The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • Okowa’s cry

    Okowa’s cry

    Over the years he has been more than just another political figure to me. For reasons I cannot explain, I have taken interest in him right from his days as Commissioner for Health right through his time as Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and eventually Senator. His name is Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa.

    Some years back, while he was still SSG, I met his sister, Mrs Shenton, who is based in Charlotte, North Carolina. I also met his brother Preddy Wise, who was once a musician and was running a guest house at the end of Opebi, Lagos mainland. May be my meeting and working relationship with Mrs Shenton, who was then publishing a magazine known as Virtues, further made Okowa more than a passing interest to me. I was sad when their father was kidnapped some years back and it brought back memories of my time with Mrs Shenton.

    I remember telling a politician-friend during the run-up to the last elections that as far as I was concerned, Okowa was the most qualified of those seeking the office of the governor of Delta. At that time, it seemed a task that could not be done. The governor then, Emmanuel Uduaghan, was obviously not looking the way of Okowa. His choice was Anthony Obuh, who was a Permanent Secretary in the Delta State civil service.

    Okowa had his plans and worked towards actualising his dream. He won the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket and it seemed the battle was just beginning when the Urhobo decided they would support the party with their kinsman as candidate. Two parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Party (LP), had Urhobo as their candidates. It became a dilemma for the umbrella body of Urhobo to pick a candidate. It eventually pitched its tent with Great Ogboru of the LP, but some within its fold went with APC’S Olorogun Ortega Emerhor. The group has not recovered from the crisis that began as a result of the endorsement politics.

    When the results of the April 11 polls were declared, Okowa was named winner of the Delta governorship race. He was sworn-in on May 29. Today he calls the shot at the Government House, Asaba.

    But Okowa is not a happy man. He is leading a state in debt and in need of help. Few days before his inauguration, an incident happened, which I think is worth recalling. The Accountant General of the state vanished into thin air. It was a pained Uduaghan who cried out. He accused the civil servant of holding the state to ransom, adding that money needed for the inauguration and other purposes could not be accessed because of the man’s absence.

    My suspicion is that the civil servant deliberately vanished because he was not sure of the disposition of the then incoming governor to the use of such money in the twilight of the administration, especially at a time when he knew the state was broke. Another suspicion is that he perhaps consulted people in Okowa’s camp and he was advised in his own interest to make himself unavailable.

    Whatever the true position is, Delta is broke.

    At a briefing with lawmakers on the state’s financial status, Okowa said Delta would need to run a monthly deficit of about N2 billion and would need to borrow to pay salaries and finance the cost of government.

    This is how it got into the current mess:  N637.2 billion is owed to commercial banks and outstanding contractual obligations. Of this amount, N98.62 billion is the principal sum Delta is owing commercial banks; outstanding contractual obligation equals  N538,601,421.50.

    A N50 billion facility from the bond market with a repayment period of seven years in 84 instalments at N1.098 billion each month is also hanging. This facility terminates in September 2018 with 40 more instalments, totalling N43.92 billion.

    The state also guaranteed some contractors with the issuance of an Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) of N2.23 billion monthly for which the contractors. And for the next 20 months, it has to pay back N44.60.

    There is also an outstanding overdraft facility of N19 billion and N715 million with Zenith Bank Plc. There are other smaller loan and overdrafts of N2 billion.

    With effect from June to March 2017, after a deduction of N4.60 billion from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) receipts, the state will draw a meagre N3.4 billion, that is if the FAAC allocation stays at N8.03 billion monthly. And to add salt to injury, the receipts from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) stand at N2.0 billion monthly. This means N5.40 billion is available to the state monthly to run government.

    This may make more sense when juxtaposed with the fact that the state has a workforce of 60,000 workers and an attendant  wage bill of N7,437,940,015.38. So, the N5.4 b balance is insufficient to offset the wage bill, let alone fund overheads or capital projects.

    This situation has forced Okowa to ask the House of Assembly to review this year’s budget of N409 billion, because “it is no longer realistic in the wake of current realities”.

    The effect of this grim state is that Ministries, Department, and Agencies (MDAs) have been running at half steam.

    But, for the APC, Okowa  should just shut up.  The party described as embarrassing Okowa’s attempt to shed “crocodile tears over the huge debt profile of the state  totalling over N600bn, which his  predecessor left behind”.

    According to the party, the governor “is merely setting the stage by crying wolf to divert attention and in order to lay the foundation for him to go borrowing more money, thereby plunging the state into a deeper financial disaster.”

    The party said it warned the people during electioneering that “Okowa represents no change but more of the same of Peoples Democratic Party’s 16 years of misrule.”

    APC’S words:  “From Okowa’s days as Commissioner, multiple times under ex-governor James Ibori to his days as the Secretary to the State Government under Uduaghan that accumulated these debts, he has no moral excuse to attempt to distance himself as if he was an onlooker or bystander while the  state was being wrecked!

    “Okowa was not an onlooker but a key participant and a major co-conspirator in wrecking the finances and economy of Delta State and he is in no position to rescue Delta from the mess created by him and the past PDP administrations.

    “If indeed Okowa insists he has been an onlooker and truly expect Deltans to believe he was not a party to the financial rot, let him immediately and urgently institute a panel to probe the huge debt in order to unearth how it was accumulated and who were the beneficiaries of the massive plundering of our commonwealth! Until then, Gov Okowa can’t pull wool over our eyes.”

    What is clear in all of this is that Okowa, like Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, will soon ask the House for permission to borrow from available sources. Wike has so far gotten the permission to borrow N30 billion. Chances are he will still borrow more.

    My final take: For me, the cry by Okowa has also raised a poser: is all well between him and Uduaghan? I ask this question because like Okowa, the governor of Kano State, Umar Ganduje, also spoke about the state’s debt. But unlike Okowa, Ganduje, who was deputy governor in the previous dispensation, justified the debt profile and described it as not unusual. Okowa does not seem to share this view about Delta’s debt and, in my calculation, was close to accusing Uduaghan of messing up.

    I am sure Uduaghan will point at the many developmental projects in the state to justify the loans and blame the dwindling federal allocation for the inability to cushion the effect of the loans.

    I certainly do not pity Okowa. The early days are frightening and dark.

  • Brass fertiliser-petrochemical firm to employ 30, 000 Bayelsans

    The Bayelsa Development and Investment Corporation (BDIC) is hoping to create 30,000 jobs and generate a turnover of $1.5bn from the Brass Fertiliser and Petrochemical project worth $3.5bn. The project is to be sited at Odioma in Brass Local Government Area, Bayelsa State.

    BDIC vows to restructure the state’s economy, diversify it away from oil and gas and create more opportunities for the people of the state. With the firm coming on stream, the corporation said a prosperous future awaits the people.

    The Deputy Managing Director of BDIC, Tam Alazigha, said the new offices of the corporation that were opened in South Africa, United Kingdom and Atlanta, United States, would “take Bayelsa to the world and bring the world to Bayelsa”.

    He said the offices were designed to open outposts in strategic locations in the various key markets in order to leverage on opportunities that the markets offer to drive the restoration of the Bayelsa economy.

    He said: “The 3.5 billion dollar Brass Fertilizer and Petrochemical projectat Odioma, which is expected to generate turnover of $1.5bn dollars and employ about 30,000 Bayelsans.

    “This high-impact catalytic project is expected to produce 5,000 metric tonnes of methanol per day, 2,200 metric tonnes per day of Ammonia and 7,700 metric tonnes per day of Urea for domestic and export markets.

    “This humongous project will ensure availability of high-grade fertilizer for farmers throughout the planting season and meet 25per cent of the country’s projected annual domestic demand of 10 million metric tonnes. The BDIC is take up a 10% equity stake in the project.

    “The only property owned by the corporation are those in the U.K located at St. John’s Wood registered under BDIC UK Ltd and forms part of the assets in the balance sheet of the corporation.

    “The property was bought at £2.3 million but now valued at over £3 million with a monthly rental income of £7000. For the office in the United States, the properly was purchased in BIDC’s name in 2013 for $ 850, 000 and was leased as a property with a monthly income of $5, 000.

    “Other achievements include, the $300 million Liquefied Petrochemical Gas project at Agge, wIth a projected turnover of $100 million and which will produce butane or cooking gas.”

    Alazigha further stated that the corporation was into serious negotiation with Microsoft and Goggle to facilitate deployment of white space technology in the state to make internet available in the rural areas for business to thrive.

     

  • Ibom Power MD to engineers: ethics very important

    Ibom Power MD to engineers: ethics very important

    The Managing Director of Ibom Power Company, Dr. Victor Udo, has urged engineers to uphold the ethics of the profession.

    He spoke at the seminar organised by the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) tagged “Infrastructure Decay: A case study of Akwa Ibom State”.

    The MD said: “Engineers ought to be at the vanguard of infrastructure development and management for sustainable development.”

    He urged engineers to “be involved in the technical, financial and public policy aspects of infrastructure development”.

    He added: “If engineers concentrate only on the technical aspect, neglecting the other two, the problem of infrastructure decay will persist. The problem of infrastructure decay cannot be blamed solely on corruption because Engineers also have a role to play.

    “Engineers should take responsibility for infrastructure management by shunning the use of substandard materials for infrastructure projects. Infrastructure decay can be minimised if there is core competency development with private sector involvement. Core competency development includes public policy analysis, financing acumen and the technical aspects of infrastructure development.

    “Private sector involvement can be either through Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) or Build Own and Operate (BOO).”

    The MD concluded that “to curb the problem of infrastructure decay there must be improved management and maintenance culture for sustainable development”.

  • Southsouth Community Association gets approval

    THE Southsouth Community Association of Nigeria (SOSCAN) has been registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

    In a statement, its Executive Secretary, Dr Peter Ekong, said the group scaled the hurdle a year after its leaders submitted its papers for registration, adding that processing started in May, last year. He said comprises indigenes of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta and Rivers and Edo states.

    He said the group also known as Niger Delta Peoples Community is aimed at fighting for the rights of the peoples of the area, adding that there was need for integration among them.

    Ekong added that the Lagos chapter of the association would be inaugurated soon and that a steering committee to do so had been put in place.

  • Anger, confusion in Bayelsa local govts over arrears of unpaid salaries

    All is not well between local government workers in Bayelsa State and their chairmen. The workers are angry that about four months of their salaries have not been paid by the council bosses.

    Confronted with economic hardship, the local council employees are not buying their chairmen excuses that the dwindling revenue allocation from the Federal Government has affected their wages.

    There are eight local government areas in Bayelsa, the least in all the states in the country. The workers are of the opinion that with the oil-producing status of the state and the reduced number of local councils, the chairmen should not have problem paying salaries despite the economic crunch.

    Besides, they argued that the Chairman of Brass Local Government Area, paid his workers up to May salaries. Why then are the chairmen of Sagabama, Yenagoa, Southern Ijaw, Nembe, Ekeremor and Kolokuma-Opokuma unable to pay their bills? They queried.

    The Secretary, Medical and Health Workers Union (MHWU), Mr. Lartan Bany and the Chairman of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) said the governor had no hand in their travails. Bany said the local government chairmen admitted that the governor never interfered in their revenue allocations from the Federal Government.

    The Commissioner for Information, Mr. Esueme Kikile, said the government had intervened to ensure that the outstanding salaries of the workers were paid.

    He said: “The present administration in the state has demonstrated its commitment to local government autonomy and has the policy of zero deductions from local government allocations”.

    But the Bayelsa Democratic Watch Forum (BDWF) blamed the salary crisis on the inefficient management of finances by the chairmen. The group in a statement signed by its Chairman, Mr. Binaebi Femo and Secretary, Mr. Tari Oki, thanked the MHWU and the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) for calling off their strike.

    While NULGE and the MHWU are leaking their wounds and raining curses on their chairmen, the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) are heaping praises on the state governor for promptly paying their monthly salaries.

    A statement by the State council chairmen of NLC, Ebipere Ndiomu and his TUC counterpart, Dounana Tari, said that their members were appreciative of the governor’s gesture which would keep the workers committed to duty and raise productivity.

    They said that they were aware of the personal sacrifices the governor had made to ensure that salaries were paid regularly despite the shortfall in revenue from the federation account.

     

  • Hospital seizes six bodies over N13m mortuary bill

    A Delta State hospital is keeping the bodies of six  people killed in the crisis rocking Irri, Isoko South Local Government Area for alleged N13.059m mortuary bill. Five others have been released and laid to rest.

    The crisis was said to have happened as a result of power tussle allegedly instigated by an oil company operating in the area.

    The five bodies released by the government hospital in Isoko South were interred amid tears and mourning as markets and stores were closed and movement restricted as signs of last respect for the deceased.

    The deceased that were interred are Ororo Okemena, Edhor Wilifred, Agnes Osoh, Okogba Okiemute and Okrota Henry.

    Speaking to reporters  after the funeral service for the deceased at Irri town hall, the Chairman of Irri Development Union, Hon Goddey Igorigo said they were burying their brothers and sisters who lost their lives since 2002 in a crisis that rocked the community.

    Igorigo said one of the deceased was taken to Oleh for burial while others still in the mortuary in a private hospital that are yet to be released following a mortuary bill of N13.059m debt yet to be upset.

    He said: “We ought to have buried all today but because we don’t have money, the management of the private hospital took us to court that we should pay the sum of N13.059m and to also pay the damage of N1 million to them before they can release for us.

    “The matter is in court as we speak now and with the judgment passed, the court asked the management of the hospital to reduce the bill for us because we as a community, we don’t have money to pay and we want the remaining people to be buried.

    “So we are begging the local government, state and Federal Government to come to the aid of Irri to help us in offsetting the bill because day in day out the bill is increasing.”

  • Okomu Oil, communities search for peace

    The management of Okomu Oil Company in Okomu, Ovia South West Local Government Area of Edo State, has canvassed for a good working relationship with members of the host communities where the company is located.

    The firm experienced shortfall in production last year when some Ijaw youths supposedly from Okomu community burnt some hectares of plantation and attacked workers of the firm.

    Managing Director of Okomu Oil, Dr Graham Hefer who spoke at a one day round table interaction with host communities, said he hoped to strike a mutual understanding with the host communities with a view to boosting the company’s social responsibility.

    Dr. Hefer said the interaction was to boost harmonious affinity between the company and the communities as well as identifying areas of needs of the host communities.

    According to him, “As a company we want to make sure that all our host communities understand how we wish to work together so as to tackle any issues or problem that may arise in the future.”

    “Since we started this interactive session, there has been strong peace and mutual relationship between the company host communities, including knowing the community corporate social needs. We have succeeded in employing many qualified indigenes across all host communities without discrimination and we are happy that the communities are working side by side with us to achieve more goals.”

    After the round table interaction, both parties agreed that the communities should provide peaceful environment for the company to thrive and that that company in return should place priority on the area of needs or request of communities.

    One of the community leaders, Mr. Ogbemudia Benjamin said the interaction had helped them to know the right and privileges of the communities and the company.

    He said, “The discussion has helped us to know the dos and don’ts in our dealings with the company. We are going to continue the existing peace and it is hoped that the interaction will assist both parties in dealing with each other”.

  • Nasty, brutish life in Owan

    Nasty, brutish life in Owan

    •Community appeals to Oshiomhole to fix their road

    Nigerians in the last sixteen years of experimental democracy have demonstrated and shown obligation in the area of civil responsibility by voting various political parties and political office holders into political offices. But the question of fulfilment of electioneering promise hangs in the balance. Painfully, Nigerians have grown accustomed to, and are used to their plights being shelved aside and their hopes smashed by politicians who made empty promises at elections without any intention of fulfilling them.

    Since 2007, a stranded people of Okpuje community in Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State have set their hopes on the slender shoulders of a man they have dubbed the political saviour of their time, in the person of Mr Adams Oshiomhole, the Governor of Edo State. Seven years on the saddle, their exulted hopes have become forlorn and faded, and have been replaced with resentments, hopelessness, despairs and utter indignations.

    The people are now rumbling and urging Governor Adams Oshiomhole to honour his pact with them to fix their road nearly seven in office! Numbering almost fifty thousand in population with about thirty thousand register voters, the largest in the local government, the community leaders, coated with an appeal, have no kind words for Mr Oshiomhole. They alleged the governor visited the community repeatedly with helicopters to rake in votes for his political parties; then as AC, ACN and now, the APC.

    A great numbers of old and young in the community felt used, deceived and dished several times over by dubious politicians who constantly lure the people away into voting political parties with vague platitudes without keeping their promises. The Opkuje inhabitants would not forget in a hurry how their own son deceived and frittered away their common patrimony and lost the opportunity to fix the less than 8 kilometres road as two-term Local Government Chairman on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Okpuje road picture
    •Okpuje road

    The seven autonomous communities of Okpuje sub-clan are directly linked by the less than 8 kilometres major road that has been abandoned by successive local and state governments. The sub-clan remains one of the largest and most vibrant political ward in the entire local government with agriculture as the dominant occupation of the rural dwellers. The community also serves as a tourists attraction since it is rich in culture and has accounted for the reason thousands of people flock the place yearly for their annual festival. There is no doubt that the agricultural occupation of Opkuje people has contributed greatly to better rural livelihood and general economy growth of not only the rural areas but the state in general. It remains a puzzle that Okpuje is impoverished, abandoned, developmentally excuded ward in the state on account of inaccessible road.

    The level of abandonment and obvious consequences of absolute bad road have become alarming due to huge economic losses. It becomes even more worrisome that Okpuje people continued to be law abiding; pay taxes to govt and still actively involved in all electoral processes, but remains the most underdeveloped ward. The road is the only road in Owan West that has been generating serious attention long before Mr Adams Oshiomhole become governor. The road still remains in its sorry state even at the twilight of Oshiomhole government.

    As it stands, the people cannot do otherwise than to call the government attention repeatedly and appeal to Governor Oshiomhole not to renege on his promise on this most important road that link several communities. Besides, the road also connects to the present Secretary to the State Government’s private residence and this has left many tongues wagging. Not only that, the SSG’s mother is said to be a native of the sleepy town of Okpuje. That the people have been voting for Mr Adams Oshiomhole and his political party is enough evidence to prove the social contract between the people and the governor. This is the reason the people are continually calling on the governor to keep his own side of the bargain before the expiration of his tenure.

    Prior to Governor Oshiomhole’s governorship, Hon. Daniel Asekhamen, the former local government chairman was alleged to have awarded the same road to his automobile mechanic elder brother, Titus Asekhamen based in Port Harcourt without the slightest knowledge of construction or any known registered company. While a few persons believe Hon Asekhamen’s elder brother made minimal dent on the road were hundreds of millions of naira went down unaccounted for, prominent citizens of Okpuje community disagree, almost violently. They are of the view that Hon Asekhemen and his brother mechanic brother should be thoroughly investigated, prosecuted and jailed if found guilty for ruining the the economic live of an industrious and progressive people.

    They lamented the horrible and deplorable condition of the road which makes life nasty, brutish and unbearable for not only the inhabitants of the seven sub-clan but the motorists, traders, tourists, artisans, farmers and well-wishers who traverse the length and breadth of the once boisterous and most populous towns for various economic activities. Virtually everyone on the streets of Okpuje expects to see Hon. Daniel Asekhamen and his elder brother behind prison walls for ruining their means of livelihood, which they claim lies on the road.

    Speaking for the Okpuje Progressive Union, (OPU), the highest socio-political group in the sub-clan, and on behalf of the President, Mr Osadebe Clement Ogedengbe, the Vice President Mr Mutaba Asekhamen bluntly denounced and relentlessly chided Hon. Asekhamen whom he called the nemesis of Okpuje road and people. He quipped at the unreality of the claims that Hon. Asekhamen made any impact on the road: “Our road was 100 per cent in order, even though it is an earth road before Daniel Asekhamen swept his way through to the Council and destroyed everything thereof. Ordinarily, I drive my cars from the neighbouring town, Uzebba to my home town, Oromen without stress. Now, I have to park my car in a family friend’s house after Asekhamen’s house and hops on a motorbike to get to my house”.

    Mr Mutaba alleged that while Oshiomhole has turned his ancestral birthplace, Etsakor East, Etsakor West and Cetral local government areas (Auchi speaking in Edo North) to model cities with newly constructed roads, walkways and street lights, the governor refused to tar a single kilometre of road in Owan West Local Government. He therefore questioned the morality behind the mindless maginalisation of his people, giving the fact that Owan West falls into the same senatorial district as the governor’s, Edo North.

    He said the reason Okpuje community voted for the APC in the last general elections was solely on account of Prof Julius Ihonvbere’s last minutes appeal that the governor would mobilise contractors to fix the road once the elections are over. He retorted that the governor who could not visit Okpuje’s towns in the last election as a result of bad road belatedly visited a neighbouring town, Uzebba, few hours before the general election and reiterated the promise his Secretary to the State Government, Prof Julius Ihonvbere had earlier made.

    The Vice President chronicled the reason himself and the community have been supporting Governor Oshiomhole since 2007 after the governor made public pronouncement at Osaije Central School, Ivbiodohen to fix the road if elected governor. “We were moved after the governor’s solemn promise to mounted serious campaign against the PDP that have ruined our futune, believing that the comrade governor would come to our aid as promised. Okpuje Progressive Union sponsored many of our people to Benin to testified in court in favour of Mr Adams Oshiomhole to enable him retrieve his mandate from the PDP sitting governor, Prof Osareimen Osunbor to our detriment at the time.

    “We mounted similar rigorous campaign in 2011 for his re-election after he came to Okpuje with Helicopter three times, promising to fix the same road. The governor made similar promises elsewhere in the local government in the course of the last general elections, using Okpuje road for the umpteenth times to cajole the people in order to win the people’s sympathy and votes in the entire local government and the people sadly fell for the tramp again because of our brother and son, Prof Julius Ihonvbere who is virtually incapacitated in his government”.

    A notable chief and Major (Rtd) Benjamin Jimoh Igbafen  also recounted how Governor Oshiomhole deceived them into voting his party several times without fulfilling his electoral promise concerning the road. Major Igbafen gave vivid account on how the governor who could only access the community by a helicopter due to the deplorable condition of the road told the unhappy people that the contractor handling Uroe-Ikhin-Otuo road in Owan East will relocate promptly to Okpuje road as soon as the construction is completed.

    •Igbafen
    •Igbafen

    High Chief Major Igbafen said a check by his people has revealed that the contractor working on Owan East road which Governor Oshiomhole promised would relocate to Okpuje road has since completed or left Uroe-Ikhin-Otuo road to wherever they come from over two years ago.

    The retired Major groaned in righteous anger: “Several letters from me and the entire community reminding the governor of his promise to my people at the electioneering were never responded to”, saying it was  governance by deceit by the rambled governor”. He asserted that no single road project by the present government has been constructed in the entire Owan West local government, let alone Okpuje road, yet several road projects are going on in other parts of the state particularly the governor’s local government.

    He further stated that any government that can’t keep its electoral promise or extend its  reach to every part of the sphere of its geographical domain is either myopic or it is simply interested in marginalising a part of the whole. He said Okpuje with a total population of nearly fifty thousand people with about twenty thousand registered voters spread across the seven major communities namely, Ikpeyan, Oromen, Okeigho Avbioghola, Ivbiodonhen, Oah and Iloje deserve government patronages with regards to the road construction or other basic amenities.

    Chief Igbafen intones that “the basic fundamental purpose of governance is to extend development to the farthest part and, to the wretched of the earth, thereby creating a sense of belonging and social integration into the larger society for the less privileged. Dripping venom, the retired Major says, “anything short of that, as with Mr Oshiomhole’s government, is sheer hollowness”. It is left to be seen whether Mr Adams Oshiomhole will fulfil his electoral promise to a resolute people who have been hanging their hopes tenaciously over the years on his shoulders as his administration tapes off.

    •Ikhueoya sent this piece from Benin

     

  • Ex-Edo SSG donates blood to mark birthday

    As part of activities to mark his 53rd birthday, a former Secretary to the Edo State Government and chieftain of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, recently led hundreds of his supporters to the Edo State branch of the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) to donate blood.

    Pastor Ize-Iyamu hosted his supporters to a sumptuous breakfast at his residence before they departed to Reservation Road where the office of the NBTS is located.

    The former SSG told newsmen that he thought a better way to celebrate and thank God for sparing his life was to donate blood to save lives.

    According to him, “My wife and I share the same birthdate which is June 21. It is a way of giving back to the society. I believe birthday celebration is an opportunity to give back in a unique way.

    “On the 14th of June, I saw on television that it was world donor’s day and the theme was ‘Thank You for saving a life’. There was an appeal by the World Health Organisation to people to regularly donate blood to those who desperately need them.

    “I thought there was no way to appreciate God than to donate part of the blood he gave me. I don’t know how the blood came into my body. It is better way to thank God. I know myself alone cannot make impact and I had to appeal to my friends to join in blood donation and I will like to have a minimum of 100 friends but the number here is over 200. We want to encourage people to come. There are people dying for lack of blood. People should come out and donate blood.”

    Acting Head of Clinical Services of NBTS, Dr. Arogundade Bosede, thanked the donors for their gestures and added that people would donate blood often if they knew the health benefits.

    Pastor Ize-Iyamu also visited a Christian missionary camp currently housing some displaced persons from the Northern part of the country.

    He donated cash and food items and promised to mobilise his friends to provide basic amenities for persons in the camp.

  • Director to Bayelsa youths: farming can give you fame, money

    The Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture in Bayelsa, Dr Francis Umokoro, has advised the unemployed youth in the state to embrace agriculture as business.

    Umokoro, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa on Tuesday, said that farming could give them fame.

    According to him, agricultural development is also good for the nation building and will also boost food production.

    “No nation can survive without agriculture; so, let us encourage food production because our land is highly fertile for all kinds of crops.

    “We have gone round Bayelsa and established that you need no irrigation for any plantation, especially rice because of the swampy nature of the environment.

    “Cassava can survive; beans, yam and vegetable fruits can also survive here in Bayelsa.

    “It worries me each time I pass through highways and see vast of uncultivated land lying fallow and yet our youths are going round in circle without jobs,” the Director stressed.

    Umokoro said that to overcome the threat of unemployment in the country, all hands must be on deck, urging the youth in Bayelsa to develop interest in farming now.

    He said that the Federal Government was committed to building of human capacity in the area of agriculture.

    “The government has been up-and-doing in supplying farm inputs like fertiliser, tractors, seedling among others.

    “Bayelsa has been benefiting from the distribution of this fertiliser which is done on a subsidised rate and distribution is always four bags per hectare.

    “The farmers get them on a subsidised price, which means that the Federal Government pays 25 per cent, the state pay 25 per cent while the farmers pay 50 per cent.

    “So, the government has made it so easy that even the young farmers can invest and survive with farming; they can go for credit loan in banks,” he said.

    The director urged farmers in the state to educate the unemployed youth on the importance of agriculture in order to support farming business in the state and Nigeria at large.