The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • A banker as Akwa Ibom SSG

    A banker as Akwa Ibom SSG

    Last Wednesday, Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill swore a former banker into office as Secretary to the State Government, amid excitement

    Take off the hat from one of them; you will think they were biological brothers. That was how striking the resemblance of former Akwa Ibom State Secretary to State government (SSG) Mr. Umana Okon Umanah, to his successor, Mr. Udom Gabriel Emmanuel ,was, as they sat side by side during Emmanuel’s swearing in Wednesday last week.

    Emmanuel, who wore a hat, was resplendent in his native Akwa Ibom attire, looking different from those years as a player in the financial corporate world where suits are the hallmarks. Umanah wore a suit.

    As early as 8am, invited guests to the event, had trooped into the Government House Banquet Hall, venue for the ceremony.The guests mostly women who turned out in their UyaiIban AkwaIbom uniform and bankers who came to celebrate one of their own, outnumbered the men and political class in the state at the event.

    Before Governor GodswillAkpabio, Deputy Governor Valerie Ebe and Emmanuel arrived the venue, Umanah had first made a quiet entry in company of former military Governor Air Commodore Idongesit Nkanga (rtd), Senator Anietie Okon and Senator Emmanuel Ibok-Essien. A short while after Umanah arrived, wife of the governor, Ekaette , entered making straight for the ‘gallery’ where she exchanged banters with guests.

    Mrs. Akpabio sat with the crowd talking to anyone who “dared” to go and meet her. She only went up to the high table when the governor arrived.

    After the national anthem, Emmanuel was presented to the guests by the Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Affairs, Oliver Udokpo, who also doubles as the official compere at state functions. In a brief citation, Udokpo descried Emmanuel as a whiz kid, a strategist and an icon.

    Thunderous applauses interrupted Udokpo’s presentation. Emmanuel was thereafter called up to be sworn in as the SSG after taking the oath of allegiance and oath of office.

    Akpabio said he was happy Emmanuel “decided to heed the call of service in his fatherland and come to join us in building a new AkwaIbom State”.

    He acknowledged the contributions of Umanah to his administration and his dedication to service “at the different stations in which he patriotically served the state in a long illustrious career which began in the civil service and culminated in his appointment as the Secretary to the State Government in 2007.”

    It was an emotional moment for Akpabio as he took photographs with Emmanuel and Umanah, whom, he said, was not just a friend but a brother, who served his government with great zeal and commitment.

    Speaking after the event, some guests said they were excited at the change. Obong Godwin Udo said only a competent and experienced person like Emmanuel was good enough to replace Umana whose mark in the government had been exceptional. To Idorenyin Umoh, a former banker, Emmanuel’s appointment is an added value for the Akpabio government. For Joy Enoh, a woman leader, Akpabio “has once again showed that he means well for the State by bringing in an experienced technocrat to take over from another experienced technocrat in the dying days of his regime, especially at this time that nothing should distract the holder of that office from making sure the Governor exits the scene with honour in 2015”

    Emmanuel, a former Executive Director of Zenith Bank and a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, had served as a non-executive director of the African Finance Corporation.

    The ceremony was attended by Chief Judge Justice Idongesit Ntem Isua; the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, Udo Kierian Akpan; Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Paul Ekpo; the party secretary, Sir Ibanga Akpabio; a delegation from Emmanuel’s Church, the Qua Iboe Church in Surulere, Lagos; Commissioners, Special Advisers; local government chairmen and PDP stalwarts.

     

  • ‘The Southsouth needs to have common voice’

    ‘The Southsouth needs to have common voice’

    Chairman of the Southsouth Consolidated Forum, Mr Dick K. Harry, in this interview with NICHOLAS KALU, speaks on the need for the people of the region to attract attention for economic empowerment and development by speaking in a common voice.

    What do you mean by the saying the Southsouth has no voice?

    The south has no voice because it does not have a collective voice. Other groups have voice, when they come together, they speak with one voice. And that has always been why they are benefitting. And the Southsouth is just an individual or some groups that would just get up and say something and those things are not to the general good of the region. For instance now, we have Ijaw National Congress, we have MOSOP and others. If any of these groups is speaking, they are speaking based on their own tribe. A tree cannot make a forest. We must come together and say yes we agree to speak with one voice. So how do we start building? We begin from the grassroots. To get the consent the grassroots to say yes, what you are doing we love it and would want to be part of it. We must have a voice. We must speak with one voice and that is why we began this building.

    What is your impression of state of development of the south-south?

    The state of development in the south-south is zero. When you come to the South-South, because we don’t have a voice, even when we have all the resources in our own control, we are less developed. If you go from Edo to Delta to Bayelsa to Rivers to Akwa Ibom and Cross River, you can agree with me that the Southsouth has been neglected for a very long time. And these are the things that have been built by the old leaders of this country. Because we don’t have a voice, the Federal Government has neglected this region.

    But a son of the Southsouth is in the saddle now?

    A tree cannot make a forest. There are challenges where he is coming from because they see him as a minority. They see him as people who don’t have one voice. All what is happening is because of the challenges he is facing because of where he is coming from.

    Like the challenges facing the Rivers State government, it’s all political with different political interests. And like I have been saying, because we lack one voice, we allow strangers, people who are not from the region to speak for us. How can you cry more than the bereaved? As far as we are concerned – the people of the Southsouth – the problem of Rivers State is not what people are saying. This is the handiwork of people who feel that they can benefit from the government, they want to do divide and rule. I want to make this clear to Nigerians and the sons and daughters of the Southsouth. Nobody seems to love us more than we love ourselves. Nobody feels he can show us love now than we do to ourselves. Why are outsiders looking as if they are interested in our own issue? It is because they want to do divide and rule. They want us to fight among ourselves. The same politics they have been playing all these years that is the same politics they are still playing up till now.

    Let us end all these political crisis. It will not benefit our region anything. If Rivers suffers, Bayelsa suffers. If Bayelsa suffers, Delta suffers and so on. We should all come back home as one body and one united body. Let us not mind all the distraction from people who feel they love us. They love us now because our son is there. They want to use us to fight against our own son because they are already fighting him. So, they want us also to begin the fight at home. I want to advise that if you love the Southsouth, do everything that will bring peace and unity to the people of the region. Don’t do anything that will cause breach of peace in the region?

    There has been an outcry by Nigerians, even from the Southsouth that the President has performed below expectations, particularly for the region.

    People who say he has not performed are the same people who want to put factionalise the Southsouth. Yes, because you can see what is happening – divide and rule. He is suffering because of where he is coming from because there is no common voice. They will team up to give him trouble. He seems not to have people to stand behind him and back him up from his own place. So, he will try to make sure he does everything over there to please them and in so doing his people are suffering and they will still use us from the Southsouth to fight him. If a man is going for a war and his household is fighting him, how can the man succeed? We need to be united and give him our support to succeed.

     

  • Ogoni, NGOs protest non-implementation of UNEP report

    Ogoni, NGOs protest non-implementation of UNEP report

    The anger, bitterness and frustration in Ogoni land was palpable last weekend as thousands of Ogoni elders, youths, women and children trooped to the streets of Bori, the capital of the Ogoni kingdom in Rivers State to protest the non-implementation of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report by the Federal Government.

    The protest was led by the Social Action, Ogoni Solidarity Forum (OSF) and Friends of the Earth Nigeria (FoEN). Placards with various inscriptions and posters of the late Ogoni environmental activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa were everywhere. Some the placard read: ‘Ogoni Still Waiting for Justice’, ‘UNEP Report Ogoni Still Waiting For Implementation’, ‘Our Environment Has Been Poisoned’, Ogoni Demands State of Emergency in Environment and Health’, ‘We Are Dying’, etc.

    The peaceful protest almost turned violent when six protesters were arrested by the police for allegedly ordering the closure of shops and coercing traders in the area to participate in the protest. But, the traders who spoke with our reporter said they decided to lock up their shops in solidarity with the struggle.

    What would have been a bloody confrontation between the protesters and police was averted by the intervention of Comrade Celestine Akpobari, the leader of Ogoni Solidarity Movement, who facilitated the release of those arrested.

    Addressing the protesters, Akpobari, who is also the leader of Social Action, accused the Federal Government of insensitivity and playing politics with the suffering of Ogoni people. He said the patience of the Ogoni people is almost exhausted.

    He threatened fresh legal action against the Federal Government for doing nothing with fund meant for the cleaning of Ogoni environment and to also stop Shell from selling off their assets in Ogoni land.

    “We have not seen anything relating with UNEP report in Ogoni land, the people are suffering, the water, crops, air and the entire environment has been poisoned. Nothing is working in Ogoni, because of the destruction of our land by the evil Shell, which is now secretly selling all its assets. That is why we are going to court next week to stop Shell from selling their assets because whoever buys them is buying Shell’s liability.”

    He further warned the Federal Government against using money meant for the cleaning of Ogoni environment to other Niger Delta environments, stressing that it may result to armed struggle.

    “Ken Saro Wiwa agitated for nonviolent struggle; our generation has also started nonviolent struggle, but the next generation of Ogoni may not apply nonviolent struggle, but declaration of war.

    “We have decided not to carry arms but we should not be forced to do so. It would have been better that we are carrying arms, so that we could have a handshake with the President like Asari Dokubo, Ateke and the rest of Niger Delta militants who are now being awarded millions of contract.

    “Ogoni have decided to be peaceful in this agitation. Since inception of democracy no Ogoni man has became Governor, Speaker in their own state. What have we done, are we not part of this country. Today the report of UNEP has exonerated Ken Saro Wiwa struggle and our struggle that our environment has been polluted, now instead of the Federal Government to do something about our plight they are playing politics with our lives.”

    One of the protesters, John Kenabari said people in Ogoni communities are burying one loved one after the other due to the negative impact of pollution on the health of the people and various health challenges in the region.

    Kenabari said “We cannot fetch water from our stream or fish from the river. The women are no longer going to the farm because everything has been polluted and destroyed. But as God wants it, we are not the one that asked the United Nation to investigate our environment and after their assessment and investigation we were vindicated. Now, the major problem is the Federal Government after two years of the released of this report has done nothing in Ogoni land.”

    Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo, Executive Director ERA/FoEN, said it should not take the Federal Government forever to implement the UNEP report on Ogoniland, if it is sincere.

    He said ERA has demanded that the Nigerian government demonstrates its commitment to implementing the recommendations of the UNEP report by compelling Shell to clean up its mess in Ogoniland.

    “The UNEP findings released on August 4, 2011 showed hydrocarbon pollution in surface water throughout the creeks of Ogoniland and up to 8cm in groundwater that feed drinking wells. Soils were found to have been polluted with hydrocarbons up to a depth of five metres in 49 observed sites, while benzene, a known cancer-causing chemical was found in drinking water at a level 900 times above World Health Organisation (WHO) acceptable levels.”

     

  • Seven Akwa Ibom medical students get scholarship

    Seven Akwa Ibom medical students get scholarship

    Seven Akwa Ibom State indigenes studying Medicine and Surgery in various universities have been awarded year 2013 Isabella Medical Scholars Fund (IMSF) scholarship.

    The students, who are from Ukanafun, Ikot Ekpene and Essien Udim Local Government Areas, smiled home with N250, 000 each in recognition of their outstanding performance.

    The yearly IMSF scholarship award is used to honour of late Dr. Isabella Samuel Inyang, the co-founder of the foundation and the wife of a retired Director with Oil giant Shell Nigeria.

    Speaking during the presentation of cheque to the deserving students, the Chairman, the Samuel and Isabella Foundation, Samuel Inyang said the awardees were the best and brightest undergraduates similar to what Isabella was in her time.

    Inyang said: “For us in the foundation, this occasion is another milestone to actualise one of our programmes and thereby continue to immortalise a great Lady and Co-founder of the Foundation, Dr. Isabella Samuel Inyang.

    “She believed in the very moving words of the anthem “Passing the Torch” of Queen’s College, Lagos, her alma mater. She had always wanted to pass on “the thoughts, the skills, the learning…brightly burning… such that not even death can make it dim.

    “We see these awardees as pillars of their generation and the assurance of our Nation for a brighter future. We salute their academic prowess. We urge you to persevere to end of your studies so that you may be able to offer the highest standard of service in medical field anywhere in the world.”

    In her remarks, the State Commissioner for Education Prof. (Mrs.) Atim Antai urged the beneficiaries of the award to make maximum use of the opportunity and work hard to justify the award.

    Prof. (Mrs.) Antai explained that apart from the initiatives from private individuals, state government is also giving medical students in various universities grants of N200, 000 each per session.

    Her words: “The Ministry of Education is proud of the awardees who were products of our public secondary schools and beneficiaries of the free and compulsory education programme. It is my wish that other students will emulate the high academic performance of these awardees.”

     

     

  • ‘I’ll build bridge of trust in Delta’

    ‘I’ll build bridge of trust in Delta’

    An Urhobo political activist and governorship aspirant, Daniel Idonor, has promised to build a bridge of trust among all the interest groups in Delta State, if elected in 2015.

    Idonor, a former President of the Student Union Government (SUG) of the University of Jos, promised to promote unity.

    A journalist, who covered Aso Rock for several years and rose to become the Chairman of the State House Press Corps, he said he would be able to show what real governance is.

    He said: “As a member of the ruling People’s Democratic Party and someone who is always in touch with the people, I will be willing to offer myself to the service of my people to overcome the various challenges of development staring them in the face.”

    He said the indices of underdevelopment become more pronounced in a state, such as Delta located in the most difficult terrain and underdeveloped region of Nigeria.

    He said the various challenges, such as lack of social amenities and infrastructures, insecurity, power, flood, erosion, environments, urban renewal among others, would be a thing of the past, if he becomes the governor.

    While commending the Delta Beyond Oil initiative of the Uduaghan administration, he said more efforts should be channelled towards partnering with the private sector to revive ailing industries and setting up new agro-based and import substitution industries.

    Idonor said: “I know that the vast human and natural resources that abound in the State still remain untapped, a good chunk of our food needs, especially plantain, cassava, fish etc can be sourced from the vast land, long coast line, many rivers and the huge population that exist in the rural areas of the state.

    “My town, Orere, for example has the capacity to produce up to five per cent percent of the total food needs of the state but due to lack of storage facilities and access to market many of the agricultural produce including cassava, groundnut, yams, plantain /banana, palm oil and kernels, seafood, fruits and vegetable are wasted away dailY.

    “There are also challenges that border on increasing the access of the teeming population especially in the rural areas to education and health care, all these I intend to tackle if given the mandate.”

    He said Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan has good developmental agenda capable of taking the State on the path of economic recovery and industrialisation in place, adding that he would consolidate on his achievements rather than embarking on new projects.

    He said with what the governor is doing, Delta would be the only state in Nigeria with two international airports at Asaba and Osubi near Warri.

    Idonor said: “The Warri industrial park, the Delta Beyond Oil initiatives to mention but a few are all good developmental programmes by the current administration.

    “I will build on the current efforts of the government, there is the urgent need to open up the entire state in terms of infrastructural development; make every community accessible by motorable road and water, this will curb rural-urban drift that has over the years over-stretch existing infrastructures in the urban areas.”

    He announced that he would soon unveil “The Bridge Movement” a socio-political platform through which he hopes to achieve his political aspirations; and urged Deltans and Nigerians to support the project.

    Idonor said his bright chance in 2015 is not on godfather, but on the belief the people will support him to achieve his mandate.

    His words: “I know the means of achieving it will come from them by God’s grace. I believe that it is possible to apply the Obama model in Nigeria where the high and the low contribute to the overall success of the candidate as long as you get the acts right.

    “My interest and strength in Delta politics is based on the fact that I represent the bridge between the weak and strong, the rich and the poor, the low and mighty, the rural and urban dwellers, the organised private sector (OPS) and public sector, the governments at both the state and federal levels, and the masses. I also represent the bridge between the Urhobos and the Itsekiris, Aniomas, Ijaws and Isokos. And above all, I represent the bridge between Deltans and non-Deltans.”

     

  • Old students to honour Amaechi, Nemi-Lawrence

    Old students to honour Amaechi, Nemi-Lawrence

    Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and his Education Commissioner, Dame Alice Nemi-Lawrence, have been nominated for honours by the Old Students Association of the Federal Government College, Okigwe in Abia State.

    The association said the award was in recognition of their tremendous achievements in the education sector.

    The Rivers State chapter of the association made the revelation during a courtesy visit to Nemi-Lawrence in Port Harcourt.

    Its chairman, Pastor John Soberekon, said Amaechi would be conferred with “National Unity and Excellence in Education” award. Mrs. Nemi-Lawrence will be honoured with the “Pragmatic Steps in Actualising the Governor’s Vision in Education.”

    He said the formal conferment would be made later in the year at the National Convention to be held in Port Harcourt.

    Soberekon said the national convention of the association would attract many old students of the college from within and outside the country, including the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu.

    He said the association has been following with keen interest the good works that Rivers state government is doing under Amaechi, which is giving quality education to the people.

    Listing out the government’s achievements in education, he said that they include the infrastructural development of schools in the state which are being rebuilt with good lawns, green and serene environment and state-of-the-art equipment.

    Soberekon praised the government for the “massive recruitment of over 13,000 teachers at a time” and the award of scholarships to Rivers state indigenes and other Nigerians resident in the state to study either in Nigeria or abroad.

    The association also expressed delight that Port Harcourt has been made a Literary World Capital and for the reading culture and the literary quizzes that have been taking place in the Garden City saying it is “a direct development from all these efforts.”

    While lauding the Nemi-Lawrence for “driving and pivoting this vision”, they also solicited the assistance of the government in the hosting of their national convention.

    Responding, the commissioner recalled the rot that pervaded the education sector in the state before Amaechi came on board saying that the “condition of schools were such that you could not even send your dog to those kind of schools.”

    Mrs. Nemi-Lawrence said that based on expert advice from the World Bank, the government declared a state of emergency in the education sector and brought down the schools to build new ones “that can last for another 50 years for the people of Rivers state.”

    She said the governor’s vision in the education sector was to adopt a gradual process whereby “you do the infrastructure; after infrastructure, we are doing the teacher training; from teacher training, we set up some institutions because by the time he leaves office, he must also put an institution in place, otherwise, everything you have done will crumble.”

    The commissioner said government was at the stage of recruiting teachers, adding that even though the governor’s vision of building 750 schools is yet to be completed but “anybody who has done 300 schools completed and 250 functioning in September, that person should be given accolade”.

     

     

  • Bayelsa’s Tower Hotel of controversies

    Bayelsa’s Tower Hotel of controversies

    The 18-storey five-star Tower Hotel project has remained a subject of controversy in Bayelsa State. Little was known about the project till President Goodluck Jonathan stirred the hornets’ nest in a build-up to the February 2012 governorship election that produced Governor Seriake Dickson.

    During the grand finale of the Peoples Democratic Party’s rally at the Samson Siasia’s Sports Complex, Yenagoa, the President revealed that issues surrounding the then abandoned facility fuelled the bad blood between him and Timipre Sylva, his successor as governor.

    He insisted that Sylva’s abandonment of the project was part of the reason he frustrated Sylva’s second term bid.

    He said: “Everybody knows that in our society, we need development. I was second in command to Alamieyeseigha. One thing I remember is the Tower Hotel. It was not my dream but it was conceptualised under the Alamieyeseigha administration.

    “He discussed with the contractors. It was supposed to be a five-star hotel and it would attract people from all over the world. But now, it is a monument of disgrace.”

    But, Sylvia fired back that he built the hotel to the 18th floor, where it has remained. He also took a swipe at Jonathan, who, he said, was benefiting from a building project financed by Gitto Construction Ltd. Jonathan, as Bayelsa governor, awarded the project to Gitto. It later turned out that the Italian firm built and donated the controversial church building to the president in his home town.

    The structure was designed to be the tallest building in the state and a hotel of aesthetic beauty and excellence that would promote the state’s tourism potential.

    It was conceived to be a facility of choice for international conferences and high-profile visitors. Jonathan in his ephemeral reign as the governor of the state began the construction of the edifice..

    Niger Delta Report gathered that the facility was initially designed as a 14-storey building with 120 rooms and 2,500 capacity auditorium.

    But Jonathan reportedly left the project on a second floor after he became the Vice-President for his successor, Sylva who redesigned it and made it 18 storeys. The former governor continued with the project until it got to the expected level. Surprisingly, the project was forsaken at the 18th floor.

    For over four years, contractors withdrew from the site. The gigantic structure centrally located between the Bayelsa Palm Road and the Melford Okilo Expressway became an eyesore. Vegetation took over the site. The abandoned building became a home for gangsters, a haven for notorious criminals, the marijuana smokers and a refuge for destitute.

    While some referred to it as a wasting asset, others said it was a white elephant project. There was no end in sight to the completion date. There was, however, an allegation that the project became a pipe to siphon public funds.

    For instance, Niger Delta Report found that it was one of the projects used by Sylva to secure a N50 billion loan from the capital market in December 2009. The report of the Financial Management Review Committee, which indicted Sylva for financial rascality, showed that the cost of the project was N13.9 billion.

    The report of the committee, which was chaired by the former Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Timi Alaibe, also showed that the project was rated 26 per cent completion when the bond was obtained. The report further said part of the bond (N3.6 billion) was earmarked to be used for the completion of the project in June 2011.

    But in June 2011, the project remained in its abandoned state. The committee in its report observed: “It is pertinent to state that most of the projects highlighted were long abandoned projects and they remain abandoned even after the refinancing.

    However, Sylva in one of his tirades with the President gave a reason why the project was abandoned. He blamed it on the contractors.

    A statement by his Media Adviser, Doifie Ola said: “Sylva wishes to clarify that the hotel was at the second floor when he took over from Dr. Jonathan as governor. It is now at its 18th floor, as the whole world can see.

    “Sylva agrees that the job has been delayed, but explains that the reason it has been delayed is because the contractor, whom Dr. Jonathan himself chose and awarded the contract to, asked for a variation of N5 billion.”

    But, it seems that the dust raised by the construction of the hotel has not settled. Critics have observed that one year after Dickson took over the administration of the state, the project remained the way he inherited it. Some have also started using the condition of the project to create disaffection between Dickson and Jonathan.

    Dickson has, however, insisted that he was committed to the project. In March 2013, the governor presented a cheque of N4 billion to a contracting firm, Sedogi Nigeria Limited to complete the hotel.

    The contract agreement indicated that the project would be completed within 18 months.

    The governor told the firm: “The N4 billion is to enable you re-mobilise to site. We have engaged world class consultants from South Africa, who have the experience and expertise in the development of tourism facilities.

    “They will work with you and with the support of the government, we believe that by the grace of God, the project will be successfully executed.”

    Also, the Managing Director, Bayelsa State Hotels and Tourism Development Company Ltd. Dr. Kelvin Bribena, said the delay in completing the project was to ensure best practice.

    He explained that the consultants engaged by the government were yet to arrive and hold meetings with the contractor.

    He added that the government was also shopping for a known hotel operator that would manage the facility after its completion. According to him, the consultant and the contractor must meet to agree on sensitive areas for sustainability of the project benefits.

    “There is no form of politics in the delay of the tower hotel. Government wants to make hotels in Bayelsa another main attraction to tourist so that we can project our potential to people outside the state.

    “The government’s focus is on wealth creation through the tourism sub-sector. We need to have a proper consultant and a known household hotel operator in Nigeria that will manage the facility.”

     

  • Dickson seeks UNs’ intervention to combat flood

    Dickson seeks UNs’ intervention to combat flood

    Bayelsa State government and victims of the 2012 flood disaster are waiting for the intervention of the United Nations Organisation (UNO), donor agencies and philanthropic individuals.

    The devastation caused by the floods had overwhelmed the Governor Seriake Dickson administration compelling it to depend on interventionist agencies and individuals.

    It was found that critical infrastructure, especially roads destroyed by the disaster, are yet to be reconstructed with many roads and bridges that caved in remaining impassable one year after. Even some sections of the road that leads to Otuoke, President Goodluck Jonathan’s home town in Ogbia Local Government Area are still begging for reconstruction.

    The Imiringi road is thoroughly devastated without any meaningful work to reconstruct it.

    But the representatives of the United Nations had in June visited the state and promised to provide technical assistance in rebuilding damaged infrastructures.

    United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos, who was on a two-day working visit, inspected some of the affected areas.

    She said: “I am here in Bayelsa to see for myself the impact of the devastating flood of last year. I have had the opportunity to talk to the ordinary people and the Post Flood Management and Response Committee on the efforts made in the provision of food, shelter and other relief materials.

    “There are lessons to be learnt and we would like to work with the state government and federal authorities to support and partner in strengthening preparedness and look at ways in which we can assist with technical support.”

    But one month after the visit, the Chairman of the post-flood committee, Chief Francis Duokpola, said the state was eagerly waiting for the UN to redeem its promise.

    He said the committee was at the verge of designing a technical report on the disaster to enable it source funds from other interventionist agencies and individuals.

    Doukpala said the committee had been ameliorating the plight of the victims by supplying then with relief materials.

    He, however, regretted that some persons, especially community leaders, were bent on sabotaging the efforts of the committee.

    He said at least five leaders of communities were in trouble for selling bags of cement donated to victims by the committee.

    Leaders of the community were said to have sold the bags of cement, instead of distributing them to victims in their localities.

    The Chairmen of the Community Development Committees were said to have been fingered in the alleged scam.

    “The suspects will face prosecution after investigations,”Doukpala said.

    He said the defaulting communities were from Ogbia, Ekeremor and Southern Ijaw local government areas.

    He said after investigations, the indicted community leaders would be prosecuted, describing the action as against the terms of reference of the committee.

    He said the arguments by the CDC chairmen of the affected communities that they sold the cement to cater for other pressing needs in their respective communities were not tenable.

    “It is unfortunate that some communities sold their bags of cement. We will identify the CDC chairmen and prosecute them. We are not taking the matter lying low”, he said.

    He said the committee had so far distributed 107,000 bags of cement to the communities which were ravaged by the floods.

    He said the committee intended to send 130,000 bags of cement to 13,000 communities adding that the state was expecting the intervention of the United Nations after the visit of the UN Under-Secretary.

    “We are making arrangement to either build shore protection or higher grounds to prevent the looming floods,” he said.

    He added: “It is safer and better to prevent the floods than going into a higher ground. But it is left for the communities to choose between local shore protection or higher grounds”.

     

  • Bayelsa tackles excesses of Keke NAPEP

    Bayelsa tackles excesses of Keke NAPEP

    Before they were phased out, commercial motorcycles popularly known as okada constituted nuisances in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State.

    They contributed to increase in crime rate, high rate of accident and poor state of the metropolis.

    People, therefore, heaved a sigh of relief when Governor Seriake Dickson banned the transport sub-sector.

    Motorcyclists fled the town with their automobile. Many of them relocated to the nearby villages; others left for other states. Still some of them sold their motorcycles, stayed in the city to embrace the new transport scheme.

    After the ban on okada, the government floated a transport scheme made up of taxis and tricycles to cushion its effects. The government acquired cars and gave them out to drivers.

    The drivers of the cars, christened Restoration Cabs, were mandated to operate within the state and remit money monthly to the government.

    The scheme also provided an opportunity for people to own tricycles popularly called Keke NAPEP, in place of okada.

    But the operators of tricycles are gradually returning to the chaos that characterised the era of Okada. Their activities have become a source of worry not only to the government but also to residents, especially private car owners.

    Keke NAPEP has taken over everywhere – streets, walkways, adjoining roads and highways. They compete for space with cars and articulated vehicles. They are always involved in accidents.

    Femi Martins, a car owner, said there is no difference between Keke and Okada.

    “Keke even occupies more space than Okada thereby creating inconveniences to private car owners.

    “When Keke hits a car, the car suffers more damage than the Keke. The body of Keke is made of iron and their drivers are reckless. They compete for space and this competition always leads to accident”, he said.

    The activities of Keke have compelled the government to restrict their operations to the streets and adjoin roads.

    Commissioner for Transport Mrs. Marie Ebikake said keke had become a bone in the throat of the government.

    She said the government had decided to restrict their operation to streets and adjoining roads.

    She said the order took effect on July 10, adding that any Keke found on highways and expressways would be impounded.

    She said: “These Keke NAPEP are causing nuisance on the highway. Apart from that we thought, we are done with motorcycles but it is like the Keke NAPEP issue is worse than motorcycles.

    “Everywhere you go you get the report of accidents involving Keke. We want to save lives and property in as much as we are looking for comfort.

    “So we decided to restrict them and the implementation of the restriction took effect on July 10.

    “From that day onwards, we will impound any Keke we see on the highway except those designated areas.

    “We have put up the signs already. They can park and pick passengers on all the adjoining streets.”

    The commissioner made good her threat. Accompanied by policemen, she raided the roads twice and impounded about 100 recalcitrant commercial tricycles.

    Through the action, she said she further discovered that most of the operators were violating the registration law which requires that all the commercial tricycles must be numbered to aid the war against criminals.

    Besides, the commissioner found that the operators had yet to paint their tricycles in the state colour.

    So, the ministry decided that for all the tricycles it impounded, their owners must pay for their registration, change their colours and pay additional fines for late registration.

    Ebikake denied claims that the restoration cabs had disappeared from the roads.

    She said commercial drivers operating the cabs had so far remitted over N100 million to the Ministry of Transport within nine months, adding that the remittance was an indication that the transport scheme was working.

    On allegations that the cars provided for the scheme have been hijacked by politicians, she said: “The restoration cabs are on the road. It is not true that they have been hijacked by politicians.”

    She said Dickson had evolved a system to track the cars.

    “There is possibility of accident which is normal but it is not true that the cabs are not on the road. The drivers should know that with the system we have adopted, they cannot escape with our vehicles.”

    But the restriction order has not gone down well with the operators of commercial tricycles.

    They complain that roads in the state, especially in the capital city, are too narrow to sustain the order.

    Besides they also lamented that the streets are not connected to one another to guarantee profitability.

    The state Chairman, Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, Paul Oduei, urged the government not to restrict the commercial tricyclists from the popular Melford Okilo Road.

    He said: “Even if they enforce restriction order on the Sanni Abacha and the Isaac Boro highways, they should allow them to operate on the Melford Okilo Road to allow them make profit”.

     

     

  • Ogwashi-Uku…a town of giants with ‘gigantic’ problems

    Ogwashi-Uku…a town of giants with ‘gigantic’ problems

    Ogwashi-Uku, a town with not less than 27,000 inhabitants, is the headquarters of Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State.

    The ancient community was also the headquarters of Aniocha Division in the defunct Bendel and Midwest states.

    The town then had administrative jurisdiction over Asaba, Issele-Uku, Ibusa, Akwkwu-Igbo, Onicha-Ugbo and many other communities in the neighbourhood.

    Political analysts believe that Ogwashi-Uku has contributed a lot of human resources to the country’s development, both at the federal and state levels.

    Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Minister of Finance, Chief Ralph Uwaechue, former minister and ambassador, and the late Dr Emmanuel Osamor, a former Minister of Police Affairs, hail from the community.

    The list appears endless. In the defunct Bendel State, an indigene of Ogwashi-Uku, the late Mr Isaac Okonjo was Secretary to the State Government, while his compatriots, Azuka Obichie, Charles Okolo and John Iwowo, among others, were commissioners.

    Jay Jay

    However, some residents of the community, which has also produced famous footballers such as Austin “Jay Jay’’ Okocha and the late Victor Oduah, claim that the town has nothing to show in terms of infrastructural development.

    They noted that the community has not been getting regular power supply in the last one year, resulting in excessive use of generators across the town.

    Narrating the residents’ ordeal, Chukwudi Nwandu, a primary school teacher, said the Azungwu area of the town, where he was living, had been without electricity for over 11 months.

    Corroborating his claims, Jude Ilom, a motorcycle repairer, and Miss Nkem Obianaba, a teacher, said they could not remember the last time they enjoyed power supply.

    A cold room operator, Ignatius Okobi, said he and his colleagues in the business had no other option than to venture into other lines of business since it had become extremely difficult for them to operate cold rooms with power generators.

    He noted that several enterprises in Ogwashi-Uku, which depended on electricity supply, had been forced to close down because of their inability to cope with high costs of production.

    Okobi said the situation had forced many artisans, including welders, air conditioner and refrigerator repairers, tailors, barbers and computer operators, among others, to relocate from the community.

    Emmanuel Okafor, the President General of Ogwashi-Uku Development Union, conceded that the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) had not been supplying power to the town regularly.

    He rejected claims that the community had been without electricity supply for about a year.

    “They give us light at times but the problem is that it is not regular; in a month, we may have electricity for about eight days altogether,’’ he said.

    Nwakamma Okafor, a retired civil servant, recalled that he once led a 17-member delegation to PHCN’s zonal office in Benin about three months ago to discuss the power supply problems.

    He said the PHCN officials admitted that power supply was generally poor around the country, adding that they, nonetheless, pledged that something would be done to improve electricity supply to the community.

    Okafor added that the officials assured them that they would work out plans on how to supply electricity to the community at least three days in a week.

    He said due to the irregular power supply to the community, he spent about N1, 000 every day on fuel to power the generator in his house.

    Emperor Ijenwa, a taxi driver, rejected the notion that the community was experiencing a total power failure, insisting that the electricity supply was just epileptic.

    Mrs Esther Okolie, PHCN’s Public Relations Manager in Asaba, who acknowledged the power supply challenges facing residents of Ogwashi-Uku, said irregular electricity supply was a general problem.

    She said Ogwashi-Uku area alone needed about 105 megawatts of electricity, while only 22 megawatts were available for distribution among all the customers, including government and public offices.

    “The situation is so bad and people are bound to complain; their complaints are genuine but I must appeal to our customers in this area to be patient with us.

    “Let us pray that the 33 KVA step-down transformer on Ibusa Road will be completed and operational before the end of this year or early next year,’’ she said.

    The residents of Ogwashi-Uku and other towns in the area have been appealing to all the relevant authorities to ensure regular power supply to the neighbourhood.

    Analysts urged the Federal Government to carry out pragmatic reforms in the power sector to improve the power supply situation across the country.

     

    • Ifeajika  is of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)