The Nation Newspaper

Category: Southeast report

  • Anambra community reviews security architecture

    Anambra community reviews security architecture

    • •Plans to establish fire brigade centre

    Oba community in Idemili South Local Government of Anambra State has disclosed plans to review its security strategies and strengthen security architecture, to address security challenges in the area.

    Newly elected President General of the community, Uzochukwu Ejiofor, an engineer; who dropped the hint shortly after his victory, following election of Oba Patriotic Union (OPU), said restoration of peace and unity among members of the community would be top priority in his administration.

    He disclosed plans to establish a standard fire brigade centre to curb incessant fire outbreaks in the community.

    He said: “The expectations of the great people of Oba will be met because our tenure will be as transparent and focused as possible.

    “We have had serious security challenges in the past, but we are going to review our security strategies and strengthen the security architecture to forestall future occurrences.

    “We look forward to restore peace, unity and dignity of our people, as key agenda of our administration. I will soon present a detailed development agenda for the community.”

    Declaring Ejiofor winner in a keenly contested election, Electoral Committee Chairman, Mr. Liberty Maduekwe, said Ejiofor polled 370 votes to defeat his only opponent, Ogechukwu Obasoanya, who secured 179 votes.

    Transition Committee Chairman of Idemili South Local Government, Amaka Obi, described the election as critical in view of the community’s strategic position to the council and the state, stressing that government presence was to ensure peace and orderliness of the exercise.

    She advised the newly-elected town union executives to work in accordance with the community’s constitution as they carry everybody along in their developmental efforts.

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    Congratulating the new executives, Regent of the town, Prince Noel Ezenwa, urged them to ensure Oba remained united while bond of brotherliness among them be nurtured at all times.

    He said the community had through the election, demonstrated their preparedness to begin journey of rebuilding their homeland.

    Chairman of the outgone interim government of the community, Sir Osita Ubadi, described the election as one of the most transparent conducted in the history of the community.

    He urged the new leadership to work towards giving the community a befitting traditional ruler.

    A stakeholder in the community, Prof Austen Azubogu, praised the advisory role of Idemili South Transition Committee Chairman, Hon. Obi, in ensuring that the elections were successful and concluded in a transparent manner.

    The Nation gathered that absence of executives had contributed to delay in electing a new traditional ruler, as all forms of crime, including youth restiveness, sale and encroachment of communally-owned land held sway in the community occasioned by lack of leadership.

  • Ugochinyere hails Abbas, Kalu, Bichi over speedy passage of 2024 budget

    Ugochinyere hails Abbas, Kalu, Bichi over speedy passage of 2024 budget

    A member of the House of Representatives, representing Ideato North and South federal constituency of Imo State, Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere Ikeagwuonu, has hailed Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, Deputy Speaker Hon. Benjamin Kalu and chairman of the Appropriation Committee, Hon. Abubakar Bichi, over the speedy passage of 2024 Appropriation Bill.

    Both chambers of the National Assembly held an emergency session on Saturday and passed the budget for the 2024 fiscal year.

    Speaking on the budget passage, Ugochinyere, who is the chairman, House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), said that Bichi’s competence, team spirit and all-inclusive leadership capacity made the passage of 2024 Appropriation Bill seamless.

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    According to him, all House members were impressed and Bichi has earned their confidence with the way he worked tirelessly with his colleagues to ensure that everything was concluded on time and the budget passed before the end of year 2023.

    Ugochinyere expressed optimism that Bichi will sustain the tempo set by the 9th House of Representatives on ending delay in annual budget passage, adding that the lawmakers will carry out their oversight function on Ministries Department and Agencies of government (MDAs) to ensure that budgetary allocations were judiciously utilised.

  • Yuletide: Nwankwo fetes over 2,000 Anambra residents

    Yuletide: Nwankwo fetes over 2,000 Anambra residents

    The chairman of Bigly Group of companies, Ichie Kennedy Nwankwo has celebrated this year’s Christmas with residents of Okija, Ihiala local government area of Anambra state.

    This year’s celebration which was filled with fun-fare, recorded a huge turnout from previous years. This is a yearly event sponsored by the Bigly Foundation, and this year’s celebration recorded over 2,000 residents joining in the celebration.

    Hosts of the event, the chairman, Abig Nwankwo as he is fondly called and his wife, who is also a co-founder of the foundation, Ambassador Lilian Chinasa Nwankwo were duly present in the merry-making that rounded up the end-of-year activities of the Foundation.

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    Food items such as bags of rice, groundnut oil and other household items were distributed to residents.

    Some of the residents were filled with gratitude and praises to the Abig Nwakwo Foundation for the kind gesture which has been an annual rite since 2012.

    Abig Nwankwo, a renowned businessman sits at the top of the board of Bigly Group, a group of companies with subsidiaries in different sectors such as Energy, Automobile, Food processing, Woods, Oil & gas among others.

  • Oil/gas hostcom demands inclusion in NDDC’s appointments, others

    Oil/gas hostcom demands inclusion in NDDC’s appointments, others

    Ekpeye Oil & Gas Pipeline Host Families Association (EOG) in Ahoada, Rivers State, has advocated the inclusion of its ethnic nationality in appointments to petroleum-related government agencies, especially Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    The association said the request was premised on the fact that Ekpeye ethnic nationality is feeding the economies of the states and the Federal Government through resources extracted from its land, unlike most members of the board of the NDDC.

    The National Chairman of the group, Dogini Chidi, made the call yesterday during its 2023 annual celebration and sensitisation programme, tagged: ‘Peaceful Coexistence in the Oil and Gas Host Communities.’

    Dogini described the neglect of the area as worrisome, saying about 45 per cent of present day crude is got from the area and there is nothing to show for it.

    The EOG boss, who stressed that the association was determined to redress the long time neglect and marginalisation of Ekpeye people by governments at all levels and the International Oil Companies (IOCs), boasted that the association was poised to make a difference.

    He said to succeed in its lofty vision, the group is ready to work with all strata of the society to change the narrative of decades of total neglect meted out to the people.

    Dogini said the lukewarm attitude of many individuals from oil and gas bearing communities had robbed them of many opportunities, but hinted that the sensitisation by the group on the social ills of the IOCs had awoken most of the people to the reality and their rights.

    He said EOG had made the people realise their rights in the oil and gas business, adding that through the group, the people had known what was due to them as oil and gas producing communities.

    He queried why the people would be lacking in the midst of surplus, and blamed the security challenges bedevilling the area on the insensitivity of the IOCs and their system of causing chaos and disunity in areas of operations.

    Dogini said: “We wonder why a people so richly blessed will wallow in abject poverty and total neglect. We, therefore, appeal to the Federal Government to redress the situation by appointing people of Ekpeye extraction into petroleum-related boards.  

    “On the excuse of the IOCs that the area is insecure, the companies are part of the problems we have in Ekpeye land. The companies come with a ‘divide and rule’ pattern.

    “They create division where there was none. What they are after is to extract the mineral resources and leave the people to their fate.

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    “This must stop. It is no longer business as usual. The companies must stop the business of bribing some little minds to cause crises in the communities. This will not be accepted any longer.”

    He commended the Federal Government on its pipeline surveillance contract initiative towards reducing illicit petroleum activities in the Niger Delta. 

    He called on the surveillance contractors to work hand in hand with the association if they must achieve the desired results.

    The EOG boss took the opportunity to call on Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited  (PINL) to improve on their community relations approach, saying there were grey areas and issues reported to the association against it, which are yet to be resolved.

    Dogini hailed Tantitta Security Ltd on its performances and robust engagement of community-based  stakeholders aimed at achieving maximal results.

    Speakers at the event called for unity of purpose and selfless sacrifice by members to achieve the group’s goals. They advocated peaceful agitation.

  • Mbah signs N521.5b Appropriation Bill into law

    Mbah signs N521.5b Appropriation Bill into law

    Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah has signed the N521.5 billion 2024 budget into law.

    He said it would engender economic growth, infrastructural development and efficient service delivery.

    Mbah, who said Enugu State 2024 Appropriation Law, comprising N414.3billion Capital Expenditure, representing 79 per cent of the budget, and N107.2 billion, representing 21 per cent of the budget would rely on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), urged members of the executive arm of government on robust revenue mobilisation and service delivery.

    Speaking during the budget signing witnessed by members of the House of Assembly, led by the Speaker, Uchenna Ugwu, as well as commissioners and other top government functionaries, at the Government House, Enugu yesterday, Mbah thanked members of the legislature for their support across party lines. 

    He said the expeditious passage of the budget was a product of executive-legislature collaboration during the making of the budget estimates, and listed the multiple gains expected from the 2024 budget.

    “What this budget signing means to the people of Enugu is that we are going to be spending over N400billion on capital projects next year. This is the first time in the history of the state that we are spending that size of funds on capital projects because we are spending 20 times more than what has been typically our Capital Expenditure outlay in Enugu State.”

    “We called this the ‘Budget of Disruptive Economic Growth’, based on the size of our Capital Expenditure. It also means that we are going to have large economic activities in Enugu State. You can imagine an economy that is typically used to doing N20billion Capital Expenditure now going to witness over N400billion Capital Expenditure. It is going to be monumental in the ways our people are lifted out of poverty and in the ways  economic activities will blossom.

    “Most important is that it is going to ensure that we address most of the gaps we have in our social services. In the education sector, the signing of this bill into law means that we are now looking forward to 260 smart schools across the state.

    “It also means we are looking forward to 260 Type-2 primary health care centres across all our wards in Enugu State. It means we are going to have radical infrastructural development.

    “We are going to build New Enugu City. We are going to have our roads paved. We are going to have feeder roads paved as well as the access roads to our farmlands.

    “We talk about scaling up our production in the agriculture sector. Our Special Agro Processing Zones will come to life. The signing into law of this budget today will ensure that we grow our agriculture so that it is not going to be just for food, it is also going to be for export. 

    “It also means that a new sector will be introduced, the energy and minerals sector, which we hope to use to drive our revenue. It means that our resources in that sector will be harnessed for the benefits of Ndi Enugu.”

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    On funding of the budget, Governor Mbah said: “We are talking about less than 12 per cent of our revenue size that we are going to borrow to execute this budget. That is enormous as we are expecting to mobilise over N300billion from our domestic sources, and this has not happened before.

    “What this means is that we are all going to work tirelessly to ensure that these revenues are realised. It also means that for us at the Executive Council, our meetings will largely be on our revenue performance.”

    The governor said his administration was taking other critical steps, such as the e-governance and automation of government services to ensure efficient service delivery.

    “We have gone to an advanced stage on the e-governance initiate. This is going to ensure that our citizens in Enugu are able access government services without the need of actually going to the ministries or to the banks,” he said.

    Governor Mbah, however, appealed to the people of Enugu State to bear with the administration over some inconveniences the transformation efforts may entail, saying efforts will be made to mitigate the pains occasioned by policies such as expansion of roads. 

  • Soludo signs N410b 2024 budget

    Soludo signs N410b 2024 budget

    • Resumes work four days after dad’s burial

    Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo has signed the 2024 Appropriation Bill into Law.

    The 410,132,225,272 billion naira budget was presented to the House of Assembly on November 21, 2023.

    By signing the bill into Law, the state government is now empowered to implement its provisions in the 2024 fiscal year.

    Prof. Soludo performed the function at the Government House in Awka, four days after the burial of his father, Pa Simeon Nwankwo.

    The budget was 57.8 per cent higher than that of the 2023 budget, which focused on infrastructure development, education and health care.

    Soludo thanked stakeholders who had been involved in the process.

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    He said the House of Assembly worked very hard to see that the law met the needs and aspirations of Ndi Anambra. 

    He said with the budget in hand, the transformation of the state, using the five pillars of his administration, “will now begin.”

    The governor said infrastructure and human capital were among the front burners of the budget plan. 

    He equally signed into Law the bill that repealed Anambra State Publishing and Newspaper Printing Corporation.

  • Delta govt to clamp down on illegal motor parks, markets

    Delta govt to clamp down on illegal motor parks, markets

    Delta State Government has warned that it would shut down unauthorised motor parks and markets in Warri and Uvwie in Delta South Senatorial District next year.

    Warri, Uvwie and Environs Special Area Development Agency Director General, Godwin Ejinyere, said the January 2024 deadline is to enable the agency restore the beauty of the oil city.

    Ejinyere, who spoke in Effurun on Christmas Day after a drive round both cities, said the areas included Jakpa, Airport and Enerhen junctions, Udu Road to express junction in Ovwian, Effurun roundabout, tankers park and express junction by refinery bridge, and Ugbuwangue junction along NPA expressway.

    Others are PTI junction, DSC roundabout, Ugbomro, Otokutu and Mofor junctions along the DSC expressway, Okumagba Estate, Okere Market, Warri Main Market and Igbudu Market by Hausa quarters, DDPA, Ugborikoko and Edjeba junctions along Airport Road and Ekpan roundabout in Ekpan.

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    According to him, these areas have been illegally used as motor parks for indiscriminate parking and loading of vehicles, especially tricycles, along the roads and at road junctions.

    He said broken down vehicles abandoned on the roads would be impounded by government agencies working in synergy with his agency, to bring sanity to both cities.

    He said owners of such vehicles would be sanctioned by a mobile court.

     Ejinyere said unauthorised markets in any part of the oil city would be shut, adding that such markets had compounded the chaotic vehicular traffic situation.

  • Enugu proposes prerogative of mercy on release of prisoners

    Enugu proposes prerogative of mercy on release of prisoners

    Enugu State Government has declared its readiness to adopt prerogative of mercy for the release of some prisoners. It said the proposal was one of its ways of decongesting correctional centres.

    Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Dr. Kingsley Udeh made this known when the Catholic Institute for Development Justice And Peace (CIDJAP) Human Rights group paid him an advocacy visit at the Ministry of Justice headquarters in Enugu. Although he did not say when the state government intended to begin the programme, Udeh reiterated Governor Peter Mbah’s readiness to actualise quick dispensation of justice in Enugu State “by proposing a prerogative of mercy.”

    Lauding CIDJAP for their effort in the past in rendering support to the prison inmates, the attorney general assured them of optimal service delivery, saying Governor Mbah is keen to actualise the core values of his administration in the justice sector.

    The leader of the CIDJAP Human Rights in the state, Prof. Monsignor Obiora Ike, told the commissioner that the group provided free legal services for prison inmates, who could not afford to hire a lawyer.

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    He said the group also reintegrated released inmates back to the society and provided free accommodation for the homeless ones.

    The cleric said the visit was to identify with the Attorney-General, reiterating their continuous collaboration and partnership with him.

    He enumerated the challenges facing CIDJAP to include lack of access to the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL), police interference and delay in filing of information that hinders inmates’ appearances in court.

    The cleric appealed to the state chief law officer to intervene in tackling the challenges, to enable them continue their services to the down-trodden.

  • Firm blames poor revenue at Warri port on ‘sharp practices’

    Firm blames poor revenue at Warri port on ‘sharp practices’

    A pilotage firm contracted by the Federal Government, Escravos Ship Pilot Nigeria Limited (ESPNL), has attributed sharp practices at the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to the poor revenue generated at the Warri Pilotage District in Delta State.

    The company is mandated to conduct pilotage services on ships sailing out of Warri Pilotage District and, according to the agreement, “the services shall begin from Ramos/Agge Anchorage/ Forcados River/Forcados Shoreline and disembark from the ship to Escravos Fairway/Forcados Offshore station not exceeding 10 nautical miles.”

    Raising the alarm, the firm claims the revenue, which amounts to millions of naira, is being shortchanged the NPA due to alleged collusion of operators of oil service boats and unidentified port officials.

    ESPNL’s Technical Director, Cpt. Charlie Tobi, briefing reporters in Warri, said operators of oil service boats within the operational area were mandated to sign or endorse their ‘Master Declaration Chit’ showing the particulars of the ship, the owners, agents, cargo type, the gross registered tonnage, among others, in the course of any voyage undertaken, “for NPA’s record and for the safety of the vessel.”

    Tobi, however, revealed that a sting operation carried out on operators of oil service boats in the area showed that majority of them had not been presenting for signing/endorsement of the mandatory documents, particularly the ‘Master Declaration Chit’.

    He said: “Investigations by ESPNL showed that majority of the recalcitrant Oil Service Boat operators have been colluding with unnamed NPA top officials who, in effect, have been letting them off the hook by issuing them what is known in the local parlance as ‘off record’, after receiving unspecified gratifications, thus diverting revenue due to the Federal Government to private pockets.”

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    “This is one of the reasons Warri Port is poor,” Tobi stressed, lamenting that “the bad eggs within the NPA have been sabotaging the good efforts of the Federal Government.”

    ESPNL has protested “this ugly development” to the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority, Koko Bello, urging him to intervene and sanction any port official found to be incriminated in the nefarious activities.

    Speaking about the development, a vessel owner (MV Whisky *9 Tug Boat), who gave his name as Alhaji, called for intensified sensitisation among oil service boat operators and other stakeholders, including maritime agents in Delta State.

    Another vessel owner, Joseph Fuludo, the owner of MV David Rhema, urged NPA to “step up efforts in its clearance operations, to checkmate sharp practices in the system.”

  • Otu warns contenders of Obong of Calabar throne over unguarded utterances

    Otu warns contenders of Obong of Calabar throne over unguarded utterances

    Cross River State Governor Bassey Otu has warned those flouting the state government’s directive on the settled matter of the Obong of Calabar stool, not to test the patience of his administration over their unguarded utterances and other actions that can disrupt peace.

    The governor, who spoke as a guest of honour at the 12th Utomo Obong Festival (homage to the Obong of Calabar), at Adiabo in Odukpani Local Government at the weekend, said it was unbecoming of certain individuals to make insinuations and provocative statements on a matter the government had taken a position on, following a ruling by the Supreme Court.

    He said: “Enough is enough! We have no problem with anybody or group seeking judicial remedy to whatever perceived grievances there are. But this government will no longer tolerate insinuations and provocative statements capable of truncating peace.

    “Power comes from God, therefore, whoever God has given power to should be supported by all. The state government has taken a position based on the law, and some people do not want to accept that. We will no longer tolerate any situation that threatens the peace of the state.

    “The Obong stool as one of the few Treaty Kings East of the Niger is highly revered and should be supported by all.”

    Otu said his administration would “partner the Palace of Obong of Calabar to seek classical and ancient sagacity in providing good governance for our people under a convivial atmosphere and consistent policy framework and implementation. 

    “The security, peace process, due diligence and decency demonstrated in Efik kingdom architecture have informed our numerous achievements in the state in the past six months.”

    He described His Eminence Edidem Ekpo Okon Abasi Otu V, the 78th Efik monarch, “as a man of peace, a champion of inclusiveness and an evolutionary cultural dynamo. 

    “His sterling reign has seen to the stable federation of the 12 Efik principalities. The establishment of Obong of Calabar Executive Forum as the fulcrum of his engagements with his subjects in Efik language development, educational support programmes and dynamic preservation of the culture and tradition of the Efik is highly commendable. This cultural fiesta is the icing on the cake, as it provides the platform for the tangible manifestation of the Efik ethos and cosmology.”

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    The governor hailed the royal father for his “calmness of mind and stability of disposition in the face of the challenges to the throne,” noting: “As a government, we salute the genuine approach to achieving peaceful reign over the Efik and the inhabitants of Calabar.”

    He informed the gathering of Efik sons and daughters, as well as well-wishers from far and wide of his administration’s resolve to build a befitting palace for the Obong.

    The gathering had in attendance the 12 clans paying homage to the Obong, as well as notable personalities like former governor, Donald Duke, Sen. Florence Ita-Giwa, Prof. Eyo Etim Nyong, Sen.  Asuquo Ekpenyong and Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Dr. Betta Edu.

    Mrs. Nella Andem-Ewa, SAN, was the chairman of the occasion, with High Chief Gershom Henshaw as the chairman of the Obong of Calabar Executive Forum.

    There were cultural displays by the Efik.