The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • Uduaghan, others bid farewell to true Warri Boy Pa Akporiaye

    Uduaghan, others bid farewell to true Warri Boy Pa Akporiaye

    Last Saturday, prominent Nigerians and dignitaries from all walks of life turned up at the First Baptist Church on Mission Road, Warri, Delta State, to pay their last respects to Pa Nawe Eric Akporiaye, who passed away at a ripe age of 92 years.

    Leading the long list of eulogies for the late Pa Akporiaye, who was the father of Dr Leslie Akporiaye, Medical Director of the Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara, Governor Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan said the late Pa Akporiaye lived his life as a true “Warri Boy”, who eschewed tribalism and worked for the peace and unity of the Oil City.

    Those who knew the deceased spoke eloquently about his dedication to society causes, his dedication to the Rotary Club and Boys Scout as well as his zeal and love for the Oil City of Warri.

    One of his children reflected: “He never failed to attend a Rotary meeting, even when he was travelling away from home.”

    Governor Uduaghan commended his steadfastness to peace and unity among all the ethnic groups in Warri and environs.

    The governor remarked that the late Akporiaye represented a generation of Warri indigenes that stood for unity and harmony among the ethnic groups that dwell in the city.

    He urged the various ethnic groups in the country to forge a common front towards making Nigeria a great a prosperous nation.

    Lamenting the ethic distrust and suspicion that now prevails in the city, Uduaghan noted that Warri became famous not necessarily because of industrialization but because of people like Akporiaye, who he said “were worthy ambassadors of the city.”

    He urged the various ethnic groups in the state and Warri in particular to borrow a leaf from their progenitors and learn to live in unity and join hands with his administration’s determination to restore the lost glory of the city.

    The Governor assured that his administration was committed towards transforming Warri into a modern city that would be the envy of others in the country.

    Dr. Uduaghan explained that the State Government was executing an agenda, ranging from traffic control, junction improvement, road rehabilitation and expansion, general improvement in transport infrastructure, waste management as part of measures towards transforming the urban areas and cities in the State.

    Uduaghan decried poor sanitary habits, indiscriminate trading and parking on walk ways and on streets, warning that the State Government would soon come out sternly against such practices.

    In a sermon, the officiating minister, Reverend Justin Okoroji (Junior) charged the living to take the biblical water of life and live right to enjoy divine favour.

    He emphasised that man would certainly account for his days before God hence the need to be sure we finish well on earth.

    In his homage, the DELSUTH Medical Director, Dr Akporiaye noted that the news of the death of his father, who died just eight years short of a century, did not come unexpectedly after years of ill health, but noted that it still “hit us like a ton of bricks.”

    He recalled that his fathered worked hard during his life time and “always put in 100%. This is one of the most important lessons we learnt from him. He taught us to be self-sufficient and to work hard to realise our dreams.”

    ”Friends and associates knew dad as a gentle soul with quiet sense of humour. But even though he was gentle and reserved, he had a distant serious side that sometimes kept those around him at a distance,” he added.

    Speaking further, Dr Akporiaye said his father was no yeller, but still had his way of ensuring discipline. “His silent treatment was more effective than the worst beating one could imagine.”

    He may have been soft spoke, but he loved to tell stories and teach us songs from his childhood. We cherish those special weekend outings, bird hunting, taking photographs and if we were lucky, eating his “pepperless” Sunday lunches.”

  • Wike…Rivers’ Mr Controversy

    Wike…Rivers’ Mr Controversy

    Supervising Minister of Education Nyesom Wike does not run away from controversy. Some say he deliberately courts controversy. Some days back, a group said it has endorsed him as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2015 election. Many stakeholders, especially the chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC), have dismissed the endorsement as a huge joke.

    Some Ogoni leaders: Dr. Fred Kpakol, Olaka Nwogu and Chief Monday Ngbor, through the “Ogoni/Orashi Alliance,” claimed to have endorsed Wike as Ogoni’s choice for the 2015 governorship election.

    The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), however, dismissed the claim by the few “self-serving” Ogoni politicians that the supervising minister of education had been endorsed as a governorship candidate.

    MOSOP, through its President, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, called on all Ogoni people and the members of the public to discountenance the spurious, deceitful and misleading claim, declaring that Ogoni had not endorsed any politician, warning the persons bent on causing confusion to stop forthwith.

    A PDP chieftain from Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State, Prince Emma Anyanwu, claimed that the people of Etche Ethnic Nationality, comprising Etche and Omuma LGAs of Rivers, had endorsed Wike, as Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s successor on the platform of the PDP in 2015.

    Anyanwu said the endorsement of a two-term Chairman of Obio/Akpor LGA of Rivers state (Wike) followed his detribalised nature, capacity and integrity to lead Rivers state to the Promised Land.

    The Rivers Commissioner for Energy and Natural Resources, Okey Amadi, an Etche indigene, however, dismissed the purported endorsement of the supervising minister of education by the people of Etche ethnic nationality as governorship candidate, insisting that majority of Etche people belong to the APC.

    Amadi insisted that a God-fearing person, with the interest of Rivers people at heart, would succeed Amaechi in 2015.

    The members of the Rivers PDP Third Force Movement, through its General Secretary, Oprite Amachree, also declared that the PDP would lose Rivers state, if Wike was imposed on the peace-loving people as its standard bearer, with his purported endorsement described as null, void and of no effect whatsoever.

    Describing the endorsement of the supervising minister of education as highly condemnable, the group stated that it would make a caricature of the principle of equity, justice, fairness and adequate representation practised by the party.

    The Rivers PDP Third Force Movement declared that no sane, dedicated and right-thinking PDP member would wish to adopt or support Wike as the governorship candidate for 2015, stating that no amount of force, intimidation or oppression would make them to accept the purported endorsement of the supervising minister of education.

    Members of the group maintained that they were certain that presenting the supervising minister of education as the governorship standard bearer of the PDP in 2015 would lead to a definite failure at the polls.

    As law-abiding citizens, they also called on Wike to resist the temptation of vying as Rivers state’s governor in 2015.

    The Rivers PDP Third Force Movement urged President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, the National Executive Committee (NEC) and the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP to immediately start the process of restructuring the party in Rivers state, to reflect the interest of all the stakeholders.

    It also asked President Jonathan, Muazu and other leaders of the PDP to call to order, Wike; the Deputy National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, an indigene of Ikuru in Andoni LGA of Rivers state and the Rivers PDP Chairman, Chief Felix Obuah, thereby halting their alleged plans of disintegrate the party in the state, owing to their personal and selfish agenda.

    The group, as a matter of urgency, admonished some leaders of the PDP, including a former governor, Dr. Peter Odili; Chief Ombo Isokariari; the new Minister for Sports, Dr. Tammy Danagogo; an ex-Rivers governor, Sir Celestine Omehia; former Transport Minister, Dr. Abiye Sekibo; Chief Dumo Lulu Briggs and Navy Capt. Ibim Princewill (rtd.), among others, to liberate the state’s chapter of the party from darkness.

    Wike, who is from Rumuepirikom in Obio/Akpor LGA of the state, was the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt and also doubled as the Director-General of Amaechi Campaign Organisation in 2011, before being inaugurated as minister of state for education on July 14, 2011, is also the grand patron of the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI).

    The MOSOP president, however, stated that while Ogoni recognised the right of citizens to freedom of expression and association, saying the people were concerned that the approach of some of the politicians smacked of desperation, while stressing that the Ogoni Project 2015 could not be undermined.

    Pyagbara said: “It is a shame that while our people have collectively resolved to move from the Egypt of political marginalisation to the Canaan of effective political representation, as adumbrated in the Ogoni Bill of Rights, some short-sighted Ogoni politicians still want to hold our nationality hostage with their slave mentality of subservience and deadly acquiescence for a pot of pottage in Egypt.

    “We want to remind them that evidence abound that our people are unanimous in their desire to lead Rivers State come 2015 and we do not see how Ogoni would contemplate endorsing a non-Ogoni over the Ogoni.”

    Anyanwu, however, insisted that Etche people decided to endorse the supervising minister of education, after a careful scrutiny of the persons who had either declared their intention or those rumoured to be nursing governorship ambition, maintaining that Wike remained the best man for the job.

    Anyanwu said: “The Brick House, the seat of the Government of Rivers State, is not vacant for any other candidate, other than Chief Wike, who possesses all the attributes and capabilities that have earned him the trust to govern the state.”

    The wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, Dame Patience, an indigene of Okrika, headquarters of Okrika LGA of Rivers State, has not relented in pushing for the candidature of Senator George Thompson Sekibo, who represents Rivers East Senatorial District, as the next Rivers governor.

    Sekibo, who hails from Ogu, the headquarters of Ogu/Bolo LGA, is banking on the First Lady’s support, since Okrika and Ogu people are the same and speak the same language, but separated by a river.

    In the Rivers PDP, besides Wike and Senator Sekibo, the then representative of the Rivers Southeast Senatorial District, Senator Lee Meaba, an Ogoni and former Speakers of the House of Representatives, Austin Opara and Chibudom Nwuche, among others, are also aspiring to be Rivers governor in 2015.

    The Rivers chairman of the PDP prefers Wike to other governorship aspirants, having supported him to emerge as the party’s helmsman, through the judgment of an Abuja High Court of April 15 last year, which the sacked Chairman, Chief Godspower Ake, is still challenging at the Court of Appeal.

    Amaechi does not want the supervising minister of education, an Ikwerre like himself, as his successor in 2015, preferring somebody from another ethnic group or senatorial district.

    Wike, however, claimed that Amaechi is from Ikwerre North, while he is from Ikwerre South and is thus qualified to be Rivers governor in 2015.

  • An Edo teacher’s confession

    An Edo teacher’s confession

    Some days back, I boycotted a competency test organised by the Edo State government for teachers in its employ. Many of us shunned the test. I don’t know the real reason others avoided the test, but I know why I did and was very glad the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) gave us its backing to hide our inadequacies. The committee headed by Prof Denis Agbolanhor would have unravelled the fraud in me.

    Please you need to hear my long story for you to appreciate where I am coming from. It is not that I am pleading for mercy or any of such nonsense. I have gone too far to care about that. Whatever happens to me as a result of my actions, I take as act of God and will not blame anybody for it.

    I was born into a polygamous family. My father had ten wives. Our father, who had 22 of us, claimed that his religion and tradition supported his polygamous nature.

    Growing up in our home in Auchi was interesting and intriguing. Wives were always engaged in one intrigue or the other to take the slot of the favourite wife. Fights broke up once in a while, but like a born polygamist our father had a way around those things. He fixed them accordingly.

    To our father, we were tools he used on his big farms. We, the children and his wives, were the farm hands. Education was not a major agenda for him. He managed to send a few of us to secondary school.

    After my secondary education, an uncle brought me to Benin, the Edo State capital. It was in the early days of the state. I was roaming the streets looking for job when a man I met on a primary school field told me teachers were to be recruited for secondary schools. Before I could tell him I was not qualified, he made me know that he was one of the state officials who would pick the successful applicants. He assured me that he was going to fix the neccesary documents for me.

    It did not take long before I was issued an appointment letter. All this while I was wondering what the man was after. He told me the day I received my letter of appointment. I must be giving him half of my salary every month. To make sure I did not fail him, we swore an oath and in the last decade he has been taking half of my pay. He is still a big man in government and is actually one of those telling the NUT not to take the competency test.

    The other day one of our colleagues was discovered to be incapable of reading well. I dare say there are many like that. Their own category is different from ours. Really, people in that category do not really teach. They are ghost workers if you like. The person that was caught was most likely just hired to come and shop face at the verification centre but was unfortunate to have been pounced on by the governor.

    You may wonder how I was able to cope with teaching job despite my inadequacy. The truth is I have not been teaching in the real sense of the word. My godfather makes sure I am always posted to one remote school or the other where teachers really do not bother to impart any knowledge on the pupils. Most of the time I do not even go to school. Over the years, I have managed to acquire some skills to teach some nonsense to the pupils.

    You may wonder if I do not have a conscience to be involved in such a scam. Well, my conscience died the day I realised that many of our leaders do not have our interest at heart. So, why should I bother myself? They are thieves and armed robbers rolled into one. We mean nothing to our leaders whose greed is bigger than our needs.

    I know that Governor Adams Oshiomhole is sincere. But, I care less. His sincerity will not put food on my table. So, sincerity my foot. As long as the NUT’s backing is there, I will continue to hide under it to get paid for a job I am not qualified for and my godfather will continue to receive his cut.

    Nigerian leaders must act with courage, conviction and be decisive to stem the rot in the education sector.

    Like Oshiomhole said at the 20th National Economic Summit in Abuja, leadership, I believe, is about courage, about conviction and being able to act. Our political leadership must go back to the basics if cheats like me must begin to see reason to give up our bad acts.

    Like Oshiomhole, I believe that the quality of the Nigerian leadership deteriorated from the days of the military. They helped spoilt everything. Misfits like me got in during those era.

    Please don’t be deceived by the good English in which this confession is written. Someone helped me out. Of course, at a cost.

     

  • Light shines on Akwa Ibom community after three years

    Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio was holding town hall meetings in the constituencies in the state. It was the turn of Ikono/Ini Federal Constituency and the people used the opportunity to tell the governor that they had been in darkness for three years.

    Their sad years are now over as light has been restored in Ikono. The Senior Special Assistant on Power to the Governor, Dr. Victor Udo, in collaboration with the Chairman of Ikono Local Government Area, Emmanuel Ukpong and other power sector stakeholders in Ikot Ekpene Business unit, accomplished the feat of restoring power supply to the people of Ikono in three days.

    Residents of Ikono, who have been in a state of euphoria, have not stopped expressing gratitude to Akpabio for keeping his promise and the SSA on Power for the prompt response.

    The Paramount ruler of Ikono, HRM Edidem Nyong Obop, said: “The governor has honored his promise by giving Ikono people light and so I give my unreserved appreciation for what he has done to Ikono people. I very much thank the Senior Special Assistant to His Excellency on Power because he has meticulously carried out the directive of the governor.”

    Ukpong said the restoration of power supply to Ikono would increase the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and help small businesses to grow.

    In a statement, the SSA on Power said: “It was a pleasure to have worked with the Chairman of Ikono LGA, Hon. Emmanuel Ukpong, who provided the funds and logistics to accomplish His Excellency’s mandate. The Chairman has demonstrated a new model of partnering with the LGAs to accelerate steady power supply across the state consistent with the vision of His Excellency.”

     

  • Oil cash fuels dispute between Bayelsa, Delta communities

    Oil cash fuels dispute between Bayelsa, Delta communities

    A boundary dispute between two communities in Delta and Bayelsa states may snowball into a bloody war. Southsouth Regional Editor Shola O’Neil, who visited the area, reports that at the root of the crisis is a N305m court victory by one of the feuding parties against an oil giant 

    There is no visible attraction on Okia’s landscape to indicate why two communities are locked in a fierce tussle over its ownership. The tussle is between the people of Agge community in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State and Okia, Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State.

    Okia is disappointing. Apart from a lone weed-overtaken multimillion naira civic centre, which sits forlorn in the middle of the bush, there is no suggestion of any other asset in the town.

    The emptiness is accentuated by the imposing multimillion naira, Civic Centre, built by SPDC, operator of the NNPC/SHELL/TEPN/Agip Joint Venture. An abandoned (or failed) project – a solar power water scheme lies besides the centre.

    The civic centre is as divisive as the community. One of several residents of neighbouring hamlets who spoke with our reporter said they could not comprehend why the company “would commit dozens of millions to build and furnish a massive structure in the middle of nowhere.”

    Okia may just be another hamlet in the creek; yet for over a decade there have been lingering scrimmages between Agge community (a clan of four brothers) over the ownership of this strip of land on the tip of the Ramos River.

    The sound of the war drum increased towards crescendo recently when the Okia (the Gbeneyeis) won a N305 million suit against Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC). The case was instituted in 2001 after one of several crude oil spillages from the company’s facility.

    Pius, one of the Gbeneyei brothers, alerted security and governments’ agencies to a ‘brewing boundary clash’ between Okia and Agge in Delta and Bayelsa states.

    He accused the people of Agge of using resources from Delta land to service another state – Bayelsa. The move was seen as a ploy to drag the two state governments into the brewing crisis.

    The comical and effervescent Pius told Niger Delta Report that Okia had borne the brunt of several aggression by their counterparts, explaining that the activities of the Agge people kept his town undeveloped. He said Okia was a thriving community until it was razed by the people of Agge nearly a decade ago: “They attacked us, killed our people, wounded some and laid the community to ruin.”

    His claims, like several others over the community, could not be independently verified by our reporter, who found neither stumps of the former houses nor graves of those killed in the empty town.

    Our independent investigation though indicated that until a few decades ago it was just a fishing camp. But it became strategic when the Trans Ramos Trunk Line was built by Shell to convey crude from oil wells in the area to the Forcados Terminal for export. Okia is the point where the pipeline crosses from one state to the other.

    Oil Royalty the root of the crisis – Pius Gbeneye

    With its strategic position, the community became attractive to the oil firm and locals. Confirming this, Pius Gbeneyei told our reporter that Okia “is a very small community, but it is also very rich”.

    First sign of trouble emerged when Shell awarded the Integrated Production Surveillance Service (IPSS) to an indigene of Agge community, much to the chagrin of Gbeneyei and other claimants to the Okia title. The Gbeneyei brothers kicked and sued the SPDC to court.

    But HRH David Isiayei, the traditional head of Agge and its Federated Communities, told our reporter that it was the right of Agge to get any contract from Okia. The traditional ruler, who spoke extensively on the tussle, recalled that the land was acquired from his community by Shell even before most of the claimants were born.

    He explained that Okia was merely separated from his community by the necessity of using the Ramos River as a boundary between the two states, adding that Okia is used by fisherman for seasonal fishing expeditions.

    “When the time for a particularly fishing in the area comes up, people leave Agge and other communities in Bayelsa and Delta to settle there for weeks. They fish, dry their catches and sell or take them to Agge, which has been a fishing depot for centuries.

    “When Julius Berger was building the Trans Ramos pipeline, people came from all over the country to look for job here. That was how the Gbeneyeis came here. They settled and worked, but because they lived in Okia, at a point they started parading themselves as owners of the land. So we went to court and got a judgement, which ordered them to leave the land.

    “You see, we are all Ijaws and we do not discriminate, but problem usually arises when some people want to take our hospitality for granted. Okia is part of Agge in Kou Kingdom, nobody can dispute that. That it falls on the other side of the river that has been marked Delta doesn’t change that,” he added.

    While saying that there is no contest over the land, the aged monarch also revealed that Agge had recorded series of legal victories that conferred the ownership of Okia on his community.

    Speaking in the same vein, Chairman of Agge and its Federated Communities, Mr Stephen Fiyapade, accused oil multinationals of using divide-and-rule tactics to create trouble in oil communities. He said the latest crisis was instigated by some Shell staff who used “some persons” to make money for themselves by making Okia a host community.”

    Fiyapade particularly noted that the civic centre built in the bush was part of the concept adopted by the oil workers. “Which sane person would conceive a project like that in the bush? How many people are living around there for the company to build a town hall that can sit up to 1,000 person? Doesn’t that tell you anything?”

    The mutual suspicion between the two communities is the major reason the Civil Centre had not been used for nearly three years since it was built.

    A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, hinted that the project may have been a conduit pipe by some persons to make easy money.

    “It is part of the deliberate programme of some oil companies’ staff to create ‘communities’ that they can use to hijack money meant for Corporate Social Responsibility. Tell me, if Shell’s headquarters in The Hague comes here would they be happy that their fund was put into a project that would benefit no one?” the source asked.

    The source explained that the “Civic Centre might just be a contract awarded to empower some contractors and to benefit some powerful interest within the JV operators. Don’t be surprised that this same Okia may have been awarded other ’projects’ in the past. This kind of corporate social responsibility is irresponsible, to say the least.”

    Furthermore, our finding revealed that in line with the Shell GMoU with communities, such projects as the civic centre are not conceived by Shell, but the community.

    A high ranking Shell official told our reporter, “You can blame Shell or any other oil firm for this kind of project because the people of the community usually determine what they want and the company merely provides fund to execute them. That is how the GMoU model of community development operates.”

    Meanwhile, Pius Gbeneyei debunked reports of court victory conferring the ownership of the community on Agge. Touting his own legal victories, he explained that Agge only won against Okibou, a boundary community in Delta State.

    “Agge has never won any court case against us.”

    He traced the latest “aggression” of Agge people to the landmark Federal High Court judgment, which awarded him and four others N305,637,381.60 as special and general damages caused by Shell crude oil spill.

    Gbeneyei said prior to the ruling Agge, had sort to “gain through the backdoor” by asking to be joined in the case, adding, “They were denied and ordered to pay me N40,000. But they ran away and up till today we did not seen them.

    “The Agge people do not have any oil well; they are looking for an opportunity to benefit at all cost that is why they want to annexe our land in order to continue to deal with oil companies as host communities. We are not going allow that,” he added.

    “They have continued to go to oil companies in the area to collect money as host. With all these, I do not know why they are still troubling us. We are preparing to return to our community and they cannot stop us,” Pius Gbeneyei added.

    But, the Agge traditional head said the ‘court victory’ being bandied by the Gbeneyeis was merely a criminal case when some persons were arrested by Agge indigene for erecting an illegal signpost on Okia land and not on the ownership of the land.

     

     

  • A cop’s advice

    A cop’s advice

    “Don’t try to secure other communities. Just secure your own community and there will be peace everywhere,” said Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police Hilary Opara at a meeting with some communities on how to curb kidnappers.

    Like most states in the Niger Delta, Bayelsa has been battling kidnapping. It became serious recently with the kidnap of a relative of President Goodluck Jonathan.

    I believe there is a lot of sense in the advice of the police chief. If every community can monitor their own area very well, criminally-minded individuals around will be easy preys for the law enforcement agencies to catch. But, if communities look the other way round when their sons and daughters engage in nefarious activities, the world will be the worst for it.

    Law enforcement officers are not magicians. Without the people giving them information, they can never crack any case. They need the cooperation of all. Governments at all levels, be it local, state or federal, must give them all they require to do their work. A situation where they are given operational vehicles but no provisions for maintenance and others will continue to make a mess of our security agencies.

    Kidnapping has not only embarrassed us. It has ridiculed us before the world and the Niger Delta has played a leading role in the kidnap of foreigners and citizens alike for ransom. We must stop it and the best way to go about it is to heed Opara’s advice. Do not cover the bad boys. Expose them so that the law can grab them. They are not spirits. They live among us and we can help make our communities better by revealing the face of the evil doers so that they can be confined to where they truly belong: the dungeon.

  • For a non-violent Niger Delta

    A Fact Sheet by the Department of State’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilisation Operations has spelt out how it is promoting non-violence in the Niger Delta.

    Last September , the U.S. State Department launched a conflict mitigation initiative in the region. In launching this campaign, the fact that Nigeria plays a critical role in Africa’s stability was not lost on it. Also not lost on it is its strong interest in the country’s peace, prosperity and security.

    Also of particular interest to America is the undisputed fact that the resource-rich Niger Delta is vital to Nigeria’s economic health and its stability, which America considers a top priority.

    The Fact Sheet on the initiative reads: “The U.S. initiative in the Delta aims to address the risk of destabilising violence and increase confidence in the power of nonviolent problem-solving among citizens, government, and other key actors.

    “Despite the difficulties facing the Niger Delta, leaders are challenging the social acceptability of violence and striving for a future of peace and prosperity. Teachers, journalists, and religious leaders are joining forces to strengthen the social contract by increasing accountability between citizens and government and condemning violence. NGOs and Nollywood stars are teaming up to give voice to communities shaping a legacy of non-violent civic activism. If amplified, these inspiring stories can drown out the adage that “violence pays,” and set the tone for a new public narrative of peaceful problem solving. Partnering with a core group of Nigerian activists, businessmen, media entrepreneurs, and thought leaders that comprise the Niger Delta Legacy Board of Directors, the U.S. government is catalysing the launch of a mass media campaign supported by community and government outreach.

    “The Niger Delta Legacy Board of Directors is launching TV and radio shows and social media content that will capitalise on these rapidly expanding media platforms. Featuring prominent celebrities and public figures, the campaign’s centerpiece is a television show called “Dawn in the Creeks.” It will showcase stories of communities and government working together to non-violently solve problems, in order to inspire similar efforts. With leading broadcasters, producers, and creative artists as partners, the engagement will produce popular media products that will continue paying stability dividends after U.S. government support phases out.

    “Building on successes showcased in the media campaign, the Board of Directors has identified practical ways to help communities and governments use non-violent methods more broadly and effectively to resolve problems and meet their priorities. The U.S. Government will work with state and local governments to reinforce the impact of these efforts.

    “The goal is to see the Niger Delta emerge from the 2015 election period without destabilising violence and on a path toward peace, accountable governance, and prosperity. We will measure impact by: Tracking frequency and intensity of violence using open-source “big data” tools and monitoring public perceptions of and behavior regarding violence, civic activism, government responsiveness, and the social contract.”

    This approach by the American government is welcome and it is hoped that all hands will be on deck to ensure it is not derailed.

    A violent Niger Delta is not just in the interest of the region, its people but also of Nigeria and the international community. The oil for which the region is known is consumed by several countries of the world and it is the mainstay of the nation’s economy. That is why the country has always gone out of its way to ensure that there is peace in the region.

    Efforts such as this one can compliment that of the Amnesty Office. No one should frustrate it.

  • Bayelsa police boss’s headache

    Bayelsa police boss’s headache

    Conventionally, a typical security meeting has in attendance security commanders and some appointed and elected government officials. But a similar gathering that occurred recently in Ogbia local government area, Bayelsa State, was different.

    It was an expanded security meeting involving only the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hilary Opara, and other stakeholders within and outside the local government area. The gathering was the initiative of Hilary, a professional police officer, whose achievements were being threatened by a gale of kidnapping sweeping across the state of President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Hilary is rated as “the best commissioner of police in Zone 5” comprising Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Delta states. The state has the lowest crime rate. When the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Argungu Hashimu, visited the state recently, he praised the efforts of Hilary and described his command as the best in the zone.

    No wonder, the commissioner has been jolted by the recent incidents of kidnapping especially in Ogbia. Daredevil kidnappers appear to have laid siege to the council which has multiple creeks and waterfronts. They struck in consistent operations and whisked their victims to unknown places in the mangroves. Hilary was restless as he battled the gunmen terrorising his domain.

    The straw that broke the camel’s back was the abduction of the cousin of President Jonathan, Chief Inengite Nitabai. Having formulated strategies that set the septuagenarian free after about 18 days in captivity, Hilary was worried over the abduction spree in Ogbia. He was angry that other stakeholders had abandoned security of their territories to only the police.

    He, therefore, decided to reawaken their security consciousness by calling for a security meeting. As expected, he chose a hall in Ogbia as the venue of the meeting and by coincidence the parley held on Thursday last week, the day, Nitabai, was rescued from the kidnappers’ den by the police.

    Before the meeting, he said: “It is not acceptable for the local government chairmen to be parading themselves as the chief security officers of their areas while people commit crime with impunity.

    “What are the chairmen of the various community development committees doing? What are the efforts of the traditional rulers, youth leaders and other stakeholders in various communities in tackling kidnaping and other crimes? It is unacceptable.”

    Little wonder, chiefs, chairmen of the eight local government areas, traditional rulers, chairmen of community development committees and youth leaders attended the meeting.

    Hilary did not mince words. He told the gathering the truth. He asked them to take responsibility for the security of their various communities. “Don’t try to secure other communities. Just secure your own community and there will be peace everywhere,” he said.

    He insisted that persons committing the crimes in the state belong to communities. He wondered why such communities always claim ignorant of the identities of such criminal elements. He said failures of communities to assist the police would amount to complicity and an indictment on its various leadership.

    He said to the stakeholders: “If you see something, you should say something not just keeping quiet. When you see these boys moving around, alert the police and other security agencies. That is the only way we can handle them. We are not magicians. We work on information.

    “We don’t want your communities to be used as hideouts for kidnappers. We don’t want your waterfronts to be used as areas of operations. So, you assist the police and security agencies to assist you too. Help us to help you. Give us information. We are resolved to serve you and that is the message for today.”

    He insisted that he convened the meeting to reawaken the security consciousness of the people. “We came here to awaken the security consciousness of the people. We came to alert them that we must partner with the police and other security agencies to curb criminality in the society.

    “We need that partnership because there is no way we can go on alone. After this meeting we expect them to give us useful information. I told them,” he said.

    Though the police boss was a little disappointed at the response he got from some of the speakers, he believed that the meeting had achieved its objectives. Some of the community leaders begged for mobilisation and stipends to enable them fight crime in their domains.

    Such contributions did not go down well with the local government chairmen who attended the meeting. The Chairman of the Association of Local Government in Nigeria (ALGON) who is also the council boss of Yenagoa local government area, Mr. Chubby Walson, did not hide his feelings.

    He told the people that it was wrong to demand mibilisation before securing their environment. “When issues of managing security in our various communities were raised, people stood up and were talking about mobilisation and stipends. This is wrong.

    “The jobs of CDC chairmen and youth leaders are voluntary.it is when you have done your homework well that you can ask for encouragement from the government. It is not every issue that we should be talking about money”.

    He described the meeting as very important. He said: “This meeting is very important. That is why almost all the chairmen of various local government areas are in attendance.

    “It is a security meeting and we know that as chairmen, we are the chief security officers in our LGAs. We treat security matters very paramount and there is none of the chairmen here that don’t hold security meetings.”

  • FGC Old students inaugurate N92.7m projects in Warri

    FGC Old students inaugurate N92.7m projects in Warri

    The Old Students Association of Federal Government College (FEGOCOWOSA), Warri has inaugurated four projects worth N92.7million executed by it in the school.

    The ceremony, which was part of the events to mark the Annual General Meeting of the Old Students Association, was attended by old students from across the world.

    Outgoing National President of the association, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, the National President of the association, who presided over the ceremony, said the projects were executed to give back to the school which had given them so much.

    “My vision was to do everything we could to make Federal Government College, Warri, remain great, to inspire the next generation of the school’s Students to be the best they can be and to motivate them to aspire for greatness,” he said.

    The former Accountant General of Lagos State and Permanent Secretary in the State Ministry of Finance, described education as “the most potent weapon against poverty”, adding that “if the youths have good education, they will be better placed to overcome the challenges ahead”.

    The four projects commissioned include a new state-of-the-art Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Centre, a 500KVA electricity generator, an expanded Infirmary (sick bay) and a renovated dining hall.

    Ambode thanked Mrs Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, the former Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and an old student of the college and other members of FEGCOWOSA for their cooperation and dedication towards the realisation of the projects and successful completion of his tenure.

    He assured that he will continue to support the incoming executive committee and the association in general to greater heights.

    The AGM was preceded by a procession held within the school premises in honour of the 59 students recently killed by suspected terrorists at the Federal Government College in Yobe State. The procession was concluded with a symbolic ringing of the school bell in the college assembly ground 59 times.

    Ambode during the solemn procession called on the Federal Government to protect students and youths, who are the future of the country by putting an end to their mindless killing in parts of the country by insurgents.

    The AGM was climaxed by a public lecture delivered by the Delta State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Prof Patrick Muoboghare.

    In his paper entitled, “Watering the Labour of Our Heroes Past”, Muoboghare, who is also an old student of the College as the Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, noted that Nigeria could only move forward as a nation if the people become more conscious of their history and were inspired by the sterling achievements of men and women who made sacrifices to keep Nigeria together after the amalgamation of 1914.

    Muoboghare stressed the importance of education in the development of the individual person, the family, community and the nation, stating that the contribution of Ambode to education must be acknowledged. He commended the leadership style of Ambode, which he noted not only led to the revival and expansion of FEGCOWOSA nation-wide, but the remarkable achievement that saw the completion of four major projects in the college within the three years he was the national president.

    He urged the new executive committee members to build on the achievements of the Ambode-led committee in the interest of education and national development.

     

     

  • East-West Coastal Road takes centre stage

    East-West Coastal Road takes centre stage

    When the big wigs in the Niger Delta gathered in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, for a retreat to set the agenda for the new board and management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) recently, the big dream of seeing a road running from Calabar, the Cross River State capital to Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre, Lagos, took centre stage once again. The road is known as the East-West Coastal Road.

    Members of the executive management of the NDDC were unanimous in endorsing the coastal road project. They agreed that the project was key to opening up the Niger Delta region. The NDDC top shots said it would be a catalyst for the long awaited rapid development of the oil-rich region. Things must be done differently this time to bring the required change.

    “Posterity will not forgive us if we just want to dance in the comfort zone so that we don’t offend some people.” That was how the NDDC Managing Director, Sir (Barr) Bassey Dan-Abia set the tone for the three-day retreat for members of the board and management of the commission held at the Ibom Le Meridien Hotel in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

    The retreat, which held from March 12 – 14, was anchored on the theme: “Re-focusing NDDC for better service delivery.” It was, more or less, a house cleaning exercise for the interventionist agency. In the words of the Chairman of the NDDC board, Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw: “I believe that it is now time to tell ourselves some home truths. It can no longer be business as usual. Substantial and immediate changes for the better must take place.”

    Indeed, it was three days of soul-searching and frank talks. All the skeletons lurking behind closets were exposed and the eerie cobwebs in the inner recesses were laid bare. At the end of the day, the board and management of the NDDC, agreed to evolve robust and innovative strategies in the drive to deliver on the mandate of the commission.

    One of the keynote speakers delved into core issue of a regional infrastructure that was bound to transform the Niger Delta. It was the lot of Mayne David-West, a design engineer, to give a presentation on the proposed East-West Coastal Highway.

    He said the East-West Coastal Road was pivotal to the rapid development of not just the Niger Delta but the entire nation. He said that by strategic design the road would be the Nigerian extension of the Trans-West African Coastal Highway segment linking Dakar-Banjul-Monrovia-Lome-Lagos.

    Engr. David-West, a lead consultant on the engineering design of the coastal road, said the design of the East-West Coastal Road had been completed and just waiting to be awarded.

    He suggested that the East-West Coastal Road should be undertaken through a multi-lateral funding arrangement. The design expert, who described himself as a “born again” Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) advocate, urged the Federal Government to seek for funding window through the PPP and concessionary loans, since the capital resources needed for the actualisation of the coastal road was huge.

    David-West stressed the importance of the 704-kilometre coastal road, which stretches from Odukpani Junction in Cross River State to Ibeju on Lekki-Epe expressway in Lagos State, traversing over 1,000 communities.

    “The unique alignment of the East-West Coastal Road, coupled with the abundant natural resources available along its corridor, easily qualifies it as natural ‘trade corridor’,” he said.

    He noted that the economic potentials of the road were bountiful as it passes through nine states, namely Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ondo, Ogun and Lagos. He said further that the road would link up major industrial facilities such as the Tinapa free Trade Zone in Calabar, the Bonny LNG, the Brass LNG, the Koko Free Trade Zone, among others.

    The NDDC Executive Director Finance and Administration, Dr. Henry Ogiri, could not agree more with the presentation of Engr. David West. He noted that the idea of the coastal road was conceived by the interventionist agency and articulated at an international conference held in Port Harcourt from December 10-12, 2001, under the aegis of the commission and the UNDP.

    He said: “I believe that we are going to have a new Niger Delta that will be propelled by important infrastructure. I want to see a Niger Delta where Lagosians will move on Friday evening to go and enjoy fresh fish in Port Harcourt, in Yenagoa, where investors will come from all over the world,”

    He said that a good road network connecting the entire Niger Delta region of Nigeria and the rest of the country is viewed as the beginning of economic development and emancipation in the region. He noted that the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan identified the challenge of paucity of transportation infrastructure. It is hoped that the region will be greatly transformed with the successful actualization of the coastal road project.

    In a 12-point communique issued at the end of the retreat, the NDDC leadership outlined its strategy to transform the commission in order to achieve better service delivery and align with the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan. The resolutions, jointly signed by the Chairman of the NDDC board, the Managing Director, as well as the two executive directors in the commission, stated that the agency would actively seek the cooperation of other stakeholders to achieve the vision of the commission as captured in the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan.

    Senator Ewa-Henshaw, who flagged off the retreat, said it was very timely, coming at a critical time in the history of the NDDC. He noted that the Bureau of Public Service Reform had in 2013 “observed that the commission has a large pool of capable personnel, which is constrained by poor leadership, weak institutional systems and a culture of impunity.”

    The NDDC chairman was in no mood to pull punches as he warned members of staff of the commission that it would no longer be business as usual. He said he was hopeful that the retreat would re-orientate the minds of members of the NDDC family and re-focus their attention to address the image problem of the commission. He charged the participants to leave Uyo with a more positive attitude and a greater commitment to achieving the goals of the NDDC.

    Toeing the hard line of the chairman, the MD admitted that the commission was losing focus but quickly added that the critical question was how to get back on track. According to him, “holding this 2014 board and management retreat is our first step at getting back on track.”

    He said the priority of the current board was to re-position the commission for better service delivery which would contribute immensely to achieving the objective “to offer a lasting solution to the socio-economic difficulties of the Niger Delta region.”

    Sir Dan-Abia conceded that the quality of some of the infrastructure projects undertaken by the NDDC fell below acceptable standards and this had made the people of the region to differentiate NDDC projects from other well delivered projects. He, however, traced some of these shortcomings to inadequate funding, noting that the release of funds from contributing partners were not following the funding provisions of the NDDC Act of 2000.

    The issues raised by the NDDC leadership, were crystalised in the resolutions they signed at the end of the retreat. The document noted that some external constraints hinder the commission’s efforts to effectively discharge its duties. “Some of the constraints pertain to compliance with provisions of the NDDC Act of 2000, Public Procurement Act of 2007, funding and issues surrounding the ownership of the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan.”

    The resolutions further stated that there were internal challenges “which include weaknesses in the management systems and procedures; corruption, defects in the organisational structure, disconnect between staff performance and reward system; weak interface between head office and state offices; poor corporate communication culture and in-fighting within the commission.”

    They said in-line with the recommendations of the Master Plan, NDDC would embark on medium and long-term planning beyond the annual budgeting exercise. The resolutions stated: “it is important to underline the fact that the master plan is a regional plan in which all stakeholders, including state and local governments and the NDDC are required to take ownership and play their part in the course of its implementation.”

    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the SGF office, Mr. Linus Awute, charged the new board and management of the NDDC to change its strategy to fully align the activities of the commission to the roadmap set by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms.

    Anyim said Jonathan had directed that the NDDC should be “supported to develop a management structure that is fit-for-purpose, that can ensure that the board and management team of the commission work effectively and harmoniously to deliver on its mandate.”

    He said:”The signal we are getting now is that the commission has started operating with the development templates that are built on the condition for mutual accountability. To us, such stride is commendable as it is in alignment with the principles of transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan, which is also in tandem with our collective national vision as articulated in our National Strategic Development Plan to address the enormous challenges facing Nigeria in the quest for economic prosperity.”