Category: Southeast report

A sickle cell warrior, Anthony Asiemo, 32, has appealed to Nigerians to assist him offset a loan he obtained for a knee replacement surgery.

He said he was diagnosed with avascular necrosis, a sickle cell condition where the bones start dying due to inadequate supply of blood to parts of the body, in 2019, adding that the condition was discovered in his shoulders and left knee.

Asiemo said his savings for the past seven years of working with one of the first generation banks were used for the surgery, which was done in April at Capitol Hill Hospital, Warri, Delta State.

He said the bank and relations assisted him financially, adding that the remainder of the money for the operation was obtained through a loan.

“The surgery I did cost N5million. Since the operation, I have not been stable financially. I have been paying debts upon debts.”

Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi has ordered the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state to pay a fine of N5million for contravening Executive Order 3 of 2022.

The order prohibits parties from using public places such as schools, parks and markets, among others, for political activities without seeking and obtaining clearance from the state government.

The order, signed by the governor in November, also prohibits political parties from using critical infrastructures for pasting posters without obtaining state’s clearance.

The order for the fine imposed on the APC in the state is contained in a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Uchenna Orji, yesterday in Abakaliki.

He said Governor Umahi was saddened by parties’ continuous pasting of posters on electric poles, meridians, concrete roads, and on flyover bridges.

“These parties include APC, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP) and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

“When APC launched its presidential and governorship campaigns in the state, it littered the infrastructures with posters and that made other parties to follow suit.

“Most of the critical infrastructures have been littered with posters against the laws of the state government and the Executive Order regarding the pasting of posters and billboards,” the statement noted.

Orji said noted that Governor Umahi had consequently decided to use his political party, the APC, to set example as a deterrent to others.

“The party is thus fined N5 million for contravening the law and the Executive Order.”

“The APC must pay the money to the state’s Internally Generated Revenue account and obtain a receipt.

“The party should publish the payment in all media platforms, including the social media, before December 31 or risk paying a default fee of 50 million,” the statement read.

Umahi also ordered the APC to remove all posters on pasted infrastructures before December 31.

“The governor has decided to forgive other political parties and appeal to them to remove their posters on critical infrastructures before December 31.

“They are to desist forthwith from defacing our facilities or face similar penalty like the APC in Ebonyi.

“The governor appeals to political parties not to take this benevolence as a sign of weakness.

“Government will seal off all secretariats and campaign offices of parties that fail to remove their posters or desist from continuous pasting of posters on critical infrastructure,” he said.

Orji also said Umahi had banned street campaigns.

“He has directed local government chairmen, Commissioner for Youths and Sports and Commissioner for Education, among other aides, to process applications of political parties intending to use infrastructures for campaigns.

“Any party that is denied such opportunity and has complied with the laws of the state and the Executive Order must report to the governor.

“Affected parties can also report to the Commissioner of Police or the Director of the State Security Service within 24 hours for approval,” the statement said.  

From Emma Elekwa, Onitsha

The Transition Committee Chairman, Oyi Local Government of Anambra State, Mr. Emmanuel Nweke, has said there would be a rancour-free transition process for the replacement of successor of the monarch of Ogbunike, Igwe John Umenyiora, Ezedioramma 1 of Ogbunike.

Nweke, who spoke at the weekend at the celebration of the last Ofala of the monarch, said as an enlightened community with regard for tradition, he had no doubt the exercise would be peaceful and devoid of bitterness.

He said: “I know Ogbunike as a very enlightened community. They always believe in superior ideas and arguments when such matters arise.

“I know that transition of a new king of Ogbunike kingdom will be peaceful and orderly. Tradition will be fully respected. This I can assure you. There’s no cause for alarm.”

Describing the departed royal father as a quintessential, first-class traditional ruler, who touched the lives of his people and beyond, Nweke expressed joy that the ceremony was held during his tenure.

He said: “I’m happy that the people of Oyi, Anambra and Nigeria in general are here today to pay last respect to the last Ofala of a quintessential, first-class traditional ruler, who has touched several lives in several ways.”

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The Legal Adviser to Igwe’s cabinet, Chief Ogochukwu Onyekwuluje, corroborating Nweke on a peaceful transition, said the monarch’s replacement would be guided by the community’s constitution.

“When the throne will be declared vacant by Ogbunike Progressive Union (OPU) and Ogbuefi Council of Ogbunike, interested candidates will come out and necessary screening will follow,” he said.

Asked what the departed monarch would be remembered for, Onyekwuluje said: “In 1976, he became the monarch. He gave the community its first town hall, which he built and furnished. He also constructed Oye-Olisa market single handedly.

“The Boys High School is one of his contributions to the development of the community. He offered scholarships to people of the community. He also trained Ogbunike indigenes.”

The President-General, Ogbunike Progressive Union (OPU), Comrade Chigozie Ikegulu, thanked God for giving the community a selfless monarch.

He prayed that his successor would surpass his achievements.

“Igwe Umenyiora brought the community to the limelight and world map. We pray we have a successor that will surpass his achievements.

“But I tell you, it will be difficult to get because Igwe not only has the wherewithal, but also has the interest of the community at heart, unlike the kind of leaders we have today, who have selfish interests.”

Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has given scholarship to a three-year old girl, Zoe Ebimie-Eleke, following her excellent performance at the Christmas Carol of Nine Lessons at the weekend.

The event, held at Gabriel Okara Cultural Centre in Yenagoa, featured little Zoe, who did a rendition on the “A to Z of Jesus Christ.”

The governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, in a statement quoted him as commending the parents for the values instilled in the toddler.

Read Also: Training, empowerment key to diverting youths from crimes, says Diri

“To see that very little girl of three years do what she came to exhibit is quite awesome. Henceforth, she will be under the scholarship of the state government,” Diri said.

In a short exhortation, the state pastor of the Church of God Mission, Bishop Bob-manuel Emmanuel, said one could only find fulfilment in Christ, no matter the level attained in the society.

He said there could be ups and downs, but Jesus brought light for all men to be saved from darkness.

Governor Diri and his deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, read the 8th and 9th Bible lessons from John 1:1-5 and Matt 2:1-6.

The Bishop in-charge of Province III Headquarters of Christ Holy Church (CHC) International, Rt. Rev. Stephen Obiemeka, has urged Christian couples to emulate the lifestyle of Joseph and Mary, parents of Jesus Christ.

The cleric, while preaching at the Aba Superintendency Headquarters of CHC, 7b, Ibo Road, Aba, Abia State during the Christmas service yesterday, advised Christians not to allow the celebration of the birth of Christ to be a burden on the family, but to mark the day within the limit of their financial capacities.

Taking his texts from Matthew 1:18-22 and Isaiah 7:14, he enjoined parents to be role models to their children, like Joseph and Mary were to Jesus.

Read Also: NEPAD chief urges Christians to emulate Christ

Obiemeka urged parents not to allow the reasons and blessings of Christmas to elude their families because of their desire to celebrate Christmas the way others do.

The Bishop, who expressed worry about the rising cases of pre-marital sex, said intending couples should emulate Joseph and Mary, who kept themselves before they were married.

He warned men who derived pleasure in beating their wives, stressing that mutual respect among couples as exemplified by Joseph and Mary fostered peace and unity in the family.

“They went back to their village to partake in the census. People should get involved in communal work as Joseph and Mary did.

“Men should emulate Joseph, who didn’t beat his wife, Mary, even when he was angry that the wife he was planning to marry became pregnant despite that they had not slept with each other.

“People should celebrate Christmas within their resources and shouldn’t make it a burden,” Obiemeka said.

Following speculations that the newly opened Second Niger Bridge has been closed, one of the engineers in the Ministry of Works, Martins Oluwaseyi, has said it’s not true.

He told The Nation yesterday on the phone that people should disregard social media rant, saying the bridge was functional and commuters were using it.

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, SAN, visited the second Niger Bridge on December 14, where he said it would be opened temporarily the following day to decongest the first Niger Bridge. 

On December 15, the bridge was opened and since then, motorists have been making use of it, though on a low key, because some vehicles, especially trucks and other articulated ones, have been barred from plying the bridge in the meantime.

But despite the temporary opening of the bridge, which excited the minister and the residents of Delta and Anambra states, he declared that there were some works to do on the bridge.

Read Also: Second Niger Bridge improves traffic flow by 40 per cent – FRSC

However, Fashola warned motorists plying the bridge to drive safely and responsibly, in order not to defeat the purpose of constructing the project.

Reacting to the rumour of the closure yesterday, Oluwaseyi, who conducted the minister round the bridge, told The Nation that those peddling such rumours were the real enemies of the people.

He said: “That bridge was opened on December 15 to ease the pains of travellers and it will be like that till January 15, 2023 to allow the contractors put some finishing touches on some portions.

“I don’t know the joy some people derive in creating problems. Instead of being grateful to the government and contractors handling the project, they are trying to create some negative impressions. The bridge is not closed, please, forget the rumour,” the engineer said.

He said the opening of the second Niger Bridge was just temporary for those coming home during the Yuletide, adding that it would be opened midnight on Thursday till January 1.

It will be closed on January 3 to remove some impediments and will officially be reopened again till January 15.

Fashola said the purpose of doing the bridge was to save lives and alleviate poverty occasioned by waste of man-hours resulting from gridlock on the old first bridge.

Edo State All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Oredo federal constituency  Osaro Obazee, has boasted that the party’s presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, God willing, will be next president.

He gave the assurance yesterday in Benin, at the inauguration of his campaign council, headed by Moses Idahosa, and kicking off of his electioneering for next year’s poll.

Obazee, a former Chairman of Oredo local government council of Edo, assured of his commitment to APC.

He said: “I wish to thank the leaders of APC in Edo State for the opportunity to fly the flag of the party, and the confidence reposed in me.

“Asiwaju Tinubu will be the next president of Nigeria, God willing. He performed excellently as the governor of Lagos State. So, he will do much better as Nigeria’s president.”

Edo Chairman of APC, Col. David Imuse (rtd.),  expressed optimism that all the candidates  would emerge victorious during next year’s general elections.

He said: “The 2023 general elections are very critical to us as a party. That is why we carefully elected our candidates. Osaro Obazee is a household name in Benin City. He is the most popular politician in Oredo Local Government Area  today.

“Let us work very hard. God has already decapitated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Some people are talking of ‘Obidients.’ Tell them that they have been ‘obidiently batified’ for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

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“On the days of the elections in 2023 and 2024, you will not see the names of candidates. You will only see the names and logos of political parties. So, vote for APC, for all the candidates and other members of the party, as well as our teeming supporters to sing the songs of victory.

“The Edo House of Assembly election is very important to us, because 2023 is the gateway to 2024, when governorship election will hold in the state.”

The Director-General of Osaro Obazee campaign organisation, Moses Idahosa, in his remarks, assured that he and other members of the campaign council would justify the confidence reposed in them.

He said: “Members of the campaign council are dedicated, loyal, trustworthy and committed members of APC, who were earlier at the forefront of winning elections in Edo. We have the capacity to deliver Hon. Osaro Obazee on February 25 next year. We will do our best, God helping us.

“We will ensure that the campaigns are issue-based. Our candidate, Hon. Osaro Obazee, is very easy to sell. He transformed Oredo LGA, as the council’s chairman, with the council’s secretariat, built in 1949, now wearing new looks and really befitting, through his efforts as the then helmsman.

“Obazee is a good man, who is always concerned about the welfare and betterment of the lives of his people, especially APC members, in his constituency. Let us work together to deliver Hon. Obazee.”

Idahosa also gave an assurance that Obazee, when elected, would ensure adequate representation, dynamic leadership and transformation of the federal constituency.

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has called on the judiciary to seek ways of pursuing child abuse cases to logical conclusions, instead of allowing them die in the hands of unserious prosecutors.

He said such cases could be accelerated before the Family Court by reassigning them to alternative prosecutors.

Wike spoke yesterday when he formally inaugurated the Rivers State Family Court at the High Court Complex in Port Harcourt.

The governor also unveiled the “Family Court Rules, the Guide,” and a book titled: “the Child, Ethics and the Law: a Simplified Law Guide for Children and Young Persons.”

Wike said often, prosecutors clandestinely withdrew prosecution of cases of child’s rights abuse frustrating such matter and denying justice to the child.

He urged the judiciary do everything possible to achieve the essence of establishing the Family Court, designed  to engender a child friendly justice system that would treat children with dignity and fairness.

He said: “As usual, nobody knows what may happen, but is there no way the legislature can say that in case the prosecutor is not coming for a case, the court, I am not talking about the presiding judge, but the judiciary, can on their own by funds available, hire another prosecutor(s) so that these cases do not die.”

The governor said children suffered defilement at early age, but lack of interest of prosecution to pursue such cases to logical conclusion serves as another form of injustice to children.

“Children, they suffer, most of them are defiled at their early ages.  Some people (lawyers) cannot stand firm to say that, look, I will not accept this, that I must prosecute the matter to the last to see that there is justice”, he said.

Wike pledged his support to the Family Court despite its establishment coming about 13 years after the state assembly first domesticated the Child’s Rights Act in 2009.

He advised against the attitude of giving excuses, which could hamper the operations of the court.

He said: “Frankly speaking, I am fully in support and I have to thank God. Students and pupils are here to see that every hope is not lost. You have an opportunity to see that justice is being done and I believe that with the presiding judge and his colleagues that will be working in the Family Court, they will make sure that justice is not only done, but will be seen to have been done.”

The presiding judge of the Family Court, Justice Suzzette Eberechi Nyesom-Wike, explained that the essence of child-friendly justice was to re-orientate and rehabilitate the child.

The court, she said, would also reintegrate, bring relief and redress to the child, and not inflict corporal punishment or hardship on the child, no matter the delinquency.

The National Population Commission (NPC) said yesterday that its e-recruitment portal for ad-hoc workers for the 2023 population and housing census had not closed.

The Federal Commissioner representing Anambra State in the commission, Mr. Chidi Ezeoke, spoke in Awka while declaring open a 10-day Zonal Level Training of Principal Trainers, in preparation for the head count.

He said the date had been extended to December 28 to allow more interested persons to apply, advising qualified candidates to take advantage of the extension.

Ezeoke said: “The recruitment is still on and will end on December 28. We had announced that it would end on December 10. But after the board met, they decided to extend it to allow more people register.”

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The commissioner said it was necessary to train the facilitators, who would in turn train the supervisors and enumerators at the state level, in view of the huge impact quality officers had on the outcome of the census.

He listed the objectives of the training to include preparing the second level trainers for a standardised census training and adequately teaching the concept and definitions for the exercise.

The state Director, Dr. Joachim Ulasi, said 260 participants, including 227 trainees, 25 facilitators and zonal coordinators would participate in the exercise.