The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Amaechi

  • Amaechi to enforce free education come 2013

    FROM next year, it will be criminal for parents in Rivers State not to send their children to school.

    Governor Rotimi Amaechi stated this yesterday at the special children presentation during the 2012 edition of Garden City Literary Festival (GCLF).

    He disclosed that a bill will soon be passed into law by the House of Assembly to make primary and secondary education compulsory in the state.  An agency, he added, will soon be set up to assess the standard of primary and secondary schools and the quality of education provided for the children.According to him: “As from next year, it is a crime not to send your children to school because education is free.”Education is compulsory in Rivers State and it is key to our administration’s policy.”

    He observed that many schools in the state are currently in bad shape and need upgrading.Amaechi vowed that anyone that does not meet the standard would be closed down.

    He promised that the evaluation process would among others ensure that all primary and secondary schools are equipped with ICT facilities such as laptops, desktops, internet and intranet which will be controlled to prevent abuse.Amaechi advised proprietors of private schools who use churches and town halls to close down before government descend on them.

     

  • 13% derivation: Group threatens court action against Amaechi

    13% derivation: Group threatens court action against Amaechi

    The Association of Ogba/ Egbema /Ndoni, (ONELGA), communities, in Rivers State, has threatened to institute a legal action against the executive governor of Rivers State, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, if he continues to play down on the issue of setting up Rivers State Oil Producing Commission in the state.

    The group made the threat in Port Harcourt recently, saying that the process for the action has already been set in motion, and that after exploring all necessary avenues, and he remained resolute to his resolve, they would take him to court.

    The president of the association, Dr. Innocent Masi, a onetime senatorial candidate in the state, noted that the directive for the establishment of the commission was given by the federal government in 1999, to ensure that the 13% derivation accruable to oil bearing communities would be properly managed and accounted for.

    The elder statesman however regretted that despite the federal government’s intervention, oil producing communities in the state has remained grossly marginalised.

     

  • Amaechi assures flood victims of support

    THE Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has promised to provide relief materials for victims of Omoku and Ahoada flood disaster.

    He spoke yesterday at Okwuzi, one of the flooded communities in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government area.

    Apart from Obrikom, Ebocha and Okwuzi communities, which the governor visited, other villages ravaged by the flood are Egbema, Kala and Opuogbogolo in Ahoada West local government area.

    Amaechi assured urgent and drastic steps will be taken to provide shelter, food and healthcare services for the displaced victims.

    According to him: “By Monday, we expect the executive council committee to take over. They will come with mattresses, clean potable water, food and medical items. Where we have primary schools those people that are displaced should take over.

    “We will get doctors to come and see if there are water-borne diseases, we will see what we can do to assist them.”

    Amaechi called on the federal government to come to the rescue of the state.

    “We never knew that the flood affected Rivers State until some few days ago. And it is bad, very bad. What I saw today is a monumental national disaster,” he stated.

  • Amaechi inaugurates UN House

    Amaechi inaugurates UN House

    Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi yesterday inaugurated the United Nations (UN) Office in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

    Amaechi expressed appreciation to the UN for its presence in the state, despite the challenges in the Niger Delta.

    He urged the UN team to ensure proper planning in maintaining functional structures in the state.

    The governor said: “Although proper planning is an issue in this country, there is need for the office to ensure proper planning of functional structures and institutions to promote good governance and better welfare for the people.”

    He said the government would partner the UN to improve the living standard of the people.

    The UN Area Security Coordinator, Dr. Larry Boms, thanked Amaechi for his support in the acquisition of the land on which the building was built.

    Boms said: “The UN House in Port Harcourt would go a long way in reducing poverty, improve the living standard of the people and provide enlightenment to sustain the peaceful co-existence in Rivers State.”

    The UN Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Daouda Toure, said the UN House would provide professional advice and assistance towards achieving set objectives of the UN agencies in the state.

  • 2013 budget must be precise, says Amaechi

    2013 budget must be precise, says Amaechi

    Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has said the state’s 2013 budget must be precise.

    Amaechi spoke in Port Harcourt during a three-day training for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) on budget planning, implementation and monitoring organised by the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.

    He said the training would help the government assess the budgetary demands by MDAs in the implementation of government policies and programmes.

    Amaechi said: “The key to the 2013 budget is that it must be scientific to achieve government policies and programmes.

    “I will also demand a statistical breakdown of the budgetary demands by the MDAs to assess our spending.

    “The government will restructure the Civil Service and all Directors and Permanent Secretaries, who have served for eight years in either of the positions, would be retired and their pension paid to the Pension Board.

    “I am disappointed that there is low compliance with Information and Communications Technology (ICT) by civil servants. We will train civil servants who are deficient on ICT.”

    Amaechi said civil servants who are not ICT compliant and cannot draw up programmes relating to their ministry’s policies would not be promoted.

    He said the procurement of computers for MDAs would be included in the 2013 budget.

    Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning Levi Gogo Charles described the workshop as “an avenue to understand the importance of budget preparation to achieving the government’s objectives”.