Category: South East

A lawyer, Henry Olisa Ogbogu, has said Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo is determined to reposition and transform the state.

He made this known yesterday in Warri, Delta State, in a congratulatory message to the governor.

Ogbogu, the secretary, Soludo Support Group, FCT chapter and principal partner, H. O. Somadina & Co, hailed Soludo for heeding the call of Anambra people to make the state better.

“Anambra State called and you heeded the clarion call; the call to serve, the call to transform Anambra State and Ndi Anambra, the call to put Anambra State in its pride of place,” the statement said.

Expressing optimism that the governor would excel beyond imagination, Ogbogu appealed to the people to support the new administration.

He thanked Soludo for appointing Mr. Chinedu Nwoye as the deputy chief of staff/chief protocol officer, saying it was a validation of his (Nwoye’s) hard work.

 

 

 

Touts at the weekend descended on an unidentified tricycle operator for reportedly refusing to pay daily collection of N200 at the park where he operated in Awka, Anambra State.

The victim was said to have refused to part with the money, following the ban on touting by Governor Charles Soludo.

Soludo had, during his inauguration last Thursday, banned touting and cash payment of taxes.

An eyewitness, who identified himself as Frank Akpan, said the three touts accosted the tricycle operator and asked him to pay them the usual ¦ 200 each tricycle operator paid at the pit (park), before his first ‘loading’.

The source said: “The tricycle operator laughed and mocked them, asking them to go and look for something else to do, as touting had been banned in Anambra.

“But the touts insisted and told him they were not ready for such jokes, boasting to have survived similar policies during ex-Governor Willie Obiano’s administration.”

He added that the angry touts forcefully pulled the tricycle operator out of his tricycle and punched him, resulting in swollen cheeks and blood gushing out from his mouth.

However, Police Commissioner Echeng Echeng has ordered enforcement of the government ban on touting and self-acclaimed revenue collectors.

Echeng, through spokesperson Ikenga Tochukwu urged the officers to ensure compliance with the order, especially at motor parks and other designated places.

He said: “The CP warns unscrupulous elements who engage in touting and other unlawful acts to desist, as the police and other security agents have been deployed to arrest and bring to justice anyone caught flouting this order.

“The police commissioner, while reaffirming the commitment of the command towards crime prevention, restoration of law and order, enjoins Ndi-Anambra and all residents of the state to be vigilant and security conscious at all times and report suspicious movement to the police.”

 

 

 

 

 

Four thousand, two hundred and fifty agro entrepreneurs in nine Niger Delta states have benefitted from the $60 million International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) facility.

The facility, packaged under the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises – Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) programme, is intended to empower youths in nine Niger Delta states to pursue a career in agri-business and mitigate youth restiveness.

LIFE-ND programme is a joint project being implemented by IFAD and the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Finance, governors as well as the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

It is a 12-year project with an overall cost put at $130 million. The project, with supports from IFAD, is expected to run from 2019 to 2025 as the first phase, while the second phase will start from 2026 to 2031.

The nine benefitting states are Abia, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Ondo. Others are Akwa Ibom, Imo and Rivers.

The current phase of disbursement, which will end in September 2025, is yet to have participants from Rivers, Imo and Akwa Ibom benefit from the project.

The first set of six states was funded through the IFAD credit facility of $60 million, while the second category of states will be financed through the NDDC.

The National Project Coordinator of LIFE-ND programme, Abiodun Sanni, said:  “In each of the states, the project is expected to cover 10 local governments and 10 communities per local government, making 88 local governments and 900 communities across the nine participating states.”

He identified the direct beneficiaries to include unemployed and underemployed youths aged 18 to 35, as well as the vulnerable group.

These, Sanni, an engineer, noted would include women-headed households with children under the age of 15 and people with disability willing to engage in production, processing and marketing of selected farm commodities in communities.

 

 

 

 

Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade has signed two bills into law.

There are Cross River State Livestock and Grazing Management Bill and Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Bill, recently passed by the House of Assembly.

At the signing at the Conference Hall, Governor’s Office, Calabar, Prof. Ayade described the two new laws as masterpieces of legislation.

He hailed the Speaker, Eteng Jones Williams and members of the Assembly for their foresight and dexterity in fashioning the laws.

Giving details of the law on open grazing, which differed from what most states had, the governor said: “Contrary to what most states have done, we have made containment and control measures to define the beacons of range through which any form of ranching can be done.

“The law is very detailed. It provides penalties for straying cattle as well as cattle rustling. Anybody who steals a cattle belonging to a herdsman, there is a penalty provided in the law. Any herdsman who allows his cattle to stray out of the ranch, there is a penalty. With this law, we have protected the farmers and we have protected the herders too.

“We did not absolutely ban, we have also controlled grazing. We have controlled movement of cattle and made provision that movement of cattle within the state has to be by vehicle. So, there will no more be trekking with cows through farmlands.”

Ayade debunked insinuations that the law had legitimatised destruction of farmlands by farmers.

He said: “For those who do not know, this law is not designed to entertain the destruction of our farmlands. It is also not designed to exterminate the business of herders because it is not only non-indigenes that are into livestock farming, we have natives who are into livestock.”

On Anti-Corruption Law, the governor said it offered guarantee of transparency in the way and manner public offices were handled.

“It brings the watch dog closer to us and brings us to a point where we will have ultimate value for the resources of our state,” he added.

According to him, “it is the domestication of the criminal administration law of Nigeria, which Cross River has domesticated. This law derives its strength from the concurrence of the criminal justice of Nigeria.

“Essentially, by the provisions of the new law, Cross River State House of Assembly has a superintending authority over the disbursement and distribution of resources of the state.

“The House plays more or less a super auditing role and is vested with the power to make final statement of clearance for any expenditure that is consistent with the appropriation law of each year.

“I believe that this is groundbreaking and it is very novel. This also makes it clear that you will no longer wait for somebody outside to come and investigate you. There is now a watchman taking stock of your activities right here in your own domain.”

Speaker Williams hoped that “the two important laws will shape the behavioural pattern of the indigenes.”

 

 

The United Nations Technical Adviser on Environmental Programme, Mike Cowing, has said the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), set up for the clean-up of Ogoniland, has not been successful, due to lack of transparency and accountability.

He spoke at the weekend in Abuja at the maiden retreat for the governing structures of a revamped HYPREP comprising the Governing Council, Board of Trustees, Project Coordination Office, as well as the Central Representative Advisory Committee.

Cowing said if the programme would achieve success, the government should learn from the reason its first crash occurred, adding that with that, work actually began in 2009 with the signing of an agreement funding being put together, then the scientific investigation.

He said the main report was tabled in 2011, while in 2012, the first HYPREP was established.

The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), he said, disengaged in 2011 because they were invited by the Federal Government and at the time it seemed as if UNEP was not needed. According to him, the government invited UNEP back in 2019, so it was assumed that lessons had been learnt from the previous crash of the programme.

HYPREP Project Coordinator Ferdinand Giadom assured Nigerians of his commitment to implement the recommendation of the UNEP report to the letter, with intent to improve the lifestyle of the ordinary man, woman, boy and girl living in Ogoniland.

He said: “We are here to achieve one goal. A purpose driven vision that is laced with the right philosophy, work ethic and culture. We shall strive to succeed.

“We shall deploy key drivers to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The gazette has served us with the mandate to deliver HYPREP projects. Our focus will be on Ogoniland Economic Development Programme (OEDP), Ogoni Sustainable Water Scheme, Ogoni Electricity Power Supply Programme, Public Health Survey and Cohort Studies and Remediation.”

Ex-Delta State Governor Chief James Ibori has slammed his detractors over alleged plot to whittle down his political influence in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Ibori, who spoke at the weekend at a rally in Mosogar, Ethiope West Local Government, said anyone conspiring against him would be disgraced.

It is unclear those behind the plot to undermine Ibori, but there is a subtle struggle between him and incumbent Governor Ifeanyi Okowa over the choice of candidates for the 2023 governorship election and Delta Central Senatorial District poll.

It was learnt that while Ibori backs former Commissioner for Finance Olorogun David Edevbie for the governorship seat, Okowa supports House of Assembly Speaker Sheriff Oborevwori.

For the Delta Central Senatorial race, Okowa is allegedly backing John Nani, a former commissioner for Environment and currently an executive director at Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), with Ibori supporting his political ally, Chief Ighoyota Amori.

Ibori at the rally declared support for Amori, a two-term commissioner under his administration.

Ibori said: “I am behind Senator Amori, every step on the way, every step of the way. If anybody, anyone that is conspiring, anybody that thinks because I am now a former governor, they want to conspire to disgrace me; God will disgrace all of them.

“This is my senatorial district, I am a stakeholder in this party (PDP) and I am a stakeholder in Urhobo, this is my place of birth. I am with Senator Amori all the way.”

They are apolitical, non-partisan and yet contribute to socio-economic developments through the facilitation of worthy projects and empowerment programmes. Professor Adamu Abubakar Gwarzo and Engineer Kale Kawu Agaka have demonstrated that beyond political office, one can make positive impacts.

At different times events, I have encountered the two personalities of the Generation X and observed the enormous energies and resources they deployed in ensuring community development.

Gwarzo, an international businessman, a professor of Modern European Languages (French), and founder of Maryam Abacha University of Nigeria (MAAUN), invests heavily in tertiary institutions to ensure the affordability of high-quality education.

Agaka, an electrical engineer and a director at the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), ensures and supervises the provision of quality electricity facilities in various communities across Nigeria.

Less than a year after the National Universities Commission (NUC) issued a licence for the operation of Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria (MAAUN), Kano (February 15, 2021), Gwarzo has constructed roads around the area, a pedestrian walkway, alongside lush greenery and a luxuriantly pleasant layout of flowers.

By March 2021, he had completed faculty buildings, lecture theatres, laboratories, staff quarters, a cafeteria, and playground, among other facilities. Despite being one of the finest and best equipped private universities, the founder managed to peg the tuition fees for students pursuing degree programmes at less than N1,000,000 per session.

The academic programmes that have been approved for commencement in MAAUN are under the Schools of Management, Computing and Law. There is also the School of Allied Health Sciences where students can study Nursing, Medical Laboratory Science and Physiotherapy.

His initiative, the AAG-Foundation, Gwarzo has donated vehicles and ambulances to select higher institutions of learning in Northwest Nigeria. The body also champions campaigns towards improving access to quality education, strengthening healthcare systems, inspiring women and youths for development and promoting gender equity.

The businessman, who operates another American-styled university in the Niger Republic, has promised to establish a Franco British International University in Kaduna and a Canadian University in Abuja soon.

While many moguls would rather invest in real estate and other high yielding lucrative enterprises, it is indeed commendable that the scholar is investing heavily in education to address the educational deficit and challenges in the country, especially the North.

Meanwhile, Agaka, a prince of Ilorin Emirate, on behalf of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) where he is the Director of Projects, facilitates and supervises the provision of high-quality electricity transformers, dedicated solar lights and mini-grid injection substations to steady and stable supply of electricity in various communities across the nation.

Agaka, recently turbaned as the Dan-Iyan of Ilorin Emirate by Emir Zulu Gambari, enables the provision of scholarships to indigent students and skill acquisitions programmes for youth empowerment and self-reliance, while equally supporting widows and orphans with free medications through his family’s foundation.

It was therefore not surprising that an unprecedented crowd of people thronged the emir’s palace in Ilorin during his turbaning ceremony as the Dan-Iya. Several beneficiaries of his gestures played major roles in that traditional chieftaincy ceremony by contributing a huge volume of resources.

The title of Dan-Iya is usually bestowed on a prince with a high sense of integrity, a strong vision and strong participation in community service. Agaka was deemed highly befitting of the position held before him by his father, the late Alhaji Ibrahim Kawu Agaka, a royal prince and successful businessman.

Agaka has proven the veracity in the fact that public office, as the highest point of service, should essentially be used for the public good, and not for ulterior or selfish interests. Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara attested to this when he described the new Dan Iyan as the pride of the Ilorin Emirate.

AbdulRazaq stated that the traditional honour was truly well-deserved because of the quintessential good nature of the recipient, his love for the Ilorin culture and his selfless form of philanthropy.

“His choice as the holder of this prestigious cultural rank attests to his huge contributions to the growth of our community, his support for our cultural heritage, and his open-door policy and support, especially for young people. We are indeed proud of him. I thank His Royal Highness, the Emir of Ilorin, Dr Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, and the Emirate Council for the excellent choice of the fine gentleman as Dan Iyan Geri (Ilorin)”, the governor said.

In our constructive engagements and criticisms, we should endeavour to always celebrate those contributing to the wellbeing of society. Prof Adamu Gwarzo and Engr Kale Agaka, among others, are models whose contributions should inspire others to do the same and more for humanity, through selfless service, sacrifice, and a dogged commitment to the attainment of a better Nigeria.

While I advise Professor Gwarzo to ensure the recruitment of highly qualified and experienced scholars for the academic programmes, I equally urge Engr Agaka to maintain his apolitical stance and ensure fairness in discharging his duties. They should carry on with their enviable roles in the society. May both of these gentlemen continue to find fruition, fulfillment and the motivation to do more.

Yushau A. Shuaib
yashuaib@yahoo.com

THE Mayor of Port Harcourt, Allwel Ihunda, has vowed to begin the demolition of shanties and other illegal structures close to a tank farm at the Abonema Wharf axis of the Rivers State capital.

He blamed the Friday inferno that destroyed goods and property worth millions of naira at the area on storage of adulterated petroleum products in the shanties.

He said: “When we investigated what led to the fire I was told that the fire started as a result of storage of adulterated petroleum products within illegal structures situated on the road to tank farms around the area.

“Unfortunately, the company closest to this place is Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and I am surprised that they have not responded.

“I have been trying to see if I can get in contact with them, to find out really why they have not responded taking into consideration that they have a facility just close to where the fire incident happened.

“All the illegal structures around here henceforth will cease to exist from Monday next week. We are going to demolish all the illegal structures on this road. Because these structures are places where these products are stored that always results in fire outbreaks.”

Reacting to the incident, the state Commissioner for Special Duties, Emeka Onowu, said the fire was caused by the activities of persons living in the shanties.

THE General Overseer of God’s Delight Gospel Assembly (AKA Free Indeed), Senior Pastor John Mark Ighosotu, has debunked reports that he is “on the run” following a face-off between himself and Delta prophet, Jeremiah Fufeyin of the Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministry.

The rift between both church heads came up after the confession of one Bishop Ufuoma during a live broadcast, who alleged that “Mercy Land” and some other churches within the area were involved in some criminal acts to gain supernatural powers.

Pastor Ighosotu, through his counsel, Oghenejabor Ikimi (Esq.), was reacting to two media reports headlined “Police detain mobile Officer for masterminding Delta General Overseer’s escape” and “Fufeyin: Police inspector quizzed for alleged disappearance of Pastor Jonathan Ighosotu” published March 16 and 17, respectively.

Addressing pressmen in Warri, Delta state, he described the reports as “false,” adding that they were at the “behest of Prophet Fufeyin.

Noting that the issue is currently under Police investigation, Ikimi wondered why Prophet Fufeyin has taken to media harassment of their client.

According to him, Prophet Fufeyin seems to have lost confidence in the Nigeria Police and resorted “to blackmailing our client in the Press,” hence there is need to set the records straight.

“We make bold to state that the contents of the above publications consist of either outright lies and/or misrepresentation of facts capable of misleading the general public, hence this press statement.”

It will be noted that Prophet Fufeyin wrote a petition to the Inspector General of Police in Abuja, alleging “Conspiracy, Cybercrime and Criminal defamation” against Pastor Ighosotu.

The lawyer explained that on February 25, four Police Hilux vans consisting of over 20 armed Policemen and some pressmen led by one Inspector Yohanna Suaibu of Team 4 X-Squad Force CID, Abuja, stormed the cleric’s residence in Orhuwhorun town, but met his absence.

“Being disappointed they disarmed and arrested the cleric’s orderly, Inspector Aminu Ibrahim who was later released at the Nigerian Police Station, Ovwian, Delta State.

“That our client on hearing of the above invasion of his residence, immediately left for Abuja same day and reported himself at the Force CID, Abuja where he obliged the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of his statement with lawyers from the Law Firm of Mike Ozekhome SAN & Co., in attendance.

“Indeed our client was granted bail on self-recognition and he returned to Warri, Delta State on Saturday, the 5th day of March, 2022 and on Sunday, the 6th day of March, 2022 presided over the Sunday Church Service at the Free Indeed Church Headquarters.

“The allegation in the above online publications to the effect that our client is on the run and that he is about to be declared wanted by the Nigeria Police is not only false but a wicked lie,” the lawyer stated.

THE immediate past 260 councilors in Enugu State have reiterated their unflinching support and solidarity to Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, come 2023 elections as the leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), not only in the state but also in the entire South East geo-political zone.

The former councilors who gave the endorsement when they paid a solidarity visit to Ugwuanyi at the Government House, Enugu, described the governor as a good teacher and father to all, disclosing that they have learnt a lot from his uncommon leadership style.

The immediate past councilors expressed their unreserved gratitude to the governor for the opportunity he gave them to serve under his administration.

Speaking on behalf of the immediate past councilors, the state coordinator of the group, Hon. Walter Wisdom Ozoanya, said they call Governor Ugwuanyi their father and good teacher “because we went to school for four years under your able and capable hand,” adding: “You as a professor taught us; we have gone, we have seen and we have conquered.”