The Nation Newspaper

Category: SouthEast

  • New estate opens in Enugu

    A multi-billion-naira housing estate named Jedidiah Gardens has been inaugurated amid fanfare in Enugu. The estate is the fifth developed by the Copen Group in Enugu with a total of 239 three-bedroom housing units.

    The group managing director of Copen group, Rev (Surveyor) Ugochukwu Chime during the commissioning thanked all those who made it possible to achieve the feat.

    He was particularly grateful to the Enugu State Government, Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria.

    Elated Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State ýsaid at the occasion:

    “I will start by congratulating the COPEN Group and particularly, the Managing Director/CEO, a worthy and exemplary son of Enugu State, Rev. (Surveyor) Ugochukwu O. Chime, on the completion of yet another Housing project in Enugu State.

    Indeed, with the several housing estates, plazas and other projects that the Copen Group has built in the State, we are proud to say that we have found in the company, a veritable and reliable partner in our quest to provide affordable housing for our people and to develop new urban settlements that will help boost economic activities and reduce the current pressure on the state capital.

    “There is no doubt that this estate would help to provide more decent and affordable shelters for our people and also boost housing development and ancillary activities in the state. It also comes as a welcome complement to the current efforts of the state government to attract investments and create jobs and wealth for our people. We use this occasion to reiterate our resolve to do whatever is necessary, to ensure a conducive environment for such investments or ventures to flourish in Enugu State.

    “I want to thank the Federal Mortgage Bank and other partners of Copen Group for their commitment to the actualisation of this project and many others across the State.”

    Those who were allotted houses in the estate were presented with keys to them.

    Bishop Amaechi Nwachukwu performed the dedication ceremony.

  • Hoodlums torch police station in Abia

    Hoodlums have attacked a police post in Ahiaukwu Olokoro, Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State, setting ablaze property worth millions of naira.

    The invaders burnt an operational vehicle, a commercial tricycle and broke the windshield of a Volkswagen car parked within the police station, The Nation learnt.

    The situation, our reporter gathered, triggered fear among the residents who said activities of criminals have been on the increase in the area in recent times.

    Some of the residents who spoke anonymously said they were afraid, adding that if hoodlums could attack a police post and get away with it, their lives and property are not safe.

    The residents could not confirm whether anybody was killed in the incident, but they said important police documents may have been destroyed.

    Abia State Police Command spokesman, Geoffrey Ogbonna could not be reached at the time of this report, but a senior police officer in the command who confirmed the incident, said that the police were on the trail of the suspects.

    According to the source, the police were working on intelligence gathered so far which they believe would aid them arrest the suspects.

    The source debunked reports that the hoodlums carted away arms and documents of the command, but confirmed that they facilitated the escape of two of the four suspected drug dealers and armed robbers earlier arrested by policemen attached to the police post.

    The source said the suspects were about to be transferred to Ubakala Divisional Police Headquarters before the hoodlums struck.

    The source vowed that the police would ensure that they tracked down the hoodlums involved in the invasion.

     

  • FMC Umuahia performs two kidney transplants

    FMC Umuahia performs two kidney transplants

    The Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Umuahia has successfully held two kidney transplants within two days  with kidneys it harvested in the hospital from separate donors.

    The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the Centre, Dr Abali Chuku has never hidden his desire to have kidney transplants brought closer to the people of the Southeast since he assumed office of the medical outfit.

    The surgeries and the transplant were performed by a team of medical experts from the University of Toledo Medical Centre, Ohio, United States of America led by Dr Obi Ekwenna with the support of James Ogbuka Umekwe and in collaboration with FMC doctors.

    The first transplant was done on  a 37-year-old businessman and native of Ohafia, Abia State whose name was simply given as Mr Oji. The donor was a 57-year-old civil servant simply identified as Mr Kalu.

    The second transplant was done on a 68-year-old medical doctor, a  native of Umuahia, whose name was given as Dr Charles. The donor was a 41-year-old security man, Mr Innocent.

    Speaking with The Nation after the operation, Dr Ekwenna confirmed that both donors and the recipients are doing very at the hospital’s intensive care unit.

    In their reactions, Oji said that he had kidney issues for about four years while Dr Charles disclosed he had his for four months and thanked God that their problems have been solved locally.

    Oji expressed gratitude to the FMC and its CMD Dr Chuku saying, “They provided a wonderful opportunity for poor people like us without the means to go abroad for transplantation. We also thank God for using the medical team to save our lives”.

    Dr Ekwenna the team leader and surgeon described the surgeries as not only successful and excellent by any standard anywhere in the world, but a thing of joy that they were able to conduct the surgeries with ease.

    He attributed the success of the feat to the dedication of the team, the hospital management and its Director Dr Abali Chuku and urged other medical heads across the country to borrow a leaf from the management of FMC Umuahia.

    Dr Ekwenna said, “Dr Chuku is a strong and committed leader, we met few years ago and he expressed the desire to have transplantation center in the South East part of Nigeria whee the FMC which he is he adding is situated and I pledged to assist with my Team in Toledo”.

    He explained that with the partnership which the FMC Umuahia and the University of Toledo have reached, “My team will work towards transferring Skills and return to Nigeria to render more professional assistance including doing more transplantations as soon as possible”.

    In his reaction the CMD of Abia FMC Dr Chuku expressed happiness that his vision of bringing such highly professional medical feat close to the people of the South East Nigeria has been achieved.

    Dr Chuku said that the success of the transplantation has been made even more meaningful as the hospital’s vision in Kidney Transplant Services will provide the cheapest, affordable and efficient destination for kidney transplantation in the South East.

    The Abia FMC boss explained that the hospital will perform 40 kidney transplantations next year 2018 and canvassed collaboration of the public in its bid to have more kidney transplantation.

    He disclosed that the FMC under his leadership got involved in Kidney transplant in 2015 when he was honored by the University of Toledo Ohio USA along with others from other countries.

    Dr Chuku said that the University is renowned globally for its skill in transplantation, adding that since his desire had always been to bring such medical feat down to this part of the country, I did not hesitate to take up the challenge when it came my way”.

    He said, “This university is globally known for kidney transplantation. After my induction into its Hall of Fame, I was asked what I would want the University do for me. And I chose establishing a Kidney Centre at FMC Umuahia.

  • Imo: Home of genital mutilation

    Imo: Home of genital mutilation

    Victims relive their ordeal as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) partners women’s rights group to stamp out Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Imo State.

    Despite recent discoveries on the dangers of Female Genital Mutilation and spirited efforts by concerned groups and stakeholders to abolish the obnoxious, age-long practice, it is still prevalent in Imo State, especially in its rural parts. Today, the state has the unenviable record of 68% prevalence, which is the highest in the country. Investigations have revealed that the case is rampant in Mbaitoli, Ikeduru, Oguta, Ngor Okpala and Ohaji/Egbema Council Areas of the state, where untrained practitioners, mostly women, wreak havoc with their blunt knives.

    Most of the victims still live with the scar of the mutilation, even though they are already aged. Over 30 girls between the ages of one to 25 have died in the course of this practice in the last two years, with a greater number suffering one form of deformity or the other as a result of infections resulting from the unsterilised knives used for the circumcision by the.

    Also a sizeable number of mothers, who went through the ritual, still tell their tale of horror. Ugonne Lazarus, a 50-year-old retiree, described her experience as harrowing, “I was circumcised at the age of nine and I lack words to describe what I went through. For many years I could not forgive my mother for allowing me go through that experience”.

    Speaking further, she said, “The practice is condemnable and anyone still engaging in it is still leaving in the Dark Age. We are appealing to government agencies to step up awareness campaign against Female Genital Mutilation”.

    Nzubechi Uneze, was not as lucky as she was left paralysed in one leg after she was circumcised at the age of nine. The 60-year-old said her ordeal started one evening when  she was lured to the home of a local female circumcision specialist.

    “My mother took me there that fateful evening and about six powerful women we met there pounced on me and pinned me to the ground and while I was struggling, a sharp pain engulfed my entire body and I became unconscious,” she said.

    “I woke up three hours later and I could not move my legs and I felt paralyzed from my waist down. That was how I gradually lost the use of one of my legs. Then I vowed that I will fight the barbaric tradition but as I grew up, I discovered that there is little I can do as an individual. The culture and tradition promote this practice and there is little or nothing we can do about it, except the government intervenes”.

    Hope is rising for the victims of the practice and others who are fighting the obnoxious practice and other  customs and traditions that undermine the rights of the women. A non-governmental organisation, the Women of Divine Destiny Initiative (WODDI) is partnering the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to curb the menace through awareness campaign and advocacy.

    Wife of the Imo State Governor, Nneoma Okorocha and founder of the NGO said that through advocacy and collaborations, the state House of Assembly has passed a bill criminalising the practice.

    “Female Genital Mutilation,” she said, “is a form of violence against women which is perpetuated by unfounded myth and baseless traditions. It is a practice that is very rampant in our region and unfortunately Imo State was found to have one of the highest prevalence rates of 68 percent.

    “In Imo State, intervention by UNFPA through the Ministry of Health, Women Affairs and Social Development has focused on five Local Government Areas of Mbaitoli, Ikeduru, Ohaji /Egbema, Ngor-Okpala and Oguta.

    “In spite of this intervention, it is noted that this practice is undertaken in our communities throughout the state and has been continuing unabated, parents especially mothers have been secretly indulging in the act, leaving the victims in perpetual agony and regrets.

    “This can no longer be allowed to go on.  It has therefore become imperative to end this harmful traditional practice”.

    She added further that the plan to eradicate FGM/C will be achieved through intensive grassroots awareness campaign in all the Local Government Areas in the state, with special emphasis on the areas with the highest prevalence rate.

    Also speaking recently during a one day workshop with some women from the twenty seven Council Areas of the state, wife the governor’s wife disclosed that a massive campaign to reach out to all women in the state to sensitise them on the dangers of Female Genital Mutilation has already commenced.

    She also informed that a law prohibiting FGM/C will soon be passed by the state House of Assembly.

    According to Mrs. Okorocha, offenders after the passage of the bill into law shall risk 14 years imprisonment or a fine of N250, 000 or both.

    One of the resource persons at the workshop, Ugochukwu Anozie, while emphasizing on the need to end the practice noted that FGM/C has been responsible for most Cesarean operations on pregnant women.

    He explained that the cutting of the Clitoris which is also known as clitoridectomy in a woman’s organ also erases sexual sensation and satisfaction in a woman.

    He said, “The clitoris has more blood vessels than any other part of the body, it has eight thousand, and when it is pressed or cut, messages that were supposed to be sent to the brain during pregnancy would have been cut and this sometimes explains why women go for Caesarean operation”.

    She also applauded the Imo State House of Assembly for passing the Female Genital Mutilation Law.

    She hinted that the law, which stipulated 14 years imprisonment and a fine of N250, 000, 00 or both, said that the Lawmakers have once again demonstrated the love they have for the women.

    According to the Governor’s wife who paid a commendation visit to the House of Assembly, the domestication of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP) which was enacted in 2015 by the National Assembly, is a testament that the state lawmakers had taken seriously the campaign by WODDI to end female genital mutilation and other obsolete practices that endanger the lives of women.

    She said, “In Imo State, the great Legislative House has not only domesticated this Act but prescribed more stringent penalties against the perpetrators which include; the arrest of the perpetrator by any law enforcement officer without a warrant of arrest, 14 years imprisonment, fine of N250,000 or both. The Legislative act by this honourable House has once again demonstrated the respect and love you have for your women.

    “It is also on this appreciative note that WODDI commend this House for othger Legislative provisions that bother on the Child Rights Act, widowhood practices and other related matters that provide protection for our women”.

    She however appealed to the lawmakers to enact a law that will abolish street hawking by children of school age, noting that the State under its free education programme, has made education mandatory.

    Earlier in his speech, while admitting the governor’s wife into the hallowed chambers, the Speaker, Rt. Hon Acho Ihim, commended her for her consistent campaign against practices and extant customs that impinges on the rights of the women.

    He assured her of the continued support of the House in her quest to abolish practices that endanger the lives of women or intimidate them in any form, adding that her campaign, led to the quick passage of the Female Genital Mutilation Law on March 6, 2017.

  • ‘We’re sorry for power outage’

    Two power firms, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) have apologised to communities in Enugu and Ebonyi states which have been in darkness since a fire destroyed a transformer supplying power to the communities.

    The communities are Ezillo in Ebonyi and Eha-Amufu in Enugu.

    The fire damaged the T1A power transformer at TCN’s station in Nkalagu, thereby putting customers in the affected area out of supply.

    A statement by the TCN public affairs manager, Enugu Region, Mrs Mary Philip-Udom said TCN engineers were already “at our Nkalagu T/S working to restore normal electricity supply to the affected communities.”

    “We are sincerely sorry for the inconvenience this unfortunate incident will cause our esteemed customers and assure them that normal supply will be restored as soon as the transformer is replaced.”

    Similarly, the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) in a statement by its head of communication, Emeka Ezeh apologised to its customers in the affected areas.

    It assured that the EEDC is making alternative arrangement to provide supply to the affected customers.

    “While this may not be adequate due to some constraints, we appeal to our esteemed customers to kindly bear with us,” the statement concluded.

     

  • $42.5m loan boosts Enugu estate project

    $42.5m loan boosts Enugu estate project

    A $42.5m loan has been secured for the development of the Enugu HELIU Residential Estate from China’s biggest bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).

    The approval was made under the guarantee of the Chinese Credit Insurance Corporation, (SINOSURE) for the construction of Duplexes, Electricity, Roads, Water and other ancillary facilities by the China Shenyang International Economic and Technical Cooperation Corporation Limited (CSYIC) in the HELIU Residences Project, located in Enugu on Enugu-Umuahia-Port-Harcourt Expressway.

    This was made known by Chief Loretta Aniagolu, the Managing Partner of F.I.T. Consult, the Nigerian Developer building the HELIU Project, in partnership with the Enugu State Government, after signing the Commercial Contract with CSYIC, recently in Enugu.

    She explained that the recent visit of the Chinese team led by the CSYIC President, Madam Tang Lezhen was for the final signing of documents with F.I.T. Consult, in respect of financing of the contract. “We wanted to bring the project with our own funds to a certain level before the Chinese come in, so that they don’t start from scratch and also, for them to know that we are very serious. We have finally tied up everything on this visit,” she said.

    Aniagolu said: “The bank funding for the project is from China, through the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) which is the biggest bank in the world, with its 2016 turnover at about  $2.3trillion US Dollars.

    The entire transaction of $42.5 million is being guaranteed locally by Access Bank PLC.”

    According to her, the interest rate is 4 percent while the period for repayment of the loan is eight years. “There is a two-year moratorium for construction of the projects and six years for the repayment. So it is a fantastic arrangement,” she said.

    Asked what happens assuming within eight years the loan is not repaid, Aniagolu who sounded optimistic said that F.I.T. Consult was quite sure of the market in the South-East zone of Nigeria, particularly with the country gradually coming out of recession and having already received deposits on over 50 percent of the serviced plots. “We’re sure of meeting the time frame,” she remarked.

    She further said: “Secondly, we are also working with the Imperial Mortgages Limited who is providing mortgages for home buyers, making it easier for them to pay for the houses.  Presently, of the 60 bungalows we’ve done so far, most have actually been sold on a cash basis, while Imperial Mortgages is providing mortgages for the rest. So, we have an arrangement where we are sure that in those eight years or less, we should be able to repay funds. And ‘we’ here means F.I.T. Consult. We are quite confident.”

    So far, over N2billion has been spent on various aspects of the project, such as earthworks, twenty kilometres of drainage, culverts, buildings, etc.

    According to Aniagolu, “people can hardly see the extent of work going on right inside the entire1.2 million square meters of the Project Area, from the highway, except they drive into the District. The amount of Works so far is enormous and the Chinese team was truly impressed.”

    She further remarked: “If you go in there, you will see where we are excavating for the Dam for independent water supply; and with this loan, we shall bring in the Water Treatment Plant. So if you live within HELIU,   you can just drink water from your tap, like it is done in any other developed city. You don’t need to boil water before drinking    it. As for Electricity, we expect to generate using Low Poor Fuel Oil, (LPFO), to provide independent power supply to the District.”

  • Aba traders bemoan high taxation

    Shop owners and wheelbarrow pushers in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, have appealed to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to rescue them from what they described as high taxation.

    Some of the shop owners and wheelbarrow pushers, who spoke with our reporter in different parts of Aba, said that the situation has become worrisome.

    They called for urgent and pro-active measures against over taxation and high rate of touting in the commercial city.

    They also expressed fears that the purported government agents may not have been remitting the monies they “forcefully” collect from the traders.

    Some of the traders and shop owners used the opportunity to commend Governor Ikpeazu for dissolving leaders of various markets in Aba who they accused of siphoning government funds.

    According to shop owners at Umuode in Osisioma Local Government Area Council while reacting on the excess taxation said “Some people from the village came here and said they’re collecting 2000 naira. They said they are task force people and they came with some members of Bakassi Boys.

    “If you said that you don’t have the money that they were demanding, they’ll seize some of your goods even worth more than the money they want. “

    Some of the traders at Allen Market, including a woman that gave her name simply as Comfort, lamented that the high level of taxation which they are subjected to is having serious negative impact on their businesses.

    “They are killing us here with levies. I don’t know the government they are working for; whether it’s Osisioma LGA or the state. Most of the women in this petty market don’t have goods worth up to 15,000 in their shops and someone is forcefully collecting 1000 from them.

    “Just recently they announced that we must pay for fire extinguisher. Tell me, of what use is it to us?  Yes, every sane mind will say it’s necessary, but this government people are using necessity to collect money from the wrong hands. If they go to Ariaria or any other normal markets to demand for fire extinguisher I’m sure they’ll pay for it without wasting time, but definitely not here. This market is a petty market. Where will they keep them, what are they extinguishing and will they even buy it?  We’ve said we’ll not pay, but no one knows the measures they’ll apply to get it from us.

    “Again, they came up with another issue again that they want to build hall. And because of that, all the petty traders must pay 3000 Naira each. This one I’m telling you now is the new problem we are facing. If you put all the levies I’ve said together it’s now N5000.

    “That is what human beings with conscience want petty traders that barely have goods worth N15,000 naira to pay to them in this difficult period.  I’m telling you this because I’ve sold the fear in me.

    “As you noticed, most of the women here are afraid to talk because the faces of those who usually come to collect these levies aren’t what one should wish his enemies to have problems with them.

    “The vigilante came to collect the N1000 for security here, but after several negotiations the line chairman it was later agreed that they should pay N500.”

    A wheelbarrow pusher who gave his name as Uchenna said “We, the wheel barrow and truck pushers were told to pay N1000 each and we started paying since last week with receipt issued to them. Our own is called wheel barrow/Truck License.

    “They collected N1000 from all of us and gave issue us a receipt and something looking like aluminum label to paste in the trucks/wheel barrow. This one is by Osisioma LGA.  And they are using Vigilante boys as task force.”

     

  • Philanthropists bring Yuletide joy to Imo community

    Philanthropists bring Yuletide joy to Imo community

    For the residents of Amandugba in Isu Local Government Area of Imo State, the forthcoming Christmas and New Year festivities have begun on a joyful note, courtesy of one of their sons based in Canada, Mr. Bernard Uzoagba and his wife, Sarah.

    The couple came calling in the community unannounced with clothes, shoes, bags and money for the people in the spirit of the season.

    The event, which took place at the Central Primary School, Amandugba, was attended by the Parish Priest of St. Damian’s Catholic Church, Rev Fr Remigus Nnorom and many dignitaries.

    The donor, who is also the managing director of One Skill Charity Foundation, noted that his concept behind distribution of the items began in 2012. According to him, it was aimed at putting smiles on the faces of Amandugba residents, especially the children and the aged.

    Uzoagba added that the gesture would be extended to other communities in the state’s local government areas.

    The businessman said he was not a politician and has no intention of joining politics soon.

    He enjoined the people, especially the youths, to see the annual event as a way of his little contribution to their well-being, which he urged them to reciprocate by also giving out to others when they must have secured jobs in future.

    Uzoagba, who described the youths as the leaders of tomorrow, added that his foundation has concluded arrangements to inaugurate a free skills acquisition school in the community to would help in curbing unemployment.

    The school, he noted, would provide the youths with skills on how to make bread, hairdressing and barbing, plumbing, electrical fittings and others.

    “Right now we are constructing a skill acquisition free school that will be going round the local government starting from here to all parts of Nigeria, if God permits me. The mobile school is under construction. We have bought the land for the centre and spent over N2 million on it,” the man, who is popularly call Big Ben, said.

    Since 2012, the 33-year-old and his 30-year-old wife have given out over 43,000 exercise books, including pens, pencils and school supplies to the children in the community and surrounding villages.

    He said: “We are not only distributing the items in this community. Before getting here, we gave out 13 bags of these items to Christian faithful at Redeemed Churches in Aguda, Surulere and many bags to Dustbin Village in Okoafor, Ikotun, Isolo area, Lagos. In another Lagos church, we gave out bags to people to start business with the items. At an Anglican Church in Owerri, we gave out 10 bags to the members.

    “In the past, we gave out medical provisions, over 250 bags of 10-kilogramme rice, over 25,000 packs of spaghetti and salt as well as 3,000 children’s toys. The gesture is just to share joy to the people as preached by Jesus Christ our Lord.

    “We can do more if the Federal Ministry of Finance can to approve my charity import exempt certificate. We are considering reaching out to people in Canada to help. But the import duty will affect other aspect of our charity.”

    On the issue of governance and politics, Uzoagba called on the leaders to see their followers as their responsibilities and should place their needs higher in the scheme of things.

    He said: “Politics should be seen as a process or avenue to provide for the governed in the society and not the other way round. You are entrusted with a mandate, which God will call you to account for on the Day of Judgment.”

    Rev. Fr Nnorom called on the people, particularly those privileged, to emulate the donors’ kind gesture.

    The cleric noted that with additional hands, the community would grow.

    He urged the beneficiaries to always remember the donors in their prayers while asking for God’s protection upon them and their households.

    One of the facilitators of the programme, Mrs. Henrietta Madu, nee Uzoagba, said she volunteered to assist in actualising the programme by virtue of the donors’ concept, which centres on putting smiles on the people.

    She expressed her gratitude to the donors, enjoining them to keep the gesture afloat.

    Many of residents thanked the donors for the gesture, praying to God to bless them abundantly.

    Polities should be seen as a process or avenue to provide for the governed in the society and not the other way round. You are entrusted with a mandate, which God will call you to account for on the Day of Judgment

  • ‘How to cash in on Aba’

    ‘How to cash in on Aba’

    Churning out good products, as Aba entrepreneurs do, is fine but there are clear-cut ways to make good money from those products, especially if you are an exporter

    ‘Various speakers at the event said Abia State, owners of SMEs and freight operators would make more money, create job opportunities and improve the economies of Southeast states and the country’s economy if there would be favourable government policies that would protect local industry’

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s rhetoric and local content policy may have changed the story of Aba, Abia State’s city of commerce and enterprise. The city’s enterprise is well known, but the entrepreneurs have not always profited from that fame. Their products are not well packaged, and are sometimes dismissed as substandard. That is partly because the producers have little cash to boost their businesses, and also because Nigerians are fixated on everything foreign.

    Taking office in 2015, and with a drained, import-dependent  economy to manage, President Buhari stressed that the only way to recovery is Nigerians producing what they use. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has visited Aba to sink the message in and to stimulate local content growth. The state governor Okezie Ikpeazu has also worked hard to create the Aba brand, taking it with him everywhere he goes, tapping up investors. Their efforts are yielding fruit. Investors have started coming, and gradually the brand is shaping up. But there is more work to be done, said the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) in the Southeast. You have to make the product make more money.

    The NSC, which now has an office in Aba in anticipation of the increased volume of trade, organised a seminar for Small, and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs (SMEs) and stakeholders in shipping and freighting to educate them on how to profit from made-in-Aba products.

    Various speakers at the event were of the view that the state government, owners of SMEs and freight operators would make more money, create job opportunities and improve the economy of southeast states and the country’s economy at large if there would be favourable government policies that would protect the interest of the local industry.

    The participants at the event commended the NSC for such a laudable step towards equipping them with the right knowledge on the do’s and don’ts of exportation in order to prevent their products from being rejected for not meeting international standard.

    The participants, especially importers of raw materials and other products, also raised concerns over the deplorable state of roads in the Southeast, activities of the Nigerian Customs, poor supply of electricity in the region and Aba in particular. They also called for the construction of railway lines linking Aba to other parts of the country and for the federal government to provide technical assistance and market connections to entrepreneurs through the shippers and exports promotion councils.

    They also urged the NSC to mount pressure on major stakeholders to ensure that the Ntigha Isiala Ngwa Dry Port takes off for ease of doing business and reducing cost of moving goods within the southeast region and beyond.

    The stakeholders who lauded NSC over their roles in enhancing shipping business and protecting the SMEs, also called for a common facility centre (CFC) in Aba zone to support whatever they have been doing in order to promote the exportation of made-in-Aba goods.

    In her address, the Southeast Zonal Coordinator of NSC, Mrs. Ify Okolue said that the importance of the seminar cannot be overemphasized especially at a time when the federal government and most state governments were championing alternative sources of income.

    Okolue said that the kickoff of the Ntigha Dry Port remains a priority for government agency and stated that the multiplier effect of the dry port would touch on the facets of the state economy and that of the entire Southeast.

    She reassured the stakeholders of the agency’s commitment to ensuring that they do their business seamlessly.

    She said that the essence of the seminar which, according to her, would be regular, was part of the agency’s commitment towards ensuring that potential exporters have the necessary information about importation and exportation of finished and unfinished goods from Nigeria to other parts of the world. She added that a well-informed producer or manufacturer won’t have his or her goods turned back in terms of meeting the standard of exporting goods at the global scene.

    The Executive Secretary/CEO Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Hassan Bello said that the seminar was historic as it was expected to bring to limelight the industrial ingenuity and resourcefulness of the Aba man and woman as the federal government continues in its initiatives in the promotion of non-oil export potentials of the nation’s economy.

    He said, “Gone are the days when people derogatorily spoke about locally made goods of which the Aba business community has pioneered and driven over the years even without any encouragement. I want to place on record that if you were able to achieve some level of success in the sector when there was little or no support from the government, you have every reason to record much more success now that the government of the day is on your side.”

     

  • ‘Don’t let Igbo language die’

    ‘Don’t let Igbo language die’

    Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has expressed grave concern over what it called the gradual erosion of Igbo language, culture and values.

    The organisation therefore called on Igbo language experts, the governors of Southeast states and other concerned groups and individuals to establish a mechanism for translation of more English and scientific words into Igbo language and to establish generally acceptable Igbo vocabulary.

    The national vice chairman of Ohanaeze and former Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State, Prof. Chigozie Ogbu, expressed the concern when an Igbo interest group,  Igboekulie, organised a public lecture and presentation of awards to students, teachers, schools and individuals for promotion of Igbo language and culture, at College of Immaculate Conception (CIC), Enugu recently.

    “Language is a living thing which must grow, otherwise it will die. There must be new words in Igbo language. I appeal for translation of more English and scientific words into Igbo language,” Ogbu, who was the chairman of the occasion said.

    The President of Igboekulie, Prince Ben C. Onuora stated that the group, a non-profit organisation formed in 2015, was poised to among other things advocate for the promotion and protection of the economic, social, political and cultural values of Ndigbo as well as the revival of the Igbo language.

    Onuora said the group was worried by the recent postulation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), that Igbo language faces prospect of extinction by 2025 if preservative actions were not taken.

    He called on the Houses of Assembly in the Igbo speaking states in Nigeria to devote a day in every week for the conduct of their legislative business in Igbo language.

    Chairman of the planning committee of the event,  Prof. Chibueze Jiburum, had earlier noted that Enugu was chosen as the host for the event being the headquarters of Eastern Nigeria and that the state government supports Igbo language and culture.

    The Guest Lecturer, Prof.  (Rev. Fr.) Philip Ogbonna, blamed the erosion of Igbo culture and values on the decline in speaking and writing of Igbo language.

    Ogbonna whose lecture is entitled “Language; An Indispensable Tool in Keeping a Culture Vibrant”, stated that language is an ethnic identity, and any cultural group that loses its language has invariably lost its identity.

    The event featured cultural dance and drama displays by students, as well as presentation of awards of excellence in Igbo language to students, schools and teachers as adjudged by West African Examination Council (WAEC).