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Tag: Port Harcourt

  • Xirea Launches factory in style

    Xirea apparels Limited officially opened its World Class factory for business in Port Harcourt recently. The event  which attracted an interesting mix of dignitaries  from Oil and Gas, Fashion, Construction, Education, Armed Forces and Banking sectors.

    Xirea Apparel commissioned two warehouses (Raw materials and Finished Goods) and the garment factory.

    Mr Simbi Wabote, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) represented by Dr. Patrick Obah the Director of Statistics and Research, Mr. Walter Paviani, the Managing Director of Saipem Nigeria and Mr. Kayode Ogunleye, The Vice President HR Shell Nigeria did the honours of cutting the ribbons signifying that Xirea is open for Business.

    The event also showcased the Launch of West Africa’s first indigenous brand of Personal Protective Equipment(PPE) – Buphalo. Buphalo Active Gear is Xirea’s first customer and showcased its products by hosting Africa’s first ever Safety Fashion runway to the delight of the guests.

    Mr. Obinna Eneh, the founder of the Xirea Apparels and Buphalo Active gear, during his speech themed “The Spirit of Nigeria”  reiterated his vision of employing more than 50,000 people by the year 2030. He also promised to make the Buphalo Safety Fashion runway event an annual fixture.

    Xirea Apparels is a full package Clothing Manufacturing Service; we handle everything from thought to finish to bring our customers’ vision to life.

  • Security foils #RevolutionNow protests in Osun, Rivers, Kano, Kwara, others

    SECURITY agencies on Monday foiled the #RevolutionNow protests in many states.

    In Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, security agents defied a downpour to man strategic places in the capital city, especially the Isaac Boro Park, near the State House.

    Governor Nyesom Wike on Sunday warned against the protest, directing security operatives to foil it and arrest participants.

    There was no gathering of any kind and business activities went on as usual in the state.

    As early as 6 a.m., policemen took over the main gate of the Isaac Boro Park in Mile One, Diobu, Port Harcourt, the usual take-off point for most protests in Rivers.

    Shortly after the policemen’s arrival, the downpour started, forcing them to move into the six Toyota Hilux patrol vans parked under the flyover, directly opposite the park. The heavy rain was still on, as at press time.

    In Benin City, the Edo State capital, and other towns, there were no protests. The Oba Ovoranmen Square, the city centre that served as a rallying point for previous protests, was empty.

    Residents went about their daily activities. A news conference scheduled by some activists in the state was called off after a call from Abuja. Security was beefed up around Benin City and major streets.

    In Ondo, the protest also failed. Business and social activities went on smoothly in Akure, the state capital. Security agents were deployed to strategic areas of the Akure metropolis.

    At the M.K.O Abiola Democracy Park, close to the main market, Oja Oba, officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and some plain-clothed men took charge.

    Policemen and NSCDC men were stationed at the Mobil Roundabout, Alagbaka, Shoprite, Oda Road, NEPA Roundabout and Isikan Roundabout. Several police vans patrolled major streets.

    Ondo State Police Command spokesman Femi Joseph, a Superintendent of Police, said the state Commissioner of Police, Undie Adie, ordered policemen to be on red alert.

    He said: “We have a good number of our men in strategic areas of the metropolis. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) commanding are in the streets with our men, monitoring the situation.

    “It is the right of every individual citizen to protest, but the manner and the lexicon they (organisers) are using ‘revolution’ depicts forceful takeover of a legitimate government in power. No security agencies would allow that to any groups to attempt to overthrow the government. A forceful takeover is no longer fashionable all over the world. No country would allow that.

    “The only means of change now is through the ballot. That’s why the proposed protest was condemned by many Nigerians. That’s why we are going to resist any vestiges of revolution.

    “We are on the ground and ready. We are not leaving anything to chance because Omoyele Sowore is from this state and surely he would have some of his supporters here. We would not allow that in our state.

    “This is not acceptable. It is tantamount to treason and we all know the consequences. They should dissipate their energy on better things. They should not make any attempt in Ondo State because we will deal with them decisively though within the ambit of the law.”

    Poor response in Southeast

    There was a poor response to the call for protest in the Southeast.

    The Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu, attributed the poor response in Enugu to the Igbo quest for president in 2023.

    Okechukwu spoke with reporters shortly after a meeting with Wawa Farmers Association in Enugu.

    He described the call for nationwide protest by Global Coalition for Security and Democracy (GCSD) led by Omoyele Sowore as unpatriotic.

    “Methinks our people are aware that 2023 is the date we are waiting to elect Nigeria president of Igbo extraction. That’s why they didn’t participate in the protest. All one hears from the people one discussed within the meeting with WAWA Farmers Association was their anger over incessant killings like that of Rev. Fr. Paul Offu.

    “Instead of protest, they are urging Mr President to overhaul the security architecture and upgrade the security infrastructure. They cried that insecurity is hampering their farming activities,” Okechukwu said.

    All quiet in Kano

    The protest did not hold in the ancient city of Kano. Business and commercial activities went on as usual.

    Many residents were not even aware of the planned protest. Security men were drafted to beef up security at strategic flashpoints of Kano metropolis.

    Also, several police vans, including that of the armed, patrolled major streets in Kano.

    The spokesman of the Kano State Police Command, DSP Abdullahi Haruna, told this reporter that the Commissioner of Police Ahmed Iliyasu ordered policemen across the state to be on red alert.

    He said: “As I am talking to you, as you can also observe, Kano is peaceful, our men have been drafted to strategic areas to monitor the situation.”

    Police brutalise 70-year-old, arrest 10 protesters in Osun

    The police on Monday brutalised a 70-year-old poor woman, Sariyu Akanmi, during the protest in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

    She was hawking fufu where the protest was going on. The police hit her with the butt of their gun, kicking her on the floor while trying to throw her inside their van. But the intervention of some people around prevented them from arresting the woman.

    The police also arrested ten of the protesters. Tear gas canisters were thrown at reporters covering the protest.

    Men of the State Security Service and the Police prevented members of the Coalition for Revolution in Osun State from protesting against alleged suffering of Nigerians under the Mohammad Buhari administration.

    The protesters, mainly students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, the Federal Polytechnic, Ede, the Osun State Polytechnic, Iree and other public tertiary institutions in the state, gathered at Olaiya junction in Osogbo, the state capital around 9.00 am to sensitise Nigerians about the “deplorable conditions prevalent in the country under the watch of the President Buhari.”

    The protesters called for a revolution to stem the tide of a spate of joblessness, insecurity, hunger, modulated workers salary and “fraudulent implication of the Contributory Pension Scheme in Nigeria.”

    For hours, security agents, including the SSS, the police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps kept the students under watch and did not allow them to move out of Olaiya junction.

    Some of the students, who used the Public Address System to speak to passers-by, demanded the unconditional release of Omoyele Sowore, the convener of the Revolution Now movement.

    Calm in Kogi, Anambra

    There was no protest in Kogi State. Aside from the early morning rain, normal business activities resumed around the capital, Lokoja. People went about their daily chores.

    Many residents were unaware of the call for the protest march by the NigeriaRevolutionNow group. There was no unusual deployment of security agents.

    Anambra State police command deployed over 50 patrol teams in the state. They moved around the state.  There was no protest in the state. Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Haruna Mohammed said the Command was ready for anybody or group that would try to disturb the peace in the state.

    Commissioner of Police John Abang directed the deployment of policemen both in plain clothes and uniform to patrol all the roads in the state.

    Mohammed said: “The state is not involved in the protest, but what the Command has done is to take proactive measure in case of any disturbances from some miscreants.

    “Anambra has been a quiet place and the Command will like it to remain so. But if anyone tries to be smart, the person will face the wrath of the command.”

     

    Police disrupt sporting activities in Ilorin

    Some heavily armed men of the Kwara State command yesterday stormed the state’s stadium complex to disperse athletes on training.

    The police were ordered to block the stadium gate over speculation that the facility would be used for the pro-revolution rally.

    Police spokesperson Ajayi Okasanmi said the presence of policemen at the stadium was a proactive measure put in place by the police command to prevent chaos.

    Okasanmi said: “Kwara State is largely recognised as a state of harmony and Ilorin is reputed to be peaceful. We owe our law-abiding people the duty to sustain that. More so, we had to prevent the planned protest from being hijacked by hoodlums in order not to lead to any dangerous dimension.”

    Anti-revolution protest in Alausa

    A group, Democracy Watch Africa (DWA), an umbrella body of over 30 Civil Society Organisations in West Africa Monday morning protested against the planned RevolutionNow protest earmarked for Monday.

    Its convener, Josephine Okpara, demanded the expulsion of Amnesty International (AI), and not revolution.

    They carried placards with various inscriptions like: ‘Amnesty International leave Nigeria or we give you war, we will fight you and not our country’, ‘Amnesty International must go’, ‘We stand by peace in Nigeria, we say no to Amnesty International and all her allies’, ‘We say no to terrorism, Amnesty International, Boko Haram, Islamic movement, revolution’, ‘No more war in Nigeria, shame on Amnesty International and her sponsors’, etc.

    They accused the pro-revolution group of acting against the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians “under the active support of some external forces that are bent on destabilising the country.

  • Appeal Court dismisses appeal to quash judgment on Saro-Wiwa, others

    THE Appeal Court Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has struck out an appeal by leader of “Conscience of Ogoni People”, Gani Topba, against the judgment of the Ogoni Civil Disturbances Tribunal of 1995.

    The appeal was struck out for lack of merit.

    The tribunal tagged the late environmental activist, Ken-Saro Wiwa, and 11 others, criminals, found them guilty and sentenced them to death.

    Topba approached a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt seeking clearance of the 12 Ogoni heroes from the negative image placed on them by the judgment, and for the court to declare them innocent.

    Justice Lima Abdulahi, in a 2017 judgment, struck out the suit, thereby upholding the tribunal’s ruling. He held that the suit was an academic exercise.

    Abdulahi said the appellant did not state what he suffered following the judgment; neither did he claim damages over the death of the victims, following the decision of the panellists.

    According to him, the decree which established the Special Tribunal on Civil Disturbances, including that of Ogoni, did not make provision for appeal. He added that those sentenced to death or long term imprisonment had no opportunity to appeal the judgment based on the decree binding the tribunal.

    Justice Cordelia Jombo-Ofo on Thursday also upheld the judgment of the Federal High Court, affirming that the “appellant was merely exercising his academic prowess”. In striking out the appeal, Justice Jombo-Ofo said the appellant lacks the needed Locus Standi to initiate the appeal. She therefore dismissed the appeal.

    Read Also: Appeal Court cancels vacation for election petitions cases

    She said: “It is not the function or duty of the court to engage in academic exercise or speculation, the court was established to determine live issues.”

    However, Topba said it is not yet over. He insisted that the Appeal Court was bias and he will proceed to the Supreme Court.

    He said: “We are heading to the Supreme Court. It is sad that the right of the minority could be denied, even at this level. I had an incline that today’s judgment would look like this and I am not surprised. I have hope in the Supreme Court to do justice to this matter because Ken Saro-Wiwa was killed wrongly and that must be established, corrected, because if it is not, it will happen again.”

  • NNPC warns violators of pipelines’ right-of-way

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has raised the red flag on what it called “flagrant and dangerous” violation of its pipelines’ right-of-way by some individuals and communities along the corridor of the system 2E pipeline network stretching from Port Harcourt (Rivers State) through Aba (Abia), Enugu (Enugu) up to Makurdi (Benue).

    In a statement by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu, the NNPC said the infringement on the statutorily guaranteed 25-metre setback for the infrastructure was not only detrimental to the free flow of petroleum products but was far more harmful to dwellers of illegal structures and shanties due to the combustible nature of hydrocarbon.

    The corporation noted the inseparable link between the cases of oil pipeline right-of-way-encroachment and incessant pipeline vandalism cum oil theft with attendant negative effect on the economy.

    According to the NNPC, the creation of the minimum 25-metre buffer for the pipeline is designed to allow for maintenance, repairs and replacements of pipelines as need may arise while ensuring the security and safety of the facility.

    Read Also: NNPC secures $3.15b financing for OML 13

    The buffer also ensures that those living contiguous to the lines are shielded in cases of leakage, rupture or explosion, the corporation said.

    It added that as a first step towards eventual removal of such structures by the team of Army Engineering Corps, its downstream subsidiary, the Nigerian Pipeline and Storage Company (NPSC), embarked on extensive consultation and enlightenment targeted at violators in affected communities.

    The corporation noted that the safety and wellbeing of the people remained paramount to its management.

    The NNPC explained that based on penetrating reconnaissance executed by the Army engineers – stretching from Ogale-Eleme community in Port Harcourt-Aba axis to Otade community in Enugu-Makurdi leg – structures in violation of the pipeline safety corridor have been identified and clearly marked with notice of imminent removal served on affected occupants.

    The corporation noted that the essence of the red flag was to bring urgency to the situation along the PHC-Aba-Enugu-Makurdi line whose level of violation is about 75 per cent stating that the position is intolerable with clear cases of individuals channelling products into private homes.

    “Such incidents are not only crystal clear cases of economic sabotage but pose unimaginable danger to the entire neighbourhood,” the statement said.

     

  • Excitement as students begin internship programme at Shell

    There was jubilation among a set of students from the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt recently. They are pioneer students of the Centre of Excellence in Marine Offshore Engineering sponsored by the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and its Joint Ventures (SPDC-JV).

    They were excited because of the provisions Shell made for them. They will go through mandatory six months Research Internship with Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) in Lagos. The internship is a key requirement for the award of the Masters of Science (MSc) degree after a year of academic work.

    Four of the students are working with SNEPCO, three others are with Total Exploration and Production Nigeria and the other three students are with BW Offshore in a successful collaboration between industry and academia.

    The General Manager External Relations of the SPDC, Igo Weli said the programme was instituted to enable the company to graduate people ready for the industry. He said the graduates would be equipped with skills and required knowledge to provide services hitherto performed by expatriates.

    He said: “The Research Internship enables the students to have critical industry experience, hands-on practical training and opportunity to undertake post-graduate research under competent industry supervisors and working with state-of-the-art facilities.

    “The programme enables us to graduate industry-ready young Nigerians and domicile in-country several services usually provided by expatriates”.

    Also speaking, the Director of the RSU CoE, Dr. Ibiba Douglas, said after the internship, the students would be expected to defend Master of Science thesis to enable them to graduate from the centre.

    “All 10 pioneer students of the centre have commenced internship in the respective companies to which they are engaged and after the internship phase in December, the students, on their return to school, will defend their M. Sc. thesis in order to graduate,” he said.

    While the 10 students began their internship, eight post graduate students of another SPDC-sponsored Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Geosciences and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Benin (UNIBEN) recently concluded their programme.

    They described their experience as landmark in their careers.

    One of them, Orilade Success said: “The past six months have been a landmark experience in our careers. We have taken note of the learnings and feedback and, moving forward, we won’t let you down as ambassadors of this reputable organisation. This is certainly a step in the right direction for us all.”

    In 2013, SPDC collaborated with the University of Benin to begin academic work at the Centre of Excellence for post-graduate studies in Geosciences and Petroleum Engineering.

    The Director of the UNIBEN CoE, Prof. Joseph Ebeniro said: “SPDC JV investment in talented Nigerian youths, supported by other industry stakeholders, is providing special academic platform to produce industry-ready graduates for employment in the E&P industry, as well as undertake research to address industry challenges.”

    Speaking on the importance attached to the programme by SPDC, Weli said the company had a long history of supporting education in Nigeria. He said the company currently operates four categories of scholarship schemes.

    He said: “SPDC JV has a long history of support for education in Nigeria. As part of its commitment to the holistic education of Nigerians, especially young people from its areas of operations, SPDC JV currently runs four categories of scholarship schemes.

    “These are Regular Secondary School Scholarship Scheme (providing annual financial support to secondary school students. The second programme is Cradle-to-Career’ another Secondary School Scholarship Scheme focused on providing quality full-boarding secondary education in reputable private secondary schools to selected talented primary six pupils from public schools across Nigeria and developing the recipients into functional citizens that can confidently face life and compete favourably with their counterparts from anywhere in the world.

    “There is also the University Scholarship Scheme started in 1953 and is a flagship programme providing support to Nigerian students in all accredited universities across Nigeria.

    “The fourth category, the SPDC JV Post-Graduate Scholarships Scheme launched in 2009 and aimed at building a talent pipeline in our host communities is a one-year Master’s degree programme offering selected post-graduate scholarships for the training of graduates in the core competence areas of Petroleum Engineering, Subsurface Studies and Facilities Engineering in three of the topmost universities in these fields in the United Kingdom.”

  • Pilots decry state of airports’ runways, other facilities

    Nigerian pilots have raised the alarm over the poor state of runways in some airports. They are seeking urgent intervention from government agencies to avert accident.

    Measures, they said, should be taken to clear the runways of foreign object damage (FOD), including debris at the airside, which affects aircraft tyre types and other underbelly components.

    According to them, FOD was forcing airlines to loose millions of naira replacing aircraft tyres and other vital parts of their equipment.

    Besides the deplorable state of the runway at airports in Port Harcourt; Lagos and Abuja, government they said, should urgently look into the poor state of radio communication in the airspace.

    In separate interviews  Air Peace Chief Pilot,  Captain Victor Egonu; Med-View Airline Chief Pilot Captain Stephen Fevrier; Arik Air Safety Manager Captain Jide Bakare  and a retired pilot with the defunct Nigeria Airways Limited  Captain Prekeme Porbeni, said unless urgent steps are taken disaster was looming in the aviation industry.

    According to Egonu, runways at some airports, including Enugu, Port Harcourt and Lagos are death traps during the rainy season because their surface are not properly drained.

    He said pilots have continued to complain about the poor state of such facilities, which according to him, has been a big threat to air safety.

    Egonu said: “Pilots in Nigeria complain very often about the surface of Port Harcourt Airport runway that it is always waterlogged and does not drain properly whenever it rains to allow for smooth landing because there are depressions which allow water to collect.”

    “And if you fly into Enugu, it is so bad that Air traffic controllers have had to advise you that they are potholes and that stones jumping off could burst your tyres and pilots are usualy scared. We have airlines with torn tyres from this. At the Lagos airport runway 18L, we are now avoiding it whenever it rains because it doesn’t drain well and so we divert to land at runway 18R

    “And even in Abuja recently our aircraft had a burst trye from an object it picked up after landing on the runway and this is very dangerous because if you pick up something from the tyre on the runway as it was the case of the Concord aircraft it could ignite fire once it reclines and makes contact with the fuel tank.”

    He said airlines and pilots would appreciate if runways are constantly inspected by the relevant regulators to ensure that they are in line with standards that ensure safe flight operations.

    Also, according to Fevrier, the government should fix the poor state of air navigation equipment in the airspace, as it is making it unattractive to some pilots to use the nation’s airspace.

    The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), he said, should address the communication challenges being experienced by pilots to avert air accidents.

    He said: “I came to Nigeria about 12 years ago and the first thing that we were told to learn as pilots is to say break-break when you get into the airspace and that is because the airspace is congested. I must say that the airspace is still congested and unsafe for pilots to fly.”

    According to him, when flying from Lagos to Abuja pilots often lose contact with the Lagos control tower 200 miles into the airspace, which should not be the case.

    He lamented that the same situation occured between Port Harcourt and Abuja, adding that pilots hardly communicate effectively with the control tower in Kano when coming into Nigerian airspace from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

    Read Also: Port Harcourt Airport reopens after Air Peace incident

    “In Kano, if you are coming from Jeddah to enter Nigerian airspace, you can’t speak to Kano. You have to wait until you get into an 100 miles into Kano most times.”

    “We really have communication issues in the Nigerian airspace and that needs to be addressed urgently.”

    Bakare on his part said the biggest issue pilots are grappling with is the problem of communication in the airspace. ”There are so many issues, but communication is one of the biggest challenges that we face as pilots in Nigerian airspace,” he said.

    To Porbeni, it was not enough for government to initiate interventions to bridge gaps in air communication infrastructure, there should be outright elimination of such challenges in air navigation.

    He wondered why the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON) that NAMA bragged about was not working. ”Pilots in recent times are undergoing serious challenges bordering on poor communication while flying in the Nigerian airspace.

    “This is affecting the safety rating of our country compared with other nations around us, which have upgraded their systems in terms of air communication infrastructure,” he said.

    He continued: “Repeatedly we kept on hearing the word; we have Total Radar Coverage. The answer is absolutely no. it is because any aeroplane or airborne machine flying in the Nigerian airspace can be detected, but there is lack of communication between the pilots in the airspace and the Air Traffic Controllers at the towers.”

    Meanwhile, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), spokesperson, Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu said the agency has commenced an intensive re-assessment of runways at the nation’s airports to forestall the potential accidents on the runways.

    “It is, therefore, with the intention to increase the friction coefficient levels of our runways in accordance with NCAA advisory circular that the Authority is embarking on this exercise across the nation’s airports as the rain is becoming very heavy and unpredictable,” Yakubu said.

    She explained that although, the regular friction measurement for Port Harcourt International Airport was conducted in March 2019 and the result fell within the minimum friction coefficient level, the airport however, still witnessed a skidding incident recently by an Air Peace aircraft. “As a short term measure to increase the safety of the Port Harcourt runway, the Authority just carried out a de- rubberisation exercise between June 15 to 22 , 2019 to remove any contaminant,” Yakubu added.

    The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has assured airlines and other airspace users that the nation’s airspace is safe for seamless and economic air navigation. Its Managing Director, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu made these remarks while receiving the Chief Operating Officer of the newly established Ibom Air, Mr George Uriesi, who led a delegation to the agency’s headquarters in Lagos. He explained that the agency had taken drastic steps to tackle communication challenges, especially in the upper airspace in the past couple of years, saying that significant progress was being made in that direction.

    Akinkuotu said NAMA has seen to the upgrading of communication infrastructure in phases. According to him, radio communication in the ground control, covering 65 nautical miles at the 32 air traffic control units in Nigerian airports is perfect and this was done under phase one of the project.

    He added that the second phase, which is the tower control, also covering 65 nautical miles and critical for landing and takeoff, is perfectly working in all the 32 airports in the country. The third phase, which he referred to as “approach communication”, covering up to 130 nautical miles, is working perfectly in all the 32 air traffic control units in the country.

    Akinkuotu admitted that although the last phase, which is the Area Control or Upper Airspace Communication, may have a few challenges, attributing them to the creation of new routes. Concerted efforts, he said, are being made to address these challenges. One of efforts was the deployment of the Total VHF Coverage of Nigeria in 2010, which he said was limited by the architecture of 8 VHF remote radio stations deployed then. He added that the agency has just taken delivery of Extended Range VHF radio systems to replace old the radios in eight remote sites while six more are to be added, making them 14.

    “There is also the deployment of 54 VSAT nodes, in the Aeronautical Information Services Automation project. This project has lingered through all the regimes in NAMA, but we are currently making efforts to see to the final takeoff of the automation project, which we believe would boost our communication system,” Akinkuotu said.

    The NAMA boss said in line with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Aviation System Block Upgrade (ASBU), which stipulates that Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) provide alternative means of communication, the agency in 2015 deployed the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Contract/Controller Pilot Data Link Communication (ADS-C/CPDLC) in Kano and Lagos Area Control Centres (ACCs) to decongest radio frequency, adding that the facility has been up and running in the entire airspace.

    In addition to the above, Akinkuotu said “the high-powered very high frequency (VHF) Jotron radios, installed at Lagos and Kano, were recently commissioned by the former Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who tested them with a British Airways pilot who replied him with 5/5, meaning: “excellent” and this facility is available and serviceable.

  • Kari wins Miss Niger Delta Peace pageant

    Miss Boro Woying Kari, an undergraduate of University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) has defeated 22 contestants to win this year’s edition of the Miss Niger Delta Peace Cultural Pageant competition which held at Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    Kari went home with a brand new car, opportunity to be trained on capacity building, skill acquisition, training programmes among others.

    Kari, who hails from Bayelsa State commended the organisers for giving her the opportunity to compete in the competition and promised that she will use her position, Miss Niger Delta Young Ambassador for Peace and Development positively to the development of the area.

    Other winners in the 18th edition of the competition include; Miss Freda Fred Bruce as the Miss Niger Delta Diaspora, Miss Elisabeth Ebi as the Miss Niger Delta Tourism and Cultural Heritage, Miss Temple Odogwu as Miss Niger Delta Ethics and Youth Re-orientation and Miss Blessing Ajini as Miss Niger Delta Beauty for Environment.

    Among artistes that performed at the event were Tim Godfrey, Lady IB, Mr. 2K. One Da Banton, The Soundforce Band, DJ Moonlight and Kessy Drills among others.

    Present at the event were Mrs Anna Brambaifa, wife of Acting MD /CEO Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and other officials of the commission, Felix Obuah, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chairman Rivers State, Emeka Bekee, a chieftain the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    “The Miss Niger Delta Peace Cultural pageant is organised annually to promote peace, love, socio-cultural integration, tourism, positive engagement of female youths in the region, talent development and sustainable development,” said the organisers.

    “The first edition of the pageant was held in 1999 and has produced 18 beauty queens.”

  • Why Eastern ports are not viable, by NPA boss

    The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Hajia Hadiza Bala Usman has given fresh insight on why the nation’s eastern port has remained unviable for business.

    The NPA has two ports including the Western port which comprises Apapa and Tincan Island ports while the Eastern port is made up of Calabar, Delta and Port Harcourt, respectively.

    Speaking in an interview with The Nation, the NPA boss said a number of factors may be responsible for the general lull in business at the Eastern port.

    Specifically, she said the challenge with the eastern port is the issue of draft limitation. “As you are aware, our Calabar Port has a draft limitation. Hitherto, I inherited a Joint Venture for the Calabar Channel Management Dredge and that was a big issue that we had to cancel. It’s an ongoing investigation about an unverifiable dredging works. So we have started another process. But it translated into huge volumes to the extent that we are looking at spending about N45-50billion on dredging of Calabar Port.”

    Pressed further, she said, “Delta is also one of our Eastern Ports, and it has a limited draft because of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPPC) Pipelines that have been buried in that location. So in the last year, at the end of 2018, we got approval to dredge the Escravos Bay, which permitted a depth of about 7.5metres that would enable vessels to that side. So we can go deeper than that because of the NNPC pipelines that are buried there. We are discussing with the NNPPC and I remember saying to the GMD that let us start the process of relocating the pipelines. It may not happen in a year or two years or five years but we must understand that that location requires deeper depth and start the process of relocating the pipelines.”

    The Port Harcourt Port, she declared, “is in a bad state. We have commissioned a condition survey. They have submitted a report which will determine the totality of investment into that Port Harcourt Port because it has reached its limits in terms of utilisation. So the conditional survey had provided what is required. So we need to literally build new kits, new infrastructure, in that place. And when we look at what is expected of the vessels type that would come globally now, do you want to invest in this kind of port now when you can invest in deep seaports to enable you now reach where you want to go. Onne Port is in a good state. We have the attendant draft required and it’s a port that usually has a lot of oil and gas cargo and transactions so every other activity there is available, they have a private container terminal that is operating there. So this is the summary of what the Eastern Port entails right now.”

    She was however quick to add that “One of the other things that I forgot to mention about the Eastern Port is charge on insurance cost. The vessels that are coming to the Eastern Port for example, have to have war insurance for coming into the place because there are lots of piracy and even besides insurance, they have to pay money for private security. That is one issue that is responsible for the unviability of the Eastern Port as it relates to the shipping industry.”

    • Full text of interview on pages 10 & 11

  • ‘How to tackle unemployment in Nigeria’

    THE Project Lead of Niger Delta Youth Employment Pathways (NDYEP), Emeka Ile, has stated that to tackle unemployment in Nigeria, there is need to innovate and do things differently.

    He noted that the challenge of unemployment in Nigeria was not about not trying, but not adopting the right approach and not effectively utilising the available opportunities.

    Ile stated these on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, at the second dissemination workshop and roundtable with the private sector organisations by NDYEP, a project of the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND).

    The project lead of NDYEP, PIND Foundation, said: “Where there are new opportunities, those are the places that we go. We train young people in skills that are market relevant.

    “We need more partners and we need to use more market-relevant approaches. PIND Foundation is also focusing on peace building and economic development. Emphasis must be placed on training the youths in market relevant areas and skills, providing support and have linkage.”

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    Ile also said the PIND Foundation, a Nigerian non-profit organisation, which was established in 2010 by Chevron Corporation, had been placing emphasis on building partnerships for peace and equitable economic growth and development in the Niger Delta, thereby contributing to reducing poverty and conflicts in the region rich in crude oil and gas.

    The Project Coordinator of NDYEP, PIND Foundation, Mrs. Yvonne Jonah, stated that the young people were a force to reckon with, stressing that to change anything in the country, it must start with the youths.

    Jonah also admonished the youths to always utilise the opportunities that came their way to excel, stressing that restiveness was because the youths were not being properly engaged.

    In his goodwill message, a Director of Agriculture in the Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Morris Ogolo, said: “You cannot get it right, if the youths are not with you. If we do not employ or engage the youths, how will they be gainfully busy?

    “Agric sector is so wide and can absorb everybody, while it cannot be finished in twenty years. Any employment generation without agriculture cannot be said to be on the right track. Crude oil will soon dry up. It is time to move on and focus more on agriculture, with many youths to be fully involved.”

    The Head of Employment Generation in the Rivers Ministry of Employment Generation and Economic Empowerment, Elemchukwu Onuotu, in his remarks, stated that focus should be on skills’ development, for the youths and others to be employers of labour, rather than seeking non-existing jobs and be wasting their time.

    Onuotu stressed that the energies of the youths should be channelled in the right direction, in order for them not to miss their paths in life.

    A retired Permanent Secretary in the Rivers Ministry of Lands and Survey, Pastor Christopher Briggs, while also speaking, noted that the decision of the Federal Government to henceforth allow local government councils nationwide to directly take charge of their funds was a step in the right direction, thereby ensuring commensurate development of the grassroots and empowerment of the people, especially the youths.

    An official of the Directorate of Youth Mobilisation in Rivers Ministry of Youth Development, Rev. Christian Amadi, insisted that the minds of the youths must be trained and reorientation emphasised.

    The Volunteer Executive Director of Keeping It Real Foundation in Port Harcourt, Mrs. Bitebo Gogo, called for market-driven training of the teeming qualified youths.

  •  Forgery allegation against me frivolous, ill-motivated, says Rep

    THE member of the House of Representatives representing Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency in Delta State, Mr. Nicholas Mutu, has reacted to allegations of forgery and impersonation leveled against him by Mr. Collins Eselemo, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the area in the February 2019 general election.

    Mutu, who won the election on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), described the allegations as frivolous and ill-motivated, adding that they were aimed at damaging his hard-earned reputation.

    The conventional and social media have been awash lately with allegations of certificate forgery and impersonation against Mutu by his main opponent in the election.

    But Mutu, in a statement issued by his Media Adviser, Mr. Ebitimi Ogbomah, said the allegations bordering on certificate forgery and impersonation had been “rubbished by the responses of the appropriate authorities, including all the schools he (Mutu) attended and the National Assembly, where he had been a member since 1999, courtesy of the good people of Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency.”

    On the allegation that Mutu’s West African Examinations Council ((WAEC) Ordinary Level School Certificate/General Certificate of Education (GCE), issued by the management of Rivers State School of Basic Studies, Rumuola, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, now known as Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, was fake, Ogbomah said the letter written by the Registrar of the institute, Mr. Chris Woke, on the matter had cleared Mutu of any wrongdoing.

    In the letter, he said, Woke confirmed that the school was not only recognised but was a centre for WAEC and GCE in 1986 when Mutu sat for the examination.

    Woke, who attached the certified copies of the master list/computer printout of candidates who sat for the examination in the centre in 1986, said Mutu was one of the candidates, with 21648/094 as his examination number.

    Woke in the letter, which was sequel to an enquiry made by Mutu’s solicitors, stated: “I write to confirm that the former Rivers State School of Basic Studies, Rumuola, Port Harcourt (now Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic), was a recognised school and centre for West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Ordinary Level School Certificate/General Certificate of Education (GCE) Examinations as at May/June 1986.

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    “The then Rivers State School of Basic Studies, Port Harcourt, functioned as a recognised school/centre for May/June WAEC/GCE Examinations from 1977 to June 1987 and continued with November/December General Certificate of Education(GCE) up to 1990 before it was discontinued, following the introduction of the 6-3-3-4 education system in Nigeria.

    “The master list/computer printout of the candidate, 21648/094, Mutu Nicholas Eboma, amongst other candidates that sat for the May/June Examinations in 1986, is certified, attached hereto and marked as Annexure 1”

    “The former school of Basic Studies established in 1977 by the Rivers State Government was changed to Rivers State College of Arts and Science in 1991 (vide Annexure 2), Port Harcourt Polytechnic in 2016 (vide Annexure 3) and now Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic Rumuola, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.”

    Ogbomah also said the degree certificate awarded to Mutu by St. Clements University was authentic and genuine, adding that contrary to Eselemo’s claim, his boss was awarded a Bachelor of Arts and not Bachelor of Science degree in Business Organisation by the reputable institution.

    He said that instead of Eselemo visiting the website of the school or write to it for clarification on the genuineness of the certificate in question, he opted to assassinate Mutu’s character and smear his good image.

    “For the records, St. Clements University Certificate is genuine and anybody can go to the university’s website, write or visit the school to confirm that Hon. Mutu Nicholas indeed obtained his degree from the school,”’ he added.

    On the allegation that Mutu used a fake name in the National Assembly from 1999 to 2003, Ogbomah said the records were available on the National Assembly’s website for verification.

    He said: “We expected the petitioner to visit the National Assembly Website or write the National Assembly, but he decided to rely on a faceless magazine report.

    “But to set the record straight, it is Hon. Nicholas Mutu’s profile that has been in the National Assembly website from 1999 till date.

    “It is also on record that Hon. Nicholas Mutu has won all his elections from 1999 till date and certificate of return has always been issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in his name, with which he does his documentation in the National Assembly at all times.

    “It is worthy of note that nobody can do his or her documentation in the National Assembly and be sworn-in without a certificate of return.”

    Ogbomah stated further that “to demonstrate that Eselemo is on campaign of calumny to smear my boss, he also alleged that the Hon. Mutu played pranks in his age declaration. This is arrant nonsense.

    “This is the true account: Hon Mutu’s father did his age declaration with his thumbprint. Coincidentally, his elder brother bears the same name as his father. While his father name was Agbede Mutu Senior, his elder brother’s name is Agbede Mutu Junior.

    “Let Collins Eselemo also tell us the name of Hon. Mutu’s father since he now knows him better than his son. Let Collins Eselemo also tell us whether the thumbprint is that of Hon. Nicholas Mutu’s elder brother and whether his elder brother has the same thumbprint as his father.

    “And we ask also if it is possible for the elder brother to have the same thumbprint as his father. The answer is no.”