniland Clean-up: A step to right the wrong?

    Shortly after his assumption of office, President Muhammadu Buhari approved several actions to fast-track the long delayed implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report on the environmental restoration of Ogoniland.

    The president’s approval was a fulfilment of his campaign promise to the Ogoni people when visited the area in January 2015 to solicit their votes.

    Expectedly, the president will officially launch the onset of the clean-up in the coming weeks, according to the Minister of Environment, Hajiya Amina Mohammed.

    Oil spillage and pollution in Ogoniland began in 1968 at Ejamah, Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, and in 1970, the area recorded another spill at K-Dere in Gokana Local Government Area.

    The multinational oil company, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, is said to be responsible for the spills and its attendant environmental pollution.

    Commenting on the spills, Mr Fegalo Nsuke, the Publicity Secretary of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni (MOSOP), said that it was quite vexing to note that Shell made no tangible attempt to clean up the spills till date.

    “Since Shell pulled out in 1993, there had been no normal activity in Ogoniland oilfields.

    “However, we have had cases of illegal mining and stealing by Shell’s agents but no oil company is officially operating in Ogoniland today,’’ he said.

    Nsuke stressed that the struggle for Ogoniland’s clean-up and the remediation of its environment had claimed several lives, including the lives of Ken Saro-Wiwa, Agbarator Otu, Edward Kobani Theo Orage, Barinem Kiobel and John Kpuinen.

    As part of preparations toward the launch of the clean-up, the minister of environment visited Ogoniland between March 3 and March 4 to inform the people of the impending exercise and seek their cooperation with government on the project.

    The minister’s first port of call in Ogoniland was the palace of Gbeneme of Tai kingdom, Godwin Gininwa, who is also the President, Supreme Council of Traditional Rulers of Ogoniland, where she met with traditional rulers and other leaders of the area.

    At the meeting, Mohammed conveyed the Federal Government’s commitment to implementing the UNEP report and pleaded for the people’s cooperation.

    Responding, Gininwa commended President Buhari for keeping to his promise to clean up Ogoniland.

    “We are happy that he kept faith because less than 100 days into his government, the president directed several actions to fast-track the implementation of the UNEP report, as he promised,’’ he said.

    Nevertheless, Gininwa appealed to Buhari to mop up arms in Ogoniland and rid the communities of violent militants, saying that this was very important as the area’s clean-up was imminent.

    “Ogoni is faced with a dangerous situation as there are arms in almost all the communities; hence the Supreme Council of Traditional Rulers endorses continuous deployment of the military to Ogoni,’’ he said.

    Sen. Magnus Abe, who was one of the dignitaries on hand at the palace to receive the minister, pleaded with the people to bury their differences so as to ensure the realisation of the clean-up’s objectives.

    “I want to use this opportunity to appeal to Ogoni people that the implementation of the UNEP report is beyond politics. This is not a fight we started today.

    “I do not think it will be right, proper or fair for us to do anything that will give anybody the impression that we cannot bury our differences for the sake of our land.

    “If we do that, it will be very, very unfortunate. Anybody that creates that atmosphere is doing Ogoni people a great disservice and that will not be right,’’ Abe said.

    After the meeting at Gbeneme’s palace, the minister proceeded to Bori, the headquarters of Khana Local Government Area, where she held a stakeholders’ meeting with a cross-section of Ogoni people.

    Mohammed described the proposed clean-up of the area as a “right step to right the wrong of the past’’.

    She believed that the exercise would mark the end of the long years of the struggle and the dawn of a new era for Ogoni people.

    Mohammed admitted that the apathy of the government and oil companies to the plight of the Ogoni people, whose land had been degraded over the years by oil spillage and pollution, had created considerable tension in the area.

    “We must protect the environment, it exists for our prosperity.

    “Since the discovery of oil in Oloibiri (Bayelsa) in 1958, the environment in the Niger Delta area has been degraded and livelihood of the people negatively affected.

    “This has led to agitations and public outcry, championed by notable sons and daughters of this region.

    “Let me at this junction emphasise that the Federal Government, under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, is committed to changing the narrative of environmental degradation, pollution, erosion, desertification and unhygienic conditions in Nigeria,’’ she said.

    Mohammed promised that the clean-up would be used to “jump-start a sustainable livelihood agenda for the people of the Niger Delta that is less dependent on oil.

    “We intend to use the process to create jobs, improve capacity of the Niger Delta on environmental management and improve the economy.

    “The process of the clean-up is being designed to ensure its ownership by Ogoni people and, indeed, the entire Niger Delta area,’’ the minister said.

    Mr Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, the President of MOSOP, who responded on behalf of the people, said that the current efforts to clean up Ogoniland were the outcome of the struggle of the Ogoni people.

    “Ogoni environment is bleeding. There cannot be sustainable development in Ogoni without a sustainable environment and vice versa,’’ he said.

    Pyagbara, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government to use the opportunity of the clean-up to bring to an end the environmental degradation of the area, while addressing the myriad development challenges facing the area.

    The MOSOP president emphasised that poverty was also a causative factor of environmental degradation.

    “Any clean-up and remediation of Ogoniland, which is not backed up by a clear practical development framework or plan to address other socio-economic issues, is not likely to succeed in the long term,’’ he said.

    Besides, Pyagbara proposed that the environmental rejuvenation programme should involve three phases: “oil spills’ prevention, oil spills’ clean-up and environmental restoration’’.

    He said: “Nigeria will be judged not only by its efforts to promote national integration but also how it actually protects the weak, the vulnerable and those whose lives have been imperilled by oil exploration by multinationals.’’

    Also speaking, Mr Kennedy Goodfriday, a youth leader in the area, said that the faith of the Ogoni people in the government had waned considerably because of the delayed clean-up of the land.

    Goodfriday demanded assurance from the minister that the exercise would not be jettisoned after all, while Mr Baris Gbama, an elder, pleaded with all leaders of Ogoni not to betray the hope of the ordinary people.

    A bishop, who preferred anonymity, also appealed to the political class in Ogoniland to close ranks and mobilise the people for the clean-up.

    The cleric, however, appealed to the Federal Government to channel whatever benefits that would accrue to the people in course of the clean-up to “the real Ogoni people and not crooks.’’

    A woman, who simply identified herself as Mary, said that women should not be left out in the process “because the women usually bear the brunt of environmental pollution and degradation in Ogoniland’’.

    While receiving the minister earlier, Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers advised the Federal Government to refrain from any form of partisanship by including all stakeholders in the clean-up process to make it a success.”

     

    • Eyiangho is of the News Agency of Nigeria

     

  • Cross River: Odukpani seeks cultural rebirth

    Cross River: Odukpani seeks cultural rebirth

    The need to celebrate a rich cultural heritage as well as interrogate the current moral drift in society to stimulate a fresh cultural rebirth has instigated the Traditional Rulers Council of Odukpani local government area in Cross River State to host the maiden edition of its cultural celebration.

    Addressing reporters on the weeklong event of activities to mark the celebration, Paramount Ruler of Odukpani, HRM Dr Col. Ekanem Ita Ekanem, decried the pervasiveness of an alternative culture that was eroding the values of the people.

    Tagged Celebrating Odukpani, Our Culture, Our Heritage, the celebration aims to promote the socio-cultural and spiritual nurturing of family and its well being that would form the basis for community and national development.

    He said, “We are aware of the great demands and high expectations associated with maiden programmes. Fortunately this event has generated immense goodwill and support from the Odukpani community and all hands are on deck to ensure we have a historic and memorable celebration.

    “Let me add that among our awardees is a frontline living legend in the person of Etubom Eniang Essien who at the age of 96 is still kicking and alert to translating the timeless values of discipline, diligence and dignity in modern world and generation where these mores are deficit and where we have millions of culturally displaced persons (CDP) in a society where debased sextology and short-cut to riches have estranged the living from a wholesome history.

    “It is also noteworthy that despite all the trials and crisis of modernity, the largely heterogeneous Odukpani local government area has remained peacefully one and united, our community is a microcosm of Cross River/Nigeria with the Efiks, the Quas, the Efuts and Kiongs dwelling together.

    “We want to showcase our peace and harmony. This is another enviable heritage we are celebrating and presenting to other communities as a paradigm for building new cultural friendships.

    “In all we want humanity to pay more attention to the family as a bastion of enduring moral transfusion that can save future civilizations from bleeding to death.

    “The reason for the CDPs is that we have family values and the basis of any culture emanates from the family. A child who is bad comes from a family. These family values are the things inculcated into us all and they form the cultural norms that we grow up with. In which case, we would have people who respect their elders, people who accept authority, people who go according to norms that society expects. But nowadays we have egoism in our system. We are aware of the disrespect we see in our children of today. We are also aware of the indolence we have in our society and many more, which are contrary to the family values we used to know, and therefore we started wondering why this should happen. It can only happen in a society that is warped. That society that has gotten an alternative lifestyle from what we used to know. Of swagger and doing things you know are bad because you cannot find anyone to check you. Everyone is now on the internet. No one is listening to their parents anymore. So the taproot of our culture is being seriously eroded. The reason is that we have an alternative lifestyle, propagated through social media. This alternative lifestyle has culminated in this debased attitude of our children and ourselves. And that is the reason for what why we have this high percentage of culturally displaced persons in our society.”

    Ekanem also emphasized the need for the traditional institution to be enshrined in the constitution.

    His words, “The traditional institution not enshrined in the constitution. We want to know why, because it was there before the 1999 constitution. I want the press to help the traditional institutions and create this awareness, so we might have justice and be incorporated into the Nigerian constitution, which would define our roles and our remunerations.

    “You know the constitution is the bible of the nation and when you exclude any group of people, you are discriminating against them. The tradition institutions are still there and growing in numbers and quality. Today’s traditional institutions are made up of those who have retired from work and have reached the highest rung of their profession and have come back to dedicate themselves to building the community, which I have told you has a high percentage of CDPs. The amendment of the constitution has not seen the light of day, so the traditional institutions still remain outside the constitution. They should bring it back.”

    The itinerary for the cultural celebration included visitations to Mary Slessor Home in Akpap Okoyong, charity institutions, the aged homes and a royal announcement to the Obong of Calabar and grand patriarch of the Efik Kingdom at his palace.

    Also featured were the public lectures; The Role of Traditional Rulers in Governance by Muri Prof Itam Hogan; The Effects of Climate Change in our Communities by High Chief Prof Eyo Etim Nyong; and Natural and Economic Resources in Odukpani by Prof Ayara Ndem Ndiyo.

    At the grand finale there was a thanksgiving service at the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, Odukpani Qua parish and the main ceremony at the council field immediately after.

    A lecture on the theme of the celebration was presented by Prof Onoyom Ukpong, a US based art historian and different categories of awards were be given to deserving recipients before a grand finale of rich cultural displays of the people.

  • NAS sensitises Port Harcourt residents on Lassa fever virus

    NAS sensitises Port Harcourt residents on Lassa fever virus

    The National Association of Seadogs (NAS), fondly known as Pyrates Confraternity (fraternity), has joined the fight against Lassa fever.

    It embarked on a one-day Lassa fever sensitisation outreach in markets and motor parks, in parts of Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital to educate residence on the reality of the disease, mode of contact, what to do when contacted and measures to take in order not to contact it, and most the need to improve on their personal and environmental hygiene, by imbibing the culture of frequent washing of hands.

    The campaign was carried out in collaboration with the state ministry of health, and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

    The members, who dressed blue Jean trousers, white T-Shirt marked “Lassa Fever Awareness campaign” at the back and their usual red scarf and muffler defiled heavy rains and matched to Rumuokoro market close to Obio/Akpor council secretariat and the motor park along East-West road to educate people on the danger inherent with Lassa fever disease.

    They were led by their state Leader, Herbert Nwaka. They distributed handbills to the members of the public as the educate the people on the reality of the virus, and need to keep the markets, business wares clean and well covered to avoid the rat (rodents) that carries the virus making contact, defecating, or urinating on them.

    Also at the motor park, the group spoke on the need to wash their hands often, keep the environment clean among others in the face of the outbreak of the disease in the state.

    Responding to the speech, the chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Rumuokoro Park, Chief Achor Amadi thanked the group for thinking it wise to reach out to commercial drivers in the state to educate them on the crucial issue of Lassa fever virus and pledged to pass the message to his members.

    Nwaka, the state Capon, told reporters: “We are here as part of our social corporate responsibilities and one of the cardinal points of the confraternity is to see it on egalitarian society, we are giving back to the society.”

    The Federal Road Safety Commander Andrew Kumapai lauded the Lassa fever sensitisation outreach of the Seadogs especially in the most venerable areas of the public-the markets and motor parks, where cleanliness is hardly observed.

    Kumapai, who was represented by the Deputy Route Commander, Kenneth Odo  described the exercise as needful and the chosen target audience as well thought of said motor park operators and drivers encourage the unhealthy practice of over loading vehicles with two passengers in the from seats, which according to him, heightens the risk of contracting and spreading the disease.

  • $1. 8 million Four Pillars PLUS Project launched in Calabar

    In a bid to increase the capacity of participating boys and girls to learn, exercise agency, protect their health, graduate and earn their certificate and optimize their potentials, the Four Pillars PLUS Project has been launched in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.

    The Four Pillars PLUS Project is a three-year project funded by the General Electric Foundation and Johnson Inc. being implemented by Family Health International 360 (FHI 360).

    The Project Director, Josephine Muyiwa-Afolabi, said the project, estimated at $1.8 million, is to be achieved through the improvements of parents’ capacity to equitably support boys’ and girls’ education, improving the capacity of schools to provide quality education to the participating boys and girls in optimizing their potential through increased agency and improved health, and improving the capacity of communities to support boys and girls in optimizing their potential.

    She said key project strategies would include student mentoring and counseling, strengthening school administrative structure, community engagement, youth-friendly health services provision/adolescent health charter, creating safe schools by eliminating school related gender based violence, and expanding career options.

    Primary targets of the projects are 304 teachers and 4, 800 participating boys and girls across four project schools, which are Government Secondary Schools (GSS) Henshaw Town, GSS Atu, GSS Federal Housing Estate and GSS Adiabo, as well as twenty healthcare workers in four primary healthcare centres in Adiabo, Henshaw Town, Health Post Federal Housing Estate and Nelson Mandela in Calabar South.

    Also an estimated 30, 000 persons across four communities of Ikot Ansa, Henshaw Town, Adiabo and Efut Ekondo, Atu are expected to benefit from the project.

    The Project Manager, Washington DC, Ahlams Kays, said the have adopted the strategy of inclusion, collaboration and engagement to ensure the project’s success.

    Acting Country Director of FHI 360, Dr Robert Chiegil, emphasized the need for education for youths for a better future.

    He said Cross River was fortunate to be the first place the project was taking place and urged stakeholders to be committed to ensure the success of the project.

    He assured that on their part they will put in all efforts to ensure that the aims of the project are achieved.

    Deputy Governor, Ivara Esu, expressed delight with the choice of Cross River State for the launching of “this impactful project which I understand will produce multiple outcomes in the motivation of parents, educational institutions and participants to support and optimize their potentials.”

    Represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mrs Tina Agbor, he said, “The project is timely and apt as it fits into the blueprint of the present administration to produce young entrepreneurs with the proper vocational mindset and orientation that will become great assets in nation building. It is gratifying to note that the programme is targeted at young boys and girls in the teen ages as a way of ‘catching them young.’

    “It is our hope that the terminal point of this project, beneficiaries will be better positioned to optimized their capacities through the training they will receive.”

    While pledging the support of the state government to ensure the sustainability of the project through proper accommodation of the outcomes that will be derivable, he charged beneficiaries from the three selected local government areas to ensure proper coordination of selected trainees and to ensure maximum cooperation with the trainers.

    He stressed that all critical stakeholders must play defined roles in the success of the project.

     

  • For Dumebi, for Rivers

    For Dumebi, for Rivers

    The lines moved me to tears and anger. They were from a friend mourning a friend. They read: “It is only in Nigeria that youth service is risky. If Boko Haram did not kill Corps members, politicians will.” And there is another: “You only went to serve your fatherland, but it is obvious the land does not serve you well.”

    Words of pain, anguish and anger have poured from friends and others since the news broke that Okonta Samuel Dumebi, a youth corps member, was one of those whose blood was shed by politicians during the war called Rivers rerun election.

    Two of Dumebi’s colleagues who were with him when the message of death was delivered at Ahoada West Local Government Area were also shot at by hoodlums. They ran into hiding but are still in shock about what all the madness was for.

    Men who fancy short cuts and easy fixes terminated Dumebi’s biological clock with hot led and left his friends with no choice but to roast them in fiery curses— which I wish can be irreversible.

    It is at times like this that I wish some of those scenes out of Yoruba movies are real. I mean those scenes when dead persons pursue their killers and make life miserable for them until they confess and subsequently die too.

    Dumebi’s death is like using the blood of an outsider to appease the gods in Rivers. He was not a son of the soil neither was he a resident. Home was in Illah, Delta State. His primary, secondary and university education were all at home and in Edo State. Cultists did not kill him in his years at the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma but politicians did in Ahoada. Now he lies cold in a morgue. His dreams will be interred with him. The bowel of the earth is awaiting his cherubic being.

    You may wonder why I am not worried about the fate of his parents. He had neither. They died before him and must have received him now that the evil men of Rivers have done their worst. They can only take life, they can’t create it. Shame on them!

    •Wike
    •Wike

    In this society of greedy people and egoists where it is hard to find people who think of the others, your death would appear not abnormal. But I ask: what manner of society is this?

    I am not optimistic that Dumebi’s killers will be found. As soon as he is buried, the files will be interred too. Here we love burying things and moving on as if it is possible to truly move on without finding out went wrong. We deceive ourselves by forgetting yesterday when the answers to today’s problems lie in knowing what we did not do right the day before.

    The NYSC described your killing as “primitive, barbaric and ungodly”. So were the pre-election killing of 25 people in Omoku. Some of them were lucky to have their heads still intact; some were not that lucky. The heartless men who killed them severed their heads and went away with them. In this same Omoku on April 3, last year, men without brains killed Christopher Adube and three of his children. They also killed the family driver and a family friend who was in the home when they came, dressed like soldiers, that evening. The bullets they pumped into 15-year-old Paul Adube’s leg have ensured he is wheel-chair bound. The hot lead they released unto Ogechi Adube’s legs have also seen rods inserted into her bones and because of this, she cannot fold her legs.

    Adube had 12 kids from his two wives. Three were killed with him; two were left somewhat crippled and the others now live with shattered dreams. They are not sure of where the next meal will come from. They said that much at a meeting a fortnight ago with national leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Adube’s sin, I am made to understand, was his relationship with the APC. His children’s sin was being born by him. The evil men applied the Law of Moses. It makes no sense to them that the coming of Jesus Christ marked the end of that law, which encouraged taking out the father’s sin on the son or daughter.

    Going by the report of the Rivers Commission of Inquiry headed by the immediate past Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, a monthly average of 19 killings occurred in the state between November 2014 and April 2015.

    Of the 97 allegations of killings the commission received, 94 of them occurred between November 15, 2014, and April 11, last year.

    This report, Odinkalu said, reaffirms that no state or country should allow a repeat of such violence in the name of politics. It also shows how and why Rivers State and Nigeria must end impunity for political violence.

    The evidence before the commission suggests a significant incidence of internal displacement as a result of political violence in many parts of Rivers State. It also received evidence which strongly suggested that sexual violence was part of the arsenal of political violence in some areas.

    Members of the commission met some of their survivors, such as orphaned children. They met a particular one that was nine months old when his father was killed in his presence. He was still breastfeeding.

    They also met young widows of political violence, as well as grand-mothers who had to bury their grand-sons killed in violence. He sued for peace and called for concerted efforts to avoid repeats.

    Obviously, no one listened to him. Before Dumebi and others killed on the election day, over 30 people were killed between January and mid March.

    Sadly, the violence has ensured that the election is inconclusive and here lies my fear. How many more people will die on the day the seats yet to be filled will be filled? How many heads will be broken to choose the National Assembly members? How many pints of blood will be spilled before the House of Assembly is fully formed?

    My final take: The guns in Rivers must be taken away. I do not mean the guns with the police or army or DSS, but the guns with people who are not supposed to have them.  This is no time for blame game but time to take away the guns and save us from heartache.

  • NGO trains oil palm farmers on modern production techniques

    The Partnership Initiative for Niger Delta (PIND) foundation has trained some oil palm farmers on modern techniques for oil palm production and processing.

    PIND, a Chevron Nigeria Limited funded nongovernmental organisation, said the training is aimed towards boosting oil palm production in the country.

    The farmers were shown high yielding oil palm seedlings and Small Scale Processor Equipment designed and fabricated by engineers at the Nigeria Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR).

    NIFOR’s Director of Oil Palm Research, Celestine Ikunobe, warned the oil palm farmers against buying oil palm seedlings from road side hawkers or supposed agents of NIFOR.

    Celestine said manual oil processing produced 11 per cent extraction rate while machine oil processing has 15 per cent extraction rate.

    According to him, “NIFOR has no agent anywhere. People are using our name to defraud farmers. We do not want you to loose money.”

    “We want you to know that there is a ray of hope for the oil palm industry if you adopt modern processing techniques. Nigeria can double its oil palm production by doing the right processing, fertiliser application and proper processing method. Our farmers are not getting 50 per cent of their yields.”

    Market Development Project Manager for PIND Foundation, James Elekwachi, said the result sharing workshop was to showcase modern processing technology to farmers.

    Elekwachi told reporters that the new technology has been tested and that the results were efficient.

    He said: “With traditional method of processing, if you got one ton of oil palm bunches, you are going to extract 120 liters of oil palm but with the improved processing technology, the same one ton of bunches will give you 180 liters.”

  • Construction, construction everywhere as Ayade drives growth

    Construction, construction everywhere as Ayade drives growth

    The presence of earth moving equipment seems to have become a common feature, across Cross River State, turning the state into a beehive of construction activities.

    Ranging from extreme machines, such as litronic crawler excavators, compactors to cranes, creeks are being dredged, hills leveled, valleys and contours filled, while grounds are compacted, all in a bid to pave way for the deep seaport, the, rice city project, a pharmaceutical company, poultry products etc.

    The Goodluck Jonathan By-pass in Calabar, once a desolate by-pass, has suddenly morphed into massive construction sites with the attendant spinoff in housing projects along the road.

    •Ayade
    •Ayade

    When Governor Ben Ayade took over the mantle of leadership, he had promised to transform its economy to one of a beacon to others in the country.

    The governor has also traversed various continents and countries marketing the huge potentials abound in the state to local and international investors who have been coming into the state to tap into the opportunities that abound.

    On such trips, he has also ensured the brokerage and signings of deals as well as MoUs with sundry foreign firms and governments.

    So far, the governor has had a horde of critics who are very skeptical of his ambitions, but he appears to refuse to be sidetracked by consistently staying focused to his vision and programmes for the state.

    Most of his projects are progressively coming to life. One of them is the Calabar Garment Factory, the largest garment factory in Africa set for commissioning in April. Another is the Calabar Pharmaceutical firm (Calapharm) adjacent the garment factory. Directly opposite Calapharm and the garment factory is an ongoing clearing of a 3, 000 hectare of land meant for the proposed rice city by a Thai-African Corporation Limited.

    The Director of Operations, Healthage Nigeria Limited, Farhan Ahmad Khan, said the company is determined to set up a World Health Organization standard and approved pharmaceutical factory with registered products by the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

    Upon completion, Calapharm is expected to meet the drugs requirement need of the state as well as the Nigerian market, just as it would also save capital flight.

    According to Thai-African Corporation Limited, a leading rice producer in Thailand, the rice city project is estimated at US$4 million. The construction of the Rice City Is expected to take at least six months.

    The Managing Director of Thai-Africa Corporation, Mrs. Pantipa Dhanagom, who was conducted round the project site, had disclosed that the scheme would be a rice seedling centre with the best rice seed to be grown in the area. “It will become a training centre and a one-stop service which will also cater for out-growers in Nigeria and other African countries,” she said.

    On the choice of the project site, the MD agreed that “The land is suitable and it is also the best location because it is right on the highway and similar to the one Ayade inspected in Thailand.”

    Early this year, former governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Taminu Turaki led an investment delegation comprising his sons and some of his partners to the governor seeking to invest in sugar cane farming.

    Many perceive that the developments in the state are further pointers to the fact Ayade is on track to achieve the industrialisation and a complete change of the story by fast-tracking  the state as an industrial hub.

    The China Railway Engineering Group, a Fortune 500 company, has indicated a strong commitment to invest in the signature projects embarked upon by the Cross River State Government.

    This was the outcome of an intense discussion between the representatives of the Chinese firms and the state government in Calabar last week.

    Leader of the group and International Business Manager, China Railway Engineering, Mr. Chao Yang, disclosed that the group has a pool of multi-billion dollar funds that is readily available waiting to be drawn by developing partners for any economically viable investment anywhere in the world.

    Yang said they were in Cross River because they felt the state is moving in the right direction considering the type of projects it is embarking on.

    Fallouts from the governor’s high profile investment trips have seen other international firms like Chinese truck manufacturing company, SINO Truck of China finalising a deal to establish an assembly plant in Calabar.

    According to Wang, the setting up of the assembly plant which would start in two phases, would flag off the first phase with a service centre for all the company’s trucks in Nigeria.

    The second phase, Wang disclosed, is the full establishment of SINO Assembly Plant for the production of heavy duty trucks in the state.

    On the choice of Calabar, Wang cited the peaceful investment climate in the state as one of the motivating factors, adding that “Cross River is the most peaceful in the South South with an enduring weather that has a huge potential for the development of trucks and is good for industry establishment.”

    Similarly, Irish property developers, Affordable Building Concept International, were in the state recently to concretize a partnership deal to develop and manage low cost housing estates across the state.

    Described as “specialists in low cost housing scheme” the firm’s presence was a follow up to an earlier discussion held in Dublin on the provision of cheap, but durable houses in every local government.

    While taking advantage of the peaceful investment climate in the state, Australia is also looking at solid minerals, agriculture, fabrication as well as energy sectors in which to invest.

    Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Jonathan Richardson disclosed this when he paid a courtesy visit to Governor Ben Ayade in Calabar. He said his country is willing to collaborate with the state government to develop some identified sites and turn them into viable business ventures.

    Like Australia, Canada also identified health, fishery and agro forestry as areas of collaboration with the state for skills acquisition, trainings and micro financing for entrepreneurship.

    The partnership, an outcome of a meeting between Ayade and the Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ambassador Perry John Calderwood which held in the governor’s office in Calabar, came on the heels of several others with countries that view the state as strategic and secure for investments.

    Calderwood announced a 15 million dollar-window program for skill acquisition, training and microfinance for youths in the areas of agro-forestry, fisheries and agriculture.

    A team from Liebherr Equipment manufacturing company was in Calabar from Germany to conduct an assessment of the soil texture for the deployment of earthmoving tools for the deep seaport and the superhighway.

    While this may not immediately begin to bear fruits, there is no denying the fact that in less than a year in office, the state has become a beehive of construction activities.