The Nation Newspaper

Tag: AGBOR

  • Chinese firm set to develop Inland Container Depot in Edo

    Chinese firm set to develop Inland Container Depot in Edo

    A Chinese firm, China Harbour Engineering Company (Nig.) Ltd, has indicated its readiness to go into partnership with Atlantique Marine Engineering Services, Edo Inland Container Depot,  known as AMES-Edo ICD on export.

    Mr Jason Wang, who led a seven-man delegation of the firm to the state on the invitation of Edo Government, dropped the hint on Friday in Benin.

    Wang and his team also visited the Gelegele seaport, the operational base of the AMES-Edo Inland Container Depot to assess the work done so far.

    Wang said he was impressed and that his firm would look at possible ways of collaborating and partnering with AMES-Edo to drive the project to its earliest conclusion and begin full operation.

    “We are impressed with the work done here so far. China Harbour Engineerng Company ( Nig.) Ltd will look at possible ways of collaboration to drive the project to its earliest conclusion,” he said.

    He said the team was in the state as a follow up to  Gov. Godwin Obaseki’s business visit to the company in China about three weeks ago where an MOU was signed by the state government and the company to develop the Gelegele Seaport.

    READ ALSO: Gelegele Seaport: China Harbour arrives Benin, commences work on project

    Dr Charles Akhigbe, Chief Executive Officer ( CEO ) of Atlantique Marine and Engineering Services, AMES, the promoters of the AMES-Edo inland container depot, said the organisation was confident that the proposed inland container depot would reduce the cost of export of agricultural produce and increase government’s GDP.

    Akhigbe disclosed that the port was just three steps from final approval for full operations to commence.

    He said  the project would create not less than 3,000 jobs for youths and provide the platform for exchange of knowledge between government and foreign investors.

    He also said that the container depot would emerge as the pioneer full-fledged inland container depot in Southern Nigeria to commence operation and would immediately serve the need of haulage services.

    According to Wang, the company has already commenced negotiation with the Federal Government to build modern railway lines as a primary mode for long distance haulage of cargo, noting that 75 per cent of Nigeria’s total export passed through Edo.

    “Discussion is ongoing with the Nigeria Railway Corporation to use BOT PPP mode to construct 110km short spur line from Agbor to Edo inland container depot.

    “For now the inland container depot will operate 100 per cent by road but in the next 6-10 years, 40 per cent will go by road while 60 per cent will be by rail.

    “The phases one and two of the inland container depot would accommodate 12, 000 units of 40ft TEUs and 8,000 units of 40ft TEUs with a maximum of 25,000 TEUs at any given time,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the Senior Special Assistant to the Edo Governor on Business Bureau, Mr. Edward Osayande, said the governor was committed to industrialising the state by encouraging public private partnership.

    He said the inland container depot was the central plank of the state government’s effort at creating jobs through industrialisation.

    He also stressed the need to bring the Gelegele Seaport, AMES-Edo inland container depot and Edo Industrial Park together to drive development in the state.

    NAN

  • What my experience in Agbor taught me about unemployment

    What my experience in Agbor taught me about unemployment

    Your organisation once held a programme in Agbor. What did it tell you about unemployment in the country?

    My first outing some years ago in Agbor, my home town, in Delta State was very revealing. I experienced firsthand the challenges of unemployed and unemployable graduates who were at a loss about how to begin life.

     

    What exactly is the mission IETA?

     

    The mission of IETA is to re-engineer small and micro enterprise value chain. Over the years, we have provided platforms for young people to express themselves and we are encouraged by the feedback we receive. I think to a large extent, we derive our strength from the fact that we have assisted some young people in discovering themselves and they have moved on with their lives.

    At the core of our mission is our belief that the solution to unemployment is entrepreneurship and this is captured in three perspectives: concept, capacity and capital.

    Entrepreneurship will not thrive outside these three things and we make this known people who pass through us. The truth is that most people believe that what you need first to do business and succeed is money. This is absolutely incorrect because there is more to entrepreneurship than funding. What this simply means is that in starting up a business you need an idea of what you want to do which forms your concept. Afterwards, you need to build your capacity which may require further education in the form of training or even coming to us at IETA where we mentor people. What follows next is capital which may come in the form of loan or assistance.

    Could you share you experiences particularly with regard to young entrepreneurs that pass through you?

     

    First, my understanding is that young people in tertiary institutions tend to believe that certificates are meal tickets to a good life. Over time, this belief has been proved wrong. But the most revealing experience I have had is that young graduates who come to us lack the necessary tools for life outside school.  Most of them had gone through school believing that one job or the other awaits them somewhere. But the truth is that there is no job anywhere, you can either create job or remain jobless. However, we have also discovered that some graduates believe that some jobs are beneath them so they look down on certain jobs. Part of our mentoring process is to let these idealistic young people know that there is dignity in labour; no job is beneath anybody who is willing to work. But more important, we have also discovered that many people have passion for entrepreneurship if only they have the right environment.

    Apart from the youth who are obviously high on your agenda, who again can likely benefit from your programmes?

    Entrepreneurship is not only for the young or those who are unemployed, it is for everybody. For instance, we have seen retirees who blew their gratuity in a matter of weeks and lived a miserable life afterwards. This is unacceptable in a thinking society. At IETA, our focus is human capital development, so who ever you are irrespective of age, sex or status, there is always a gap for entrepreneurial development. Take for instance, the public servant, part of our problem in public service today is insincerity and lack of patriotism. We know the damage corruption has done to our society today which has made nonsense of our efforts to build a great nation. This is why civics and ethics are taught in detail to those who pass through our programmes.

    How can Nigeria as a nation create more entrepreneurs and also address the issue of unemployment which is now global matter?

     

    As a nation, our biggest resource is our size. This is why practically anything sells here, from tooth picks, tissue papers and fabrics to phones, electrical appliances, drugs and even food items. In creating more entrepreneurs in Nigeria, we must therefore not lose sight of the fact that we must have up and running infrastructure, friendly government policies, eco business environment and enriched curriculum that would include robust vocational training. Ultimately, our desire is to get Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria my alma mater to establish a school of entrepreneurship which will serve as our pilot project.

  • Unending controversy over girl’s death in Agbor

    Unending controversy over girl’s death in Agbor

    What happened?

    My daughter, Radah Emuobosan Elsie Agbaje, was murdered on October 10 at Agbor in my younger sister’s house, where she was staying, by suspected student cultists from the College of Education, Agbor.

    She collected her result the upper Friday and she went to show her father the result on Monday and she was here to show my younger brother. She made Second Class Upper. She was brilliant. She finished from the Federal Government Girls College in Calabar, she made clear A’s. You need to see the poems she wrote. She was a writer and she was just wonderful.

    She (the other lady in the room with her) said when they (robbers) came in about 2am, they started flogging them; they flogged my daughter, and they flogged her. That they were shouting ‘Jesus, Jesus help’; that when she kept quiet, they continued flogging my daughter.

    What children in the house saw that night

    According to my sister’s three kids, they were in their room; they heard everything. When they now woke up in the morning around 5am, they saw that everywhere was quiet. The three kids now came out, holding hands and they went to my daughter’s room. They saw my daughter hurdled by the wardrobe’s door, the part of the wardrobe that belongs to Ederi.

    They started shaking her and that was when the senior one noticed that she was in a pool of her own blood. They now started screaming and my daughter did not respond. They now looked at the bed; the other girl was sleeping on the bed. So, they decided to wake her up. That was when she started saying that she was injured, the robbers have taken key. So, she told the boy of 8 to pass through the window to call people that she was afraid that the robbers were still there. So, the young boy had to go out through the window to go and call for help.

    Door was opened

    When the boy finally succeeded in going through the window, when people were trying to come in, they just turned the handle of the door that she claimed that robbers made away with the keys and the door opened. The door was not locked with keys.

    How did the alleged robbers come in?

    They came in through the ceiling. The ceiling was broken two weeks ago. My sister went out only to come back to discover that they broke the ceiling and came into the house. They did not know if it was robbers but they reported to the police that they broke through. They took my sister’s car key; they took N10,000 and her jewelleries.

    Not a robbery case

    Nothing was stolen from my in-law’s house that night. Robbers don’t sit, eat comfortably. They ate that night. They sat down and took long meal. So, what happened between 2-5am when a child of 8 years decided to raise alarm? What was the suspect doing in the same room when there is blood splashed all over the wall? They said they smashed her head. You need to go to Agbor. You need to see the room. The foam is soaked with blood. The flood in the wardrobe where she was when these kids saw her soaked with blood. What was a girl of 24 to 25 years doing when her own mate sharing the same bed with her was killed? What was she doing? That is the question.

    Police response was light

    They (police) treated it lightly the first time and I was not happy. I now knew that it was not a robbery case. I knew my daughter was murdered. On Sunday, I decided to seek legal help because I know it was not robbery. After that, they told me to go back to the police and reported the incident all over again. They had to open a file.

    Cry for justice

    I want justice! I want justice for a girl whose life was cut short. A gem, a girl that was everything, a girl that was all. I don’t know how to describe her. She is an angel that walked on this earth. Those who came in contact with her know who she was that girl that could never hurt a fly. She could never keep anything in her heart or go to bed with anger. She had this logic that she could never go to bed annoying somebody.

    I am calling on security agencies, police, SSS, to go after the killers of my daughter. The killers of my daughter are walking freely. I want the killers of my daughter brought to justice. I want security agencies to go after them before they go and torture another soul. I want them to be found and made to face the law. My daughter cannot die like that.

     

  • Controversy over girl’s death in Agbor

    Controversy over girl’s death in Agbor

    Twenty-five-year-old Radah Emuobosan Elsie Agbaje had just graduated with a Second Class (Upper Division) degree in Microbiology from the Delta State University, Abraka. She had high hopes about her future. She contacted some of her influential uncles about getting a job and was making plan of settling down with her fiancé.

    She was living with her aunt and her medical doctor husband in Agbor, Ika North East Local Government Area. She had been living with the couple for several years and those who knew the family said she was a dutiful young lady who served her host, and anybody she came across, with dedication and sincerity. The couple were also said to be very happy with her and entrusted her with the responsibility of caring for their three children.

    “Life was going on beautifully for everybody until that fateful day on October 15,” recalled a close family source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

    The matriarch of the home was away in Warri and her husband was on duty at a government