The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

Stop the madness in Edo House

For the past few weeks days, peace has taken a flight from the Edo State House of Assembly. This is not unconnected with the crisis which followed the congress of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. Some members of the party were aggrieved as a result of the outcome of the congress, which either did not afvour them or their political caucus.

Cross River State government took reporters round some of its legacy projects. The tour started in Calabar and terminated in Ogoja, the far end of the state which is no less than five hours away from the state capital.

Some members of the House of Assembly were wooed by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) into their fold. Governor Adams Oshiomhole later alleged that each of them got N50 million to defect.They have since fired back, saying the governor has earlier offered them money too to remain in the APC. They claimed to have rejected the money.

The defection has since polarised the House with the leadership suspending the defectors, who have since teamed up with other PDP members to send peace on leave. A court has ordered them to stay suspended. They have threatened to go ahead and sit claiming to have suspended their other colleagues. A new mace has even surfaced, which it has emerged was an old one stolen in 2010.

The day they ‘sat and removed’ the leadership of the House a fracas broke out when the Speaker and his colleagues stormed the floor of the Assembly. It was a hectic day for the police. And since then, hell has come down to the Edo House.

Both parties are not ready to give in. It is like fire for fire and like they say, when two elephants fight, it is the grass, which in this case is the people, that suffers. It is a funny case in which eight lawmakers are trying to play the majority.

Oshiomhole has washed his hands off the crisis. The governor’s spokesperson has said he knows nothing about the crisis.

Justice A.M. Liman ruled on June 6 that the Speaker was right in suspending the four lawmakers but that he had no right to declare their seats vacant.

Justice Liman held that: “That the disciplinary power of the House is not subject to the judicial review of the Court, accordingly the application to restrain the 2nd Respondent from suspending the applicants from the House is hereby refused”.

This ruling cleared the way for the suspension of Festus Ebea, Patrick Osayimwen, Jude Ise-Idehen and Friday Ogieriakhi.

The APC, in a statement, said: “Despite the service of the processes including the Order of Injunction on all the parties, the suspended members have continued to create tension and chaos in the House of Assembly and its environs by forcibly entering into the premises and chambers of the House of Assembly aided by numerous thugs and (rather unfortunately) officers and men of the Nigeria Police force.

“We are informed that these contemnors claim, rather erroneously, that they can act in defiance and disobedience of the positive order of Court on the ground that they are pursuing an appeal against the order.

“It is an elementary principle of our Legal System that an Order of a Court remains valid and subsisting which all parties must comply with unless and until it is set aside by the Court which issued same or a Court of Appeal.”

The court has spoken and the law should be allowed to stand. The time to stop this madness of going against the law is now.

June 20, 2014
How Public-Private Partnerships is promoting Niger Delta’s prosperity

Ali Moshiri, President of Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and Production Company, examines how the governments of the Niger Delta states and oil companies are promoting prosperity in the region.

Nigeria recently claimed the title of largest economy in Africa, with a gross domestic product of $510 billion – underscoring its tremendous economic potential and the opportunity to improve livelihoods by promoting peace and further economic growth.

Private companies have a role to play in this story. The energy industry, in particular, should continue to be a major contributor to social and economic development.

Societal expectations have never been higher, and companies need to advance economic opportunity for communities where they do business by creating jobs, hiring local workers, and developing their skills and capabilities through on-the-job training.

The oil-rich Niger Delta is the source of 80 percent of Nigeria’s revenues. Having been part of this community for a long time, we are familiar with the challenges facing the region – from limited economic growth to uncertain conditions of security and peace.

We’ve also seen the positive, sustainable impact we can have on economic development as a private-sector entity. We do this not only through philanthropy, but also through a strategic, partnership-based approach to help create prosperity – now and for generations to come.

In Nigeria, we approach our social investments with the view that public-private partnerships are critical for successful economic development. But those partnerships are necessary, as well, for creating an enabling environment for business.

One example of this is the Niger Delta Partnership Initiative (NDPI), established in 2010 as a five-year, $50-million endowment by Chevron. Over time, this investment grew to $100 million after being matched by partner funding.

Since inception, this model – which focuses on removing systemic constraints that can lead to poverty and conflict – has involved 172 local and international partners and has directly affected

more than 10,000 people.

Organisations such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United Nations Development Programme and others have supported these projects with best practices, global credibility and local reach, magnifying the impact.

Over the past four years, NDPI has trained more than 5,500 people, created more than 600 new jobs and stimulated new growth sectors in the local economy. Job creation, increased incomes for residents through improved productivity and efficiency are helping to break the cycle of poverty and conflict that has been a root cause of some of the region’s problems.

Encouraged by NDPI’s initial success and looking to the future, Chevron is reinforcing its long-term support by pledging an additional $40 million over the next five years to expand and build-out successful programs and practices that have laid the groundwork for transformative change. This additional funding brings the company’s total investment in NDPI to $90 million, the largest social investment in the corporation’s history.

Four years in, NDPI has identified key factors for success.

First, work closely with the community to identify pressing local needs and understand where the company’s support can have the biggest impact

Second, create effective programs that address these needs and build local capacity.

Third, generate local ownership of the projects and long-term buy-in to enable local organisations to sustain the beneficial outcomes.

The additional funding will allow NDPI to take all this learning forward and expand projects. This is a long process in which the path to success requires strong, committed participation from governments, businesses, nonprofit organisations and communities doing business in Nigeria.

The shared vision that is built into the NDPI model is crucial to socioeconomic success in the Niger Delta. Together, NDPI and its partners have made great strides and will continue to implement projects that help move the region toward shared prosperity.

Culled from allafrica.com

June 20, 2014
Olu-Browns pays tributes as Ateke Tom celebrates birthday

As Niger Delta leader, Chief Ateke Tom celebrated his birthday last Saturday, his close friend and alies, Chief Olu-Browns Olubunmi, CEO Steroil Marine Services Limited and Mr. Raymond Morgan pay glowing tributes to the man who alongside others fought for the ongoing emancipation of the Niger Delta region.

Ateke Tom took up arms against the federal government of Nigeria to fight against the degradation of the Niger Delta region, a situation that has led to the improvement of lives and infrastructure as well as drew more development to the region.

Brown, in a tribute, described Ateke as a “powerful force to reckon with in the South South region of Nigeria. Ateke Tom has being a good friend he merits all the best wishes on his birthday. He is the most amazing person I have ever met. He is a true friend and brother, that is why I am wishing him a very happy birthday to you.”

Chief Olu-Browns is of the opinion that the Niger Region is better off after the struggles by Chief Ateke Tom. “Yes, the region has witnessed tremendous development all thanks to the struggles by Chief Ateke Tom. The region owes him a lot because the struggle is ongoing until the Niger Delta is totally emancipated and her people enjoying their resources.”

Ateke Tom is a philanthropist, he has been supporting people from all sectors especially entertainers and Nollywood practitioners. His doors are opened 24 hours for any entertainer either in Nollywood or the music scene. Everyone, at least almost everyone at his Palatial home in Okrika Rivers State had one issue or the other that they want Tom to solve ranging from the fund to shoot a movie, re-launch a music career or shoot a big budget music video among many others.

“Ateke Tom has touched many lives and he does not get tired of doing that,” Chief Olu-Browns said adding, “You never leave his presence the same way you came. You must have a smile on your lips. That is why I am wishing this wonderful man a happy birthday and praying that God gives him many more years to be kind to humanity. Happy birthday Father!”

June 20, 2014
Belekete…Hell on earth

It is not accessible by road. The only way to get to Belekete, a ranch community bordering the world famous Obudu Ranch Resort, is by foot and it takes some seven hours or more of mountain climbing, rushing streams crossing and more, reports Nicholas Kalu

The semi-temperate weather endures all year round giving the area the serenity of an average European city. The clouds are almost permanently locked in kisses with the mountains. The image is simply breath-taking. Beauty, beauty and beauty everywhere so much that some say they feel closer to God in this environ. But life here is not beautiful. It is brutish. Hellish may not be out of place to describe living here. It is the survival of the fittest.

Welcome to Belekete, a ranch community some seven hours on foot away from the world famous Obudu Ranch Resort in Obalinku Local Government Area of Cross River State. At the resort, guests live in abundance and have almost everything they need at their beck and call. Belekete is the opposite. In Belekete, dejection walks on all fours, daring residents to send it packing. It is like their king and they its reluctant subjects, powerless to change the status quo.

In Belekete, the opportunity to savour the good weather is like heaven. This apart, everyday is like living in hell. It is not a place, where visitors flock. Residents are not eager to go out because going out is a hell of a task. Nature tucks them away among the mountains and makes it difficult even for help to come. As soon as you leave the Obudu Ranch Resort, the Global System for Mobile (GSM) telecommunication ceases to work.

Nothing is enough here, except the good weather. Homes are nothing to write home about. Diseases are rampant. Death is not uncommon. Expectant mothers die regularly. But no one, not even the government, has statistics of the maternal mortality.

Homes in this community made up of eight villages are red brick houses with either zinc or thatched roofs. No electricity, except one compound with a generator. There are no schools. There is no pipe borne water too.

The journey to Belekete starts from the top of the Obudu Ranch Resort. But unlike transporting oneself to the top of the ranch where one has the luxury of choosing among the cable car, a vehicle or a motorcycle, the only mode of getting to this community is by foot.

This is where the problem begins. Members of the community pleaded with this reporter not to embark on the “risky” journey. Some who embarked never got back, they said, as it involved climbing mountains and descending valleys, crossing rushing streams, rocks and other obstacles. All their entreaties fell on deaf ears. If anything they only served to deepen curiosity. After all it was just walking and even if it took a full day, one would get there. Belekete must be reached. Confidence was brimming.

So, accompanied by a guide from the community and a couple of others, the descent of the first mountain began. After about 45 minutes’ descent, one person returned. He was carried back to the top of the ranch by youths from the community.

About 30 minutes after, this reporter began to see some sense in the warnings that were given to him earlier. The mountainside was very steep and slippery and a any mistake would mean plunging to a very horrible death, likely that one’s body may never be found.

But at this point, it was not really clear what would hurt most – a feeling of failure for aborting a mission or a bruised ego, having to come back to meet people who would just have that “I told you so” look on their faces. About five more hours of this arduous journey lay ahead.

After another 30 minutes’ descent, the guide, others and this reporter arrived at a rushing stream. After managing to cross it without being swept away (the rocks at the bottom were really slippery). Two more steep and slippery mountains were climbed; two dense forests and three more streams were crossed and several small hills descended before arriving at Oshenokpa, the first village about five hours later. From there, another one hour through a difficult terrain brought the team to the headquarters of Belekete.

Throughout the trip, not once did this reporter believe the day was going to be his last on earth. It was a near death experience. At least so it seemed to be. But this was just half of the journey. One still had to go back the same way. Thinking about it was traumatic. A comfortable mattress provided by the community head to rest for the night did not provide any comfort at all. Sleep was full of nightmares of what could happen on the way back the following day, given that all energy was expended arriving there. It had taken just over seven hours of life-risking journey to reach the community. Leaving the ranch at noon, the team had arrived a little after 7pm.

After fervent prayers to God and with quotes from Mandela like, “It always seems impossible until it is done”, and Bob Marley “You never know how strong you are until it is your only choice” filling this reporter’s head, the journey back to the ranch began at 6 am. In many places, you would be looking down at the cloud beneath you. Also at many points, you could not see far in front of you because you were engulfed in the cloud. The return journey was more difficult. It took 10 hours to get back to the ranch. It was a true manifestation of mind over muscle. Drinking from streams along the way, soaking gari with a relaxer container found in the forest with water from the stream, resting severally along the way (even lying on the ground, given that fear of snakes and other wild animals had dissipated), the team managed to reach the ranch resort.

This reporter’s only joy was that he was not carried throughout the journey. It was a miracle. But for the people of Belekete, it is no miracle. It is what they face every day.

Clifford, the guide, was very helpful. He did not break a sweat . He just had a patient look on his face and words of encouragement to put one step in front of the other.

Health wise, the people are deprived. In many cases, it was gathered that many had died of malaria because they had no access to proper healthcare.

Though they have two health centres, these are grossly underequipped and undermanned. The two have just one member of staff each. They can only offer first aid or deal with minor issues. If there is an expectant woman with labour complications, or someone is gravely ill or severely injured, such a person is carried all through the way to the ranch from where they are taken to where they can have access to proper healthcare. Many never made it.

The people have constructed baskets which they hang on their backs to carry expectant women, who have complications. Wooden stretchers are used to carry other incapacitated people who need healthcare.

What is most important to the people, they say, is a road that would aid transportation in and out of the area. Besides, they require health facilities.

Chief Achagba Augustine Akwo, an indigene of Belekete, holds a National Diploma in Community Health with over 21 years’ experience. He mans one of the health centres. In fact, he is the only member of the staff.

He said: “We have no roads and we don’t have man power to keep the health facilities working. We don’t have enough drugs and equipment. The two health facilities we have are not well-equipped and up to standard and so we don’t efficiently carry out our health service the way we were taught to do in our various schools of health technologies. We would be very happy if the government would intervene, especially in the area of road construction and the employment of staff and equip them.

“When a woman is in labour and we see that she will not be to deliver safely, we refer such cases and to refer a pregnant woman in that condition under labour, we weave a basket made up of cane ropes and the woman will be put in that basket and carried on the back and she will be backing the carrier. The woman will be hung on the back like a sack and brought to the ranch, which is a distance of about 20km which one would use up to six to eight hours through the forest and across running waters, mountainous areas and other dangerous terrains. Many times they do not make it and they die and are carried back.

“Let me tell you that even when policemen come here to keep peace, at the end of the day, we have to convey the policemen on our backs to bring them back to the ranch. Even you as you have come, we are not sure you will reach and go back on your own without being carried. Apart from the pregnant women, other casualties who have serious problems, we put them on a wooden stretcher and carry them to the ranch. Many times they fall on the road and somebody who was already in critical condition would sustain a secondary injury. We need a road so that people can even have access to the place.”

Akuo went on:“Belekete is a ranch community and it gave out the ranch to the government and that is why they kept off the place, allowing the place to be managed by government. That is why they are inside that hole there. The government should look into their problems, especially health. The people are dying. No vehicle can get to the place, not even a bicycle. We just attend to antenatal patients and treat minor ailments.”

Kechi, who is from the area, also said: “We don’t have hospitals and access roads and we lack many other amenities there, even schools. We just have a primary school there. Each time they send teachers there due to the roughness of the road, they don’t go.

“It is by God’s race that we are living. It is only when there is immunisation that health workers go there. Some of our people are health personnel. So, they go there and collect the immunisation and bring it as the other health workers cannot come. We have a health centre there but it is nothing. If somebody is in labour or other serious ailment, you cannot operate anybody from there because there is no equipment to be used there. They only deal with minor health issues there like cuts. If there is any such problem, we carry the person on our back to ranch here; then take the person down to the hospital. It is very risky and many time people die along the way, then we take the dead person back.

“First we need access roads, then hospitals. We have two health centres and two health officers that are far from adequate. Health personnel can’t go there because they cannot because of the terrain. Many women die due to labour problems. Just very recently, a mother died after child birth and after that the baby died a few days later because they could not get access to proper health service. Government should help us and take care of us because we are equally Cross Riverians. We go herbal most times but having proper healthcare would be the best thing for us.”

Francis Ajie, a farmer, said: “We are totally an enclave people that don’t have any health facility as far as I know. It is just that some of our people have struggled to be health practitioners, like the health officer you spoke with and helping his own people to at least give them first aid, which is not even enough. We are like forgotten people even though we contribute so much to the development of the state and country. But in terms of welfare, we have nothing. Deaths are rampant because of lack of health facilities. Even common malaria kills people there. Road has not even been dreamt of reaching this place. Something needs to be done urgently. You have three big mountains to cross over a distance of about 20kms. There are wild animals on the way as it falls within the reserve. You can meet things that can even eat you up on the way. Many people have gone missing and their bodies have not been found between this ranch and the village. We need a road first because even if you build a hospital, how do you transfer drugs there?”

A mother, Mary Keche, also complained: “When a woman is pregnant and is struggling to put to birth and since we don’t have any health service here, we would carry her on the back and carry her to the ranch. We carry them in a basket tied to the back and other times we carry her on the head. We are suffering here. If somebody has a serious sickness here, there is no way for us. That is how our people die. Imagine the distance you came from the ranch. I believe you don’t need any further explanation to see what we suffer. It is not easy. Let the government give us hospital and road. If we had road at least we would not suffer like this.”

The Clan Head of Belekete, Chief Ogweshi Francis Ngweli, who could not give this reporter the community’s population, said: “People have been dying because we don’t have healthcare here and there is no assistance of carrying people up to the ranch. Pregnant women and sick children have been dying. I am sure you have seen it with your two naked eyes with the almost eight hours you have passed through. We need facilities. The only health officer we have here, if anything takes him out that means we would not even have anyone to attend us even for the small ailments. In the past weeks, my people have been dying.

“We have appealed to the government but because there is no motorable road, the government has not been able to give us some sort of assistance. We are begging they should help us. The place is so backward in all in the sense that there is no road. There is no pipe borne water and we back people who are sick all the way to the ranch. And because of that we wish the government to help us with a road and assist us with proper healthcare facilities.”

Back in Calabar, the state capital, a senior government official, who does not want his name in print, said he never knew that a place like Belekete existed in the state.

His words: “Are you serious there is a community in the state that you can trek to on foot for that number of hours to get to? You are not saying the truth. To be honest with you, I have never heard of it. Did you say it was a ranch community? Does such a place exist in this state? Let me see what I can find out about the place.”

For now, life goes on in Belekete. There are diseases, deaths and all manner of pains amid a temperate weather which gives the area the phony image of an average European city.

June 20, 2014
Why Ibibio should support Oron for governor

Michael Onofiok, a maritime expert, is one of the governorship aspirants in Akwa Ibom State. He spoke with Kazeem Ibrahym.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has zoned the governorship ticket to Eket Senatorial District. As a governorship aspirant from Oron, are you satisfied with such arrangement?

I am partly satisfied with the arrangement. At the initial stage, there were insinuations making rounds in the state that there was not going to be any kind of zoning at all. That was against the original arrangement of tripod. The power sharing formula between the major ethnic groups in the state, that is the Ibibios, Annangs and Orons.

The Ibibios have had the first share in the formula. They have been there from the time of late Obong Akpan Isemin to Obong Victor Attah’s period. They spent almost 12 years in the Government House. The Annangs are there now represented by Chief Godswill Akpabio whose second tenure is running up by 2015. 2015 is supposed to be the Oron’s turn, which is the third leg of the tripod but from nowhere we started hearing politics of Senatorial District and no more an ethnicity. We were very uncomfortable with that. We had to battle that with the party and the governor himself. So I am glad that at least the party has made that first pronouncement that the governorship has now been zoned to Eket Senatorial District. We still expect them to say more. The party and the governor still have to say more. That apart from the power shifting to Eket Senatorial District, it has to be Oron Nation. That was exactly what Ex-Governor Victor Attah did. He made that pronouncement that power was going to shift from Uyo to Ikot Ekpene with particular reference to Annang speaking group because he knows that there are still Ibibio of Ini and Ikono of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District. So we expect the party to go further in their pronouncement and declare that Oron has the right to produce the next governor after the expiration of the tenure of Governor Godswill Akpabio.

What is the way forward for Oron now that emphasis is placed on politics of senatorial district instead of tripod arrangement?

It will be a disservice to the people if the government now feels it should abandon the tripod agreement that has given us relative peace in the state. I am just a governorship aspirant, I wasn’t there when our forebears drew the agreement on the tripod arrangement. People like Dr. Etim Uye, former Ambassador was part of the meeting. Someone like Chief Don Etiebet was also in the meeting. Former Governor Attah is much aware of this arrangement and even the late Obong Akpan Isemin, a former governor from Ibibio stock was privy to this arrangement. If there is any derailment from that arrangement then that will be of disservice to the people. I will be grateful to see the Ibibios mobilising support for Oron and declaring that Oron had the right to produce the next governor for Akwa Ibom State. With that, the Ibibios would have for once reciprocated the gesture often done to them by the Oron people since senatorial districts were created as purely administrative areas.

Are you comfortable with the aspiration of some Uyo politicians that have also indicated interest in the 2015 governorship?

I am not comfortable with that because Uyo Senatorial District has ruled the state for almost 12 years from late Obong Akpan Isemin’s time to the end of Governor Victor Attah. I have heard series of messages going round the state and I have also read from some Ibibio people saying that Governor Akpabio should make pronouncement that he will be handing over to an Oron person that if the Governor is bold enough to do this, then the Ibibio race will withdraw from the contest and also look for who to support from Oron. But what I am not comfortable with is the Ibibio also indicating interest to run for the same governorship and giving the governor a condition as well. If you give a governor a condition that until he makes further pronouncement that governorship is going to Oron and not Eket senatorial district, then I think we can go and have peace but not also contesting inside the election and also giving the same condition. So, I expect the Ibibio to lay down their ambition and also give support to the Oron people. Apart from waiting for the governor’s pronouncement, the Ibibio should also pronounce that Oron is the third leg of the tripod and Oron is due for the governorship. Oron has supported an Ibibio man for office of the governorship. Oron has supported an Annang man to the office of the governor ; so, I think it is expedient to also give an Oron man an opportunity to be governor. Then the governor will be helpless and he will see the reason to also shift his support to Oron. But when the Ibibio are looking for governorship and compelling the governor to make that pronouncement, it is not right. If the Ibibio accept to do that it is a war 90 per cent won because what that means is that we have now won the support of Uyo Senatorial District and Ikot Ekpene Senatorial district cannot have a problem with this arrangement. They are 100 per cent in support of Oron emerging the next governor after Governor Godswill Akpabio. So, if they go on to make this pronouncement, then other people will be weakened and they will see no other reason than to support an Oron person.

What kind of PDP primaries do you expect in Akwa Ibom State going by the claim of some people that the governor is trying to impose his SSG on the people?

There will be no primaries on the basis of imposition of aspirant. When you impose a candidate on the people, especially at this time where the government is supposed to be doing stock taking and try as much as possible to re-align itself to the wishes of the people. When you impose a candidate on the people, they will see it as a challenge. That is not expected of a leader which I am sure that is not what our dear governor is out to do. He may have one to three people that he could wish to give his support. He has to present this man to the people of Akwa Ibom State. All we have been hearing is rumours that Governor Akpabio is in support of Emmanuel Udom. If the reason for sacking former SSG Umana Umana was that he already campaigning while in office for the governorship, then what is Udom doing now? Udom is also campaigning. His flyers and posters are everywhere in the state. He is also holding meetings everywhere much more than what former SSG Umana did. I am very sure why Umana was removed from office may have been on something that transcends what we know. The question of imposition to me is still a mirage because that is not realistic at all. If you are talking about going into a primaries with a candidate that has already been imposed on the people, the people have the right to reject such candidate and we want proper things to be done.

As we move towards the PDP primaries, what role do you expect of Governor Godswill Akpabio?

The governor should play a fatherly role because he is disengaging from the government. I think the only legacy he holds the people is giving us that memory of him that we would sit down here and say we have missed our dear governor that if he were around he would have done this and that for us. We want to him to disengage with respect and go home with total respect from the people of Akwa Ibom State. He should play a fatherly role and give us a level playing field. The governorship should be zoned to the area that is due for it and that is Oron. No matter how many people that indicate interest in that area to run for the governorship if none is willing to step down for the others let them go to the field. Be fair and be impeccable in your decision and let us see what comes out of this but all we want is for him to give us long lasting legacy.

Oron seeks Akwa Ibom’s top job

Uyoatta Eshiet

The Oron Nation comprises five local government areas in Akwa Ibom State. The Oro Nation is appealing to other ethnic groups in the state to support it in its bid to produce the next governor of the state. During The people spoke at the first Oron Nation’s Thanksgiving Day and lecture in Lagos.

The event took place at the Oron House located on Hamidu Williams Street, Okota, Isolo, Lagos mainland. The first part was an interdenominational thanksgiving service. The second part was a soul-searching lecture on why Oron Nation has remained backward despite its huge contributions to Akwa Ibom State and the national economy through her oil and gas resources.

The lecture titled: “The Politics of Land and Sea in Nigeria; Redefining Political and Economic Engagement in Oron Nation”, was delivered by Rev Fr. Donatus Pius Ukpong of the Department of Religious and Cultural Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

Ministering at the thanksgiving part of the event was: Archbishop, Catholic Archdiocese of Calabar, Most Rev. Joseph Ekuwem, Vice Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Akwa Ibom State, Ven. Antai and Rev Fr. Ukpong.

In the Homily by Bishop Ekuwem titled: “Oro, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”, he quoted from the book of Psalms 137, Romans 9: 1-5 and Luke 17. He emphasized the need for thanksgiving as a means of appreciating God for His goodness and getting Him to do more.

He told the Oron people that though God has the power to do anything, He would not do everything because He has given man the intellect and every other thing needed to use to excel.

He said: “With a friend in Jesus, one can achieve the unachievable, urging them to team up within themselves and with others to achieve their desires. After 89 years, the Oron Nation has come of age; God has blessed them with intellect, they must stand up for what they want as no one will give them their due if they don’t demand for it”, the cleric said.

He urged the Lagos branch of the union to ensure the larger Oron Nation imbibes the spirit of giving thanks to God.

Ven. Antai said though the thanksgiving was belated, it was better late than never. He said it was thanksgiving that caused Jesus to make whole one leper out of 10 who were cleansed because she returned to give thanks.

Rev Fr. Ukpong, in his paper, faulted the “political anger” in the Akwa Ibom project as satirised by Governor Godswill Akpabio. He says it lacks natural justice and frustrates the divine blessedness of some people in the state.

Rev. Ukpong insisted that the starting point of a true Akwa Ibom Project is the elimination of the structures of sin, correction of perennial injustice and the up-turning of economic and political structures that are not rooted in justice. These structures are responsible for poverty in the midst of wealth and enslavement of kings and queens in their palaces, he said.

The real and true Akwa Ibom Project should be driven by real anger for equity and justice, without which there can be no real development and economic transformation, he added.

He said: “The real argument in Nigeria today should be resource contribution to the sharing pool not just on land mass or population as some would want us to believe either in Akwa Ibom or Nigeria. The Oro Nation has contributed the largest share to the sharing pool in Akwa Ibom State to produce the next Governor of the state in the interest of justice and equity.”

As the Nation moves towards another election period, Rev. Ukpong warned political gladiators to bear in mind that democracy has its standard and core values, which are not optional in any country. He listed some of them to include respect for human life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, the common good, justice, equity, respect for diversity and truth.

The paper recommended that Oro sons and daughters should train and equip themselves for serious political engagement in Nigeria to give them a voice in the politics of land and seas in the country.

The people were urged to embrace politics of equity and inclusiveness in 2015 and beyond. The paper presenter urged the Oron people to endeavor to establish urgently what he called “Oro Business Consortium” with seed money from the five local governments in the Oro nation and strive to revamp the Ebughu Fishing Company for the use of the Oro people.

On the abandoned Ibaka Deep Seaport, Rev Fr Ukpong challenged all Oro sons and daughters to pursue it relentlessly, politically and otherwise. “The project is perennially ignored because there is no Oro person at the helm of affairs in the state as a governor,” he said.

He urged them to take advantage of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron and train themselves on sea-related businesses.

The people were challenged to give necessary support to political appointees of Oron extraction either at the state or federal level. Since the future of any person is education dependent, Ukpong said individuals and groups should engage themselves extensively in educational advancement.

The lead discussant and former Managing Director, Niger Dock, Nkpubre Nkpubre, demanded justice from Akwa Ibom State government on the issue of 13 per cent oil money derivation.

“75 percent of the oil derived from Akwa Ibom State is from the five local government areas of the Oro Nation. Equity demands that the state government should give a reasonable percent of the derivation received to the oil bearing local government areas instead of what is obtained today,” Nkpubre said.

Another panel discussant, Chief Abasi-Etim Edet, urged the Oron people to take their destiny in their hands, unite and demand the governorship of the state next year.

The people called on the Akwa Ibom State government to declare May 23 of every year as a public holiday in the Oro Nation.

The President of the Lagos branch of the Union, Mr Maurice Ukpong, said on May 23, 1925, their founding fathers, Chief Okon E.O. Isong, Chief Awana Esin and Chief Ekpu Edubio Odoro led others in the first meeting that gave birth to the present Oro Nation. The ideals of the founding fathers laid the foundation for the educational foundation of the people, which offered scholarships to indigent but bright children of Oro Nation to study abroad, Maurice said.

June 20, 2014
Peterside…Another feather to his cap

Many will find it difficult to believe that despite his tight schedule as the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Dakuku Peterside, had time to further his studies. His quest for new frontiers overshadowed his tight schedule and created space for Peterside to study for a doctoral degree at the University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He is through with the course work and is now qualified to be addressed as Dr. Dakuku Peterside or Dakuku Peterside, PhD.

Peterside will in August this year start a scheme to award local university scholarship to 46 underprivileged undergraduates from all the 23 Local Government Areas of Rivers State. This scholarship is not for the children of the rich. It is meant to give education to the underprivileged or less privileged and other vulnerable members of Rivers State society.

This will compliment his post-graduate scholarship scheme. Every year the lives of 10 graduates from the Andoni-Opobo-Nkoro Federal Constituency of Rivers State change for good. Last September, Harry Dunotio Zipporah, Utong, Barthemaeus Abraham, Ofik Tana,Oko Jaja Opuada, Festus Victor Pepple and five others left for the United Kingdom to pursue masters degrees, at no cost to them. All their expenses throughout the duration of their studies at A-list universities, such as the Kingston University, University of Aberdeen and University of Bedfordshire, will be borne by one man, Hon. Peterside through the platform of the Andoni-Opobo-Nkoro Economic Zone Development Foundation.

These young men and women are the latest of the beneficiaries of the scholarship scheme through which Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro’s generation next are being groomed.

Last year, the Opobo, River State-born politician brought resource persons from the United Kingdom alongside a former Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service( FIRS) to train upcoming women entrepreneurs, 300 women from Andoni/ Opobo/ Nkoro benefitted from the first set of trainees. These women have all developed different business proposals which is being assessed for sponsorship of top ten viable ones which addresses a local need.

Peterside, whose friends describe as a man who despite his growing profile has remained the man they knew when he was nowhere the ladder of leadership, has been a Student Union Leader, aide to a governor, local government chairman, Commissioner for Works and now member of the House of Representatives. Those who know him insist Peterside has remained the humble man they knew right from his days at the Okrika Grammar School. What may have changed is that he has proven himself as a dependable leader driven by the desire for change. They have described him in these words: compassionate, intellectually-driven, imbued with leadership virtues, dependable and obsessed with integrity.

He has indeed come a long way; yet, those close to him say he is still a mission in progress. Wherever that mission takes him, what is clear now is that he is touching lives in different ways. He has become a role model of sorts to younger people garnering unprecedented followership because of his simplicity, consistency and sense of accommodation.

Peterside also facilitates the participation of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro scholars in at least four other overseas scholarship programmes sponsored by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Rivers State government, Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA) and oil giant Shell Scholarship.

Hon Peterside, who chairs the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), has been described as members of the committee as ‘a leader in whom they are well-pleased’. There is no doubt that Zipporah, Abraham, Festus Pepple and other beneficiaries of his scholarship scheme will echo the same sentiment about this man who has earned a reputation as a charismatic and disciplined leader, creative and hardworking legislator who is broad minded.

That Peterside cherishes education can be easily gleaned from the fact that despite his tight schedule as the chairman of a very busy House Committee, he still finds time for intellectual activities, such as delivering lectures in Nigeria and abroad and giving talks on areas of national importance. He has had the benefit of being educated in some of the best institutions at home and abroad. A native of Biriye, Opobo Kingdom, Dakuku attended the Okrika Grammar School (OGS), the University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, the University of Port Harcourt, the Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States and the Harvard-Kennedy school, University of Harvard, United States.

He earned degrees in Medical Laboratory Sciences (Haematology), Business Administration (Management) and certificates in Leadership and Project Management. Peterside is a member of the Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM), a fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants of Nigeria (IMCN) and a member of the Institute of Medical Laboratory Sciences of Nigeria (MLSN).

He has held various leadership positions, such as Rivers State Commissioner for Works (2007-2011), where he anchored Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s transformation of roads and Infrastructural landscape of Rivers State, Board member of the Greater Port Harcourt Development Authority (GPHCDA), Executive Director of the Development and Leadership Institute (DLI) between 2005 and 2007, Chairman, Opobo-Nkoro Local Government Area (2002-2003) during which he was declared the most outstanding local government chairman by Dr Peter Odili, who was then the governor of Rivers State. Between 2003 and 2005, he was Senior Special Assistant to Governor of Rivers State on Works.

Peterside has also served as Special Assistant to Rivers State Governor on Youth and Student Affairs and Board member, Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC), a Federal Government arts and research establishment.

Peterside, who is the Amaopusenibo of Opobo kingdom, was elected to represent Andoni/Opobo-Nkoro in the House of Representatives in 2011 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Some weeks back, he dumped the PDP for the All Progressives Congress (APC), as a result of PDP’s endless crises. In a recent interview he said Rivers long term interest and that of his constituents is his incentive for being in politics and that whenever that is compromised or threatened he is bound to stand up for the people. It is obvious that his recent defection to APC is because PDP could no longer protect and advance the interest of Rivers State. Aside serving as the chairman of the strategic Petroleum (Downstream) Committee, he also serves in the House most important committees on Anti-corruption, National Ethics and values; Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes; Co-operation and Integration in Africa, Electoral Matters; Industry; Communications and Works.

He established the Andoni-Opobo-Nkoro Economic Zone Development Summit (AONEZDS) as a constituency engagement project.

June 20, 2014
Good time for orphans in Port Harcourt

Members of the Junior Chambers International (JCI), and Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), reached out to the less privileged members of the society to mark the Democracy Day in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

They visited the “Lifetime Orphanage and Vulnerable Children Home”, which was founded some 19 years ago by a retired commander, simply identified as Abadan, now elderly and inactive.

The home was established to give helping hand to orphans and vulnerable children, with the founder having suffered the loss of both parents in a very tender age, is presently harbouring 58 children in a four bedroom apartment.

The delegation from the International charity and business development organizations led by the Trans-Amadi chapter President of JCI, Ms Josephine Osigbeme and PHCCIMA President, Emeka Unachukwu defied the morning rains to visit the children who were visibly excited on seeing the visitors

Osigbeme, shortly after the presenting food items for the upkeep of the children, explained that the visit would have been made two days earlier, May 27, ( Children day celebration), but had to take the advantage of the Democracy holiday to do it.

She expressed concern over the poor environment the children are kept, but lauded the efforts of the founder of the home, a retired Army commander, Abadan for his good heart to give succour to the hopeless members of the society and said the group would liaise with PHCCIMA to improve on their well-being.

“We look into the challenges of the less privileged and try to see how much and best we can assist them. We actually planned to embark on this outreach on the children’s day celebration to identify with them on their day but for some reasons it was moved to this day.

“Before we made the choice of this Home we had gone on a survey of other homes in Port Harcourt and came to the conclusion that this particular centre actually needs assistance.

“Apart from this visit, we have a yearly health sensitization programme tagged “nothing but net”, where we educate and distribute insecticide treated bed nets to rural dwellers, to enhance their health condition.

“By what we’ve seen here today, we are definitely going to come back, just like the president of PHCCIMA, our partners in this project had earlier said, we are going to meet and come back, we’ve already informed them of our interest to be part of their 19th year anniversary next month and we hope to do more when we return. “she assured.

“Corroborating the president, Dr. Felix Akubuenyi, Chairman of the planning committee, said the group had the past years been distributing 1000 pieces of insecticide nets to communities but said they have concluded plans to distribute between 1500 and 2000 pieces this year.

“I appeal Nigerians to embrace service to humanity; it is the best work of life; because when you are serving humanity you are helping the next person. I encourage people to identify the less privilege in their neighbourhood and try and put smiles on their faces.”

Also the National Executive vice president, area 2, comprising South-south/South-East, Aretha Faotu said the group is known for charitable activities and have gone on several charity outreaches in various communities across the state and also planned to visit the Nigerian prisons for sensitization and donation.

Earlier the President of PHCCIMA, Emeka Unachukwu, had expressed gratitude on the policy of the Home, not giving out their children for adoption and pledged PHCCIMA’s readiness to partner with the Home, to develop the inmates.

In his introduction earlier, the outreach coordinator/ Head of Education of the home, Mr. Nnordee Bariabara informed the visitors that the 19-year old Home presently has 58 inmates, 54 of them are in various levels of scholarship while the remaining four that have not got sponsors are receiving tutelage at the Home.

Bariabara hinted of the Home’s plan to discharge in line with their policy the set of stipulates male children who are the pioneer inmates of the Home, having turned 18 years.

The children offered all manner of prayers to God for their visitors especially prayers of long life, God’s protection and provision as well as guidance to their visitors.

June 20, 2014
Google knows not Belekete

The title of this piece tells a lie. In a way. Google, that world famous internet search engine, does know two places called Belekete. But the two places it knows are not the Belekete I write about. It knows a Belekete in Central African Republic (CAR) and another one in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It was clueless about the Belekete in Cross River, one of the six states in the Southsouth. I searched and searched but the information I kept coming across were about the weather of the CAR Belekete and the DRC Belekete.

Until some days ago when our correspondent in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, Nicholas Kalu, sent me a report on Belekete, a ranch community made up of eight villages, the place never existed to me. I am sure many are in my shoes. Some days before the report came, Nicholas had briefed me about a place he visited and had to walk for hours and almost died in the process. The reality only hit me when I saw Nicholas’s copy and the pictures. Reading through the report made me ask a question I have always asked when I come across shocking places people call homes. I asked myself: why live in hell?

This question has always popped up in my mind when flood sacks people who live in flood plains. I have always wondered why can’t they relocate and the answer has always been in question form: to where? And they usually add: “This is our home.”

People are very sentimental about certain things, which baffle me. I will never live in a place where flood constantly harasses me. I will never live in a place far removed from civilisation like Belekete.

From Nicholas’s accounts, Belekete has no schools, not one; Belekete has two health centres, with one member of staff each; Belekete has no connection with the outside world via the Global System of Mobile (GSM) Telecommunication; Belekete regularly loses its children, men and expectant mothers to sickness and complications far beyond the experience of its health officers; Belekete knows nothing about electricity; and the road to Belekete cannot take a car, a tricycle or even bicycle. To get there you need to walk for at least seven hours, climbing mountains and crossing gushing streams.

The inhabitants of Belekete claim their original home is where the Obudu Ranch Resort sits. They claim they moved further inside when the ranch was to be developed. But I ask a question: why did they not move to somewhere around the Bebi airstrip? On my last trip to the airstrip, I saw so many unused parcels of land and I doubt if the government would have denied them access to the parcels of land. Or could it be they feel more comfortable having to climb mountains, valleys and cross rushing streams on their way home?

Like Nicholas recounted, his guide did not break a sweat on the return journey which took all of eight hours. What he saw as a miracle was no miracle to the people of Belekete. It is what they face regularly.

But no matter what the people enjoy about staying in such difficult terrain, it is also a source of worry to them. Being tucked away in such pre-ancient caves also means only the daring will be willing to take help to them. With no roads, no one will plan any medical mission there. With no roads, it is unlikely anyone will be willing to donate hospital facilities and equipment. How will the building materials be transported? How will the labourers find their way there? Just how will things work out? Yet help is needed but the question remains: how will it come?

The clan head, Chief Ogweshi Francis Ngweli, painted a gory picture of their fate.

His words: “People have been dying because we don’t have healthcare here and there is no assistance of carrying people up to the ranch. Pregnant women and sick children have been dying. I am sure you have seen it with your two naked eyes with the almost eight hours you have passed through. We need facilities. The only health officer we have here, if anything takes him out that means we would not even have anyone to attend to us, even for the small ailments. In the past weeks, my people have been dying.

“We have appealed to the government but because there is no motorable road, the government has not been able to give us some sort of assistance. We are begging they should help us. The place is so backward in all in the sense that there is no road. There is no pipe borne water and we back people who are sick all the way to the ranch. And because of that we wish the government to help us with a road and assist us with proper healthcare facilities.”

Not many in government even know a place like Belekete exists. A top shot in the state was quoted by Nicholas as saying: “Are you serious there is a community in the state that you can trek to on foot for that number of hours to get to? You are not saying the truth. To be honest with you I have never heard of it. Did you say it was a ranch community? Does such a place exist in this state? Let me see what I can find out about the place.”

He was not able to find out anything before we went to bed. Such is the mystery of Belekete. I asked Nicholas if the people vote and he said: “yes”. I found that difficult to believe. Which adhoc electoral staff will agree to go to such a terrain? May be the electoral body uses indigenes of the place.

My final take: Belekete needs help to stop the deaths of its children, expectant mothers and others alike to ‘small’ ailments like malaria. What will it take, for instance, to put a road there? Yet, for me, access is critical. Without a road to Belekete, nothing can truly move forward. With a road in place, other amenities, such as electricity, water and health facilities can come. I am not an engineer, but my layman’s knowledge tells me that with the mountains and gushing streams, putting a road in Belekete will mean building bridges and stuffs like that. That will cost so much money, which the state government, weighed against opportunity cost, may not see sense in. It may prefer the people relocate to less difficult terrain.

June 20, 2014
How Akpabio dumped ‘obscene’ pension law

The opposition, rights activists and aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State fought hard to get Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio to abandon a controversial pension law, writes WALE AJETUNMOBI

It was not a battle limited to the opposition. Even members of his political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), especially those who used to be his allies, were also involved in the battle, which eventually made Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio to abandon his “altruistic intention” of amending the state’s Executive Pension Act. The labour also spoke against it, but failed to carry out a protest aimed at getting the House of Assembly not to pass the law.

Eight of the 26 members of the Assembly were against the amendment. But their voices were not loud enough to stop the bill from becoming an Act. The House of Assembly passed into law a bill seeking a pension for life at a rate equivalent to the salary of the incumbent governor and deputy. The deputy leader of the House, Dr Ekaete Okon (PDP), moved a motion for the bill to be read the third time and passed into law. The motion was seconded by Mr Aniekan Akpan (PDP) member representing Ukanafun state constituency.

The law also provides for the former governor a provision for funds to employ a cook, chauffeurs and security guards at a sum not exceeding N5 million per month and N2.5 million for the deputy.

According to the bill as passed, the former governor would also be entitled to free medical services for his person and spouse at a sum not exceeding N100 million per annum and N50 million for former deputy governor.

The bill also seeks to provide for the former governor a befitting accommodation not below a 5- bed room maisonette in either Abuja or Akwa Ibom for the ex-governor.

It also provides for yearly accommodation allowance of 300 per cent of annual basic salary for the deputy governor of Akwa Ibom.

The former governor would also receive a severance gratuity of 300 per cent of annual basic salary as at the time the former leaves office among other things.

According to the bill: “A former governor or former deputy governor who receives a severance gratuity under the provisions of the public and political office holders (remuneration) law cap. 101, laws of Akwa

Ibom State, 2000 (as amended), shall not be eligible to obtain any other gratuity under the law.

“Where a former governor or former deputy governor dies, government shall make adequate arrangement and bear the financial responsibility for his burial. Government will also pay a condolence allowance of a sum equivalent to the annual basic salary of the incumbent to his next of kin.

“And provide one surviving spouse with medical allowance not exceeding N12million per annum. Provided that such a spouse was married to the governor at the time he or she was in office, and if a wife, had served the state as First Lady.”

The former governor would also receive a severance gratuity of 300 per cent of annual basic salary as at the time the former leaves office among other things.

A governorship aspirant of the PDP in Akwa Ibom State, Umana Okon Umana, described the pension law signed by the state Governor, Godswill Akpabio as obscene, provocative and insensitive.

Umana stated this on Sunday at an interactive session with some Akwa Ibom stakeholders at the Sheraton Hotels, Abuja.

Umana said through his interaction with stakeholders in the state, the people expressed their objection to virtually all the provisions of the law, as they described the legislation as self-serving and anti-people.

He said: “It is surprising that in spite of a nationwide public outcry against the bill for the pension law, the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly rushed to pass it within 11 days and the governor signed it into law with indecent haste within 24 hours without any inputs from members of the public who will foot the bill.”

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State described the law as criminal and fraudulent.

Speaking at a briefing in Uyo, the state capital, the APC’s State Publicity Secretary, Samuel Udobong, said the bill was not in the interest of the suffering low income earners in the state.

Udobong explained that the speed in which the bill became law had confirmed the speculations that lawmakers in the State House of Assembly were ‘bribed’ by Governor Godswill Akpabio.

He expressed worry that despite the condemnation that trailed the bill when it went public, the house members still went ahead to pass it into law.

The party: “It reveals and confirms the disconnect that exists between the government and the governed in Akwa Ibom state. While Akwab Ibomites are wallowing in hunger and deprivation, seeking simple bailouts of food shelter, clothing and job opportunities.

“The government engages in scheming to steal the commonwealth, become richer and widen the gap that exists between the rich and the poor in our society. This is dangerous and we strongly condemn it. Therefore, we call on Akwa Ibomites to continue to rise against this law and insist that it is reversed.”

The party went further: “Let us inform you that Akwa Ibom State Government is yet to pay Primary School teachers and other retirees of her civil service their gratuity, some from 2009. What is due for those folks is just pittance compare to the monthly income of the governor and the government.

“Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has not cared to address the welfare needs of these citizens who have given 35 years of their lives to the service of the state. It gives credence to our long held position that this government is naïve and insensitive. They know no shame and care very little about what Akwa Ibom people think or feel about it.”

Chairman of the Akwa Ibom State chapter, Civil Liberties Organisation, Mr. Clifford Thomas, said the law was unnecessary, considering the level of poverty among the citizenry. He said career civil servants who had served the state meritoriously were the ones who needed to be treated better and not self serving political office holders.

Thomas said: “The new law does not serve the interest of the state. It has to be reviewed. If we want to amend any law or enact another, it should be for career civil servants. We should think of those who had spent their entire lives serving the state before thinking of governors or their deputies. The governor himself does not even need the pension.”

A former Deputy Speaker, Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Mr. Uwem Udoma, also described the new law as atrocious and ill-timed. He said the overwhelming majority of the people of the state would reject the law, if given the chance.

He said: “I see a lot of greed in the framing of this particular bill. You spend up to N350m on four people, that is about N1.4bn for a year; and N1.4bn a year is almost equal to some states allocation for a month. The government can do a lot with N1.4bn. If you are paying four people N1.4bn a year and the population of Akwa Ibom is just 3.9m people, how then are you going to protect the interest of other citizens? How are you going to take care of the people if only four people would take N1.4bn? The amended bill is outrageous. It is not nice at all. The exclusivity clause in pension is not acceptable. If it is the pension law, it should be enjoyed by everybody, but this present amendment of the 2006 pension law that has been passed into law in 2014 has excluded so many people.

“In fact, we are wasting a lot of funds that we should use to invest in agriculture, which we should use in establishing industries that the government promised, at least, one in each of the 31 local government areas of the state. The government is not doing anything about that.

“If you go the Internet now, you can get the bill for yourself. That of Akwa Ibom State is almost 300 per cent higher than any other states in the country. I can say that as a former lawmaker. It is higher, it is outrageous; we do not accept it, at all. So, they are not correct.”

Speaking with editors in Lagos on Tuesday, Akpabio announced that he was going to initiate a move to get the House of Assembly to dump the law and revert to the old one. He accused the opposition and aggrieved members of his party of frustrating his intention to standardise the pension law. He added that the truth was stood on the head in the bid to frustrate the law.

The governor said: “The good people of Akwa Ibom State have been unfortunately subjected to the cruelest and most unkind political gimmickry in the history of our state over the amendment of a sixteen-year-old law. This tidal wave of propaganda, misinformation, lies, falsehood, mischief and cynicism, we fear, may already have sucked in some unsuspecting members of the public who lack the ability to appreciate the salient points of this law and its ennobling attributes (see box for details).”

But for observers, what matters is that the governor bowed to pressure and the law is to be jettisoned.

Why I’m reverting to the old law, by governor

Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio, in a statement on Tuesday, explained why he is dumping the controversial law.

In the last few weeks, truth has come under siege by agents of falsehood in Akwa Ibom State. The good people of Akwa Ibom State have been unfortunately subjected to the cruelest and most unkind political gimmickry in the history of our state over the amendment of a sixteen-year-old law. This tidal wave of propaganda, misinformation, lies, falsehood, mischief and cynicism, we fear, may already have sucked in some unsuspecting members of the public who lack the ability to appreciate the salient points of this law and its ennobling attributes.

Regrettably, one of the best-kept secrets in the political scene in Nigeria is that in Akwa Ibom State some politicians do not circumscribe their activities within the limits of morality and decorum. Some of them can abase the most hallowed and sacred things for their selfish advantages. The present matter is a case in point.

The GOVERNORS AND DEPUTY GOVERNORS PENSION LAW was first enacted in 1998 as the Special Grant (Former Chief Executives) Edict. It was amended in 1999 by the Special Grant (Former Chief Executives (Amendment) Edict of 1999) and was retained in Cap. 122 Laws of Akwa Ibom State 2000. It was amended in 2002 by the Governors and Deputy Governors Pension Law 2002, which was later repealed by the Governors and Deputy Governors Pension Law 2006 assented to by my predecessor in office on 26th April 2007.

However, in the course of its implementation, We noticed a lacuna in the 2007 law, particularly on account of its open-endedness in the provisions relating to the medical expenses and provision of funds for the employment of domestic staff for the former Governors and Deputy Governors.

Working with the House of Assembly, we sought to protect the law from abuse by putting a ceiling on the medical expenses for the treatment of these senior citizens of Akwa Ibom State. The ceiling, which was pegged at N100 million per annum for former Governors and N50 million per annum for former Deputy Governors, was never meant to be given either in part or in whole to anybody at anytime for any reason. It was meant to be paid to health institutions involved in the treatment of the former Governors or former Deputy Governors and their spouses. It was, therefore, deliberate falsehood and organized misinformation to claim that the said money will be paid to former Governors or Deputy Governors every year. This has never been the practice and the amendment has added nothing to give credence to this obviously politicized orchestration.

Former Governors and Deputy Governors and their spouses who were not sick were not to receive a dime from the fund. These sums, which were for the Governors and the Deputy Governor’s medical treatment, suffered the most bashing from a mischievous vocal minority who sought to reap political capital out of it. In their frenzied desperation, they even claimed that the law was made for my personal benefit. They lost sight of the fact that I am not among the beneficiaries as I am not on pension.

The other sickening claim was that we excluded some categories of eligible former Deputy Governors and Governors. This is absolutely incorrect. Since the Governors and Deputy Governors Pension Law 2006 referred to above, a new eligibility provision beyond just being a former Governor or Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State origin was introduced by the last administration whereby certain persons who served in these two offices and who would otherwise have benefited from the pension, were excluded on account of resignation otherwise than on health grounds, impeachment or holding office for a period less than three years. Section 3 of the 2006 version of the Law attests to this, and this provision, retained in section 3 of the 2014 version of the Law has attracted unsavory comments as though it was a new provision just inserted.

It is distressing to all patriots in our state that this well reasoned and thought-out solution to an open-ended law, which common-sense indicates can be subject to abuse, has been cast rather as a problem by fifth columnists in our state. I share the sense of revulsion of all decent Akwa Ibom people in the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly in particular and the entire State in general at these politics of blackmail.

I believe in the Akwa Ibom project as evidenced in my work in the state. I am under oath to protect the constitution of this great country, and this I have done to the best of my abilities. I am obligated by the mandate given to me by the good people of my state to do good to all manner of people and I have not been found wanting in this responsibility. This amendment was undertaken, with the patriotic understanding of the House of Assembly, in fulfillment of these articles of faith.

I reject in its entirety the unwarranted condemnation of this altruistic amendment. I am deeply saddened by the vilification of the Honourable Members of the House of Assembly for undertaking a course of action, which we as a state, we should applaud. Truth has been under siege and today I have decided that we should lift this evil siege by proposing to the House of Assembly that the parts of the amendment putting a N100 million ceiling and a N50 million ceiling on the medical treatment of former Governors and former Deputy Governors respectively be expunged from the amendment. Let it revert to the open-ended situation inherent in the law, before the amendment. I will further advise, in observance of the articles of faith guiding the discharge of the Office of Governor that, through extant circulars, a medical insurance scheme be put in place for the authentic and proper management of the medical treatment of former Governors and Deputy Governors and their spouses in order to ensure that the open-ended nature of the law is not abused.

It is my hope that with the excision of these sections from the amendment, the agents of falsehood would lift their siege on truth and not distract the good people of this state from the task of the Uncommon Transformation of our dear state. Let them remember that I am not a governorship candidate. Instead of firing brickbats at me, let them tell the good people of Akwa Ibom State their plans for Akwa Ibom State.

Ladies and gentlemen, I consider this case rested and I take solace and comfort in the immortal words of the late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, that “History will vindicate the just.”

June 6, 2014
Cross River…For tomorrow to be better

For three days last week, Cross River State government took reporters round some of its legacy projects. The tour started in Calabar and terminated in Ogoja, the far end of the state which is no less than five hours away from the state capital.

was one of tempered expectations,

In Ogoja, many of the state correspondents, who were conversant with the state of rural roads, were impressed with the transformation that has taken place between their last visit and now. Almost all streets in Ogoja have had their roads tarred, with good drainage channel.

Across the state, old roads have become new and non-existent ones, such as the Margaret Ekpo Bye-pass, have sprung up.

There is a deliberate effort to redress the neglect of the rural areas. It is a case of roads, roads everywhere and several to travel smoothly on.

The importance of water has not been lost on the administration too. Things that will sustain its status as the tourism headquaters of Nigeria have been deliberately targetted and given attention.

Through the State Investment Promotion Bureau, it has attracted foreign investment. Top on the list is Wilmar International Limited’s $400 million investment in agriculture and agro-processing. There is also the Brentex Petroleum $300 million pipe mills manufacturing; the $700 million Essar Power Limited 660MW Integrated Power Project; Southgate Cocoa, and the Artee Group’s investment in shopping malls.

All these are despite the fact that the state’s last derivation cheque in the sum of N345 million came in 2012 – the aftermath of the July 2012 apex court ruling terminating its membership of the oil-producing club. The ruling ceded its 176 oil-wells to its neighbour, Akwa Ibom State. The development came as dampener, but the state has risen beyond it.

The state may have lost close to N20 billion in the over 22 months of non-receipt of the 13 per cent derivation funds, it is making up through FDI. The world-class Calabar International Convention Centre (CICC) not far from the Tinapa Resort –both in the domain of the sprawling Summit Hills –holds a lot of promises. It promises to make the state a force in global tourism.

On completion, the CICC will host a 200-bed Convention Hotel under the state’s Public Private Partnership model.

Tinapa also stands to gain from the Summit Hills project, where a monorail will link it with the CICC and end its current woes.

The Songhai farm complex in Abi and the multi-million dollar Wilmar farm complex in Akampka also hold promises of improving the state’s fortunes. The Songhai Farm is intended to train the youths in integrated farming system. In the farm, waste products from plants, birds, fish ponds, which are ordinarily disposed off, are recycled as inputs. The Wilmar farm is strictly for oil palm, the mainstay of Malaysia’s economy. Cross River may as well become Malaysia all things being equal.

As good as what the state has to showcase are, they must be followed through. The CICC, the Songhai Farm and the Wilmar Farm are not at maturity stage yet. So, nothing must stop their destinies. They hold a lot of promises that will eventually pay off what the state lost to derivation funds. Cross River can be better and the key to its being better is in the oil palm farm, the CICC, the other parts of the Summit Hills project, the Songhai Farm and others, which if not followed through, can turn out to be white elephant projects. It is good Governor Liyel Imoke says all the funds needed to see these projects through are ready.

June 6, 2014