The Nation Newspaper

Tag: CALABAR

  • Fed Govt to probe Calabar Port dredging contract

    The Federal Government is set to probe the Calabar port dredging contract allegedly awarded by the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mallam Habib Abdullahi.

    The deal was awarded to Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company Limited, which was said to have neither bidded nor taken part in the selection before the Presidential approval was sought, The Nation has learnt.

    The Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) for the contract was said to have been signed by NPA and the company on January 25, this year.

    Abdullahi, sources said, has between this and next week to explain to the Federal Government what happened and why the multi-billion naira dredging contract agreement was signed with a company that has prior records with NPA and without following the due process.

    Both the Presidency and the ministry, sources further said, have directed that the matter be investigated based on the petition sent to the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar by the Chairman, Board of NPA, Tony Anenih, over the award of the contract.

    Anenih had in a five-page letter dated April 25, 2013, titled: Appointment of Calabar Channel Management Company Limited to Manage the Calabar Channel Under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) Agreement with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) sent to the Minister, raised questions about the award of the contract, which he alleged did not follow due process.

    The NPA chairman also called for the reappraisal of the contract and questioned the basis for choosing the consortium to manage the company.

    ”The purpose of this letter is to respectfully draw the attention of the Honourable Minister to the Joint Venture Agreement, which was made on the 25th of January, 2013, between the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Consortium lead (sic) by Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company Limited.

    ”The said Agreement created a partnership arrangement between NPA and the Consortium and gave the Consortium the right to operate a Joint Venture Company, Calabar Channel Management Company Limited, where NPA holds 60 per cent equity and the Consortium 40 per cent.

    ”The circumstances that led to this Joint Venture Agreement and the terms, need reappraisal in view of the fact that as at the time the Agreement was signed, there was no reference records of the Consortium on the basis of which it was selected to manage the proposed Company,” Anenih wrote in the letter to Umar.

    Anenih lamented that despite the fact that the approval given by the Minister of Justice for the contract was conditional, officials of the NPA and the Federal Ministry of Transport “decided to engage in selective compliance by amending some parts and ignoring some other parts of the Draft Agreement, particularly those provisions that tend to give absolute control of the finance and management of the Joint Venture Company to the consortium rather than the Board of Directors of the Calabar Channel Management Company Limited”.

    Other issues raised by the chairman include: That the consortium had no reference whatsoever of previous jobs done, they were alien to the Calabar Channel Project and did not even take part in the bids of 2010 and the later re-procurement process. The consortium was also not pre-qualified and did not pass through the selection like the other companies.

    “It, therefore, follows that the Presidential Approval for the appointment of the consortium led by Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company Limited to enter into a JVA with NPA, which culminated in the agreement to form Calabar Channel Management Company Limited, was obtained without following due process,” Anenih added.

     

     

     

    It further alleged that the only company among the seven companies that form the consortium, which ought to lead the consortium is Nigeria Westminster Dredging that was prequalified for the first procurement exercise and not Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company Limited that has poor records with NPA.

     

     

     

    Besides, it stated that the spirit and letter of the JVA signed between NPA and the consortium led by Niger Global Engineering and Technical Company Limited are not only skewed in favour of the consortium but also offend international standard and the extant laws in the maritime industry in Nigeria having regard to the refusal of officers of NPA and the Ministry of Transport to effect the necessary amendments.

    The Federal Government, sources said, is therefore, investigating why two new companies were added to the first six companies that were earlier prequalified for the re-procurement especially when it was discovered that one of the companies had not been registered at the time the bid was done in 2010.

    The process, through which the contract was awarded, the source said, has become an embarrassment to the government. That explains the insistence of government to probe the level of the involvement of top government officials in the scam so that appropriate sanctions could slammed on them if found culpable.

  • Ita-Giwa urges FG to quicken resettlement of displaced Bakassi people at Dayspring

    Ita-Giwa urges FG to quicken resettlement of displaced Bakassi people at Dayspring

    Sen. Florence Ita-Giwa, popularly known as “Mama Bakassi” has renewed an appeal to the Federal Government to expedite action on resettling the displaced people of the area at Dayspring Island.

    Dayspring is said to be owned by communities in Calabar.

    Ita-Giwa, a former Presidential Adviser on National Assembly Matters, made the call on Tuesday at the Akwa Ikot Edem Primary School in Akpabuyo Local Government of Cross River.

    She said that the people also needed tents for shelter as the school where they were at the moment would resume classes in a couple of weeks.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the school is temporally serving as a refugee camp for Nigerians who were allegedly evicted by Cameroonians on March 7.

    Ita-Giwa said that the only way to remedy the recurring Bakassi problem permanently was proper resettlement of the displaced people.

    Ita-Giwa, who also provided the refugees with tanks of water, called on good spirited Nigerians, government and the international community, to urgently assist the displaced persons by providing them with basic amenities.

    NAN also reports that the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) had presented some relief materials to the people at the camp.

    NAN recalls that the Federal Government recently set up a committee on the resettlement of the Bakassi people.

    Meanwhile, the Paramount Ruler of Bakassi, Dr Etim Okon Edet, has also urges the government and international community to assist the people and hasten the process of proper resettlement .

    Mr Saviour Nyong, the member representing Bakassi constituency in the State House of Assembly, wants the Federal Government to urgently resettle the displaced persons.

    A Cameroon/Nigeria liaison officer, Prince Aston Joseph, claimed that Nigerians living in the ceded peninsula were constantly being harrassed by the Cameroonian gendarmes.

    Meanwhile, another baby has been born at the Akwa Ikot Edem Primary School in Akpabuyo, temporally serving as a camp for Nigerians who were allegedly evicted by Cameroonians on March 7.

    The baby, born to Mrs Mary Archibong, on March 30, 2013, would be the third to be delivered since the displaced persons found refuge in Akpabuyo.

    Red Cross officials told NAN on Tuesday that apart from the new born baby, there were close to 30 babies in the camp.

    The officials, who pleaded anonymity, said they were worried by the poor sanitary condition in the area.

    They also complained about the lack of potable water, which they said, could lead to the outbreak of an epidemic.

  • BATTLE OF CALABAR FALLOUT IKE: EAGLES WERE NOT AGGRESSIVE AT ALL

    BATTLE OF CALABAR FALLOUT IKE: EAGLES WERE NOT AGGRESSIVE AT ALL

    GOALKEEPER trainer of the Nigeria national team, Ike Shorunmu is still angry with the display of the African champions in their recent FIFA World Cup qualifying game against Kenya in Calabar on March 23.

    The African champions laboured to a 1-1 draw against a compact Harambee Stars with substitute, Nnamdi Oduamadi netting the equaliser in the third minute of time added on.

    Shorunmu, who won 36 caps for Nigeria between 1992 and 2002, has now laid into the Super Eagles’ players questioning their attitude on the day against the East Africans.

    “From the bench, we the coaches saw that the players took the match so lightly. They were not aggressive at all,” a disappointed Shorunmu told supersport.com.

    “Now it is quite clear that Kenya has a very good team. We may be African champions but we must never think we have arrived. We have a lot of work to do (on the team) before the next game against Kenya in Nairobi,” he said.

    Nigeria currently top Group F of second round 2014 Fifa World Cup qualifying in the African zone with five points from three games.

    The Super Eagles next face Kenya in Nairobi on Matchday 4 before travelling to Windhoek for a date with Namibia on Matchday 5.

    The African champions then round off their qualification campaign with a home fixture against Malawi in September.

  • Survivors of boat mishap recount experience

    Two survivors of the boat mishap which happened 40 nautical miles off the coast of Calabar relived their moments of horror to journalists in Calabar on Wednesday.

    The survivors Kive Sani, 27, from Togo and Hasfat Zakari, 13, from Benin were rescued by Addax workers on Sunday afternoon. They were brought to Calabar on board a drilling vessel being operated by the oil firm on Tuesday.

    They were passengers on board a wooden boat which departed Oron in Akwa Ibom State for Gabon on Friday, March 15.

    It was gathered that the boat had on board 128 passengers and five crew members.

    The passengers were mostly foreigners from Niger, Togo, Republic of Benin, and Ghana and not Igbo traders as was believed at first.

    However the five crew members were Nigerians.

    Kive Sani said he was heading to Gabon because he was promised a good job by a man he kept referring to as his master.

    According to the Togolese, he arrived Oron a month ago from Togo by bus before embarking on the ill-fated journey.

    Sani, who spoke in broken English at the Bakor Clinic at the Murtala Mohammed Highway where he was admitted, said the incident was caused by stalled engines.

    According to him, the engines stalled and water started entering the boat.

    He said they were in the water from 9pm on Friday night when the incident happened till about 3pm on Sunday when he was rescued.

    He told journalists that when the engines stopped working, the captain asked them to start praying.

     

  • Kenya FA blast NFF over Calabar Stadium

    Kenya FA blast NFF over Calabar Stadium

    • Origi to link up with Harambee in Lagos
    • Kenyan TV stations to show tie

     

    Football Kenya Federation (FKF) chief, Sam Nyamweya has lunched a stunning attack at the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) egg-heads over choice to stage the 2014 World Cup qualifiers between Eagles and Harambee Stars in Calabar.

    Nyamweya told a daily based in Nairobi that: “We don’t know why they took the match to Calabar that is so far from Lagos where they said there were no stadiums; maybe it is a means of trying to scare us. We are not afraid to face them wherever it is,” the FKF boss stressed.

    “We are also making arrangements to see whether the national broadcaster will air the game live but Oliech and his boys are ready,” he added.

    Meanwhile, goalkeeper Arnold Origi and South Africa based Johanna Omollo are both expected to link up with their team mates in Lagos today with the team departing later for Calabar venue for the tie.

    However, Belgian coach, Adel Amrouche, who will make his competitive debut with the team, was pragmatic as he sought to temper down expectations.

    “We have a good team and we are ready for the match and the Nigeria game will give our team a good test but we should be looking to the future,” he added.

    During Tuesday’s training session, Amrouche had the chance to see his entire line-up and his animation on the touch line was evident as he urged his charges to get their act together.

  • BATTLE OF CALABAR Fans to pay N5000 for Eagles/Harambee clash

    BATTLE OF CALABAR Fans to pay N5000 for Eagles/Harambee clash

    •Popular side goes for N1000; Covered N3000
    •Ticket sales begin Friday

    Football fans within Calabar and its environs wishing to watch Nigeria’s Super Eagles against Kenya’s Harambee Stars in Saturday’s 2014 World Cup qualifier at the U.J. Esuene stadium in Calabar will have to cough up between N5000 and N1000 each.

    NationSport understands that the match tickets will go on sale in major eatries and hotels within the calabar metropolis on Friday.

    “The tickets will not be sold until 24 hour before the match. The reason is simple: we don’t want racketeers to fake it.

    “However, with the plans in place, Nigerians wishing to watch the match can easily obtain their tickets from the many outlets in town.

    “Already we have mapped out major fast food joints and hotels where they can be obtained,” a top member of the stadium management told NationSport under condition of anonymity.

  • Calabar fans to Keshi:Give us World Cup

    Calabar fans to Keshi:Give us World Cup

    Football fans comprising mostly students, lecturers and members of the university community have tasked Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi to please deliver the 2014 World Cup to Nigerians.

    The fans, who took up all available places in the stands and under trees within the University of Calabar sports ground to catch a glimpse of the Eagles training on Monday since Nigeria’s AFCON 2013 feat, sang in chorus repeatedly: ”Keshi, all we are saying, give us World Cup…Keshi, all we are saying, give us World Cup.”

    Responding, the Big Boss waved at them as the team made their way to their bus enroute their Transcop Hotel base.

  • Jazz Festival debuts in Calabar

    Voted for its enthusiasm for entertainment and tourism, the Cross River State government is adding another event to its annual leisure calendar. The new treat; Calabar International Jazz Festival, is expected to promote that genre of music that is quietly loved by many.

    Mr. Nzan Ogbe, Special Adviser, Governor’s Office, told reporters in Lagos, yesterday, that the decision to make the Calabar Jazz Festival a stand-alone event is a direct result of the success of the jazz concerts held during the annual Calabar Christmas Carnival.

    The event, which is scheduled for the the Easter holidays, is a three-day activity, expected to feature foreign and local artistes, including: D’Angelo, Eric Benet, Asa, Darey Art Alade, Bez, Jonathan Butler and Burna Boy.

    The state is partnering popular music channel, MTV base and Mo Abudu’s Ebony Studio to stage the show which they say will showcase Cababar’s tourism potential to the world.

    “Visitors to Calabar also get to have an experience that will literally take their breath away. The ancient city of Calabar with its undiluting landscape, historically significant as the first capital city of Nigeria, is the cleanest, greenest, safest capital in Nigeria,” Ogbe said.

    He said that, in addition to the concerts, there will be fun day-time activities and tours for all the family, fabulous VIP after-parties, and opportunity to sample some of the local delicacies which have led to Calabar being acclaimed the best kitchen in the country.

    The concerts, he said, will rotate between two venues: The Cultural Center, featuring D’ Angelo, Asa, Darey and Bez on March 29 and Eric Benet, Jonathan Butler and Burna Boy on March 30, and the Millenium Park, featuring Darey, Bez and Burna Boy on March 31

     

  • Calabar set for Night of Stars

    Calabar set for Night of Stars

    • Imoke, NFF, Eagles, Nollywood Stars for honour

    The Executive Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke is top of the list of personalities to be honoured at the first-ever Night of Stars, preceeding the inaugural Nigeria Pitch Awards, which hold at the Conference Hall of Tinapa Lakeside Hotel and Resort, Calabar on Saturday, March 23.

    Governor Imoke, whose administration has hugely supported the reinvigoration of the Senior National Football Team, Super Eagles and the U-17 Team, Golden Eaglets, will be honoured alongside the Honourable Minister/Chairman, National Sports Commission, Bolaji Abdullahi, NFF Executive Committee and Management, Super Eagles’ players, and a dozen stars of the Nollywood industry on a night that aptly marries football and entertainment. The two-hour event starts at 9pm, with the red carpet on from 8pm.

    Matchmakers Consult International Limited, endorsed by the Nigeria Football Federation to organise the Nigeria Pitch Awards, is putting together this event that will annually precede the Awards, and has gone to a great length to ensure it would be a roaring success.

    “We are putting together something that will amply reflect the huge progress that our country has made in both football and entertainment sectors in the past few years. It is auspicious that this is coming at a time that the Super Eagles have just won the Africa Cup of Nations and Nollywood is celebrating 20 years on stream, but the truth is, this event has been in the works for some time now.

    “As it has turned out, and for good too, this inaugural Night of Stars will principally celebrate Nigeria’s triumph at the Africa Cup of Nations and the rapid growth of the Nollywood industry in only two decades,” Shina Phillips, CEO of Matchmakers, said on Tuesday.

    The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Sports, Senator Adamu Gumba and the Chairman of House Committee on Sports, Hon. Godfrey Gaiya are also expected on a night that will see players and coaches of the Super Eagles as principal guests.

    Expected from the Nollywood sector are top stars such as Desmond Elliot, Bimbo Akintola, Keppy Ekpeyong, Nse-Ikpe Etim, Francis Duru, Ejike Asiegbu, Bimbo Manuel, Fred Amata, Lancelot Imasuen and Chika Ike.

  • Asaba, Calabar: A tale of two cities

    Asaba, Calabar: A tale of two cities

    In line with the determination of  states to boost their tourism profiles by developing  cultural, historical and eco-tourism products capable of attracting local and international tourists, two cities-Asaba and Calabar- are claiming to be the first capital of Nigeria, and they give facts  to prove their cases. Okorie Uguru, who visited both places, looks at the merits or otherwise of these claims.

    During a tour by the Naija Seven Wonders expedition team to Delta State, part of the team’s itinerary was a tour of Asaba Museum. There, the tour guide confidently said: ”Welcome to Asaba, ‘Nigeria’s first capital.’ “ Many in the team were a bit surprised, mindful of the fact that Calabar, the Cross River State capital, had always claimed to being the Nigeria’s first capital before the seat of power was transferred to Lagos.

    Last month, while receiving delegations from Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago for the annual December festival, the acting governor of Cross River State, Mr. Efiok Cobham, had welcomed the visitors to ‘Nigeria’s first capital.’

    At Asaba Museum are structures said to be the administrative headquarters of Royal Niger Company from where the whole of the Niger Coast Protectorate was administered. One of these structures is the Mungo Park building. The building is old and in need of restoration.It is said to be the the former administrative building of Royal Niger Company.

    This was where Sir George Taubman Goldie who was in control of Asaba and its environs used as base. The building is currently under the the National Commision of Museums and Monuments. It also housed other artefacts of that era.

    In Calabar, built in 1884 on top of Consular Hill, the building is a prefabricated structure of Scandinavian red-pine wood shipped in knockdown parts from Britain to old Calabar. This building was the seat of the British colonial administration for the Southern Protectorate of Nigeria.

    The old colonial building in Calabar is well preserved and has been drawing tourists from different parts of the world. It was put in place about 130 years ago,and it is still in good shape and gives one a better understanding of the kind of buildings the colonial masters were staying in.

    For a tourist, such claims by both Asaba and Calabar could be a bit confusing, leaving one to wonder which among these two cities was actually the first capital of Nigeria and which among the two is making a wrong claim.

    To understand this, one needs to go back to the 19th century. Sir Goldie formed United African Company in 1879. He persuaded other traders to join him in the ownership of the company which later became Royal Niger Company. The company was granted a charter by the British government in July 1886 after the so-called Berlin Conference in 1885.

    By this act, Royal Niger Company started administering the Southern Protectorate on behalf of the British government. This was done from Asaba, thereby making Asaba, at that point in time, the seat of government and the capital.

    Tourists interested in Nigerian history should note, however, at this point in time that Royal Niger Company was administering the territory on behalf of the British government.

    Asaba city is rich in structures and materials of that era. It makes an interesting experience to visit the Delta State capital to see some of these.

    However, the charter of Royal Niger Company was revoked in 1899 by the British government.The Oil River Protectorate was formally established in 1891 with Calabar as its capital. It was merged with the chartered territories of Royal Niger Company on January 1, 1900 to form the Southern Nigeria Protectorate.

    Calabar later became the first capital of Nigeria. Due to her early role in international trade and colonial administration, the earliest military barracks, the first Presbyterian church (Church of Scotland Mission) in 1846, the first monorail and the first modern road network in Nigeria were all in Calabar. The city also boasts of the first public hospital in Nigeria – St. Margaret Hospital, the oldest post office and one of the first two botanical gardens in the country.

    The capital of the Southern Nigeria Protectorate under the direct rule of the British government was moved from Calabar to Lagos in 1906.

    So when either Asaba or Calabar claims to be the first capital of Nigeria, it is very important for one to fully understand the basis for such claim. Although the British never ruled Nigeria directly with Asaba as the capital, Royal Niger Company carried out this mandate on its behalf. The British government directly administered the Southern Nigeria protectorate ( Niger Coast Protectorate and Oil River Protectorate) from Calabar before it was moved to Lagos, making Calabar the first capital.