Category: South East

The umbrella body of Ijaw youths, Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, has threatened to storm the National Assembly to support the senators from the region for the rejection of a Bill to amend the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Act, sponsored by Senator Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Lagos West).

The group called out prominent ex-militant leaders like High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo; Dr. Ebikabowei Ben, aka Boyloaf and the Amanyanabo of Okochiri Kingdom, King Ateke Tom, not to be silent over the shameful treatment being meted out to the region by those they referred to as Abuja-based politicians.

IYC national spokesman Ebilade Ekerefe, in a statement yesterday, praised Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege (APC, Delta Central) and other members of the National Assembly for their position on the bill for an Act to amend the NDDC Act.

He noted that the youth backed them on their vehement rejection, which they described as bold and commendable.

Ekerefe said: “Their total rejection showed that the National Assembly members from the region have further shown that there are still men of honour from the Niger Delta, unlike others who have continued to treat their region with disdain despite the transient positions they are holding at the moment.

“Secondly, the proposed Bill for the inclusion of these strange bed fellows in the NDDC confirms our repeated positions that the Niger Delta has become a toy to be played with by politicians in Abuja and the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.”

He said the continued silence of Niger Delta leaders, including ex-militant warlords, was no longer golden in the face of issues of neglect, lack of development and other contentious issues such as the non-constitution of the NDDC board, the mass sack of Niger Delta indigenes at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the exclusion of major roads in the region from the planned NNPC road construction.

Ekerefe said: “Your silence has made ‘interlopers’ to be insulting us and calling for the merger of what may later remain of the NDDC after it is merged with the Ministry of the Niger Delta Affairs and taken to Abuja for the final burial. Niger Delta will now become empty and be begging for carcass. The IYC call on our structures in Northern Nigeria to occupy the National Assembly, to resist this obnoxious bill any time it is brought back to the floor of the Senate for further debate.

“The NDDC is a regional development commission. It must be made clear to the sponsor of the Bill that there is a difference between the NDDC and the oil and mineral producing commission. Even at that, is it not wise for the sponsor of the Bill to call for a Southwest Development Commission to cater for the purported degradation noticed in the ‘baby’ oil producing states from discovery of crude oil in Alkaleri Local Government, Bauchi State; Badagry, Lagos State and Ipokia, Ogun State.”

“The IYC will also put the security agencies on notice over their planned solidarity march to the National Assembly.

“We want to also put on notice the Nigerian security apparatus and the political leaders that the peace existing on paper to the current administration, may have become compromised due to the continued insult on the leaders and people from the region.

“But we must let these politicians and their anti-Niger Delta elements know that the ‘Toy’ is a dangerous one that will explode in their hands if they don’t stop the deliberate provocation of its people. The Nigerian nation must remember that the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and many others pleaded for peace from the people of the region before the wealth they were enjoying became available for them to plunder.

“With the speed with which the Bill quickly scaled the second reading on the floor of the National Assembly and the reference to the bill to Peter Nwaoboshi (APC, Delta North) for further legislative action and report back at plenary in four weeks, the people of the Niger Delta have had it with the Nigerian nation.

“The NDDC was created in 2000 to address the age-long environmental degradation caused by oil exploration in the region. This became necessary after years of agitation, which led to deaths in the struggle and destruction of homes in the region. These deaths and destruction have not even been ameliorated as we speak.

“The IYC will call on our structures in Northern Nigeria to occupy the National Assembly to resist this obnoxious bill anytime it is brought back to the floor of the Senate for further debate.”

 

Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano has approved the appointment of Mrs. Theodora Igwegbe as the Head of Service (HoS).

This is contained in a statement by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Solo Chukwulobelu, in Awka.

Chukwulobelu said Igwegbe would take over from Mr. Harry Udu, who would retire on January 1, 2022.

“I am pleased to inform you that His Excellency, Chief Willie Obiano, has approved your appointment as Head of Service of Anambra with effect from January 1. 2022.

“It is hoped that you will bring your wealth of experience to bear in the discharge of the duties of your new assignment.

“The conditions of this appointment will be communicated accordingly,” he said.

Igwegbe is a lawyer and a career civil servant, who rose through the ranks.

She is the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information and Public Enlightenment.

 

Electricity users in Warri and its environs have decried the escalating bills given to them by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), amid poor power supply.

Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Warri, the consumers urged the management of the BEDC to adjust their billing pattern “before it results in something else.”

Mr. Samson Onogide, a retired civil servant, said that the billing had soared astronomically in recent times, even when the power supply had remained erratic.

He said: “I occupy a two-bedroom apartment. Sometime last year, I was paying N5,000, some months later it was increased to N8,000 and I complained to the bill distributor.

“I was surprised to receive a N25, 000 bill on November 15. The same was applicable to my neighbours. Where are we heading for in this country?

“I do not have an air conditioner or an electric cooker in my house. My children are not living with me.

“So, I do not know the reason for the sudden increase. Please, BEDC should better do something now.”

Another electricity user, Mr. Kingsley Osarodion, expressed disgust about the unsubstantiated billing, accusing the electricity provider of unlawfully milking the people.

“This building is our secretariat and I stay in one of the rooms at the boy’s quarter. It is not a factory; neither do we manufacture anything here.

“Our members hardly come around and we hold meetings here monthly or bi-monthly and everyone returns to his place of work.

“Before now, we were paying N7,000, later it was increased to N12,000, then to N21,000. We complained to the management and they promised to amend it.

“The following month, we were given N24,000, after two months, they increased it to N27,000. The last they brought on Monday is above N40,000.

“I am using this medium to call BEDC to order before we embark on a serious protest to their offices,” Osarodion said.

Mrs. Onome Smart, a widow and mother of three, said the economic situation in the country was becoming unbearable for her.

Smart, who angrily spoke in Pidgin English, expressed disgust at the skyrocketing monthly bill from BEDC.

She asked the electricity firm to come over and remove its wire from her house.

Also, Mr. Tobi Olajide urged the BEDC management to work out a modality to ensure that every electricity consumer had a prepaid meter to avoid unnecessary billings.

“BEDC has no excuse for the arbitrary billing. All they need do is to give meter to every consumer, rather than giving people estimated bills,” he said.

A management official of the BEDC, who elected to remain anonymous, as he was not mandated to speak for the firm, told NAN that the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) was ongoing in the BEDC’s catchment states, which included Edo, Delta, Ekiti and Ondo.

He said the NMMP was initiated by the Federal Government, aimed at addressing estimated billings in the electricity industry.

 

 

 

The House of Representatives has resolved to capture the rehabilitation of Idumuje Ugboko-Ewohimi Road in Sedan, Edo State, in the 2022 budget.

The resolution was sequel to unanimous adoption of a motion by Sergius Ogun (PDP-Edo) at the plenary yesterday.

The motion was co-sponsored by the Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu (PDP-Delta).

Moving the motion earlier, Ogun said that the road from Idumeje Ugboko in Delta through Ewohimi in Edo was a major link road to the Southeast.

He said that the deplorable state of the road had affected the movement of goods between the North and the Southeast, resulting in negative economic consequences.

The lawmaker said that armed robbers and kidnappers were taking advantage of the situation to carry out heinous activities, thus endangering the lives of commuters plying the route.

“Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended) provides that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of the government.

“I believe that quality road infrastructure plays a role in ensuring the security and welfare of the people.

“There is the need for urgent intervention by the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to rehabilitate the road as an immediate intervention to reduce the burden of commuters travelling through the road,” he said.

Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila mandated relevant committees of the House to ensure compliance.

 

Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi, Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi and other prominent Nigerians yesterday in Awka, the Anambra State capital, hailed the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.

The personalities, who spoke at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, at the 9 &10 combined Zik Lecture Series Anniversary Celebration 2021, said that the late elder statesman did a lot for Nigeria during his life.

Delivering a lecture on a theme: ‘Security, Governance and Nation Building,’ Dr. Fayemi, who is also the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, alluded to Zikism as a principle that would guarantee a prosperous Nigeria.

He said that Azikiwe championed the cause of building a nation where the safety of every citizen was assured and where there were equal opportunities for all, regardless of ethnic group and religion.

Declaring the occasion open, the Chairman of the Anniversary Celebration, Governor Umahi, who is the chairman of Southeast Governors’ Forum, took the audience down the memory lane how the late Azikiwe dedicated his virtues and intellects towards building a united and a purposeful country.

Umahi, represented by his deputy, Eric Igwe, said that the great Zik represented the symbol of nationalism and his contributions to socio-economic and political development of the country accounted for the reason he was being celebrated by all segments of the society.

The Vice Chancellor, Prof Charles Esimone, said imbibing Zikism entailed that “we must distill and disseminate the values and concepts that underpin his political philosophy.”

Recognising the role of contemporary leaders in nation building, the Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences, Prof. Uche  Nwogwugwu, who also praised the late Azikiwe, said Governor Umahi had distinguished himself by turning around Ebonyi State in terms of infrastructure- road construction, education, health, agriculture, and even workers’ welfare.

One of the highlights of the event was the Excellence in Leadership Award given to Governor Umahi by the organisers of the Zik Lecture Series.

Other dignitaries at the event were the governors of Anambra and Enugu states represented by their Secretary to the State Government (SSGs),

Sen. Uche Ekwunife, the lawmaker representing Anambra Central Senatorial District and others.

 

THE 2023 presidential campaign posters of the former governor of Abia State and the Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, have flooded Aba and Umuahia in Abia State.

Our correspondent reports that the posters, which were spotted at strategic places in Umuahia and Aba, were greeted with mixed feelings by the residents, who were divided over Kalu’s presidential ambition.

While some residents believed that Kalu had the potential and better chance of emerging as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), others feared that the agitation for self- determination by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) might jeopardise his ambition with the likes of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu also being rumoured to have interest to run for the president in 2023.

Some political watchers, including Mr. Gilbert Osondu, described the emergence of Kalu’s presidential campaign posters as a welcome development.

Osondu, who described Kalu as one of the qualified Igbo, who had over the years proved to be detribalised and one that had the political sagacity to rule the country and deliver the trust of the people, noted that it was necessary that Kalu and other Igbo leaders, who wanted to run for the president, should reach out to Nigerians in the six geo-political zones to get their support.

 

The Convener of the Let’s Get Empowered Foundation, Uche Okonkwo, has congratulated Anambra State Governor-elect Prof. Charles Soludo and called for his solutions to improve the state’s fortunes.

In a statement by the Foundation’s  Executive Director, Collins Ugwu, Okonkwo said Soludo had been given a clear mandate and generous state-wide endorsement, the gestation had ended.

He said: “The birth of a new political governance and civilisation of your dreams for Anambra people has come, with expected positive cascade to the entire Igbo nationality. There is nothing less or more to add than to make those dreams a reality effectively.

‘’Our Governor-elect, you now have the executive sceptre to shape, sharpen and implement practically, your celebrated ideals for this state, that has incubated for a decade-plus, since your first outing for the position in 2009, so welcome to kick the balls into the open nets without missing.

Read Also: Soludo’s victory and IPOB’s continuing threat

‘’Yes, you are not only expected to hit the ground running, but to sprint with laser-guided speed and delicate sensitivity, as you inspire all Anambra people through collaborations and inclusion, to make those gifts you have, the lifts they will see in their contentment and living substance.”

He urged Soludo to “make the total development of our youths” his priority.

Okonkwo added: ‘’Their energies and talents that have suffered perennial neglect, election after election, promises after promises, demand a baptism of deep actions to assemble their enormous vigour for a future they inevitably own.

“So their education, empowerment and civic reorientation, are critical policies of the first option, for accelerated attention and rapid transformation. I’m certain you know it, and I humbly request, you do not ignore them, for our common prosperity, security and peace.

No fewer than 70 signatories, including representatives of ethnic nationalities and pan-Niger Delta groups, are expected to sign the proposed Niger Delta Peoples Charter.

The President of the Niger Delta Congress, Nubari Sataah, disclosed this in a statement in Warri yesterday shortly after the second imprimatur was done.

According to the statement, a former president of the Nigeria Environmental Society (NES) and elder statesman, Olu Andah Wai-Ogosu, an engineer, signed the charter on behalf of Rivers State.

This happened after Prof. Ebiegberi Joe Alagoa signed on behalf of Bayelsa State on November 4.

Sataah said the charter would continue in other Niger Delta states to collate signatures.

He said: “The Niger Delta Peoples Charter will continue its journey to other Niger Delta states to collate signatures. It is expected that 70 persons will sign the charter, including representatives of  ethnic nationalities in the region and pan-Niger Delta groups.”

The Niger Delta Peoples Charter, scheduled for unveiling on February 23, 2022 will commemorate the 55th anniversary of the declaration of the Niger Delta Republic by the late Major Isaac Adaka Boro.

It contains five critical demands, including the urgent need for the Nigerian constitution to be revised as recommended in the recently convened national conferences.

Ethnic nationalities of the oil-rich region, under the auspices of Niger Delta Congress, on October 8, in Yenagoa, adopted a charter of what they termed their “inalienable rights”.

They warned that failure by the Federal Government to adopt a constitution that captures these rights in the shortest possible time will leave Niger Delta people with no option, “but to exercise our rights to self-determination as a people, independent of the Nigerian federation.”

 

The 10th substantive Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Prof. Lilian Salami, yesterday disclosed that cases of more than 500 students, who had overstayed in the institution, were looked into by the university’s Senate and granted amnesty to graduate from the system.

She said during the 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 academic sessions, 282 students graduated with first class, comprising 125 for the 2018/2019 session and 157 for the 2019/2020 session.

The no-nonsense Salami, who is the second female VC of UNIBEN, after the strict Prof. Grace Alele-Williams, spoke at the Senate chambers of the university while briefing reporters on the combined 46th and 47th convocation, 51st Founders’ Day and the golden jubilee awards’ ceremonies, to hold between November 22 and 27.

In the 19-page address, the vice chancellor said: “We have successfully introduced the blended teaching methods through e-learning and physical teaching process, as a fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. To achieve that, a Directorate of Quality Assurance was established to standardise academic activities and ensure quality service delivery, across all academic programmes in the university.

“We have also introduced a method whereby certificates of the graduating students are available for collection, right from the day of the convocation.

“With the combined 46th and 47th convocation, five personalities have been nominated by the Governing Council and Senate for honorary doctoral degrees, including Lt.-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd.), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Dr. Natalia Kanem, Mr. Oluwakemi Pinheiro, SAN, and Dr. Thomas Ilube.”

Salami, the co-chairperson of the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, who is also the newly-elected vice-president of the Association of African Universities, said nearly all the programmes at UNIBEN had been fully accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC), with only about 12 awaiting accreditation, out of the 118 existing programmes.

She noted that the university’s 22 programmes that were recently accredited by the NUC were scored 85 per cent and above, and thanked the workers that made the feat possible.

 

THe proposed Egrangbene kingdom in Burutu Local Government of Delta State has come to stay, said the Pere-elect, Henry Ambakaderemo Okrikpa.

He urged his subjects to pray that the Delta State Government should hand him a staff of office.

Okrikpa was addressing Egrangbene people, who gathered at his home in Ekpan community, Uvwie Local government, to finalise the settlement of the 13-year-old legal battle between Egrangbene and Ojobo kingdom over the proposed traditional stool.

He advised the indigenes to live harmoniously with the people of Ojobo.

“All what has happened before now and right now is the act of God. Do not blame anybody. As you go home, shed your pride and pray for the king to get the staff of office.

“All suits will be suspended. Egrangbene kingdom has come to stay. We are no more under Ojobo kingdom,” the Pere-elect said.

While members of Ojobo Kingdom failed to attend the ceremony due to some logistical issues, their lawyers, Benedict Ekpesa and Greg Okoro, were present.

Counsel for the people of Egrangbene, Prof. Osas Izevgbuwa, was also present.