The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • Firm crashes kerosene price to N50 per litre in Delta communities

    People in Ugborodo and Tebi-Ijoh, both in Warri South-West council area of Delta state are now beneficiaries of special kerosene subsidy called ‘KERO-Direct’, which sees the price of the product crashed from N165 to N50 per litre.

    The company social responsibility project, undertaken by an indigenous oil and gas company, A&E Petrol, sold one million litres of kerosene, at the crashed price, to the people of Ajudaibo Ogidigben, Tebi-Ijoh and other riverine oil and gas bearing communities in the council area.

    Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of A&E Petrol, Chief Ayirimi Emami, in an interview while supervising the sale of the people disclosed that the subsidy, which cost his company over N70 million, was the beginning of a long term plan to make kerosene and other petroleum products easily accessible to people of the riverine communities in Delta state at affordable prices.

    Emami further noted that the project was another strategy for reducing the problem of oil theft, which had become a national economic burden to the nation, even as he quickly pointed out that his company’s gesture had no political target, but targeted at reducing the crushing hardship daily faced by the people in the riverrine rural areas of Delta state.

    “This is a genuine effort by our company, having nothing to do with politics, but basically aimed at making life more bearable to our people in the rural areas, especially those living in the communities across waters. Besides, we believe when this is done and sustained, the problem of oil bunkering with greatly be reduced; all what the people want is an affordable life and that is what A&E Petrol is giving them through this subsidy programme”, Emami said.

    According to him, the move by his company sequel to a meeting with the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Alison Dezani  Madueke and the Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, wherein a decision was reached that in each kerosene allocation his company gets, sales of kerosene to people of the riverine communities should be subsidized.

    A Cleric, Rev. G.O.T. Aforijuku, Ogidigben Community Youth Chairman, Mr. David Mamah, Chairman of Ajudaibo Community, Japhet Emami, Madam Caroline Majebi, Clifford Ekwale, Sonny Utoro, Funmi Enegho and Madam Eworitsemogha Edun all of whom spoke to newsmen on behalf of other beneficiaries, commended A&E Petrol for the gesture, stressing that it is the first time in the history of Ugborodo communities that they are experiencing the kero direct sale despite being host to key multinational oil companies.

    Investigations revealed that the sale of kerosene in Ugborodo and its neigbouring riverine communities had been between N250 and N500 per litre due to the cost of transporting it from Warri.

    The beneficiaries appealed to the Federal Government through the NNPC to ensure that A&E Petrol get consistent allocation of kerosene and fuel to enable the company continue with the new initiative.

  • Cross River’s quest for land security

    Cross River’s quest for land security

    Besides bearing the status of the cleanest in the country, Calabar, the Cross River State capital also boasts of being a well-planned city.

    Governor Liyel Imoke recently emphasised this when during a function on land management that owners of land should not turn the city into a forest of concrete but to ensure whatever structures they put up is in line with the aesthetic slant of the government.

    Efforts to ensure this is maintained have been sustained through the Systematic Land Tilting and Registration exercise which is ongoing in Calabar.

    But more importantly is the exercise aims at providing land security for owners especially as the demand for land continues to grow in state which is fast becoming a hub.

    “SLTR is fast, efficient and innovative method for having the government formally recognise landowners rights to the land they are occupying, by issuing a CofO to every landowner in a specific area. This affords the owners more security for their rights and allows the land to be used as collateral for financing,” Dr Clement Oshaka, Director General of the Cross River Geographic Information Agency explained.

    Coordinator of the SLTR project in the state, Mr Augustine Ojeka,  said the project entails capturing every inch of land in the state through field work to form part of an overall cadastral system that would have all the land parcels in the state represented properly.

    “It is going to help in town planning, urban renewal, projections, and even help on issues of taxation and any other revenue issues relating to properties in the state.”

    The project aims to registering every property in the state, he said.

    Thereafter they will proceed to making it possible for all who have been registered to get valid certificates of occupancy.

    He said the project has been kicked off in a particular area in Calabar, which they tagged “Proof of Concept” area.

    The area which includes Atimbo, Akim, Edim Otop communities in Calabar, he said was to check the viability of the project.

    According to him, the process was already being well received by the people and would expand eventually.

    He said the project which is a collaboration between the CRGIA and the Growth and Employment in States 3(GEMS3) was an intervention programme.

    “Being an intervention programme it is designed to be pro-poor to make sure that the poor man who has land to be able to have access to secure his land and have a C of O at very little cost.

    “When we came here initially, the governor was very appreciative of the concept. Getting to know what it is about, he granted approval and released some funding for it to kickstart.

    “GEMS3 is a project funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development so they give some fund support for the project.”

    On expectations from members of the public towards the exercise, he said, “The members of the public in terms of requirement to get your property registered is nothing different from the usual practise where you are expected to come up with evidence of claim for a particular property you occupy. And every document relating to that property. In this case of SLTR, we ask you for such documents. If you have them, you present them. If you don’t have them, we try to go beyond that to see how we can establish the authenticity of your claim on that property. We capture every relevant detail including your image and identification.

    “It is designed to augment actually the normal system that is running in the CRGIA such that if there are subsequent transactions on that property, you can be sure that all documents generated relating to that transaction would always be tied to the ones that have already been captured right here in the system in the data base. So at any point references are necessary to draw on the database relating to any parcel of land, it would not be an issue of searching. You just go straight and get whatever history you need on that property and then it would now help in planning, decision making and any other administrative decisions that are necessary for management of such parcels of land.”

    “It is not just for property that has been developed. Every piece of land in the state is supposed to be registered even if it is half an inch, so long as somebody is claiming that land. Whether it is an individual, group of individuals, communities, even government property, we also capture them. They should be part of the database for reference purposes.”

    “The Proof of Concept currently ongoing is going well. We have done a lot and it is already working out. We are making projections based on what we have done. Next year hopefully we would see a larger scale implementation of this project. It is a concept that has to be proved that it is implementable.”

    Adviser to the project, an American, Mr Stephen Calder describing how they work to get the area covered said:“Basically, we work in teams and they go round every street from door to door and ask house owners to show their properties and they draw on them map and the fill our forms and  verify facts of ownership.

    “We take pictures of all documents and survey plans. We take all that information and then we come in here from hand drawn to computer drawn. All the details are captured. When we are complete with this there is one more important step to embark on which is the public display. Larger maps are put along with the list of the names and for thirty days we put them in public places and ask people to go check the names to ensure we got it right. If you have any thing to correct or dispute let us know. After that period if no one objects, it is considered to be valid and then the property goes to CRGIA after which it is reistered. After which if the people ome and pay a fee, the get a Certificate of Occupancy. They don’t pay for any of the work we do. They only pay for the C-of-O.

    “The difference in what we are doing is that before now it was up to the people to come and register their property and we call that sporadic registering, because it happens person by person and it is sporadic. But with this we register virtually everything. So it is a very valid exercise.

    “We seek to registering virtually every property within a certain area. In this instance, the proof of concept area which you see here.

    “There are two main benefits. First you are securing your land. Once the government approves of it and has it stored, it is difficult for someone to dispossess you of that land. You are secure in your land title. The other benefit is that with the C-of-O you can use your land as collateral to obtain investment capital.

    “We are starting with Atimbo, Akim, Edim Otop. The field work will run till the end of November. We commenced in July.

    “We have the plans to expand it throughout the state. But it is subject to approval. We are talking with the CRGIA and the commissioner of special projects and we hope to get funding and approval to continue this until the entire state is complete.

    “The people are receiving it well. In fact when they hear about it they come to us and say please to do theirs. They is always a few people that have distrust but by and large the response is very good especially as people get more aware.”

     

  • Delta impounds over 200 Okada in Sapele

    The Delta State Ministry of Transport, has impounded more than 200 commercial motorcycles, also known as Okada, in Sapele.

    The exercise followed the state government’s decision to phase the use of Okada for commercial purposes in Ika North, South and Sapele council areas of the state.

    Commissioner of Transport Ben Igbakpa, who led the team that carried out the exercise to Ughelli, expressed displeasure at the refusal of Okada operators  in the area to respect government’s order, despite positive gesture from government, which had shifted earlier deadlines to accommodate the views of Okada operators.

    Igbakpa, who said government decided to impound motorcycles to demonstrate its level of seriousness about ending the operation of  commercial motorcycles in the designated places, also denied knowledge of the destruction of some motorcycles in Mosogar recently.

    Igbakpa urged the motorcycle operators to use  tricycles popularly referred to as Keke at a reduced rate from the State Transport secretariat, Asaba if they must remain in business.

    Meanwhile, controversy is trailing the burning of some confiscated motorcycles at the Mosogar end of the Gammon Bridge by yet-to-be-identified persons.

    Though an eyewitness disclosed that the burning of the motorcycles numbering over 100 was ordered by Igbapka,  the transport commissioner denied knowledge of the incident.

    “I am not aware of the burning of any Okada, the fact remains that, any confiscated Okada is not going back to the owner. How such Okadas are being disposed is not the issue, what matter is that all Okadas in these areas must be off the road,” he said.

  • Of lion, elders etc

    Of lion, elders etc

    Amaechi versus Mbu: As I write this, my hands are shaking. Out of fear. If not for extra courage, I must be peeing in my panties by now. Why? I am afraid ex-Rivers State police chief, now an Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), Joseph Mbu, will invite me for a meeting and subsequently order my arrest and the next morning, after staying in mosquitoes-infested cell, will be taken to a Magistrates’ Court and be charged for literary assault on a police officer.

    I hereby plead guilty to the offence of having severally assaulted ‘the best police chief Rivers ever had’ on this space. I confess that on many an occasion, I wrote that ‘the lion’ was law when he was in Rivers. I equally admit that I am guilty of accusing him of reducing Governor Rotimi Amaechi to a second class citizen in his own state.

    And to cap it all, I committed the literary hara-kiri of asking that Mbu be taken to Maiduguri where he would be able to help us get over the Boko Haram menace. I also put it to myself, apologies to my Learned Friends, that I am guilty of saying Mbu was acting a script written from above.

    That is not all. I also confess that I have used this space to write that he was the most controversial police boss Rivers ever had. I contended that Amaechi had worked with at least three police chiefs before him and they never quarreled.

    My sins against this ‘lion’ who tamed the ‘leopard’ are certainly more than those of African Independent Television’s Amaechi Anakwe, who Mbu invited for describing him as ‘controversial’ on a TV programme, ordered his arrest and dragged to a Magistrates’ Court, where he was subsequently freed after prosecution orally withdrew the case on Mbu’s instruction.

    I think the AIT man’s sin may not be unconnected with his name. You may ask: what is in a name? So much. How on earth does he answer the same name as the Rivers governor? Mbu has used every available opportunity, even after leaving Rivers, to show that there can never be a love lost between him and the man who described him as a ‘woman wrapper’. I suggest that Anakwe should drop the Amaechi in his name. I will fund the change of name in this newspaper. That way, the risk of falling prey to the great ‘lion’ Mbu is reduced. He should also avoid the use of the word ‘controversial’ so that he will not have a controversial end.

    As for me, I remain loyal to His Imperial Majesty AIG Joseph Mbu, Southsouth’s most popular boy in the Nigerian Police, a great son of Cross River, a man of monumental achievements who is imbued with the profundity of insights and, above all, the apple of the First Dame’s eyes.  Lastly, please forgive me my sins because I do not know what I was doing. I committed these sins at moments of shingle short.

    Akwa Ibom elders are ‘preposterous and spurious’: In Yoruba land, there is a saying which when translated means: “Elders cannot be in the market and things will not work well.” This makes me ask: What happens when elders decide to fight their son? I leave you to figure that out.

    Elders of Akwa Ibom, led by the owner of the popular Etiebet’s Place, Chief Don Etiebet, are displaying their pugilists’ skills in their fight against Governor Godswill Akpabio. The latest fight is not unconnected to a statement the elders credited to the governor during the state’s 27th anniversary celebration.

    He was quoted as saying: “To the youth, you have a responsibility, the future belongs to you. My challenge to you is not to look at the elders.”

    Etiebet said this amounts to inciting the youths.  “We use this opportunity to call on our youths to know that the future belongs to you but you need the elders for training, advice, direction, blessing and preparation to take over tomorrow.”

    He added: ‘’Just because we, the elders, have counselled him against  arbitrary and non-budgetary spending, should he insult us?”

    Preposterous, spurious and attempts to act out a script by the opposition were Commissioner for Information Aniekan Umanah’s description of the elders’ claims, adding: “I wonder how a message by the governor admonishing the youth to take their destiny in their hands could be twisted by Etiebet and his co-travellers.”

    We sure will see more of these altercations in the days to come. At the heart of this fight is who flies the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag for the next governorship election. The governor is believed to have made up his mind to install his Secretary to the State Government, Emmanuel Udom. The elders do not angry with this.

    The governor has refused to comment openly about whether he has given his heart to Udom or not, but he has left no one in doubt that he is in charge.

    Apart from the elders, the situation in Akwa Ibom has seen godsons of Akpabio turning against him. Men with whom he wined and dined cannot even share ordinary water with him anymore. Daily they plot against one another. The other day the governor was angry enough to declare that like the Biblical Absalom, any of his sons who wanted to take power through the backdoor will die. The governor’s supporters insist he was referring to political death. His enemies within say he never used the word ‘political’ when he pronounced death on his estranged sons.

    The season has just begun. Interesting times sure lie ahead. Stay tuned.

    Waiting for Julius Agwu:  October is here. The rush has started. But, where on earth is Julius ‘de genius’ Agwu in the mad rush to 2015? A fortnight ago, he was in Arogbo, an Ijaw community in Ondo State as a guest of the Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Kingsley Kuku, for the Arogbo-Ibe Day. He was his jovial self. No one noticed the sartorial elegance of a governor-in-waiting in him. But Agwu says he wants to be governor; or better still, he said he wanted to be governor of Rivers State, which, in the long run, may be a race between President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Rotimi Amaechi.  Forget that both men will not be candidates, but each of them will want to prove a point.

    The last time Agwu spoke about his ambition was in August. He was everywhere. From the social media to the print media. He granted a number of interviews and tried to disabuse the minds of those who think he was out for another comic relief. He said he was the change Rivers needs.

    Despite his assurances, not many took serious this A-rated comedian. They doubted if he was serious to quit the world of comedy for the world of politics. Now, it is clear he was joking.

    I am pained he has wasted my pieces of advice to him. I had advised him in August thus: “This is my advice to Agwu. First, he needs to rebrand by presenting himself simply as the third force and severing every ethnic tie. He should sell himself as the Rivers candidate. His manifesto should also show the power of comedy in disarming the Federal Government to give the state its dues. Federal roads in the state need attention. Agwu’s manifesto should promise that he has got the skills to get the Presidency to fix these roads and other infrastructure pronto. The manifesto should also show that never again will Rivers be cheated of its rights. In fact, he can promise to get back the oil wells taken from the state through his comic skills.”

    Next time, I will not invest in him again. Chikena!

     

  • Eulogies as Lulu-Briggs clocks 56

    Eulogies as Lulu-Briggs clocks 56

    Religious leaders and over 200 beneficiaries of his philanthropy, especially indigent members of the society recently offered prayers offered to God for High Chief O.B. Lulu-Briggs, his wife, Sienye and his family at an event to mark Mrs Lulu-Briggs’ 56th birthday celebration in Port Harcourt the Rivers state capital.

    Pastor Dagogo Ejie, in his prayer said, “May God lift up His countenance upon Him (his family), make His face shine upon him, prepare a place for him in His presence, in the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.”

    For her part, a blind old woman, Mama Evelyn Goodhead said, “I pray the Almighty God who has given them the responsibility to take care of the very less privileged of the society like me,  to keep them, give them long life, grant them more blessings  enlarge their coasts, give them more wisdom and understanding.

    “Whosoever that will raise any eyebrow on them in anyway or say they shall not prosper, do well or stay alive to enjoy the fruits of their labour, or even to continue to help the poor of the society, may the Lord forgive such a person and grant him/her change of heart in the name of Jesus Christ,” Goodhead said.

    The beneficiaries of the couple’s gesture are mostly septuagenarian and octogenarian; frail men and women citizens of Nigeria, who have lost their means of livelihood to age, frailty and other  age-related chronic health condition (blindness, high blood pressure) among others and have no close dependable relative to shoulder their daily need burdens.

    They are carried along in all that the Lulu-Briggs family does, just like their own children and family members. They are given holistic care including clothing, feeding, medical and monthly allowances. In some cases, they are provided with comfortable houses.

    Speaking on the celebrant, Mama Goodhead explained, “Mrs. Sienye O. B. lulu-Briggs, is so nice to me, the aged in the society and the whole world, the widows, the less privileged of the society. This can be attested by the crowd that has come to grace this event.

    “She is a mother indeed and her husband also is a father to reckon with any day and time. They take care of us – the helpless ones of the society so much.  From the time I was enrolled into the “Care For Life” November last year, no month has passed without me receiving food, ingredients for soup (assorted fish, including stock fish), toiletries, provision among others as well as allowance for my upkeep.

    “I mysteriously became blind five years ago. I used to deal in fabrics, raw gold, coral beads and big George wrappers after the death of my husband years ago. I was doing very well in the business before the sudden eye problem that defiled all forms of medication.

    “I have nobody to assist me anywhere, aside this family. My only daughter that that was carrying the burden is no more, I have male children though but they are not well to do. Until Mrs. Sienye and husband adopted me, life was though for me.

    “Anybody of goodwill and appreciations knows that High Chief O. B. Lulu-Briggs and family are really doing the work of God, because the bible says that he that gives to the poor lends to God, and that is exactly what they are doing and little to know why God has continued to bless them.” She stated.

    Her assessment was not different from those of other beneficiaries spoke to our reporter. They maintained that their adoption by the family was one of the best things that has ever happened to them and thanked God on behalf of others in their communities.

    Apart from the elders, members of staff of the Foundation also spoke of their Boss. The Foundation’s Director of programmes, Miebaka Niemebu, a lawyer lauded the celebrant  and what the Foundation has been doing in its 13 years of service.

    He said,  “Over 30,000 persons have benefited from our free medical outreaches in rural communities. Our “Care For Life” (CFL), programme where we take care of the elderly ones of Rivers and Bayelsa states is doing very well. We intend to also bring in those of Akwa-Ibom state.

    “Our “Assess to Clean water” programme which involves water purification in communities that have difficulties assessing clean water for consumption is also doing well. We are also strategizing to expand our programmes. We are looking at bringing in cases like HIV/AIDS, maternal care as well as entrepreneurship among others.

    He provided further insight on the Foundation’s focus when he said, “We have directed health care programmes such as the free medical outreach where we organize resources and capacities and take them to core rural areas where health care delivery is either nil or very poor. We don’t organize such programmes in the urban communities; we are not also a Foundation that takes care of those in the streets.

    “We have programmes for the elderly poor persons, rural communities where there are little or no health facilities, where it is difficult to access tablets as simple as analgesics. Those are the communities we take our free medical programmes to bring them succour and hope to live on.

    “We also have our scholarship, women empowerment and entrepreneurship programmes; we don’t do programmes for youths at the moment.  We are constructing sets of modern toilet system and quarters for inmates of Port Harcourt prison. The project is up to 99 per cent completion and would be soon be commissioned for use.”

    At the church service earlier, the officiating Pastor Amaechi Dumen in his sermon entitled “God helps those who help the helpless”, outlined the benefits to include, replacement (reward), perfection, deliverance, assurance of eternal life, God’s Mercy among others and encouraged the family to continue in the good work and members of the public to learn to affect lives positively in other for them to harvest its abundance benefits.

     

  • Small arms, lethal effects

    Small arms, lethal effects

    At the height of the militancy in the Niger Delta, youths had ammunition of various grades and sizes. The Presidential Amnesty Programme saw militants giving up these arms. But, there are still small arms in wrong hands in states, such as Akwa Ibom, Rivers and others, which security operatives are intensifying efforts to mop up, writes PRECIOUS DIKEWOHA

    There  are guns, guns everywhere. Things used to be worse. But thanks to the Presidential Amnesty Programme, the guns have reduced. There are, however, still enough small arms in wrong hands to wreak havoc of unimaginable proportion in Niger Delta states. Some are in the hands of armed robbers; kidnappers also use many to terrorise their hostages enough for their families to pay the ransom. Political thugs equally have their fair share of the small arms with which they terrorise their masters’ opponents.

    Various methods are used to conceal these small arms. A commissioner of police once narrated how his men discovered guns in a vehicle disguised as carrying a just-wedded couple. He also narrated how guns were found in sacks of garri.

    At the weekend, the Akwa Ibom State Department of State Services (DSS) said its operatives on undercover operations have been mopping-up small arms and light weapons from criminal elements.

    Speaking at the weekend in Uyo, the state capital, the director of DSS in the state, Mr. Toma Minti, said the morale of his men was high with full determination to take on some criminal elements in the society.

    He warned that those that foment trouble would be made to face the full wrath of the law.

    Minti, who was represented by his deputy, Mr. Fubara Duke, said operatives of the service on undercover operations have been mopping-up small arms and light weapons from criminal elements.

    Working with other security agencies in and outside Akwa Ibom State, Minti said the Department has been busting several criminal operations, adding that such intense fights by operatives of the service have made the state one of the safest in Nigeria.

    “As we arrest them, we retrieve arms from them,” he said, adding that policing the state effectively requires collaborative efforts by the security operatives and the civil society and urged the public to always volunteer information on crimes in their neighbourhood to the DSS, even as he assured of identity protection of the informants.

    While warning the youths against being used by the politicians to orchestrate violence during the polls, the DSS chief was also quick to impress it on the politicians to play by the rules to avoid being confronted by the law.

    The National Task Force on Control of Small Arms, Ammunition and Light Weapons (NATFORCE) recently raised the alarm over the increase in small arms in the hands of youths in Rivers State.

    NATFORCE, state director, Mr Ndubuisi Emenike, who raised the alarm in Port Harcourt, warned that the development might cause problem during the elections.

    He, therefore, called on security agencies in the state not to relent, but put in more effort in the fight against illegal arms and ammunition to enhance a violent-free election.

    Emenike said the call was necessary because “we can only have a violent-free election when all arms in the hands of the youths were adequately mopped up before the next general election.

    “I know that the security agencies, including NATFORCE, have been doing very well in that regard, but I think that we can do better, because there are so much illegal arms in the society now and except we get rid of that, then our elections may witness some kind of problems.”

    The NATFORCE boss also urged politicians to desist from arming the youths for political aggrandizement, noting that instead of buying arms for the youths for their electoral success, they should be empowered.

    “They (politicians) should empower them with small-scale businesses or send them to school so that they become something good for themselves and the society tomorrow,” he said.

    Noting that the task force had shut down several illegal fuel dumps in the state, Emenike insisted that another source of arms was illegal bunkering which provide the youths funds for the purchase of arms.

    He, therefore, challenged the State Security Service (SS)S, police, army, customs, navy and other agencies to work in synergy in cleaning, not just Rivers State of small arms and ending bunkering, but the entire Niger Delta region.

    Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan last month urged the international community to create a platform where stolen crude oil can be tracked and disbursement of proceeds adequately monitored, as such funds usually fuel the acquisition of small arms.

    A research paper published early this year in the Journal of Sociology by three scholars, Usang  Eteng Eloma of the Faculty of Education, Cross River University of Technology, Calabar, Ikpeme Nya John of the Center for General Studies, Cross River University of Technology and  Ugwumba Ngozi Fred noted that: “There have been isolated cases in Cross River State particularly in the study area. Few years ago in the Otugwang, Kutia and Okworogwong Communities of Obudu L G A , Cross River State , the use of small arms and light weapons sustained the conflict in both communities resulting to death of over ten (10) persons and injury on thousands of people. People traveling along the Ogoja, Obudu Federal Highway were also thoroughly molested thereby creating a bypass through Vandeikeya in neighboring Benue State of Nigeria.

    “At the Ebom-Ebigakora conflict of Abi LGA, of Cross River State, Nigeria, small arms and light weapons were reportedly used to during the crises which resulted to the extinction of Ebigakora community out of existence and the destructi on of properties worth millions of naira and a death toll of hundred (100) people. Survivors are now scattered to different neighboring communities as internally displaced persons (IDP).”

    Some of the small arms in circulation in the region include: revolvers and self-loading pistols; rifles and carbines; submachine guns; assault rifles; light machine guns. Light weapons are also in wrong hands. They include: heavy machine guns; handheld under-barrel and mounted grenade launchers; portable antiaircraft guns; portable antitank guns, recoilless rifles; portable launchers of antitank missile and rocket systems; portable launchers of antiaircraft missile systems; mortars of calibers up to less than 100-mm inclusive.

    Ammunition and explosives in wrong hands also are: Cartridges (rounds) for small arms; shells and missiles for light weapons; mobile containers with missiles or shells for single-action antiaircraft and antitank systems; antipersonnel and antitank hand grenades; and explosives.

    The Presidential Amnesty Programme started by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua saw many of these dangerous weapons being submitted by repentant militants who are now beneficiaries of various empowerment programmes.

    The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs,  Kingsley Kuku, said the Federal Government has enlisted no fewer than 30,000 former militants in the amnesty programme,.

    Kuku, who is also the Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, gave the figure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    He said when the Federal Government proclaimed unconditional amnesty for the ex-militants on June 25, 2009, a total of 20,192 former agitators gave up their arms and ammunition and enrolled for the first phase of programme.

    Kuku said the terms of the amnesty included the willingness and readiness of the agitators to surrender their arms on or before October 4, 2009, unconditionally renouncing militancy and signing of an undertaking to that effect.

    He said: “In return, the government pledged its commitment to institute programmes to assist the disarmament, demobilisation, rehabilitation and reintegration of the former agitators.

    “At the expiration of the 60-day grace period on October 4, 2009, a total of 20,192 Niger Delta ex-agitators had surrendered large number of arms and ammunition to the Federal Government and accepted the offer of amnesty.

    “And pursuant to the letter and spirit of the Amnesty Proclamation, the Federal Government instituted a Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration, DDR, package for those who accepted the offer of amnesty on or before the expiration date.”

    Kuku said another 6, 166 persons were added in November 2012, constituting a second phase of the programme and bringing the number of the persons enlisted in the Presidential Amnesty Programme to 26,358.

    The presidential aide said the Federal Government approved inclusion of another 3,642 former militants, totaling 30,000 in October, 2012.

    He said the Presidential Amnesty Office is committed to funding the disarmament process of 3,642 former militants, newly enrolled for the third phase of the amnesty programme.

    Kuku also said the purpose of the process is to reconcile the disarmament record of the former agitators in the third phase of the amnesty programme.

    “This is because they have surrendered their arms to military formations and security agencies. The process is being budgeted for by President Goodluck Jonathan and the Presidential Amnesty Programme is mandated to carry out the disarmament exercise,’’ Mr. Kuku said.

    He said of the 30,000 former agitators, more than 11,525 had been placed in skills acquisition/training centres, as well as in formal education within the country and offshore.

    “Of this number, 4,929 are being trained offshore, while the balance of 6,382 have either been returned to formal education or have been placed in skill acquisition centres within the country.

    “Similarly, 6,067 transformed ex-agitators are currently being processed for deployment to reintegration centres (both within the country and offshore) in the fiscal year 2012,’’ Kuku said.

    The presidential aide said that 113 former militants had been assisted in securing employment in maritime, welding and fabrication companies at home and abroad.

    He said Proclad Group of Companies in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, UAE, offered employment to 30 of the 150 ex-militants, who were trained by the Proclad Academy because of their exceptional conduct and performance.

    “The Presidential Amnesty Office, in collaboration with the International Centre for Non-violence and Peace Development (ICNPD) secured the employment through a partnership with Proclad Academy,’” Kuku said.

    He said he also facilitated the immediate employment of 40 maritime trainees by the Century Energy Group in Nigeria,’’ the statement said.

    “Four welding and fabrication trainees have been employed in Nigeria by Plants and Processing Service Company, while five were offered jobs in South Africa by Ashland Investment Services. Ten were offered employment by Learning Resources in Ghana,’’ Kuku said.

     

    He said that the office was working with relevant partners and stakeholders in the Niger Delta and abroad to employ some of the ex-militants who had successfully completed their training.

    Kuku said the responsibility of the office “is to disarm, rehabilitate and reintegrate the former agitators who accepted the amnesty offer’’.

    He urged companies in the Niger Delta to comply with the Local Content Law by employing graduating students under the programme to enable them contribute their quota to the development of the country.

    But there are fears that the small and light arms problem in the region may worsen when the Amnesty Programme is stopped. Already, Coordinator of the ex-militants under the third phase amnesty (Ebipa-Opre Ex-militants Forum), Mr. Ramsey Oyakemeagbegha, in a statement in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, said that the conditions which triggered militancy in the region had not been addressed, adding that stopping the programme next year would trigger crisis.

    He said: “We are of the view and in support of our leader, Asari Dokubo’s suggestion that the amnesty should continue and not stop, as being rumoured, in 2015. Our people are still without potable water, no good education and functional health facilities.

    “Pollution occasioned by the oil industry still continues and there is a multitude of unemployed youth in the land.

    “Making 2015 the end of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, as being rumoured, could spell more trouble for our region and the country. An idle mind is the devil’s workshop. A stitch in time, they say, saves nine.”

    For now, security agencies are dealing with the small arms challenge. Their efficiency will go a long way in saving lives and property.

     

  • Corps member facilitates scholarship for seven orphans

    Though he is a National Youth Service Corps member, he has facilitated scholarships for seven orphans from nursery school to Primary 6.

    Samson Oluwagbemiga Bisiriyu from Lagos State serving with the Ikom local government area in Cross River State said the gesture was in fulfilment of the motto of the corps which is service and humanity.

    It was learnt scholarship was going to cost N13, 000 per session for each of the children per session till they are through.

    The corps member also printed and distributed 1, 500 exercise books to pupils in different schools as well as constructed a monument for the council.

    Bisiriyu, who studied Public Administration, Local Government Studies at the Polytechnic, Ibadan, is a batch C 2013 corps member.

    Our reporter who met with the corps member who said, “I have embarked on this because our motto is service and humanity and in this spirit I visited an orphanage and when I asked about their educational challenges they told me seven children could not go to school. I was touched. I took the seven names and approached the church, the Methodist Church, in Ikom. The Bishop chaplain accepted to assist me. So instead of putting them in public schools the church adopted them and put them in their own school and gave them free scholarship from nursery to primary school, for seven years for the seven children.

    “Also my primary assignment is at Ikom local government council, I observed there was nothing to show that it is a council. So as a public administrator I felt there was need for a sign so I constructed a statue with the mace of the legislature and cocoa which is the economic mainstay of the Ikom people. It’s the first of its kind and also to beautify the environment.

    “Also having seen the children going back to school without exercise books and due to poverty in this area, I discovered so many parents had challenges of buying exercise books so I decided to come in that area especially now that schools are reopening. So I decided to print 1500 exercise books for the children to help the parents. So when the children resume, they resume with books.”

    According to the corps member he had spent over N400, 000 on the projects, besides the scholarship.

    He said for the scholarship was handled by the church.

    On how he managed financially with his economic status as a youth corps member, he said, “There is nothing we cannot do with God. He has been helpful. He gave me the inspiration and gave provision for this.”

    Bisiriyu, who is also the Vice President of the MDGs CDS group in Ikom, he also got assistance from the chairman of council and other principal officers.

    Chairman of Ikom, Pastor Ojong Ayiba thanked the corps member for his kindness and service to the council.

    Also Mr Richard Ayaka, who is in charge of corps members in the council, urged others to emulate the gesture and always give their best wherever they are sent for their primary assignment.

  • How Delta hospital’s error bungled 90-year-old’s funeral

    It was a mix-up that left the Ojojo and Atase families in Ifowodo area of Oleh, Delta State filled with rage. It also put on the edge another family with a dead relative in the morgue of the Central Hospital, Oleh, Delta State on the edges.

    When a corpse was handed over to the singing and dancing families at the morgue of Delta State government owned hospital on Friday, September 26, they thought they had the remains of a 90-year-old great great-grandmother, popularly called Malekete.

    They took the remains to the family’s home, carried out all the rites for the burial of a woman who lived well and so long. Traditional Isoko music blared; gaily dressed family members, especially women danced to the rhythm. Their friends and well-wishers fanned them with ajuju (hand-fans) and they were ‘sprayed’ crisped naira notes. It was a celebration of the life and times of the nonagenarian.

    Guests who came from all over the country were thoroughly entertained. They ate, they sang and they danced.

    Afterwards, the ‘remains’ of the 90-year-old woman – who lived long enough to see her grandchildren become grandparents – were interred amidst more singing and dancing; pomp and pageantry.

    The next day, a Saturday, an outing service was held at the Pentecostal Church of God, Oleh. Thereafter, those who came from far and wide started leaving the peaceful Isoko town.

    But three days after the burial, a revelation that shook the family and Oleh was made. The body that the members of the Ojojo and Atase families buried was not that of ‘Malekete’ but that of another female.

    “It rattled everybody and threw the families into a great confusion. The community and even the hospital management were aghast,” a source in the town revealed.

    It was gathered that the path to the fatal mistake was laid when the morgue attendant mixed up the name tag of the nonagenarian with that of another female corpse brought about the same time to the mortuary.

    A source at the mortuary said, “The attendant was a new person that was brought in just weeks earlier. He wasn’t familiar with the town and maybe the process at the morgue.”

    Further checks revealed that one error pave the way for  another when the family representative who was sent to prepare the corpse of the aged Oleh woman for burial merely handed over the cloths for the dressing to the attendant and asked a person who did not know the dead woman to perform the task.

    The trend of mistakes was taken a notch higher when the family arrived the hospital late and in a desperate bid to meet up with time grabbed the coffin and dashed back to the venue of the ceremony without a peek inside the coffin.

    “The problem really started with the family, so many divergent views on how to handle the burial and there were some persons who thought that knew better than others, including the elders of the family,” our source in the family added.

    The tragedy continued when the family chose to skip an important rite in the burial process – opening of the casket to the public for loved ones and well-wishers to bid the late great-grandmother their final goodbyes.

    “If they had allowed us to do that, someone would have noticed the mistake and we would have rectified it before it got to this embarrassing stage. But nobody saw the corpse.

    We buried someone we thought was our sister, sand and danced and then returned home” another community member added.

    The blunder was discovered on Monday – three days after the corpse had been entombed and most of the deceased’s family members who went for the burial had returned home.

    “It started as a bad dream for the morgue attendant; one family came to prepare their corpse prior to the burial that was scheduled for a few days later. When they were showed their supposed corpse, they knew there had been a mix-up.”

    After rummaging through the bodies in the morgue and not finding the corpse, it was concluded that another family must had taken the wrong body for burial. A quick check revealed the names and numbers of the two corpses that were switched. Malekete’s family members, who were invited,  came to the hospital hoping to against hope that it wasn’t true. But a look at the stone-cold remains of the old woman confirmed the error.

    In a desperate bid to hide the blunder from the public and other members of the community, it was learnt that the two families and the hospital management decided that it was best that the two corpses be should be switched in the dead of the night.

    “It was at midnight that they now went to the grave to dig up the wrong corpse and switched it with that of the old woman, who we hope would now truly be allowed to rest in peace. It was past 01:00am before they finished the exchange,” revealed a member of the community who was aware of the sordid spectacle.

    It was however learnt that the incident had thrown the hospital management and the affected family into confusion.

    Although the Commissioner for Health in the state, Dr Joseph Otumara could not be reached for comment, a source in the hospital said at least one of the negligent staff members had been issued a queried by the management.”

    Similarly, it was gathered that elders of the family which initially buried the wrong corpse are divided over whether to perform a second burial rite having discovered their mistake, since according to one of them, “The burial we  did before was for another person.

    “In a proper situation, we would need elders to consult the oracle and explain the implication of what has happened and what steps we need to take to appease the gods becausee this is an abomination,” a source in the town added.

    Meanwhile, some residents of Oleh and environs who spoke with our reporter on the incident laid the blame on the doorstep of the family. Others said it was a pointer to how corpses are treated in public hospital like the Oleh Central Hospital.

    “It is very important that people don’t leave the care of their deceased loved ones in the hands of people who don’t care about them. That is why most of our people,particularly the elderly ones, are averse to the idea of being kept in the mortuary when they die. For me, I have told my children that I must bury immediately, they should not keep me in the ‘fridge’,” a middle-aged woman said.

     

  • Akpabio’s wife to parents: your children are your future

    Akpabio’s wife to parents: your children are your future

    The wife of Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mrs Ekaette Unoma Akpabio, has advised parents to protect their children’s future.

    She reminded parents that their wellbeing at old age would depend on their children.

    She spoke on Sunday in two different churches, The Brotherhood of the Cross and Star, Pentecostal Centre, Oron and Qua Iboe Church, Ewet Offot, Uyo, the state capital.

    Mrs Akpabio warned mothers of the dangers involved in trading-off their children’s future, especially that of the girls because of poverty.

    She told parents not to yield to the temptation that their girls would be given the good life by other people, adding that most of the girls when taken away on the pretext of giving them a better life end up either as forced prostitutes or in baby factories.

    Mrs Akpabio challenged women organisations in churches to come together and float a fund for indigent but brilliant children in their midst.

    In this era of kidnapping, especially of helpless children, Mrs Ekaette Akpabio advised parents not to allow their children leave the house to school or church unaccompanied, to avoid being abducted by evil people on the prowl.

    At the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star, where she witnessed a wedding between Comfort Etim Ante, a Deaconess and Etim Effiong Ante, a Bishop- elect, she donated N500,000 to the church for its work; N200,000 to the choir and an undisclosed amount to the newly wedded. She gave 20 set of wrappers to 20 widows and an undisclosed amount of money.

    She was also at the Qua Oboe Church, Ewet Offot, Uyo during a service held to thank God for the105 years of the church’s establishment. She donated  a 32-seater bus for evangelism. The Secretary to the State government, Udom Gabriel Emmanuel, a deacon of the church, donated N1 million while Mrs Akpabio gave N1 million for fueling and maintenance of the bus. She also gave 20 set of wrappers and N10, 000 each to 20 widows in the church.

    The church also honoured Information and Communications Commissioner Mr Aniekan John Umanah, Otuekong Emmanuel Ibok, Special Adviser to Governor Akpabio on political Affairs; Mr Onofiok Luke, chairman, Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly Committee on Agriculture among others.

     

  • Isoko, Itsekiri, Urhobo unite for Aziza

    Isoko, Itsekiri, Urhobo unite for Aziza

    As the Urhobo nation buries its departed national leader, Gen. Patrick Aziza, the solidarity and brotherhood it shares with other ethnic nations in Delta becomes issues for discussion, writes BOLAJI OGUNDELE

    The death of the President-General of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), Gen Patrick Aziza, seems to have shown that the ethnic groups in Delta State are closer than previously thought. Ethnic nations in the Delta Central and South senatorial districts have paid  condolence visits to both the UPU and the family of the deceased. Although Isoko and Ijaw nations had earlier visited and expressed their sadness at the loss of Gen. Aziza, it was the separate visits of Itsekiri nation and that of a union formed by three ethnic nations of the two districts; Ijaw, Isoko and Itsekiri Leaders’ Forum (3IS) that revealed the alignments going on in the state.

    During last week’s condolence call on the late Gen. Aziza’s family, the first revelation was made when the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought called. The group, led by its Secretary, Chief Edward Ekpoko, had expressed personal grief at the loss of the man it described as a bridge-builder, who had invested so much personally to cement the decades of relationship that had existed between the Itsekiri and Urhobo nations. After describing the sterling qualities of Aziza, pointing how he had commenced the process of building a bloc out of the tribes in the two senatorial districts, especially with the Itsekiri, which who Urhobo share one of the closest and strongest traditional bonds.

    Ekpoko emphasized the high esteem his organisation holds UPU, for two basic reasons; one being the fact that it is second oldest ethno-cultural organisation in Africa, following after the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa and the second being that fact that it is the organisation that had consistently been involved in the struggle to give the Urhobo nation it’s pride of place among all other ethnic nations in the world. He went further to emphasise the long standing relationship between his nation and that of Aziza, noting particularly the spirit of camaraderie, which had demanded over the years that the two nations always share in each other’s joy and pain, hence the request that the UPU carries the Itsekiri nation along in the burial plans as they Itsekiri would wish for nothing more than taking part in the burial responsibilities, as a family member would.

    “The death of Gen. Aziza is a loss, not just to the Urhobo, but also to us the Itsekiri, just as you have lost him, we have lost him too. As we mourn him, we mourn him as a great bridge-builder because he had managed to initiate a process of strengthening the bond between our nations when he was untimely taken. We will only request that you make an accommodation for the Itsekiri nation in preparing his final burial rites, we desire to also play a role as part of his family  because as he was leader to the Urhobo, the Itsekiri also saw a leader in him. We also wish to ask for the Urhobo nation to honour this great man’s memory by sustaining his bridge-building legacies and not allowing the efforts he invested in building a strong union and a common bloc with other ethnic nations in this part slip into waste,” he said.

    Almost at the heel of the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought arrived the Ijaw, Isoko and Itsekiri Leaders’ Forum (3IS), an organisation which is also led by Ekpoko. Leaders from the other two ethnic nations, whose organisations had made individual showings prior to last week, joined their Itsekiri co-compatriots in the expansive compound of General Aziza in Adagbrasa, Okpe council area of Delta State. The message, which was delivered by the 1st Vice Chairman of 3IS, Chief Dennis Etaluku, was not far from what the Itsekiri leaders had already relayed. “Just as we were putting our heads together to forge a united front, we lost the captain and we believe it is native for us to come and commiserate. We have come to mourn with you and to let you know that we are with you. We want to tell you that another Aziza will come”, he assured.

    The 3IS also donated N50,000 to support the efforts of the family and the UPU in hosting those who would be visiting to commiserate with them. Etaluku, however, told the family that his organization had decided to be part of the burial ceremonies of the departed Urhobo leader, urging both the UPU and the Aziza family to inform them when the time has come.

    Responding to the two groups, Acting President-General of the UPU, Chief Joe Omene, thank the Delta South leaders for the show of condolence, saying it was long expected. He said: “People have come from far and near much earlier to do what you have come to do today, but it has always been our feeling that the external condolences would not have been complete if our immediate brothers from Delta South had not paid their own visit. We have a long bond of brotherhood with the Itsekiri, although to the outside world we tend to paint ourselves as being far from each other. We can assure you that we will sustain the bridge building efforts of our late leader towards a more unified enduring Delta State.”