Category: South East

Cross River State indigenes living in Ondo State have sent a Save our Soul (SOS) to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu over kidnappings and other attacks suffered in the hands of criminals, suspected to be herders.

The President of their association, Ehriku David, in a letter addressed to Governor Akeredolu, said Cross River State indigenes were living in all villages, carrying out farming activities.

He urged Akeredolu to avert impending calamity at Owajalaye village and its environs in Ose Local Government.

The letter said: “Our people at Owalaye in Ose Local Government are in an unusual time, as herders have taken over their farmlands and destroyed same with their cattle, thereby creating tension, panic and anxiety.

“They are now afraid to go to farm. On February 14, one of our members, Egbodor Wonah, was chased and shot on his farm. He is receiving treatment.

“On several occasions, our members have been kidnapped and released after paying ransom. We wrote this letter because the matter is beyond what we can tackle.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is training 1,914 ad hoc officials to be deployed for the February 26 Ogoja/Yala federal constituency and Akpabuyo state constituency by-elections in Cross River State.

The electoral umpire has also spelt out processes and guidelines for the elections to eligible voters in Ogoja/Gala and Akpabuyo areas.

These are contained in a statement by the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Cyril Omorogbe, and the Administrative Secretary, Mrs. Irene Nghuma.

The statement was made available to reporters in Calabar yesterday.

The statement said: “All eligible voters whose names appeared in the INEC Register of 2019 are qualified to participate in the coming by-elections in Ogoja/Yala Federal Constituency and Akpabuyo State Constituency.

“Biometrics Voters Authentication System (BVAS) will be used for accreditation. Accreditation and voting will take place simultaneously between 8am and 2:30pm.

“Remember that only your Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) is your power to vote. Please note that Permanent Voter’s Card, no matter the year issued, does not expire.”

The administrative officer said: “The training is focused on polling and counting procedures and other election processes.”

She added that the two-day training was organised by the Electoral Institute.

Declaring the training open, the Head of Electoral Operations in the state, Mr. Fred Emezu, urged the participants not to take the training for granted.

“This training is one of those election trainings that require maximum concentration, as there’s always something new to learn like the new technology of Bimodal Voter Authentication System (BVAS) device, which will be unveiled to the participants and voters in the state for the conduct of elections for the first time.”

The Obi of Onitsha, Alfred Achebe, has urged Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano to engage in inter-state collaboration with security agencies to tackle insecurity.

The collaboration, he said, would equally be in alliance with traditional rulers, the Police, Army, Navy and Civil Defence Corps.

Achebe, the chairman, Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council, gave the advice yesterday during the Security Council meeting at the Conference Hall, Government House, Awka.

He hailed Obiano for his efforts in fighting crimes and assured the citizens that the monarchs would help in solving the problem.

The governor, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Solo Chukwulobelu, commended the traditional rulers and the heads of security agencies for their efforts to tackle insecurity.

He said that the government would do everything to address the ugly situation.

Other monarchs, who supported the Obi of Onitsha, included Igwe Godwin  Ezeilo of Nanka, Igwe Chidubem  Iweka of Obosi, Igwe Ben Emeka of Umueri and Igwe  Peter  Ezeamama of Enugwu Umuonyia

They stressed the need to beef up security.

Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Echeng Echeng, and the Director, DSS, Mr. Mike Obaje, promised to use their capacities as heads of security agencies to address insecurity.

They appealed to the traditional rulers to assist them with information on how to fish out bad eggs in their communities.

The Interim Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd.), has been awarded the Niger Delta Peace Ambassador by the Naija Live TV.

Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello was also given Man of the Year award by the Bayelsa State-based online media outfit.

Naija Live TV organised the award and lecture in Yenagoa with the theme: ‘The role of Social Media in Strengthening Public Institutions in Nigeria’, to commemorate its fifth anniversary.

Dikio was given the award for promoting and sustaining peace in the Niger Delta through the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

The organisers said since Dikio’s appointment, he had stabilised the PAP by deploying it as a vehicle for peace and stability of the region.

They also observed that under Dikio, the amnesty programme was living up to its original mandate.

Delivering a lecture on the occasion, an expert in public affairs, Dr. John Idumange, said Nigeria was faced with an irony of having abundant human and material resources, but relegated to the backwaters of development.

He said most of the public institutions established to promote good governance had either been compromised or harassed by systemic instability.

Idumange said: “We have not found answers to the problems of insecurity, inflation, devaluation of the currency and other social problems that contribute to undermine the development of the Nigerian states.

“As we inch towards 2030 – the target date of the Sustainable Development Goals, one central tendency that comes to mind is the weak institutions, which cannot carry the weight of fundamental reforms we seek to embark on as a nation.

“Way back in 2013, former President Goodluck Jonathan expressed optimism that Nigerians had the capacity to transform the nation into a world-class economy, but prescribed the building of strong institutions as the antidote to her current socio-economic and political malaise.

“The truism is that in Nigeria, most reforms are either partially successful or monumental failures. This is largely attributable to the weak institutions, which lack the capacity to implement and sustain such reforms.

“Policy interventions and implementation mechanism are often vitiated by weak institutions. Weak institutions are at the root of low Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).”

He said genuine efforts at re-engineering the bureaucracy and government apparatus had only recorded minimal success.

“Now, social media platform can be deployed to play a role in strengthening the institutions for efficient and effective policy packaging and implementation,” he noted.

The Chief Executive Officer of Naija Live TV, Mr. Saint Mienpamo Onitsha, said the outfit had gone through challenges, but had remained consistent with the support of some individuals and organisations.

He said: “Today Naija Live TV has a followership base of over two million people in all of our channels. This of course is a result of our diligence, hard work and consistency in service delivery over the past years and counting.”

Others, who received awards, were  Senator Moses Cleopas, the lawmaker representing Bayelsa Central, Preye Oseke, the lawmaker representing Southern Ijaw Federal Constituency, a former Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Monday Obolo Bubou and Chairman of Southern Ijaw Local Government, Kia Nigeria and Zeetin Engineering.

The Vice Chancellor, Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, Anambra State, Prof. Charles Esimone, has restated management’s commitment to improve the welfare of students.

He spoke at the inauguration of the 29th Executive Council of the Students Union Government (SUG) of the university.

Esimone said the “Project 200” of the institution, targeted at ensuring it ranked among the best in Nigeria, best 10 in Africa and among the top 200 in the world, would give the students an identity they would be proud of.

Congratulating the newly-elected executive, the VC urged them to accord their studentship utmost priority and join the management in building a university of global repute.

He said: “I’m excited about the peaceful conduct of the polls and the transition. I also commend immediate past exco for the cordial relationship and cooperation that existed among the arms of the Student Government.

“You must appreciate that you are here first as a student and should strive to graduate, worthy in character and learning.

“Secondly, you should be humbled by the position that has been entrusted to you; put your trust in God for a successful tenure.

“Finally, you should see this position as a stepping stone to greater leadership opportunities. Hence what you make of it today will make or mar your future endeavours.”

The Dean, Students Affairs, Prof. Nonso Achebe, praised the VC for committing to digitisation of the electoral process.

He urged the new SUG to discharge their duties with integrity.

The President, Charles Ijeomah, appreciated the students’ community for entrusting such onerous responsibility on them.

He said their welfare would be accorded optimum priority.

“This is a germane call to service to better students’ welfare and foster synergised relationship between the SUG and the university management in taking the institution to an enviable pedestal,” he said.

Among the executive members were Vice President, Ifunanya Okoye; Secretary General, Joel Abraham Ogbonnaya; Assistant Secretary General, Chiemerie Ezeoke, and Financial Secretary, Victor Harrison.

Others included Treasurer, Judith Atsedosan; Director of Socials, Victor Onuorah; Director of Sports, Brightson Ihedioha, and Public Relations Officer, Ikechukwu Dikeojo.

A medical expert, Dr. Dele Oluwatade, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to consider restructuring Nigeria before completing his tenure on May 29, 2023.

Oluwatade, who is also a cleric, gave the advice in Benin, the Edo State capital, while interacting with reporters.

The President of City Gate Elders’ Parliament enjoined Buhari to desist from borrowing from China.

He said: “A restructured Nigeria will and can survive the debt burden and economic hardship facing the nation.

“The huge debt burden occasioned by the nation’s borrowing from foreign nations, particularly China, is a generational burden on Nigerians.

“I am worried by the recent happenings in Nigeria, occasioned by bad leadership. The atrocities all over the country, ranging from nepotism to racial discrimination, widespread murder, rape, kidnapping and banditry are worrisome. I call for urgent measures to nip them in the bud, for the security of Nigerians.

“Buhari should remove the headache of borrowing to pay salaries. A restructured Nigeria will survive the debt burden and economic hardship.”

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva has hit back at the Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri administration.

He said his appraisal of the two years of the government is an honest, genuine and intellectual analysis of governance.

The Diri administration had in a statement yesterday by the Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Mr. Ayibaina Duba, slammed Sylva over attacks on the governor’s performance in the last two years.

The government had described the minister’s comments while featuring as a guest on a Yenagoa-based radio station last Saturday as indecorous, misguided, lacking finesse and aimed at scoring cheap political points.

But Sylva, in a statement issued yesterday by his Special Assistant on Media and Public Affairs, Julius Bukoro, said his comments on the state radio was straightforward and the highpoints were based on high and low points of the current administration.

Reacting to criticisms by the government, Sylva noted that despite the fact that he harped on some of the brighter sides of the current administration, his comment on Diri’s performance was far from a caustic, combative one, adding that it was an honest, intellectual analysis of Bayelsa State and a genuine appraisal of his home state.

The statement said the minister’s chief concern was that the current administration had not fully weaned itself off the previous one, which was a complete circus, “though Diri is significantly more humane, compared to his predecessor.”

The statement said: “As a ‘Bayelsan’, a former governor, a major stakeholder of the state, Sylva has a right, like everyone else, to comment, analyse and proffer solution to aspects of governance in the state that can be improved upon.

“That interview was an act of patriotism and critical appraisal, hence the avalanche of applause from all parts of the state and beyond. The development of Bayelsa State is a continuum; it doesn’t begin and end with one individual, any government or a group of people. It is a journey that will require every single ‘Bayelsan’, every day of his/her life to work towards that very divine project. Serving Nigeria through the Federal Government is not a licence to ignore one’s home state.”

“Sylva will keep on working for the development of Bayelsa State in any capacity he finds himself. As a minister, through the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, he inspired and partnered Rungas Prime Industries Ltd to establish a 1,000,000 per annum Type 3 LPG composite Cylinder Manufacturing plant in Polaku, Bayelsa State. Sylva also sited an infectious disease hospital in the state through the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and one of its agencies, the NNPC.

“There was the signing of the Final Investment Decision (FID) on gas processing and methanol plant project by Brass Fertiliser and Petro-Chemical Company, which will create 30,000 jobs. Commencement of the Oil and Gas Museum at Oloibiri, Ogbia Local Government and inauguration, along with President Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigerian Content Tower, which vastly improved the aesthetics of Yenagoa and also created jobs.

“So, national service does not collide with service for one’s home state. There will be more of such interviews and more acts of patriotism and critical appraisal from Sylva.

“Sylva also congratulates Diri on his two-year anniversary as governor, and notes that while the former senator seems to have the will to want to perform well, the momentum still has to be increased until the next election where ‘Bayelsans’ will seek alternatives.”