The Kwara State Government and former Senate President Bukola Saraki are attacking one another over the recent distribution of instructional materials to public schools in Kwara Central.
The government argued that the materials were distributed directly to the schools from the Mandate Office of Senator Saraki as opposed to going through the Ministry of Education.
The government said that personal identities of the former Senate President were emblazoned on them, stressing that it was not aware of the distribution of the instructional materials.
But Saraki said the state government had misconceptions about the true picture of the processes involved in capturing “and implementation of projects of this nature.”
In a statement, spokesperson for the Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development, Yakub Aliagan, said: “The appropriate thing to do is to send those materials to the Ministry of Education, which has a statutory duty of vetting learning materials for quality control and then approve such for distribution. Not doing so was a violation of basic rule, which is key to strengthening our institutions and keeping standards.”
Reacting, the Director of Project and Empowerment, Mandate Office, Otukoko Olayinka Ibrahim, said: “The distribution of the instructional materials is a constituency project facilitated by former Senate President Saraki through the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC); that the constituency projects with UBEC are not limited to distribution of books, they include: construction of classrooms, provision of pupils’ and teachers’ furniture, distribution of customised notebooks and textbooks (as it appears in the UBEC documents), distribution of science laboratory equipment, distribution of Mathematics kits, distribution of computer systems and generators; that during the needs assessment conducted by the Mandate Office, the office of Dr. Saraki collaborated with the LGEA offices which are directly in charge of basic schools across the four local governments for capturing of schools with basic infrastructure and material needs and same was communicated to UBEC by Dr. Saraki’s office for implementation.
“That prior to distribution of the items, the Mandate Office informed the local government offices to invite the selected schools, as shortlisted by UBEC to mandate for collection of ‘approved’ items for their respective schools. So to say the state government is not aware of the distribution will throw many unanswerable questions to one’s mind.”
Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has said the state has spent over N470million to combat banditry and insecurity.
He lamented that the bandits have rejected the gesture by the government to enter into a dialogue.
Bello addressed stakeholders on Tuesday in Minna.
In the last two weeks, bandits have attacked over 10 communities, dispossessing residents of their belongings.
The governor said: “We have spent over N470million on combating banditry and insecurity. The security situation in Niger State is becoming worrisome. However, the government is determined to ensure that insecurity is addressed and reduced.”
He lamented that the bandits have become daring, unleashing terror and fear on the people.
He said the bandits have refused to enter into a dialogue with the people.
“These bandits have become more daring. We have used every opportunity to enter into a dialogue with them, but those on the Pandogari axis have refused to listen. Instead they have become more daring.
“They seem to remain committed to carrying out whatever activity they intend to do by unleashing terror and fear on the people and state,” Bello said.
He said the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) across the state had increased to 1,000 as a result of bandits’ attacks.
Every country can count among its citizens – the good, the bad and the ugly. Usually those in the last two categories are a minority. Nigerian Correctional Service figures from 2015 show that there were just over 56,000 prison inmates in the country.
Even if we make a generous provision of one million persons for those who ought to join them behind bars, the bad eggs amongst us would still be a minute fraction of our over 150 million people. On second thought, one million might just be a terribly conservative estimate!
Despite being a tiny sample of the populace, the activities of the ‘ugly Nigerian’ now define us across the globe. This is because boorish behaviour and criminality generate more headlines than civility and honesty.
In most places you travel to in Africa, the stereotype of the loud Nigerian hangs around us like bad body odour. We are perceived as aggressive, dishonest, criminally-inclined, lacking in humility and attention-seeking show offs.
Many of these adjectives don’t describe me, just as I am sure they don’t apply to the vast majority of our people. Unfortunately, there is enough in those words that speaks of what we are becoming as a nation.
The recent episode of xenophobia – or more pointedly Afrophobia – in South Africa has received deserved condemnation. Still, it provides a window of self-examination for us.
If Nigerians are being set upon, we should ask ourselves why we are so hated. Whether in South Africa, Kenya or Ghana, we are not exactly flavour of the month.
I found part of the answer in a comment section of a story about how Nigerian-owned businesses had been burnt in parts of Johannesburg. The commentator, obviously a Kenyan, was far from sympathetic. He talked about how we are everywhere in Nairobi, selling drugs and messing things up.
As for our numbers which we often proudly cite as making us the ‘giant of Africa’, that, he felt, was part of the problem. We are too many and should try birth control!
Truth be told, the gradual collapse of our national economy over the last two decades, has meant that there are not enough opportunities for our teeming millions.
For many of our young people, living in this country is a fate worse than death. That is why despite the well-advertised perils of travelling through the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean to reach Europe, they are willing to take the risk.
In fact, many who were repatriated after horrible experiences in Libya, started talking about returning the moment their plane touched down in Lagos. They extolled the virtues of their hosts while blaming their travails on the excesses of their countrymen.
The very pressures that have sent hundreds of thousands of our citizens fleeing to the four corners of the world, are also prevalent in places like South Africa.
There is massive unemployment and poverty among the black population. Little wonder that the poor are venting their frustration on the equally black and foreign poor, who have come to compete with them for the crumbs their country offers.
It is virtually impossible to stop people from seeking a better life elsewhere. But it is a privilege when any country opens its doors to a foreigner. The problem is we used to be known for our oil exports, today we’re becoming infamous for exporting criminals. No country would accept that.
Nigeria’s Ambassador to Burkina Faso, Ramatu Ahmed, just revealed that over 10,000 underage girls from this country had been forced into prostitution in the country by traffickers who have promised to get them to Europe.
Very reliable government sources say there are over 10,000 Nigerians currently in South African prisons. A couple of weeks ago, the FBI arrested 77 Nigerians accused of participating in a variety of fraud and money laundering schemes. I am trying to recall the last time I read of over 70 citizens of one nation being held – in one fell swoop – for criminal activities in another country.
I am not sure how much of the online crime market we control, but our people have cornered the romance scam – so much so that in many places it is known as the ‘Nigerian love scam.’
In Italy, Nigerian crime gangs have become controllers of the prostitution and human trafficking business in parts of the country. In Sicily, spiritual homeland of the Mafia and other organised crime legends – they are now acknowledged as key players.
A couple of months ago in nearby Ghana, our people were pointedly being accused of causing a spike in kidnapping cases.
As unacceptable as crime is, people can live with it when the perpetrators are locals. But when foreigners set up shop as crime bosses, all hell is let loose. Imagine for a minute that the Chinese or Ghanaians were the ones running the lucrative kidnapping franchises in Nigeria!
When we emigrate many don’t shed some of our less attractive national traits. So we export our penchant for lawlessness and vulgar exhibitionism to places whose people are more restrained and we stick out like thumbs.
Some of the Nigerians arrested by the FBI were filmed at a party spraying dollar bills like confetti. Net even Warren Buffet or Bill Gates does that!
Nigeria blew her God-given opportunities to build a modern, prosperous nation that could sustain the bulk of its people. A succession of leaders chose to plunder the commonwealth and left a mess that people are fleeing from.
It is not too late to start rebuilding a country that poor, desperate South Africans and others would think of emigrating to. Part of that requires urgent action on how to handle our exploding population.
It is a disgrace that we can’t even conduct an acceptable national census without tying ourselves up in ethnic and political knots. We don’t even have a clue how many we are and have to depend on dubious estimates.
If we cannot grow the economy at a pace that it can cater for the majority, then we have to device means of reining in our reproduction rate.
The pressure on what resources we have now is becoming unbearable. The consequences of inaction are unpredictable.
Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal CourtFatou Bensouda has appealed against the shocking acquittal of former Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo over post-electoral violence that killed around 3,000 people.
Gbagbo, the first head of state to stand trial in The Hague, and his deputy, Charles Ble Goude, were both cleared of crimes against humanity in January and released the following month.
“The appeal will demonstrate that the trial chamber committed legal and procedural errors, which led to the acquittals of Gbagbo and Ble Goude on all counts,” Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s office said.
Judges had cleared the pair “without properly articulating and consistently applying a clearly defined standard of proof,” said Bensouda.
Ivory Coast’s former Prime Minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan, who heads Gbagbo’s Ivorian Popular Front party, condemned the appeal.
“These are judicial delaying tactics and political doggedness to keep Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Ble Goude as far away from the country as possible to prevent them from participating in Ivory Coast’s political life,” he told AFP.
Georges Armand Ouegnin, the head of a pro-Gbagbo coalition of political parties and civic groups, echoed him.
“I am deeply disappointed but I’m hopeful,” he said, adding that the pair “are innocent”.
“It’s important that they come back to Ivory Coast for national reconciliation,” he added.
Belgium agreed to host Gbagbo, 73, after he was released in February under conditions including that he would return to court for any prosecution appeal against his acquittal.
Ble Goude is meanwhile living in the Netherlands under similar conditions.
Gbagbo faced charges of crimes against humanity over the 2010-2011 bloodshed following a disputed vote in the West African nation.
Prosecutors said Gbagbo clung to power “by all means” after he was narrowly defeated by his bitter rival – now president – Alassane Ouattara – in elections in the world’s largest cocoa producer.
However, judges dismissed the charges, saying that the prosecution “failed to satisfy the burden of proof to the requisite standard.”
The prosecutor had previously indicated in January that she intended to appeal but had to wait until the court’s full written reasons for the decision came out in July.
Ouattara has refused to comment on the acquittal on crimes against humanity of his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo at the International Criminal Court while insisting investigations would continue.
“No reaction from me, it’s an ongoing trial…” Ouattara said in an interview with Radio France International in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, where he was attending an African Union summit.
But he added: “Someone must be responsible for the 3 000 deaths. I hope that justice will shine a light on that, it is what the victims are asking for.”
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting to hold on to power, as voters go to the polls in one of its closest election races in years.
He called the snap election after failing to form a governing coalition in the wake of an election in April.
Polls forecast his right-wing Likud party to tie with its main challenger, the centrist Blue and White party led by former military chief Benny Gantz.
Smaller parties could, therefore, have a big say in the final outcome.
Netanyahu lashed out at Facebook (FB.O) yesterday after the social network blocked a “chatbot” from his right-wing Likud party’s account for violating election day rules.
“They took a 100 kg hammer and brought it down on a fly, because it is a Likud fly,” Netanyahu said in a video posted on social media.
“They shut down our means of communication with our voters.”
Israel’s leading YNET news website said the chatbot, a type of automated software that is able to simulate a conversation with a user, had posted results from an election poll yesterday while Israelis were out voting, a contravention of election rules.
The problematic posts were apparently taken down and no longer appeared on Netanyahu’s Facebook page.
Negotiations on the formation of a new coalition are expected to start as soon as voting ends at 22:00 (19:00 GMT) and exit polls are published.
Likud and Blue and White came away with 35 seats each in the 120-seat Knesset.
Netanyahu declared victory and it appeared that he would be able to secure a majority with the backing of smaller right-wing and religious parties. But after several chaotic weeks, the attempted coalition-building collapsed into recriminations.
On the surface was a dispute over Israel’s secular versus its religious character, says the BBC’s Tom Bateman in Jerusalem.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Belema Oil on Tuesday signed a dispute closure agreement in Abuja yesterday. With this, operations are expected to resume at the Oil Mining Licence (OML) 25 in the next 10 days. ROSEMARY NWISI, who has followed the crisis for over two years, wonders if peace has finally come
SPDC, Belemaoil agree to restore operations in OML25
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, in June, directed all parties in the dispute relating to the Oil Mining Licence (OML) 25 to resolve all issues and reopen the oil facility in seven days. The deadline lapsed with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Belemaoil Limited still at loggerheads. But, if the deal sealed on Tuesday in Abuja is followed through, the end of the crisis is here.
The sleepy oil-bearing communities of Offoin-Ama, Belema and Ngeje in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State have been in the news of late. All thanks to the controversy surrounding the continuous shut down of the OML-25 flow-stations.
The three Kula communities, Offion-Ama, Belema and Ngeje, share hosting rights to the flow station located in a part of the island Kingdom of Rivers State.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), SPDC and Belema Oil signed the dispute closure agreement in Abuja yesterday. Operations at the oil well will take off in the next 10 days.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Chief Timipre Sylva, while signing the agreement, thanked all the parties stressing that the step signified the beginning of a new chapter in the industry.
Sylva said the aim of the ministry was to ensure an oil industry that worked and operated in harmony and in unity.
“When I came into the office, the issue was one of the problems that came on the table; there were so many letters from communities complaining about the problem.
“I just decided to invite Shell to hear its own part of the story but fortunately, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mele Kyari, had intervened in the matter.
“So, I have the honour now to thank him for this great intervention. And also thank Shell and Belema for cooperating to ensure that there is closure to this matter that has bedevilled the industry for so long,” he said.
He said one of the aims of the petroleum industry was to ensure zero loss in the industry and production got to destination.
According to him, zero loss is not loses from pipelines but lost to the country, especially with assets that can produce but for some reasons bug down by leakage issues.
He said that the biggest beneficiaries of the agreement were not the companies but the communities, especially those in Belema who had been suffering since the beginning of the dispute.
The minister commended the NNPC, Shell and the Belema Oil for agreeing to resolve the dispute.
Kyari said the development was a big achievement for the corporation.
The NNPC boss said the dispute around the OML 25 had been on for over two years, adding that the end result was that communities lacked peace with the disruption of property and social lives in the area.
“For us, the most important aspect of the dispute resolution is that, at least, the communities will have their peace restored.
“At the back of it, you are aware that there is a complete stoppage of petroleum operations around the OML 25 and adjoining blocks.
“What this means is shut down of production of over 35,000 barely of oil every day in the last two years and that is an enormous economic loss for all stakeholders, Nigeria and the communities.
“This is why we engaged all stakeholders and we are happy to announce today that the closure has been obtained.
“It means that the communities will have their peace back and also commence operations with the OML 25.
“That means that there is prosperity for the community and also some returns to shareholders of Belema Oil, NNPC and Nigeria at large,” he said.
Kyari commended the Belema Oil for its role and assured full engagement of the communities, adding that all the parties would be taken care of.
The NNPC boss also said that all opportunities found would be shared equitably for overall peace and development of the country.
He commended the minister of petroleum for his support and assured that the operations would soon commence in the area.
Also, the Managing Director of Shell, Osagie Okunbor said that the dispute had been for two years but “we are happy that we concluded on resolving the dispute.
“I want to convey my deep appreciation to the GMD of NNPC for the intervention to bring this issue to a closure.
“When dispute of this nature happens, everyone suffers, especially the immediate family, recipient community not to talk of investors like ourselves.
“We have been in discussion with communities and Belema Oil and sometimes under the auspices of government.
“We are very pleased that we have finally brought this to a conclusion, to work on some agreements with communities to achieve speedy return to operations on that facility,” he said.
He said to meet the plight of the host communities, Shell had paid in the Joint MOU account, over N300 million to restart community efforts it had not done because of some issues.
Okunbor said that under the joint MOU framework money would be paid into communities’ accounts to execute projects to ensure that employment opportunities get to the people.
He noted that SPDC remained the operator of the OML 25 but assured commitment to ensure that all parties would derive from the benefits.
Belema Oil President and Founder Jack Rich-Tein also said the agreement signalled that stakeholders shared common interest and value of lifting the country high and strengthening relationships.
“What has been resolved is that, we have agreed to work together, SPDC and Belema Oil.
“Belema Oil is now going to be able to create a lot of employment opportunities for the communities under operations and maintenance part of the operations.
“SPDC remains the operators because they still have the licence, the communities will be happy because we will employ them and they will be able to work with SPDC.
“The key thing there is getting back to work and creating jobs for the local communities, everybody will be happy.”
He said Belema Oil with 7.7 per cent asset would provide the operation maintenance and employ the community members through that platform.
The founder said Belema Oil Producing Limited would work with shell to ensure that the development needs of the people were met.
“We have agreed that less than 10 days from today, we will visit the communities and appeal to them and then, we go to work,” he said.
The operation in OML 25 stopped since in 2017 when the host communities sent SPDC away from operating in the facility over issues of unemployment and underdevelopment among others.
Host communities’ grouses
The multinational oil giant has operated in the environment for almost 40 years. Despite these long years of operation, the communities said they have become poorer while the oil giant gets richer.
Members of the communities decried alleged gross neglect, marginalisation, impoverishment, enslavement, maltreatment, environmental devastation; failure to comply with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it signed with the host communities, among others necessitated the shutdown of the facility by women and children of the communities.
But the company denied the alleged neglect, insisting that the welfare of their host communities remains paramount to it.
The SPDC is operating the flow station as a consortium with 32.3 per cent stake on behalf of SPDC, Total E&P and Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), in Joint Venture with the NNPC, which controls 60 per cent stake while Belema Oil Producing Limited has 7.7 per cent participating interest in the facility, which it inherited from Chevron Nigeria Limited.
To attract the attention of wider society to the deplorable state of the oil-rich communities, their chiefs and leaders held a news conference at Offoin-Ama and the flow station in July. They also conducted reporters drawn from local and international media round the communities for on-the-spot assessment of the areas and to verify the claims by the oil firm on the developmental state of the communities.
From Offoin-Ama to Belema down to Ngeje communities, the sights and sounds are the same tales of woe, lamentation, impoverishment and high level of poverty among the people. There are no signs of social amenities in the communities visited. There are no hospitals, good schools, no habitable houses and power supply. Houses in the areas are all shanties, made of polythene bags and trampoline. The rich among them built their houses with woods.
Hunger, poverty, hardship and total and criminal neglect of the areas are prominent features of the areas and these are etched on the faces of the residents. There is a complete lack of government’s presence whatsoever in the places visited despite their huge financial contributions to the state and federal government coffers.
They also lamented lack of jobs, business and no artisan workshop anywhere in the area. Apart from a small patent medicine store at Offoin-Ama which apparently serves as health care facility to the people, the other shop in the communities is a beer parlour shop at Belema community.
Analysts put the estimate of revenue so far lost by the governments in the two years the business has been shut down to over $2 billion.
The communities accused Wike of meddlesomeness, stressing that the governor had no business interfering in matters of oil and gas, insisting that he lacked the statutory powers to preside over any meeting on the dispute.
The governor set up a committee led by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr. Tammy Danagogo, and gave him seven days to resolve all disputes, reunite parties and re-open the facility within one week.
The host communities boycotted the meetings convened by the government where a Memorandum of Understanding was purportedly signed to re-open the oil facility.
The Chairman of Kula Supreme Council of Chiefs and the Amanyanabo of Kula Kingdom, His Royal Highness Kroma Eleki was in the meeting and signed the GMoU. But he told the participants that the rightful stakeholders were absent and that his signing the agreement would not guarantee the vacation of the facility by the women.
He said: “I really did attend the meeting by the state government to broker peace between Shell and the host communities of OML25, flow station. As a government recognised monarch, I am supposed to attend such meetings and to advise the government on the way forward.
“I did attend and there was settlement agreement to sign and I did sign, but before I signed, I told the government and the public that the signing of that agreement do not lead to the opening of the OML 25 flow station.
“In any case, Shell has owed us for several years and we needed that money. So, signing the document was for us to access the money and, again, I also did tell them that the people with who they were negotiating at the meeting are not in the position to ensure the opening of OML25 and that the real stakeholders were not in the meeting.
“I advised them to be patient until they meet with the main stakeholders and that there is a need for them to pay a visit to Kula Kingdom and the host communities to see things for themselves before they will be able to broker peace.”
Speaking on his position in OML- 25, he said: “Since Shell began operations in Kula, they have not done any significant thing for the communities. So, I stand with the people of Kula Kingdom, because of the suffering we are going through.
“I will not like Shell to come back to operate OML 25, it should give the right to other operators, if possible, to Belema Oil. He is our son. If on the other hand Shell feels that it has gotten a licence, they want to operate, Belema Oil has a stake in that the partnership he should be given the operatorship of that stake, so that whenever they want to sell, he should have the first option of refusal before they can sell it.”
The spokesperson of Belema Central Women Association occupying the OML 25 flow station, Mrs. Belinda Nokiman relived their ordeal to reporters.
She decried the poor state of the communities, adding that they do not have good drinking water in the area.
At Offoin-Ama, Chief Ibiosiya Nath-Sukubo said: “Offoin-Ama is a co-host to OML-25 and bellies the six and eight inches delivery lines, a myriad of oil wells, the Sego Creek manifold, riser, Eastern Gas Gathering Lines (EGGS I) and NCTL among others. It is a principal oil-producing and pipeline community and a contributor to over 200,000 barrels of oil and over 1.5 million standard cubic feet of gas (mmscf).
“We are prone to serious ecological hazards such as earthquake and Tsunami, among others. The people’s natural source of income which is fishing has continued to diminish.”
Nath-Sukubo reiterated the failure of SPDC to take seriously the welfare of its host communities in the area. He urged them to divest the flow-station to Belema Oil, maintaining that Shell will never be allowed back to the area.
In the heat of the brouhaha, Shell insisted it had high regards for its host communities in the Niger Delta.
“Shell JV’s committed to the welfare of its host communities in the Niger Delta remain unshaken, even as we debunk every allegation that we neglected the development of communities in Kula Kingdom and Belema.,” the company said.
Will the agreement engender peace?
Will the agreement entered into yesterday by the oil firms, NNPC and Sylva be acceptable to the host communities? The outcome of the meeting the operators are supposed to have with them in the next few days will tell.
Kwara State Government and former Senate President Bukola Saraki are at each other’s throats on the recent distribution of instructional materials to public schools in Kwara central.
The state government argued that the materials were distributed directly to the schools from the Mandate office of Senator Saraki as opposed to going through the ministry of education.
The state also added that personal identities of the former Senate President were emblazoned on them, stressing that it was not aware of the distribution of these instructional materials.
But Saraki countered that the state government has misconceptions about the true picture of the processes involved in capturing and implementation of projects of this nature.
In a statement, spokesperson of the Kwara Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development.Yakub K. Aliagan said that: “The appropriate thing to do is to send those materials to the Ministry of Education which has a statutory duty of vetting learning materials for quality control and then approve such for distribution. Not doing so was a violation of a basic rule which is key to strengthening our
institutions and keeping standards.
“Besides, it is wrong for anyone to emblazon their images or personal logos on instructional materials made with public resources for distribution in public schools. The said materials were some sort of Constituency Projects which have been approved and funded by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“It is instructive to note that the Kwara State Ministry of Education recently approached Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to mass-produce instructional materials with his picture emblazoned on them ahead of school resumption and the Governor rejected the proposal on the ground that there should be no personalisation of projects executed with public funds.
“Flowing from the above, the authorities at the schools were right to have rejected those materials because the Ministry of Education was not aware of such and also because there should be no politicisation of education, whether directly or indirectly, especially at the basic level where the children are very impressionable.
“Since the materials had been produced with government funds, we urge the Mandate Office of Senator Bukola Saraki to return them to the Ministry of Education after having replaced the covers emblazoned with personal photographs or political identities.”
Reacting Director of Project and Empowerment, Mandate Office of Senator Bukola Saraki,Otukoko Olayinka Ibrahim said that “the distribution of the instructional materials is a constituency project facilitated by the immediate past Senate President Bukola Saraki through the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC); that the constituency projects with UBEC is not limited to distribution of books, it include: Construction of classrooms, provision of Pupils and Teachers furniture, distribution of customized notebooks and textbooks (as it appears in the UBEC documents). distribution of Science Laboratory equipments, distribution of Mathematics kits, distribution of computer systems and generator sets; that during the needs assessment conducted by the mandate office, the office of Dr. Saraki collaborated with the LGEA offices which are directly in charge of basic schools across the four LGs for capturing of schools with basic infrastructure and material needs and same was communicated to UBEC by Dr. Saraki’s office for implementation.
“That prior to distribution of the items, the mandate office informed the LGAs offices again to invite the selected schools, as shortlisted by UBEC to mandate for collection of “approved” items for their respective schools. So to say the State Government is not aware of the distribution is will throw many unanswerable questions to one’s mind.”
A former Political Adviser to Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, Mr. Charles Idahosa, has said that Governor Godwin Obaseki would win re-election in 2020 even without the support of Oshiomhole.
Idahosa said Governor Obaseki has won the heart of the people through infrastructural projects that cut across the state and bringing sanity to governance.
Speaking in a chat with newsmen in Benin City, Idahosa said the quarrel between Oshiomhole and Obaseki would be difficult to settle because it emanated from envy and jealousy.
Idahosa stated that Oshiomhole was being intimidated by the records of Obaseki’s achievements.
He said Obaseki has performed 85 percent in three years against Oshiomhole’s 45 percent performance in eight years.
According to him, “Oshiomhole said he brought only one Commissioner. That is a lie. Oshiomhole brought the Deputy Governor, he brought the APC State Chairman, he brought the SSG.
“The main issue between Oshiomhole and Obaseki has not been brought to the fore. We know they are busy working underground to stop Obaseki but nobody can stop Obaseki from having his eight years.
“Obaseki’s record is so intimidating. Oshiomhole wants to be the lone star in the state. The truth is that Oshiomhole is envious and jealous of Obaseki..”
The Kogi Government is set to inaugurate a newly-constructed rice mill worth over N4 billion and with the capacity to produce 50 tonnes of rice per day.
Gov. Yahaya Bello disclosed this on Tuesday during an inspection tour of the mill at Omi dam in Ejiba, Yagba West Local Government Area of the state.
”In 2016, we visited this particular Dam and I promised to establish a rice mill here, and today we have this factory 100 per cent established by Kogi State Government.
”We approached the Federal Government through the Minister for Water Resources, to allow us to use this dam for the benefit of our people.
”Today, we are here to inspect a brand new rice factory that is second to none, as far as northern Nigeria is concerned ,” Bello said.
He said that the factory had the capacity to produce over 1000 bags of 50 kg of high quality rice every day, and could employ over 5000 people as direct labour , and more of indirect employments.
He said that over N300 million would be injected into the economy of the state every month, through the factory, while generating additional over N120 million as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for the state, monthly.
”The rice mill will also be producing fish and poultry meals, because we are presently having over 500 fish ponds in this Omi dam.
”We have the capacity to produce cassava and all agro allied products in this particular location,” the governor said.
He stated that the factory had its own independent power generation plant, powered through biomass gasification technology.
According to him, the capacity of the plant is 500 kWh and the rice milling plant capacity at every processing line (shift) is 200kwh.
Bello also said that the plant would have an excess power of 300kwh, which would be used to power strategic locations in neighbouring communities.
”Kogi is situated in the centre of Nigeria. People traveling to North, South, East and West must pass through Kogi, which means we are saddled with lots of responsibilities.
”All that is required now is that the Federal Government through the Central Bank (CBN), should to come to our aid, because we have the capacity to expand this factory in multiple folds.
”Through this factory, we are going to pull many of our people out of abject poverty,” he said.
The governor assured that the rice factory and all other projects in the state would be commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari before the Nov. 16 governorship election in the state.
The governor further said that his administration had curtailed insecurity to the barest minimum.
He, therefore, urged the people of the state to continue to embrace peace and security and live in harmony with one another, including the Fulanis and other tribes for the development of the state.
”This factory will only exist if we protect, safeguard and cherish it jealously as our own,” he said.
In his remarks, the Obaro of Kabba, Chief Solomon Owoniyi, who spoke on behalf of all traditional rulers in the region, thanked the governor for the gesture, saying the facility was the first of its kind and the best in the whole of the state.
The monarch, however, urged the governor to use his influence and connection with the Presidency to ensure that the Kabba-Ilorin road was rehabilitated for the benefit of the people and the mill.
Earlier, the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Kehinde Oloruntoba, commended the governor for the gesture, saying the people of Kogi West would be eternally grateful to him.
Oloruntoba said the rice mill was just the phase one of the project, assuring that the second phase would be provided to have seed production company, so that the state would have a uniform rice facility. (NAN)
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has assured of fruitful reconciliatory efforts at uniting aggrieved members following the fallout of the party’s September 3 primary elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states.
The outcome of the primaries had sparked disagreement within the ranks of aspirants and their supporters in the two states, with fears of mass defection threatening the unity and cohesion of the party ahead of the November 16 elections.
The PDP however said the party is poised for “sweeping victory” in the elections, stressing that its grassroots structures have been activated in the two states ahead of the elections.
In a statement on Tuesday by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party states that its members and supporters have nothing to fear as reconciliatory efforts in the aftermath of the governorship primary elections in the two states were yielding immense results and further strengthening its structures and formations as one big, united and formidable family.
It further assured that it’s leaving no stone unturned to ensure that all aggrieved members are appeased so that the party could face the elections as a family.
The PDP commended what it described as the understanding and the spirit of sportsmanship being exhibited by critical stakeholders in the two states as well as their commitment towards the success of the party at the elections.
It added that it has already galvanized all segments of the voting population across the two states, boasting that the two states remained are known to be strongholds of the PDP.
The party boasted that no force, not even the All Progressives Congress (APC) can stop the victory of its candidates in the two states.
