The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Port Harcourt

  • Recession: Parents withdraw children from private schools – Diete-Spiff

    As the recession bites harder, the founder of Charles Dale Memorial International School, Port Harcourt, Chief (Mrs.) Victoria Diete-Spiff, has lamented that parents were retrieving their children from private schools because of the economic crisis in the country.

    Diete-Spiff worried that parents were now taking their children to public schools adding that private schools were facing hard times.

    Diete-Spiff, who spoke after receiving Academic Icon Award from National Association of Oduduwa Students during the 10th Anniversary of the institution, also advocated for government to give grants to private schools in the country.

    The proprietor noted that private schools were the drivers of academic excellence in a nation and that they needed encouragement.

    Diete-Spiff said, “Most schools proprietors are anticipating that the recession is going to be rough. Most parents during this recession are having problem in connection to finance. Most of them are retrieving their children.

    “Private school is the bedrock of education in Nigeria and for somebody to withdraw his ward from private school it means a lot.

    “Government should improve the standard of education in Nigeria at least by providing grants for private schools. In other countries the government gives grants to private schools but it is not done here.

    “Government should do what needs to be done. Qualitative education is necessary because that is what the country needs to development.”

  • Group faults Niger Delta leaders’ 16-point demand

    Group faults Niger Delta leaders’ 16-point demand

     

    Niger Delta Youth Association (NDYA), has faulted the 16-point demand handed to President Muhammadu Buhari by leaders of Niger Delta, known as ‘Pan-Niger Delta Forum, (PNDEF) on the way forward in resolving the crisis in the oil -rich region.

    This was contained in a seven-point communiqué issued in Akwa Ibom State after an emergency conference of the body during which it took a critical assessment of the ’16 Point Demand’ earlier presented to the Presidency.

    In the communiqué, the President, Comrade Victor James, Vice President, Comrade Ibiso Harry and other executives of NYDA, regretted that the leaders could not give priority to the Niger Delta Coastal Road Project which they said would improve the economic life of the people of the region.

    Harry who read the communiqué for the group also pointed out that the delegation ought to have expanded the request for the granting of oil and gas blocks to cover communities of the entire Niger Delta other than giving few individuals the blocks.

    The group while commending the contingent for their courage, tasked the presidency to ensure sincerity in dealing with the issues of Niger Delta.

    The communiqué read in part: “We endorsed some of the ’16 Points Demands’, ranging from the Maritime University at Okrenkoko in Delta State, to the restructuring of the Amnesty Programme, the opening up of Warri, Calabar and Port Harcourt Ports as international Ports, the cleaning up of the entire Niger Delta wherever pollution is found.

    “PNDEF should have made the ‘Niger Delta Coastal Road Project’ one of its basic demands and as clear as possible without ambiguity because it is strategically positioned along the region’s vast coastline and an economically viable project which will attract serious foreign investments to the Niger Delta in terms of real estate and tourism.

    “Some demands like the federal government’s granting of oil and gas blocks should rather be expanded to cover communities of the entire Niger Delta as simply giving a few individuals from the Niger Delta oil and gas blocks will not create the wealth need to move the region forward.

    “The reason is because our region is suffering from institutional and systemic poverty, therefore, clusters of communities within all ethnic nationalities should be granted oil and gas blocks as doing so will create wealth which the people are starved and which prevents the people from enhancing their potentials.

    “What the Niger Delta needs is sincerity from this present administration particularly when it cannot be argued that the current resurgence of violence and insurgency resulting in the bombing of oil and gas facilities is occasioned by the current administration’s approach to issues relating to the Niger Delta Region and Its People.”

  • Violence against Children: UNICEF applauds Buhari’s campaign

    Violence against Children: UNICEF applauds Buhari’s campaign

    United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday said the organisation has appreciated the demonstration of love for Nigerian Children by Nigeria President, Muhammadu Buhari for launching a campaign to end violence Against Children by 2030.

    President Buhari, at the State House Conference Centre on Tuesday morning, launched an ambitious campaign to End Violence against Children by 2030.

    The President who was represented at the occasion by Secretary to the Government of the Federation David Lawal said: “I say to children in Nigeria – on this historic day, we make a pledge, we commit to protecting each and every one of you from violence.

    “The Year of Action has created a wonderful momentum to end violence against children. We have a clear moral, legal and economic imperative and a global obligation to take action to end the suffering of children who live under the shadow of violence.” the President added.”

    But the UNICEF Chief Communication officer,  Mrs Doune Porter, in a press statement sent to our correspondent, quoted Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF’s West and Central Africa Regional Director of saying that with this campaign, Nigeria has shown it is determined to mobilize political will and resources to tackle all forms of violence against children.

    Mrs Doune said millions of children suffer some form of physical, emotional or sexual violence every year in Nigeria.

    She said survey carried out last year by the National Population Commission, with support from UNICEF and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that approximately 6 out of 10 Nigerian children experience one of these forms of violence before they reach 18.

    “The 2030 End Violence Against Children Campaign, supported by UNICEF and USAID, builds and expands on the success of just-ended Year of Action to End Violence Against Children, launched by the President in September 2015.

    “During the Year of Action, the Plateau, Lagos, Cross River, Benue States all heeded the President’s call to launch their own State campaigns; Bayelsa became the 23rd State in Nigeria to domesticate the Child’s Rights Act and nine States joined hands to develop a model child protection system to put the Child’s Rights Act into practice.”

    She noted that the sustainable Development Goals, agreed last month by all members of the United Nations, including Nigeria, include a call on every country in the world to end all forms of violence against children by 2030.

  • RSG warns pastors, business owners against noise pollution

    The Rivers State Government has warned pastors and business operators in the state against generating noise in public places in the state.

    The Special Adviser to Governor Nyesom Wike on Pollution Control, Mr. Nwuke Anucha gave this warning on Monday in Port Harcourt during a pollution control and religious matters meeting with members of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Port Harcourt branch.

    Anucha worried that the noise produced by sound systems used by churches is causing unrest in the state.

    He stated that the noise churches produce in Port Harcourt was alarming, stressing that no responsible government would shy away without taking steps to reduce the menace.

    He, however, urged churches to cut down the use of loud speakers with a sound level not above the recommended decibel outside and inside, noting that sounds from churches are causing environmental pollution.

    Anucha said: “My lords, you will agree with me that the emission of gaseous substance, the sound level of our electric power generation sets and indeed the noise generated by the use of loud speakers in some of our worship centers in no doubt cause serious disorder to human co-existence.

    “It is on this premise of good neighborliness that necessitated this meeting. The public outcry about the noise and air pollution generated by some of our churches is so alarming that no responsible and responsive government will shy away from taking necessary actions.”

    Meanwhile, the Rivers Commissioner of Environment, Prof. Roseline Konya said that 60 percent of Nigerians are partially deaf due to noise pollution from generator set, vehicles and loud speakers.

  • Wike prevents arrest of FHC judge in Port Harcourt

    Wike prevents arrest of FHC judge in Port Harcourt

    •Rivers CP averts bloody encounter between DSS operatives, policeman
    •Gov accuses police, DSS operatives of shoving, injuring him
    •APC, PDP in war of words

    A mid-night show played out at the Government Reservation Area (GRA), Port Harcourt, in the early hours of yesterday when Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State unexpectedly got locked up in a confrontation with operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS).

    Wike had rushed to the No. 35, Forces Avenue, GRA official residence of Justice Uche Agumuo of the Federal High Court (FHC), Port Harcourt, following information that she was under siege by security men.

    The security personnel had swooped on the compound, ready to take away Agumuo when the governor showed up.

    He wondered what the men were doing there at that time of the day.

    When he got no answer he began to kick and shout.

    He branded the action of the security men illegal and wondered why they did not come for the judge during the day.

    With the situation was appearing to get out of hand, Police Commissioner Francis Odesanya was tipped off and he too showed up, averting a possible shootout between the DSS operatives and a policeman on guard duty in the expansive premises.

    Wike accused the policemen and DSS operatives of manhandling and injuring him.

    He said it was all about a plot to declare a state of emergency in Rivers.

    The governor’s  Special Assistant on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu, followed up with a statement saying: “The operatives of DSS reportedly rough-handled Governor Wike, pushing him around and injuring his hand. A few of the operatives cocked their rifles and threatened to shoot the governor. They were irked by Governor Wike’s arrival at the scene, shortly after the failed abduction process began.

    “It was learnt that Governor Wike received security information on the illegal moves, minutes after the operation started. The security operatives blocked the entrance of the residence of the Federal High Court judge at about 1 a.m. on Saturday, claiming that they were acting on orders from above. As they dragged Governor Wike, they insisted that they must be allowed to leave with the judge.

    “However, the commotion attracted passersby and journalists, who thronged the vicinity to know why hundreds of security agents, in several atrol vans had been mobilised. Upon the arrival of the national media, the Rivers State Director of the DSS, Mr. Tosin Ajayi, jumped into his vehicle and fled the scene.

    “However, addressing journalists, Rivers State Police Commissioner said the two security agencies were at the scene, because they received privileged information. Odesanya claimed he was at the scene as a peacemaker. He declined comments on why the police joined the DSS to abduct a serving Federal High Court judge.”

    Nwakaudu quoted his principal as saying: “Not under my watch will I allow this kind of impunity to take place. That is why we are here. I do not know which judge they were detailed to abduct. I did not bother myself to know which judge. All I am interested in is that, at this level, it is not allowed.

    “She is not a criminal and she is not an armed robber. If the person (judge) has committed an offence, invite her. It is only when she refuses to honour the invitation that you can adopt this commando style.

    “The Commissioner of Police is here, the Director of DSS is here. Their operatives cocked their guns and threatened to shoot me. I have never seen that before. Again, this is to tell you what we are facing. We know that more will come. For us in this state, we shall continue to resist it.

    “It does not matter what it will cost. When you talk about liberty, sacrifices must be made. We are not trying to stop an arrest. All we are saying is that things must be done decently and in line with the rule of law.”

    The State Director of DSS, Mr. Tosin Ajayi, did not respond to phone calls and SMS on the development yesterday.

    A Ford pick-up van, with registration number: NPF 2033 D, marked RRS 015 and an unmarked Toyota Hilux van, with fully-armed policemen, were stationed directly opposite the judge’s residence yesterday.

    Rivers Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Nnamdi Omoni, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said by phone that the operation was purely a DSS affair and had nothing to do with the police.

    He said the police commissioner intervened to prevent a possible bloodshed.

    The Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party  (PDP) sided with Wike and said  the DSS  attempted to shoot the governor “for intervening in the illegal move to abduct” Agumuo.

    It described the development as most sacrilegious.

    It added: “the unruly behaviour of the overzealous security operatives is the worst of its kind in the history of Nigeria and is a cause for concern.

    “Though the target is to find reason to declare a state of emergency in the state, the President, the National Assembly members, Judicial Officers, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and all relevant authorities and stakeholders should be put on notice on these acts of recklessness against Rivers State as injury to one is injury to all.”

    But the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state said it was the governor that was at fault for “peddling bizarre stunt of bravado.”

    The party’s Publicity Secretary in the state, Chris Finebone, said: “Ordinarily, this morning’s (yesterday) macabre dance by Wike should not merit any serious interest from anyone, because everyone has become sick and tired of such from him, but for the innocent people and residents of Rivers State, whom he subjects to unbridled lies and misinformation under one phantom excuse or another.

    “There is no question that the melodrama is just one of the many chapters in Wike’s book on political demagoguery. How can anyone explain the many obvious inconsistencies that fly in the face of his highly-mendacious account to the media this morning?

    “Indeed, we ask: How come the governor said he did not know the occupant of the house? How did he find his way to the gate of a house he did not know the occupant? Is the judge of a Federal High Court under the governor of Rivers State? May be, yes but why? Is the Federal High Court, its judges and the DSS not belong to the same Federal Government?

    “The APC believes that the Rivers governor is once again up to his dishonest self. We do not believe his account. We believe that the bizarre stunt of bravado being peddled by Wike is just for the purpose of convincing his collaborators in the judiciary in Rivers State that he will always protect them.

    “The claim by Wike that his presence at the scene of the incident was to help resist abduction is typically dishonest. He was there to obstruct justice. Simple! The reason is that crime connects much more than innocence does.”

     

  • NERC fines Benin, Port Harcourt DisCos N6.2m

    NERC fines Benin, Port Harcourt DisCos N6.2m

    The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has fined Benin and Port Harcourt electricity distribution companies (DisCos) N6.220 million over their failure to comply with the decisions of Forum Offices rulings in complaints filed by their customers.

    The Commission in Directive 153 imposed a N5, 010, 000. 00 sanction on Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) for not complying with the decision of the Forum in complaints filed by Messrs Ikponmwosa Ogiesoba Barry; S. C. Ogoke; and F. E. Ubuane.

    The Commission in a statement yesterday, said the Forum Office is made up of five members of the public and handles complaints that are unresolved at the customer complaint unit of DisCos.

    Both Barry and Ubuane had filed complaints before the Benin Forum Office alleging fraudulent estimation of their electricity bills to which the Forum Office ruled in their favour, while Ogoke in his complaint contested the amount of fixed charge he was to pay the utility company.

    However, Benin DisCo ignored the directives of the Forum Office in those instances and the matter was subsequently referred to the Commission which issued Directives 153 upon completion of enforcement proceedings.

    According to Directive 153, “The Commission hereby fines BEDC N10,000 per day from April 14, 2016 to September 28, 2016 making a total N1, 670, 000 only” in each of the three instances bringing the fines to a grand total of N5, 010, 000 only.

    The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC) in Directive 155 was sanctioned over its failure to comply with the Port Harcourt Forum Office decision in a complaint filed by one Toba Aremu Olugbemi.

  • Cry the beloved Port Harcourt

    SIR: I live in Port Harcourt. I have for all my adult years except for few months of working experience in Lagos. It is a beautiful town, once known as the Garden City in yesteryears. Just like Lagos, every part of Nigeria is represented. It was once the headquarters of the oil and gas business in Nigeria, which in turn made it a lifeline for other cities like Aba, Yenagoa etc. But today, the story is no longer the same.

    Today, you cannot walk the streets of Port Harcourt at night if safety means anything to you. Kidnapping has gone from crime to trade. People are now kidnapped for ransoms as low as N100, 000. It was reported on a radio programme that nearly every family in the city has in one way or the other been affected, directly or indirectly

    You cannot drive around Port Harcourt for leisure. I was taught that seatbelt is the first task upon entering the car. But in Port Harcourt of today, locking your car upon entering takes precedence to seatbelt. That is because there are many fierce looking young men out in the streets, waiting for the opportunity to jump into your car in a gangster manner, take you to somewhere in town where you are made to part ways with your hard earned money.

    I have been a victim.

    Today in Port Harcourt, owning a shop or a business is almost a crime. Many young men wake up every morning, dress up, with fake government receipts and government demand notices, wielding machetes and other weapons. Their target is shop owners; they are government revenue collectors so to say.

    Buy a land and try to fence it. You will have to pay the boys for bush entry. And when you build, you will also pay the boys for building permit. As a Safety Engineer, I supervised a major government building project in Port Harcourt, where we were told the by the boys, “we don’t care about this una project, settle us now or no work”. They practically chased us out of site first day. They were the community boys on whose land the project is sited. They cared less for the employment opportunities and business prosperity the presence of such a massive project will bring to their community, they only wanted to be settled, and now!

    I enter tricycle every morning to work. The price from my gate to the next bus stop is N50. So for a trip, the tricycle man makes N200 at full load. But he pays N150 called first booking to a certain ‘chairmoo’, a community sponsored ‘agboro boy’ who is permanently stationed at somewhere half-way the journey. In addition, the tricycle man also pays N50, a normal charge for each load. So for his first trip of each day, he gets NOTHING! From then on, he pays N50 for each N200 full load. He will buy petrol, service his tricycle, settle the Police, and give returns to the owner. So you ask, how will the man survive?

    A colleague of mine, a consultant from Lagos once told me that if what happens in Port Harcourt should happen in Lagos, Lagos will not be what it is today. And if you doubt him, compare the monthly Internally Generated Revenue of Lagos and Rivers State.

    Today, oil multinationals that once had their head offices in Port Harcourt have left town, divesting their onshore interests where possible. Today, I walked pass what used to be the office of one of the International Oil Companies at Trans Amadi, and I saw a banner that says ‘Property for lease’. The company has left Port Harcourt, and guess what? They are firmly in Lagos as we speak. And for every movement out of Port Harcourt, Lagos is gaining.

    Today, Dangote is spending billions of dollars laying pipes undersea to transport gas to his Lagos based refinery, a facility that should have been in Port Harcourt or anywhere in the Niger Delta being the source of the crude and gas that will feed the plant. Today, most of the companies in Trans Amadi have put up their facilities for lease. My city is no longer an investment haven.

     I ask the youths of Port Harcourt, Rivers State and the Niger Delta a simple question; what have you gained from making your city, state and region insecure? How can unemployment not be high when businesses are leaving town daily occasioned by your volatility. Why should any responsible business man bring his hard earned money to the city given the current state of insecurity?

    • Obinna Asole,

    Port Harcourt.

  • Police rescues 14 abducted oil workers in Rivers

    Police rescues 14 abducted oil workers in Rivers

    The Rivers Police Command said it has rescued 14 oil workers abducted by unknown gunmen on Sept. 2 along Elele-Omoku road.

    The command`s spokesman, Mr Nnamdi Omoni, a DSP, said in a statement in Port Harcourt that the workers were freed in the early hours of Sunday.

    Omoni said the Command`s Tactical Units, engaged the kidnappers in a gun battle, which lasted for one and half hours, to rescue the victims.

    “The Oil Workers were rescued unhurt due largely to the efforts of the Command’s Tactical Units, who, at the early hours of Sept. 18,engaged the hoodlums, in a fierce gun battle which lasted for one and half hours, leading to the rescue of the victims.

    “The hoodlums took to flight abandoning their hostages. Efforts are on to arrest and bring them to justice,” he said.

    Omoni said no ransom was paid to rescue the workers.

    “They have been debriefed and are receiving medical attention in the hospital.

    “Investigation is on-going at the Command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit,” he said.

    Omoni said that the police was determined to fight all forms of criminality and crime in the state.

    He appealed to residents to give the police useful information that would assist it achieve set objectives.

  • Breaking: Court suspends PDP convention

    Breaking: Court suspends PDP convention

    A Federal High Court in Abuja suspends the PDP National Convention, due to hold in Port Harcourt on Aug. 17, pending the determination of a suit filed by factional Chairman Ali Modu Sherif.

  • BDCs in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano, others await forex disbursements

    Bureaux De Change (BDCs) in Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, Benin, among others are expecting the disbursements of their Diaspora remittances this week.

    No fewer than 350 BDCs in the Lagos on Friday got $30,000 weekly allocations from four lenders – First Bank of Nigeria Limited, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc and Ecobank Nigeria Limited, it was gathered.

    About $10.5 million was disbursed to beneficiaries at the interbank rate.

    To ensure stability of the exchange rate and encourage participation of critical stakeholders in the foreign exchange market, the CBN directed through a circular to authorised dealers that all agents to approved International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) sell foreign currency accruing from inward money remittances to licensed BDCs.

    The foreign currency proceeds of IMTOs sold to BDC operators shall be retailed to end users in accordance to CBN regulation. Only BDCs that have been cleared by the compliance department of the banks as fully compliant with the KYC requirement were allowed to buy.

    The CBN issued a follow-up circular to all the banks, asking them to sell dollar to BDCs.

    In the circular titled:  Re: Sales of Foreign Currency Proceeds of International Money Transfers to Bureaux De Change Operators, CBN Acting Director, Trade and Exchange, W.D. Goting, said   he authorised dealers should sell foreign exchange cash to BDCs subject to a maximum of $30,000 to a BDC per week.

    He explained that a BDC shall nominate its preferred authorised dealer, a commercial bank, and can only procure the said amount from only that bank of its choice in a week. The CBN warned that any breach of this condition will attract appropriate sanction.

    The commercial banks, which are the authorised dealers have been giving stringent conditions to the BDCs finally bowed to pressure from both the CBN to disburse the first set of cash. Nearly 2,600 BDCs are yet to get their alloocations, and are at various stages of documentation.

    The banks also obtained com-pliance set guidelines commitment from the BDCs before selling to them. Part of the commitment were that the BDCs would not purchase forex from any other bank, except its bank of choice; foreign currency cash purchased by the BDCs shall be sold to forex end-users at a rate not exceeding two per cent margin above the buying rate.

    The BDCs also pledged to ensure that purchased funds would be disbursed to end users and for eligible transactions only and shall render weekly returns on purchases from the banks to Trade and Exchange Department of the CBN.

    The BDCs further promised to ensure strict compliance to the provisions of the anti-money laundering laws observance of appropriate KYC principles in the handling of foreign exchange transactions.