The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Rivers

  • Wike should focus on governance – ex-Rivers Commissioner

    Wike should focus on governance – ex-Rivers Commissioner

    The immediate past Commissioner for Health in Rivers State, Dr.  Sampson Parker has urged Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State to focus on governance rather than embarking on witch hunting the past administration in the state.

    Parker also advised the governor to moderate his utterances, temperament and behavior to suit that of a governor.

    The former commissioner was apparently reacting to  the  recent utterances made by the governor in the state in the past few days on former Governor-Amaechi-led government.

    Parker in a chat with journalists in Abuja, Wednesday said: “Chief Nyesom Nwike is the governor of Rivers state now. I have always said that he is our friend. He is a member of the Amaechi family, so I am very cautious when I talk about my brother.

    “It is not that because things are not good that you start pouring insults on each other. I try to avoid being pulled into that kind of thing.

    “Suffice it to say that, I will advise him that he is now governor, that his temperament, his behavior, his utterance should be that of a governor and not that of what he was before he became a governor.

    “Before he became a governor, he could say anything, but now he has become a governor of Rivers State. Before he speaks, he should think and speak less.

    “He is not the governor of only the people that are around him, he is governor of all the bishops and all the clergy men both Christians and Muslims in Rivers state. He should behave like that.

    “The things that he used to say before, he should not say them again. Any word that comes out of him, he should evaluate it before it comes out.”

    He further advised that health insurance should be made mandatory in Nigeria; stressing that health insurance will help resolve all the challenges in Nigeria’s health sector.

    He said: “we must find a way of making health insurance mandatory if we want to stop complaining and take control of our health care services.

    “I tell people that if there is a policy on ground that if you contribute 10,000 naira every year and there are ten million people who have like minds out there will be enough resources to take care of the health care system.”

  • Pirates kill ASP, three others in Rivers

    Pirates kill ASP, three others in Rivers

    Sea pirates yesterday killed an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and three other marine policemen on patrol in Rivers State.

    The incident happened near the Abonnema Jetty in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

    It was learnt that 24 sea pirates in four speed boats ambushed the policemen at 3p.m.

    The hoodlums were said to have suddenly opened fire, killing the policemen.

    The residents scampered for safety to avoid being hit by stray bullets.

    One of the five occupants of the police patrol boat, who survived the attack, was said to have jumped into the deep river and swam to safety.

    Police spokesman, Muhammad Kidaya Ahmad, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed the incident.

    He said details of the killings were still sketchy at press time last night.

     

     

     

  • PDP governors: no electoral fraud in Rivers, Akwa Ibom

    PDP governors: no electoral fraud in Rivers, Akwa Ibom

    Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have rejected claims of electoral fraud in the last governorship election in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.

    In a statement in Abuja last night and signed by the coordinator of the PDP Governors Forum, Osaro Onaiwu, the governors said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had already declared the election in Rivers State as credible.

    The statement said the outcome of the Akwa Ibom governorship election should not be a surprise to anyone, adding that the last PDP governor in the state, Godswill Akpabio “performed tremendously well” and that the people of the state had no reason to change course.

    The Governors’ lamented what they described as the abuse of freedom of speech by certain observer groups that made “spurious allegations” about the elections “to please their sponsors”.

    The statement called on the security agencies to reign in these groups, as, according to the governors, they were  capable of disrupting the peace with their claims and utterances.

    The governors also decried what they described as “the boastings” of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to take both Akwa Ibom and Rivers states through the tribunal.

  • Contaminated ogogoro: Rivers confirms 70 deaths

    The Rivers State Government said yesterday that 70 of the 80 persons who took the contaminated local gin, ogogoro, earlier this month, have died.

    The Director Public Health Services in the Ministry of Health, Dr Nnanna Onyekwere, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt, the state capital, that two of the survivors had visual impairment.

    He said the cases were reported in Woji and Gokana communities.

    Onyekwere said: “So far, in the past one week, we have not had any more deaths or new cases. The situation has been under control.

    “In the beginning, it started somewhere in Woji. By the time we had the last count, we had about 80 persons tracked down, who took the drink.

    “Of the 80 persons, 70 had died. The rest survived. But two have visual impairment as a result of the drink.”

    The director said the state government had liaised with relevant stakeholders, especially ogogoro dealers, to enlighten the residents.

    He said: “The state has done so much already. We started with public enlightenment with grassroots mobilisation in collaboration with the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and National Road Transport Workers (NRTW).

    “Luckily, with the Federal Government’s announcement banning the gin, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the police are working with us. We have achieved success in terms of control.”

    Onyekwere said the state government had done a line listing of those affected, getting their level of disability or those who lost somebody because the government wanted to assist them.

  • Contaminated Gin: 70 confirmed dead in Rivers

    Contaminated Gin: 70 confirmed dead in Rivers

    The Rivers government said on Sunday that 70 of the 80 persons who took contaminated local gin, also known as Ogogoro earlier this month, had died.
    Dr Nnanna Onyekwere, Director Public Health Services, Rivers ministry of health, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt on Sunday that two of the survivors had visual impairment.
    He said the cases were reported in Woji and Gokana communities in the state.
    ‘’ So far, in the past one week, we have not had any more deaths or new cases. The situation has been under control.
    ‘’ In the beginning, it started somewhere in Woji and by the time we had the last count, we had about 80 persons tracked down, who took the drink.
    ‘’ Out of which 70 had died , the rest survived while two had visual impairment as a result of the drink,’’ he said.
    According to Onyekwere, the state government had liaised with the relevant stakeholders, especially dealers of the local gin, to educate and enlighten the people on current happenings.
    ‘’ The state has done so much already. We started with public enlightenment with grassroot mobilization in collaboration with the National Orientation Agency and Road Transport Workers .
    ‘’ Luckily, with the Federal Government’s announcement banning the gin, NAFDAC and the police are now working with us . We have achieved success in terms of control,’’ he said.
    Onyekwere said the state government had done a line listing of those affected, getting their level of disability or those who lost somebody because government wanted to assist them. (NAN)

  • I’ m a local champion, says Wike

    I’ m a local champion, says Wike

    After a review of his emergence as the Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike has described himself as “a local champion.”

    The reason, Wike said is because he has spent all his life in Port Harcourt where he attended his primary, secondary schools and university in the state.

    The only time he said he spent outside Port Harcourt was “when I went to Lagos for my Law School, that is a professional one.”

    Wike who spoke Saturday in Port Harcourt during an interactive forum with reporters also described himself as the engine room of former Governor Chibuike Amaechi’s election into office.

    The governor explained that he was teaching those in Amaechi’s camp the way to play the game of politics, because “there is no polling booth in the state that I do not know or do not know anybody.”

    For those who have been criticizing his emergence as governor, he said, “the fact is that I was prepared for that election.

    “I was a Council Chairman. There is nowhere in this state that I do not know. There is no ward I do not know one person.

    “As I sit down here, I can mention one, one person from each ward. I know the politicians in this state. I know who has strength and who does not have strength.”

    The governor also said that during the course of the campaigns, “I never emaciated one day, the truth of the matter is that if you do the election 100 times in this state, I will win.”

    On the sacked lecturers of Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori, Wike said that they were people who have not started work with the school at all.

  • Rivers plans boarding schools

    Rivers plans boarding schools

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has pledged to reintroduce boarding schools with modern facilities to improve the standard of education.

    The governor spoke yesterday at the Government Girls’ Secondary School, Rumuokuta, in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, during an unscheduled visit to the school.

    He said his administration would select pilot schools to upgrade as model schools.

    Wike decried the condition of the girls’ school, where he said the laboratories and other facilities had deteriorated.

    The governor ordered the immediate construction of a fence around the school and the demolition of illegal structures on the premises.

    He also directed the construction of internal roads in the school, which he said would serve as a pilot institution in the new boarding school policy.

  • Rivers APC: Wike lacks power to dissolve local govts

    Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC) has said Governor Nyesom Wike lacks the power to dissolve the elected local government areas.

    A statement yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, by the state’s APC Chairman Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, said: “We are aware that Chief Nyesom Wike claims to have read Law though he never practised this noble profession for one single day and may, therefore, not know the position of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on this issue.

    “We, therefore, wish to advise him to find time to read the relevant portions of the Constitution and educate himself on his lack of powers to dissolve local government areas duly elected by the Rivers people.

    “If he claims that he has the powers to dissolve the local government areas, he is invariably saying that the Federal Government has powers to dissolve his ‘illegal’ government without following due process.

    “Any such action by Wike will not only be an exercise in futility but would be in clear contempt of court, as the issue is currently before the Port Harcourt Federal High Court …and the Court of Appeal…

    “Besides, the Supreme Court …has severally ruled that governors lack the powers to sack elected local government areas, as in the case of the removal of 148 elected local government areas by the Abia State Government in 2006 and the subsequent Court of Appeal judgments on Imo and Ekiti states in 2012 and 2013, where it was held that such actions by governors amounted to ‘executive rascality’.”R

  • Saving Rivers’ model schools

    SIR: Ever so often, even in the midst and outcry over poor leadership in Nigeria, a leader occasionally comes up with a policy or programme that stands out from the pack, offering hope, as the case may be. One of such laudable programmes I have seen in recent years is the model schools concept initiated by Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, former governor of Rivers State.  As part of his desire to transform education in Rivers State, Amaechi, a few years ago, introduced what he called model school system in the state.

    As enunciated by him, the model schools were to operate at no cost to the students.  They were to run as mixed boarding schools where feeding and tuition would be free. For that purpose, contract for the construction of twelve model schools in the state, were awarded. They were the first of 24 model schools to be built across the state. When the idea of the model schools was first mooted and by the time it crystallized into elegant structures with well equipped classrooms and beautiful environment, the initial doubt that usually greets many a government’s policies in Nigeria soon gave way to admiration. Girls and boys of different backgrounds, even way beyond the dreams of many, now had the opportunity of attending world class schools for free.

    Two years ago, I visited one of the model schools built by Amaechi’s administration called the Ambassador Nnne Furo Kurubo Model Secondary School located at Eleme local government area of the state. I visited the school as part of a team of education assessors and was happy about what I saw: an impressive, co-educational school complex, with sports facilities to boot that was, and is still being managed by Educomp Solutions Limited, an Indian company. As we learnt, the school was commissioned in 2012 by the Rivers State government and according to Shantaram Hegdekatte, Educomp’s chief executive officer; both the tuition and feeding for students of the residential school were free. Educomp as a company emphasizes the use of digital tools (computer) and software, rather than chalk and blackboard, as teaching materials.

    That visit led me to keep a tab on the model schools concept in Rivers State and that was how I got to know that, of the 12 schools so far constructed, only one of them, which is Ambassador Nnne Furo Kurubo Model Secondary School, had been utilized for the purpose for which they were set up. All others, despite having been completed, lie fallow. Sources say it has to do with paucity of fund.

    With Amaechi’s exit, what then becomes of the model schools programme? Should Rivers State students, who wish to enjoy top class education then wait for the days whenthe revenue profile of the state will improve to know whether what obtains at Ambassador Nnne Furo Kurubo Model Secondary School, will reach them? And given that a new governor of a different party, who appears not share in Amaechi’s laudable vision, is there a way out of the situation?

    Although the Amaechi administration conceived the model schools to be free, but given the apparent financial challenge of the moment, I think one of the best options available to the incoming   administration both as a way to recoup money so far spent in building the schools and increase the revenue of the state, is to concession them to private investors to manage. What this means is that private investors would be at liberty to operate the schools on their own terms, including charging fees provided they make returns to government.

    Education, like everybody knows, is expensive. The free tuition and feeding at Nnne Furo Kurubo Model Secondary School is free only to the beneficiaries; it isn’t so for the government, which bears the cost. While many desire free things, mainly because of the money they would save as a result, there are many others who wouldn’t mind paying for it so long as the quality is good.  There are countless private schools around the country, and despite the outcry by some about cost, it hasn’t stopped them from flourishing, or even the numbers from increasing.

     

    • Pedro Uwalaka

    Port Harcourt.

  • Rivers, Oga Jerry Needam and The Nation!

    It was last Friday, the inauguration day for new governments in some states and at the federal level.

    This reporter was fully prepared cover the inauguration of Nyesom Ezenwo Wike as Rivers State governor at the Elekahia Stadium as directed by this newspaper’s Port Harcourt  Bureau Chief, Mr. Bisi Olaniyi .

    The reporter was not sure of the time of the inauguration. So a call was placed to Mr. Jerry Needam, a member of the inauguration committee. He also doubles as the Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Bro. Felix Obuah. Needam’s reaction was a heavy blow:  He tagged this reporter an enemy of Wike, who, by extension, was against his inauguration.  But, really the reporter’s sin is that he works for The Nation.

    Almost every reporter in The Nation’s Port Harcourt Bureau has felt Needam’s sharp tongue a one point or the other. But, this reporter seems particularly unlucky with Needam.

    His words: “Wait! You mean I should tell you the time of the inauguration and give you accreditation tag? You people in The Nation must be joking. I don’t think you read what you write about Wike, you did all kinds of reports against Wike to frustrate him; now you want to cover the event. What kind of event do you want to cover?  We don’t want you.  We don’t need The Nation.”

    This reporter replied:  “Look, Mr. Jerry, we are not begging you for anything. I am going to the stadium to report the event; you will read my story the next day.”

    Needam immediately dropped the call.  On getting to the stadium, this reporter was not allowed in. According to the police at the gate, there was an instruction that no journalist from The Nation should be given access to the stadium.  To avoid problem, this reporter quietly went to the open view to stay and with the aid of the loud megaphone, he was able to record freely.

    Needam had before then abused this reporter over a report titled ‘The Rivers of Blood”. The report was on politically-motivated killings in Rivers State. He called after the report was published to say that The Nation would seize to exist once Wike took charge, adding that  Olaniyi  would have no place to hide his shame.  He added that this reporter was joining Yoruba people to destroy Wike when he should be protecting Wike, his fellow Ikwerre man.

    This reporter said there was no way he could white into black because he wanted to support a brother.

    Needam, who is also the publisher of a local tabloid called National Network, dumped the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), a party he joined when he became uncomfortable with PDP after the exit of the Celestine Omehia’s government.

    He went back to PDP after  Obuah became the PDP chairman. And from that point, he became powerful and perhaps disillusioned. He insults and abuses those who try to question his excesses. He uses journalists who work close to him like slaves, each time he is  in charge of any event.  Journalists, who ordinarily should have been happy that their colleague is in-charge of event, always complain of his inglorious attitudes toward them.

    This is a man whose newspaper published nothing good about the government of the immediate past governor and the APC leadership, both in the state and at the national level.

    His paper, National Network, became a platform for ex-Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s detractors who attacked him on every edition.  The last word here is: Oga Jerry, now that Wike has become governor, you can now ban this newspaper from reporting PDP’s event but don’t forget The Nation’s motto: “Truth in Defence of freedom”. This medium will continue to say the truth. When your government does well, we will say it; if we see any challenge, we will point it out. It is too early for you to create enemy for the new government. Rivers people are watching.