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The second round of debates for Ondo State deputy governorship candidates was held yesterday in Akure, the state capital, ahead of the October 20 governorship election.

The event was organised by the Nigeria Elections Debate Group (NEDG).

Six candidates were invited but five made it. Alhaji Ali Olanusi of the ruling Labour Party (LP) shunned the event.

In attendance were: Dr Paul Akintelure of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN); Saka Lawal, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Moses Losha, People for Democratic Change (PDC); Alonge Ahmed, Peoples Progressive Alliance (PPA); Babatunde Bidemi, Change Advocacy Party (CAP) and Cornelius Adefila, National Solidarity Democratic Party (NSDP).

Akintelure said the LP administration had abandoned the people, urging the electorate to deliver the state from such a “visionless” administration.

He promised residents of rural communities that they would benefit from an ACN administration because it is people-oriented.

The medical doctor promised that the people would reap real dividends of democracy under ACN, if voted to power next month.

The people, he said, would bid goodbye to poverty, which they have been experiencing under the LP since 2009.

Akintelure cited the ACN-controlled states of Osun, Ekiti, Oyo, Ogun, Lagos and Edo, where the people are enjoying prosperity.

Residents of the Sunshine State would start enjoying the benefits of a progressive government under ACN from February 13, 2013, he said.

Lawal said he would bring positive change to governance, adding that the PDP would bring economic prosperity to the state.

He said the PDP would provide jobs for youths, adding that all moribund industries would be reactivated.

On education, Lawal said rather than promote mega schools, through which the state’s resources were being siphoned, the PDP would improve on the infrastructure built by the former Olusegun Agagu administration between 2003 and 2009.

The PPA, PDC, and CAP candidates spoke on employment generation, security, education and infrastructural development.

The Akeredolu Campaign Organisation (ACO) described Olanusi’s absence at the debate as contempt for the people, adding that it was a sign that the LP has nothing to show for its three and a half years in power.

In a statement by its spokesman, Mr Idowu Ajanaku, ACO condemned Olanusi’s absence.

It hailed Akintelure for his articulation of ACN programmes for the Sunshine State.

The statement reads: “Indeed, Dr. Akintelure came tops. But with the absence of Olanusi, LP was robbed of the golden opportunity to roll out its achievements and convince the people of Ondo State on why they should vote for the party.

“This is clearly an admission of failure by the LP administration. Akintelure was able to expatiate on the programmes of the ACN on agriculture, which will utilise the various climatic conditions for fish farming, rice and cocoa cultivation. He said the ACN would create 30,000 jobs within its 100 days in office, if elected.

“This will be generated through Public Private Partnership (PPP) and various need-based agencies for waste management, traffic control, environmental sanitation and others; comprehensive health care to take care of father, mother and child and the people of Ondo State.

“He reiterated the fact that civil servants are not slaves, adding that their welfare would be paramount to the ACN administration. He was given a standing ovation by the audience and hailed across the state for his brilliant performance.

“Akintelure urged the residents to ensure an enduring change that would impact positively on the present and future generations. He advised the people to vote for ACN to replicate the glorious experience of the old Western Region through the present Southwest Regional Integration Agenda.

“Akintelure said: ‘We must do this for our children. Let’s keep our date with destiny on October 20.’

“For us at ACO, we want the Ondo State people to join hands with us to build an enduring legacy for the state. We must not be left behind. Ondo State residents, true to their nature, will exercise their will without succumbing to intimidation and the deception of the LP. They will vote Mimiko out on October 20.”

Look after your health. You need to be sound in body as well as in mind to be at the top of your job.

That was the message of the Eastern Naval Command of the Nigerian Navy to its officers and ratings in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, where it held a health workshop.

As a means of achieving good healthy, the Command organised a health awareness seminar with emphasis on family planning, management of combat stress and waste.

Flag Officer Commanding the ENC, Rear Admiral Olufemi Ogunjimi, said these were issues affecting them, stressing that “without health we cannot achieve anything.”

Ogunjimi spoke at length on the importance of family planning, advising personnel on what he termed the most importance thing in having children.

He said procreation is not as important as bringing up your offspring to be good citizens of the country.

The FOC who was represented by the Chief Staff Officer of the Command, Navy Commodore Obiora Mediani, also noted that the extensive use of the armed forces in internal security has put so much strain on them, hence the need for combat stress disorder management.

He also pointed out the need for efficient management of waste management as “most diseases are caused by dirt while a clean habit and environment brings good health.”

Drier plant to process for Southeast

Something remarkable is happening in Anambra State, but it is not in Awka, the capital, or Onitsha, the bustling commercial city. A fish factory in Adazi Nnukwu, some 20 minutes’ drive from the seat of government, has raised the profile of both the community and the state, providing jobs for youths and putting hunger at bay in many families.

There is more. The factory has the capacity to save Southeast fish traders the trouble of sourcing their merchandise from such far-flung places as Maiduguri, capital of Borno State. And, thanks to the plant’s hygiene standards, fish connoisseurs can vouch for the quality of what they eat.

Adazi Nnukwu, Anaocha Local Government Area of the state, has made history, hosting arguably the first quality smoked fish processing plant in the country.

It is the handiwork of a geologist turned farmer, Mr. Emeka Martins Iloghalu.

Newsextra visited him, discovering that many youths will be taken off the streets as the facility grows.

The smoked fish are well packaged, most of themsourced from the same facility, although its owner says it needs more.

The company, Tee Martins Aquaculture, produces dry fish, which are free of insects and sand.

Iloghalu left his well-paying job at Shell and oil service firms overseas to return to the rustic village of Adazi-Nnukwu to engage in fish farming.

He reckons that his fish are unique.

He said: “Our model here is that we don’t sell life fish because we don’t even meet our market demand of dry fish, hence we are looking for co-operation to serve the Southeast market and beyond. Even at this moment we have not gone totally mechanical because we installed 160kg drier plant that dries wet fish weight per batch.

“We need resources and expertise; that’s why we are training people to take over but we need managers that we can trust and develop to ensure youths are engaged while we develop other areas. We are proposing to erect our new plant in a 33-ft structure, two-storey building vertical expansion. We are installing a 750kg drier to ensure that our customers are satisfied with quality dry fish well packaged.

“I encourage people to go into fish farming to enable us meet the demand as our own fish pond is not enough to supply our fish requirements. We buy from various fish ponds around to meet up, so if fish farmers increase we will be able to buy them and meet up demand’’.

Iloghalu’s passion for the business inspired his wife, a lawyer, Mrs Justina Iloghalu  and their children Emmanuel, Deborah and Esther to understudy the head of the family. They aslo appear to have mastered virtually everything in the fish factory, especially the pond.

Iloghalu also encourages youths to engage in fish farming, saying one female fish can give birth to over 40,000 fish. He adds that with the availability of mobile fish ponds and incubating machines in addition to a ready market, Anambra youths will thrive in the business.

Iloghalu equally advocates the establishment of aquaculture clubs in schools and colleges as a means of promoting fish farming at a minimal cost using mobile fish ponds produced by his company.

“Mobile fish pond is a viable venture and I recommend it for schools and colleges through aquaculture clubs or catfish clubs because once you have experience and acquire the skills through the mobile fish pond, the fund will come and viable ventures will start.

“I can supply the equipment because it can be of great assistance in actualising the MDGs especially with the drilling of boreholes in schools and communities so water is no longer a problem. We can have fish labs and fish farms in schools since there is free water supply. Mobile fish pond can fit into any place and can be set up anywhere. There is no limitation and it can generate N180,000 after every four months with 250 fishes.

“People preparing for retirement and people thirsty to create employment can cue into the mobile fish pond because it is the best way to start preparing for expansion. It is age-friendly and less tasking. I can supply the equipment.

“My drier for now contains 150 fishes in a row in five chambers of 1kg each.”

On why he left his lucrative job, he said: “It is passion that is driving this because I left my job of $15,000 a month and others more than that to return to the village to promote fish farming because if I have this dry plant and fish ponds, I will engage Nigerians and, by that, I am adding value to my people. We have a facility with the bank and we are encouraged by that because we had expected that somebody will say we have not been in Anambra. If we have the expertise we will install our equipment.

“We are operating at about 30 per cent of our installed capacity. It is not bad but not cheery, so the more many engage in mobile fish farming , the better for us. We don’t have enough human resources and expertise but we are looking for them and I am re-strategising hard to share my knowledge with youths like me.

“This pond here can raise 25,000 fishes…in four months. We have the equipment for intensive system but we do between flow through system and intensive system. For fingerlings production we can produce 150,000 to 200,000 fingerlings in four to six weeks.

While in oil services, Iloghalu invented a smart way to interpret depositional environment using core samples. That caused a stir in the oil industry and he was invited to Spain to talk to oil decision makers and chiefs at an International conference. He did it with Shell, then Slumberger hired him, offering higher wages and took him to every continents except Australia.

His passion was in the operating system and the arrangement was to have a one and half-year patent but was not getting to Research centres as agreed. The job became a routine for him and he resigned to avoid being frustrated.

He said the “only logical thing was to invest at home” and he experimented hatching fish, raising them to table size, harvest and dry.

He has a special scheme for NYSC members to teach them to become successful fish farmer, even with mobile fish ponds.