Category: South East

The Bayelsa State Branch of the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) has been assured of the government’s support to enable it to contribute more in building a better health service delivery system in the state.

Deputy Governor Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo gave the assurance yesterday at a meeting with the chairman and other executives of the association in his office at Government House, Yenagoa.

He underscored the role of medical laboratory scientists in the proper diagnosis of ailments in both public and private health facilities.

The Deputy Governor maintained that diagnosis was key to successful medical practice; hence its practitioners and their association should be accorded a pride of place in the health sector of the country

According to him, medical laboratory science is indispensable in the health care system, stressing that anything done without a diagnosis was tantamount to walking with both eyes closed.

In recognition of this, he said the government would always give the necessary support to the medical laboratory association with a view to improving the quality of healthcare delivery in the state.

Ewhrudjakpo, who congratulated the state chairman and other officers of the association on their successful election and inauguration last year, charged them to do better than their predecessors in office in order to write their names in gold.

While wishing them a successful tenure in office, he encouraged them to work towards achieving the best standards in the medical laboratory profession as well as improved service delivery in the health sector.

Ewhrudjakpo stated: “I have always said each time I have opportunity to interact with your association at any point and level that the issue, is that, the man who does not have value for his eyes and therefore decides to close them and walk will definitely hit a brick wall or stumble and fall.”

“Unfortunately that has been the practice in Nigeria. You are very important because nobody can do any reasonable thing in medicine without proper diagnosis. Doing anything without diagnosis is actually walking with your eyes closed.

“The essence, relevance, and indispensability of medical laboratory science and practice cannot be overemphasized. I speak like this not because I have my sentiment or emotions attached to the association but because it is the truth.

“The medical laboratory scientist is like the skin to a man. It is only when you have carried out your diagnosis that they (doctors) will actually know what is wrong with a patient and then administer the appropriate treatment.

“As a government, we recognize your role. And so, I can assure you that we will do what we can to support you and enable you to occupy your legitimate place in the scheme of things.”

Speaking earlier, the State Chairman of the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria, Mrs. Seleipre Hannah Richard-Sele, thanked the Deputy Governor for his undying love and passion to promote the growth of the Association in particular and the entire health sector of the state.

Mrs. Richard-Sele said the meeting was basically to introduce the new state executive officers of the AMLSN to Ewhrudjakpo as well as intimate him on some of the association programmes.

She equally appreciated him for making the state Exco of AMLSN proud by attending the association’s national conference in Abuja.

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, on Friday, inaugurated 34 model customary courts simultaneously across 17 LGAs.

The governor also listed numerous remarkable achievements his administration has made in the provision of modern facilities in the State Judiciary to facilitate the dispensation of justice both in the urban and rural areas.

Ugwuanyi said his administration had provided modern courtrooms properly equipped to ensure a conducive atmosphere for efficient dispensation of justice.

The governor added that his government had within the last six years created two additional Judicial Divisions and six additional Magisterial Districts to decongest courts for timely dispensation of justice.

He said that the landmark projects were in addition to the building and equipping of 24 Magistrate Courts (16 of which are brand new) as well as the construction of 34 brand new model Customary Courts (two per local government) across the 17 local government areas of the state.

The 34 Customary Court buildings which were described by the President, Customary Court of Appeal, Enugu State, Hon. Justice George Chibueze Nnamani, as part of Gov. Ugwuanyi’s administration’s unprecedented infrastructural interventions in the State Judiciary as well as its urgent efforts at repositioning the Customary Courts to give them a new lease of life and relevance in line with international best practices for efficient and effective dispensation of justice in the rural areas and beyond.

Speaking during the inauguration of the Justice Chima Centus Nweze Moot Court, at the Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus (UNEC), the governor pointed out that “a central part of my commitment, as governor, has not only been delivery of justice but also, its speedy delivery to all classes of people without prejudice to socio-economic status or influence.”

The governor who commended the Faculty of Law for the provision of the moot court, worthily named after Hon. Justice Chima Centus Nweze of the Supreme Court, and other facilities appropriate for students’ training, revealed that “there is, therefore, a resonance between the commissioning of a moot court scheduled today and the great strides my administration has made in the provision of modern courtrooms properly equipped to facilitate the dispensation of justice”.

He stated that the state government had in the past supported the growth and development of the faculty “and will continue to do so whenever opportunity avails the state”.

Ugwuanyi also commended the Dean, Faculty of Law, UNEC, Dr. Samuel Nwatu, and his team for the push and drive to give the faculty a new face in order to restore its prime place as the first Faculty of Law in Nigeria.

“A moot court is essentially a student’s fictional court used by most faculties of law to expose their students to real courtroom situations through simulated court proceedings with students preparing and arguing cases before a pseudo or a make-believe judge. The presence of a moot court is always a clear and strong indication that students are being prepared for post-school professional practice”, he said.

Gov. Ugwuanyi, therefore, stressed the significance of naming the moot court after Hon. Justice Nweze who he described as “a renowned jurist of our own time; an urbane, polished, elegant and cultured gentleman; an extremely cerebral and highly respected Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, an enigmatic jurisprudential personality of a character very much in short supply in our clime”.

Congratulating Hon. Justice Nweze on the well-deserved honour, the governor applauded the Faculty of Law, UNEC for the state-of-art-facility and for naming it as “The Justice Chima Centus Nweze Moot Court”.

He, therefore, charged the law students to take full advantage of the training facility in pursuit of their professional careers.

Responding, Hon. Justice Nweze expressed gratitude to God for the honour done to him by the Faculty of Law, UNEC.

Also present at the event was the Chief Judge of the State, Hon. Justice Afojulu Raymond Ozoemena, the Member representing Enugu North Constituency in the State House of Assembly, Hon. Dr. Ibenaku Onoh, representative of the Vice-Chancellor, University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), Prof. Edith Nwosu, the Deputy Chief of Staff, Government House, Enugu, Prof. Malachy Okwueze, the Chairman, Enugu State Council of Traditional Rulers, HRH Amb. Igwe Lawrence Agubuzu, and Honourable Judges of the State Judiciary, among others.

Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade said yesterday that his administration would fight illegal wood loggers.

He said their nefarious activities had resulted in depletion of forest reserve.

Prof. Ayade lamented that forest-bearing communities had been dislocated and their land mass eroded, thus creating huge environmental challenges with a cumulative long term consequence.

Addressing reporters in his office, he threatened to use any political appointee and security agents who aided and abetted illegal loggers as scapegoats.

The governor said: “Cross River State has 58 per cent of the entire forest cover of Nigeria. We have concerns about the rate and the speed of depletion of our forests.

“It is against this backdrop that I am sending a note of final warning that I cannot watch the complete degeneration of our forest, as we see illegal logging becoming the order of the day.”

The Federal Government said yesterday that it had started eliminating passport racketeering, scam and corrupt practices in the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), with the launching of the e-passport administration.

The government, which inaugurated Passport Processing Centre for the Southeast, warned Nigerians to stop patronising touts and officials of the NIS for the application of their international passports, as production of passports had been made easy.

Minister of Interior Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, who made this known at the unveiling of the enhanced e-passport and inauguration of the Passport Production Centre in Enugu, said the payments for passports had been digitalised.

He said the enhanced e-passport would improve application process for Nigerians in the country and abroad.

Aregbesola told Nigerians applying to obtain or renew their passports to stay in their homes, use their smart phones to fill the forms and have a hitch-free application that would see them getting their passports in a minimum of three weeks.

He said: “We have had some challenges in the recent past on delays experienced by some applicants in procuring their passports. This is regrettable. But it will interest you to know that between 2019 and now, the NIS has issued about three million passports to Nigerians. Last year alone, 1.3 million passports were issued. Also, the last time I checked, over 250,000 passports remain uncollected by applicants. Their owners will probably be among those complaining that they are yet to collect their passports.

“However, many applicants are not going to have their passports because of the errors in their applications, which delayed processing. They may not know because they applied through touts and other illegal channels.

“A major challenge of passport administration is the illegal patronage of touts and NIS officials, instead of the stipulated online platform. Our application system is designed to eliminate personal contact, other than for biometric purpose. This is to curb corruption, extortion and inflation. But as long as applicants try to cut corners, they defeat our purpose and create avoidable problems.

“The first problem that arises is unfulfilled expectations. Touts and officials are not in any position to guarantee anything. Our system makes room for six weeks for fresh application and three weeks for renewal. This is to enable the NIS investigate and verify claims by the applicants. It is advisable for travellers in need of passports to begin the application process early, factoring our timeline.

“The maximum six weeks is reasonable and among the shortest application time in the world. Promising an applicant an express service is a scam. It is bound to end in disappointment and for most part, it does.”

The minister appealed to applicants to follow the path the ministry provided through the online portal because that was the only reliable and assuring path to procuring a Nigerian passport.

The acting Comptroller General of the NIS, Isah Jere, reiterated the call by the minister for citizens to stop patronising touts.

He said with the unveiling of the facility, Southeast had joined other locations such as Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Kano, London, among others, that had migrated to the enhanced electronic passport regime.

Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi,  represented by the Secretary to Enugu State Government, hailed the efforts of the NIS, saying the state would support the service in performing its duties.

The Abuja Division of the Federal Court has reinstated Mr. Odefa Obasi Odefa as the Deputy Speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly.

It also restored the seats of Odefa and two other lawmakers, NgÍzi EziålÍ (Afikpo North East) and Oliver Osi (Ivo).

The court’s order followed a motion ex parte dated February 24, 2022, filed by the trio as plaintiffs against the declaration of their seats vacant and removal of Odefa as Deputy Speaker by the House of Assembly last month.

It barred the Assembly, the Speaker and the Clerk from carrying out any action that would affect the membership of the three lawmakers.

The House last month declared the seats of Odefa and two other lawmakers vacant.

It claimed Odefa wrote a letter resigning from the House, an allegation he (Odefa) denied.

The Assembly elected Ogbonnaya ÊkÍrÍ as the new Deputy Speaker.

It said it declared the seats of the two other legislators vacant because of their alleged resignation from their party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The lawmakers, however, denied resigning.

They headed for the Abuja Division of the High Court to reclaim their seats and position, which they said were wrongly taken from them.

The Assembly, Speaker, Clerk and ÊkÍrÍ were joined in the suit as 5th to 8th respondents.

Other respondents include the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attorney-General of the Federation, Inspector-General of Police and the Department of State Security as 1st to 4th respondents.

According to the court records, the judge barred the defendants from effecting any change to the status of the trio, pending the determination of the motion on notice.

The court, presided over by Justice I. E. Ekwo, ordered the parties to maintain the status quo that existed before the House took the controversial decisions against the three lawmakers last month.

Bayelsa State Government has ordered the chairmen of the eight local governments to set up sub-committees, to work with its Anti-Open Grazing Law Implementation Committee, to check herdsmen’s activities.

Deputy Governor Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo gave the directive yesterday during a meeting with a delegation of women from Otuasega community, top security officers and other stakeholders, at the Government House in Yenagoa.

A statement by the media aide to the deputy governor, Mr. Doubara Atasi, quoted him as saying that the meeting was necessitated by the recent cases of herdsmen’s violation of the anti-open grazing law, at Otuasega, Ogbia and other parts of the state.

Ewhrudjakpo urged the councils to constitute the sub-committees within one week, as part of proactive steps necessary to check the encroachment of farmlands and destruction of crops by cattle rearers.

He said the sub-committees would work under the supervision of the state Anti-open Grazing Law Implementation Committee headed by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr. David Alagoa.

The deputy governor stressed the need for the Police Command and the 16th Brigade to set up a swift response team to work with the committee.

He said the government was resolute in its resolve to enforce the anti-open grazing law, warning that violators would be arrested and prosecuted.

Addressing Otuasega women at the meeting, Ewhrudjakpo advised them to channel their grievances to the government, rather than resort to blocking of roads to protest.

He assured them that government’s doors were open to them for dialogue and resolution of issues.

The Women Leader, Mrs. Amiena Princewill Agiobu, said the women blocked the major road on Monday to protest the destruction of their farms and crops by herdsmen.

She said the herdsmen attacked a youth, adding that the situation had worsened, hence they protested to draw government’s attention to the issue.

The Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr. David Alagoa, and the Special Adviser on Security, CP Akpoebi Agberebi (rtd.), who identified Okarki, a neighbouring Rivers State community, as a major route through which herdsmen entered the state, promised to beef up security in the area.

They said security operatives confronted the herdsmen, resulting in the impounding of over 150 cattle and arrest of suspected violators, adding that some of the culprits were still in detention at the Okaka Correctional Centre.