The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • ‘Only 15 per cent of Bayelsa nursing mothers do exclusive breastfeeding’

    ‘Only 15 per cent of Bayelsa nursing mothers do exclusive breastfeeding’

    •45 per cent supplement with water, says report •Govt urged to extend maternity leave to six months

    It is largely a rural state. Its cosmopolitan nature is limited compared to a state like Lagos or Rivers. So, not a few would have assumed that nursing mothers in Bayelsa State were the ambassadors of exclusive breasfeeding. But statistics have shown otherwise.  Of the 2,332 breastfeeding mothers sampled in the state, only 349 (15 per cent) exclusively breastfeed their babies, while 1,267 (45 per cent) give breast milk and water to their babies. The remaining gives more of other kinds of food.

    It all came out during a programme by the United Nation International Children Fund (UNICEF) and the Bayelsa State government.

    The ministries of health and women affairs, including other stakeholders, worked tirelessly to give children in the state their sense of belonging in a week dedicated to breastfeeding. Their focus was on raising healthy intelligent children through a tight schedule of breastfeeding.

    The government was worried at the declining rate of breastfeeding among women in the state. The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Ayibatonye Owei, at a news conference, lamented that only 15 per cent of women in the state engage in the recommended standard of breastfeeding. Owei, who was represented by the Chief Medical Director, Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri, Prof. Onyaye Kunle-Olowu, advocated stronger workplace polices that promote breastfeeding.

    “We know that breastfeeding helps children to survive and thrive, enabling infants to withstand infections, providing critical nutrients for the early development of their brains and bodies and strengthening the bond between mothers and their babies.

    The benefits of breastfeeding last for a lifetime. A recent Lancet study found that infants who were breastfed for at least one year went on to stay in school longer, score higher on intelligence tests and earn more as adults than those who were breastfed for only a month,” Owei said.

    The commissioner said the government would continue to lead the charge by making breastfeeding a policy priority in the state development plans, increasing resources for programmes that support breastfeeding and working with communities and families to promote the full benefits of breastfeeding.

    He said deliberate workplace policies that support breastfeeding lead to increased job satisfaction and greater loyalty to their employers. “Breastfed children fall sick less often, so their mothers are absent from work less often, too. These effects in turn contribute to higher productivity, ultimately benefitting businesses and larger economies,” he said.

    He said the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has adopted three conventions to establish protective measures for pregnant women and new mothers, including the rights to continue breastfeeding. He named the conventions as time (extended maternity leave), space (crèche at the workplace or close to it) and support (a support group at the workplace).

    He said: “Our challenge now is to make breastfeeding work in our workplaces too. Together we can help working women to breastfeed and reap the benefits for themselves, their children and for the health and wellbeing of future generations.”

    UNICEF and other stakeholders took their seminar entitled, Breastfeeding and Work – Lets Make it Work, to the workplace of the Ministry for Health.

    The ministry’s Deputy Breastfeeding Coordinator, Mrs. Mary Donald-Ase; Infant and Young Child Feeding Training Coordinator, Mrs. Evelyn Koru and the Director of Primary Healthcare Service, Dr. Tombara H. Sigah-Ekere, were all present at the seminar.

    She said the seminar was arranged to explain to the women the importance of breastfeeding, combining breastfeeding and work, building a crèche close to or at nursing mothers’ workplace and to urge the government to extend maternity leave from three months to six months.

    She observed that the Enugu State government has implemented the policy and included a three-week paternity leave for the father too. He said for the first time since 2012, the government has brought to life  the world breastfeeding week.

    Also speaking at the seminar, Donald-Ase, who was also resource person for the event, implored the participants to spread the knowledge to other women. She said the event was in tandem with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), part of which aim at reducing infant mortality rate and improving maternal life.

    She said of the 2,332 breastfeeding mothers sampled in the state, only 349 (15 per cent) exclusively breastfeed their babies, while 1,267 (45%) give breast milk and water to their babies.

    “Therefore, this year’s WBW is set to address the fourth operational target, to enact imaginative legislation protecting the breastfeeding rights of working women and establish means for its enforcements,” she said.

    Donald-Ase emphasised time space and support as the three elements of support needed for mothers in any kind of work setting.

    “Time includes six months paid maternity leave in accordance with the International Labour Organisation; adequate time to give birth, recover, and nurse their babies; job sharing; longer lunch break, amongst others.

    “Space entails providing infant and child care at or near the workplace; private facilities for expressing and storing breast milk, a clean work environment. Finally, support includes information about national maternity laws as well as maternity provisions provided at their workplace; support from employers, management, superiors and co-workers; network of supportive women,” she said.

    Koru spoke on advantages of breastfeeding, breastfeeding styles, and stages of breastfeeding. She defined breastfeeding as an unequalled way of providing ideal food for the healthy growth and developments of infants.

    She named the types of breast milk as colostrum and matu and listed kinds of matu as fore and hind milk. According to her, the fore milk contains 80 per cent water to quench the baby’s thirst, while the hind milk contains more fat, which the baby needs to fill its stomach.

    She said: “The various feeding positions are under-arm position, kangaroo position, cradle position, and cross-cradle position. There is the scissors hold and wrap-round hold on the breast to manipulate the breast in the baby’s mouth.

    “On the mother’s part, the best position is to sit comfortably with her back supported. She can get a breastfeeding pillow.”

    Explaining how to breastfeed, she said: “Start by placing the nipple between the baby’s upper lip and nose. Then encourage it to open its mouth. Once the baby opens its mouth, the mother should manipulate the breast into the baby’s mouth and allow the breast to go beyond the nipple, and suckle on the areola, not the nipple.

    “If the baby suckles on the nipple, the nipple may get cracked or sored. When the baby suckles on the areola, the milk pours into the baby’s mouth, but if left to suck the nipple, the milk will only tickle into the baby’s mouth.

    “Mixed feeding is very dangerous for the child. It exposes the child to malnutrition. Complementary feeding must commence only once the baby clocks six months. This entails giving both food and breast milk to the child. Yet, there are stages and methods that go with each of the stages.

    “At 6 months, the baby’s stomach is just 200ml. Therefore, three scoops of feed is the ideal proportion. Pap and little quantity of cube sugar plus egg yolk or grounded crayfish or milk should be added.

    “At 6 months up to 9 months, snacks (fruits, not biscuits) and other classes of food should be introduced. And then, at 9 to 12 months, mid-meal and mid-lunch snacks should be introduced. Mothers must avoid fast foods, but rather imbibe the culture of healthy eating habits in the child”.

    The events did not stop at the seminar. It included baby show as the stakeholders visited a workplace crèche to inspect the babies. They also mobilised trained counsellors for optimal breastfeeding at their wards.

    Also at the stakeholders’ engagement on the domestication of child rights, mothers and families? were called upon to ensure that the boy child is morally educated and trained to respect the girl so as to reduce cases of rape.

    Giving the charge, the? Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development Nengi Rufus-Spiff said the event was to intimate everyone on the abuse of the children?. She said that the government has constituted a committee to look into the rising rate of violence against women and the girl child in the state.

    “My concern is: who are the perpetrators of these abuses? We always say teach your girl child this and that, let her not wear clothes that will expose her but what are we doing about our boys.

    “What are the morals ?we sending to these boys? These are the boys that grow up to be men. They are the ones that abuse these girls. So I want to use this medium to tell mothers, families and everyone that need to know that the boy child should be morally educated.

    “The boy child should be trained to respect the girl, his sister and anybody that is a female. With that it will go a long way? in reducing these abuses on children and girls,” Nengi Spiff said.

    She noted that the forum was formed as a springboard for government and the private sector to come out with a working document towards the uplifting of  ?the plight of vulnerable children in the state.

    She further revealed that the government has acquired land for the construction of a Creation Centre as well as ready to partner with international bodies and NGOs to move the state forward.

    Also, the Chief Field Officer, UNICEF Enugu Field? Office, Mr. Charles Nzuki, said the gesture was about giving children access to their right to education as well as growing up in a protective environment. He stated that any issue of violation against children will be addressed with the passing of the Child Rights Law.

    He also said other states of the federation have domesticated the Child Rights Act?, noting that most of the state’s in Niger Delta region have established the law except Bayelsa State.  Nzuki hinted that community awareness is very necessary in sensitizing the people on the implications of violating the rights of children.

    “We want the community people to be aware and for them to know why it is important to ensure out children are in a protective environment. The main idea is to ensure that people are sensitive, communities are aware, families are aware what we mean and what the implications will be if there is any violation against the child’s right.

    “The parents, communities and children should all work together to ensure that children have a better environment for them to grow to their full potential, mainly it means getting them to be in school, getting them to access quality health care, getting them to access services as much as that has been provided by government,” Nzuki said.

     

     

  • Lest I forget ‘Emmanuel’s will’

    Lest I forget ‘Emmanuel’s will’

    The  words and phrases that kept ringing in my head after reading Mr Aniekan  Umanah’s reply to my intervention on Akwa Ibom last week are: ‘gibberish’, ‘lame attempts’, ‘bad light’, ‘inventing false scenarios’, ‘jaundiced viewpoint’, ‘condescend to mislead the public with personal bias and prejudices dressed as public affairs analysis’, ‘Yishau’s real intention’, ‘blowing hot air’ and ‘twisted castigation of Governor Udom Emmanuel’.

    There are other phrases, such as: ‘the undertaking of trying to personalise issues surrounding the loan portrays mischief’, ‘an otherwise respected opinion moulder’,’ his biggest folly ever’, ‘those who have the rare and sacred privilege of wielding a platform as credible as a commentarial slot in a national medium of the stature of The Nation must not abuse it by employing its advantage to foul the air of reasoning’, ‘anti-Akpabio’, ‘consistently garnished with slander and spite for Governor Emmanuel and his predecessor’ and ‘blacked-out the internationally acknowledged sterling performance of his administration’.

    If I were in his shoes, I would have adopted the Gbemiga Ogunleye approach by simply addressing the issues. These words and phrases are meant for the gutters. One thing I have tried to run away from since this column debuted is abuse. It is not impossible I have strayed a few times.

    Well, I plead guilty to having been critical of ex-Governor Godswill Akpabio. I deserve to be docked for placing him number two on the chart of people I comment on regularly. But, I reject the charge of slandering him and refusing to acknowledge that he brought some transformation to Akwa Ibom. If Mr Umanah had followed me like he said, he would have seen in two or three of my comments on the state that Akpabio left the state better than he met it. Whether or not he could or should have done better is another matter. It is not right to say I blacked-out Akpabio’s achievements. He should go back and read some of my pieces on the state. May be he read only those that did not make reference to the achievements.

    As to the outcome of the PDP primaries, it remains my opinion that fair play was not allowed. That does not remove from my view of Mr Emmanuel as a man of gentle mien and soft words. He looks to me as a great guy.

    At this juncture,  I wish to say that I have got nothing personal against both Akpabio and Emmanuel. Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole is a man after my heart but when he recalled teachers who were not qualified, I did not shy away from saying it loud on this space that I was disappointed. I remain disappointed that he took that action.

    This is wishing His Excellency Governor Udom Emmanuel a flying start on delivering on his five-point agenda of wealth creation; economic and political inclusion; poverty alleviation; infrastructural consolidation and expansion; and job creation.

    I also wish Senator Akpabio quick recovery from last Monday’s accident in Abuja.

     

  • Testy times for the Jerusalem of the Ijaw Nation

    Bayelsa State is unique in many aspects. It has the least population when compared to other states in the country. It perhaps has the least land mass. Topographically the state of former President Goodluck Jonathan is always said to be 70 per cent water and 30 per cent land.

    Fondly called the Jerusalem of the Ijaw Nation for being the only Ijaw homogeneous state, Bayelsa is rich in maritime assets. It is opened to the Atlantic Ocean and surrounded by rivulets, rivers, lakes and other water channels. The state ranks among the richest in petroleum resources. But among its contemporaries, Bayelsa is arguably the least developed.

    Now, Bayelsa is under trial. It is marching to another landmark of political transition to choose a fresh vehicle that will drive its development. The two dominant and big political vehicles begging for boarding in the state are the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressive Congress (APC). Other smaller vehicles such as the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Labour Party (LP), also exist.

    Expectedly, PDP and the APC are at each other’s throat battling in a game of intrigues and wits to seek the patronage of the state. PDP has been the vehicle of choice for Bayelsa since 1999.

    Hitherto, Bayelsa never engaged in a competitive process to select its vehicle and driver. Election was alien. Selection and coronation were the order of the day. It was taken for granted that whoever emerged a candidate from the PDP would drive the vehicle of the state with little or no input from Bayelsa.

    So, it was for the past “drivers” of the state such as Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Timipre Sylva and the incumbent driver, Chief Seriake Dickson.

    But the PDP is no longer the same. It has been given a bloody nose by the punches of the APC. Suddenly, the APC has become the vehicle of choice for many people in the state, especially the politicians. Persons who hitherto constituted the backbone and pillars of the PDP are leaving in droves to join the APC vehicle. In fact, the creme la de creme and their followers have already declared for the APC. Even the state Chairman of the PDP, Col. Sam Inokoba (retd) left his job to be counted in the APC.

    Some of the heavyweights who deserted the PDP are Timi Alaibe, Dikivie Ikiogha, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Nestor Binabo, Werinipre Seibarugu, Warman Ogoriba, Alex Ekiotene, Senator Brambaifa, Dr. Stella Dorgu; in fact, the list is endless. Most of them were former elected and appointed political office holders. Some of them even abandon the cabinet of Dickson to hop into the vehicle of APC.

    Therefore, as the vehicle of APC is filling up to a congesting point ahead of the December contest, that of the PDP is looking empty.

    The PDP is divided over the reelection ambition of Dickson. An anti-Dickson group, the PDP Unity Group (PUG) comprising mainly former aides sacked in controversial circumstances and other aggrieved party leaders, have vowed to scuttle the governor’s ambition.

    Therefore, in PDP some persons are desirous of collecting the party’s ticket from Dickson. Prominent among persons trying to wrest PDP’s ticket from the governor are Senator Emmanuel Paulker and Reuben Okoya.

    There is a belief that the process of selecting the driver of the APC vehicle will generate controversies likely to destroy the party. Most of the bigwigs are aspiring to be at the driver’s seat and unless they bury their ambitions, the dream of the APC to displace the PDP will be a mirage.

    Almost all the heavyweights in the APC want the party’s governorship ticket. Former Governor Timipre Sylva, Alaibe, Ikiogha, Ogoriba, Godnows Powell, Ebitimi Amgbare, Inokoba and many others are struggling to get the party’s ticket. Already over seven aspirants have picked the party’s nomination and expression of interest forms valued at N6.5million. However, some names like Alaibe, Ikiogha and Ogoriba in the governorship race of APC have continued to generate fears and tension in the PDP.

    With the incumbency factor of Dickson who is believed in some quarters to have done well, everybody is waiting to see the kind of candidate that will emerge from the APC. They are waiting to see a popular, credible, political heavyweight, a household name considering the timeline of the election. Bayelsa will then decide its vehicle and driver.

     

     

     

  • I’m a bloody writer

    I’m a bloody writer

    It baffles me why a kidnapper will come after me. For what? Me, a bloody writer. Me, Donu Kogbara, a columnist. What is my business with kidnappers? What will they get from me? My pen? My paper? Or better still my laptop?

    On the streets of Port Harcourt, it was a sin for people with white skin to walk freely. Expatriates working in the many oil servicing firms in the oil city dared not walk alone. They went about with security details. Even now, they still dread going about anyhow. They are the sort kidnappers are after. Not me.

    Church leaders, children of the rich, the rich, their parents and the likes are also likely preys for kidnappers. From these people, they can get good ransom. Not me, a bloody columnist.

    As they stormed my Port Harcourt home last weekend, they shot into the air to scare people around my Nkpogu home. They wanted no interference with their catch. Did they get a wrong target? Had I written something against somebody? Questions crammed my brain. Answers I had not.

    These small boys pushed me around and dragged me into their obviously stolen Honda CRV Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV).  In that instant, I was sorry for my dear state and wondered when will we be safe finally. But uppermost in my heart was my safety. What will these boys do to me? It was a constant question that came to my head.

    I have no access to newspaper in confinement but guessed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) would have seen in my fate another route to exchange blow.

    I imagine Governor Nyesom Wike’s spokesman Mr Opunabo Inko-Tariah saying something like this:  “The government is sad over the abduction of respected columnist Dornu Kogbara. We are hopeful that she will be released pronto and in good health. The new law on kidnapping  will very soon make the state too hot for kidnappers.”

    And I imagine the APC saying:  “We are in great pains over the abduction of renowned essayist /columnist, Ms Dornu Kogbara last Sunday in Port Harcourt by unknown gun men.

    “The security situation of our dear Rivers State indicates that the several efforts made by the previous administration, which significantly brought criminality to its lowest ebb across the State, has now been reversed in just three months of the administration of Nyesom Wike. The present sorry state of security in the state did not come by accident.”

    And I also imagine asking: what is wrong with these people? I also used my mind’s eyes to see the outgoing Commissioner of Police,  Mr Chris Ezike, adding his voice: “I was with the family the other day. We have taken preliminaries from the compound. We are working on a few theories. The details we may not make public. We call for support of all and sundry and we beg for reporting that will not be hurting to her. We call for controlled reporting. Because we are dealing with people who take drugs, human beings wearing animal garment. We are on top of the situation.”

    I pray none of these guys turning my plight to a game ever experience being abducted.

    Here you have no choice. The only choice available is what you are given. You can’t choose to want rice when what is on offer is Indomie noodles. You cannot ask for wine when all they are willing to offer is water. Woe betide you if you complain that you find it difficult using the toilet they offer you.

    The world of the kidnappers is an interesting one. Some of them have Masters degree. They speak Queens English and you hear them say something like: “ We should have no business with poverty in the Niger Delta. This is the golden hen that lays the golden egg. So, we should be swimming in money. Cash should not be our problem, the problem should be how to spend it. But, our leaders, both at the states and federal levels, have failed us.

    “They deceive us with all kinds of programmes, such as the Amnesty Programme but you find our people put in charge using it to benefit themselves, their families and girlfriends. Governors lie to us that they are doing empowerment programmes. But, it is all for the cameras. No substance.”

    As I heard the chief kidnapper make this speech, what came to my mind was that he was justifying what they are doing. But, for me, there is no justification for crime. If all of us decide to also go into crimes, then the society will collapse.

    I felt like telling them my views, advising them like a mother. They were small kids. I could be their mother. But, I respected the guns in their hands and I just kept a sealed lip.

    On the second day after they dragged me away from the comfort of my home, one of them came to me and said: “In my town, Gelegele, there is no difference between night and day. No thanks to the gas flaring of the irresponsible oil giant operating in our community. Our farms are no longer yielding fruits. Our streams are polluted. Our lives have been shattered. We have lost our conscience. We have sold our souls. Yes, to the devil.”

    I thought he was through but he gathered steam again: “The oil company in Gelegele should await the fate of Shell in Ogoni. We will bar them and no one will be able to bring them back. We are putting finishing touches to the onsluaght against them. If you know them, tell them. The day of reckoning is here. For them, a Daniel has come to judgment.”

    As he took his leave all that came to my mind was what is my own in all these? Me, a bloody writer, a columnist. May be my fame is my undoing. I shall sell this fame soon.

     

     

     

     

  • Killer-kerosene brings tears to Warri, environs

    Killer-kerosene brings tears to Warri, environs

    His grandmother sits him on her laps, petting the little boy. The boy, barely three years of age, is going through excruciating pains. Joshua Emavweria is one of the children who became victims of the killer-kerosene in circulation in some parts of Southern district of Delta State, including Warri South and Udu council areas. At least, nine cases of kerosene explosions have so far been recorded. The  victims are patients at the Central Hospital in Warri and the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin.

    As the story goes, virtually all of the families whose children are lying critically injured in hospitals, bought kerosene the usual manner they have always done for as long as they could remember. The application of the fuel, the days it went wrong, was not different from how they had previously applied it all along, but there was something wrong this time. It is suspected to have been adulterated and thereby became dangerous. It seems being adulterated, suspectedly, is not the only thing about this case, it looks also like a targeted attack on children; besides the cases of the adolescents among the victims, who got burnt while carrying out chores, there are also cases, such as that of Master Emavweria, who were neither making fire nor carrying kerosene when they got burnt. The story of how each of the victims ended up party or wholly burnt varies from case to case. While Joshua and his sister, another toddler, were caught unawares by the fire that jumped on them from a distance, Oghenemaro and his sister, Elozino, were trying to refuel their lantern when it exploded on them.

    •Victim of the killer kerosene
    •Victim of the killer kerosene

    Giving an account of how her grandchildren became victims, Madam Titi Emavweria, said she was actually the one close to the spot of the explosion because she was the one cooking. But to her surprise, the fire from jumped from the local firewood stove in from of her and landed on the two toddlers who were supposedly a safe distance away.

    “We cook outside and that morning as I set the woods I put kerosene, as I put the kerosene and lit the match on it, I just heard a loud explosion. The children were not close to me, but the fire just jumped on them, scattered on the two of them,”Madam Emavweria told Niger Delta Report, amidst attempts to calm her agonising grandson down.

    Oghenemaro Akrovbie is luckier than his younger sister, Elozino, who suffered about 90 degrees of burns all over her body, including her face.

    “ Our lantern had already gone off so I decided to put fuel in it. As I was putting it I just heard whoom and I threw the gallon away. That was when it affected my sister,” he narrated. As a result of the gravity of the burns on her, the hospital, according to its Public Relations Officer, Mrs Success Obere, had referred Elozino, along with another victim, to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH).

    In the same ward where Oghenemaro, Joshua and others were receiving care, was Oghenewegba, with his legs, hands and face burnt. His fingers are already bent. As he was being dressed by the nurses, Wegba gave out a shout of agony, unable to sit straight on his bed.

    •Victim of the killer kerosene
    •Victim of the killer kerosene

    All the victims are children, among them some as young as three years. The reason it is curious is said to be the same reason why many of those who have heard and made moves did; they are children, who could hardly be blamed for their actions. They are children, who naturally should be protected from harsh and painful experiences, because of the effect such experiences might leave on their psyche. Little children, of select ages, have now been made to go through the horror of explosions, not nature imposed like in some cases in the northeast or some other corner of the world, but imposed by the greed of some persons doing illegal deals without a thought about the effect it might have on those who would end up with the fruits of their illegal deal in the larger society.

    One of those who have come out to identify with the victims is the Chairman, Warri South Council Area, Mathew Mofe Edema. He called for an investigation into the development, even as he charged parents and guardians to enlighten their children and wards against such dangerous practices as fueling an already lit appliances. While he rendered financial aides ranging between N20,000 to N30,000 to parents of the victims, he also promised to relate their ordeal to the state government.

    The parents of the victims, some of whom were seen at the hospital, though might not be thinking of the cost of saving the lives of their children and wards for now, they did not seem like people living in affluence. The fact that the unexpected calamity that visited their homes had access because they had to use kerosene lantern is enough evidence that the accidents would take a huge financial toll on them.

     

     

  • Six-year-old Karen with the dream of being a journalist

    Six-year-old Karen with the dream of being a journalist

    Six-year-old Dana  Karen Asemota walked into the premises of the Edo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalist (NUJ). She was accompanied by her grandmother, Madam Carol Asemota. Her mission was to see how her dream career operates in Nigeria.

    Dana is on a vacation in Nigeria and her grandmother told reporters that little Dana made her buy newspapers every day and wanted to see how journalists work. Madam Carol explained that Dana hoped to become a journalist in the future.

    A second grade pupil of Nathan American Academy in the United States of America, Dana told reporters she knew how to write and had always dreamt of becoming a journalist.

    She said: “I always watch news on television and I often read newspapers in my Library.  I want to work as a broadcast journalist because I am very smart.  Besides, I had good grades in school which earned me promotion rapidly.

    “I always watch American stations because I was born in America and I enjoy watching Nigerian television stations when I am in Nigeria and I want to be like them.

    “My father is a policeman who always arrests bad people who commit crime and my mother is a doctor in the U.S. I am interested in becoming a journalist who reports what happens in Nigeria. Why should people be arrested without any cause? I am very bold and I know how to write.

    “I also like the job of a producer because he is very important and  you cannot do without them.”

    Madam Carol said Dana would be encouraged to pursue a career in journalism.

     

  • Tributes as Madam Fisisi goes home

    Tributes as Madam Fisisi goes home

    The ancient town of Abalama in Kalabari Kingdom, Asari/Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State, witnessed a beehive of activities last weekend as the remains of the late Madam Florence Fisisi were interred. She was 75.

    Family, friends and well-wishers, who besieged the town, described the event as the celebration of the life of a woman who lived well and sacrificed for mankind. They described her as a mother and tutor for all.

    A midday light shower at Abalama failed to deter the crowd that escorted the motorcade carrying her remains from Kpaima Mortuary in Port Harcourt to Abalama. They escorted the body to the All Saints Anglican Church at Abalama, where it was received by seven ministers led by Rev’d Canon Gabriel Eli.

    In an emotional sermon, Rev’d Eli told the guests that the late Madam Fisisi had played her part. He admonished them not to cry for her but to cry for themselves who are still living in the sinful world.

    Rev’d Canon Eli added that having lived a worthy life while on earth, she would find a comfortable rest in heaven.

    “There is no doubt this woman that you are celebrating her life will definitely be on the side of the Almighty God. She played her part very well by obeying the scriptures and putting the word of God in practice. Even before God’s judgment the world has already judged her. She took the path of God and today she is being buried according to the doctrine of the Anglican Communion.

    “All we are praying for her is that heavenly father, by your mighty power and in your love we entrust Madam Fisisi to your merciful keeping in the faith of Jesus Christ your son who died and rose again. That is all; the most important question now is how many souls here would join Mama Fisisi and God in heaven when their time comes?”

    grand daughters and sons of Madam Fisisi
    grand daughters and sons of Madam Fisisi

    Some of the sons, daughters, in-laws and relatives, who spoke to Niger Delta Report, described the deceased who was fondly called ‘Mama’ as a proud Kalabari woman, and belonged to the class of Kalabari women who paid less attention to the tradition of the land due to her religious belief as a devout Christian in Anglican Communion.

    They noted that it was due to her steadfastness in her religious belief that she refused to belong to any organisation in Kalabari kingdom.

    The only organisation she belonged to was the Anglican organisation called Women Guild.  This made her families to bury her according to the Christian principle.

    The first son of late Madam Fisisi, Mr. Sepiribo Peters, an Abuja lawyer, said she was symbolic to him in several ways. “It is a symbol that sounded so much in self-respect and discipline.  It is one name that put me on notice that it is the sky that operates as a limit to the height of success. Otherwise what could a disadvantaged child achieve in life if he has no caring mother?  Her behaviour and care had always functioned in my life as a reminder that casual misconduct in the character of a growing child could be effectively and efficiently prevented from being a bad habit by a vigilant and uncompromising mother.

    “I grew up under her vigilant watch and learnt that good name is better than riches.  I did learn from her that I must not have respect of evil riches but I should rather maintain a consistent contempt for evil and corrupt practices.  What else would the best mother ever teach a male child that my mother did not teach me? I have checked and have not found one. She made me to understand that the key to a successful career in one’s life is by reading and trying to find out what one had not known.  Ironically, she had no western education yet she knew the importance of research.”

    One of her daughters, Mrs. Peters Ignonikonba, said her mother was a woman of peace and wisdom.

    For Mrs. Ine Peters, one of the daughters-in-law, Madam Fisisi was the best mother-in-law on earth. She said the late Madam Fisisi took her as her own daughter when she came into the family.

     

  • Ofumwengbe/Okponha bloodbath: The inside story

    Ofumwengbe/Okponha bloodbath: The inside story

    Osayuki Isaac Osifo, 26, will never forget August 4 in his lifetime.  Prior to that fateful Tuesday, if a prophet had told Osayuki to remain in his community as trouble lurked in a neighbouring community, he probably would have stayed back and avoided the sudden twist of fate.

    Again, if the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the area had taken seriously the intelligence report allegedly passed to him a day to the bloody incident by a member of Community Development Association (CDA) of one of the embattled communities, may be the crisis would have been averted.

    In the same vein, if the youths of the warring localities had yielded the advice of the Police and their elders, they would have not found themselves in the current mess they are trying to get out from.

    It was exclusively scooped that in response to the tip-off received by the DPO , he in company of some policemen visited the troubled site.

    Having felt the security barometer of the environment, the DPO was said to have moved his men away with a request that leaders of aggrieved community should come and give formal complain to his office at Iguobazuwa town the administrative headquarters of Ovia South-west local government area.

    Our crime reporter gathered further that hardly had the DPO left the building site at Okponha community when armed thugs converted the site to a battle field.

    Commenting on the lawlessness that reigned supreme throughout the broad day encounter, the police spokesman in Edo State DSP Stephen Onwochei stated that “It was a free for all fight, single barrels, double barrels were fully deployed, shooting at each other, before we moved in seven persons have already sustained injuries”.

    Osayuki Isaac Osifo, a year-two dropout student of computer-accounting, College of Education, Ekiadolor, is one of the said seven persons who sustained injuries.

    He was shot on his right arm which was amputated to save his life.

    The fatherless Osayuki now in agony at a private hospital in Benin City narrates to our crime reporter what transpired that memorable day of his life.

    “About 8am or 9am on Tuesday, I went to check my site and I met my chairman at Okada junction in Ofumwengbe town driving towards my site, when I got there I saw some people of Ofunmwengbe town exchanging hot words at a particular site.

    “They were faces I recognise…., with eight together in one place so I told myself why can’t I talk to them to forget fight and let’s settle this thing amicably.

    “In the process, before I knew it, somebody came out saying who is this man? Get him! Fire am down!! Before I knew it, from nowhere, a gunshot just passed through my hand. I looked at my hand; it was already like  pieces . I fell down and from there I did not know what was happening.”

    Osayuki continued: “The other one said that anybody who wanted to obstruct our work should be shot. May be they were seeing me as one of those who wanted to obstruct their work.

    “But all I was there for was to maintain peace since the police have already asked us to go to the Palace.”

    The youth Chairman of Ofunmwengbe community, Edosa Ogiamen, stated that the attack on his friend by the youths of Okponha village triggered the communal crisis alleged to have left seven persons with bullet wounds.

    He stated that his community and Okponha have a boundary dispute and both sides were advised by the police and traditional authorities to steer clear from the area pending when it would be resolved.

    Edosa Ogiamen further stated that Okponha community jettisoned the advice and sold part of the land in other to raise money to fight their rival neighbouring community, Ofumwengbe.

    He alleged that his kinsman, Osayuki Isaac Osifo, had gone to the area that fateful day oblivious of the fact that Okponha youths and some heavily armed hired thugs deployed from outside the community had laid siege to the disputed area.

    He averred that some youths of Ofunmwengbe swiftly to rescued their kindred who was severely wounded.

    The youth Chairman of Okponha town, Wilson Osaze,  also alleged that some youths of Ofunmwengbe community, a.k.a Okada junction/new road, armed with guns and dangerous weapons attacked them at a building site during foundation laying in Okponha community.

    However, a popular Benin chief from the area is said to have been fuelling the crisis.

    The chief, it was alleged, had been harassing youths and elders of Ofunmwengbe community since the fracas erupted.

    He was also said to have capitalised in on the crisis and ordered his workers to enter the forest in the area to explore mineral resources.

    The Public Relations Officer for Edo Police Command, DSP Onwochei, stated that Ofunmwengbe and Okponha communities had been embroiled in a boundary dispute.

    He explained that the police command had severally advised that they should channel their grievances to the appropriate government agency.

    “They were warned seriously against taking laws into their hands, but last Tuesday, somebody from Okponha community was laying foundation within the area said to be disputed.

    “The village head of Ofunmwengbe and one of their youth leaders are with us and as we speak, they are giving us useful information as to who and who went there to be shooting.”

    He further explained that “our intervention in the matter doesn’t address the issue of boundary dispute but to maintain law and order”.

    The police spokesman stated that arms and ammunition suspected to have been used for the attack had been recovered.

    He promised that the police would not treat the issue with kid gloves as operatives are already on the trail of those involved in the invasion.

    Ofunmwengbe/Okponha Communal fracas is among similar disturbances that have been witnessed and unresolved across Edo State every year.

    On Saturday, November 22, residents of Aruogba community in Oredo Local Government Area saw hell in the hands of armed hoodlums who turned the locality into a theatre of war for several hours over the CDA leadership tussle.

    No fewer than five residential buildings and six exotic cars were set ablaze as windshield of over seven vehicles smashed during the well- coordinated attack.

    The panic and confusion that followed the violence caused many parents and children to run helter-skelter.

    At last, one person died in the attack and shortly after, more killings have been recorded as the aggrieved parties continue to hunt themselves.

    Amongst the victims was the acclaimed elected CDA chairman, Mr. Okoro Ogbaretin, who was ambushed and gunned down.

    Ever since the crisis, community life has never be same again as many residents who fled their ancestral homes are yet to return.

    The commissioner of Police in the state then, Mr. Foluso Adebanjo, confirmed the arrest of nine suspects at the wake of the fracas.

    He further explained that a gun and live ammunition were also recovered.

    Will communal disturbances ever ceased in Edo State?

    The Adams Oshiomhole administration years ago constituted the State Peace and Conflict Resolution Committee led by Chief Eduwu Eghator.

    Still, communal crises appear to have defied permanent solution as affected communities record collateral damages from time to time.

     

  • FERMA assures Akwa Ibom motorists of zero potholes

    The Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has assured motorist plying federal roads in Akwa Ibom State of motorable roads in line with the federal government commitment in making its road safe across the country.

    FERMA’s Zonal Coordinator, Southsouth , Mr. Young Harry, gave the assurance while speaking with newsmen after inspecting ongoing rehabilitation works along Calaba-Itu road.

    According to him, government commitment to zero pot holes on its roads was irrevocable, calling on motorist plying this busy route to bear with the agency as every effort is being put to make pot holes free.

    Mostly affected roads are Ikot Ekpene-Itu-Cross River state boarder and the Eket-Ikot Abasi road.

    His words: “The activities being carried out include, patching of potholes, desilting of silted concrete lined drains, filling of failed sections with boulders and reinstatement of embankment washout.”

    The Calabar-Itu road constructed in the 70s, he noted needed total rehabilitation, adding however that, in line with FERMA’s mandate, they would ensure that they intervene to make the road motorable road users.

    Fielding questions, he explained that, as an interventionist agency, where any portion of the road is completely bad, the attention of the federal ministry of works would be drawn to it.

    The agency, he added, has been trying to meet its obligations based on available funds, adding that, with expected high funding, road users would soon smile.

    He said: “The Agency will continue the maintenance activities throughout them raining season to ensure that all the federal roads in Akwa Ibom state are motorable and safe for road users.”

     

  • Corruption tops discussion as Bayelsa health commissioner, ministry bag award

    Corruption tops discussion as Bayelsa health commissioner, ministry bag award

    The awards presented recently  to the Commissioner for Health, Bayelsa State, Dr. Ayibatonye Owei and his ministry were not ordinary. They came from an anti-corruption crusader and a whistleblowing non-governmental agency, the Centre for Ethics and Self Value Orientation (CESVO).

    In fact, for an agency based in Lokoja, Kogi State, to identify excellence in service delivery and high ethical conduct  of a commissioner and a ministry operating in the Niger Delta region further distinguished the awards. Little wonder, the employees of the ministry spent few hours after work to receive a team of CESVO led by the centre’s Executive Director, Prince Salih Musa Yakubu.

    Yakubu, the founder of the Nigerian Parliament, explained why and how Owei and his ministry were selected for the awards. He said: “The Ministry of Health of Bayelsa today, has been found by this group among only 50 most ethically responsible state-owned ministry within the investigations that we have done. That is why we have come to thank you, because we don’t have money to give you.

    “The highest we could give you is to encourage you and to stimulate you more. The health policy of Bayelsa state today, being anchored by the Ministry of Health benefits the Ibos, Yorubas, your tribal men, and even an Igala man like me.

    “A lot of them are here and they are also benefiting from the policy, courtesy of this ministry. Therefore, when we come here to say thank you, you will do more. And Nigerians will be affected positively. That is the news we brought to you today.

    “In the entire country, out of these 50 MDAs that meet our standards, only four state ministry of health succeeded to be enlisted. The rest is story. Lagos is one, Bayelsa is two, Gombe is three, and Delta is four”.

    He said before the ministry was selected, the centre sent out whistleblowers to monitor and observe the activities of the ministry and its relationship with members of the public.

    “We are not anyhow group and so we don’t visit anyhow people. Just the same way we have come to this ministry; we have sent our whistleblowers to you. They meet you in your office like normal Nigerians looking for service. But what are they looking for?

    “They want to establish if there is a symbiotic relationship between you and the public you are called to serve. Who are those that are ruled? An African man can be carried away by the paraphernalia of office, that when they give them little office to handle, they barricade themselves from the people they are meant to serve. We don’t want such people in government.

    “They are those that will continue to barricade themselves and keep on cornering public funds to their own advantage. But no matter how far you go, 6ft measurement is enough for you and you will give account of your stewardship”, he said.

    Turning to the commissioner, he added: “Sir, we have found you worthy in character and conduct. You are such a very upright, straightforward man, full of energy and action, even though your actions at times affect some persons. You are a very rugged commissioner that wants results. We love you for that, sir. Today, we are to formally induct you as Ambassador of Ethics and a man of conscience”.

    To the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr. Biribina Samayin, he said: “Of this ministry, because of your insistence always that due process be followed, you have subjected beaurocratic  procedures to the level that is so appreciated by us. Your non-compromise to beaurocratic procedures and servicom compliance is part of the reason why we are here today, though the attitude may be hated by some.

    “At times, you and your Commissioner may be at loggerheads in the quest to achieve results, because you are human beings. If you don’t quarrel, there can never be results and progress. The commissioner is the political head of this ministry. But you have been able to manage your differences. We have enlisted you among only 200 ethically responsible civil servants in the whole of the federation”.

    He said the centre would return to train 100 employees of the ministry free of charge for two days. He said the trained employees would help to transform others and make them ethically responsible. He said the centre has so far trained over 7000 persons on ethics.

    The commissioner said he never solicited for awards, adding that he never accepted such awards since he was just performing his job. He said it was regrettable that some persons solicited for and paid to get awards.

    He said the award from the centre was no an individual honour but an award meant for the ministry.

    He dedicated the awards to the restoration government of Governor Seriake Dickson saying the governor provided the directive for the ministry to operate.

    “I am very delighted that this award is not a Greek gift. Nobody was paid money for it. Nobody influenced it. We decided to act it not for ourselves but on behalf of the Restoration Government of Governor Dickson who has made it possible for health benefits to reach Bayelsans”, he said.

    He thanked the employees in the ministry for working round the clock to distinguish themselves. He asked the employees to make adjustments and work within the limited resources in the ministry. He said the award would motivate the ministry to deliver service to the people.