The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • Bad roads: Residents of Delta cities brace for horrid rainy season

    Bad roads: Residents of Delta cities 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.

  • 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.

  • Abandoned projects litter Maritime Academy of Nigeria

    Abandoned projects litter Maritime Academy of Nigeria

    With several abandoned projects at the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, Kazeem Ibrahym writes that the dream of turning it into a degree-awarding institution may be a mirage, if urgent steps are not taken.

    A visit by the House of Representatives Committee on Maritime, Safety, Education and Administration to the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, has exposed a can of worms about how contractors working on some of the projects in the academy abandon such jobs after being given mobilisation fees.

    The visit of the lawmakers was  to condole with the management, staff and students of the Academy over the death of their Rector, Dr. Joshua Okpo, and to familiarise with the Academy’s management and environment, as well as perform their statutory functions.

    The lawmakers were led by its Chairman, Muhammad Bago. He decried the state of infrastructure in the institution. He challenged the management to speed up measures aimed at enhacing development and standards in the institution, for the benefit of the nation.

    Bago, who did not mince words in condemning the attitude of some of the contractors, said henceforth, the management of the institution should stop the award of new contracts. He urged them to ensure the completion of all pending contracts.

    The chairman also said his committee would not tolerate fragmentation of contracts while advising the management of the institution to see the members of the committee as partners in progress.

    Reiterating the committee’s displeasure over the number of uncompleted projects in the Academy, the chairman said Academy’s contractors will be summoned to a meeting holding in Abuja, stressing that contractors who do not deliver their jobs within the stipulated time frame will have their contracts revoked and the funds recovered.

    He also warned that defaulters will be prosecuted by the appropriate governmental body, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which is saddled with the responsibility.

    His words: “Let us apply conscience to what we are doing. We are all Nigerians. I am mostly touched with the level of uncompleted projects here. There is no road network here. Some buildings have been completed while some are still at the foundation level. We cannot continue to sink billions of naira here and everything is half done.

    “We are not going to tolerate corruption. This committee will meet with all the contractors. We can bring the contractors to book. Nobody is above the law. We will summon them, if they fail to come, we will declare them wanted. We need to change in this academy. Contractors need to be cautioned. We will not allow a situation where contractors will receive our money and just abscond with it.

    “On the official aspect of our oversight, you have been found wanting, not necessarily directly but indirectly. You are thinking of transforming to a university and you are given huge land and you went to sink a lot of money. We have since where you have sunk this money. But do we have value for the money? No, we don’t.

    “Coming to the main bowl of the institution, we saw a lot of old and abandoned projects. My heart bleeds. Seriously, it bleeds. It is our mission as a committee that by the grace of God before the end of our tenure, your swimming pool, sports complex, the abandoned nautical school and any other projects that are within this institution will be completed.

    “We as a committee and as a parliament that is responsible, we are not going to erect any new project again. All your projects that you have started will have to be completed.”

    Bago however expressed worry over the poor utilization of the Academy’s products, in this case the Cadets, and called for suggestive measures to tackle the embarrassing situation urging the Management to forward a formal request to the National Assembly for deliberation.

    Also speaking, the House Member Representing Ikot Abasi/Mkpat Enin/Eastern Obolo Federal Constituency, Francis Uduyork said the Academy being one of the oldest Maritime training institutions in West Africa deserves to be upgraded to a University and charged the Management to generate a constructive and well-articulated proposal in that respect for presentation to the committee.

    He said: “We as a committee will work with you to ensure that this institution is accorded a deserving status. I believe this institution is one of the oldest of its kind in West Africa and so there is nothing wrong with it becoming a university, so your articulation in the proposal must be well constructed, so we can move this institution forward.”

    He averred that the management could always count on the committee’s support as the committee will ensure that things are done rightly.

    Earlier, in his welcome address, the Registrar of the Academy, Mr. Mkpandiok Mkpandiok had welcomed the visitors to the academy, noting that their visit was timely given the present state of the institution.

    Giving a brief history of the institution, he intimated the committee that the Academy, despite its constraints, has over the years been able to produce competent personnel operating in the Gulf of Guinea and beyond as well as those marine personnel who drive the Oil and Gas sector.

    The Registrar also expressed optimism in the committee’s visit observing that it marks the beginning of better things for the Academy and called on the committee to use the powers within the ambit of the law to upgrade the Academy to the enviable status deserving of an institution of 40 years standing.

    He said: “The Academy has delivered on its mandate of training competent personnel for the Maritime and Allied Industries, we have trained Master Mariners, Marine Engineers, Maritime Administrators and several other professionals. Development being a gradual process we still have a lot of challenges to surmount to be counted among the comity of maritime academics of the world. But we trust we can get there with your support.”

    The lawmakers during the visit inspected the students’ hostels; staff quarters; sports complex; abandoned nautical school; simulation room and the jetty.

     

  • Bayelsa engineer floats talent hunt to end cultism

    Bayelsa State has been notorious for cultism. Despite the efforts of the state government in tackling cult-related vices through laws, rival cult wars which usually claim the lives of youths still occur in most parts of the state.

    Engineer Gospel Oboro, who hails from Ogbia Local Government Area of the state, blamed the intractable problems of cultism on lack of deliberate efforts and programmes of the government to engage the youths.

    Oboro said it was unfortunate that sporting facilities, entertainment centres and talent hunt programmes which hitherto used to keep youths busy had vanished from the state. He recently opened an entertainment centre comprising, bar and talent hunt facilities along Azikoro Road Yenagoa.

    He said his new facilities, christened, Renew, was designed to scout for and nurture talents among the youths. He said Renew would produce talents in music, instruments and sports.

    “This place is a fully entertainment centre and it is here to entertain and in the same time produce talents. It will keep the youths busy and diver their attention from criminalities”, he said.

    He added: “We want to produce musicians,instrumentalists and sportsmen and women. We want to bring back our sports”.

    He said the country generally had derailed in the area of youth sustenance and empowerment noting that in their youthful years, the government paid attention to their development. He recalled that there was no problem of cultism during their days as youths because they invested their energy on many noble activities.

    He said: “ Let me use myself as a case study. I was born and brought up in Rivers State when Bayelsa was together with Rivers State. I trained in kick boxing and weight lifting and in those days there was nothing like cultism and other vices because in each area we had different training centres.

    “There were many sports club which discovered and trained talents. We had civic centres and because of that that many talents were developed. But now you will see in the whole of Bayelsa I don’t know whether there is any other sports training place.”

    He insisted that lack of training facilities in the state was the reason behind rising cases of crimes among the youths. He said youths after searching in vain for meaningful areas to invest their energy channel it to readily available unworthy causes.

    “The thing is telling on the youths. Instead of them using their energy to empower and assist others they now use it to fight and intimidate persons that cannot fight.

    “It is so bad that even persons that had managed to train themselves, end up as nuisances for lack of employment and opportunities.

    “But Renew is a place to be. Youths should come around and talk to me because I am very much ready and available to assist them”, he said.

  • Because of tomorrow

    In those days—those days of innocence —life began and ended with going to school in Agege and going on holidays in Epe and basking in the grand-motherly alms of Iya Alate. No worries at all. Worrying was beyond the purview of my office as a child. Eating fresh fish, savouring Ikokore, eja yoyo (yoyo fish) and all those Ijebu niceties must have created in me the impression that life was meant only for good things.

    It meant little that people were dying because my brain was not developed enough to grasp its essence. Other evils of the time were just too much for my childish brain to decipher.

    But the innocence disappeared with time. From secondary school days, it started being clear to me that life did not begin and end with schooling and holidaying.

    Journalism — which makes minding other people’s business my business — finally cleared my brain of any fog. It opened me to the reality of the world we live in: this wicked world where rat race has robbed many of their humanity.

    How does one begin to explain a situation where men with blood in their veins will storm a home in Rivers State and kill the father, the mother and a son? They were not done: they cut off the father’s head and went away with it. In another instance, they clubbed a fellow human being to a state of coma and set him ablaze. There have been instances where they had no time for such time wasting and they simply just pumped hot lead into their victims, thus ending dreams and shattering hopes.

    When I see man’s cruelty to man such as these, I long for those days when life began and ended with schooling and being cuddled by Iya Alate.

    The other day in dear Rivers State, some 25 people were killed one after the other. 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. To renew their money-making rituals? To show evidence of job well done to their patrons? Questions upon questions have dominated my mind since then and I long for those days when life began and ended with schooling and holidaying in my dear Epe Alaro.

    Were these blood-thirsty men not cowards, I would have sought them out and interviewed them. I would have asked them if they have children. I would have asked them if they have blood flowing in their veins. I would have asked them if they were born of women. I would have asked them if they have conscience— that open wound which can only be healed by the truth. I would not have forgotten to ask them if they are paid for the nasty services they are rendering.

    I certainly would not have forgotten to seek some vital clarifications: Were their victims rival cultists who fell to superior power? Or were the victims taken out because of their political leanings in order to scare others from following their path? I would have confirmed from them if it is true that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is appropriating all dead bodies in Rivers State just for cheap political mileage.

    But here I am with no one to answer my questions and I long for those days when life began and ended with schooling in Agege and holidaying in Epe in the grand-motherly alms of Iya Alate.

    I have further worries and questions, which will help reduce my longing for those days of innocence when I cared less. I will share those worries and ask those questions hoping that in this social media age someone will hide under anonymity and provide me all I need.

    Is life really worth all these killings? We are killing ourselves because of tomorrow forgetting that tomorrow is not ours. Tomorrow belongs to God. It is today that is somehow ours.

    Death can take us away before tomorrow, which we are trying to secure by beheading fellow human beings. We can be taken away through auto crashes. We can be taken away by cardiac arrest. We can be taken away through heart failure. We can be taken away by simply missing a step and not living to tell the story. Why then are we cruel to ourselves because of tomorrow when all we are supposed to do is to treat today well so that our tomorrow can be better?

    The killings in Rivers have made me wonder what happens in the hereafter. Where do killers go when they die? If I judge by my understanding of the Bible, the answer is simple: hell. What happens to them there? Are they flogged regularly? Do they meet one-on-one with their victims? Questions and questions and questions and I long for those days when life began and ended with schooling in Agege and holidaying in Epe in the grand-motherly alms of Iya Alate.

    The recent killings in Omoku have brought back the memory of the Adubes. On April 3, last year, men without brains stormed their home in Omoku and 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. You can imagine the pains of walking around with legs that feel like wood or stone.

    Of the 12 children Adube had with his two wives, three were killed with him; two were left practically crippled and the others now live with shattered dreams. They are not sure of where the next meal will come from. Their father’s sin, I am made to understand, was his affiliation with the APC. His children’s sin was being born by him. The evil men applied the Law of Moses forgetting that the coming of our lord Jesus Christ marked the end of that law, which encouraged taking out the father’s sin on the son or daughter.

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

    The Commission noted that of the 97 allegations of killings it 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.

    He added: “The evidence suggests a significant incidence of internal displacement resulted from political violence in many parts of Rivers State.

    “The Commission of Inquiry also received evidence which strongly suggested that sexual violence was part of the arsenal of political violence in some areas.

    ”We met some of their survivors. There were children orphaned. The youngest we met was 9 months old when his father was killed in his presence. He was still breastfeeding.

    “We met young widows of political violence, as well as grand-mothers who had to bury their grand-sons killed in violence. Their stories deserve to be told and heard. They deserve justice as well as political leaders and security agencies that will protect their best interests.”

    The justice Odinkalu spoke about has not been served, just as political leaders and security agencies are still scampering for answers on how to protect the people. Those who suffer for this failure are the people. And going by recent media reports, over 30 people have been killed this year alone.

    For the APC, the recent killings are because of tomorrow’s re-run polls ordered by the Court of Appeal into the House of Assembly and National Assembly. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the APC is at its propaganda best again. And I long to get one of the killers to clear the air on why they are killing and beheading people. And in the absence of an answer, I long for those days when life began and ended with schooling in Agege and holidaying in Epe in the grand-motherly alms of Iya Alate; those days of innocence when my brain lacked the capacity to understand this evil of gargantuan proportion.

    My final take: Tomorrow is not worth killing and beheading people for. Tomorrow does not belong to us. Let’s not appropriate to ourselves what belongs to He who when he says yes nobody can say no. Only when we understand this simple fact will we appreciate that we may not live to see the tomorrow that we are killing to secure.

  • Relief for hundreds as Itsekiri communities get light, water after 8 years

    There was exhilaration in several Itsekiri communities in Warri area of Delta state as a board member of the State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), Mr Victor Oritsetimeyin Woods resuscitates moribund amenities in Itsekiri communities..

    The benefiting communities include Ode-Itsekiri (Big Warri), the ancestral home of the Itsekiri people, Orugbo, Ajigba and Inorin among others, some of which have been in darkness for over eight years when the power plants broke down.

    Ode-Itsekiri and others have been without portable water due to the failure of the water plants in the communities and breakdown of three power generating plants in other communities due to lack of maintenance.

    Specifically, it was gathered that Orugbo and Ode-Itsekiri were grappling with lack of portable water due to the breakdown of the water facilities, until the intervention of Woods, who is the Executive Director in charge of Planning and Research at DESOPADEC.

    Speaking with our reporter on his intervention, the DESOPADEC ED explained that her personal financed the project as his contribution to the rebirth of the communities. He said his individual effort is aimed at facilitating the return of indigenes of the areas who left in search of better living condition.

    He particularly lamented that enrolment at the Ode-Itsekiri schools could be better if there are better social amenities and facilities to make inhabitants of the areas feel like their counterparts in the upland areas.

    He expressed surprise at the low cost required to fix some of the facilities, which failure had led to untold suffering for the inhabitants of the Itsekiri communities.

    “My experience with these projects showed that sometimes you do not need to break the bank to bring some of these facilities back to life. For instance, there was a water project that required just N25,000 to bring it back to life because it was just the water pump that was faulty.

    “In Big Warri (Ode-Itsekiri) and some adjoining towns, we restore water supply, fixed three power generating sets and did some other things. All these we achieved with just a this little money and the relief it has brought to our people is priceless.”

    He blamed the deplorable state of some of the facilities on apathy of some community leaders towards government’s property, stressing that some of the faults with the amenities were things that they could easily have done.

    While conceding that it was not possible for him to personally fix the problem of amenities in all Itsekiri communities, Woods expressed hope that when the 2016 budget of the commission is passed, there would be funds for such intervention.

    “There are very few communities that don’t already have water or power (generator). But they  packed up because of one small problem or the other and because it is provided by government, if government doesn’t come, people complain we don’t have light.”

    A very impressed Itsekiri indigene, Mr Godwin Adanoritsewo, described Wood’s gesture as worthy of emulation.

    Adanoritsewo said:  “We can agree that yielding to the call and fixing of some basic needs of community can lay the foundations of Itsekiri development.”

     

  •  Rivers’ stories yet to be told, says actor

     Rivers’ stories yet to be told, says actor

    Rivers State-born Nollywood actor Walter Anga, in this interview with Precious Dikewoha in Port Harcourt, spoke on his journey into the industry, his relationship with ex-militant leader, copping with female fans and many more.

    Since your acting career takes you from one place to another, how do you cope taking care of your home and that of the scene?

    I’m married to a very understanding woman that understands my kind of business. She got married to me while I was in the business and she knows that I am one person that when I am giving something to do I will do it better. She knows that I’m an extremist when it comes to that; of course, she has lived with me for more than seven years.   She doesn’t have problem with female fans, I can tell you that the desperation of female fans doesn’t give her headache.  As an actor if you don’t have female fans then you are not doing well in the industry.  I can tell you that 95 per cent of fan base have to be women, so my wife does not have problem with female fans.

    Have you ever been embarrassed by your fans in public 

    Yes it has happened, but I don’t call it an embarrassment I called it overwhelmed. There is this film I acted when I betrayed Francis Duru. Someone saw me at  Conoil filling station close to  Amadi roundabout in Port Harcourt and pointed at me and said: ‘You are wicked for betraying your friend’. She was seriously shouting at me before one of the pump attendants came out and advised her to take it easy with me.

    What was the role that brought you to limelight?

    While I was in school, I did my first movie called Labista.  That was in December 2003 and after that movie, I was invited by my director, Ifeanyi Onyabor  to Enugu with other friends but there was no time to partake in that movie. I played two roles in Labista and after that movie each time I pass by people will look at me and said Labista. After that one, I played another role in a movie called New Jerusalem as Kudo and everybody identified me with that movie. To be frank, New Jerusalem made me popular and I was impressed.

    From the time you started acting and today could you say there is a difference?

    A very big difference, I used to tell people that there is a very big change.   Like I  told somebody that  I cannot watch the movies I acted in 2002 and 2006 because I was still being  groomed. You cannot compare those movies with the ones I acted in 2013, 2014 till date.

    How do you assess the industry and what are the challenges

    It is not easy, I know the marketers and the stakeholders are doing their best for us to get to the right destination.   But the only problem we have is technology, we don’t have good equipment. In America everybody wants to shoot with red camera and to get a red camera to shoot here will cost you N200, 000 daily. Then you will now ask how much will the marketer make in that film. The government is trying but most time we don’t know where the money budgeted for this industry goes to. When you talk about movie making in Africa we are the best, all we need is government’s support.

    What are you doing to carry up and coming actor along and guide them right?  

    To guide up and coming artiste is a very big problem in Rivers State. Many of the up and coming artiste go the wrong channel and making themselves victims of those who take advantage of their desperation. The Actors Guild of Nigeria, Rivers State chapter has on several occasions warned them not to give money to anybody in the name of acting film. Sometimes people call me that they want to pay money and I will rebuke them that they don’t have to give money to go to audition. Acting has no short –cut; you have to be into acting to be acting. Desperation has led many ladies to go to bed with many fake directors and actors.

    You are a friend to Ateke Tom, the ex-militant leader, what brought you so close to him?     

    High Chief Ateke Tom is not just a friend; he is my elder brother and father. I prefer to call him Edagbe, which means my father.  I am from the same environment with him. I met him in 2005. Somebody from my kindred told me that they were watching a film together with Ateke when he saw me and said ‘I heard that this guy is from Okrika, please go and bring him for me’. And then the whole town was in crisis and my parents never wanted me to come to Port Harcourt, not to talk of visiting Ateke of all people then. I was in Enugu then but I said to myself ‘I will go and visit him’ and I went to his house with two of my friends, Kio London and Ofiafulagu Mbaka. While we were waiting for Ateke we were afraid but when he finally came out, we saw a different person. We saw a humble man willing to assist the society, we saw charisma in display and we saw a harmless man. After enjoying the drinks he offered us, he asked us what we want him to do for us. Then we replied: ‘we want to do a movie of our own’.  He immediately asked us to call him three weeks after.  He gave us his number and big money. I went to my father direct to inform him about his magnanimity. But before the three weeks he gave us could expire the military raided Okrika, which scattered the opportunity for us to meet him. In fact, the military killed my dream. I was very angry with the government of the day because that was the first time somebody volunteered to assist me and the government aborted the dream. Though later he sponsored my first trip to America where I did a course on dredging   and he also took care of everything.  Till date he has been a father not just me but for all the entertainers in this part of the country.  Each time I come around I try as much as possible to see him. He is one of the simplest men in this country, his motto is that ‘don’t find my trouble, I will not find your trouble’.   Ateke has showed me that the best investment any one can invest is in human being.

    What are your colleagues from Rivers State doing to harness the untapped stories in Rivers and Southsouth?  

    Rivers State is where we are supposed to be doing good movie; the best actors in the industry today were groomed   in this state. They include Francis Duru, Charles Nnojie, Rita Dominic, Monalisa Chinda, Charles Okafor, Bob-Manual Udogwu, Ejike Asiegbu, Yul  Edochie and others were groomed  from UNIPORT. Till date we are still grooming people. We have stories untouched; in Rivers State we have Amayanagbo, Amadanagbo, Gbenemene and Obi. Yet when the Whiteman sees you he will say ‘Igwe…eeee’ because that is what is been portrayed in our movie. When I am playing the role of  a prince in a movie, I am playing a prince of Igbo land. So, it is time for someone played prince of Amayanagbo so that the person will learn about our culture, like we are learning their culture by acting the role of Igbo man’s prince. We have over 30 good stories of true Rivers man, but they are untapped. I believe that the government of Chief Nyesom Wike through the commissioner for culture will make a difference and see reason to give us a chance through their support to tap the opportunities in Rivers State.

  • Benin Crown Prince begins journey to history

    Benin Crown Prince begins journey to history

    For the first time in 36 years, the people of Uselu Community in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State now have a traditional ruler. The Crown Prince of Benin Kingdom, Prince Eheneden Erediauwa, was installed as the Edaiken N’ Uselu. The last time an Edaiken was installed was in 1978.

    Uselu, which is regarded as Evbuo-Iyoba (The Queen mother’s community) existed since the era of the Ogisos but it got its present status, housing the Eguae-Iyoba (Palace of the Queen Mother and Egua-Edaiken were gotten during the reign of Oba Ewuare and Oba Esigie.

    Oba Esigie established the Eguae-Iyoba for his mother, Queen Idia, who was a warrior that fought wars. The domain was carved out for her to prevent a power tussle between the Queen mother and the King. Queen mothers are presently sent to live in Eguae-Iyoba after her son had become king.

    The Edaiken N’Uselu title was established by Oba Ewuare when he sent his son to hold brief for a man called Iken of Uselu. Iken was a powerful warrior who challenged the authority of the Oba. He was said to have prevented Uselu people from paying tributes to the Oba. When the people of Owo revolted against Oba Ewuare, the Oba sent Iken to quench the revolt. Iken was also not to return from the war alive. He was killed on his way back.

    Oba Ewuare had to send his son Kuoboyuwa to hold brief for Iken and named him the Edayi N Iken. It was since that period that the first son of every Oba is conferred with the title of Edaiken. He lived at the Palace until he is called upon to ascend the throne in Benin as Oba. The Egua-Edaiken is a temporary abode for the Crown Prince. Buildings erected on the vast land are left to rot until another Edaiken is installed.

    The journey Prince Erediauwa to the throne of Edaiken N’ Uselu began with a seven days initiation into the Royal House of Iwebo which is one of the many Benin Palace societies headed by the Uwangue.

    Initiation into the Royal House of Iwebo was observed within the confines of Iwebo chambers inside the Oba’s Palace under the supervision of Chief Eribo in the absence of an Uwangue.

    After the initiation into Royal House of Iwebo, the Crown Prince was conferred with the Uko N’ Iwebo.

    He was conferred with the title after performing some rituals at the Ugha-Erha-Oba after which he visited some shrines within Benin City metropolis. Among the shrines visited included the Aro-Edion-Edo, Ekpenede, grave of Iden N’ Okpokhuo, Aruo-Emotan amongst others.

    He was escorted by a large crowd including his wife, Princess Iroghama and first daughter, Princess Ikuoyemwen Aimiuwu and guided by members of the Royal House of Iwebo, one of the top societies in the palace.

    Members of the Isekhuen group stood guard and prevented people from getting close to the Prince wife and daughter.

    Seven days after being conferred with the Uko N’ Iweo title,  Prince Erediauwa performed the Iguohun ceremony (propitiation of his destiny). The Iguohun was done in appreciation of divine grace and good fortune of his destiny and served as a final rites to the Iwebo society initiation.

    The occasion was marked with a feast, spiritually infused choral renditions by the lsekhuian Royal Palace women group and other traditional musicologists that spiced the ceremonial arena.

    The Iguohun ceremony (propitiation of his destiny)  created the opportunity for the spiritual renewal and fortification of the personage of the Heir-Apparent to the Benin throne and an occasion to ask for God’s continuous guidance, blessings and protection for the Edaiken, the Royal households and the Benin Kingdom.

    The Crown Prince then proceeded to the Uwen and Ora Shrines at the palace of the Oba of Benin Kingdom, Chief Johnson Usen and the palace of Chief Ambrose Osuan, Osuan of the Benin Kingdom. Chief Osuan and Chief Osa were twins that accompanied Oromiyan from Ife.

    It was part of the traditional rites that the crown prince has to undergo in the royal house of Uwebo which were a test for spiritual strength and growth of the crown prince.

    Ora is a deity that represents weapons and aggression while Uwen is a deity who is concerned with healing, fertility, and obstetrics. The joint Ebo n’Edo altar refers to the joint worship of the gods by a small circle.

    Prince Erediauwa also visited the Isienmwenro Guild at Sokponba road. The Isiemwenro are the big ants that sting the Oba’s enemies.

    On the day of his formal installation as the Edaiken, Prince Erediauwa accompanied by a large crowd left his Benin City residence to the Oba’s Palace. After some indoor ceremonies, the Leteman held a traditional staff and announced to the people that the Oba has named his son as Edaiken N’ Uselu.

    As in the ancient custom, Prince Erediauwa had to trek to Uselu accompanied by Chiefs from the father’s Palace. The Chiefs followed him to the popular five junction which is the traditional boundary between Benin and Uselu community. At the Five Junction, the Benin Chiefs handed him to Chiefs and elders of Uselu who were already singing and dancing.

    From the junction, the Crown Prince moved to his temporary palace amidst singing and  dancing. The Crown Prince was accompanied by Governor Adams Oshimhole, business mogul, Captain Hosa Okunbor, Deputy Governor, Dr. Pius Odubu, Godwin Obaseki, Matthew Iduoriyikemwen and other top personalities in the state.

    Some Uselu residents, who were at the place, said it was a glorious thing for them to witness the  installation of an Edaiken. It is expected that the Crown would fill some Chiefs whose former holders were dead.

    Significantly, this event has raised a poser that first came up when the Crown Prince’s father, Oba Erediauwa, suddenly stopped attending public functions – leading to speculations that the coast is now clear for the son to take over.

    At the time, the Benin Tradition Council (BTC), in a statement, said:  “It is hereby announced for the information of the general public that the Palace parlance, Uhunmwun ve Ekpen vb Ato has come into effect. The explanation is that Omo N’Oba N’ Edo, UKu Akpolokpolo Oba Erediauwa is indisposed.

    “Public engagements including courtesy visits, hearing of complaints from individuals, families and communities, and in particular, complaints over inheritance and land disputes, are therefore suspended until further notice. All palace chiefs and functionaries are to note that their routine traditional duties continue as usual.”

    But when not long after the statement, the palace initiated Crown Prince into the Royal Palace Chamber of Iwebo tongues went wagging again. The colourful event, which lasted seven days, took place in the Royal Chambers of Iwebo group. It was presided over by Iwebo chiefs.

    A statement issued by Donald Odemwingie from the palace said: “Having successfully undergone the seven days intensive events, with its attendant elaborate rites, thousands of enthusiastic Edo and non-Edo people joined the retinue of palace chiefs and functionaries to accompany the celebrant, Crown Prince Eheneden Erediauwa from Benin Royal Palace Courtyard of Edaiken in the cynosure of all eyes.”

    As usual, there was no official explanation as to the implication of the initiation rites, but it raised a poser: why the initiation rites if the monarch is still alive? A similar poser came up with the Crown Prince’s installation as the Edaiken N’ Uselu.

    The way things are, only time will answer the poser in the mind of many.

  • 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. Some farmers are already showing interest. Twelve farmers have bought the machines.”

    An oil palm farmer, Felix Aigbe Omorogbe, said the training programme has exposed them to where to buy seedlings and the best varieties to buy.

    “We have been made to know that a cross breeder palm will not breed itself. We now know where to get good seedlings. The machine processing equipment is ideal compared to the manual ones we are used to. The machine processing is less stressful and more productive.”

     

  • Amnesty Programme in good hands, says ex-militant leader

    Mr. Kinsgley Muturu is the Delta State chairman of ex-militants under Phase 2 of the Amnesty Programme. In this interview, he spoke on the allegation of corruption raised against the Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme, Brig. Gen. Paul Boroh (rtd) and other issues.

    Recently, it was announced that the expiring date of the amnesty programme is shifted to 2017: what is your reaction to this development?

    We thank President Muhammadu Buhari for listening to the various calls and appeals made to him over the amnesty programme. We really appreciate him for this gesture; he has shown to Nigerians that he is listening to their voices. We also appreciate the efforts of Brig-Gen. Boroh because there is no smoke without fire. He has given us the confidence that the time Mr. President spent shopping for a credible person to head the amnesty office was not a waste. We say thank you Mr. President, we appreciate your efforts Brig-Gen Boroh.

    But recently, the African Anti-Corruption Network has called for the immediate removal of the Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme, Mr.

    Boroh, from office, over allegations of corruption; where do you stand on this development?

    My reaction to that allegation is that they have started again; the lobbyists and appointment seekers have sent their foot soldiers out for war again, and we are ready for them. I mean we ex-agitators are ready for them to whichever length they are ready to go. We really know that many people were disappointed, particularly politicians and blackmailers, when Mr. President appointed Boroh to head the amnesty office. All the lobbyists and hustlers failed woefully because Mr. President was looking for credibility. If this so-called Network’s stock-in-trade is to blackmail or carry out smear campaign against Boroh in order to distract him from what he is doing, then we will come out for them because we are the beneficiaries of what Boroh is trying to put in place.

    What are those things Boroh is trying to put in place?

    Boroh has shown us through his actions that he is painstakingly executing the amnesty programme to a successful end. He has gone ahead with the plan to open offices in various Niger Delta States in order to bring his office closer to the people concerned; he has also made it clear before the whole world his plan to empower and disengage successfully trained ex-agitators, which is in accordance with the amnesty agreement. These and other activities bordering the programme have clearly shown his determination to take the programme to a successful end.

    Also, I want Nigerians to ask, who does this anti-corruption Network want in replacement of Boroh in their campaign of calumny? What is the interest of these Network personalities in the amnesty programme? We are now assured that President Buhari did not disappoint us with the appointment of Boroh to head the amnesty office, and the time spent shopping for a credible personality was not wasted. If Mr. President had appointed a politician who would come and play politics with the affairs of the programme, by this time we would have been complaining but the reverse is the case now; we are happy that Boroh is moving the programme as expected.

    So, you mean the allegations from the anti-corruption Network were

    Politically-motivated?

    The interest of this anti-corruption Network in the affairs of the Amnesty Programme will not succeed. I personally believe that people in that agency must be corrupt for daring to carry out a slander against somebody trying his best to bring the best out of the Amnesty Programme in order to take it to its permanent destination. Calling yourselves anti-corruption Network does not make you holier than others, and anybody trying to disturb smooth running of the programme under Boroh should be prepared for us. We know they have started again to distract the running of the programme as they did before, and we are ready for them. I, particularly, am readier than them because we will always resist their antics. I advised them to steer clear from the Amnesty Programme.