The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • Effective policing has reduced crime, attracted investors to Akwa Ibom, says Emmanuel

    Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel has hailed the security agencies for the maintenance of peace and the protection of lives and property of the citizens. These, he said, had reduced crime and attracted investors to the State.

    The governor spoke at the end-of-year-get-together organised by the Akwa Ibom State Police Command at the Police Officers Mess, Uyo, the state capital.

    Emmanuel commended Police Commissioner  Murktar Manni and the officers of the command for their vigilance and dogged surveillance, which, he said, had  kept criminality at near zero level in the state.

    He stressed that every government was anchored on security in order to guarantee the safety of its citizens.

    He expressed appreciation to the officers and men of the police for dedication to their responsibilities, pointing out that the men had gallantly performed their duties without compromise even in the face of  mounting challenges.

    Emmanuel, who described the police as partners in the development of the state, assured them of increased collaboration to enable the force keep criminality at bay and urged the officers not to relent in their efforts but strive to attain higher height in their endeavours by ensuring that the near crime-free situation currently experienced in the state is sustained.

    Manni attributed the feat attained in combating crime in the state to the support of the Emmanuel administration and expressed appreciation for the support stating that the get-together was an avenue for the officers and men to interact on a lighter mood and brace up to face the challenges of the profession.

    The police boss thanked God for the safety of the officers in their various operations and prayed for the repose of the soul of those who lost their lives in the course of the duty. He assured that the welfare of the officers remains a priority of the command.

    While calling on the officers to inculcate the spirit of teamwork in their operations, the police commissioner stated that security was not done in isolation and solicited for more cooperation from individuals as well as corporate organisations to enable the Force achieve effective policing.

    The party, which had in attendance members of the Police Officers Wives Association (POWA), featured performances from the Police Brass Band as well as Police Theatre Troupe.

  • Edo 2016: Clowns in search of crown

    Edo 2016: Clowns in search of crown

    Seven plus years ago, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole became the governor of Edo State as a result of the degenerate and decadent state of affairs. His dynamic personality, the clarity of his mind, the catholicity of his ideas and his remarkable talents as an organiser and former union leader infused a new life and determination into the polity and the people’s hope to dream anew.

    It’s left to Edo people to now tell whether Governor Oshiomhole has lost his illustrious name; become a shell of his admirable former self, dispirited by raw power or has become an intrepid tribune of social reengineering, change agent or out-and-out democrat! Whatever perceptions or views one holds of the comrade governor depends largely on the political divide one finds him/herself.

    Today, Oshiomhole is one significant politician who has the same and equal popularity across the divides. Those who admire him and those who despise him do so with equal passion. The succession political battle by the two main political parties, the ruling APC and the opposition PDP will be prosecuted on Governor Oshiomhole’s failures or successes in that last seven and half years in office.

    However, Governor Oshiomhole, undeniably, has enviable development records going for him. Since he assumed office in 2008, he has tackled the dearth of functional infrastructural facilities and basic amenities that had turned the state into a living hell. He has repositioned completely a scruffy political system where graft had become a pastime, and a dejected populace in dire need of purposeful leadership. He has restored sanity to a decapitated public service staffed by a disgruntled workforce; and the stone-aged educational system that was turning out ill-equipped individuals without the required productive capacities to contribute to the development of the state.

    The Comrade Governor has resuscitated the lethargic health sector that left the sick at the mercy of charlatans, the health vendors who profit from the ignorance of help seekers. He has managed to contribute his quotas by buying hundreds of Hilux vehicles and communication gadgets for the Nigeria police to stem the tide of the mind-bending state of insecurity spurred by widespread cultism across the state. More than anything else, since 2008, Oshiomhole has striven to correct all the systemic woes that had bedeviled the state from its creation, performing feats that have confounded even his harshest critics.

    But there is a snag on Governor Oshiomhole’s political empire. “One man, one vote” (or “one person, one vote”) is a name that has been used in many parts of the world where campaigns have arisen for universal suffrage. During the 20th-century period of decolonisation and the struggles for national sovereignty, from the late 1940s onwards this phrase became widely used in less developed countries where majority populations were seeking to gain political power in proportion to their numbers.

    The phrase was used in this form in an important legal ruling in the United States related to voting rights; applying the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution, the Supreme Court majority opinion in Reynolds v. Sims (1964) ruled that state legislatures needed to redistrict in order to have congressional districts with roughly equal represented populations.

    In 2012, Governor Adams Oshiomhole exhaustively dramatised the phrase in his reelection bid to draw a link between democracy and freedom of choice. He made the point then that democracy is a set of ideas and principles about freedom of choice, which consists of a set of practices and procedures that have been molded through a long, often tortuous history. The point he was trying to make was that democracy is the institutionalization of freedom, which includes human rights; the right for the civil populace to freely elect their leaders in government and equality before the rules. He also meant to say that candidates in an election has his/her own Everest to climb without undue favouritism and manipulation.

    Now, a great deal of the electorate are in an irritable mood on the governor’s moves to truncate the “One man one vote” mantras with his rumoured endorsement of Mr. Godwin Obaseki. The believe is that the less well-known Obaseki did not entertain governorship notion until Governor Oshiomhole drafted him into the race, thereby trusting his candidacy down of the APC party leadership and Edo people. There is the for the governor to clear his own name.

    At the last count, nearly 30 aspirants have indicated interest to succeed the Comrade Governor from both the APC and PDP, a handful of them mere notional contenders, while many are pretenders who are there to make up the number. From the camp of the APC are the former Minister of Works, Engr. Chris Ogiemwonyi; Governor Oshiomhole’s deputy, Dr Pius Odubu, ex-Governor Osarhemhen Osunbor, PDP governorship candidate in 2012, Maj. General Charles Arhiavbere (rtd),  the former PENGASSAN and TUC President, Comrade Peter Esele, the former Principal Private Secretary to the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Mr. Odia Ofeimu, Chairman of the Edo State Economic Team, Godwin Obaseki, Commissioner for Works, Osarodion Ogie; Architect Austin Emuan, Lagos-based business man Mr. Kenneth Imasuagbon and movie producer Don Pedro Obaseki, and a host of others.

    On the side of the PDP are the immediate past Edo South Senator Ehigie Uzamere; former member of the state House of Assembly, Matthew Iduoriyekemwen; Vice Chairman (South-South) of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu and Solomon Iyobosa Edebiri. No doubt, governing Edo State is attractive given the number of aspirants, but the fact remains that majority of them are mere pretenders, who are likely to drop out of the race before their respective parties’ primaries.

    The Benin Leaders of Thought, BLT, a few days ago warned against the re-introduction of political godfatherism in Edo state, which they said Governor Adams  himself fought hard against in the past. What a turn of the tide!

    The warning came on the heels of the alleged imposition of a governorship aspirant by Governor Oshiomhole, for the 2016 gubernatorial election in the state. ?Some aspirants have kicked and expressed their displeasure over rumours that the governor has ordered his aides to ‘go and market’ the Chairman of the State Economic Team, Dr. Godwin? Obaseki, popularly referred to as Dangote man, to the people of the state.

    Chairman of the group and Enogie of Obazuwa, Prince Edun Akenzua, while addressing journalists in Benin, said though the group disbelieved the rumour of Oshiomhole’s alleged imposition of an aspirant, the issue has excited the imagination of observers of Edo politics in recent times. Quoting Governor Oshiomhole in the Vanguard of Thursday, November 12, 2009, as saying that “what makes governance difficult is that some leaders are imposed on the people. That situation creates an absence of support. And people will become cynical about you,” the Benin Leaders of Thought said it was against that background that they were taken aback by the rumour that the governor has anointed his successor in this year’s gubernatorial race.

    “The people of Edo State should be given free hands to determine their next governor. Popular participation bestows responsibility for governing one’s own conduct, develops ones character, self-reliance, intelligence and moral judgement. In a democracy, there is no substitute for popular participation. Even if a benevolent despot could govern in the public interest, he would be rejected by the classic democrat. Man can only know the truth by discovering it himself,” the Benin Leaders of Thought added.

    Mr. Godwin Obaseki’s misadventure into the Benin historical facts was a miscarriage as much as political mishap. He granted two separates interviews in two national newspapers where he chided the Benin dynasty for not taking his grandfather’s advice. In the other interview, he revealed his limited understanding of development politics.

    Mr. Obaseki said that when the British entered Benin Kingdom and attempted to do ‘business’ with Benin, his grandfather advised the then Oba of Benin, Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi, to sign a treaty with the foreigners. But all available evidence suggest that the British did not intend to do business with any of their eventual colonies, rather they were on a colonial mission as they did also with Jaja, Nana, Attahiru and Kosoko, among others. In another interview Mr. Obaseki was quoted to have said, “my area of specialisation is (Capitalism). I was born into Capitalist system and it is also the system of governance of Edo State people right from time immemorial and I don’t know when socialism entered the system”.

    Now, there are throw back questions to Mr. Obaseki by the Benin elite in this order: “Is Capitalism a specialist area of study in any department or in any academic institution? When and where was the Capitalist system Mr. Godwin Obaseki was born into? Is Mr. Godwin Obaseki Capitalist system an attribute of an individual, a group of persons or the society in which he was born? If Capitalism has always been a system of governance in Edo, as Head of the Economic Team of Edo State Government under the governorship of a former worker and union leader, how do you reconcile the Capitalist system of administration in Edo State with Comrade Adams Oshiomhole’s masses oriented policies of administration in Edo State? These are pertinent questions begging for answer.

    Granted that it will be almost impossible to find an ideal governor for Edo State in 2016, someone who will combine the best attributes of Engr. Chris Ogiemwonyi, Pastor Ize-Iyamu and Dr. Pius Odubu’s passion for the job. The ideal leader, just like the ideal man or woman, is perfectly academic. In the end we will have to settle for a leader, who, like the rest of us, is not perfect, but who hopefully possesses some abilities to make a difference.

    Engr. Chris Ogiemwonyi may not possess all the qualities needed in Osadebe Avenue at this historical moment, but he certainly possesses some critical and crucial ones. The most important question agitating the minds of the electorate is whether his personal qualities will facilitate his own definition of the primary task at hand, which is sustaining the development strides of the comrade governor.

    • Ikhide writes in from Benin City, the Edo State capital.

     

  • GKS: Keeping God’s Covenant

    Nigerians, from around the world trooped into the God’s Kingdom Society (GKS), Salem City in Warri, Delta State to celebrate the annual Christian Feast of Tabernacle in remembrance of God’s covenant with the Israelites, Adeola Ogunlade reports

    FROM  Sunday, December 13 to Sunday, December 20, last year, Warri, the commercial nerve centre of Delta State, was bubbling with thanksgiving to God. The worshippers stormed major roads in Warri. Mobile police ensured safety.

    Cultural groups sang majestic songs . The God’s Kingdom Society (GKS)  made the people dance to songs in diverse dialects – Urhobo, Isoko, Agbor, Itsekiri, Ijaw, Edo, Efik, Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo.

    It was all in remembrance of God’s covenant with the Israelites.

    There were other activities to mark the event: children and women presentations and donation of food items (rice, tubers of yams and gallons of oil and more) to the needy.

    The Chairman, Executive Board, GKS, Brother Godwin Ifeacho, expressed gratitude to God.

    “Glory be to God, Jehovah, creator of the universe, who enabled us to converge to this Feast,” he said.

    Ifeacho, while addressing the congregation on ‘A Man’s Life Consist Not in the Abundance of the things he Possess’, cited Luke 12:15 to campaign again the love of material things.

    He preached on the folly of man and covetousness.

    He said: “Officials of financial institutions corner the deposits of their customers and use them for their personal interest. And when the banks fail, most of the people are left empty-handed.”

    Ifeacho added that some people have taken over other people’s lands, wives, children and houses.

    “While others have made themselves beneficiaries of the inheritance of others leaving the rightful owners with nothing, others use things that are not theirs.”

    Citing Psalm 10:3 and Proverbs 1:10 to 19, he said:  “Unfortunately, many Church leaders today cannot teach their adherents to live godly, be diligent and to patiently continue in well-doing. Instead, they make people believe that gain is godliness or is evidence of blessing from God.”

    However, he reminded participants that they ought to have put aside all their offences before coming for the programme. He wrapped up his gospel with reference to Ecclesiastes 5:11-16. He assured believers that in life, a man’s comfort, happiness or well-being does not depend on affluence.

    From his word: “Is it not true that in several societies people shower underserved honour on anyone who is rich even though they know him to be wicked?

    The Chairperson of the National Women Fellowship, Mrs. Helen Bazunu, said the Sisters’ Assembly day was to educate the women fold on their attitude as peculiar Christians.

    “It is to cater for our homes and our relationship with people outside.”

    She emphasised that they preached on love among themselves, too.

    “Today, being the spiritual aspect – one of the speakers talked on the significance of Ruth and Naomi while the other spoke on ‘Love not the world.”’

    Special Adviser to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State on Rural Development and Peace Building and staunch member of GKS, Mr. Emmanuel Ogidi, urged Nigerians to brace up for hard times.

    “Nigerians should brace up for hard times, except the Federal Government removes subsidy and focuses on other sources of energy and the non-oil sector,” he said.

    Speaking further, the former Delta State PDP Chairman said that change had nothing to do with shouting slogans.

    “The real change is beginning in the state’s Peoples Democratic Party’s government as we are focused on making the state an investment destination,” Ogidi said.

    The former Commissioner for Higher Education, Delta State, Prof. Hope Eghagha, said the Federal Government must approach the problems of insurgency and political agitations with the knowledge that a federation was never imposed, but created by the willingness of participating regions, governments, persons, groups and races.

    “There are too many distractions in the polity. The Northeast is still boiling. The Southeast is threatening and there is also the Shiite threat.”

  • NGO establishes skills acquisition, diabetic care centres

    The Centre for Edo Delta Development Initiative is renewing its effort to tackle diabetes, as well as provide skills training programmes for the people of the Niger Delta.

    Speaking in an interview with Niger Delta Report, Nosasu Omoregbee Edigin, explained that the initiative has been in existence since 2012 but was crystallised to be Centre for Edo Delta Development initiative and registered as a nongovernmental organization in 2014 by the founding Grandbeacons led by Chief Sam Igbe, who is the Iyase (Prime Minister) of Benin Kingdom.

    He said: “Our aim is to eradicate poverty and tackle the debilitating effects of diabetes on the inhabitants of the Edo and Delta states.

    “The initiative is also involved in human capital development of the inhabitants in these states through periodic empowerment training programmes. The initiative has successfully empowered over 5,000 persons in seven local government areas in Edo state in Plaster of Paris (POP) ceiling board design and moulding, liquid soap, sanitizer, insecticide, air freshener making and mobile fish farming. A percentage of the beneficiaries are funded by the initiative to enable them kick-start the new business the initiative has empowered them with.

    “There is also a special focus on the physically challenged persons to make them self-employed and positively useful to the society.

    “On the eradication of diabetes, the initiative reaches out to the nooks and crannies of Edo and Delta states region with well-planned networks of diabetes awareness campaign programmes through testing and dispensing of free drugs to sufferers. We have successfully done diabetic testing for over 10,000 persons and commenced treatment for over 1,000 persons diagnosed by our medical personnel during our awareness campaign programmes.”

    On the modus operandi of the initiative, Edigin explained that CEDDI Head Office is located at the Unity Bank Towers on Mission road, Benin City, Edo state, while its Publicity Office at Urubi street, Iyaro, Shop 30, Ero Shopping Mall Benin city-Edo state and he Delta Publicity office is at Jakpa road, Effurun.

    “We are opening our skills acquisition and diabetic care centre at 15 Sapele road, opposite Federal High Court, Benin City.

    “The initiatives grand structure is led by Chief Sam Igbe, who is called the General Grandbeacon. Other grandbeacons are Engr. Chris Ogiemwonyi and yours truly. The initiative is structured to also have body of Partners, body of Financial Supporters, body of Voluntary Supporters, Executives and Beneficiaries.

    “The body of Grand beacons with the Initiative Coordinator gave birth to the initiative and is responsible for the formulation and preparation of the policy action of the initiative stating its style, aims and objectives. They also establish the initiatives body ethics and supports the initiative with funds to kick-start the agreed programmes by their body.

    “The body of  partners are persons or bodies that annually support the initiative with funds, while the body of Financial Supporters are persons or bodies that have supported the initiatives programmes with funds but are not annual financial supporters. We also have the body of Voluntary Supporters, who are persons that offer their voluntary physical support to the initiatives aims and goals and the body of Executives are workers of the initiative,” he added,

    Meanwhile, Edigin dispelled rumour that the body was formed to further the governorship ambition of one of its leaders, Engr Chris Ogiemwonyi, stressing that nothing could be farther from the truth.

    He maintained that Ogiemwonyi had been involved in the initiative long before he aspired to become the Governor of Edo state, adding, “The initiative was created to serve the people of Edo and Delta state region with a core mission to eradicate extreme poverty.”

     

     

  • Ibeno hails Navy

    The Navy has been praised by the people and Traditional Ruler and Council  of Chiefs of Ibeno, Upenikang and other adjoining coastal communities in Ibeno and Ikot Abasi local government areas of Akwa Ibom State, for delivering them from the evil activities of sea pirates and other criminals.

    His Royal Majesty Owong, Effiong B. Archtanga (JP), the Udammung 1 of Ibeno, who also doubles as the Chairman Akwa Ibom State Council of Chiefs, expressed his appreciation and that of the people to the Navy last week when the officers and men of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Jubilee, Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom State, went on a fact-finding tour of parts of the area under their command.

    The monarch, who spoke through one of his Council members, Obong Ita Ndem, Village Head, Esuk Ekim Ekeme, Ntaikang, Ibeno, said the people of Ibeno especially thousands who live along the coast were in the last five years living in fear, terrorised by sea pirates who also stole from them and kidnapped people at will for ransom.

    He said in the last five years, his people, who are predominantly fishermen, could not go to the sea for fear of the pirates and other criminals who had taken over the creeks until a few months ago when NNS Jubilee came to their rescue by deploying sophisticated equipment to tackle and dislodge the criminals.

    “We are very grateful to the Federal Government, since the Navy started patrolling our waterways a few months ago,  the evil activities of these criminals have been reduced”.

    The monarch appealed for the patrol to be continuous and to be extended to the creeks.

    The Chairman, Ibeno Fishermen Association, Mr Uquekpo Job, recounted the ordeal of the members of his association in the last five years. He expressed their happiness over the relief guaranteed by the Navy. He said relief has now come their way as they can now go to sea for fishing which is their main means of earning a living.

    At Ukpenikang beach market, hundreds of fish buyers who came from the mainland parts of the state were busy struggling to buy fish packed in bags from fishing trawlers. The price per bag ranges between N2,000 to N10,000 depending on the size of the fishes in the bags, a fisherman, Mr Samson Ekeme said.

    The Commanding Officer NNS Jubilee, Ikot Abasi, Commodore David A. Adeniran, assured the coastal communities, the State and other areas under the operational command of NNS Jubilee of the commitment of  the Navy to rid the territorial waters of all piracy related and other criminal activities in line with the directives of the Chief of Naval Staff.

    He said there was a cordial working relationship between the Navy and the host communities and that the patrol of the areas under his command would remain a continuous exercise.

     

  • NSCDC destroys six illegal refineries in Cross River

    The Cross River State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Mr. Adeuyi Dayo Clement, has disclosed that six refineries that were used for illegal bunkering were destroyed in the state last year.

    He said 15 suspects for various offences were arrested of which three out of seven facing trial have been convicted.

    The Commandant said the agency has stepped up operations to stamp out illegal bunkering and diversion of petroleum products in the state.

    He said they had also impounded drums of  diesel from pipeline vandals as well as recovered electricity cables.

    He said they were working with other security agencies in the state to ensure crime is checked.

    However, Clement complained that the command was faced with shortage of operational vehicles to carry out widespread monitoring of illegal activities.

    Though he said the vehicles available were strategically deployed across the state to get the best results, he appealed to the government and well meaning organisations to assist by providing more.

  • Itsekiris: Their culture, our culture

    All hail the king, HRM, Ikenwoli 1, the new Olu of Warri. Long live the king. In Owo dialect,” Iken” means the Crown Prince and “Woli” “means has entered the house” which could be translated to mean the crown prince has come.  The Owo, Iken lives in “Oke Idaniken”, away from the palace. In Edo, a crown prince is called Edaiken .Linguistically, the Itsekiri dialect is about 60 per cent of the original Owo dialect which unfortunately is going into extinction as it may not be understood by an indigene below the age of 40, especially those raised outside the town. My children always remark that my version of the dialect is long dead.  For instance, Oritsejolomi a popular Itsekiri name means God has beautified me in Owo dialect. Similarly, Aghofen means palace in both dialects.

    Historically, the itsekiri are of Edo origin. The Edo and Yoruba accept they are related which means by implication, the Itsekiri are of Yoruba origin too. It is on the basis of this assumption that the OPC, a socio-cultural militant Yoruba group went to the Niger Delta to defend the Itsekiri against the aggression of the Ijaws a few years back.

    A further proof that the itsekiri are of Yoruba origin is the name of the Olu, HRM Adewole. Socio-politically, the late premier of the western region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo who might have seen them as Yoruba minority in the Niger Delta, shielded them from persecution and even promoted them above the majority Urhobo tribe in Warri.  Hence the title of Olu of Warri and not Olu of Itsekiri as recognised by the Urhobo. The title, Olu in Yoruba language means head. Thus, Oluwa means God, Our Head or Our Lord (Oluwa wa). As a further proof of the Yoruba acceptance of the itsekiri, a prominent  Itsekiri Leader, Chief Ritalori Ogbebor is a member of the executive council of the  Yoruba Education Trust Fund (YETFUND) under the leadership of Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye who succeeded, the late Pa Ola Vincent, a one time Governor of the Central Bank.

    At the coronation of the new Olu, the Yoruba race was represented by the spiritual Head of the race, the newly crowned Ooni of Ife, HRM, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi 1 and the political head, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, With the above antecedent, the question may be asked that at what point did the Itsekiri’s discover that they were of no Yoruba origin?  Otherwise why should the former Crown Prince and son of the immediate past Ogiame Atuwase be denied the throne simply because his mother is a Yoruba and not Edo or itsekiri as demanded by their culture?

    As a member of an international press to the North Korea in 1985, I asked a professor who was interacting with us on international relations why there was no mention of God in that country. His response was ‘when we were fighting the Japanese, we did not see God; we only saw our great leader (Kim il sung)’. This may mean that quite unlike the Koreans, the Itsekiri’s are our kinsmen in times of war and remember they are Edo’s in peace time.

    Back home in Owo our people have a saying that “if you don’t eat yam because of palm oil, you eat palm oil because of yam” as they are inseparable. This proverb may not make meaning to the Itsekiris. The culture of accession to a throne in Yoruba land is patrilineal but this has been modified in some cases to accommodate exigencies. While the itsekiri are entitled to their culture, a culture that once allowed a prince born by a Portuguese woman  to be crowned the Olu but denied a prince born of a Yoruba woman  the throne leaves much to be desired. It is discriminating and unfair.It calls to question the genuineness of the itsekiri’s relationship with the Yoruba race.

    Perhaps if the Ooni had reflected on this affront to Yoruba race, he might have merely sent a delegation like the Oba of Benin to the coronation. Where do we go from here? Culture is said to be dynamic and therefore the itsekiri may need to take a second look at their succession laws to accommodate a prince born of a Yoruba woman if indeed they are related to the Yoruba race.

    The Odua race should see what has happened to their daughter and his son in Ode Itsekiri as not only an humiliation of the race but a rejection and may therefore  make this known to the people for remedy otherwise enough should be enough.

    Gboyega Amoboye, a public analyst, writes from Lagos.

     

  • What’ll tomorrow bring?

    What’ll tomorrow bring?

    It is a land in need of help. In its short history, things have moved at snail’s pace. Developments have been reluctant in coming. The difficult terrain has been an easy excuse for its leaders. Its poor have become poorer. Its rich richer. Some cry of hunger. Others cry of not knowing what to do with their money. Money is not their problem but how to spend it. Both camps, however, have something in common: they are all crying. But for different reasons.

    Welcome to Bayelsa State, the rich state with an army of poor people. Its Otuoke-born son and its most popular indigene, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, left power last May 29 as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    At a moment like this, I am tempted to ask: What does former President Jonathan make of the political impasse in his home state of Bayelsa? Happy? Sad? Unmoved? I have a feeling he is saddened at the turn of events. I would have loved to know his thoughts as the state gets another opportunity tomorrow to free itself from the ‘jagajaga’ that its attempt to choose its next governor has become. At a time like this, it is not unusual to look up to statesmen for direction.

    I am really worried for Bayelsa, which I have been to a couple of times. Odi, perhaps its second most popular town after Yenagoa, the capital, was what first took me to this state.  No thanks to the military invasion of the town during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. I was in the town to do a report on how the town had survived after the man-made disaster.

    On my visits to Bayelsa, prosperity had never confronted me. Poverty had always stared me in the face. The situation has not changed. The wealth of the state is in the hands of a few who really do not reside there. Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt are where they have their homes. Yenagoa is only a cash-cow to them.

    For the people who live in Nembe, Ogbia, Brass and others, life is brutish. Eking out daily living is akin to being on the war front. Fathers are forced to become irresponsible because the common wealth is in the hands of a few. Mothers struggle to take care of their children.

    Thousands, if not millions, are poor, stinking and not sure of where the next meal will come from. They live in the creeks. Their houses, made of wood, are covered with palm fronts, which they have to change from time to time as they wither away.

    For them, luxury is a stranger. It is something they hear about and see when the rich choose to throw their weight about. Some of the children cannot go to school. The reason is obvious. What leaders call free education is a mirage.

    But, do they really have any reason to be poor? I don’t think so. They were born into wealth. Niger Delta, where the oil of Nigeria’s prosperity is drilled, and of which Bayelsa is a key part, fuels the country’s engine. Yet the people live as though they have sinned and come short of the glory of God to be consigned to that sort of existence. It is not really God that they have sinned against. It is their leaders, the men leading them.

    In some communities in this great state, the multinationals have their flow stations so close to homes. They send out gas flares throughout the day and the only way to differentiate between night and day is to check the clock. In many towns, oil pipelines are not underground. They are in the open. And often they burst or are burst and the soils are damaged in the process.

    Bayelsa people have shouted, protested and threatened violence over their fate; change has refused to come. It is as if the multinationals also has another licence: to send them all to their early graves so that their leaders can have all the wealth for themselves, including the little they manage to spend on basic amenities. This environmental genocide, as some have called it, is having serious effects on the people. Strange diseases are killing the people. Pregnant women are developing strange allergies, which the ill-equipped health centres can do nothing about.

    I have been told of several people with aggravated asthma, painful breathing, chronic bronchitis and decreased lung function. And don’t forget premature death. It is as though oil is more important than man.

    The governments, both at state and federal levels, are accomplices in this man’s inhumanity to man. To hell with the people once the royalty and dividends keep coming. It is a tale of ‘Papa Deceiving Pikin’. It is just a big game of deceit.

    Bayelsa is in a bad shape as the people of Southern Ijaw Local Government take the bold step of deciding who the next governor of the state is. There is a stalemate which only their votes can break.

    Already, allegations and counter-allegations are flying about. Bayelsa, the ‘small’ state with the least local government areas in the country, has been turned upside down. This state, with only eight local government areas and with the bulk of its people unable to feed, has heard tales of how hundreds of millions were paid as bribes to tilt the pendulum one way or the other. It is in this state of confusion that the decisive votes will be cast tomorrow.

    Will the logjam be finally broken tomorrow? The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has promised to end the era of inconclusive polls. Tomorrow is a test for the electoral umpire. But aside the umpire, it is also a test for the two contenders: Governor Seriake Dickson and ex-Governor Timipre Sylva. Both men have accused each other of   all the wrongdoings possible. Tomorrow, we expect them to rein in their supporters. Violence should not be the name of the game.

    From INEC’s record, Dickson won in six of seven local government areas so far declared. Sylva won in one. For Sylva, Southern Ijaw, where his running mate hails from, was another place he was and is still sure of winning. His camp was and is still confident that with votes from Southern ijaw, his chances of being governor again were and are alive. They are not worried by Dickson’s win in six local governments, whose combined registered voters are just a little over Southern Ijaw’s. There are 120,827 registered voters in Southern Ijaw. So far, Dickson has 105,748 votes; Sylva has 71,794. Depending on what happens tomorrow, either can still carry the day. It is not quite won and lost yet.

    My final take: The Bayelsa stalemate needs to end tomorrow. The governor-elect must emerge and in an atmosphere of peace. Plans to use ex-militants to wreak havoc and swing the pendulum in whichever direction is not in the interest of the state and its people who need to be rescued and fast too.

  • Towards Cross River of Ayade’s dream

    Towards Cross River of Ayade’s dream

    More than seven months into the four years tenure of Governor Bene Ayade, there is no doubt that he has not only consciously worked and walked with a single purpose toward the realisation of his campaign promises. Through his superior workable concepts which endeared the people more to him, he has emerged as a leader and political  juggernaut of repute in Cross River.

    Within this period, Ayade has recorded reasonable achievements. Even the most unreasonable and greasiest of all critics knows that but deliberately concealed that within them as a result of pride and the pull him down syndrome. Others do so because they are influenced by external political forces out to get a pound of flesh on what may be seen as an attempt to get at Ayade to exert their real or imaginary vendetta.

    Ayade has been able to change the mindset of the majority of Cross Riverians from viewing themselves and the state as being poor to the realization that the most important wealth and resources of any society is a people with the right frame of mind, attitude and ideological base and culture, and not just the trillion of barrels of crude oil and other natural resources on reserve, though these natural resources are imperative and veritable stimulators of growth and development, yet not in isolation of the human resources.

    Though civil and public service jobs are a vital employment tools and developmental ingredients, Ayade has been able to positively push away the mindset and orientation of the people from being at home while being refer to as a civil service state and people to the need to break loose and make an aggressive in-road into the private sector, the world of industries and entrepreneurship and technological innovation. In Ayade, many young Cross Riverians have been able to also come to term with the eternal truth that whatsoever can be conceived by the human mind can equally be reduced into concrete term, and that all that is required is the right attitude and the push to get at one’s set goal/target.

    Again, through the dexterity, audacity and the unquenchable determination  to provide sufficient hope in the a world currently swimming in despondency due to the global economic crunch, crash in the price of oil and other commodities and to change the conventional global held economic theory that whenever there is a global recession, the work force should be drastically compress, Ayade has chosen an unfamiliar but sane path and terrain of rather providing more job opportunities to put food in the tables of thousands of families in Cross River State.

    The traditional economic theory of reducing the size of the work force whenever there is a recession is a complete negation of the economy it strives fruitlessly to revamp. The simple logic is that when there is already hardship on the people and at the same times more persons are mindlessly thrown into the unemployment market, thereby compounding the recession crises. Keeping so many persons engaged and busy turn several persons from engaging in any antisocial activities and reducing crime in the society.

    Within a short time in office, Governor Ayade has established Cross River State as an undisputable voice , advocate and leader on the battle against the increasingly surging oceans and sea level, the scourging sun heat or global warming and the Noah-like flooding being experienced global, called, “Climate Change”. Ayade who led other African governors to the 2015 Summit on climate change in Paris, France, spoke forcefully in support of the continent which suffers greatly from the activities of the multinationals and the need for the United Nations and other relevant world bodies to channel resources to assist Africa which takes the greater burden of the climate change.

    Blessed with one of the world’s best remaining rain forests which is home to several endangered species, and working tirelessly to manage and conserve the forests for the good of the world, Ayade has brought in an innovation into the Carnival Calabar by introducing the Green Carnival, the first of its kind in the continent of Africa to stress the importance with which his administration attaches to the issue of climate change as 5 million trees are to be planted as part of the concerted efforts to checkmate climate change with its devastating effects on mankind. The theme of carnival was also hinged on climate change.

    Ayade paradigm shift from the mundane ways of economic reasoning and his phenomenal strides in the arts of statecraft and governance has stand him out as a leader with great, articulate mind with ideas and innovations to drive development to the state, though there are a few who are yet to come to term with Ayade’s leadership style which to them is not in tune with what they know or the business as usual way of doing things.

    It was based on this reality that sometime last year, Barrister Venatius Ikem in his article, “ The Ayade Phenomenon and the Crisis of Confidence in Cross River State”, agreed that Ayade comes into government with a daring steps to effect   revolution in governance, a paradigm shift to a system which left some persons “bemused, sometimes confused and even disappointed”. He however added by asking the following questions, “is his zeal to develop the state not showing? In other words no matter your opinion of Governor Ayade and the direction of his government, don’t you think his efforts however you perceive them, are directed at achieving something positive for the state”?

    Governor Ayade’s effort to bring in innovation to statecraft and governance, boost the avenue of sourcing for funds for social services and infrastructural development in a state like Cross River with very negligible share from the federation has attracted some misgiving from some persons who feels that the governor has refused to draw the line between business which is purely profit making and government which is service to the people. They also posited that the government new innovation in the art of governance was alien to them, not the normal way of doing things known to them. It is true that some persons find it difficult to accept or get adjusted to change, more so when they feel the change is sudden or that they cannot directly and immediately benefit from such change. But are the above position and accusations true?

    Is it true that government now and always has nothing to do with business and profit making, and that the Ayade leadership’s paradigm shift is deliberately forcing a bitter pile down the throats of the citizens and that his government does not have a human face? Certainly, this is not true as it is a misrepresentation of Ayade administration stand for and has demonstrated for the past seven months.

    First, it is historically verifiable that in an egalitarian and democratic society all over the world, Nigeria and Cross River State in particular, government had involved in business and still does so. For example, the former South-Eastern state of Nigeria (now Cross River and Akwa Ibom States), business outfits such as the liquidated Mercantile Bank and Manila Insurance were established as profit making outfits. The Government Printers, Cross River State Newspaper Corporation and CRBC were established as profit making outfits to handle government printing businesses, handle jobs from members of the public on profit basis, while at the same time serve as government mouth piece/information organ to the people and the carrier of the demands of the people to the government. Tinapa was established with government interest to make profit, just as the Calabar International Convention Centre (CICC), among others.

    Again it is impossible for a governor who within his seven six months in office has abolished tax payment for the poor and low income earners in the state, embarked on regular payment of salary to state workers, even before the end of each month, lifted a 13 years embargo on employment and has concluded plans to build 5,000 houses which will be provided with electricity and water for the poor and the voiceless in Cross River State. The enabling law and the Agency to take charge of the 5,000 houses is already in place with several other people-oriented laws now passed and bills yet to be passed into law. The above achievements and policy thrust of Governor Ayade does not portray a wicked business man and a bourgeoisie who accumulate wealth at the expense of the masses but a true friend of the ordinary man and woman on the street.

    Within the very short period under review, the administration of Ayade has attracted 500 Million Euros on PPP arrangement for the signature projects and another 10 billion US dollars from Henan Provincial Government of China for the building of China city in Cross River State including building Africa’s haulage centre in the state.

    In seven month under governor Ayade, ongoing work at the garment factory that will employ about 2000 persons mostly women and widows in particular is at advance stage, groundbreaking for the signature projects performed, most of the streets in Obudu town, one of the five urban centres in the state are now being lid up by power driven by diesel turbines and is currently providing pipe borne water to more than 3,000 families in Obudu, thereby fulfilling the promise he made to the people during his thanksgiving service last year.

    Between May 29, 2015 to December 31, 2015, Senator Ben Ayade has effectively laid a rock-solid base for the realisation of the his development blueprint including the building of a new city, Calas Vergas in Calabar and other cities in the senatorial districts generation of additional 90 megawatts electricity, setting up of a state security outfit tagged “Operation Skolombo”, a poultry and a Rice city.

    Ayade is not beclouded; he has a crystal clear vision and direction on how the administration was going to administer the people, employing the scarce resources of the state for the good of all citizens. It is based on this reality that in his inaugural speech, he asserted that there was need that “Every foot is on the pedal, we aim to harness new ideas and technology to reconstruct our state, reform our schools to guarantee first class education for our youth and empowerment our citizens with the skills they need to engage a brave new world”!

    • Ulayi and Asha are media aides to the Cross River State governor

     

  • NACA holds outreach in Rivers

    NACA holds outreach in Rivers

    A five-day free multi-disease medical outreach targeted at under privileged and rural dwellers have been concluded in Khana Local Government Area in Rivers State by the Federal Government.

    The programme was designed to create awareness on the dreaded disease in order to check its spread, especially among the riverine populace.

    The outreach, which took place in Bori and Taabaa Communities of Khana, also offered free BP checks, HIV counseling, malaria test and treatment, MBI assessment blood glucose check deworming and clinical consultation.

    Flagging-off the event the Deputy Director, Policy and strategy, NACA, Dr. Chidi Nwanemeka expressed delight at the massive turnout.

    He described the outreach as a demonstration of Federal Government determination to provide efficient and affordable health care to every Nigerian.

    Dr. Nwanemeka assured that necessary provisions are in place to replicate the outreach across all the Local Government Areas in the country in order to achieve set goals.

    Dr. Francis Naziga of Rivers State Agency for Control of Aids lauded the initiate and sued for sustenance.

    He assured NACA of the  government readiness for effective partnership to curtail the spread of AIDS and treatment of other prevalent diseases.

    Beneficiaries who spoke lauded the Federal Government for bringing the free health services closer to the people. Over four thousand people benefitted from the exercise.

    Dignitaries at the occasion included Comrade Lovina Nwaidam who stood in for Khana Local Government Council Boss, royal fathers, youth groups and political leaders.