The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Bayelsa

  • Redefining infrastructure development in Bayelsa

    Bayelsa State, created barely over 17 years ago on October 1st 1996 by the military junta of the late General Sani Abacha is a state with all the potentials of greatness.

    Being a product of years of struggle, the state is seen by vast majority of the people as a fulfillment of the long sought dreams and aspirations of the Ijaw people to have a hamogenous state.

    This underscores the reason that, to many Ijaw people Bayelsa represents the capital of the Ijaw nation just as Jerusalem is to the Jews.

    A walk through the streets of Yenagoa, the state capital, one could feel the air of the Ijaw identity, togetherness and the pride of a hardworking people.

    The governor of Bayelsa State Hon. H. S. Dickson, who happens to be a one-time National Legal Adviser of the Ijaw National Congress could not hide his sense of Ijaw nationalism when he delightfully stated during his inauguration as governor of the state on February 14th 2012, that, “As a product of the Ijaw movement, I am aware that I was not just a candidate of Bayelsa State but of the entire Ijaw nation… To all Ijaws wherever they may reside, let me reaffirm that Bayelsa will continue to be your Jerusalem and I will be your governor too.”

    Buoyed by this spirit of Ijaw patriotism, laced with obvious sense of mission to restore what many believed the eroding pride and glory of the Ijaw man.

    The general worry was the magic wand he would device to confront the plethora of seemingly overwhelming challenges and meet the general aspirations of Bayelsans.

    These challenges range from the comatose state of infrastructure, a parlous treasury, mind-boggling wage bill to that of the state of insecurity characterised by cult activities.

    Typical of the Ijaw man known for its rare courage and determination to confronting the obvious, governor Dickson made it very clear to those who care to listen that; “We shall undertake fundamental reforms of governance culture to emphasize the transparency, accountability, due process and value – re-orientation.”

    Governor Dickson further stated without mincing words that, “The days of enrichment without labour and funding the greed and avarice of a few at the expense of the development of our people are over. I will work hard to plug all leakages and sources of corruption which have been the bane of development. I will rather use our common wealth to fund the construction of good roads, education, promote tourism, generate wealth and develop agriculture than fund corruption and greed.”

    Governor Seriake Dickson, who is popularly called “countryman governor” by his teeming admirers, an appellation which represents a man of the people, stated unequivocally that he would not play politics with the development of the state and charged the people of the state to judge him by his performance index.

    One of the first positive steps he took was value re-orientation through the creation of a ministry dedicated to revive the rich culture and pride of the Ijaw people that had long been related to the background.

    Already, a quiet cultural renaissance is going on. For instance, apart from encouraging the documentation and celebration of Ijaw heroes heroins across the length and breathe of Ijaw speaking states in the Niger Delta, it has become mandatory for workers in the state to wear the traditional Ijaw attires on every Friday of the week.

    Another policy that has endeared the country man governor to the people of the state is the enthroning of a regime of fiscal discipline.

    For example, the holding of a monthly transparency briefing to give account of how the state revenue are being spent for the overall benefit of the state is seen as a very novel culture of accountability in the history of a state whose revenue expenditure profile are shrouded in secrecy.

    As a matter of fact, the governor who sounded a note of warning to politicians on a mission to feed fat on the scarce resources of the state to steer clear of his administration as he would not condone the ostentatious lifestyles which Bayelsa politicians were known for over the years. In other words, the days of singing the corruptive song, “PDP share the money” are over and it is time for serious business of governance.

    One of the Aids of the governor on Research and Social media and an unrepentant critic of successive administrations in the state, Dr. John Idumange expressed optimism that “the governor will take the state to the promise land if he would not be distracted by those on a mission to milk the state, stressing that Bayelsans must take their destiny in its hand and make personal sacrifices to take the state to the next level.”

    The increasing wage bill of the state was another critical area that received the searchlight of Governor Seriake Dickson. It was a thing of worry that a state with a population of less than two million people had a wage bill equivalent to Lagos State with a population of over ten million.

    Of course, as a responsible government, this was declared unacceptable. The government embarked on an aggressive biometric exercise, with an eagle-eye screening process that has largely weeded out to its barest minimum the syndrome of ghost workers.

    In fact, the monthly wage bill has been reduced from N5-5 billion to N4.1 billion out of which a paltry sum of N400 million only goes for elected and appointed political office holders.

    These efforts are no doubt yielding fruits as wasted fund are being ploughed into projects that would place Bayelsa state on the world map of development.

    Among these projects are the construction of network of roads across the state. In the state capital, Yenagoa, there is what is called the outer ring road project under construction. This outer ring road is partnered after  the Nnamdi Azikiwe ring road in Abuja, capital of Nigeria.

    The outer ring road is further linked by what is being described as “six-side profiled road” which are also dualised. This is essentially to avert traffic congestion coupled with the population upsurge associated with emerging cities like Yenagoa.

    Apart from the completion of several internal roads in the state capital, a very unique feature to watch is the dualisation of virtually all roads, to the extent that  Bayelsans are beginning to marvel at a concept they thought could happen only in foreign countries and is right at their door steps. Among these ring roads are the Okaka road, AIT to Bayelsa Palm and the one linking Igbogene to AIT.

    The Honourable commissioner for works and infrastructure, Mr. Lawrence Ewujujakpo who spoke to Vanguard Newspaper on December 22, 2013 emphasized that;

    “What we are doing in Yenagoa is that all internal roads have dual carriage ways. We have taken note of all the single lane roads in the capital and we are going to expand them because some of them (constructed by past administrations) are less than six metres. All we want to do is to construct standard eight metres roads across the capital, so that we can have standard driveways, walkways, flowers, street lights and drainage”.

    This is in addition to two major flyovers under construction in which compensation of about N1.2 billion has been worked out to pay those affected by the construction. According to the works and infrastructure commissioner. “So far, about N4 billion has been paid as compensation for people affected by the construction of one protect or the other.

    A further glimpse into development in the coastal areas of the state indicate that it is receiving a fair attention particularly a state that is 75 percent marine with the concomitant effects of high cost of development occasioned by terrain challenges.

    Inspite of these challenges, the governor is in a hurry to fulfill his electoral promises. Already, works are in earnest to complete the three senatorial roads leading to major towns and communities, which until now were accessible by only River crafts. These are the Oporoma road in Bayelsa central senatorial district leading to the riverine areas of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state, with high cost of the construction of several bridges. The second one is that of Ogbia Nembe road in Bayelsa East senatorial district. This is a federal project, yet the state government magnanimously intervened with the whooping sum of N3m to ensure early completion of the project. The third one is the Toru-Orua – Ekeremor – Agge road in Bayelsa West senatorial district.

    These road projects which have been in the drawing board for over forty years will open up the hinterland for investors to explore the economic and tourism potentials that abound in these areas especially in the area of sea food and agro-allied products.

    Another road worthy of mention is the road linking Amassoma in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area to Torogbene in Sagbama Local Government Area with bridges under construction by construction giants like Julius Berger, Okmas and China companies.

    This is being complemented by an airport and a deep seaport under constructions at Amassoma and Agge.

    Apart from the three housing estates and Golf estates under construction, the Seriake Dickson administration has signed a contract with IPP America for the generation of additional 120 megawatts for the take off of industrialization in the state.

    It is a heartwarming news that the state government has embarked on economic diversification by investing in home grown economy, so as to avoid all the trappings of a mono – cultural economy. Hence, government has established a starch production plant farm, aqua culture farm for production and export and the reviving of the state-owned palm estates.

    In the area of security, government considered it as one of its cardinal concerns. The state of insecurity which heralded the Dickson administration was a source of worry, as cult related activities became the order of the day such that night life was like a scarce commodity.

    The government adopted the carrot and stick approach by rolling out rehabilitation programme for cultists who renounce their membership and enforce the law on those who appeared to be recalcitrant.

    The state government also put in place a crime response squad known as Doo Akpoor. This respond squad is not only equipped with the state-of-the-Art equipment for combating crime but also strategically place them in the nooks and crannies of the state.

    Only few weeks ago, the resident pastor of Living Faith Church, a.k.a. winners chapel Yenagoa, pastor Stephen Abraham described Bayelsa as the most peaceful state in the country under the administration of Governor Dickson. No doubt, this is a shining testimony flowing from the alter of God by God’s own servant.

    It is against this background the common opinion across the state is that, the governor, Honourable Henry Seriake Dickson has given development a new meaning anchored on the principle of goal setting and releasing the political will to achieve the set targets.

    The common phrase on the lips of the ordinary people of the state is that “Bayelsa will soon become the Dubai of Africa” which is in line with the vision of the governor. Happily, the economic indicators are all pointing to the fact that Bayelsa state is fast becoming the investment and tourism destination and indeed the fastest growing economy in the South-South.

    Inspite of all these laudable performance index, one grey area that needs government attention is the  internal security that have to do with sea piracy that has reared its ugly heads in the riverine areas. Government really need to double effort to nip it in the bud.

    In the area of agriculture, one can appreciate the modest effort of government to revive the lost glory of agriculture which was once the mainstay of our economy. To this end, government need to do more than ever before by encouraging Aggressive Agrarian Agricultural Revolution (AAAR).  With the rice farm at Peremabiri in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state, if properly harnessed has the potential to feed the entire West African sub-region, not to talk of the continental shelve that has a capacity to provide the take off of sea food and agro-allied industries.

    What the situation demands is for all the people of Bayelsa state, regardless of the political divide, to come together to drive the development process to a very safe anchor.

    • Fente wrote from Yenagoa.

     

     

     

     

  • Bayelsa SUBEB chief under fire

    Bayelsa SUBEB chief under fire

    President Goodluck  Jonathan’s kinsmen are seeking a major revamp of his  primary school amid a major crisis rocking the Bayelsa State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), reports MIKE ODIEWGU and  EVELYN OSAGIE

    Washington Liverpool or Walton Liverpool, as he is famously called, is in the eye of a big storm. He is the Executive Secretary of the Bayelsa State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and Governor Seriake Dickson’s in-law. His major problem is how he is running SUBEB. An adjunct of this problem is his claim that President Gooodluck Jonathan’s alma mater, State School One, in Otuoke is not in a state of disrepair.

    State School One is the product of the split of St Stephen’s School, Otuoke, where Dr. Jonathan had his elementary education. At the time he attended the school, it had only primary one to three. After completing Primary Three in the school, Jonathan moved to St. Michael’s Primary School, Oloibiri, to continue his primary education.

    When The Nation visited the school, pupils of State School, Otuoke had no chairs. They were learning under unpleasant conditions and trekking a long distance before using a lavatory. Like in the case of the president, some had no shoes on; others wore rubber slippers or ‘shoes now turned slippers’. There were tattered-looking uniforms as there were those who wore neat ones with shoes and/or stockings neatly folded.

    The school was founded in 1937 by missionaries. At that time it was beside the Anglican Church where the Town Hall now stands. At a point, the name was changed to All State School under Governor Rufus Ada-George and later to State School. Eventually, it was divided into State School One and State School Two to manage the number of pupils.

    The L-shaped and M-shaped buildings (split in the middle by an independent building housing the library) located at the far end of the large compound houses the two schools. The school is next-door neighbour to Jonathan’s Country Villa, containing three magnificent edifices, with Otuaba road separating both structures. And on the Main Road, it is directly opposite the Anglican Church on the Yenagoa/Otuoke Road. And not far away from it is the Federal University Otuoke (FUO).

    The bright coloured-yellow-and-green paint coating on the wall of what appears as new buildings, with most windows facing the Main Road intact, are deceptive of the decay that lies within.

    The pupils, particularly those in State School One, are learning under very harsh conditions and unpleasant environment. The situation has not changed, though chairs have been supplied but cannot be used because there are no doors on the classrooms to secure them.

    Aside Primary Six that has all its doors and windows intact, other classes lack doors with some windows that have fallen off at the back, thus, giving free entry to sunlight and rain. The pupils often suffer the harsh rays penetrating into their room and are drenched, especially when it rains heavily.

    In some classes, blackboards are held up by wooden or plastic chairs or tables; the floor and ceiling boards have cracks in them; and there are not enough benches and chairs to go round. For instance, in a class of 60 pupils, the benches and chairs might not be more than 10. As a result, the pupils are forced to receive lectures sitting on dusty bare floors. Pupils were seen struggling for the little available seats. Most of their clothes were worn-out, perhaps due to the wear and tear of the constant washing that comes with sitting on a bare floor.

    Significantly, the classrooms are too small for the number of pupils crammed into it. A single class now has more than 50 pupils. In some cases, two classes are merged into one to contain the pupils. The ceiling board and floors are bad. Five to seven pupils force themselves to sit on one seat. The Christ Embassy donated 50 plastic chairs and tables for Primary Six. For security reasons, they are packed after closing hours and locked up somewhere safe.

    But Liverpool insists the school is not dilapidated. A source told The Nation earlier in the week that following the reports on the school, the SUBEB boss came visiting last Friday and was really livid with the headteacher.

    Said the source: “Last Friday, as a result of your publication, the SUBEB Executive Secretary, Mr Walton Liverpool, came to the school. He was angry over the fact that the school’s Headmaster talked to you, the press, about the present state of the school and various visits and intervention made so far by the government and the SUBEB, saying he had just come from a summon by the governor over the report.

    “He threatened to transfer the Headmaster to a faraway school in an Island surrounded by water or even sack him. As of now, we don’t know what will happen to the Headmaster. We are still watching to see the outcome.”

    The Nation learnt that a contractor was in the school on Tuesday on the instruction of the Ministry of Education.

    “They said the governor gave them the contract to renovate the school; but the community resisted them. The community demanded that beyond renovation, a new school should be built instead because the school is too small for the pupils there now. Even though they may not have enough land, they demanded that the school be turned into a more modern structure of one-storey building.”

    Aside his woe as a result of the president’s school, Liverpool has so many other worries. He is at loggerheads with members of the SUBEB board and the House of Assembly.

    When Dickson inaugurated SUBEB, he urged it to give the primary schools a major push. The major components of the plan for the primary schools are free tuition, improved infrastructure, free uniforms, sandals and desks for all pupils. SUBEB was also mandated to take and execute critical decisions on teachers’ recruitment, promotion and welfare. These were the components of the emergency declared by the governor on the sector.

    But several months down the line, the objectives of the emergency on education are far from being realised. Pupils are still paying some fees charged by their school management. Free uniforms and sandals are nowhere to be found and pupils are embarrassingly sitting on bare floor to receive lectures in some classrooms owing to lack of desks.

    In fact, many say the board has failed in its mandates. Liverpool is at the centre of the failed board. He has been the focus of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly since the lawmakers began their probe on problems besetting the educational sector.

    Recently, the board members washed their dirty linens on the floor of the House. Aggrieved members took Liverpool to the cleaners. They accused him of acting like a King Kong and placed all crises rocking the board and the sector on his doorsteps.

    They said Liverpool is running the board like a sole administrator and using his relationship with the governor to intimidate them. They lamented that the highhandedness of Liverpool had made nonsense of the existence of the board, alleging that the secretary had usurped the functions of the Board Chairman.

    According to them, Liverpool was carrying on as if the board never existed and that his actions had negated the good intentions of the emergency declared on education by Dickson.

    Members of the board were never part of most of the activities and programmes, including the ongoing employment and promotional interviews executed by the board, they said.

    A member of the board, Mr. Austin Dressman, said Liverpool was fond of going against the collective decision of members of the board. After taking some collective decisions, he said Liverpool would turn around to implement his sole decision. He said statutory board meetings were reduced by the secretary as forum to merely inform the members of SUBEB activities.

    “The governor declared a state of emergency in education and in his wisdom appointed us to midwife and execute the programme. But the functions of this board are not being carried out,” he said.

    Dressman, a who said he had 30 years experience in management, decried the attitude of Liverpool, saying the board members had been rendered redundant. He said the board met formally about three times since its establishment, adding that the meetings always ended up in disagreements and chaos.

    The SUBEB secretary was also accused of favoritism and deliberately allocating more slots to his Sagbama Local Government Area than other councils during the recruitment of teachers. When asked by the House to state how the employment was distributed, Liverpool said he could not remember.

    Though other members of the board perhaps out of fear were not firm while responding to interrogations from the Speaker of the House, Mr. Kombowei Benson, the Board Chairman, Mrs. Florence William-Ebi, did not waver.

    Mrs William-Ebi said she was relegated to the background by Liverpool. Citing an example, she said she knew nothing about the ongoing promotional examination for teachers in the state until she got the information from outsiders.

    “Virtually nothing is being done the way the law prescribed our existence. The board is not moving smoothly. Each time we meet, we always argue on issues. Even when we decide on something, another thing is implemented,” she said.

    But, Liverpool denied all the allegations and said members of the board were involved in its management. “It is not true that I am a sole administrator of the board. We have been meeting as recommended by the law,” he said.

    The rattled SUBEB secretary is further accused of neglecting schools in Ogbia, Jonathan’s local government area.

    Liverpool is also at the centre of the controversies surrounding an alleged illegal suspension of about 400 teachers. He was said to have overstepped the decision of the board to relive the teachers of their jobs.

    All efforts to get the SUBEB chief to reverse the decision proved abortive, even after the teachers had gone through series of verifications by a team led by Chief B. Isagara. The team was said to have recommended that the teachers should be retained while more teachers of science background be employed. The governor reportedly adopted the recommendations and approved that their salaries should be paid.

    The teachers later complained that Liverpool gave counter directive but that after dilly-dallying he issued fresh employment letters to them and placed them under three months probation.

    Shortly after that, the SUBEB boss was said to have overruled the fresh employment and immediately went on air to announce the suspension of the teachers who had discharged their functions for three months.

    “This is the same reengagement he publicised in the media as having followed due process. It is painful that our arrears of salaries before our employment was suspended have not been paid.

    “Even the three months we worked after our reengagement have yet to be paid. So, we are compelled to believe that this whole thing is political,” the teachers said.

    The teachers, after waiting in vain to be reinstated, took their matter to court. Niger Delta Report recently gathered that the court had ordered the parties to engage in out-of-court settlement.

    But, Liverpool has always defended his actions. He described public primary and secondary schools in Otuoke as the best in the state.

    He also reinstated the board’s commitment to supply seats to all the primary and secondary schools across the state. Liverpool, also said that the government was set to distribute over 13,000 seats and desks to schoolchildren across the state.

    He also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to providing conducive learning environment to schools in the state.

    The SUBEB boss said: “In continuation of the government’s policy to equip schools in the state with necessary infrastructure, the board has concluded plans to provide over 13, 000 seats and desks which will be distributed to all schools soon.

    “This is in addition to the ones already provided since the inception of the current administration. The target is before September 2014, every schoolchild in the state will have a comfortable seat to study.”

    According to him, about 200 seats and desks were ready for some primary schools around Otuoke and other communities in the area that were devastated by the last floods.

    Liverpool also spoke on completed school projects in the state, saying the board had completed 25 community primary schools and Basic Junior Secondary schools.

    Some of the completed schools, according to Liverpool, are CPS Biogbolo, Swali, Opolo, Okolobiri, Ogbia- CPS Elebele, Otueke, Ogbia Town, Ebedebiri, Okunbiri, Sagabama town, CSP Ekeremo and BJSS (Basic Junior Secondary School.

    How long he withstands the storm remains to be seen. But what is not in doubt he has murdered sleep and sleeping easy should not be a luxury for him.

  • ‘We’ll wipe out kidnappers in Bayelsa’

    ‘We’ll wipe out kidnappers in Bayelsa’

    Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police Mr. Hilary Opara promises to wipe out kidnappers. He spoke with MIKE ODIEGWU.

    How safe is Bayelsa?

    Bayelsa is very safe. The good people of Bayelsa State and all the people living in Bayelsa State are going about their lawful businesses without molestation. You can see that Bayelsa has played host to so many national and international events and we are still playing host to more. We are still expecting many national and international events in the state. This goes to show that Bayelsa is safe for law-abiding citizens. But Bayelsa is not safe for anybody who is here to perpetrate any act of criminality or terrorism. It is only safe for only law-abiding citizens. We have not had any case where investors are being harassed or expatriates are being molested. Many of them are already here. We have companies like Julius Berger, Chinese companies and many others operating in the state. They are going about their businesses and they have never complained to us that they are being harassed. That is why we can say that the state is very safe for law-abiding citizens.

     

    But the state is still in the news for kidnapping?

    Kidnapping is one of the challenges we have. But it is not peculiar to the state alone. It has not overwhelmed us. We have arrested many kidnappers and they are in the process of investigation and prosecution. We still have pockets of them that have not been arrested. These are the ones engaging in kidnapping in the creeks. It is true that the creeks are not easy to navigate but we are dealing with the situation. We are going after them and we have beamed our satellite on them.

    Recall that we arrested some of the kidnappers that abducted the Dutch nationals. One of them was arrested in Warri after the Dutch had been released. We are still on the trail of others. The one we arrested confessed to the crime and he is still with us. The ones that kidnapped a pregnant woman after robbing her and her husband; we arrested six of them and they are being investigated. They will soon be arraigned. So, it is a gradual process. We are in the process of wiping them out completely.

     

    How do you handle kidnap cases?

    We handle cases of kidnapping with utmost professionalism and that is why no kidnapped victim has been killed by the abductors. If a victim is in the kidnappers’ den, you don’t go there and begin to open fire on them. The primary objective is to rescue the kidnapped victim. That is why we are always careful until after the kidnapped victim has been released. Then we go out full blown to attack the kidnappers. Sometimes, you hear that someone has been kidnapped and the person is in the kidnappers’ den for two weeks. It is not that we don’t know how to go and raid the den. If you raid the den and in the process, there is an exchange of fire and the kidnapped victim dies, then the objective is defeated. That is why we are always very careful. So, when the kidnapped victim is released, you can then retstrategise and go after the kidnappers. That is what we have been doing in the state.

     

    Why has kidnapping persisted despite the new law that prescribes death sentence for convicted kidnappers?

    As a matter of fact, the problem is on the criminal justice system. The police is just one of the arms. There are other government functionaries in the criminal justice system such as the court and the prison. The police cannot do everything alone. What we do is to arrest, investigate and charge to court. The court will undertake their independent processes.

    Before the case will go through the court process and condemn someone for kidnapping, it takes a long time. That is why the ones we have taken to court have not been tried. The court has to take its time to go through the case and ensure that any sentence it wants to pass must be sound. Even if a kidnapper is eventually sentenced, such persons requires time to go on appeal. The convicts must exhaust all the avenues available to them before they can be executed.

     

    The kidnappers are now targeting relations of government officials?

    We have observed that because of some of the cases we have the victims have something to do with persons in government either they are their mothers, their mothers-in-law, their sisters or fathers. This is what we have noticed because these bad boys want to kidnap someone with kidnap value; that is somebody whose son or daughter is in government or who is occupying a high position that will be able to pay them ransom. But what we do is to discourage payment of ransom. We always tell the relations of the victims to exercise patience and allow the police exhaust all other avenues available. Anybody who pays ransom is encouraging the kidnappers because their objective is to make money. We always advise them to work with us so as to explore ways to rescue the victim without ransom being paid. But sometimes they go behind us and pay this ransom out of fear.

    There are still pockets of cult clashes. Recently, there was an incident at Niger Delta University

    We are trying our best to curb the menace of cultism in the state to complement what the state government has done. The government gave the cultists the opportunity to renounce cultism and those who have renounced cultism are being rehabilitated. It is just like what we have during the amnesty period. But those of them who refused to renounce, we are having running battle with them. Many have been arrested. Many have been charged to court and many are already in prison.

    For instance in Sagbama last week, six of them were arrested when they went to forcefully initiate one boy. We have charged them to court and they have been remanded in prison custody.

  • Gunmen attack Bayelsa community

    Scores of gunmen have laid siege to Zion community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

    The hoodlums, who rode on many speedboats, our correspondent gathered, overran the community and shot sporadically in a siege that lasted for two days.

    A security source said a chief from the community sustained bullet wounds in the surprise attack by the gunmen suspected to have come from neighbouring Ekeni community.

    “The chief is critically injured,” the source who pleaded for anonymity said.

    “The operation started on June 26th and lasted till 27th. The gunmen came on many speedboats.

    “They were fully armed. The incident created panic among residents of the area who ran into the mangroves for safety,” he added.

    The source also said the gunmen barricaded the waterways and attacked two passenger boats.

    He said the hoodlums carted away valuables and dispossessed the passengers of about N1million in cash.

    It was further learnt that a communication technician in the employ of a telecommunication firm was abducted and whisked away to an unknown place by the bandits.

    “The technician was on his was to repair a faulty mast of the company in the area when the boat conveying him ran into the gunmen. They kidnapped him and took him to an unknown place,” he said.

    The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hilary Opara, it was gathered, had deployed gunboats to the area to restore the peace.

    The gunboats were also said to be on the trail of the hoodlums.

    But Opara could not be reached for comments.

  • Bayelsa to host Africa Fashion Reception Week

    Bayelsa to host Africa Fashion Reception Week

    NIGERIA’S leading tourism and entertainment destination, Bayelsa State, has been chosen as host for the Africa Fashion Reception Week scheduled for July 3 to 5. Participants from over 50 countries are expected at Africa Fashion Reception which is one of the five events lined up for the World Fashion Week taking place in Paris in October.

    Explaining the choice of Bayelsa as host for the highly prestigious event, Minister of Culture and Tourism, Chief Edem Duke, said the oil-rich state had a proven track record of successfully organising international events.

    Duke, who further described Bayelsa as the pearl of tourism in Nigeria, said that aside from hosting the event, the state government has expressed its commitment to partnering organisers of the show and the World Fashion Organisation towards building the proposed Fashion University in the state.

    Speaking in the same vein, Director-General of the Bayelsa State Tourism Development Agency, Ebizi Ndiomu-Brown, said the hosting of the African Fashion Week was prelude to the long-term investment of the state government in the Fashion University which will be beneficial to Bayelsan and Nigerian youths interested in being enterprenuers in the fashion industry.

    Ndiomu- Brown, who assured participants that Bayelsa was safe and secure, also said her agency and all other relevant agencies in the state were prepared to host a successful event.

    “Bayelsa State is hosting the African Fashion Week, not just to showcase its beautiful tourist sites and rich cultural heritage to the world, but also to bring the fashion industry to the door steps of our teaming youths in futherrance to our state drive for youth empowerment and economic diversification.

    The Africa Fashion Reception is jointly organised by Merit Obua-led Banzuk Gold Entertainment, the Federal Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Bayelsa State Tourism Development Agency and Legendary Gold Limited.

  • Pirates attack boat in Bayelsa

    Pirates attack boat in Bayelsa

    Pirates ambushed yesterday a passenger boat on the Nembe-Brass waterways in Bayelsa State.

    The bandits raided the boat at Obama Rice Farm, an area located between Brass and Nembe.

    The incident, which occurred at 10am, temporarily halted movement of goods and passengers on the waterways.

    A source said the pirates robbed their victims of their phones, money, jewelries and other valuables. No life was lost in the incident.

    “The attack only created fears among travellers and traders and stopped movement of boats on the waterways. The passengers of the attacked boats refused to embark on their journey again.

    “It took the intervention of a patrol boat of the Joint Task Force to convince them to begin their journey again,” he said.

    The Commissioner of Police, Hilary Opara, said gunboats were immediately deployed in the area.

  • Bayelsa hosts first investment forum

    Bayelsa hosts first investment forum

    Director General, Bayelsa State Investment Promotion Agency, BIPA, Ms. Freda Murray-Bruce, has said  that Bayelsa State is to host its first Investment and Economic Forum (BSIEF) in Yenagoa, the state capital.

    Ms. Murray-Bruce, who disclosed this, while briefing newsmen in her office in Yenagoa, explained that the event will hold between July  16 and 18.

    According to her, the forum, with the theme “Unlocking Bayelsa State’s Economic Potentials: Opportunities and Challenges,” will focus on wealth creation, sustainable business growth and success within the West African sub-region.

    The DG stated that to demonstrate its commitment and the importance attached to the forum, the state government is to create an official website and email account for easy flow of information.

    “We are very serious and committed to this programme and as a government, we have decided to create an official website and email accounts for easy communication and dissemination of all relevant information about the forum,” the DG said.

    Ms Murray-Bruce added that Bayelsa State Investment Economic Forum is intended to serve as a platform for Bayelsans, Nigerians and the world-at-large to convene, discuss and collaborate towards building the economy of the state as well contribute to the growth of the nation’s economy.

    Describing the forum as most timely and relevant to the ideals and philosophy of the Restoration Government in Bayelsa State, she noted that  the state was ripe for business, stressing that her agency was committed to ensuring that  the state overcomes those challenges that had impeded the growth of indigenous businesses as well as create a sustainable economic climate for indigenes and Nigerians to make the desired progress.

    The DG used the opportunity to outline some of the investment potential of the state to include: its rich landmark that offers vast economic opportunities in fish-farming, rice-production, cassava, sugar cane, cocoa, salt mines and others that are vital for sustainable economic growth.

    She said that the state is currently intensifying its efforts at becoming a major player in the thriving oil and gas industry, adding that government is equally taking relevant steps to tap its clay, salt, sand, gravel, lead and zinc deposits in the State.

    The DG pointed out that the emergence of the MINT nations (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) as frontier markets offers vast opportunities for investment and also prompted the economic forum, in order to address the perceived and real challenges of investing in Nigeria, while also presenting the immense potential of Bayelsa State as a first-rate location for investment.

    The forum, Ms Murray-Bruce emphasized, is also expected to proffer solutions to the perceived challenges and how they can benefit investors, the economy of the state and offer a unique platform for researchers, policymakers, development partners and global investors to discuss investments in Nigeria with key government agencies in the light of the nation’s search for economic transformation.

    The DG disclosed that BSIEF will be staged annually as a leading platform for discussions on investments in constituent local economies and with a focus on wealth creation as well as sustainable business growth in the West African sub-region.

    Ms Murray-Bruce said the the line up of activities for the forum include interactive sessions through conferences and workshops as well as a gala and dinner reception.

    She equally used the occasion to welcome relevant stakeholders like entrepreneurs, banks and other financial institutions, ICT companies, petrochemical industries, mobile payments and technology-based companies.

    Others are government agencies with responsibility for SME development, corporate organisations, food packaging companies, consumer products companies, NGOs and charities, media organisations, businesses and individuals dedicated to moving Nigeria forward.

  • Bayelsa United beat Rangers 4-3

    Bayelsa United  on Wednesday defeated Rangers Football Club of Enugu, flying antelopes by 4-3 in week eleven glo premier league.

    Before the match at the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium a one minute silence was observed in honour of Deacon Sam David popularly called Samco stars.

    Bayelsa United having crashed out of the Confederation Cup conceded the first goal when CHAN hero Ejike Uzeonyi of Rangers in the 6th minute put his name in the scorers sheet.  The host team Bayelsa equalized courtesy of Sobomabo West in the 8th minute.

    Former Flying Eagles player Oluwafemi Oladapo latched home a 20yards bullet to put Bayelsa ahead.  Bayelsa went ahead 3-1 through Peter Ebimobowei who struck to increase the tally in the 38th minutes.

    The visitors under the tutelage of silver winning Golden Eaglets John Obuh urged his wads to attack following which  Rangers reduced  the deficit to 3-2 before the end of the first half.

     Bayelsa united second half substitute Ebitimi Agogu made it four for Bayelsa united while Abubakar Kumar of Rangers pulled one back to make it  4-3 towards the end of the game.

    Coach of Bayelsa United after the game said that he hopes his team will continue with this result in Benin and promised to beat Enyimba of Aba this weekend when they clash in a rescheduled game.

    “I am happy with the performance of my boys even though Rangers gave us a good run for our money,I am also happy with the fans who turned out in large numbers to support us. We hope not to disappointing them”

     

  • Kidnappers free two Nigerians

    The two Nigerians, who were kidnapped on Sunday along with three Dutch citizens in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, have been freed.

    There is no news on the whereabouts of their Dutch friends.

    Sunny Ofehe, the leader of the visiting humanitarian Dutch group and Femi Soewu, a journalist, were kidnapped along with Marianne Hendrick Vox, Erhard Leffers and Jandries Groenenedij.

    Ofehe, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer,  Hope for Niger Delta Campaign, who spoke in Warri, Delta State, yesterday, said there was no ransom demand.

    He said the kidnappers’ action will send wrong signals to the international community.

    Reliving his ordeal, Ofehe said the three Dutch nationals were taken to a different location.

    His words: “Soewu and I were blindfolded till we were released. The kidnappers threatened to kill us if we remain in the Niger Delta. But I can’t leave my colleagues here.

    “It was a terrible experience. I can’t even remember all that happened. It was like a movie scene.

    “I recall that we had done everything we came there to do. We had inspected the hospitals. We were well received by the community. As we left the jetty, we started hearing gunshots.

    “They shot at the engine of our speedboats and barked orders ‘put your heads down, lie down’.

    “One of the attackers screamed: ‘Where are the white people? Where are the white men?’

    “They dragged them into the first boat we saw. I raised my head and tried to ask what was happening, the next speed boat came and they pushed me in.

    “Soewu, who also came from the Netherlands, was pushed into the second speedboat.

    “His cameras were seized. The speedboats went in opposite directions.”

    Ofehe said he didn’t see any need for escorts because this was not the first time, he would visit the community.

    “This is not the first time we would visit the community. I have never seen any reason why I should go with escorts, knowing we were coming to help the youths.

    “I didn’t expect any attack from a community we were going to help. It is rather unfortunate.  We passed a couple of Joint Task Force (JTF) checkpoints; so I figured it was safe to move around.

    “There has been no contact; no demand for ransom. This is sending a wrong signal to the international community.

    “This incident makes our job very difficult. It will be hard to get another team to visit Africa for humanitarian support.”

    When asked about his move, he said: “We want to leave here for another location because when we were released we were told to leave the Niger Delta; otherwise they would find and kill us.

    “I have assured everyone back in the Netherlands that I won’t return home, until we are complete, I owe my colleagues that much.”

  • Ripples over police abortion of pro-Jonathan’s rally in Bayelsa

    Ripples over police abortion of pro-Jonathan’s rally in Bayelsa

    The recent abortion of a pro-Goodluck Jonathan political rally in Yenagoa has raised fresh speculations that all is not well within PDP in Mr. President’s home state of Bayelsa, reports Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

    It came as a surprise to many that a rally purportedly organised recently in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, by a new political movement, New Dawn Development Initiative (NDDI), in support of President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election in 2015 was aborted by the police.

    Persons who were bewildered over the development reasoned that since Bayelsa is the home state of the President, stopping a rally, which was allegedly staged to mount pressure on him to declare his second term ambition, is a sign of discordant tunes within the ranks of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

    However, insiders who understand the political dynamics of Bayelsa and the variables that determine who gets what, when and how in the state believe that the cancelled rally had other objectives beyond Jonathan’s re-election.

    The police who barricaded Opolo Secondary School, where the demonstration was billed to take-off, allegedlypredicated their action on a security report which uncovered rancour among the organisers of the event.

    Relying on intelligence, the police said a splinter group of NDDI had concluded plans to unleash mayhem on other members of the group if they went ahead with the rally.

    The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hilary Opara, insisted that if he had allowed the demonstration to hold, it would have had negative consequences on peace and security of the state.

    He said: “The police have directed the group known as New Dawn Initiative Development to reschedule the rally billed to take place at Opolo Secondary School, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

    “This was premised on the available intelligence to the command that a splinter group had perfected plans to attack and disrupt the rally which could lead to breach of the peace.”

    But beyond the security implications of the demonstrations, there are other political undercurrents. Who is behind NDDI? The new group has been linked to the Special Assistant to the President on Domestic Matters, Dr. Wariponmowei Dudafa.

    Dudafa is believed to be nursing an ambition to dislodge Dickson from the Creek Haven. He is a close associate of President Jonathan’s wife, Dame Patience, who is said to be backing him.

    Dudafa served as a commissioner and special adviser in the former administrations of Chief Diepreye Alamieyesigha/Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and that of Chief Timipre Sylva.

    Though he is yet to declare his ambition publicly, Dudafa is said to be the founder and financier of NDDI. Sources allege that he is secretly setting up his structures in all the eight local government areas of the state by recruiting supporters into the group.

    Therefore, NDDI is generally seen as a platform for Dudafa to actualise his ambition and its activities are perceived in some quarters as an affront on Governor Seriake Dickson, who is also gunning for a second term.

    Supporters of Dickson are questioning the motives of Dudafa. They are beginning to consider him as the Nyesom Wike of Bayelsa State and are expressing fears that he could be used by the haters of Dickson in the Presidency to re-enact the Rivers State political imbroglio in the state of President Jonathan.

    After the aborted demonstration, leaders of NDDI, including its National Coordinator, Preye Inoro, were invited by the Disciplinary Committee of the state’s chapter of PDP for questioning.

    A PDP source said the party Chairman ordered that they should appear before the committee to explain why they organised such rally without informing the party leadership in the state. The source who pleaded not to be mentioned said there were threats then that the NDDI leaders may be suspended from the party after the probe.

    He however said: “They were not suspended. But they were asked to henceforth seek permission not only from the police but also from the party before holding any rally in the state. They were also told that President Jonathan has no problem in the state and that their aborted rally was unwarranted.”

    Also, another source from the camp of Dickson described the aborted rally as an affront to the governor and a deliberate design to pit him against the President. He wondered why the group decided to hold a rally against the directive of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which placed an embargo on such rallies.

    He said: “If the rally was allowed to go on, some people could take advantage of it to unleash mayhem in the state to give the impression that there is crisis in Mr. President’s home state in a bid to spite him.

    “For the avoidance of any doubts, the governor, who is the leader of the party in the state, is well positioned to lead such rallies and naturally it should emanate from him and not any other individual or group”.

    He added: “It has also come to the knowledge of the government that, no notable politician is billed to attend the rally, except for some misguided youths and miscreants.

    “It must be noted that, under the prevailing political circumstances, any group or sectional rallies, without the participation of the governor and other major stakeholders of the PDP in the state, will end up sending a rather dangerous signal to the rest of the country, as it may even portray the home base of the President as a house divided against itself.

    “This is not the time for the PDP and Bayelsans to be divided. We should rather pull our resources and energies together and rally the needed support for our leader and President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

    Furthermore, the governor has said: “It is unfortunate that those who should know better appear to be embarking on wasted political adventure. In this business, we are tested warriors.

    “I want to call on those dancing too early not to be like an antelope that dances too early and dances self lame before the feast. You can practice the dance but don’t get tired. If they know how we confronted sitting authorities, they should have known better. When we are ready, we will show them who we are.”

    According to him Jonathan does not need a crisis in his home state at a time he is battling political forces from other zones. “We need to first put our house in order. The rest of Bayelsa should not see a divided Bayelsa. That is what we owe our leader”, he said.