Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has said the state is one of the most affected by climate change in Nigeria due to the high degree of carbon emissions and environmental degradation.

Diri made the assertion yesterday in his office in Government House, Yenagoa, when a consultancy firm, Ecologistics Integrated Services (EIS), presented a report on the state’s participation at the 26th session of the Conference of Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland.

He said the world was transiting from oil to cleaner energy, and that all concerned should be part of the process so that the state would not be left behind.

He also called on environmental activists to partner with government to attract the needed resources for development of the state.

The governor explained that Bayelsa participated at COP26 as one of the most affected states by climate change and the conference provided an opportunity to take its challenges to the global platform. Diri noted that the state was blessed with abundant resources that needed to be harnessed through partnership and collaborations.

He thanked the consultants for making a comprehensive report on the state’s participation at the conference, adding that the the government would work with them to explore other areas to improve its economy.

He said: “Bayelsa State is one of the most affected by climate change in Nigeria. Bayelsa is at the epicenter in terms of climate change.  Our people and environment have been affected.

“Recently, we had one of the worst oil spills in the world in Nembe community. That explains what people are suffering in the state. For us, that was an opportunity to take our issues to the world.

“Let me use this opportunity to call on our environmental activists to be part of this process and ensure that we are not left out in this transition we are about to experience. Particularly those of us from this state, oil is about to finish and we are transiting to cleaner energy.

“Join hands with the state government and see what Bayelsa will make out of this transition in terms of partnership, technical know-how and attracting the finances out there for our state.”

In his remarks, the President of Ecologistics, Dr Paul Abolo, commended the governor for his interest in the climate change action.

Abolo stated that the action of the governor showed the quality of leadership in the state, saying that no state government in Nigeria had engaged in climate action like Bayelsa did.

He said the state had keyed into a critical part of the climate change action, which is how developing countries could access funds such as grants, loans and others from developed countries to cushion the effects of climate change.

While thanking the governor for leading the team to the conference, Abolo said the action showed the state had taken the lead in the climate change action that other states are expected to follow.

…As farmers count losses as suspected herdsmen destroy farms

Some farmers along the Tombia-Amassoma Road in Okutukutu, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, are counting their losses following the destruction of their farms by herd of cattle.

The aggrieved farmers have called on the state government to urgently intervene to forestall an impending conflict between them and herders in the state.

They urged the Governor Douyi Diri-led administration to properly enforce the anti-open grazing law already existing in the state to protect the farmers against the herders and their cattle.

Recall that the Bayelsa State Livestock Breeding and Marketing Regulation Bill 2021 became a law on March 10, 2021 after Diri assented to it.

The law prohibits open grazing in the state and confined herders and cattle owners to a space at the popular Bayelsa Palm Road in Yenagoa, the state capital.

Consequently, the state government set up an anti-open grazing task force to enforce the law.

However, herders were still seen breeding their cattle outside areas allocated to them, hence, leading to confrontation with farmers.

Lamenting the destruction of her farm by the herds of cattle, an elderly woman of about 75 years, Mr. Patience Obein, said she lost all her cassava farm to cows.

“I am an old woman. I lost my entire cassava farm to the cows. The situation is not funny at all. How am I going to survive this loss?”

Also, a widow, Mrs. Martha JohnPerry, while expressing her frustration, said her only source of livelihood was the farm that had now been destroyed by the cattle.

Another farmer, Mr. Bernard England, urged the anti-opening grazing enforcement task force in the state to wake up to its duties to forestall incessant destruction of their farms.

A couple, Mr. George Bouye and Mrs. Success Bouye, narrated how they approached vigilante group in the area and confronted the herders after finding out the level of destruction in their farms.

They said the cattle had repeatedly invaded their farms, mostly at the hours of 11pm and 1am.

Farmers in Akwa Ibom State yesterday received agricultural storage items worth millions of naira from the Federal Government.

The items were distributed by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, through the Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI).

NSPRI Executive Director Dr. Patricia Pessu said that the government was determined to ensure reduction in harvest losses through storage.

Pessu, represented by Dr. Idorenyin Nwaehujor, the coordinator, Port Harcourt zonal office, urged beneficiaries of the items to ensure their proper use, to encourage the Federal Government to do more.

She said farmers dried their fishes wrongly in such a way that when taken to the international market because of wrong storage, it did not meet the approved standard.

The executive director said the distributed storage facilities would help farmers to store their agricultural products and export them for value addition.

She said that the storage facilities such as hermatic drum had the capacity to preserve grains and dried products for over three years.

“Our mandate is to carry out research into storage facilities and you will agree with me that the main problem of agriculture sector is storage. The farmers are very hard working in planting, what happens after harvest is the issue.”

“We have carried out researches over the years and come up with some technologies that will help to extend the lives of our agricultural products.

“So, these are the things we have brought today. These things have been distributed in many states.

“With these facilities, you can store your agricultural products after harvest and sell when you can make more profit, because during harvest, prices are very low,” Pessu said.

She urged the beneficiaries to ensure proper use of the facilities, stressing that agricultural agents would visit them for regular monitoring to ensure the items were not abused.

The Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Glory Edet, thanked the Federal Government and NSPRI for ensuring that the storage facilities were sent to farmers in Akwa Ibom.

Edet, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs. Mary Bassey, said that the state government would continue to partner the Federal Government to enhance agriculture production.

She said the beneficiaries would make use of the facilities to improve on their farming businesses.

The state Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Uyobong Uko, said the use of storage facilities would prevent the use of chemicals, stressing that chemicals were dangerous to the body.

The acting Programme Manager and Director, Technical Services, Akwa Ibom State Agricultural Development Programme (AKADEP), Mr. Emma Ekanem, hailed the institute and the Federal Government for facilitating the delivery of the facilities to farmers.

The Comptroller of Immigration Services, Imo State Command, Okey Ezugwu, has declared war on touts who run passport issuance racket at the command.

He said diverting passport applicants would henceforth attract severe consequences.

Ezugwu said yesterday in Owerri that the perpetrators had perfected diverting passport applicants and extorting money from them, with a promise of getting them passports quickly.

He said there was zero tolerance for such activities, adding that anyone caught would be prosecuted.

The immigration boss said officers and men of the command caught involved in the racketing would face severe consequences.

He advised applicants to desist from patronising them, saying they should come with information on how to track and arrest those involved.

Ezugwu urged the applicants to process the applications themselves on the immigration website and come to the office with the required documents.

He said: “The process takes about six weeks for new passports and three weeks for renewals. No one can fast-track the process.”

The comptroller warned against giving cash to any officer for any reason, noting that payments should be made before coming with the required documents.

Speaking about scarce passport booklets, he said Nigerians in the diaspora and those who had to travel for health reasons were given priority.

He said that passports were not issued in absentia, to prevent duplication.

Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade yesterday swore in a journalist, Timothy Ogbang Akwaji, as the head of service.

He is the first journalist to be so appointed in the state.

Akwaji was the editor and managing director of the state-owned newspaper, The Chronicle.

A consummate journalist, he was the vice-president (East), Nigerian Guild of Editors and also treasurer of the Guild.

Until his appointment, Akwaji was the Permanent Secretary, Cross River State Ministry of CIimate Change and International Development Corporation.

Speaking at the swearing-in held at the Executive Council Chamber of the Governor’s Office, Calabar, Ayade hailed the new head of service for a harmonious working relationship with commissioners of the various ministries.

Akwaji thanked the governor for appointing him, saying his appointment had excited the media community in Nigeria.

He said he would work hard to drive productivity in the civil service.

There is tension in Ayamelum Local Government of Anambra State, following alleged murder of a middle-aged farmer, Okoye Tagbo, by yet-to-be identified assailants.

The deceased’s remains were reportedly found in a shallow grave near the scene of the attack, with his head, heart, hands, feet and genitals missing.

The Nation gathered that the incident might not be unconnected to a lingering crisis occasioned by ownership claims of a disputed border farmland between Anaku and Omor communities.

The deceased, an indigene of Umuokpanta, Orenja village in Omor was said to have gone to his farm, close to the disputed farmland, near Anaku-Omor boundary, on Monday, to harvest cassava, but never returned.

The community reportedly launched a manhunt for the deceased, following an alarm raised by the family over failure of the widower with nine children to return at nightfall.

Addressing reporters yesterday, a relative of the deceased, High Chief Johnson Ifejika, said the decapitated body had been deposited at a morgue, while the police had begun investigation.

“We found Tagbo buried in a shallow grave on the farm where he was harvesting cassava. The body, which we exhumed in the presence of the police and military operatives that joined us in the search, was without head, genitals, hands, legs and heart,” he said.

The monarch of Omor kingdom, Igwe Chris Chidume, described incessant abductions and killings of his subjects for alleged ritual as an ill-wind that would blow no one good.

He said: “I appeal to Ndi-Anaku to do away with their Ekwensu deity that is demanding human sacrifice. It’s not a modern religious practice and its constant killing is enough reason to abolish it.”

Condoling with the bereaved family, the traditional ruler advised the government to consider abolishing the shrine and appealed to his subjects to refrain from reprisal.

“I’m thanking Ndi-Omor for being calm in the face of provocation and plead they sustain the peace, trusting that Governor Willie Obiano will do justice to the matter so that peace can be restored,” he said.

The Chairman of Ayamelum Local Government, Mr. Benjamin Onyeabor, who confirmed the incident, said he made efforts to calm the situation by restraining youths from reprisal.

Police spokesman Tochukwu Ikenga said the body had been exhumed and deposited at a morgue for autopsy, adding that investigations were on.

“The cause of the death has not been ascertained. We’re urging the residents to volunteer information that will be helpful to the police in the course of our investigation,” he said.

Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has forwarded to members of the House of Assembly, the name of the Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chris Nehikhare, and six others, for screening and confirmation, as commissioner-nominees.

He also appointed Lady Uwa Osunbor as Special Adviser, Political, Edo South Senatorial District, and approved the appointment of 13 permanent secretaries.

Secretary to Edo State Government (SSG) Osarodion Ogie yesterday in an online statement disclosed that the appointment of Osunbor took immediate effect.

Besides Nehikhare, other commissioner-nominees included Omololu Ojehomo, Braimoh Afie, Stephen Idenhenre, Osasere Evbuomwan, Donald Okogbe and Bamidele Obaitan.

The newly-appointed permanent secretaries included Peter Aikhoumobhogbe, Iserhienhien Edamwen Efe, Grace Osaro Aihie, Osaro Washington Abbe, Bose Igbinobaro, Anelu Julius Osemen, Asemota Osagie Uyi and Gilbert Egwakhide.

Other permanent secretaries were Asibor Omokhegbele Lucky, Felicia Edwards, Ifueko Alufokhai, Osikhena Omo Ojior and Toritseju Onaiwu.

The SSG said the appointment of the permanent secretaries took immediate effect.