The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • Semenitari promises better NDDC

    Semenitari promises better NDDC

    President Muhammadu Buhari, in his determination to make life better for the people of the crude oil and gas-rich Niger Delta, on December 21, 2015, appointed the immediate past Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, as the Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    The Federal Government’s intervention agency (NDDC) was established in year 2000 by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    Semenitari hails from coastal Opobo, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State.

    As at the time of her appointment on December 21, Semenitari was in Abuja and without wasting time and in order to hit the ground running, thereby quickly cleaning the rot in NDDC, she moved to Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital on December 22 and was received by a large crowd at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa.

    The airport’s tumultuous crowd consisted of beautifully-dressed women in uniform, and other eminent persons from the nine states of the Niger Delta: Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ondo, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Imo and Abia, with many people singing, drumming, dancing and waving at the new NDDC boss in admiration, before joining her car.

    The hardworking and foremost journalist quickly moved to the corporate headquarters of the commission on the Port Harcourt-Aba Expressway, with the outgoing managing director, Bassey Dan-Abia, a lawyer and an indigene of Akwa Ibom state, who was two years in office on December 18, handing over to her at NDDC’s Boardroom on the eighth floor of the office complex.

    The Rivers chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) also lauded President Buhari for appointing hardworking Semenitari as NDDC’s helmsman, describing the decision as a step in the right direction, in order to move the Niger Delta forward.

    APC, through its Rivers Publicity Secretary, Chris Finebone, said: “We thank President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing Mrs. Ibim Semenitari as Acting Managing Director of NDDC.

    “The leadership and entire members of the Rivers State Chapter of the APC wish to, most profoundly, thank President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, for finding one of us, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, worthy for appointment as the Acting Managing Director of NDDC.”

    Semenitari, while addressing the directors and other top officials of the commission, shortly after the handing over at NDDC’s corporate headquarters in Port Harcourt, promised to ensure a better life for Niger Deltans,.

    She noted that she understood what the challenges and issues confronting the crude oil and gas-rich, but marginalised region were, stressing that she had in-depth knowledge of what NDDC ought to be doing.

    The distinguished journalist, who spoke extempore, said:  “In all of my working life, I have agitated for better life for the Niger Delta, because I am a firm believer in the fact that we are the goose that lays the golden eggs. We have a right to benefit there from. In all of my working life as a journalist, I have made it my responsibility to expose the ills that have bedevilled the region. So, I have a clear understanding of what the issues are in this region. As a reporter, I have covered matters in NDDC. I was there from the first day. I was there at the launch of the master plan. I did stories about it. So, I have indepth knowledge of what this commission ought to be doing.

    “I have followed events, not just as a journalist, but as somebody who has worked in this region. Therefore, I understand what our challenges are. It is now time, by the grace of God, for me to do my part. When I was told about this appointment, the first thing I said was that God keeps and places us in time and space for a reason. So, at this time, it has pleased God to put me in this place. I have a responsibility, first to God. Secondly to the President and Commander-in-Chief, to make sure that his vision, which is the development of the Niger Delta, comes to pass. I owe it to my region, to defend it and develop it..”

    The new managing director also reiterated that hers was an acting position, with absolutely no time.

    She said: “What that means for the directors and other members of staff of this commission is that you will forgive me, because we will have pressure-pot pressure.

    “For the sake of our region, it means we will take away a little bit of your sleep, but I am sure you will be satisfied, when you see the results of the loss of sleep.”

    Dan-Abia stated that he tried his best, while at the helm of affairs at the commission and had no regrets.

     

     

  • Women dump idol worshiping as foundation empowers 609 widows

    Women dump idol worshiping as foundation empowers 609 widows

    One of the objectives for the establishment of Alice Worluh’s Widows Foundation is to empower only “born again” widows and to discourage idol worshipping among women in Rundele, Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State. With the foundation’s consistent efforts for more than six years in partnership with the head of churches in the area, over three million widows have benefited from the foundation.

    Three widows, who were homeless, got one-room each built for them by the foundation. At the seventh edition of the foundation’s end of year party at St. John Anglican Church, Rundele, over 609 widows benefited from food items and other relief materials.

    The widows, who were overwhelmed with the foundation’s gesture, said many women who were worshiping idols have embraced God.

    Some of the beneficiaries, who spoke to Niger Delta Report, thanked the chairman of the foundation, Hon. Lucky Worluh, for his idea which has added more souls into the kingdom of God. They called on privileged individuals to emulate the foundation by addressing the challenges of women, especially poor widows in the area.

    Mrs. Priscilla Ogbu, one of the beneficiaries, said she is glad that the foundation has made many people to embrace God.

    “Women in this area will forever remain grateful to the foundation; the most important thing is that three poor widows, who have no house to sleep, today have a roof under their heads. You can see how happy these widows are because the foundation has provided them with relief materials, wrappers, and rice.

    Another beneficiary, Mrs.Veronica Ogbuvu said Almighty God will meet the needs of Hon. Worluh who has decided to carry the burdens of widows in the area.”God has been using Hon. Worluh to provide for us through his foundation.  I am not happy being a widow but I am glad to be one of those receiving from the free will donation of the foundation. Apart from this yearly donation to widows, the foundation has also done so well in the area of medical service to widows.”

    Mrs Queeneth  Worluh, the wife of the Chairman of Alice Worluh Widow  Foundation, said whatever the family is doing today  is by God’s grace.

    She noted that the foundation has become popular that her family is now planning to extend the gesture to other widows from various communities in Rivers State. She promises to always support her husband to ensure that the foundation continue to impart positively to the lives of widows in the area.

    Mrs Worluh said:  “It has been my prayers that God should use me to bring more souls to God and I think this dream has been achieved by His grace. I have always supported my husband morally and financially. I want to use this opportunity to call on other well meaning Nigerians to always remember the poor. I know that it takes the grace of God to give alms, but with the testimonies we have received through the foundation assistance to the poor widows, I have realized that there are so much benefits in giving and helping the less privilege in our society.”

    Worluh said the foundation was established to discourage widows from worshiping idols and to show love to those who accept Christ as their personal Saviour. He said the five communities in the area have over 100 churches and he had always made it compulsory that beneficiaries must come from the list of their pastors and must not be politicised.

    He said: “My mother was a widow and I realised that when a widow needs the children school fees or any of the basic needs she will shed tears. In fact, everything about them is to cry but today we are here not to cry but to dance, celebrate and share whatever we have with one another because this is what God has led me to do. Another thing that gladdens my heart is that those widows who use to worship idols have abandoned it to worship God. In spite of so many challenges that affected our income this year. God in His way of doing things provided more than what we needed. The number of beneficiaries this year is greater than every other year yet we were able to make them happy.

    “Widows are the people of God, and I am interested in their welfare. This has been a yearly programmme, and I derive joy in reaching out to widows. The programme is a kind of covenant my family has entered with God. I prefer giving to the widows than partying with the rich.”

  • Disenchantment over Senator Rose Oko in Cross River

    Disenchantment over Senator Rose Oko in Cross River

    For most constituents of the northern senatorial district in Cross River State, represented in the Senate by Mrs Rose Oko, there appears to be a sense of disenchantment. The senator, who during the build up to the elections had kept making headlines for emerging winner despite the people not knowing her whereabouts, is in the news again.

    This time from it is from the people she represents, particularly those who worked for her emergence.

    According to them, they are being shortchanged, as her alleged continuous absence in the Senate, was not to their advantage.

    According to a former leader of Yala local Government Council and member of the Peoples Democratic Party Elders Forum, Mr Gabe Usibe, the people of the northern senatorial district are displeased over her “abysmal and lackluster representation at the national assembly as evident in her silence and conspicuous absence during plenary.”

    While charging the senator to up her game and be more sensitive to her constituents, Usibe said: “I express the public opinion towards her level of ingratitude to the people of Yala local government area and the northern senatorial district without words of gratitude to the people despite the sacrifice made delivering her at the polls, even at wake of anomic outburst.”

    Usibe, who is also the Coordinator of the Northern Cross River Parliament, advised the people of the northern senatorial district to be conscious of such imposition in the future.

    He also advised northern leaders to be more cohesive and wary of what he described as the senator’s antics to enable them deliver on their mandates.

    He expressed worry at the relationship between political leaders in the north and their subordinates stressing that premium has always been placed on supporters from other senatorial districts in the state than those from the north, an attitude he described as political servitude.

    He charged the youths to desist from all forms of social vices in order not to be used as thugs because they would always be abandoned, bearing the last election in mind.

    His words, “We were giving a bitter pill to swallow in terms of her aspirations to the senate. We supported her because we felt she would be a sensitive representative, but to our chagrin, she has not met the expectations of the people in terms of her capability. As a people we regret our support for Rose Oko, and I feel it is more or less nemesis on us that we are getting what we are getting now. It is nemesis because we had all the wherewithal to say no to such an imposition, but we kept quite because of whatever. She was abroad receiving medical treatment. She did not partake in the primaries and all, but we still went ahead to support her.

    “I would ask her to resign. If she can no longer function as the senator, let her resign because it is obvious, that he lacks the capacity to represent us as a people.”

    While commending Governor Ben Ayade for his signature projects, he urged Cross Riverians to be law abiding, dutiful and prayerful for the government.

    He urged that the people be patient with the governor to deliver on the promises he has made.

  • Happy New Year

    Happy New Year

    Last year died yesterday. A New Year is here. It is 2016. This year promises to be interesting for the people of the Southsouth. The states to watch out for are Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom. Cross River, Edo and Delta will be interesting too but for now, they seem to occupy the backseats. At least from what we can see now.

    On January 9, the people of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area will resolve the jigsaw that the Bayelsa State governorship election has become.

    The last time the people went to the poll, there were gun shots in the air. Poor men suffered. Big men felt pain. Men threw caution to the wind. Brawn replaced brain.  Personal interest won a contest against general interest. It will not be out of place to say hell came down.

    Before the contest, the two main contenders, Governor Seriake Dickson and ex-Governor Timpre Sylva threw serious jibes at each other. Sylva called Dickson a ‘guy man governor’. Dickson described his rival as a ‘bush man’.

    At the end of the first day of voting, the people of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, which is said to be home to 33 per cent of the voters in the state, with over 120, 000 registered voters, could not vote. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said the security situation in the area was not conducive for its men to conduct the poll. It rescheduled the election for the next day.

    Dickson criticised INEC for deciding to hold the election on Sunday. He said there was need for adequate security to be put in place before the poll could hold. This was an opinion Sylva did not share. As far as he was concerned, the election could go on.

    The election held as planned but when it was time to announce the result, all hell broke loose. By that time, INEC had announced the result in seven of the eight local government areas in the state. Of the seven, Dickson had won in six. Sylva won in one. For Sylva, Southern Ijaw, where his running mate hails from, was another place he was sure of winning. His camp was confident that with votes from Southern ijaw, his chances of being governor again were alive. They were not worried by Dickson’s win in six local governments, whose combined registered voters were just a little over Southern Ijaw’s.

    Dickson was not unaware of the danger Southern Ijaw votes could do to his political career. That explained why he kept shouting against the process in Southern Ijaw right from the beginning. He even ordered his supporters to take to the streets to protest against the release of the result from Southern Ijaw, which he said had been doctored by the APC.

    Eventually, INEC cancelled the election in Southern Ijaw. Dickson was happy. Sylva was not. The electoral body said because of irregularities it could not announce the result. Violence, ballot snatching and intimidation of electoral officers were the irregularities complained about. Dickson had 105,748 votes; Sylva had 71,794 from seven of the eight local governments in the state. And with more than 120,827 voters registered in Southern Ijaw, INEC could not declare a winner since Sylva could still garner enough to upstage Dickson.

    Will the stalemate end on January 9? It needs to. We do not need inconclusive polls this year.

    Dear Rivers and Akwa Ibom will also be on our minds this month. The Court of Appeal last year declared Governors Nyesom Wike and Udom Emmanuel not validly elected. Both are on appeal to the Supreme Court, which is expected to give its verdicts on the two men later this month. Chances that the people of these states will return to the polls cannot be ruled out.

    In Wike’s case, both the tribunal and Court of Appeal agreed he was not validly elected. Emmanuel’s election was partially cancelled by the tribunal but the Court of Appeal disagreed and directed that fresh poll should be conducted throughout the state.

    Aside Wike, almost all members of the National Assembly from the state have to face fresh polls. Sixteen members of the House of Assembly also have to face fresh polls. More may follow depending on the outcome of the petitions at the Court of Appeal. What this means is that almost all elected officials in the state have been found not duly elected. If the Supreme Court agrees with the tribunal and the Court of Appeal, Wike will join the men declared illegally declared winners in Rivers.

    For me, an earlier Supreme Court ruling on electoral dispute in Rivers may play a big role in deciding Wike’s fate. Last year, the governor had challenged the relocation of the Election Petition Tribunal to Abuja. In resolving the matter, the apex court had this to say:  “In the instant case, it was the President of the Court of Appeal that relocated the tribunal to Abuja because of insecurity. It was this situation that demanded for a doctrine of necessity which made the President of the Court of Appeal to relocate the tribunal to Abuja to protect the lives of the members of the panel… It is necessary to protect members of the panel by relocating them from the theatre of war to where their lives will be secured.”

    Before the apex court’s decision, Wike had failed at the lower level on this matter. He also suffered setback at the Appeal Court.

    What struck me in the judgment was the apex court’s description of Rivers as a theatre of war. The justices agree with the Appeal Court President that there was insecurity in Rivers and the lives of the tribunal members could be in danger. With this kind of position already taken by the apex court, will it now say there was no violence in Rivers and the poll was free and fair? We will soon know.

    Those who died in Rivers before and during the polls are clear evidence that the state was a theatre of war. Of all the killings, those of the Adubes caught the public’s attention more. Their killers showed no mercy. In one fell swoop, nine persons, including a father, his two sons and daughter were killed. The Adube family members are still in tears and are seeking justice.

    Those killed are: former Caretaker Committee Chairman of Ogba/Egbema/ Ndoni Local government, the late Hon. Christopher Adube, his two sons Lucky and John, his daughter Joy,  a family friend Iyk Ogarabe and the family driver, Mr.  Samuel Chukwunonye. Two of his children are alive but practically crippled.

    My final take: The people should have the final say. This year, men who rely on violence and fraud to lord themselves over the people will not have their way. They will be frustrated by forces they have absolutely no control over. Their efforts will not be crowned with success. Failure, failure and failure will be their lot.

    And lest I forget, Happy New Year folks. Let’s do this again next week.

     

  • College celebrates 20th anniversary in Port Harcourt

    College celebrates 20th anniversary in Port Harcourt

    •Discloses plan to expand school to the Southsouth 

    The Board of Governors of Trinity International College Ofada, Ogun state says it would establish the school in the South-south of the country to give more parents opportunity to give the desired quality education to their children.

    The chairman of the Board, Samuel Olatunji spoke at the 20th anniversary celebration of the college held in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital recently.

    Olatunji said the plan was concluded 10 years ago but was suspended following increased cases of insecurity in the area, but said the Board has no choice to implement the plan any soon to allow parents and their wards who have been hindered by distance the chance to access the kind of education they desire.

    “We don’t have a choice, it is a question of time because we cannot remain only a Lagos school forever, the country is growing and our kind of school will be needed and the South-south and Port Harcourt is one area that we have drawn a lot of students overtime, going be this,  it is only natural that the school  be built here as well.”

    The college he said was founded in 1995 to fill the gap created by decay in education sector of the country by restoring the lost qualities, values, commitments, uprightness that used to be the norm in the sector before.

    “Trinity International College is a secondary school we started 20 years ago basically for our own children because of the concern we had at that time for the state of education in the country, morals were going down, a lot of crisis in the sector, we were just very highly concerned about the state of affairs and thought of how we were going to solve the problem at our level, so we challenged ourselves and started the school.

    “The early days of the school was dominated by our own children because that was the primary motivation and the values we set out to impact and we went about it, the commitment and the passion, that became clear to many more people and they sent in their wards, and the college has since then continued to grow. It is today one of the largest private secondary schools in the country.” He said.

    Speaking on what distinguishes the college from other schools said, “Commitment to work, values, academic excellence, uprightness among others and in this 20 years we have continued to keep to our focus and ensure that everybody does his work, with those values kept to the letter.”

    He said the celebration was shifted to the Southsouth as a way to express the high level of patronage the school has enjoyed from inception from residents of this area, especially Port Harcourt.

    “Right from the year we started, parents from this part of the country have been part of the college family and increasingly so overtime.” “… a large amount of support has come from here as well and we’ve also noticed that it will not be easy for every of our parent from this area to come to Lagos for this, it is only proper for us to come to our second largest catchment base (the South-south), to stage the celebration, as a way to show our gratitude for being a part of our family.”

    Parents who spoke at the occasion extols the virtues of the school and expressed their satisfaction with their qualities and standard.

    The chairman of the event and one f the parents, Ugochukwu Ohuabunwa, described the college as being original. He said the passion of the founders in running and growing a school in its original form is a distinguishing factor. He called on school operators to put aside quick profiteering in education business.

    “Education is not a quick profit oriented business, but a sustainable investment development which has to take a long time before yielding profit, and Trinity International College is a typical example of how school business should be ran.” He stated.

     

  • Disenchantment over Senator Rose Oko in Cross River

    Disenchantment over Senator Rose Oko in Cross River

    For most constituents of the northern senatorial district in Cross River State, represented in the Senate by Mrs Rose Oko, there appears to be a sense of disenchantment. The senator, who during the build up to the elections had kept making headlines for emerging winner despite the people not knowing her whereabouts, is in the news again.

    This time from it is from the people she represents, particularly those who worked for her emergence.

    According to them, they are being shortchanged, as her alleged continuous absence in the Senate, was not to their advantage.

    According to a former leader of Yala local Government Council and member of the Peoples Democratic Party Elders Forum, Mr Gabe Usibe, the people of the northern senatorial district are displeased over her “abysmal and lackluster representation at the national assembly as evident in her silence and conspicuous absence during plenary.”

    While charging the senator to up her game and be more sensitive to her constituents, Usibe said: “I express the public opinion towards her level of ingratitude to the people of Yala local government area and the northern senatorial district without words of gratitude to the people despite the sacrifice made delivering her at the polls, even at wake of anomic outburst.”

    Usibe, who is also the Coordinator of the Northern Cross River Parliament, advised the people of the northern senatorial district to be conscious of such imposition in the future.

    He also advised northern leaders to be more cohesive and wary of what he described as the senator’s antics to enable them deliver on their mandates.

    He expressed worry at the relationship between political leaders in the north and their subordinates stressing that premium has always been placed on supporters from other senatorial districts in the state than those from the north, an attitude he described as political servitude.

    He charged the youths to desist from all forms of social vices in order not to be used as thugs because they would always be abandoned, bearing the last election in mind.

    His words, “We were giving a bitter pill to swallow in terms of her aspirations to the senate. We supported her because we felt she would be a sensitive representative, but to our chagrin, she has not met the expectations of the people in terms of her capability. As a people we regret our support for Rose Oko, and I feel it is more or less nemesis on us that we are getting what we are getting now. It is nemesis because we had all the wherewithal to say no to such an imposition, but we kept quite because of whatever. She was abroad receiving medical treatment. She did not partake in the primaries and all, but we still went ahead to support her.

    “I would ask her to resign. If she can no longer function as the senator, let her resign because it is obvious, that he lacks the capacity to represent us as a people.”

    While commending Governor Ben Ayade for his signature projects, he urged Cross Riverians to be law abiding, dutiful and prayerful for the government.

    He urged that the people be patient with the governor to deliver on the promises he has made.

  • Women dump idol worshiping as foundation empowers 609 widows

    Women dump idol worshiping as foundation empowers 609 widows

    •Three indigent widows get houses  

    One of the objectives for the establishment of Alice Worluh’s Widows Foundation is to empower only “Born Again” widows and to discourage idol worshipping among women from the five communities in Rundele, Emohua Local government area of Rivers State. With the foundation consistent efforts for more than six years in partnership with the head of churches in the area over three million widows have benefited from the foundation.

    Three widows who were homeless got one -room each built for them by the foundation. At the seventh edition of the foundation’s end of year Christmas free donation which took place at St. John Anglican Church Rundele, over 609 widows benefited from food items and other relief materials.

    The widows who were overwhelmed with the foundation’s Christmas gesture said for just to benefit from the foundation many women especially widows from the five communities who were before now worshiping idols have abandoned their families’ idols to worship God.

    Some of the beneficiaries who spoke to Niger Delta Report said they thanked the chairman of the foundation, Hon. Lucky Worluh for his idea which has added more souls into the kingdom of God. They called on privileged individuals to emulate the foundation by addressing the challenges of women especially poor widows in the area.

    Mrs. Priscilla Ogbu, one of the beneficiaries said she is glad that the foundation has made many people to embrace God. “Women in this area will forever remain grateful to the foundation; the most important thing is that three poor widows, who have no house to sleep, today have a roof under their heads. You can see how happy these widows are because the foundation has provided them with relief materials, wrappers, and rice.

    Another beneficiary, Mrs.Veronica Ogbuvu said Almighty God will meet the needs of Hon. Worluh who has decided to carry the burdens of widows in the area.”God has been using Hon. Worluh to provide for us through his foundation.  I am not happy being a widow but I am glad to be one of those receiving from the free will donation of the foundation. Apart from this yearly donation to widows, the foundation has also done so well in the area of medical service to widows.”

    For  Queeneth Lucky Worluh, the wife of the Chairman of Alice Worluh Widow  foundation said whatever the family is doing today  is by God’s grace. She noted that the foundation has become popular that her family is now planning to extend the gesture to other widows from various communities in Rivers State. She promises to always support her husband to ensure that the foundation continue to impart positively to the lives of widows in the area.

    Queeneth said:  “It has been my prayers that God should use me to bring more souls to God and I think this dream has been achieved by His grace. I have always supported my husband morally and financially. I want to use this opportunity to call on other well meaning Nigerians to always remember the poor. I know that it takes the grace of God to give alms, but with the testimonies we have received through the foundation assistance to the poor widows, I have realized that there are so much benefits in giving and helping the less privilege in our society.”

    The chairman and founder of the Foundation, Hon. Lucky Worluh said the purpose of which the foundation was established was to discourage widows from worshiping idols and to show love to those who accept Christ as their personal Saviour. He said the five communities in the area have over 100 churches and he had always made it compulsory that beneficiaries must come from the list of their pastors and must not be politicized.

    Lucky said “My mother was a widow and I realized that when a widow needs the children school fees or any of the basic needs she will shade tears. In fact, everything about them is to cry but today we are here not to cry but to dance, celebrate and share whatever we have with one another because this is what God has led me to do. Another thing that gladdens my heart is that those widows who use to worship idols have abandoned it to worship God. In spite of so many challenges that affected our income this year. God in His way of doing things provided more than what we needed. The number of beneficiaries this year is greater than every other year yet we were able to make them happy.

    Widows are the people of God, and I am interested in their welfare. This has been a yearly programmme, and I derive joy in reaching out to widows. The programme is a kind of covenant my family has entered with God. I prefer giving to the widows than partying with the rich.”

     

     

  • Semenitari promises better NDDC

    Semenitari promises better NDDC

    President Muhammadu Buhari, in his determination to make life better for the people of the crude oil and gas-rich Niger Delta, on December 21, 2015, appointed the immediate past Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, as the Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    The Federal Government’s intervention agency (NDDC) was established in year 2000 by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    Semenitari hails from coastal Opobo, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State.

    As at the time of her appointment on December 21, Semenitari was in Abuja and without wasting time and in order to hit the ground running, thereby quickly cleaning the rot in NDDC, she moved to Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital on December 22 and was received by a large crowd at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa.

    The airport’s tumultuous crowd consisted of beautifully-dressed women in uniform, and other eminent persons from the nine states of the Niger Delta: Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ondo, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Imo and Abia, with many people singing, drumming, dancing and waving at the new NDDC boss in admiration, before joining her car.

    The hardworking and foremost journalist quickly moved to the corporate headquarters of the commission on the Port Harcourt-Aba Expressway, with the outgoing managing director, Bassey Dan-Abia, a lawyer and an indigene of Akwa Ibom state, who was two years in office on December 18, handing over to her at NDDC’s Boardroom on the eighth floor of the office complex.

    The Rivers chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) also lauded President Buhari for appointing hardworking Semenitari as NDDC’s helmsman, describing the decision as a step in the right direction, in order to move the Niger Delta forward.

    APC, through its Rivers Publicity Secretary, Chris Finebone, said: “We thank President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing Mrs. Ibim Semenitari as Acting Managing Director of NDDC.

    “The leadership and entire members of the Rivers State Chapter of the APC wish to, most profoundly, thank President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, for finding one of us, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, worthy for appointment as the Acting Managing Director of NDDC.”

    Semenitari, while addressing the directors and other top officials of the commission, shortly after the handing over at NDDC’s corporate headquarters in Port Harcourt, promised to ensure a better life for Niger Deltans,.

    She noted that she understood what the challenges and issues confronting the crude oil and gas-rich, but marginalised region were, stressing that she had in-depth knowledge of what NDDC ought to be doing.

    The distinguished journalist, who spoke extempore, said:  “In all of my working life, I have agitated for better life for the Niger Delta, because I am a firm believer in the fact that we are the goose that lays the golden eggs. We have a right to benefit there from. In all of my working life as a journalist, I have made it my responsibility to expose the ills that have bedevilled the region. So, I have a clear understanding of what the issues are in this region. As a reporter, I have covered matters in NDDC. I was there from the first day. I was there at the launch of the master plan. I did stories about it. So, I have indepth knowledge of what this commission ought to be doing.

    “I have followed events, not just as a journalist, but as somebody who has worked in this region. Therefore, I understand what our challenges are. It is now time, by the grace of God, for me to do my part. When I was told about this appointment, the first thing I said was that God keeps and places us in time and space for a reason. So, at this time, it has pleased God to put me in this place. I have a responsibility, first to God. Secondly to the President and Commander-in-Chief, to make sure that his vision, which is the development of the Niger Delta, comes to pass. I owe it to my region, to defend it and develop it..”

    The new managing director also reiterated that hers was an acting position, with absolutely no time.

    She said: “What that means for the directors and other members of staff of this commission is that you will forgive me, because we will have pressure-pot pressure.

    “For the sake of our region, it means we will take away a little bit of your sleep, but I am sure you will be satisfied, when you see the results of the loss of sleep.”

    Dan-Abia, earlier in his address, stated that he tried his best, while at the helm of affairs at the commission and had no regrets.

    He said: “My business will be to formally hand over to our sister, a true daughter of this region, somebody with track record, which I have no doubt in my mind will bring her wealth of experience to bear, in the administration of this commission.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

    It is a new dawn in NDDC, with the appointment of the hardworking and dogged journalist, who has promised to ensure real transformation of the region, thereby writing her name, once again, in gold.

  • NGO, ExxonMobil calls for legislation to curb VVF

    The Executive Director of an Uyo-based non-governmental organisation (NGO),  Community Partners for Development (CPD), Dr Nsekpong Udoh, working with the support of ExxonMobil,  has called for legislation to forestall incidence of Visco-Vaginal Fistula (VVF) disease.

    Udoh made the call in Uyo while speaking at the awareness seminar for representatives of women groups in Akwa Ibom recently.

    Dr. Nsekpong said that apart from creating awareness on the disease, government should ensure that child marriages were discouraged through enactment of law to punish offenders.

    She lamented that a lot of people living with VVF have been stigmatized and some divorced due to their health condition.

    “For long term solution, sensitization and legislation is needed because if there is a correct legislation about early marriages, teenage pregnancy would stop.

    “When a child is pregnant, they make sure such child goes through proper care and legislation in place,” she said.

    She decried that much had not been done by government in creating awareness on the disease as it was being done in HIV and other illnesses.

    She tasked the women groups to take the sensitization campaign to the rural areas, market places and even the church to check the control of the disease.

    Udoh noted that a lot of women in the rural areas were still suffering from VVF ignorantly without going to the hospital for treatment.

    The director said that her NGO had taken the sensitisation to all the three senatorial districts in Akwa Ibom to create awareness and prevent incidence of VVF in the state.

    She appealed to the state government to expand the VVF centre in Mbribit Itam near Uyo, adding that the centre had been overstretched being the only centre in the state.

    The State Director of Reproductive Health, Mrs Comfort Akpan, said that the public health directorate was committed to reducing the number of girls and women suffering from this VVF.

    Akpan, who was represented by Mrs Grace Okon, Family Planning Officer, State Ministry of Health, said that sensitization and awareness creation was the key to reducing the disease.

    She lamented statistics had shown that Nigeria had a higher burden of VVF than other countries of the world.

    She advised Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) to refer first pregnancy to the hospital for proper ante natal care to prevent the occurrence of the VVF.

    The representative of the Public and Government Affairs Department, ExxonMobil, Mr Eyo Bassey, commended the initiative of the NGO for organising the awareness seminar.

    Bassey said that as a good corporate citizen, ExxonMobil, would always support initiatives that would bring succour to the masses especially children and women on our society.

     

  • ‘Abudu town now a small London’

    Abudu, headquarters of Orhiomwon Local Government Area is now being described as a small ‘London’ in Nigeria by residents in the community. This is because of the 8.2 kilometers of roads being constructed in the community.

    Some of the roads, which were reconstructed, were first constructed during the military administration of Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia in the 70s.

    Roads within the community already completed are the Court Road, Maternity Road, Isonorho road and the old Benin-Asaba road with a bridge.

    Other roads with side drains, walkways and street lights have reached advanced stages of completion.

    Abudu has been a local government headquarter since the Midwest region era but had nothing to boast of in terms of infrastructural development when compared to other headquarters that were created in the 1990s.

    Residents of the community gave their verdict when Governor Adams Oshiomhole paid unscheduled visit to inspect road projects in the community.

    Spokesman of the community, Rev. Godwin Okoh described Abudu as a neglected city that has returned to light.

    He said the rebuilding of the Abudu township road network was like a dream come true.

    According to him, “It is like a dream come true to us that your Excellency has turned the hitherto neglected city of Abudu to ‘London’ within this short space of time.

    “We realize the tremendous amount of technology, financial input and quality of work which you have used to transform Abudu to this enviable condition which we are now enjoying. You have immortalized your name in Abudu forever.”

    Oshiomhole assured the people that his government would work in all parts of the state until the last day of the administration.

    He said: “The battle you see we are fighting with those godfathers who don’t want to pay tax, I prefer to continue to fight them so that people like those in Abudu will have things like this and other communities too.

    “When you listen to those prayers by those very elderly people, by young people, by old women, now, you go and put a woman to wear red, but that woman that is in her own house, almost topless, praying, those are the real prayers and people like that keep us going.

    “The first time the tractors came, the people didn’t quite believe. They were like, these politicians have started again, but as you can see, as the job progressed, they are excited. I am touched by the passion, the feelings, those elders who spoke by the road side. You can feel it from their voice and I am touched. For us, we have had to cut many other areas so that we can deliver on these major projects.  We will keep on trying. Things are tight but I have always said my responsibility is not to lament what has gone bad, poor resources, drop in oil price, no, that is not what governance is about.”