The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • Residents, motorists groan as Calabar-Itu Road gets worse

    Residents, motorists groan as Calabar-Itu Road gets worse

    In the past week, major national dailies hit the stands from noon in Calabar, the Cross River State capital. Normally, some newspapers arrive late sometimes due to issues associated with production or transportation, but the present situation is one that affects all.

    The fact that no resident of Calabar can buy any major national daily till noon in recent times is an indication that something is wrong. The problem is the terrible state of the Calabar-Itu Federal Highway, which is the only road through that vehicles conveying these papers can get into the city.

    In the past years, complaints about the poor state of the road and other federal roads in the state have become many. Constant protests, pleadings, petitions and news reports among others have done nothing to attract relevant authorities to do something about them. Several failed promises by the Federal Government over the years have become commonplace.

    It is undisputed that if there is something the state has in abundance, it is stretches of federal roads in utter states of disrepair.

    From Bakassi to Obanliku the condition of these roads mostly constructed in the 70s has been a source of misery for users.

    It is often said the state is so large that driving from some parts to another can last for seven hours or more. Mostly contributing to this is the poor state of federal roads which link up most of the 18 local government areas in the state. If the federal roads were in better shape, one would be able to make such trips in much shorter periods.

    Investigations revealed that they are 22 federal roads in the state spanning about 1,100km.

    Some of them are Calabar-Itu, Calabar-Ikom, Calabar-Ikang, Ikom-Ogoja, Ugep-Obubra, Ikom-Obudu, Ogoja-Obudu, Ogoja-Yala-yahe, Ogoja-Gakem-Vandikya, Mbok-Yahe, Okuku-Alifokpa, Ugep-Itigidi-Afikpo among others.

    An official of the Federal Ministry of Works who begged not to be named said about 80 per cent of the federal roads in the state need urgent attention.

    He said, “I can tell you that from our appraisal of the roads, they need total reconstruction to bring them to the capacity that can cope with the thousands of heavy duty trucks that ply them.”

    Most infamous of these roads are the Calabar-Itu and Calabar-Ikom roads, which are the only gateways by land in and out of the capital city, Calabar, where traffic activities are most intense.

    The Calabar-Itu road, especially, the Odukpani axis, which is the most strategic and economically viable of these two as it the shortest route to other south-south and south-east states, is worse off.

    Besides the accidents that occur on the road frequently, it is often that commuters have had to spend days on the road because of trucks that fall, causing serious traffic jams. At the moment tanker drivers have embarked on strike in protest against the condition of the road. The situation has led to scarcity of petrol in the capital city. This would not be the first time petroleum workers would be embarking on such strike. Saying the negative effect of the roads is far reaching on the lives of residents of the state and road users is simply stating the obvious.

    Recently, the problems of the users of the Calabar-Itu Road has been compounded by incessant torrential rains which have caused floods that cut of the road completely. This is responsible for the issue with the newspapers mentioned earlier.

    The problem, which is acute at the Ekenkpon Community axis of Odukpani local government area, has left thousands of commuters stranded on the road for hours.

    Residents of the area have even been sacked from their homes by the flood occasion by the poor condition of the road.   As ridiculous as it may sound, the road situation has become so bad that people have had to be ferried across by canoes. When a vehicle stops on one side of the flood, the passengers alight, then board a canoe for a fee, then continue the journey in another vehicle on the other side of the water.

    The overflow of water to the road has covered an area estimated to be about a kilometre. Many vehicles that had tried to brave the flood broke down. Many commuters have had to go back after spending hours on the road.

    In a bid to alleviate the suffering of road users in the state, the state governor, Prof Ben Ayade had promised the construction of a new 260km superhighway to be completed in four years, a project which many have expressed doubts about. Those who are optimistic about the new superhighway however feel that in the meantime something has to be done urgently about the existing roads.

    In response to the complaints associated with the bad state of the Calabar-Itu road, the Cross River state government on Tuesday, commenced intervention on the federal government road.

    The remedial measure is aimed at bringing quick relief to road users in the state.

    In a related development, Governor Ben Ayade has called on the tankers drivers who embarked on a strike as a result of the bad state of the road to call off their strike in the interest of Cross Riverians.

    Leading a state government delegation on an on the spot assessment of the road, the Chief of State to Governor Ayade, Mr. Martin Orin said as a responsive government, the administration views seriously the plights of its people, noting that the challenge on the road is of great concern to the state government.

    According to him, Cross River state is taking charge of the section of the roads that affects the state and appealed to its Akwa Ibom State counterpart to rehabilitate the section of the road that concerns the state.

    The Chief of Staff begged Cross Riverians and other road users to be patient with the state government, assuring them that everything was being done to alleviate their plights.

    Speaking on the level of intervention the state government intends to carry out on the road, the Director of Civil Works at the state Ministry of Works, Godwin Akeke, said: “It would require a whole lot of work. What you are seeing here are unsuitable materials. We intend to remove all the unsuitable materials impeding the road and replace them with hardcore to get the road to a very good state.

    “We don’t intend to do a temporary work, what we intend to do is what will stand the test of time and all agencies have been mobilised to ensure smooth flow of traffic as the work is going on.”

     

  • Board to support oil firms at Onne Free Zone

    Board to support oil firms at Onne Free Zone

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), has pledged to support oil and gas firms operating in the Oil and Gas Free Zone, Onne, and the Oil and Gas Services Centre both in Rivers State, to maximise their potentialities and address some of their challenges.

    The Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr. Denzil Kentebe made the promise when he led General Managers of Nigerian Content Development Divisions of international oil companies (IOCs) and other stakeholders in the oil and gas industry on tour of the facilities of the Oil and Gas Services Centre, Oil and Gas Free Zone, Onne.

    The tour was coordinated by Intels Nigeria Limited, a concessionaire in the zone whose integrated logistics services are dedicated to the oil and gas industry. The company showcased its investments in berthing facilities, ports operations equipment, offices and accommodation facilities, among others. The firms visited included Total Premier Services, Vallourec Oil and Gas, Titan Tubular, Tenaris and Pipe Coaters Nigeria Limited.

    Others include Cameron Valves and Measurements, West Atlantic Shipyard, OPMC, Remm Oil Services, Oando Rigs, One Subsea/Cameron Offshore and GE Subsea Facility, as well as the FMC Technologies, West African Ventures Yard and Adamac.

    The tour came on the heels of a similar visit by the delegates of the just-held Practical Nigerian Content Conference to the facilities at the zone.

    Speaking during the tour, Kentebe said the purpose of the visit was to get the industry to appreciate the capacities of companies operating in the oil and gas service centre and Free Trade Zone, noting that the Board was insisting on the utilisation of locally-manufactured inputs by the oil and gas industry and many of such activities were carried out in the zone.

    He expressed delight that many of the companies were engaged in value addition activities and manufacturing of components, which hold the key to real Nigerian content growth and employment creation.

    He encouraged companies operating in the zone to approach the Board if they experience challenges, adding that the NCDMB was willing to support any company seeking to domicile its operations in the country.

    On complaints from the operators of the West Atlantic Shipyard that the vessels they manufacture in the Zone were often taxed exorbitantly when they are moved out of the vicinity, Kentebe promised that the Board will engage relevant agencies of government to ensure that applicable tax policies do not negate the essence of establishing the zone. He urged the company to ensure that it restarts the manufacture of vessels aside from just carrying out dry docking of vessels. He noted that the Board will begin to give first consideration to locally-built vessels in tenders from next year.

    Explaining the company operations to the Executive Secretary after a tour of their rigs, the Managing Director of Oando Energy Resources, Mr. Bamidele Badejo said the company’s three rigs-OES Integrity, OES Respect and OES Teamwork were in good form and are ready to serve the industry.

    He further explained that the company invested $450 million in the acquisition of four rigs in furtherance of the Nigerian Content Act, adding that 600 people are employed when three of the rigs areworking. He pleaded with the Board to help the company secure business so they can retain all their staff and make their investment worthwhile.

    When the team visited OneSubsea, the officials explained that the company was assembling Christmas Trees for ExxonMobil’s Erha North project and 70 per cent of the project team is Nigerians. OneSubsea Offshore Systems is a leading provider of flow equipment products, systems and services to oil and gas and process industries.

    Officials of General Electric also told the Executive Secretary and his entourage that they repair and maintain Christmas Trees for the Shell Bonga project and other deepwater projects. He added that the Christmas Trees were dismantled and assembled back in their facility and returned to the production platforms offshore.

    In their presentation, officials of West African Ventures noted that the certifications offered by the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron to locally-trained seafarers were not accepted by the oil and gas industry and offered to upscale the capacity of their graduates to enable them acquire international certifications and skills they need to secure work.

    Speaking after conducting the entourage through the oil and Gas Services Centre in the Onne Free Zone, the Head, Public Relations and Nigerian Content, Intels Nigeria Limited, Mr. Isidore Sambol explained that his organisation was committed to the realisation of Nigerian Content in line with the policy thrust of the Federal Government for the oil and gas industry.

    He added that the plans for Onne Phase 4B project by Deep Offshore Services Limited would, on completion, double the present capacity of the services centre and create more jobs for Nigerians.

    The Phase 4B project is ongoing with dredging and reclamation works underway for the construction of an additional 2,000sqm jetty with a 12m draft at low tide. Others include 600 hectares of industrial area, an inner channel and turn basin. These projects are aimed at investors on fabrication, manufacturing, integrations services, spool base and dockyard.

    Mr. Sambol noted that the Oil and Gas Free Zone, Onne is only 40 per cent utilised and called on investors to take advantage of the Federal Government’s incentives for operating in the Zone.

  • For Ken, for Niger Delta

    For Ken, for Niger Delta

    Time has no wings. Yet, it flies. It flies so high that we often lose track of things past. It flies so high that the labour of our heroes past often ends up in vain.

    Today, I remember Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa. Today, I remember Niger Delta. Today, I remember Rivers, Saro-Wiwa’s state.

    It has been 20 years since Saro-Wiwa was killed. November 10 made it 20 years that the military junta of the late Gen. Sani Abacha chose to go for the messenger rather than the message.

    A lot of water has gone under the proverbial bridge since then. Ogoni, the significant part of Rivers State which Saro-Wiwa fought and died for, is still on its throes. Shell’s evil deeds on its land are still telling on the health and wealth of the people. Many other oil-bearing communities in Rivers State are also down on their knees. No thanks to Shylocks masquerading as oil giants.

    Things are not looking up for the larger Rivers too. The state is on break. The political impasse over the last violence-ridden general elections has ensured the state remains on vacation. Forget claims that the last general elections were violence-free. The Supreme Court said the state was a ‘theatre of war’. The apex court could not have captured it better because for months, men without spine, men of brawn put Rivers State, the Lagos of the South-south, on the spot. It was either they were shooting guns or they were throwing bombs. And when they did it, they hid their faces. They acted most times under the cover of the dark and daylight.

    Aside guns and dynamites, they also used machetes and other dangerous weapons. Heads were broken. Necks were twisted. Arms had hot leads pumped into them. And there was a woman whose back was reshaped with bullets. It was simply a tale of blood.

    Of all the killings in Saro-Wiwa’s dear Rivers State, 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 members of Adube family are still in tears and are seeking justice.

    Those killed are: former Caretaker Committee Chairman of Ogba/Egbema/ Ndoni Local Government Area, 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.

    The larger Niger Delta too still grapples with a lot of issues. Decades before the birth of the Presidential Amnesty Programme and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Niger Delta, where Nigeria derives the bulk of its revenue, witnessed agitations. The people expressed unhappiness over the way they were neglected. Their farms were polluted by oil spills. Their streams were taken over by crude oil. Their health worsened. And their existence was seriously threatened.

    Close to the year of the birth of the Amnesty Programme, the agitation had taken a new twist. Before the deadly twist, Saro-Wiwa had been judicially murdered. Several other people had been killed by security operatives under one guise or the other. With intellectual [and environmental] activists such as Saro-Wiwa out of the way, another generation of activists took over. This set believes if you make peaceful change impossible, you make violent change inevitable. They also believe it is illegal to be lawful in a lawless environment. So, they took to arms in their quest to prove a point.

    They damaged oil pipelines at a devastating speed. They bombed military boat houses. They siphoned barrels of oil.  No thanks to these dare-devils, oil installations were blown up and oil workers were afraid to go to the rigs and others. The economy bled. The country was losing billions of Naira daily.

    NDDC’s mandate was to develop Niger Delta. But, its activities meant nothing to the militants who were set to bring down the country unless the region was given control over its resources. The impact the NDDC could have made was limited by the fact that its dues were not given to it. The statutory payments that should be made to it were withheld by all arms of government. It ran into trillions of Naira and all efforts to get the money released for the betterment of the people did not work.

    Things were getting worse by the day. They were still in that terrible state when the administration of the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was inaugurated on May 29, 2007. That the then President was uncomfortable with the state of war in the Niger Delta soon showed. First, he created the Ministry of the Niger Delta. Pronto, the government set up a technical committee to review all existing reports on the region.

    The committee, headed by Saro-Wiwa’s right hand man and ex-President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Ledum Mittee, recommended an increase of the derivation fund from 13 per cent to 25 per cent. It also recommended open trial for one of the faces of the arms struggle, Mr. Henry Okah who was then in detention in Angola. Another of its recommendation, which led to the Amnesty Programme, is that youths in the region must be disarmed through a credible Decommissioning, Disarmament and Rehabilitation (DDR) process.

    The late Yar’Adua knew something urgent must be done to rescue the situation. He needed to save the country from international embarrassment that the arms struggle had become. By then, there had been reports of militants partaking in piracy activities on the Gulf of Guinea, a development which had seen the governments of Equatorial Guinea and Angola complaining to Yar’Adua at international meetings. Okah was mentioned by the two governments as being responsible for the piracy activities against their countries.

    Okah was a leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which had claimed responsibility for many of the kidnappings and the attacks on oil facilities in the region.

    By April 2009, the then President dissolved the board of the NDDC. Timi Alaibe, who was the Managing Director, however, got another job. He was appointed Special Adviser on Niger Delta Affairs. His major job, it turned out, was to midwife the birth of the Presidential Amnesty Programme. Two months after Alaibe’s appointment, Yar’Adua breathed life into me.

    The programme did not immediately bring excitement. Okah’s detention was a major factor for the insurgency’s leadership’s apathy to embrace it. Yar’Adua recruited Chief Tony Anenih, Dr Koripamo Agary and Dr Ferdinand Ikwang, among others, to assure the agitators that he was truthful about not victimising them after dropping their guns.

    Alaibe traversed the creeks persuading hard-line militant leaders to embrace me. He did not do it alone. He got Kingsley Kuku, the Arogbo-born ex-member of the Ondo State House of Assembly, who had worked with him as Special Assistant at the NDDC, to get Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo), Mujahhid Dokubo-Asari, General Shoot-at-sight and many other leaders of the arms’ struggle to sign up to Yar’Adua’s offer.

    Okah, who had by then been repatriated from Angola and was standing trial for treason at the Federal High Court, Jos, was a major issue in the refusal of many militant leaders to accept the programme. But, because Yar’Adua wanted the programme to succeed, he agreed to drop charges against Okah and on July 13, 2009, Okah became a free man.

    Between June 25 and October 4, 2009, 20,192 militants embraced the programme by handing over arms in excess of 20,000. Others who did not hand over their weapons initially because of the fear of the unknown later did before the deadline expired. Even after the deadline’s expiration, 6,166 more people, associated with it. Through the programme, over 30,000 ex-militants have been given a new lease of life.

    But despite all the efforts, Niger Delta still remains sick. The people are not reaping much from the huge revenue oozing out of their land. I ask: shall Niger Delta people be free?

    My final take: We must find an end to the social and environmental crisis and injustice exposed by Saro-Wiwa in the oil-rich and massively polluted Niger Delta. Oil companies, such as Shell, should stop dodging their responsibilities. They must prevent further spills, clean up, and provide adequate compensation to people affected by oil pollution. Shell should pay the chunk of the cost of the cleaning up of Ogoni land recommended by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).

    Rest well, dear Saro-Wiwa. Better years ahead, dear Niger Delta.

  • Philanthropy at the prisons

    Philanthropy at the prisons

    A former governor of Anambra State Virgy Etiaba has provided food items and other daily needs to prison inmates in the state. NWANOSIKE ONU reports

    On the day she turned 73 former governor of Anambra State Dame Virgy Etiaba was with people behind bars, moving from Awka, the state capital, to Ekwulobia and Nnewi.

    Since her days as deputy governor and governor, prison philanthropy has been a ritual.

    Marking this year’s anniversary, Etiaba provided many items to the physically challenged at Ozubulu in Ekwusigo Local Government Area. This was in addition to her gesture to the people behind bars.

    The items she gave to the inmates included 27 tins of vegetable oils, 17 tablets of medicated soap, 30 cartons of noodles, 78 bags of rice and 500 loaves of bread, among others.

    Etiaba, who left office as governor in 2010 christened her visit to the prisons “River in the Desert.”

    The inmates drummed and sang worship songs with special prayers.

    Two Assistant Controllers of prisons in Awka and Ekwulobia, Ejenam Chinedu and Paschal Ibegbunam said the prisons were faced with various challenges.

    These, according to them, included lack of water, petrol to power the generating sets, adding that the items also received from charitable organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and churches were not enough for the inmates.

    However, for Ejenam Chinedu, the workers in the prison are free prisoners, adding that they were in the same environment with the inmates.

    He said the prisons suppose to accommodate 414 inmates with 13 cells with each cell containing over 30 inmates, adding that some individuals, NGOs and churches especially Anglican and catholic, had started refurbishing the cells for the inmates.

    He said, “When they live in a conducive environment, their thinking and behaviour might change. Some other people had been coming to visit the prisons; the government has not bettered the lot of the people because of the economic crunch in the society.

    “Some are here not because they committed any offence, some are awaiting trial, whenever they are visited, they feel elated especially, the awaiting trial inmates, we have a river of gratitude to you Mama Anambra in the society.”

    Dame Virgy Etiaba, first former female governor in the country, and  mother of Emeka Etiaba, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said,

    “Instead of spending my 73rd birthday with the rich, I decided to come to you because you are all my children.”

  • Oil thieves held

    Oil thieves held

    The Bayelsa State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), has nabbed eight persons for alleged illegal oil bunkering and sale adulterated Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to a filling station in the state.

    The suspects were apprehended in two separate incidents in Southern Ijaw and Yenagoa local government areas.

    It was gathered that some of them were arrested along Yenagoa-Mbiama Road while discharging the adulterated petroleum product to Lion Filling Station.

    The suspects, it was learnt, succeeded in transporting 25 drums of adulterated petrol by hiding them in a big truck conveying woods; creating the impression that they were carrying woods. This aimed at beating security checks.

    But luck reportedly ran out on them when they were rounded up by the NSCDC operatives at the point of discharging the products.

    The state Commandant, NSCDC, Mr. Desmond Agu, who spoke while parading the suspects, said the suspects were arrested on November 7.

    Agu said: “Four persons were arrested on November 7 at Lion Fuel Station on Yenagoa-Mbiama Road where 25 drums containing adulterated petrol were being discharged.

    “The petrol was siphoned from the Nigerian Agip Oil Company’s pipeline at Taylor Creek in Azuzuama in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

    “The other four persons were caught at Otuegwe community in Bayelsa. They were involved in illegal bunkering activities. Thirty-Three jerry cans, a motor cycle, long hoses and three wheelbarrows were recovered from them.”

    Agu added that over 16,000 litres of Automated Gas Oil (diesel) were seized from other suspected oil thieves in Yenagoa.

    He, however, said the suspects were yet to be apprehended, adding that his operatives had intensified efforts to arrest those behind the illegal deal.

    He re-affirmed his command’s commitment to fighting vandalism,  illegal bunkering and other oil-related theft to a standstill.

    Agu, who promised to prosecute the eight suspects, stated the corps’ readiness to collaborate with other sister security agencies in the state to win the battle against pipeline vandalism, illegal bunkering and other oil-related theft.

    He said the command entered into partnership with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Agip, to protect their facilities at different locations.

    He also said the command had set up the critical infrastructure unit and strengthened it to effectively perform the duty of protecting critical assets.

    He said: “To this end, a good number of operators of the corps have been deployed to strategic areas, including the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company and other relevant authorities within its mandate to protect critical national assets.

    “The corps has become a part of the Bayelsa State special security outfit, codenamed Operation Doo Akpo. The command has, to a large extent, contributed to the relative peace in the state as crime and criminal activities have drastically reduced.”

    He added that the command had made tremendous arrests, out of which, 18 persons were currently being prosecuted in law courts.

  • Bayelsa polls: Civil society groups back Dickson

    With the massive support that has continued on upward swing for Governor Seriake Dickson’s re-election bid, what is of note, however, is the massive support that all segment of the state are reigning in for the ‘Countryman Governor’.

    As the build-up to the December 5 date draws near, over 400 coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society groups have continued to mobilise support for Governor Dickson.

    This is coming on the heels of same support from the state House of Assembly, organised labour and traditional leaders, as well as women and youth groups across the state.

    The groups with over 5,000 memberships from all the eight local government areas of the state had converged under the aegis of Save Bayelsa Movement (SBM) at the popular Peace Park in Yenagoa, penultimate week to demonstrate their support and readiness to ensure that, the governor is re-elected for another four-year term.

    They reasoned that their support for the Governor Dickson-led administration, are especially in the areas of peace and security, education, primary health care and job creation.

    Hon. Joseph Kemeagbeye former Speaker, old Rivers State House of Assembly fired the first salvo. He said the groups would remain steadfast until the set goal of returning Dickson to Bayelsa State Government House is achieved.

    While describing the developmental strides of the present administration as unprecedented, the former lawmaker hinted that “if Dickson could achieve so much in less than four years in office, then giving him another opportunity, Bayelsa would rank as one of the best among the comity of states.”

    He further stressed that while other states are taking both local and foreign loans, Dickson is busy repaying debt owed by the immediate past administration.

    His words: “It is on record that Bayelsa remains one of the few states in the federation that does not owe its workforce. I make bold to say that Governor Dickson has been able to liberate Bayelsa State as he continues to pursue the part of peace.

    “Contrary to what obtained in the past, people can now sleep with their two eyes closed. Also, some communities in the hinterland are now accessible by road.

    “With Dickson’s numerous achievements, we the members of the NGO and civil society groups have no option than to queue behind him on the 5th of December, 2015.”

    In his response, the State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson expressed appreciation to the organisers of Save Bayelsa Movement rally, describing the event as heartwarming.

    He said his administration owe posterity a legacy of sustainable development, a secure future and human capacity development, which have been the cardinal objectives of the Restoration Government.

    While thanking the people of the state for their support over the past three-and-half years, Governor Dickson said the coming election would be conducted on a one-man-one-vote basis. He stated that there will be no room for rigging.

    For the Deputy Governor of the state, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah (rtd), the present administration, in the last couple of years, has made huge investments in security, which, he noted, is a prerequisite for development.

    Assessing Governor Dickson’s administration, Jonah said: “Government has created access to rural areas as evident in the construction of the multi-billion Naira Ogbia-Nembe Road, Sagbama-Ekeremor-Agge Road and the Yenagoa-Oporoma-Ukubie Road. I can now drive to my community in Nembe without stress.”

  • NDDC’s ‘multi-billion Naira fraud’,  NASS committees and oversight functions

    Recently when the list of the chairmen of the House of Representatives committees were released, the people of Niger Delta were mainly interested in which of the committees their ‘illustrious’ sons would be chairmen.

    Such committees include the Oil and Gas – upstream and downstream, environment and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    Of the committees, the NDDC is most dear to the people of oil-bearing communities in the region, especially against the backdrop of recent allegations and counterclaims on how the commission’s funds have been managed and mismanaged over the years.

    Although established to develop the nine states that make up the oil-rich delta as its name implies, NDDC has, over the years, mainly developed a very few politicians, their cronies and hangers-on who are mostly based in Abuja, the seat of power of the Nigerian state, to the detriment of those in the region.

    These powerful Nigerians usually besiege the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt with letters, call cards and ‘notes’ from The Presidency, National Assembly or any of the powerful organisations/bodies and individuals who parade the corridors of power.

    The bearers of these missives usually come up with phantom projects and proposals, which are usually approved because of their connections at the top; the considerations are usually not how the projects would benefit the people, but how much their executors stand to gain.

    Last Word recalls an interesting scenario about a year ago, when a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) sent one of his ‘boys’ to the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt with a request for the board to approve a proposal for the supply of Atlases to all government schools in the region at the whopping cost of over N3 billion.

    The SGF accompanied the proposal with several telephone calls to the Managing Director, Mr Dan Abia and other members of the board on the need to approve the proposal.

    It was gathered that the ‘proposal’ ended up on the desk of an Executive Director for “action and final approval”.

    Sensing that it was a plan to rip-off the commission, the ED, (names withheld) it was learnt, reportedly agreed to the deal on the condition that the SGF would openly own the project by allowing his photograph to be taken along with the book of maps.

    The ED said the power broker should take credit as the initiator and executor of the ‘project’. Last Word cannot ascertain how that drama ended before the last administration was swept out of power.

    Apologies for the digression as this piece is not an article on “How ‘Abuja’ Robbed NDDC”. This week’s Last Word is on the chairmanship of the HoR Committee on NDDC as was announced by the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara recently.

    The re-appointment of Hon. Nicholas Mutu, the member representing Burutu Federal Constituency in the House has been received with subdued indignation by people of the areas and members of the NDDC board, not least because the chairman is not from a core oil-producing community, but because of allegations of alleged hijack of the commission in favour of his area. It was also because of what one source declared as the “immorality” of rewarding the chair of a committee that could not stop these frauds with another term.

    Some respondents who spoke with our reporter queried the use of these committees in view of the alleged role of some of their members in the problems of the NDDC.

    “We were told that the NDDC misappropriated hundreds of billions within a certain period. This is, no doubt, not only an indictment of the board if these allegations are proved; it also questions the usefulness of the various committees on NDDC in the National Assembly. Of what is their use? If these committees failed to perform their statutory responsibility and allow the board to mismanage this fund as claimed by even the National Assembly, is it not evidence of the failure of the 7th National Assembly committee? Why then are Dogara and the House now rewarding this failure with re-appointment?” a staff queried.

    The development also gives credence to insinuations that NDDC is a lucrative chair, which benefits its members and the leadership of the House.

    Rumours are also rife within the corridors of the NDDC in Port Harcourt that some members of a committee reportedly demanded a whopping N1 billion to ‘facilitate’ the passage of the 2015 budget of the commission.

    “This is not the first time that this has happened; it is a regular occurrence for committees to demand money from commissions to expedite the passage of their budget.”

     

  • East West Road: Travellers groan as Warri/Benin section collapses

    East West Road: Travellers groan as Warri/Benin section collapses

     The Benin-Warri axis of the East/West highway used to be one of the best roads in the South-south region. Shola O’Neil  writes that the fortunes of the once beautiful road  have  nosedived over the years due to lack of maintenance.

    The Benin-Warri axis of the East/West highway used to be one of the best roads in the South-south region. It used to be the route of choice for motorists making their way into the hinterlands of the oil-rich delta region. The 105-kilometer expressway starts at the popular Ring Road in Benin-City and runs through Ologbo, Oghara and Sapele into Effurun-Warri in Delta State, from where it joins the Warri/Port Harcourt axis of the East/West Highway at the DSC Roundabout.

    The fortune of the road highway, which was completed in the early 2000s by the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration, has nosedived over the past couple of years. The once smooth, gleaming surface has given way to hunches and humps at the best parts and dangerous journey-aborting, life-ending craters and potholes in many parts.

    Our check revealed that while the worst part of the road are mostly within Delta State, where it is now difficult to drive for two kilometres without having to navigate through potholes and ruptured tarmac or bumpy bridges.

    The worst parts of the road are around Okuovo and Ohorhe communities onward Warri from Benin and before Oghara by Pamol Rubber Estate on the way to Benin-City.

    Our finding also revealed that the Benin onward Warri area of the road is worse. Several portions are completely cut off and forcing motorists to drive on the wrong lane–countering the normal flow of traffic. At the time of our reporter’s visit to the bad spots on Monday, no fewer than two goods-laden trucks and several vehicles were stuck on the mud that the road had become in the area.

    Motorists, who spoke with our reporter, said the scene was much better on that sunny Monday afternoon.

    “If you had come on a rainy day, you will see water flowing through the road and several portions that are waterlogged.”

    There are also dangerous fissures around the bridge over the River Ethiope at Mosogar in Ethiope West Local Government Area. Residents of the area told Niger Delta Report that the nasty fractures and pits on the bridge have caused at least three accidents in the past two months.

    Although there are no data on prevalence of crashes on the road, residents of roadside communities and drivers vowed that the spate of accident has more than doubled over the past year, ostensibly due to appalling state of the road.

    “Now, when you are going to Warri from Benin, you constantly have to switch lanes; when you get to the bad spots. This has increased the number of accidents on the road because some drivers are not so used to the road and they do not expect that a dual carriageway could suddenly become single-lane,” Uruemuesiri, a local driver lamented.

    The chaos resulting from the interchanging of lanes is worsened by the absence of official of the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) on the road. None of the corps officials or vehicles was found at any of the intersections during our reporter’s five-hour fact-finding mission on the road. This was further validated by commercial bus drivers at Agip Junction, Benin-City and at the Effurun Motor Park in Edo and Delta states respectively.

    Contacted on the lack of safety marshals on the highway, the Public Relations Office of the FRSC, Asaba Sector, Ms Eze said she was on leave. She promised to get back to us as soon as possible but was yet to do so at press time.

    Meanwhile, Niger Delta Report gathered that as a result of the present deplorable state of the road, motorists are forced to search alternative and unconventional routes to avoid the bad spots on the Warri/Benin Road. Their options are limited because of the strategic location of the road and non-existent alternative routes.

    For travellers on their way to Bayelsa, Rivers and other towns in Central and Southern Delta State, the Benin/Warri Road is the one and only option because the alternative Amukpe/Eku Road, apart from being longer in distance, is in a worse state.

    The other choice for those travelling to other states listed above is the Israelite journey through Onitsha and other eastern states, which road are equally bad, or even more deplorable than cranky 60 or so kilometres on the Benin/Warri highway.

    It was gathered that the armed hoodlums now capitalise on the state of the road to rob and maim hapless travellers at the bad spots. The criminals, who know that motorists would need to slow down to navigate the dreadful portion of the road, usually operate between dusk and dawn. The threats of robbers have recently been neutralised by the deployment of combat-ready soldiers and mobile policemen at strategic points on the road.

    More infuriating for drivers and other users of the road is the perceived nonchalant attitude of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to the plight of road users. Some of the drivers who spoke to our reporter lamented that the road has been completely neglected by the agency over the years.

    “If regular maintenances were carried out as soon as the bad spots are noticed, we won’t be facing this kind of hell now; it will be easy to deal with before they become major problem. I guess that they (government agencies) won’t be interested at the early stage because the cost is not enough to attract them,” another respondent said.

    Efforts to get FERMA’s reaction were futile as the four telephone numbers listed on the agency’s website were unavailable. Its office on Sapele Road, Benin-City was forlorn when our reporter visited. The only official available, a male, declined comment, saying he was not competent to speak on the matter.

    Nevertheless, residents of the various areas, motorists and civil engineers have warned that unless the Federal Ministry of Works takes immediate action, the Benin/Warri highway could become impassable in the months ahead, especially during the Yuletide season.

     

  • Tribunal’s verdict: Elders back Emmanuel

    Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa-Ibom State has been advised not to be deterred by the verdict of the Election Petition Tribunal but should remain resolute in the implementation of his administration’s industrial blueprint as it seeks to better the lot of every Akwa-Ibom person.

    Elders of the state under the aegis of Akwa-Ibom State Elders’ Consultative Forum gave the advice when they paid a solidarity visit to the governor.

    Briefing reporters after the visit, the Leader of the delegation and former Minister of Lands and Housing, Chief Ndueso Essien, spoke of the verdict as unnecessary distraction.

    He said the opposition party cannot secure victory in the state, given the fact that the governorship position was unanimously zoned to Eket Senatorial District. He said that the entire people of the state were anxiously waiting for the zone to produce a governor.

    “We are very certain that the opposition party cannot win election in this state, particularly on the basis that it is the turn of Eket Senatorial District to produce the Governor. It would amount to the highest level of injustice if the district is denied this opportunity as the district has been anxiously waiting since the creation of the state,” the elder statesman noted.

    Chief Essien pointed out that the tribunal left the people with a confused verdict as proceedings and analysis during the hearing did not correspond with the verdict.

    He was emphatic that the elders are in total support of the Peoples Democratic Party’s decision to proceed on appeal, stressing that they have  sufficiently mobilised themselves for election if at all a rerun would be the last resort.

  • Remembering Saro-Wiwa, Ogoni Nine

    Remembering Saro-Wiwa, Ogoni Nine

    The late famous environmentalist, Ken Saro-Wiwa was synonymous with the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). He was born on October 10, 1941 and became the President of MOSOP on July 6, 1993.

    As a result of his agitation against the backwardness of his people and land due to environmental degradation resulting from oil exploration, Ken Saro-Wiwa was hanged at the Port Harcourt Prisons on Friday, November 10, 1995, along with eight other Ogoni martyrs. They were Dr. Barinem Kiobel, John Kpuinem, Baribor Bera, Felix Nuate, Paul Levura, Daniel Gbokoo, Saturday Doobee and Nordu Eawo, during the regime of the late Gen. Sani Abacha.

    Before his death, Saro-Wiwa had said: “The Ogoni took stock of their condition and found out that, in spite of the stupendous oil and gas wealth of their land, they were extremely poor, had no social amenities, unemployment was running at over 70 per cent and they were powerless, as an ethnic minority, in a country of over 100 million people, dispersed in over two hundred nations and ethnic groups, to do anything to alleviate their condition.

    “Worse, their environment was completely devastated by decades of reckless oil exploitation or ecological warfare by Shell.”

    On June 21, 1993, Ken Saro-Wiwa was arrested and detained in Owerri, together with two other MOSOP activists namely N.G. Dube and Kobari Nwile. Criminal charges were brought against them for belonging to MOSOP.

    Prior to his arrest, Ken Saro-Wiwa had travelled to The Hague in Netherlands in July 1992 where he registered MOSOP with the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisations (UNPO), whose charter was embedded in non-violence.

    Ken Saro-Wiwa also brought the suffering of his people to the attention of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva, Switzerland and made useful contacts with international environmental groups and business organisations such as the London-based Body Shop International, whose founder and chief executive, Anita Roddick, had long been involved in such campaigns as MOSOP was pushing in Nigeria.

    Saro-Wiwa said in the mid-1992: “We depend on fishing and farming, and to take that away from us, it is genocide. If you take away our land, and then you pollute the water and so on, it is just saying we do not have any right to live.”

    The environmentalist declared that gas flaring had destroyed the flora and fauna of the land, polluted the atmosphere and poisoned the inhabitants of the surrounding areas whose inhabitants suffer from partial deafness and respiratory diseases.

    The people also accused SPDC and some Ogoni elders of sabotaging the efforts of MOSOP. On May 21, 1994, Ogoni leaders, namely Chief Edward Kobani, a former Commissioner in the Rivers State Government, who had resigned as Vice-President of MOSOP, along with Dr. Garrick Barile Leton (MOSOP’s pioneer President); Albert Badey, an ex-Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG); Samuel Orage, a former Rivers State Commissioner; and Theophilus Orage, an ex-Secretary of the Gokana Council of Chiefs; (Ogoni-four), who had earlier been labelled “vultures” by some Ogoni people, were allegedly murdered in a mob raid at Giokoo in Gokana Local Government Area during a meeting at the Gbenemene’s (King’s) Palace Hall.

    Two prominent Ogoni leaders: Alhaji Mohammed Kobani, brother to Chief Edward Kobani and Mr. Francis Kpai, who were also at the Giokoo meeting, escaped from the mob action and ran from the king’s palace into the ancestral shrine: Gberesaako, of the Gokana people.

    On May 21, 1994, Ken Saro-Wiwa; Ledum Mitee, Dr. Barinem Kiobel and 12 others were arrested by soldiers and accused of been instigators of the Giokoo mob action and the murder of the four prominent Ogoni sons.

    The Justice Ibrahim Auta-led Ogoni Civil Disturbances Tribunal, set up by the then Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, was inaugurated by the then Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mohammed Bello, in November 1994, to try the 15 Ogoni men, who were charged with the killing of the Ogoni-four. The trial commenced in February 1995.

    The Justice Ibrahim Auta-led tribunal tried the Ogoni-Nine namely Ken Saro-Wiwa, Dr. Barinem Kiobel, John Kpuinem, Baribor Bera, Felix Nuate, Paul Levura, Daniel Gbokoo, Saturday Doobee and Nordu Eawo and convicted them the trumped-up charge of murder of the Ogoni-four, sentenced them to death by hanging on October 31, 1995, while Gen. Abacha, confirmed the death sentence on November 8, 1995. They were hanged at the Port Harcourt Prisons in the morning of Friday, November 10, 1995.

    On September 1, 1995, Ken Saro-Wiwa, in his pre-conviction statement to the Justice Ibrahim Auta-led Ogoni civil disturbances tribunal, entitled “Shell is Here on Trial,” said: “My Lord, since my arrest on the 21st of May, 1994, I have been subjected to physical and mental torture, held incommunicado and denied food for weeks and medical attention for months. My 74-year-old mother has been whipped and arrested, my wife beaten and threatened with detention. The three telephone lines to my office and residence cut and they remain cut to this day. My office and home have been ransacked on three different occasions and personal and family property, official files and documents taken away without documentation.

    “I have been calumniated in the press and on satellite television before the world by a Rivers State Government anxious to prejudice the mind of the public and to convince the public of my guilt, even before trial.

    “The fact that a case of homicide is being charged before a tribunal, set up under Decree No. 2 of 1987, speaks for itself. I am aware of the many strictures laid against the decree and this tribunal by local and international observers.

    “All the same, I have followed the proceedings here with keen and detailed interest, not only because I am charged before this tribunal, but also because, as a writer, I am a custodian of the conscience of society.

    “I regret that the legal counsel I freely chose, Gani Fawehinmi, the human rights hero and pride of this country, was forced to withdraw. His withdrawal has denied credibility to this trial.

    “My Lord, we all stand before history. I am a man of peace, of ideas. I am appalled by the denigrating poverty of my people, who live on a richly-endowed land, distressed by their political marginalisation and economic strangulation, angered by the devastation of their land, their ultimate heritage, anxious to preserve their right to life and to a decent living and determined to usher into this country as a whole, a fair and just democratic system, which protects everyone and every ethnic group and gives us all a valid claim to human civilisation.

    “I have devoted all my intellectual and material resources, my very life, to a cause in which I have total belief and from which I cannot be blackmailed or intimidated.

    I have no doubt at all about the ultimate success of my cause, no matter the trials and tribulations which I and those who believe with me may encounter on our journey. Nor imprisonment nor death can stop our ultimate victory.

    “I repeat that we all stand before history. I and my colleagues are not the only ones on trial. Shell is here on trial and it is as well that it is represented by a counsel said to be holding a watching brief. The company has, indeed, ducked this particular trial, but its day will surely come and the lessons learnt here may prove useful to it, for there is no doubt in my mind that the ecological war the company has waged in the Delta will be called to question sooner than later and the crimes of that war be duly punished. The crime of the company’s dirty war against the Ogoni people will also be punished.

    “On trial also is the Nigerian nation, its present rulers and all those who assist them. Any nation which can do to the weak and disadvantaged, what the Nigerian nation has done to the Ogoni, loses a claim to independence and to freedom from outside influence.

    “I am not one of those who shy away from protesting injustice and oppression, arguing that they are expected of a military regime. The military do not act alone. They are supported by a gaggle of politicians, lawyers, judges, academics and businessmen, all of them hiding under the claim that they are only doing their duty, men and women too afraid to wash their pants of their urine.

    “In my innocence of the false charges I face here, in my utter conviction, I call upon the Ogoni people, the peoples of the Niger Delta, and the oppressed ethnic minorities of Nigeria to stand up now and fight fearlessly and peacefully for their rights. History is on their side, God is on their side.”

    Despite the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni martyrs, the non-violent agitations/struggle by Ogoni people; adequately coordinated by the leadership of MOSOP, are continuing to ensure justice, equity, fairness and commensurate development of the neglected Ogoni land and empowerment of the marginalised people.