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Tag: Bayelsa

  • NSCDC intercepts sacks of illegally refined oil in Bayelsa

    NSCDC intercepts sacks of illegally refined oil in Bayelsa

    Ordinarily, they look like bags of rice or processed cassava popularly known as garri. But they are sacks of illegally-refined petroleum products. It has become a new strategy adopted by economic saboteurs to transport their stolen products to their chosen destinations.

    The bags of illegally-refined products were loaded in over five vehicles to deceive security operatives. But luck ran out on their owners when they could not escape the prying eyes of operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Bayelsa State command.

    The suspected vandals deliberately removed the plate numbers of some of the vehicles. Most of the vehicles used in the illegal business had tinted windscreens with their trunks and back seats stuffed with the sacks.

    It was amazing how the operatives knew that the vehicles were carrying suspected proceeds of theft and sabotage. Of particular interest were two Hilux vans. One of them had its trunk loaded with the petroleum sacks and covered to look as it was carrying nothing. The other was a customized Hilux van locally built for the purpose of conveying such products.

    The products were first bagged in polythene material by the suspects, who later stored them in sacks making them look like bags of cereals.

    The state’s NSCDC Commandant, Mr. Desmond Agu, said  bagging of stolen oil was the newest tactics adopted by vandals to evade arrest. He said that each sack contained 50 litres of illegally-refined product adding that the seized vehicles were carrying many of such sacks.

    Agu, who paraded 11 suspects arrested in connection with illegal bunkering at the corps headquarters in Yenagoa, said they would be charged to court after further interrogations and investigations.

    He gave the names of the suspects as Nelly E, Woyengimiebi B, Lucky T, Anomotimifagha O, Michael W, Michael B, Mathias T, Ngozi S, Mathew T, Peter A and Sam A.

    He said they were nabbed in line with the mandate of NSCDC to ensure zero tolerance to vandalism, sabotage of public facilities especially critical national assets such as pipelines and other oil installations.

    Agu further said that following some special operations, the command destroyed 29 illegal refineries located mostly in communities in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state.

    He said: “Specifically, the illegal refineries were located at Otuo, Oyeregbene, Igbomatoru, Azuzuama, Korokorosie and Ukapartubu.

    “In our efforts to deter people from crimes and keeping faith with the rule of law, we have been pursuing many cases against suspects in court.

    “We have so far secured 19 convictions while we are pursuing 17 more cases at various stages in court. We hope to secure more convictions”.

    Agu also appealed to members of the public to assist the corps in stamping out illegal oil bunkering, pipeline vandalism and sabotage of public infrastructure by providing timely and useful information.

    “We will treat the information with the highest level of confidentiality. We will not stand on out oars until we reduce to the barest minimum crimes against public peace and economic sabotage within our mandate.

    “Apart from impacting negatively on the revenue of Bayelsa and the commonwealth of the nation, illegal oil bunkering and vandalism destroy the ecosystem and the health of the nation”, he said.

    While thanking the Commandant-General, Abdullahi Muhammadu and the Minister of Interior for providing required logistics, he said the command needed more gunboats and other equipment to discharge its responsibility.

    But some of the suspects admitted committing the offence. One of them identified as Sam Alayebimo, said she started the illegal trade following the government’s failures to engage them in meaningful employment.

    Alayebimo said she was conveying the illegally-refined product from Okaki to the Bayelsa Palm in Yenagoa when she was caught.

    She said: “Initially, I hated this business. But because I couldn’t get any other job to do and I have children to feed and pay their school fees, I started doing it. The government cannot give us job. They only employ their family members. I have to do this job to survive”.

    Also another suspect, Emmanuel, said the anti-vandal taskforce in their community in Southern Ijaw asked them to destroy all their illegal refineries in exchange of some benefits.

    He said: “We destroyed all the refineries as requested by the taskforce. They documented PIR names but refused to pay us. I decided to stop. But one of my colleagues in school asked me to assist him in conveying some of the products from Azuzuama to Korokorosie. It was in the process that I was caught.”

  • Private refinery to begin operation in Bayelsa next year

    The Azikel Group of Companies (AGC), owned by an industrialist from Bayelsa State, yesterday, said its refinery would begin operation in Bayelsa State in 2018.

    The President of AGC, Dr. Azibapu Eruani, who spoke in Yenagoa, hailed the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government for giving oil refining and prospecting licences to private oil firms.

    Eruani said his company was one of the beneficiaries of the government’s initiative, adding that the company will begin local petroleum production in 2018.

    The businessman noted that the oil and gas component of his conglomerate  will support the Federal Government to improve capacity and increase production and supply of petroleum products in the country.

    Describing Bayelsa as the epicentre of oil and gas in the country, he said it was worrisome that many Bayelsans could not establish themselves as key players in the sector.

    Eruani said the private refinery initiative by the Federal Government would positively turn around the oil and gas sector.

    He insisted that the granting of oil refining licences from the beginning of Buhari’s administration was a strategic success for his government.

    The entrepreneur explained that building any type of refinery required time adding that work at the Azikel Refinery site is beyond 60 per cent.

    Eruani said: ”Azikel Group is racing against time to be the first to commence production of petroleum products in 2018.

    “Sequel to the increase in the end users of refined petroleum products, demand and the insufficiency, with the nation’s refineries producing at less than 15 per cent installed capacity, the Federal Government’s sagacity is germane to improve production.

    “The 23 firms granted licences have the capacity to shore up production by over 700, 000 barrel per day to bridge the insufficiency gap.”

    According to him the government’s plan to replace illegal refineries with modular refineries is a welcome development.

    He said the development would outlaw incessant destruction of national assets, damage to the ecosystem and preserve the nation’s foreign reserve.

    Eruani noted that the issuance of refinery and oil prospecting licences by President Buhari was to integrate the people of the Niger Delta in the sector, saying it was part of ways of allowing the people control their resources.

    On the location of the Azikel Refinery at Obunagh Gbarain in Yenagoa, Eruani said it was based on economics of location of industry close to the source of raw materials.

  • Police avert herdsmen/farmers clash in Bayelsa

    The Police Command in Bayelsa said it had foiled a clash between herdsmen and farmers in Agudama community in Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Bayelsa Government had donated a grazing land to herdsmen and subsequently banned indiscriminate and open grazing in the state.

    Police Spokesman in the state, DSP Asinim Butswat, told NAN on Friday that the operation which averted the clash was led by an Assistant Commissioner of Police.

    “On March 19, 2017, at about 10 a.m., His Royal Majesty, Obadiah John Osumu, King of Akenfa-Epie Community raised an alarm about herdsmen activities in Akenfa Community.

    “Consequently, an Assistant Commissioner of Police led a team of policemen to the scene.

    “The team noticed heavy movement of cattle in the area but diverted them to avoid destruction of farmlands,” Butswat said.

    The police spokesman advised community leaders in the state to maintain peace and always partner with the Police to prevent crime in their communities.

  • Bayelsa to use Paris Club to pay council workers’ salaries

    The Bayelsa Government has directed the immediate release of N1.3 billion share of the Paris Club refund to its eight local governments for full payment of their workers’ salaries.

    The the money, which is the first tranche of the refunds, was withheld pending staff verification to rid the councils of ghost workers.

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday authorised the release of the second tranche of the refunds to states that complied with the terms which included disbursement of local government share.

    Public servants in the local government system were placed on half salaries since May 2016, due to paucity of funds, while their backlog of arrears ranged from six months to 12 months across the local government areas.

    The amount, out of the N14.5 billion received as the state share of the refund from the Federal Government, was disbursed in December 2016.

    Governor Seriake Dickson had told stakeholders during an emergency meeting in Yenagoa that the decision to withhold the councils’ share was due to the discovery of fraud in their payroll.

    The state Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Mr. Aghata Goma, confirmed the release of the fund on Friday and advised local government chairmen in the state to deploy 50 per cent of the money to pay full salary to workers.

    “The governor has just approved the release of the local government share of the Paris Club loan refunds, and it will improve the resource base of the councils to meet their salary obligations to their workforce,” he said.

    NAN

     

  • Bayelsa’s no-nonsense judge takes a bow

    Bayelsa’s no-nonsense judge takes a bow

    A High Court judge in Bayelsa State, Justice Margaret Akpomiemie, has retired. Akpomiemie was outstanding at the bench. As a rare female justice, she was firm, dedicated and known for some landmark judgments.

    As part of her last assignments for Bayelsa, she was given an appointment to head the the Judicial Commission of Enquiry established by Dickson to investigate persons behind the violence that marred the last governorship election in the state. The judge submitted her report to Dickson shortly before retirement.

    Little wonder, high personalities led by Governor Seriake Dickson, the governor’s cabinet members, notable persons in the judiciary, friends and families, converged recently to celebrate the end of her meritorious service as a judge.

    As part of activities marking her retirement from service, a book titled, “Selected Judgements of Justice Margaret Akpomiemie, was presented to the public at the Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha Memorial Banquet Hall, Government House, Yenagoa.

    All the speakers poured encomiums on the retired judge. Dickson, who is also a lawyer, described Akpomiemie as a thorough, firm and impartial Judge, whose contributions to the state Judiciary added value in the administration of justice.

    Dickson went down memory lane to narrate his encounter as a police a prosecutor with the retiring judge in old Rivers State. He said she gave her best in the discharge of her duties, which has earned her many accolades.

    The governor said that Akpomiemie exhibited exemplary qualities required of a judge, particularly in her fearless delivery of judgments bordering on criminal cases. He commended Akpomiemie for investing in the education of her children and called on society to emulate her example. Dickson said that education remains the bedrock of society.

    Congratulating Akpomiemie on her 20 years of successful career in the judiciary, Dickson wished her God’s protection and good health in her future endeavours.

    In his remarks, Chairman of the occasion, Retired Justice Francis Tabai of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, acknowledged the enormity of the task before a trial judge. He described the dispensation of justice at the High Court level as more demanding and critical adding that an error in judgement may not be corrected at the appellate level.

    Describing Akpomiemie as a distinguished jurist, Justice Tabai expressed appreciation to Dickson for his support to the judiciary and stressed the need for the appointment of more judges.

    In her key note address, Chief Judge of the state, Justice Kate Abiri, said Akpomiemie was known for her no-nonsense attitude and humility, lamenting that her retirement had created a vacuum in the state judiciary.

    In her remarks, Akpomiemie described her time in the judiciary as a fulfilling moment of her life and thanked persons who supported her through the years in the dispensation of justice for their encouragement.

    According to her decision to put some her landmark judgements in book form was informed by her desire to give back to a system that, gave the opportunity to showcase and practice what she loved.

    In their separate goodwill messages, Justice Lucky Boufini and Barrister Sunny Adolor, described Justice Akpomiemie as an amiable and calm woman, even in the face of provocation.

    The 441-page book was reviewed by Deputy Director General of the Nigeria Law School, Yenagoa Campus, Prof. Festus Emiri. Highpoints of the event were the unveiling and lunching of the book as well as the cutting of Justice Akpomiemie’s 65th birthday cake.

     

  • Bayelsa retains wrestling trophy

    Bayelsa State has won the Governor Dickson National Wrestling Classics for the second time. The state emerged victorious in the maiden edition of the competition last year.

    In the second edition, which took place recently at the Indoor Sports Hall of the Samson Siasia Sports Complex, Yenagoa, the Bayelsa Team was exceptionally rugged. It was a happy moment for residents of the state who trooped out en masse to cheer their team.

    Governor Seriake Dickson was in the crowd of spectators. He was elated that the trophy returned to the state, famous for wrestling. Even the Minister of Youths and Sports, Mr. Solomon Dalung, watched the event with excitement.

    Dickson called for synergy among the state government, the Federal Ministry of Sports and other interested partners in the sub-sector for the development of the State’s Sports Academy, Asoama in Kolokuma Opokuma Local Government Area.

    The Asoama Sports Academy is an integrated sporting educational facility conceived by the Dickson’s administration to harness the potential in sports by developing budding talents in the teeming population of youths in the state.

    Dickson described the sports facility as a centre for excellence. He said the partnership was crucial to enable youths excel in sporting and academic activities. He said the academy, which jus equipped with modern facilities, has the capacity to accommodate 1000 students.

    Dickson insisted that Bayelsa is a natural home of wrestling. He announced the state government’s plans to host the national wrestling tournament annually and also urged the state Ministry of Sports Development to organise state-wide wrestling competitions to fish out budding talents.

    The governor congratulated the participants in the wrestling competition and advocated the need to promote sports development as a viable platform for the mobilisation of youths for national development.

    In his remarks, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Dalung lauded the Dickson-led administration for its investments, not only in sports infrastructure, but also in sporting activities, especially in the areas of wrestling.

    Dalung identified sports as a veritable tool for the promotion of national integration, employment and wealth creation, noting that, sports could also be used to promote a healthy lifestyle.

    He said the Federal Government has a deliberate policy to involve the private sector in sports development. He charged state governments to key into the policy by promoting various sporting events in areas they have comparative advantage to make for easy management of sports in the country.

    Speaking at the inauguration of the Daniel Igali Recreation Centre in Yenagoa, President of the National Wrestling Federation and former Olympic Wrestling Gold medalist, Mr. Daniel Igali said the facility was provided to enable elite athletes train properly.

    He expressed the hope that in the next three months, the facility would secure accreditation from the International Wrestling Federation and attract internationally recognised coaches to train wrestlers at the facility.

    The winners of the various weight classes of the tournament, which featured competitions in Greco-Roman, Female and Male Free-style wrestling will represent Nigeria at the African Championship scheduled to hold later in the year in Marakesh, Morocco.

    Defending Champions, Bayelsa emerged victorious in the Greco-Roman, the Male and Female Free-style categories to retain the over-all trophy.

  • Ndoma-Egba vows to change public perception of NDDC

    Ndoma-Egba vows to change public perception of NDDC

    The Chairman of the Governing Board of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Sen. Victor Ndoma-Egba says steps are being taken to change the negative perception of the commission by the public.

    Ndoma-Egbe said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.

    He regretted that the public image of the commission was not encouraging, adding that It would no longer be business as usual.

    According to him, members of the commission are being accused of collecting kick backs from contractors of the commission before paying them for contracts executed.

    “The story in the public is that the commission collects 10 to 15 per cent from contractors to get their payments for jobs executed.

    “This is absolutely wrong, if it is true, getting such payments from contractors would have become an industry by itself.

    “There is no reason why contractors who have met conditions for payment should not be paid without any gratification.

    “We are coming on board at a very challenging time.’’

    According to him, we must rebrand the commission and change the public perception of it as a slush fund, and this we must do through our honest work and single minded focus and discipline.Ndoma-Egba also pledged to reposition the board to enable it play its role effectively in the administration of the commission.

    He explained that the NDDC under his leadership would no longer serve as a place where things would be done without adhering strictly to set rules and order.

    “The bane of the commission seems to stem from the mentality of the leadership that once they are appointed, it is their turn to rip off the agency.

    “But the new Board and Management of the commission have understood where we are coming from and what the people expect from us and we have decided to depart from the ugly route of the past,’’ he said

    To this end, Ndoma-Egba said that on assumption of office, the management immediately swung into action by taking measures to put their house in order and change the way things were being done in the commission.

    He said this was done to show their seriousness and desire to stick to accountability and to ensure the much needed development.

    The chairman said the management assembled key members of staff and development partners for a retreat in February.

    This, he noted was part of efforts by the commission to reposition it for effective service delivery.

    “The three-day retreat, with the theme; “Collaboration for Sustainable Development”, held in Onne, Rivers State, and was attended by members of the Governing Board, directors, and strategic stakeholders from within and outside the region.

    “The retreat made it clear that the new Board and Management are solely dedicated to integrity, efficiency, transparency and accountability,” he stated.

    Speaking on abandoned projects in the region, Ndoma-Egba blamed the budget process for being “largely responsible for the spate of abandoned projects in the region.’’

    “The approach to projects has been ad hoc, arbitrary and self-serving, with very little end-user content. Many projects appear strange to beneficiary communities.

    “The projects are imposed on them and it creates crisis of ownership.

    “It will be apt to expect that with the combination of the chairman and the managing director in the saddle, a new era of rapid physical development driven by accountability will for once dominate the affairs of the commission.

    “Indeed, those who have taken time to look into the books of the commission are quick to point out that the amount of money received by the intervention agency since its establishment in 2000.“It is not commensurate with the quantity and quality of projects in the nine oil producing states of Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Imo, Delta, Edo, Ondo and Rivers.

  • Bayelsa firm battles bank over alleged missing N151m

    A firm, Godsidi Investment Limited, owned by a popular politician in Bayelsa State, Mr. Godwin Sidi is engaged in a legal warfare with the Access Bank Plc over an allegation that N151million disappeared from its account.

    The matter is before Justice Young Ogola of the state High Court. The court has already started hearing the case. It has fixed March 13 for further hearing. The firm is determined to prove that the bank inherited the money as part of its liability when it acquired the defunct Intercontinental Bank Plc in 2012.

    In a writ of summon, the firm said it became suspicious when Access Bank  denied it access to the account. It said the bank stopped it from withdrawing the money. The company argued that the bank’s explanations for non-withdrawal was untenable.

    It said: “The explanation tendered on the reasons for non-withdrawal from the account was not convincing and the demand for a statement of account was turned down. The claimant demanded for a statement of account through the Festus Keyamo Chambers.

    “On 5th Febuary, 2010, the bank came up? with a doctored statement of account showing irregularities and unrealistic transaction claims.

    “The claimant consequently reported the matter to the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), which reffered the matter to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which in turn responded by arresting agents of the defendant, who were later released on bail.

    “Since then the defendant has done nothing to restore the claimants money in his account despite several demands.? The claimant’s complain of fraudulent manipulation of its account, dated February, 2010 is hereby pleaded.

    The firm asked the court to issue an order directing the defendant to restore claimant’s initial lodgement and balance of the sum of N151million?.

    It also asked the court for an order granting the sum of N3billion only to the claimant as damages for unlawful detention of its money from 2009 till date.

    But Access Bank is also determine to floor the firm, owned by a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In the bank’s statement of defence?, it described the allegations and claims by the firm as false and baseless.

    It said it was  a surreptitious attempt by the company to reopen the matter against Intercontinental Bank already investigated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Consumer Protection Council and the EFCC.

    The bank said the firm failed to substantiate its claims when the relevant government agencies investigated the matter.

    It said: “All the investigations conducted revealed that the account of the claimant was credited with various sums of money by claimant’s account officer at the time without any document to support the lodgement.

    “The defendant was not in any position to have restored the money allegedly belonging to the the claimant as the claimant never had any such money in the possession of Intercontinental Bank Plc”,

    The bank said prior to the acquisition of Intercontinental Bank, there was no report, findings or memo indicting the defunct bank by the CBN, CPC and EFCC in respect of the claims.

    It asked the court to dismiss the claims in its entirety with substantial costs because of its frivolity. The court will further head the matter on March 13.

  • Grandfather cuts off 8-months-old genitals in Bayelsa

    A 59-year-old man, Mr Ziworitin Keke, has allegedly cut off part of the genitals of his eight-month-old grandson while circumcising the boy at Ondewari, a coastal settlement in Bayelsa.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt on Thursday that the baby is currently receiving medical care at the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa, the Bayelsa capital.

    It was learnt that Keke, a well-known `specialist’ in circumcision in the area, almost “chopped off half of the baby’s genitals.”

    The father of the infant, Mr Joseph Michael, said his wife took the infant to a health centre following the incident.

    “After cutting off my boy’s penis, the man, who is married to my son’s grandmother, told my wife to leave the child with him for at least three weeks so that he could treat him very well.

    “But my wife refused because the boy was bleeding and she rushed him to the health centre at Korokorosei, a neigbouring community to us,” he said.

    He explained that they were referred to the Federal Medical Centre Yenagoa for specialised medical care, adding that he was in financial distress as he could not afford the cost of treatment.

    Michael urged public spirited individuals to come to his aid to save the life of his son.

    Reacting to the incident, Mr Alagoa Morris, a human rights activist, told NAN that the incident would have been avoided if government had provided health facilities to rural communities.

    “My first concern is with the baby going through the terrifying pain. The man who performed the circumcision is a renowned traditional circumcision expert in the community and even beyond.

    “He has successfully carried out the service at no cost to parents for many years including two older brothers of the victim.

    “This must have been a mistake. More than 1,000 circumcisions have been performed by him without any complication.

    “So, calls for his arrest are misplaced. A lot of residents in the community have no access to medical facilities and they believe and resort to traditional medicine men, traditional birth attendants inclusive.

    “It is imperative for the state and local governments to join forces and make orthodox medical service available to rural dwellers in the coastlines and riversides. Only then will the people have a choice,” Alagoa said.

    Meanwhile, the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) in Bayelsa has called for the arrest and prosecution of Keke.

    Mrs Dise Ogbise-Erhisere, Chairperson of FIDA in the state, who made the call after visiting the victim at the medical centre, said they had petitioned the office of the commissioner of police on the matter.

     

  • Stakeholders seek indigenes’ involvement in Bayelsa economy

    It is an established fact in Bayelsa that whenever non-indigenes especially the Igbos sneeze, the local economy of the state will catch cold. In times of local celebrations like the annual Igbo Day, people in the state are always stranded because almost all business activities are shut down.

    Indeed, non-indigenes control almost all the local sectors of Bayelsa economy. They own almost all the stalls, shops, shopping malls, kiosks and they constitute about 80 per cent of artisans in the markets. They are everywhere even in the transport sector.

    Irked by the development, an Ijaw elder statesman and economic expert, Chief Thompson Okorotie is making frantic efforts to change the narrative. Okorotie who has also played key roles in the politics of the state wants the Ijaw and other indigenes to become more involved in the state’s economy.

    Recently, he assembled the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Bank of Industry (BoI), Bayelsa State Institute of Entrepreneurship (BSIE), Izon-Ebe Micro-Finance, Bayelsa Micro-Finance Enterprise and Development Agency and Bank of Agriculture in Yenagoa.

    He brought them to meet with practising and aspiring entrepreneurs and to drive the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) in Bayelsa. Okorotie believed that establishing the state’s chapter of NASME with the support of pillars of the economy would help the indigenes play active role in the local economy.

    Addressing the stakeholders who attended NASME’s inauguration in Bayelsa, Okorotie said to be part of the micro, small and medium enterprises, creative ideas, turning the ideas into a well-organised ventures, international best practices and en enabling environment provided by the government were important factors.

    He asked the stakeholders to rise from their slumber to benefit from the strategic and steady steps taken so far by the Federal Government to encourage SMEs. He said NASME was established in 1996 as a Business Membership Organisation (BMO) to coordinate and foster the growth of SMEs in the country.

    Okorotie noted that a formidable chapter of NASME in Bayelsa would enjoy the limitless services provided by the national body. He lauded the SMEs clinic programmes coordinated by the Vice-President’s office which had conceded in Aba in January to end in November 2017. He said Bayelsa would join Rivers State to participate in the clinic scheduled in Port Harcourt in September.

    He lauded the state Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, for his encouragement of SMEs in the state. He said the governor recently launched N10bn Entrepreneurship Development Funds (EDF) to make loans available for SMEs.

    “With the establishment of a Bayelsa State NASME chapter, members who register now will be looking forward to a robust participation in the various state government programmes in this vital sub-sector”, he said.

    Okorotie who was inaugurated an interim chairman of the State NASME with Lambert Otiotio as Secretary, commended the NASME’s Zonal Vice-President, South-South, Dr. ED Oko-Jaja for working tirelessly to establish the Bayelsa chapter.

    He said: ” I urge great entrepreneurs present here and those to join us to seize this opportunity for us to benefit from the various programmes of NASME and become promoters of good companies, ready to occupy the commanding heights of our local economy and beyond”.

    The Commissioner for Trade, Investment and Industry, Mr. Kemela Okara, in his remarks thanked Okorotie for organising the event. He asked the participants to develop an enterprise culture. He told them the future of the state lied in their hands adding that the state government was committed to promoting entrepreneurship.

    Also, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Izon-Ibe Micro-Finance, Nengi Rufus-Spiff asked the stakeholders to take advantage of the bank to grow their business. She said the state was expecting funds from CBN adding that Bayelsa was also involved in the apex bank’s Anchor Borrowers Prigramme.

    She asked the people of the state not depend solely on the government appealing to them to register their businesses to benefit fro funding. She, however, reminded them that any money collected from the bank was a loan that must be repaid.

    Representatives of other economic institutions showcased their roles in promoting business in the state and advised the participants to take advantage of their presence in the state.