The Nation Newspaper

Tag: North

  • ‘Oil searches in North yielding results’

    ‘Oil searches in North yielding results’

    There are indications that some parts of the North will soon join the league of oil producing states in the country, The Nation has learnt.

    It was gathered that exploration around the Gombe/Bauchi area has yielded fruits with three wells drilled, one contains gas in commercial quantity.

    A source at the Petroleum Resources Ministry said: “We are on the verge of getting oil from Gombe/Bauchi axis.

    “Three wells have been drilled and one of the three wells has proved to be commercially viable.

    “The well has been appraised by the frontier team of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The 3D seismic data required for further evaluation has been acquired.

    “What remains is to ensure proper placement of the well before the discovery is made public.”

    It was also learnt that it was because of the imminent announcement of the discovery of gas that governors from the North have been visiting NNPC Group Managing Director Dr. Maikanti  Baru, to seek the corporation’s increased search for oil in and around their states.

    Sokoto State Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who led the state delegation to NNPC Towers in Abuja, to appeal to its management to step up oil and gas exploration in the Sokoto Inland Sedimentary Basin.

    Tambuwal said based on records, renewed search for oil in the basin would yield some positive results in the nearest future.

    Last week, Yobe State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Geidam, also led a delegation to the NNPC to see Baru.

    He too appealed to NNPC management to increase its search  for oil and gas exploration in the Yobe section of Chad Basin.

    Baru stated that NNPC has plans to open up all the inland basins to prospective investors.

    “We are on target and we are looking at the prospectivity of the whole basins of Niger Delta, Chad, Anambra, Benue Trough, Benin, Sokoto and Bida. We are focused on delivering on these basins in line with our mandate,” Baru assured.

    According to him, preliminary exploratoration had indicated some signs of hydrocarbon in eastern Yobe of the Chad Basin, adding that once the Corporation received security clearance, the 3D seismic data acquisition in the area would continue.

    The NNPC chief noted that modern technology would be deployed in the exploration of the Yobe section of the Chad Basin similar to that deployed in the Borno side of the Chad basin.

    He said exploration executed in the Benue Trough in the 1990s had indicated the presence of hydrocarbon in the region, adding that attempts which were made under the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) arrangements had involved Shell, Chevron and Agip, which had drilled a well each in the region.

    He added that already the NNPC had identified some leads and prospects that would be tested through drilling ahead of the resumption of the Chad Basin exploration.

  • Why Buhari wanted World Bank to focus on North-East- Shettima

    Why Buhari wanted World Bank to focus on North-East- Shettima

    Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s appeal to the World Bank was to address economic rebuilding and humanitarian crisis in the North-East.

    Shettima said while reacting to reports alleging that the president called on the World Bank to focus its interventions to the northern region.

    A statement signed by Isa Gusau, the governor’s Special Adviser, Communication and Media Strategy on Friday in Maiduguri, said the presidential appeal was aimed at addressing the destruction by the insurgency in the region.

    “The request was made by the President in the open and everyone thought it was the right thing. States in the northeast like Borno have been working with the World Bank, putting all the collaborative machinery in place.

    “We have series of follow ups and the media has been covering all the steps including my visit to the World Bank in Abuja few months ago.

    “The whole thing is in the open and we believe the objectives of the President will be actualised so as to go forward,” the statement quoted Shettima as saying.

    READ ALSO: Buhari’s discussion with World Bank boss twisted — Presidency

     Shettima said that he and four other governors attended a meeting at Washington DC in July 2015, when the president called on the bank to support the rebuilding of the northeast region.

    The governor noted that the president categorically requested the bank to accord priority to North-East and not the entire northern region.

    “Sequel to the request, the World Bank in collaboration with the European Union (EU) and office of the Vice President, had in 2016 organized a Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA) report on the six states affected by the Boko Haram attack in North-East.

    “It was verifiably discovered that the Boko Haram insurgency destroyed public and private infrastructure worth 9 billion U.S. dollars in the region. In Borno State the destruction alone accounted for 6 billion U.S. dollars.

    “I do not speak for the President or the Federal Government, however, the controversy affects my state because the discussions with the World Bank focused on rebuilding the northeast and everyone knows that when the issue of rebuilding the northeast is the subject, Borno naturally comes into perspective.

    “The destruction inflicted by Boko Haram in the northeast, Borno alone suffered destruction worth 6 billion dollars and this figure was the product of President Muhammadu Buhari’s request from the World Bank.

    “The World Bank championed the RPBA report on the six states of the northeast with the participation of the European Union and the office of the Vice President.

    “The bank became involved after President Buhari made the request to support the rebuilding of the northeast.

    “The meeting between President Buhari and the bank in Washington DC which took place in July, 2015, few weeks after the President’s swearing-in, was attended by their Excellencies, Governors Adams Oshiomhole (former governor of Edo) from the South-South and Rochas Okorocha from the South-East.

    “Others are Abiola Ajimobi from the South-West, Tanko Al-Makura from the North- Central, myself from the northeast, the Late Prof. Adefuye and the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bulus Lolo”. (NAN)

    READ ALSO: 45 Boko Haram members jailed

  • Looking for oil in the North

    SIR: If the search for oil in the Sokoto Basin is to checkmate the tendency of going cap in hand to the Federal government for funds for development, well that should be understandable. But why the heck do I keep having this throbbing sensation that ultimately, there is another reason why the North is desperately searching for oil in the Sokoto Basin? It is bad enough that a region with such vast human and natural resources will not run unless it gets its share from a common purse. But is the desperate search for oil in the Sokoto Basin anything to do with the calls for a restructuring of Nigeria?

    No matter how desperate the North is for a post-Nigeria/Lugardian economy, this search is downright belated and plainly puerile. On page 492 of David Landes’ book, The Wealth and Power of Nations, and the chapter titled ‘Losers’, confirms that even though oil in the Gulf still has about 130 years to go, and that desperate searches are going on daily,  in the next 10 or 15 years, assuredly nobody will be needing the oil. As a student in Europe some time ago, I had the privilege of touring certain cities like Freiburg, Leipzig, Breslau and Potsdam. While there I discovered that very intense meetings were already going on by day and by night to wean the European economy from reliance on fossil fuels. At a home in Berlin, a certain woman who had lost her husband and right arm in an accident sustains herself and family by selling excess energy from the solar photo-voltaic panels constructed on her roof to the national grid.  But the move to move from fossil fuels to renewable energy did not start today. It has already taken shape, especially with the fact that newly elected German Chancellor Angela Merkel needs to begin to look for ways to cope with the Green Party’s drastic demand to jettison fossil fuels for electric cars and renewable energy.

    With the worldwide push to mitigate climate change and discard oil in the next decade, looking for oil in the Sokoto Basin now is a bit odd. If the North does not realize it, it is potentially the richest region in Nigeria today, what with its vast human, material and agricultural potentials. And talking about its agricultural potentials, nearly all the foods we consume today in some states down south – beans, yam, watermelons, pepper, onions, meat, cucumber and the rest are from the North. The Auchi-Benin-Abuja road is in the state it is because vehicles laden with agricultural produce ply that road to no end with cows, watermelon, yams, pepper, tomatoes and cucumber. If this is not evidence that the North has one of the most vibrant agricultural economies in Nigeria, then I don’t see what would be that evidence.

    Oil is not what will solve the problem of the North. Let the North see what the Niger Delta, and indeed the Nigerian state has done with oil, and how it is the omen of most of our woes. Oil will only deepen and promote issues which promote poverty and poor governance systems. As a first step to a restructured Nigeria and one which has devolved powers from the centre to the grassroots, let the North first dismantle certain cultural and human practices which have never promoted inclusivity. After that, the North can right away begin to develop an agricultural policy which has a strong export promotion potential. Looking for oil in the Sokoto Basin is a veritable waste of the time.

     

    • Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku,

    Benin City.

  • Restructuring: ‘North will decide objectively’

    A former National Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Convener of Arewa Research and Development Project (ARDP), Dr. Usman Bugaje, has said the North will take a position on restructuring based on research and consensus, rather than on emotion and selfishness.

    According to him, it is necessary for the North to rise above the confusion and present a more rational position.

    He, however, said the use of inaccurate    arguments on restructuring had created tension in the country.

    Bugaje, who spoke in a statement in Abuja, said: “In the last one year or so, ‘restructuring’ and ‘true federalism’ have dominated the political discourse in Nigeria. Unfortunately, when you listen to speeches and read articles on these issues, you will note that there are as many comprehensions of these terms as there are people speaking or writing.

    “Besides, most of the discussions seem to ignore the history of the evolution of our federalism, and this failure has robbed the exercise of its propriety, accuracy and clarity.”

    He noted that although citizens were at liberty to canvass restructuring, “their use of imprecise terms and  inaccurate arguments had not only resulted in communication breakdown, but helped to spread confusion and generate needless tension in the polity”.

    Bugaje hinted that ARDP will hold a two-day conference in Kaduna, to bring clarity, accuracy and coherence into the debate, and provide a sound basis upon which the North will anchor its position.

    According to him, the planning committee drew heavily from northern academic institutions and organisations as NEF, ACF, Sir Ahmadu Bello Foundation, Code Group, Northern Delegates Forum, Northern Re-awakening, Jamiyyar Matan Arewa and Arewa Initiative for Good Governance, among others.

    He added: “This conference seeks to blend academic presentations with real politics. While academics and experts will lead with papers, a panel of practitioners will discuss the issues extensively. The audience will also be allowed to raise issues and make input into the discussions.

    “Some of the key papers will be on the historicity of the Nigerian federation; an examination of the constitutional developments in pre- and post-colonial Nigeria; and the dangers of war, the dynamics of peace.

    “Others will look at the principles of fiscal federalism and revenue allocation; the land question and the development agenda of the North. In the afternoons, a panel of experts will focus on these presentations and bring the practical dimensions to the fore, while the audience gets a chance to make their input.”

     

  • Ndigbo in North for peace

    Ndigbo in North for peace

    Barely a week after northern state governors toured Southeast and Southsouth states calming nerves in the wake of unrest, Igbo leaders have returned the gesture, VINCENT OHONBAMU reports from Gombe

    After members of Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) clashed with the military in Abia State, and with some northern residents of Rivers State, northern state governors did their best to head off reprisals and save the country a possible second civil war. In Jos, Plateau State, where a clash reportedly claimed two lives, Governor Simon Lalong declared a curfew. His counterparts in other states of the region also mounted a spirited peace campaign. Not done, they headed southwards where they addressed northern residents of Abia and Rivers states, stressing that they were safe where they were and that no war was afoot.

    It worked. Tension eased, helped in part by the proscription of the secessionist group, and the Southeast governors’ constant appeal to their people.

    To bolster what the northern governors did, Ohaneze Ndigbo, the apex socio-cultural organisation of the Igbo, headed north with peace on their mind.

    In Gombe, the Gombe State capital, President-General of Ohaneze, Chief John Nnia Nwodo went down memory lane to remind everyone of the ugliness of war.

    He said, “I have come here because we are in unusual times in our country. The times we are in remind those of us who were old enough of 1966. In 1966, when our military leaders were unable to resolve [issues] on governance in Nigeria, there were frayed passions; the coup had happened, the counter-coup had happened, both characterised by the press as sectional.

    “And the Army which was supposed to make a unifying call for the defence of our country became divided along ethnic lines. Rhetoric became so heated and war broke out.

    “Where I come from in the Southeast, we lost over three million people during the war – 1.5million died in combat or air raids, one million people died of starvation and one million children who were sick of kwashiorkor and were flown out to neighbouring African countries without documentation never returned. Nigeria lost one million children she cannot reclaim anymore.

    “Statesmen of our age who had witnessed such catastrophe will have questions to answer before God if at this point in time we allow differences of opinion as to how Nigeria will be governed to arouse tempers to the point where we become so uncivilised as to plunge ourselves into another catastrophe.”

    The former Minister of Information and his team who had been on tour of northern Nigeria said the organisation conceived the idea of the visit before Operation Python Dance II and the visit of the Nigerian Northern Governors’ Forum to the Southeast.

    But the fact that the northern governors were in the East before Ohaneze’s visit indicates that both parties were “two people sleeping in the same bed, dreaming the same dream,” said Nwodo who flew into Gombe from Kano on Friday to see the governor and residents of the state, including the Igbo community.

    His mission was simple: to deliver a message of assurance from the chief executives, traditional rulers and leaders of Southeast states that “all non-Igbos who live in the Southeast of Nigeria will be protected with every available protective tool” and that “the South-easterners will be their brothers’ keeper.”

    The mission was also to seek the same assurances from the governor and people of the state as well as cooperation in dousing tempers across the country and achieving a more united and indivisible country.

    The elder statesmen in pursuance of their peace mission are visiting one state in each of the three geopolitical zones of the North. They were in Sokoto and Kano in the northwest because of the high density of Igbo population in Kano, and would be proceeding to Jos from Gombe

    He said they chose Gombe because it is the hub of the Northeast, the understanding and national exposure of its leadership and the belief that he has the ability, the sagacity and the patriotism to carry the peace message throughout the Northeast Nigeria.

    He said, “As long as this political impasse lasts, which we think will not be long; we (South-easterners) will emulate what the Sultan of Sokoto said a few weeks ago, that, any northerner who wants to kill an Igbo man should first kill the Sultan.

    “Our governors have told me say the same to the North that any Igbo man who wants to kill a northerner in Igbo land should first kill them as governors of the Southeast and I may well add as the leader of Igbo cultural organisation that they should also kill me first.”

    The President-General of the Ohaneze Ndigbo’s visit is not just about dousing tensions but also spreading the message of an ideal Nigeria which projects unity, such as he witnessed as a youth.

    Speaking further, Chief Nwodo said, “I am an example of what Nigeria could make in an individual. I grew up as a child seeing national unity dramatised in Enugu where I grew up. My father was a legislator in the Eastern House of Assembly, he was Minister under Dr. Azikiwe and Dr. Okpara with portfolios of commerce and industry and of local government. His party was the NCNC.

    “At that time, Enugu Municipality was governed by a Mayor who was elected in Adult Suffrage by the residents of Enugu City. My father’s party, the NCNC, sponsored a Katsina man, Alhaji Umaru Altini to vie for the Mayor of Enugu. We sang NCNC song for Umaru Altini, he beat other contestants flat and became Mayor of Enugu.

    “The Accountant-General then was a Yoruba man; the Private Secretary to the Government of Eastern Nigeria was Mr. John Umolu from Agenebode in what is now Edo State.

    “People really didn’t care where you came from. That is the Nigeria that I was brought up in. We could still go back there.”

    The Igbo leader also appreciated the northern governors for soaking up the tension so far, saying: “Your Excellency, I have come to thank your government because we’ve had flashpoints on the basis of hate speeches, on the basis of stories that are either truthful or very, very untruthful and exaggerated of lynches here and there.

    People have taken the law into their hands and attempted to retaliate and kill innocent people, who had no relationship to whatever conflagration. The military’s abuse of their position that happened in various parts of Nigeria, innocent Nigerians are being shot – no godly person will take up arms against someone that has done nothing to you and the rest.

    “Quite often, these situations have degenerated to chaos when elder statesmen have not had the courage to say enough is enough. We have come here Your Excellency to say enough is enough.

    He said, “We (Nigerians) are the envy of West Africa, we are the envy of Africa, we are a shining star for Africa to the rest of the world.

    “This country is gifted with diversity of so many cultures, so many gifts, so many enterprising characteristics, so much population; it is the envy of our adversaries that perhaps if we get our acts together, we could indeed be a pride to the whole world and there can be no question that no nation can grow without peace, without unity, without cohesion, without fear of God.

    “We bring this plea at Gombe state government to help us to attain this perfection and in the meantime, to arrest this boiling temper all over the country, so that we do not degenerate into a catastrophe.

    Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo was not around to receive the entourage. His deputy, Dr. Charles Iliya who did, said his principal, a few days earlier, called a meeting of traditional rulers, all security operatives in Gombe State, all religious bodies and gave them a message similar to Chief Nwodo’s

    He appreciated the former Minister of Information for broadening the understanding of the younger people around by going historical “because it is only when you know history that you will avoid it if it is not a good one or if it is a bad one.”

    “When people sometimes speak about the reasons why it seems Nigeria is not progressing, they do not include the devastating effects of the civil war.

    “Quite a number of people feel that a repeat of [the civil war] will destroy Nigeria.”

    Iliya said Governor Dankwambo was busy with other national assignments during the visit, but conveyed the governor’s message.

    “The governor has told me to tell you in clear terms that he would do his best to make sure that Gombe State stay peacefully, and we will make sure that we will continue to do what we have been doing to make the state peaceful.

    “In the history of Gombe State, we have never had a situation where a binding remark and a binding relationship has taken place as we are witnessing this afternoon

    “He said in Gombe state, you are safe. If anything is to touch any non-indigene of Gombe state, let it start with the indigenes of Gombe state because we are together.

    You have helped the economy of this state, you have helped the growth of this state, you have been a part and parcel of this state, we will never abandon you now. We are together with you

    After listening to responses from Sokoto, Kano and Gombe Chief Nwodo quoted Shakespeare: There is no art to finding the mind’s construction in the face.

    “But my interaction this time disputes Shakespeare because the mind’s construction on the faces of those I have visited have been so convincing, so persuasive and I would want to believe them rather than disbelieve them,” he said.

  • Quit notice: Northern leaders back unity

    Quit notice: Northern leaders back unity

    Northern traditional leaders in the Southeast and Southsouth regions of the nation gathered in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, to distance  themselves from the quit notice given to the Igbo in the North months ago.

    But more than washing their hands off the offensive directive, the leaders also pointed out that they were for a united Nigeria.

    They cited intermarriages among the ethnic groups as a major reason why no one should seek to divide the country.

    The leaders said there was no need for hate speech and that Nigerians should live peacefully with one another.

    The northern traditional rulers said that they have lived most of their lives in the Southeast and Southsouth.

    Some of them also said that their mothers were either from the Southeast or Southsouth, adding that they could not stand and watch some persons who represent the interest of few deny them the love and happiness they have enjoyed with their maternal relations.

    Danladi, while addressing newsmen, said that the peace and unity of Nigeria is not negotiable, stressing that the traditional rulers and their subjects would not be part of any call against the unity of the country.

    Danladi said, “We are saying that we are not in support of what is happening in this country today. Our stand is that we want peace in Nigeria. Irrespective of your tribe, ethnicity and religion, we are one.

    “For instance, most of these Sarikis in south east were born here. Some of us, our mothers are from here, their wives are from here. Likewise some of our brothers from south east who are in the north, most of them were born there and also married to people from there. Some have stayed there for close to 60 years. Where will they go? Like me now, if you ask me to go, where do I go to? All my life I’ve lived it here. We want this country to be united as it was before us.

    “Number one thing, I must not fail to say is that, the quit notice our brothers gave to non-northerners in the North is wrong. We are totally condemning it and ask them to reconsider that they have people down here in the Southeast too. The hate speeches coming from both sides, we condemn it and ask our traditional rulers here in Southeast and South-south to always liaise with the government of their states. We are appealing to the 11 state governments of the Southeast and Southsouth to also work with their Sariki because they are the leaders and representatives of our people here.

    “For instance, you all know the role I’ve been playing on issues concerning herdsmen. There was a time such issues were high here in Abia, but as you can see, it’s calm now. That’s how these Sariki can also help in states where they dwell.

    “We came out here, you should know we must have done some works. We are not children. We have spoken to them and we are still begging them. We know we have elders and Emirs that can talk to them. In the North, one Emir can do what 100 persons cannot do. Unity of this country first. I repeat, we are not in support of the quit notice that was issued to non-northerners.”

    He said that they were happy that President Muhammadu Buhari returned to the country healthier than he left.

  • North’s monarchs in Southeast, Southsouth disassociate themselves from quit notice

    Northern traditional rulers in the Southeast and Southsouth have disassociated themselves from the quit notice order issued to the Igbo living in the North by the Arewa Youth Congress (AYC).

    The monarchs spoke yesterday in Umuahia, Abia State capital, at the end of a meeting organised by their chairman, His Royal Highness Sariki Alhaji Yaro Danladi.

    Addressing reporters, Danladi noted that Nigeria’s peace and unity were not negotiable.

    The Sarikin Hausawa said traditional rulers and their subjects would not be part of any call against the nation’s unity.

    He said: “We are saying we are not in support of what is happening in this country today. Our stand is that we want peace in Nigeria. Irrespective of your tribe, ethnic and religion, we are one.

    “For instance, most of these sarikis in the Southeast were born here. Some of us and our mothers are from here; our wives are from here. Likewise for some of our brothers from Southeast in the North. Most of them were born there and they also married people from there.

    “Some have stayed there for close to 60 years. Where will they go? Like me now, if you ask me to go, where do I go to? All my life, I have been here. We want this country to be united as it was done before us.

    “The number one thing I must not fail to say is that the quit notice our brothers gave to non-northerners in the North is wrong. We are totally condemning it and ask them to reconsider that they have people down here in the Southeast too.

    “The hate speeches coming from both sides, we condemn them too and ask our traditional rulers here in the Southeast and Southsouth to liaise with the governments of their states.

    “We are appealing to the 11 state governments of the Southeast and Southsouth to also work with their Sariki because they are the leaders and representatives of our people here.

    “For instance, you all know the role I’ve been playing on issues concerning herdsmen. There was a time such issues were high here in Abia. But as you can see, it’s calm now. That’s how these Sariki can also help in states where they dwell…”

  • North’s youths to withdraw Igbo quit notice

    North’s youths to withdraw Igbo quit notice

    •Shettima persuades groups

    The Arewa Youths Coalition is set to withdraw the October 1 quit notice handed Igbo in the North to leave.

    The youths were waving the olive branch after a meeting  with Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima in Abuja yesterday.

    Arewa Youth Coalition spokesman Abdulaziz Suleiman told reporters that consultations were ongoing among members with a view to withdrawing the quit notice.

    Suleiman ascribed the decision to withdraw the quit notice to what he described as “positive developments” that came out of the meeting with Shettima and persuasions from the Northern Governors Forum.

    On the actual date for the withdrawal of the notice, Suleiman said: “You will hear from us this week.”

    He added: “What we can say is that there has been a major development. Now the chairman of the Governors’ Forum has taken the initiative and invited us to start negotiations. This is the first time we are meeting publicly with any leader and we believe that it is a major step forward in our ongoing consultations.

    “We hold the governor in high esteem and we have the unity of the country at heart”.

    Suleiman said: “You see, I wonder why you talk about quit notice. We only issued a Kaduna declaration, quit notice is just a part of it. Let us do the recounting of the successes of our declarations first. We are sill going on with our consultations”.

    Shettima said his discussion with the group was fruitful and that members of the executive of the coalition demonstrated a lot of courtesy and respect during the meeting.

    The governor said he was able to impress it on the youths to appreciate the enormity of the challenges facing the country and how the quit notice they issued had compounded the situation.

    Shettima, who is the chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, added that the governors have also been in discrete consultations with the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa ‘ad Abubakar on this and other issues.

    Confirming the decision of the Arewa Youths to withdraw the quit notice, Shettima said they had agreed to review their position and that he was expecting the good news from them in the next few days.

    The governor said: “We met with the leadership of the coalition of Northern Groups in my capacity as the chairman of the Northern Governors Froum.

    “We had very fruitful discussion with them and they have shown a lot of courtesy and respect for the establishment. This is the first time that they are sitting down with the leadership of the forum.

    “They were having interactions with His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto. I started conversations with them right from Kaduna yesterday and we continued the discussion today and by the grace of God, it is going to yield fruits.

    “We are trying to have understanding of the challenges confronting us as a people and solutions to those challenges. I have to commend them for honouring our invitation because a political problem needs a political solution”.

    Shettima cautioned against criminalising the group, adding that harassing and intimidating them would not bring solution to the nation’s challenges.

    “They have agreed to revisit their decision and we will follow it up to its logical conclusion and I believe that in the next couple of days, we are going to get the good news from them.

    “I don’t want to preempt them by saying that this is what will happen or not. But definitely, they have shown responsibility and commitment to the national cause and they have wider plans to promote the cause of national unity and cohesion.

    “It was a very open, free and frank discussion, we heard their reservations and I gave them my reasons and believe me, by the time they hold their meeting this week, I think Nigerians will heave a sigh of relief.

    “I wish to call on the leadership of our brethren in the South Eastern part of the country to equally pick the gauntlet, because it takes two to tango, to take the gauntlet and rein in the excesses of Nnamdi Kanu and his group”.

  • How to develop Edo North, by Senator

    How to develop Edo North, by Senator

    Senate Deputy Chief Whip Francis Alimikhena has identified the absence of infrastructure for industrial activities as the bane of economic development in Edo North District.

    Alimikhena, who was speaking at the Igarra Public Field in Akoko-Edo, described Akoko-Edo as a land that is full of untapped natural resources. He promised to attract development.

    The senator said: “Edo North is strategically located with networking of road to facilitate movement of goods and people to the North, South East as well as the South -South geo political Zone. We have no justification whatsoever not to benefit from the commercial nature of our district. He explained that his infrastructural development efforts targeted at attracting investors to the area who will take advantage of the industrial sub- structure for the establishment of industry, will soon yield the needed result.”

    Alimikhena promised to make Edo North investors’ delight by ensuring necessary development initiative for the private sector to take over its economy. He added: “It is not the duty of government to be in business but to create enabling environment for investors to invest.

    “Edo North has energetic working population with a vast arable land crisscrossed by rivers, stream and investment in power transmission and distribution facilities for the smooth and efficient take off of industries. We have fertile land for agricultural product and produced. As we complete the ongoing infrastructural development which will Constitute the basis for industrial sub structure for business activities, we will give attention to youth training and skill acquisition centre to enable us produced the human resources that will be required by industry.”

    While thanking Governor Godwin Obaseki for his developmental initiative, he said the governor has not lost focus. He added: He is consistent and we have faith in his ability to Industrialized the entire State. As law makers, we will give him all the necessary support and encouragement to fast track his developmental initiative. Senator Alimikhena who also appealed to the people of Edo North to be patient with the APC Government, expressed confidence that the  2017 budget will Sink the ongoing recession and reposition the nation in record time. Nigeria was brutally destroyed by the opposition party for more than sixteen years and we cannot expect an overnight transformation from the Buhari’s administration. “But i can boldly assured Nigerians that the faithful implementation of this 2017 budget will sink all our hardship, struggle and recession”.

    Recounting his achievement in the last two years in the Senate, he outlined Bills that he has sponsored, co-sponsored and his motions. He also outlined key projects, which he has attracted to Edo North in the 2016 budget, with the assurance that the 2017 budget which will soon be ready for implementation is pregnant with more infrastructural projects all across Edo North.

    He appealed to beneficiaries to effectively deploy the items given to them, adding that those who are yet to benefit will have their turn in the future.

  • Bridge linking North to West closed

    The bridge linking the North to the West has been closed following the collapse of a bridge in Niger State.

    According to an official of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Emechiete Emmanuel, a bridge at Tatabu village, on the Mokwa-Jebba road, collapsed Sunday night.

    He advised motorists heading for the West to divert to the Minna/Suleja/Lokoja route and those heading northward to follow the Ilorin/Kabba/Lokoja road.

    Emmanuel added that measures were being put in place to find a solution to the gridlock on both sides of the collapsed bridge.

    “Our officers and men have been detailed to redirect traffic. We urge motorists to be law abiding and obey our men in order to recover lost time,” he said.

    An articulated vehicle driver at the scene, Gimba Mohammad, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that travellers were held in the gridlock for more than five hours.

    “I got here 8am and I have not moved an inch. We cannot even see what is happening in front. Most drivers have now decided to divert to reach their destination.

    “We want to try the road from here (Tatabu) to Lapai (Niger) to Gegu (Kogi) near Lokoja to find our way back to Lagos. It’s a long journey but there is no alternative,” he said.