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Tag: Bayelsa

  • Bayelsa investigates suspected outbreak of monkeypox virus

    Bayelsa investigates suspected outbreak of monkeypox virus

    The Bayelsa Government is investigating suspected cases of monkeypox outbreak in its communities, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Ebitimitula Etebu, has said.

    Etebu spoke in Yenagoa on Wednesday following reports that some 11 persons, including a medical doctor, had been placed on surveillance in Yenagoa.

    Those with the suspected cases had been quarantined at the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital ( NDUTH ) , Okolobiri,  Yenagoa Local Government Area.

    The centre was established by Nigerian Centre for Disease Control ( NCDC ) and the epidemiological team of the state Ministry of Health to control the spread of the virus.

    NAN also learnt that NCDC and the epidemiological team were tracing 49 persons, who were in contact with persons suspected to have been infected.

    Etebu said that samples of the virus had been sent to the World Health Organisation laboratory in Dakar for confirmation.

    He described monkeypox as a viral illness caused by a group of viruses that include chickenpox and smallpox.

    The commissioner said the first case was noticed in the Democratic Republic of Congo and subsequent outbreaks in West Africa.

    He said the virus had the Central African and the West African types but that the West African type was  milder and had no records of mortality.

    “Recently in Bayelsa, we noticed a suspected outbreak of monkeypox.

    “It has not been confirmed. We have sent samples to the World Health Organisation reference laboratory in Dakar.

    “When that comes out we will be sure that it is confirmed. But from all indications, it points towards it.

    “As the name implies, the virus was first seen in monkeys but can also be found in all bush animals, such as rats, squirrels and antelopes.

    “The source is usually all animals. It was first seen in monkeys and that is why it is called monkey pox.

    “But every bush animal, such as rats, squirrels, antelopes are involved. So, the secretions from particularly dead animals are highly contagious.. Etebu said.

    He listed the symptoms of monkeypox as severe headache, fever, back pain, among others.

    Etebu said that most worrisome of all the signs were rashes bigger than those caused by chickenpox.

    The commissioner said the rashes were usually very discomforting and spread to the whole body of an infected person.

    “We noticed the first index case from Agbura where somebody was purported to have killed and eaten a monkey and after that the people who are neighbours and families started developing the rashes.

    “We have seen cases from as far as Biseni. We invited the NCDC together with our own epidemiological team from the Bayelsa Ministry of Health.

    “We have been able to trace most of the people who have come in contact with the patients.

    “So far, we have 10 patients and we have created an isolation centre at the NDUTH and most of them are on admission and we are following up the 49 cases that we are suspecting might come down with the illness.

    “As a state we are taking care of all the expenses of all the isolated cases.

    “The disease has an incubation period and it is also self-limiting in the sense that within two to four weeks, you get healed and it confers you with immunity for life.

    “We have mobilised virtually every arsenal at our disposal in terms of sensitising the general public and making them aware by radio programmes, jingles and fliers.

    “So the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control has mobilised fully to Bayelsa State. We are on top the situation.” Etebu said.

    NAN

  • Bayelsa Govt. partners American company to boost health facilities

    Bayelsa Govt. partners American company to boost health facilities

    The Bayelsa Government said it had entered into partnership with an American medical facility services company, Medshare, for evaluation and maintenance of existing health facilities in the state-owned hospitals.

    Gov. Seriake Dickson disclosed this in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Francis Agbo in Bayelsa on Saturday.

    Dickson said that the partnership with Medshare was for the equipping of six referral hospitals and other health centres in the state.

    He said that the partnership also included repairs and maintenance of existing equipment, training of medical technicians, personnel and medical intervention teams to perform surgeries and other medical assistance programmes.

    According to the governor, the strategic collaboration will ensure that Bayelsa has best medical facilities in Nigeria.

    “When I took over as governor of Bayelsa in 2012, there was not a single functional heath centre in the local government areas,the one in Yenagoa, the state capital, was not operating at full capacity.

    “Today, despite the country’s economic challenges, we have built six referral hospitals in six local government areas and are in the process of building two more.

    “This is to ensure that we have one referral hospital in each local government area of the state.
    “My desire is to have these hospitals operational by the end of this year and by next year.

    ‘’I plan to have a neighbourhood health centre in each of the wards of in the state to take healthcare closer to the people.

    “I have also built one of the most sophisticated diagnostic centres in the country today.
    “I have rebuilt the Government House clinic into a 100-bed public specialist hospital, fully equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and it is open to the general public,’’ Dickson said.
    The governor said that his administration inherited a 500-bed hospital from his predecessors, but promised that it would be re-modelled to a 350-bed hospital with Medshare collaboration.
    He requested for a team of specialists to immediately come to Nigeria to assess the facilities on ground, overhaul them, and make recommendations for the procurement of new equipment, if required.
    Dickson said that his task was crucial in line with his ongoing medical tourism revolution, adding that the 350-bed hospital would be completed and inaugurated in 2018.

  • Two injured as fire guts oil platform in Bayelsa

    AN oil platform operated in Akassa, Brass Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, by the Consolidated Oil Company (Conoil) yesterday went up in flames injuring two workers. The fire, according to sources was caused by an electrical fault. The inferno ravaged the oil rig christened, Aunty Julie. A source who spoke in confidence said: “The enormity of the fire hampered initial rescue efforts and it is expected in an oil and gas environment, but the emergency response systems were activated in the facility and the fire was put out. “However two of the casualties who sustained injuries in the incident were rescued and have been stabilised and getting medical attention.

    “The facility has been shut down and the area is calm,” the source said. Another security source in the area also confirmed the fire incident but said it had nothing to do with a militant attack. “The fire incident is an operational mishap and has nothing to do with militants so it is within the operational levels in the company and they are currently assessing the damage done by the fire”, he said. An environmental activist, Mr. Alagoa Morris, quoted local sources as saying that the incident occurred at about 3am on Friday.

    He said: “Information received from Sangana, in Akassa clan of Brass local government area of Bayelsa State indicates that the Aunty Julie, the Conoil facility within the environment on the sea went up in flames at about 3:00am. “The fire is continuing right now; even as assistance is being awaited from Chevron’s firefighters not far from the location. “One person, who sustained injury has just been treated at the Sangana Cottage Hospital. The actual cause of the inferno is yet to be confirmed”. But it was later gathered that the fire was caused by unmanaged pressure from a pipeline supplying crude oil to Aunty Julie. Police spokesman, Mr. Asinim Butswat said the police were aware of the incident. Efforts to get a reaction from the oilfirm on the volume of production affected by the incident were unsuccessful.

  • Oil workers injured as fire engulfs Consolidated Oil in Bayelsa

    Oil workers injured as fire engulfs Consolidated Oil in Bayelsa

    At least two oil workers were injured in an early morning fire outbreak at an oil rig operated by Consolidated Oil, an indegenous oil firm at Akassa, Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa.

    A sources at the oilfield, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the fire was caused by an electrical fault, which resulted in colossal damage.

    “The enormity of the fire hampered initial rescue efforts, and it is expected in an oil and gas environment, but the emergency response systems were activated in the facility and the fire was put out.

    “However, two workers were rescued and have been stabilised and receiving medical attention.

    “The facility has been shut down and the area is calm,” the source said.

    Another security source deployed to the area confirmed the fire incident and allayed fears that it was a militant attack.

    “The fire incident is an operational mishap and has nothing to do with militants. So it is within the operational levels of the company and officials  are currently assessing the damage done by the fire”.

    Mr Asinim Butswat, spokesman of the Bayelsa Police Command, on telephone that the Command was awaiting detailed information on the incident.

    He promised that the command will provide details of the incident as soon as it was available.

    NAN

  • Gunmen hijack passenger boat in Bayelsa

    Gunmen hijack passenger boat in Bayelsa

    Unidentified gunmen suspected to be pirates, yesterday, hijacked a passenger boat along the Nembe-Brass waterways, Bayelsa State.

    The incident occurred a few days after suspected pirates killed three passengers along the same axis prompting some residents to endorse the proposed second phase of the Operation Crocodile Smile by the military to dislodge hoodlums in the creeks.

    It was gathered that the boat was seized by the gunmen shortly after it discharged its occupants at the Brass jetty.

    Sources said the hoodlums shot sporadically into the air before hijacking the boat.

    It was learnt that the boat driver and his crewmen were later asked to disembark the boat by the gunmen.

    The Bayelsa Chapter Chairman of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Mr Lloyd Sese, who confirmed the incident lamented the nefarious activities of sea robbers saying they were making life unbearable.

    Sese said that the union urged authorities to come to the aid of commuters on the waterways, adding that the attack on boats had become a frequent affair.

    Also, a youth leader from the area, Mr. Robert Desmond, condemned the increasing attacks on passengers traveling along the Nembe-Brass waterways.

    He described it as senseless and inhuman and wondered why a group of Ijaw youths should be attacking their own people.

    Desmond appealed to security agencies to protect lives and properties saying that the Brass-Nembe people were in need for marine security.

    He begged them to arrest the pirates, destroy their network and restore peace to the affected communities.

    The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Asinim Butswat, also confirmed the incident.

    Butswat,  a Deputy Superintendent of Police said that the command was intensifying efforts to check criminality and in the area.

  • Jubilation in Bayelsa, as ‘The Voice Nigeria’ winner arrives hometown

    Jubilation in Bayelsa, as ‘The Voice Nigeria’ winner arrives hometown

    It was jubilation galore in Bayelsa State, as men, women, children and particularly, youths, stormed the streets to celebrate Daniel Diangoli, aka Idyl, winner of the just-concluded The Voice Nigeria talent show.

    The budding singer, Sunday, emerged winner of the Second Season of the talent reality show, which took place in Johannesburg, South Africa.

    Immediately he was announced winner, Bayelsa erupted in jubilation, as youths took over the streets, bars and other public places to drink and dance to the victory. Clubs were said to be congested as Idyl united everybody despite their different political affiliations.

    In celebrating the artiste, Chief John Alphonsus Iworiso, Director of Robert Sunday Iworiso Foundation (RSIF) a Non-Governmental Organization, said that Idyl has made the Ijaw nation proud.

    In a statement, Iworiso said the emergence of Idyl, as winner of the keenly contested competition, is proof of the true spirit of Bayelsans. He observed that Idyl had also taken that path as he showed strength of character on his way to stardom.

    “This is not the first  time individuals and groups will be making the state proud. Few months ago, Perewari Victor Pere bagged a first class and was the best graduating student of his set at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, USA. We have also witnessed the success story of our students in external exam. In WAEC and NECO we are ranked among the best five.

    “As it is in music and education so it is in  other fields. Students of St. Jude’s girls Amarata have won back-to-back for four years running now, the Milo basketball competition among other laurels. Also, the state cultural troupe has brought home different national and international awards,” he said.

    Also, the Bayelsa State Government said the victory of Idyl was a confirmation that Bayelsa was not a place of militancy. Describing the victory as a welcome development, the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Jonathan Obuebite, congratulated Idyl for being a morale booster for other teeming youths in the state.

    He said the young man, with his scintillating performance had shown to the world that Bayelsa should never be classified as a hub of militant activities.

  • ‘Rivers governor must apologise over oil wells ceded to Bayelsa’

    The Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked Governor Nyesom Wike to apologise to the people and his predecessor, Rotimi Amaechi, over the ceding of Rivers’ Soku Oil Wells to Bayelsa State.

    The wells were ceded during the tenure of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, an indigene of Otuoke in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, to allegedly punish Amaechi, director-general of Buhari/Osinbajo Campaign Organisation, for not backing the re-election of Jonathan.

    Rivers APC chair Chief Davies Ikanya, in a statement yesterday in Port Harcourt by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Chukwuemeka Eze, described as shocking Wike’s acceptance that Soku wells belonged to Rivers.

    Wike, who was Jonathan’s minister of state for Education, on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, while hosting the Forum of Surveyors-General of States, urged the Federal Surveyor-General, Mr. Ebisintei Awudu, to resolve the boundary dispute between Rivers and Bayelsa.

    The Rivers governor said: “We believe that the oil wells belong to us. We are brothers and there is no need for this conflict to linger. Imagine, if it was between two states with no relationship, it would have been worse.”

  • Bayelsa SSG Dokubo-Spiff bows out to face law practice

    Secretary to the Bayelsa State Government (SSG) Chief Serena Dokubo-Spiff has bowed out following his decision to return to law practice.

    The governor said it was difficult for him to let his SSG go because of their ties, adding that he “conscripted” Serena-Dokubo, a lawyer, into politics.

    Dickson said the former SSG rose from the Office of the Deputy Chairman of Peoples Democratic People (PDP) to become the substantive boss of the party and later led the PDP to a second term victory.

    He said Dokubo-Spiff, a traditional ruler, performed creditably as SSG, adding that he allowed him to go following his pleas he wanted more time to revive his law chamber.

    He said the decision was also to enable him discharge his traditional responsibilities to his community.

    Dickson insisted Dokubo-Spiff will still be a critical part of his restoration government, and made him chairman of the reconstituted board of  Bayelsa Development and Investment Corporation (BDIC).

    Also, Deputy Governor Rear Admiral John Jonah (retd) commended the former SSG for his contributions to the restoration government.

    Dokubo-Spiff thanked Dickson for giving him the opportunity to serve the state and pledged his willingness to continue to pursue the ideals of his government.

    He praised the governor for his commitment to the development of Bayelsa and the Ijaw nation, saying it was a privilege to have worked with him.

     

  • Bayelsa generates 7,000 direct, indirect jobs in five years

    Bayelsa State government has generated  over 7,000 direct and indirect jobs through the release of N1.88 billion SME loans to entrepreneurs and cooperatives.

    Speaking through his deputy, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah at the 2017 African  SME  EXPO,  Governor Seriake Dickson said his administration partnered the Bank of Industry and other relevant agencies to enhance SMEs with direct impact on economic growth of the state.

    In furtherance with the commitment of his administration to job creation and empowerment of youths, the governor added the the state will soon  partner BoI for a N2 billion MSME loan.

    He said in 2015, the government launched Izon Microfinance Bank to provide small businesses and serious minded entrepreneurs access to funding.

    “This is important for us because funding is crucial if people are to innovate and think outside the box.  We have achieved so much since the commencement of the Microfinance Bank, especially because the bank, with backing from CBN and others, supported women groups and cooperatives in the state,” he said.

    Describing SMEs as panacea for the growth of the local economy, Dickson stressed the need for the promotion of home goods and simplifying registration processs of businesses.

    He said:  “We need to deliberate in strengthening institutions…. in Bayelsa, one per cent of the annual state budget is released to the Bayelsa State Microfinance and Enterprises Development Agency for SME development yearly.

    “We must simplify registration processes for businesses and encourage their migration from informal to the formal sector through regulation and proper monitoring.”

  • ‘Buhari has done what Jonathan failed to do for N’Delta’

    ‘Buhari has done what Jonathan failed to do for N’Delta’

    Former Senator representing Bayelsa East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Mr. Clever Ikisipo, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his passion to develop the Niger Delta region  particularly Bayelsa State.

    Ikisikpo, a kinsman to former President Goodluck Jonathan, said Buhari had done what Jonathan’s administration failed to do for his people.

    He spoke at the weekend when students’ representatives from Bayelsa East District, consisting of Ogbia, Nembe and Brass local government areas, conferred on him an award for his oustanding leadership qualities in Kolo area of the state.

    He said Buhari ensured that some persons from Bayelsa were given a licence to build refinery and were awarded oil blocks adding that other developmental projects were being undertaken in the state and other parts of the region.

    Ikisipo, an erstwhile two-time member of the House of Representatives said: ”If I say we should appreciate President Muhammadu Buhari, people will ask, why should we appreciate him. You may not know why we should thank God for making Buhari the President of Nigeria.

    ”Today, what our own could not give to us, Buhari has given to us. An Ogbia man, Dr. Eruani Azibapu, has been given a licence to build a private refinery. We had an opportunity given to the people of Ogbia, Nembe and Brass to own oil blocks in the past, did we get any? No.

    ”But Buhari has given one of us, a woman, an oil block. That is why I am saying we should appreciate Buhari. He is doing well for the Niger Delta people. Because if the refinery is built today, it will take not less than 10,000 workers. Will Brass, Ogbia and Nembe, not get up to 3,000 workers there? Then, would you not be empowered?

    ”So, are we not supposed to appreciate Buhari? The oil block we could not get is to be given to one us. If oil block is given to an Ogbia, Nembe or Brass person, are we not going to get one of the Alakijas, are we not going to get one of the Danjumas. Oil block is one the things that make those people billionaires. Today, Danjuma can give somebody N2bn without batting an eyelid.

    ”Finally, I want to also say we need to appreciate Buhari for fighting corruption and bringing positive change in the country. My friend, one of the serving senators from Bayelsa State, asked me, so, if Buhari had not taken over government, so we would not know the quantum of amount coming into Bayelsa State.”

    Ikisikpo regretted that when the Ijaw had the opportunity to develop the region, they misused it.

    For instance, he said that some of the presidential aides from Bayelsa squandered the commonwealth of the people through excessive greed and reckless spendings and made it impossible for the region to feel the impact of governance.

    He said:  ”I want to tell you some bitter truth. There is an adage that says, ‘before you remove the speck in someone’s eyes, first remove the log in your own eyes.’

    ”God gave us an elephant but we allowed the elephant to get rotten. Some may not get the adage perhaps. If we had judiciously used that elephant properly, I think by now, Bayelsa East would have become a ‘small Dubai’.

    ”But we misused the opportunity. Through that opportunity, we could not get oil blocks, through that opportunity; we could not get even modular refineries in Bayelsa East.

    “Bayelsa East is the first place to produce crude oil in Nigeria, but go to Oloibiri where oil was first discovered in commercial quantity, the place is a thick forest, where you can kill the biggest animal on earth. Is it supposed to be so?

    ”When I entered the House of Representatives in 2003, my first motion was how to make Oloibiri a place that would be conducive to every Ogbia person, every Nembe person and every Brass person. I moved a motion that the Federal Government should build an oil museum there. A beautiful resolution was given, but nothing happened.

    ”At the House of Reps, the first position given to me was deputy chairman, House Committee on Appropriation. The former Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswan, was the chairman.

    “I told him in our first budget meetings that what I wanted was the Yenegwe-Okaki-Kolo-Nembe-Brass Road. When we met with the Budget Office, they asked if the road was a federal government road. I said yes. And they said, go and bring documents. We got the documents at Federal Ministry of Works and presented them.

    ”That was a project that was started during Melford Okilo’s administration, but was abandoned and went into oblivion. Today, the project has been forsaken. Like I said, we were given an elephant, if the elephant that we were given, had used the opportunity very well, that road would have moved up to Brass today.”