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Tag: Rivers

  • Rivers 2015: Wike ‘ll meet his waterloo, says APC

    Rivers 2015: Wike ‘ll meet his waterloo, says APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC), Rivers State chapter, has said the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, would meet his political waterloo next year.It described his governorship ambition as a pipe dream.

    Rivers APC, through its Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, noted yesterday in Port Harcourt that members of the ruling party in the state (APC) would be happy to have Wike, the former Chief of Staff, Government House, as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), thereby making it easy to emerge victorious.

    APC said: “We have noted Wike’s boast that he will beat other candidates, even in their wards, in the governorship election. This is nothing, but the blowing of hot air by a political Lilliputian, who seems to have forgotten how he achieved the little relevance that is now intoxicating him.

    “Wike owes his position as a junior minister to the Rivers State APC leader, Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. The same Amaechi, who made Wike, will politically un-make him during the 2015 governorship election. Wike is living in the past, as eminent persons that made him somebody politically are now in the APC.

    “We know Wike’s tricks and we know how to cage him, when necessary. So, without us, he is a nobody politically in Rivers State. Wike is the easiest candidate for us to beat and that was why we fasted for him to emerge as the PDP’s candidate in the poll. We are continuing in prayer along this line. The thrashing that Wike and the PDP will receive from the APC during the election will be so heavy that he may be forced to consider premature retirement from politics.”

    The ruling party in Rivers reminded the two-term Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government that he and Amaechi, the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), are from the Ikwerre ethnic nationality, in the multi-ethnic state.

    APC said: “Wike has a lot of factors counting against him. One of these disadvantages is that he is from the Ikwerre axis. The fact remains that no son or daughter of Ikwerre will succeed Governor Amaechi, an Ikwerre, who would have governed Rivers State for eight years by May 2015. So, that rules Wike out.

    “The Minister of State for Education has also boasted that the primary and secondary schools Amaechi has built do not exist in other parts of Rivers State, besides Port Harcourt. If Wike is elected, God forbid, he is capable of bulldozing the 23 model secondary schools and the over 300 model primary schools scattered in other local governments, sparing, may be, only those in Port Harcourt.

    “Rivers people will not take such a risk with somebody whose only achievement as acting Minister of Education was to ensure that our universities were closed for over six months, while the polytechnics and colleges of education were closed for about one year. Wike should stop wasting his time, because he obviously does not have what it takes to govern Rivers State.”

    The ruling party admonished the peace-loving people of the state to support Amaechi and his administration.

  • Suspected gunmen kill 15 in Rivers

    Suspected gunmen yesterday invaded Egi community in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers  State, killing 15 people.

    The gunmen reportedly invaded seven communities two days ago.

    A source said they came to Egi in a bus, armed.

    The invaded areas included Obagi, Ede, Obite, Egi town, Obieze, Obimiri and Akabka.

    A resident, Elder Obinache Anthony, said the hoodlums stormed his area at night and shot sporadically, killing  people.

    He said the attack was a  reprisal, noting that supremacy battle by cults in the area might have caused the early morning killings.

    Obinache added: “It is unfortunate that innocent people were killed. Residents have deserted their homes. Government has, however, directed the Joint Task Force (JTF) to intervene.”

    Police spokesman Ahmad Mohammad, who spoke through his deputy, ASP Grace Iringe Okoko, said he was yet to confirm the incident. He promised to get back to our reporter.

  • Rivers Ijaw mothers mobilise for riverine Brick House landlord

    Rivers Ijaw mothers mobilise for riverine Brick House landlord

    THEY  are mothers. They are Ijaw. And from Rivers State. Two days ago,  they gathered at the Atlantic Hall of the Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt. The occasion was the Women Convention of the Eastern Delta People’s Association (EDPA). The Women Wing of the EDPA, a non-aligned socio-political group, is led by Mrs Manuela Izunwa. The wing has a strong backer in the wife of former Rivers State Deputy Governor, Sir Gabriel Toby, Dame Christy. She chaired the convention.

    At the meeting, the group’s four-cardinal objectives were stressed. They include: Pursue the protection and preservation of the ideals of equity,   fairness and     justice to enhance the building of an egalitarian society where the Ijaw-speaking people of the Eastern Delta can aspire to any height in Rivers     State; set the agenda for human capacity development of the   women of the Eastern Delta, Rivers State and Nigeria and promote unity, peace and harmony among the people of the Eastern Delta, Rivers State and Nigeria.

    A keynote address by Prof. (Mrs.) Bene Willy Abbey set the tone for the conference. Papers on the theme: “Equity, Equal Opportunity and Political Leadership: Role of Women in Rivers State”  was presented by Mrs. Mina Ogbanga. At the end of it all, the 500 registered women leaders, representing all Rivers Ijaw women spread in ten local government areas adopted a communiqué.

    The key point in the communiqué was a plea to other groups in the state to give the Ijaw the chance to produce the governor of the state after the upland people would have had it for 16 years.

    The politics of Rivers State has been played around a concept referred to as Upland/ Riverine dichotomy.  Before the incumbent, Rotimi Amaechi, who will complete a second term of four years next year, Dr. Peter Odili ruled the state for eight years. Both are from the upland.

    Aspirants from the upland, such as Minister of State for Education Nyesom Wike and Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Magnus Abe, have shown interest in the race.

    The women said: “The session reviewed the process of succession in the leadership of Rivers State since the return of democracy in 1999 and as women who have the responsibility to be sensitive to the yearnings of fathers, husbands, brothers and children noted that the political mood of Rivers State today calls for caution, and the need to foster unity, brotherliness, peace and it’s corollary Justice, equity and inclusiveness. To this end, the session, especially appealed to other parts of Rivers State to, as brothers, give the Eastern Delta people (Rivers Ijaws) who live by the coastline, the necessary support and cooperation to produce the next Governor of Rivers State in 2015 in the spirit of equity and inclusiveness.

    The session, being conscious of the fact that our brothers from the upland part of the State have led the state creditably for 16 unbroken years advises that to deny their brothers and sisters from the Riverine axis of the state from producing the next governor will be laying the foundation for injustice and exclusiveness with its attendant consequences. Similarly, the session acknowledged the agitation by other groups to be given opportunity to govern Rivers State notably the people of Rivers South East Senatorial District, which includes the Elemes and Ogonis, as genuine but appeals to them to consider our geo-political history and politico historical conventions and support Rivers Ijaws with the firm belief that other groups will also have their opportunities in future. In the event that zoning along senatorial lines become inevitable, the session believes strongly that there are credible God-fearing Ijaws in all three Senatorial Districts in Rivers State.”

    The women urged the people of the state to participate in the electoral process. They said: “The session reviewed recent political events in Rivers State and expressed concern about rising political tension in the State. While commending Rivers people as peace loving and law abiding, the session condemns in its entirety the introduction of violence and intimidation in the politics of Rivers State and appeals to politicians to go about their political activities with decorum and the fear of God.

    The session advises politicians to know that power comes from God and no force or corruption of the system can give anyone power and thus cautions politicians against making inflammatory statements capable of threatening the peace of the State. Similarly, the session calls on all Rivers women to be vigilant, ensure that they register and vote in the forthcoming general elections to choose leaders who best represent the ideals that River people are known for. The session equally enjoins all Rivers Women to participate in a 21 day fasting and prayer programme in January 2015 to seek God’s face for peaceful and violence-free elections.”

    Dame Toby said: “If any Ijaw woman will cast her vote in the next general election in the state, I, therefore, beg the political parties in the state to pick their candidates from the Riverine area of the state to promote an egalitarian society. Riverine people should have an opportunity in the governance of the state.

    “It is time to define the role of women in the politics of Rivers State. We must make use of optimum opportunity of this gathering to ensure that Ijaw women take their right place in the politics of Rivers state.”

    Prof. Willy-Abbey said: “Today we gathered together for consultation and exchange of information and opinion on tackling the challenges facing the women in Niger Delta, particularly the Eastern Delta region.  We must take over the politics of Rivers State come 2015.

    “Ijaw women must be ready to pack out of Rivers State if they are not considered in the scheme of thing. But, how ready are women to take over position in the political environment of our region? We must be adequately equipped for the battle come 2015.”

    The women’s position is in consonnance with the men in the EDPA.

    An Ijaw activist, Alatubo Charles Harry, recently argued that: “Rivers Ijaws will not sit still and watch idly our posterity and heritage consigned to hewers of wood and fetchers of water in the political matrix of our state.”

    A Kalabari politician, Nimi Walson-Jack, also  said recently: “Upland/riverine dichotomy is something that has been on. We respect the sentiment that has held these two together. Everybody who is well-meaning will decide on the right thing to do at the end of the day.”

    Barisi Benson Nnah of the Centre for Peace and Development in Ogoni, a Rivers State-based non-governmental organisation, believes in the Ijaw cause.

    He said: “The selfish interest of some individuals who want to be governor against collective interest of the Rivers State people made the ongoing National Conference to exclude Bori State or Ogoni State from the list of states being proposed for creation.

    “It is regrettable that the lessons of the over 20 years of the Ogoni struggle for self-determination seems not yet properly assimilated and a golden opportunity as this will slip away and be sacrificed for a mere governorship ambition of some self-seeking individuals pretending to bear Ogoni interests.”

  • JTF uncovers illegal bunkering in Rivers

    JTF uncovers illegal bunkering in Rivers

    •32 barges, boats seized
    •Eight suspects arrested

    The Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, has uncovered as illegal bunkering at Onne Port in Rivers State.

    It was learnt that the JTF operatives stormed the port on Tuesday and impounded 32 long barges and Cotonou boats suspected to be used for bunkering.

    The JTF’s monitoring team recently set up by the commander, Maj.-Gen. Emmanuel Atewe, was said to have received information that people were using the port to indulge in oil theft.

    A source, who partook in the operation, said many of the barges were laden with products believed to have been sourced from illegal refineries in the creeks close to the port.

    The source, who pleaded anonymity, said on sighting the JTF, people on board the vessels abandoned them and ran into the creeks.

    He said some of them dived into the water and swam to safety, adding that operators of illegal refineries used Cotonou boats to load the barges.

    The source said one of the barges was loaded with Automated Gas Oil (AGO), adding that the vessel had the capacity to carry 5,000 metric tons or 582,000 litres of the product.

    Describing such activities as a rape on the economy, he lamented that they were being carried out despite the presence of operatives of another security agency.

    The source said Atewe and the JTF’s Chief of Staff, Col. Hilary Nzan, led the Onne raid, adding that samples of the products were taken for laboratory analysis and investigations.

    He said the JTF was determined to punish the persons, including the security personnel linked to the theft, if found guilty.

    Said he: “We will carry out thorough investigations to determine the veracity of the information we got. We know that there are ships licensed to sell petroleum products.

    “But we learnt that people are using it as a cover to buy illegally- refined products. They anchor their barges and use illegally-refined products from illegal refineries to fill them.

    “Sometimes, they mix genuine products with bad ones. We have impounded a Cotonou boat, which supplied such product and arrested the driver.

    “During the operation, some people, who may be benefitting from the illegality, tried to stop us, but we resisted. The barges will be investigated.”

    Col. Nzan confirmed the raid, saying it was carried out based on reports that bunkering was ongoing at the Onne Port.

    He said eight persons were arrested, adding that the JTF took samples of the product for investigation.

    Nzan said one of the suspects was arrested for allegedly stealing 55 gallons of the product.

    Said he: “following on a tip-off, we carried out an operation at Onne Port.

    “The team impounded Cotonou boats and discovered barges suspected to be used for bunkering. Based on the zero tolerance for oil theft, we arrested people. The JTF will investigate the barges at the general area.

    “Some of them were filled with products. We collected samples of the product and tested them to determine their quality. Most of the suspects ran away when they saw our troops.”

  • Rivers 2015: I am an aspirant – Dagogo-Jack

    Rivers 2015: I am an aspirant – Dagogo-Jack

    Recently, there was controversy over the sponsor of some posters announcing the candidacy of  Reynolds Beks Dagogo-Jack in the 2015 governorship race in Rivers State. While the Abonnema-born technocrat and the Chairman of Presidential Task Force on Power denied being behind the posters, he told Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, in this interview that he is an aspirant in the forthcoming race although his ambition is secondary to the project of ensuring President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election. Excerpts  

    Where are strong speculations and even poster evidence that you are in the gubernatorial race in Rivers State. Is this true?

    For the records I was just as surprised to see those unsolicited posters as anyone else. Indeed, I had to put out a disclaimer of sorts to forestall anyone capitalising on the act for political mischief. I also want to say that it is perfectly possible for some enthusiastic well wishers to do this as this is fast becoming part of our culture in politics. And to your question, yes, I am an aspirant waiting to progress to being a candidate for the guber race. Now, don’t forget that I still have a job to which I am fully committed. However, I can confirm to you that I am indeed an aspirant to the office of governor of Rivers State in the next election under the banner of the PDP. I was convinced to prepare for the race in order to enrich the field and provide both the political leadership and our party constituents in the state a wider range of qualified and capable options. You know the peculiarities of our state, being very strategic to the national economy. Our party cannot afford to make unforced tactical mistakes ahead of the main elections which we stand a very good chance of winning landslide. Rivers State remains a PDP state at all levels. Rivers people are waiting adamantly to massively vote PDP in all the elections, especially the presidential and the gubernatorial races. Believe me: all current pretensions to the contrary are mere grandstanding and shall fizzle out in due course.

    What are your core political interests?

    As they say, no permanent enemies in politics but only permanent interests. Even at that, you will agree with me that the interests are bound to be shifting based on the circumstances of the moment. For me, the principal and paramount political interest I have into the foreseeable future is not to do or be involved in any activity knowingly or unknowingly which can pose even the remotest threat to the re-election of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election. Every other political consideration must be fully subjected to this paramount goal. Once all plans, choices and actions fully align with this goal, any secondary interest can queue behind this. I totally believe in this and I have no apologies on this.

     What motivated you to come out?

    Like I said, my first motivation is to enrich the field, knowing that over the years I have received the level and quality of preparation required for a high public office, duty post such as the governorship of our state. On a more personal level, I am motivated to offer a credible alternative to the regime of conflict, suspicion and exclusion-based politics which have dominated our political landscape for over a decade now. It will surprise many to learn that the Rivers State GDP is larger than that of Gabon or Senegal. We have what it takes to perform as a country, yet we live like beggars in the midst of plenty because we allow ourselves to be misgoverned and misled. By far, my strongest motivation is my personal conviction that our President sincerely desires to leave enduring developmental achievements especially in the Niger Delta region in order to fully resolve the restiveness in the region and this can only be successfully delivered when the states are governed by adequately prepared, humble and well committed transformational leaders who would work to earn the trust and followership of the people. I strongly believe that if we get development right in the states of Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Akwa Ibom and Cross Rivers we can create a momentum of economic opportunities which could cascade across the country with far reaching nationwide impact. In this sense therefore, I personally share the view that the decades of mismanagement of the economy of the oil bearing states has been not only a disservice to the people of the region but also to Nigeria as a whole. Don’t you wonder sometimes how, by some strange process we keep electing all sorts of desperately insecure people with largely unconcealed desire to use the office chiefly to acquire stupendous wealth just to overtake those who they consider previously ahead of them whilst doing everything they can to dismantle meritocracy and enthrone below-par mediocrity for their succession plan? I tell you, I am motivated to present myself as a committed agent of change who would see the state and our neighbours as a huge economic asset to be optimally exploited for the full benefit our people and Nigeria at large. The challenges shall be significant in view of decades of practicing wrong politics and to deliver this change shall require discipline, tenacity and exemplary leadership. It will require ability to set clear targets and secure the buy-in of critical stakeholders; it will require transparency and accountability in governance. It will require capacity to build consensus. It will require humility and a learning spirit.

    From information available to us, the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, is also an aspirant and he has the state and PDP structures fully secured to his interest. So, how do you think you can compete fairly at the primaries under such a situation?

    Yes, I have read and seen different groups filing out in newspapers and mini rallies either endorsing or calling on Mr. Wike for the ticket. Indeed there is even news of the state PDP chairman openly canvassing for him. Yet, I have yet to hear him say he is running so it will be improper to speculate too widely. Be that as it may, I can only adduce that going by the current brand of politics which have failed to serve the people for decades, I will not be surprised if indeed it is restless political jobbers, incurable dependants and hangers-on who are piling the pressure on him for what they can corner for themselves now and in the future. For me, I believe all prospective candidates for governorship should fully respect the fact that political interests are both interconnected and hierarchical. By this I mean we must first design a winning model for the President’s re-election and avoid placing our interests ahead of his own thereby putting his victory prospects under any undue and unnecessary stresses in the state. As members of the same political family, which has the sitting President, we must be ready to make any sacrifice required for his re-election. Unless subsequent events indicate differently, I want to give all interested candidates, including Mr. Wike when he declares publicly, the maximum benefit of doubt on this. Again, you know very well that the primaries are meant to be a family affair. I strongly believe that our party would conduct the primaries, produce a flag bearer and still remain united for the main election ahead.

    Do you think rotation of key political offices should take precedence over the capacity of a candidate?

    I do not think the two elements are mutually exclusive. We are 165 million people in Nigeria with around 5 million in the state. In the state, we have well known ethnic nationalities, which unfortunately denote our political groupings for now. I make bold to state that each of the groups are richly blessed with prepared and experienced leadership materials who most often get crowded out by the more desperate power mongers in our midst. To suggest that we should at this vulnerable stage of our political evolution pretend we do not know that once a particular group gets elected into power, it can manipulate the dynamics to perpetrate its kind in office on the basis of a jaundiced “capacity and qualification” argument is to my mind self serving and deceitful. No group has the monopoly of capacity and experience. The compelling arguments in favour of rotating executive offices amongst the constituent groupings is well known; chief of which is equity, fairness and trust, which are the irreducible requirements for sustainable peace and development. Now, if a group can’t trust others to govern over them, tell me what gives them the right to govern over others? It’s as fundamental as that. A time shall come when we shall transcend such proclivities and collapse the ethnic boundaries into better integrated social classes which shall then predicate our political process. Until then let honesty and integrity prevail please.

    In this context, how do you explain the unprecedented and unimaginable victory of Fayose against the incumbent, even in his own electoral ward?

    The Fayose victory shall remain a political case study for some time in the annals of contemporary history, yet I see the twin elements of capacity and equity at play here. Without doubt the incumbent governor took far more for granted than he should. Not taking anything away from Fayose, he seemed to have resonated well with mood of the people. On one hand he enjoyed an overflow of emotional redress from the injustice of his forced displacement by the Obasanjo government. In politics as in real life, it’s very unhelpful to compare oranges with apples.

    We have heard a lot of people say that you are a well respected technocrat and that you are really not a politician; can you take on Amaechi’s (APC) candidate as well as the Education Minister? Can you?

    Again, I want to really avoid being presented as the minister’s bitter rival for whatever reasons, because I am not. He is my younger brother. I have a lot of respect and admiration for him. He is a very strong politician and we both have a duty to work together and retain Rivers State as the PDP state it has always been. I repeat, it’s not so much about us as it is about our boss’s political calculations which guarantee a win-win for both of us who are the President’s aides. Talking of being a technocrat, I fail to see that as a liability in any way. Politics is a people and contact game which can be likened to football in its simplest form. An all defenders and no strikers line up can’t make a good team and vice versa. The potency of my candidacy is not anchored entirely on my skills, muscles and orientation, but its rather a coming together of several socio-political like minds and interests who share a common set of core values and have agreed to rally support behind a single point of leadership. The world is full of such examples where respected technocrats are invited to lead a change vanguard with the full support of the other forces to undertake phenomenal transformation of their nations especially in these times which need deep technocratic experience to navigate successfully in the global village. I am proud to associate myself with such great minds, including our President and his Vice who have discharged themselves very creditably in the political arena yet both came into public service from the technocrat side of our larger society.

    What are your strengths as a candidate?

    I am a very credible alternative which can be used to change the destructive direction of our politics to make significant improvements in all socio-economic indices, including health, education, industry, employment, agribusiness, quality of life, etc. Of course, I have other strengths but it’s a bit too early in the game to let them out of the bag.

    But what do you think are your weaknesses as a candidate, if I may ask?

    I’m not quite sure what you want to know but maybe my not being as desperate as I have seen other candidates conduct themselves? Now, if I know of any more weaknesses you can bet I will keep them to myself and try to overcome them before they hurt me and my project.

    What specific values will you bring to the process as the governor of Rivers State?

    Strong and clear vision; discipline and robust work ethics; transparency and accountability; I shall do everything in my power to restore peace and security to the state and set the state on the path of irreversible growth into being the destination of first choice by investors and tourists during my tenure .

     If you become the PDP flag-bearer, how would you rate your chances against any APC candidate in Rivers State?

     At this point in time, I have not the foggiest idea who the APC candidate would be? I told you Rivers State has no business with APC. I will always show respect to my opponent but I sincerely doubt it if the APC in Rivers State can boast of the kind of candidate line up from the PDP.

    What do you make of the recent court judgement secured by the state chapter of the PDP to ensure that only the current State Executive Council can conduct all political activities including primaries for the next four years?

    I think it’s immature and uncalled for.  Taking a careful look at the actions and the mind boggling judgement that followed, what one sees are: One, inordinate ambition and greed necessitating such a pre-emptive action designed to predicate the results before the exam. It will not work. Two, total lack of confidence in and unmerited disrespect of the national leadership of the party; Three, an attempt to sow the seeds of party crises which can make us vulnerable in the general election; I strongly believe that a full investigation is proper and appropriate disciplinary action should be meted out to all parties involved in the procurement of this obviously kangaroo judgement.

    So, when will you declare formally?

    For now I remain fully loyal and committed to the official duty I am assigned to. For now I remain an aspirant conducting needed consultations, conferences, engagements, organising, etc. I believe declaration is essentially a formal public event announcing my candidacy and entry into the race and must be done the right way. As soon as my team and I are ready, I promise you guys will be the first to know.

  • Rivers Ijaw…Unique people, great culture, endless prospects

    Rivers Ijaw…Unique people, great culture, endless prospects

    In Rivers State, the people have, for a long time, seen themselves as made up of upland and riverine groups. The riverine people are the Ijaw, who believe it is their turn to produce the next governor of the state. BISI OLANIYI examines this unique people.

    Ijaw, arguably the fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria, with fishing as the people’s major occupation, have a noticeable presence in six states in the country- Ondo,Edo,Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom States. Ijaws say the word means “truth” or “justice”. Culturally the Ijaws are divided into three blocks following natural river courses. You have Western Ijaws in Ondo, Edo and Delta states;central Ijaw is primarily found in Bayelsa State while Eastern Ijaws are found in Rivers and Akwa Ibom States. Rivers Ijaws are seen by others as urbane and highly educated due to early contact with Europeans.

    The Rivers Ijaw people are  spread across the coastlines in the over ten local government areas of Andoni, Opobo/Nkoro, Bonny, Okrika, Ogu-Bolo, Port Harcourt (South), Asari-Toru, Degema, Akuku-Toru and Abua-Odual effectively make them more than one third of the state both in population and landmass. The state has 23 local government areas.

    The Ijaw have unique culture and they always stand out of the crowd. The dressing of an Ijaw man will not be complete without the bowler (resource control) hat and a walking stick. It is rare to find an Ijaw man in “agbada,”. They have their special top and trousers, which at times is referred to as “chieftaincy”.

    Married Ijaw women always traditionally tie two wrappers, with matching blouse, while the single lady will tie one wrapper with the blouse. Both men and women like to complement their dressing with expensive coral beads and gold.

    Conducting marriage in Ijaw takes three stages of knocking of door, which is referred to as introduction in the Southwest, to be followed by traditional marriage and rounded off with elaborate church marriage.

    Burial in Ijaw is always very expensive, with the deceased’s house first renovated and repainted.  Efforts will quickly be made to build house, in a situation where the loved one could not build house till the death, while the body may be in the morgue for many months.

    Ijaw people prefer to bury the dead on Saturday morning, while there will be a Christian wake, popularly called “Obito” on Friday evening, to be followed by social wake till dawn.

    The food items, plantain is the most popular ,soup, stew and drinks of the Ijaw people are also unique, in view of their hospitable nature. With different types, shapes and sizes of fish, their visitors always feel at home.

    They also spare time for “Owambe” (elaborate partying) with uniforms (aso ebi), especially during chieftaincy celebration, house warming, burial, marriage or child dedication.

    In spite of the Rivers Ijawland’s richness in crude oil and gas, the people still complain of marginalisation, neglect, pollution and environmental degradation, while calling for increase in the 13 per cent derivation to crude oil and gas producing communities, as well as special attention to be given to the host communities, in terms of development and empowerment of the people.

     

     Upland-riverine dichotomy/ prominent sons

    Right from inception, the politics of Rivers State has been played around a concept referred to as Upland/ Riverine dichotomy. Riverine actually refers to Ijaws. Nobody remembers the origin of the concept but all Ijaws agree that it predates the popular Willinks Commission that was set up by the British in 1956 to look into the fears of the minorities/ coastal dwellers. This upland /riverine dichotomy reflects in almost all allocation of political offices from 1979 to date. Since 1999, only the upland part of Rivers State has been at the helm of affairs.  This is the root of the current agitation by all Ijaws in Rivers State to be given an opportunity to produce the next governor of Rivers State. This agitation no doubt enjoys the support of other ethnic groups in Rivers State. Recently three groups, Ikwerre Alliance , Eleme General Assembly and Etche Peoples Assembly, threw their weight behind the riverine agitation describing it as just and fair.

    The Ijaw people in Rivers State, while appealing for understanding and support by their brothers, under the umbrella of the Eastern Delta People’s Association (EDPA), through the Chairman of the Steering Committee, Lawrence Jumbo, declared that: “On upland/riverine dichotomy we stand.” The Ijaw National Congress (INC) has been vocal on their call for a Governor of Ijaw extraction in Rivers State.

    Prominent Rivers Ijaws are distributed in Peoples Democratic Party and All Progressive Congress (APC). APC chieftains include former Deputy Governor Sir Gabriel Toby, Dr Sam Sam Jaja, representative of the Andoni-Opobo/Nkoro constituency in the House of Representatives, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, who is also the Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Rt Hon Otele Amachree,  Dawari George, Dr Sokonte Davies,among others.

    PDP chieftains include First Lady Dame Patience (Okrika), Prince Tonye Princewill, Alabo Pawariso B J Horsefall, Senator George Sekibo from Okrika, Dumo Lulu Briggs, Prince  Uche Secondus ,Nimi Walson-Jack and Alatubo Charles Harry, amongst others.

    Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas, Prof Tam David-West, Chief A K Horsfall, Prof Nimi Briggs, Chief Rufus Ada George, Ambassador Tari Sekibo, HRH Prof DMJ Fubara, Dr Silas Eneyo, Dr Abiye Sekibo, Senator A M Pepple, Chief Davies Ibiamu Ikanya and Sampson Ngerebara, an engineer, are also Ijaw leaders of note. One thing unique about the ijaw agitation is that all the people are united behind the cause.

    Harry appears to be the arrow head of the Ijaw struggle. He once ran for the Presidency of the umbrella body of the Ijaw in Nigeria, the Ijaw National Congress (INC) and is the brain behind the Ijaw Republican Assembly (IRA). He is championing the cause of an Ijaw governor after Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

    He is the man behind the Rivers Democratic Movement (RDM) and is now better known for a pressure group, Affirmative Bloc for Credible Democracy (ABCD).

    In August last year, he authored a piece titled ‘Why Ogoni can’t succeed Amaechi’. In the piece he made it clear that Ogoni is part of Upland Rivers, which has been ruling the state since 1999. It is now the turn of the riverine part of the state, he said.

    He wrote: “Old Rivers State was created on the 27th of May 1967 from the then Eastern Region and further balkanised into Bayelsa and the present day Rivers State in 1996. Made up predominantly of Riverine Ijaw (Kalabari, Okrikan, Ibani, Andoni, etc) and the Upland (Ikwerre’s, Ogoni’s, Ekpeye, Etche, Oyigbo, Ogba’s etc). From inception, harmony, brotherhood and cooperation has been sustained through the efficacy and conscientious application and observation of the Upland/Riverine dichotomy principle in the allocation of socio-political and economic gains accruing to the State, as a balancing ideology to promote unity and discourage discord.”

    He went on: “Some erstwhile leaders who had tried to repudiate the principle had failed spectacularly and the budding revisionism borne of the myopia of inordinate ambition of an unconscionable few today, would fare no better.”

    Harry believes the Ogoni should in good faith ought to concede the exalted position to their Riverine neighbours. Failure to do this, he said would amount to excluding the riverine component of the state from the power matrix for 24 years.

    Last week, Harry wrote another treatise. His focus was to insist on the riverine’s right to succeed Amaechi. He said even with the agitation that only the Rivers South East senatorial district that is yet to produce a Governor, that there are Ijaws in all senatorial districts in Rivers State.

    He also advised the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, to forget about running for Rivers State governor. Harry said his ambition was immoral, height of injustice and greed, negates equity and against the public conscience  in the state.

    He said: “Rivers Ijaws will not sit still and watch idly our posterity and heritage consigned to hewers of wood and fetchers of water in the political matrix of our state.”

    A Kalabari son, Walson-Jack, is an ex-General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). Speaking at his 50th birthday recently, he expressed worry about some Rivers people’s endorsement of Wike as the governorship candidate of the opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Walson-Jack said: “Upland/riverine dichotomy is something that has been on. We respect the sentiment that has held these two together. Everybody who is well-meaning will decide on the right thing to do at the end of the day. Rest assured that the PDP will take a position that Rivers people will be proud of,

    “We need to have a better society. We need to have a society that is caring and we need to have a society that will no longer monopolise prosperity. We must have a society that will share prosperity. We are so prosperous. So loved by God, but we have a society that has left more than 90 per cent of its people behind. All of that has to change. We need to have a government that will accommodate everybody.

    “Wike has not told anybody he will run and I think at this point we should not be talking about body language, but he has been endorsed by some groups. I have also been endorsed by so many persons, but at the end of the day, we shall do what is the best for Rivers State. The PDP will put its house together and present somebody that will be acceptable to all Rivers people.”

    Another PDP candidate, Engr Jack, said PDP cannot afford to take Rivers people for granted by presenting an upland candidate. He counseled that APC is the party in Government in Rivers State and is equally blessed with credible candidates, such as Senator Magnus Abe, a very articulate politician and Dr. Peterside, who is generally seen as humble, God-fearing and a grassroots politician.

    Walson-Jack added: “I am going to run (as Rivers Governor in 2015). A lot of work has been done. My campaign office is ready, but INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) says we cannot start campaign now. So, we have not gone out to begin to campaign. Therefore, we are talking to major stakeholders and so far, I feel that the reception is amazing too and I feel encouraged.”

    Even non-Ijaw, such as Barisi Benson Nnah, are rooting for Ijaw governor. Speaking through the Centre for Peace and Development in Ogoni, a Rivers State-based non-governmental organisation, of which he is the president, Nnah has faulted the quest by the people of Ogoni in Rivers State to govern the state in 2015.

    Nnah said: “The selfish interest of some individuals who want to be governor against collective interest of the Rivers State people made the ongoing National Conference to exclude Bori State or Ogoni State from the list of states being proposed for creation.

    “It was due to the failure of the Ogoni leadership to submit a request for state creation to the national conference secretariat that has now made it impossible for us to have our state listed for creation. They are so fixated on how they would manipulate the process to make an Ogoni man a governor in Rivers in 2015 and we all know that it is not possible, because we know it is the turn of the riverine area.”

    He further blamed the exclusion of Ogoni or Bori State on what he described as “the lucrative business called Ogoni Governorship-Project 2015 which has now swallowed up the vision of Ogoni and MOSOP (Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People). What has happened is a lifetime opportunity lost.”

    He added: “It is regrettable that the lessons of the over 20 years of the Ogoni struggle for self-determination seems not yet properly assimilated and a golden opportunity as this will slip away and be sacrificed for a mere governorship ambition of some self-seeking individuals pretending to bear Ogoni interests.”

    The group urged the Ogoni people to spell out their preferences and pursue the issue of self-determination in the interest of all rather than a self-seeking governorship project disguised as an Ogoni project.

    Ijaw in other placesIjaw are also found in Delta states of Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Edo and Ondo, rich in crude oil and gas.

    With their specialty in fishing along the coastlines, Ijaw people also settle in Cross River and Lagos states, especially in Ajegunle and other coastal communities.

    Bayelsa State, the heart of the Niger Delta, is regarded as the headquarters of the Ijaw nation. Bayelsa is the only homogenous Ijaw state.

    There is the Ijaw National Congress (INC), which is the umbrella organisation of the Ijaw people, while the youths have the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC).

    For administrative convenience, INC and IYC have the western, central and eastern zones. The western zone is made up of Delta, Edo and Ondo states. The central zone is mainly Bayelsa State. The eastern zone consists of Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.

  • We’ve reduced kidnappings by 49 per cent, says Rivers CP Ogunsakin

    We’ve reduced kidnappings by 49 per cent, says Rivers CP Ogunsakin

    Rivers State Commissioner of Police Tunde Ogunsakin assumed office on February 12. What has he done since then? Here they are in his words:

    The attention and projection that we have received since our resumption in February is overwhelming. The command in its mandatory duty of protecting lives and property has discharged various duties. We understand that assessment of function and duties is necessary to let us tighten some loose ends and be on the front seat of protecting lives and property as enshrined in the constitution of Nigeria.

    We began our assessment with the tour of duty at the Ahoada Area Command. Ahoada was before then, consisting of seventeen (17) divisional police stations we identified the need to create an additional station Egi Police station was created, expanding Ahoada to 18 Division in totality. In our effort to rebuild the command, we have created Egi division to strategically bring policing to the door steps of the people, especially, the yearning people of Egi. During our inspections of Ahoada, we have been able to see the daily needs our officers at Ahoada. I have mapped out strategies to confront those challenges that I think require urgent attention. The tour will soon be extended to Port Harcourt area command.

    Forum of Traditional Rulers

    Rivers State Council of Traditional Ruler constitutes the major bloc of opinion models of the state. The command in its bid to identify and sustain relationship with the people, met with the royal fathers, who opined that issue of security, can be best tackled, when there is a synergy of relevant parties involved. The issue of cult groups who torment the citizenry on daily bases was discussed. The Rivers State Police Command is open to any advice or useful information that can help eradicate this ugly development.

    Stakeholders forum

    In our bid to push development to another level within the command, I have created a stake-holders’ forum who will serve as agents of development. The group consists of corporate organisations who liaise with the Police. The group will serve as a connecting rod to development in most areas that can help the command to grow. We are aware of the challenges posed by the question of who constitutes this group and will thus address them.

    Joint Task Force

    In our assessment of the command before resumption, the command used to have a robust relationship with other sister organisation. In the same vein, we have revitalised the JTF patrol the team was deemed necessary as a result of the challenges of sophisticated crimes, especially in the area of kidnapping the team, since its resuscitation has performed overtly beyond expectation in nipping crime in the bud at every corner.

    The command under my leadership has recorded huge success. In the area of Infrastructural development, we have created a new life for people of Omoku with the upgrading of Egi Police post to a division. My goals on assumption of duty here is to bring succour to the people of Rivers State, especially in the area of security. We are also working on the development in Ahoada command by building two additional divisions to make our goal of community policing a reality to the people. Community policing is an in -thing among security networks. We the officers of River State Police Command will not depart from this, God willing.

    Information and Communications Technology

    In modern day security, information technology plays a vital role in intelligence gathering and sharing. The command in its effort has caught up with this globalisation by creating an ultra-modern facility to enable our cops especially in the intelligent department catch up with reality. We have set up a structure for human capital development in ensuring officers access to the world through 24 hours access to the internet. This will not only help in their work but also help in both social and economic development.

    Operational achievements

    Upon my resumption of office as the Commissioner of Police, there have been astronomical achievements in the area of operations. Criminals can no longer consider Rivers State a safe haven as dedicated and well-motivated officers of the Command have demonstrated strong commitment to combating crime in all its manifestations

    Within this period, a large number of suspects have been arrested  with 1115 ammunitions and firearms recovered by the different divisions and units. Over 35 victims of kidnap have been rescued in this time also.

    In February, 181 cases were recorded of which 257 suspects were arrested. 98 cases were charged to court alongside 175 suspects, out of which 33 suspects were convicted, 78 are awaiting trial, while 36 were discharged and acquitted.

    In March, of 171 cases were recorded of which 213 suspects were arrested. Of these, 99 cases were charged to court alongside 166 suspects out of which 36 suspects were convicted, 72 are awaiting trial, while 16 were discharged and acquitted.

    In April, 198 cases were recorded of which 344 suspects were arrested. Of these, 128 cases were charged to court alongside 243 suspects, out of which 84 suspects were convicted, 135 are awaiting trial, while 24 were discharged and acquitted.

    Crime rate

    The Police have recorded success in the reduction of crime rate occasioned by the increase in apprehension of criminals. As a matter of fact, in the area of kidnapping overseen by the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, we have recorded a reduction of the incidence by about 49 per cent in the past three months with a total of 31 cases as against the 21 cases recorded in January alone.

    In other areas such as armed robbery, the assiduous efforts of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad have seen a commendable rise in the arrest of robbers. Statistically speaking, a rise in apprehension to the measure of 250 per cent has been recorded with 27 armed robbers apprehended from February 2014 as against only two arrests made in January.

     

  • Charles Harry, Rivers politics and Ijaw governor

    Those not conversant with Rivers State politics may not know him. His names are Charles Harry. His title is Alatubo. Hence he is known as Alatubo Charles Harry.

    He ran for the Presidency of the umbrella body of the Ijaw in Nigeria, the Ijaw National Congress (INC). He was the brain behind the Ijaw Republican Assembly (IRA).  He is the  man behind the Rivers Democratic Movement (RDM) and is now better known for a pressure group, Affirmative Bloc for Credible Democracy (ABCD). A commentator once described him thus:  “He is known for his forthrightness, blunt outspokenness, and controversial irrepressibility…Alatubo Charles Harry is an enigma in Rivers politics and an avowed Ijaw irredentist.”

    In August last year, he authored a piece titled ‘Why Ogoni can’t succeed Amaechi’. In the piece he made it clear that Ogoni is part of Upland Rivers, which has been ruling the state since 1999. It is now the turn of the riverine part of the state, he said clearly.

    He wrote: “Old Rivers State was created on the 27th of May 1967 from the then Eastern Region and further balkanised into Bayelsa and the present day Rivers State in 1996. Made up predominantly of Riverine Ijaw (Kalabari, Okrikan, Ibani, Andoni, etc) and the Upland (Ikwerre’s, Ogoni’s, Ekpeye, Etche, Oyigbo, Ogba’s etc). From inception, harmony, brotherhood and cooperation has been sustained through the efficacy and conscientious application and observation of the Upland/Riverine dichotomy principle in the allocation of socio-political and economic gains accruing to the State, as a balancing ideology to promote unity and discourage discord.”

    He went on: “Some erstwhile leaders who had tried to repudiate the principle had failed spectacularly and the budding revisionism borne of the myopia of inordinate ambition of an unconscionable few today, would fare no better.”

    The last riverine man to occupy the office, Chief Ada George is Riverine, lasted less than 2 years. After him, Dr Peter Odili and Governor Rotimi Amaechi have occupied the seat for close to 16 years. They are both from the upland.

    Harry believes the Ogoni  should in good faith ought to concede the exalted position to their Riverine neighbours. Failure to do this, he said would amount to excluding the riverine component of the state from the power matrix for 24 years.

    Earlier this week, Harry wrote another treatise. His focus was to insist on the riverine’s right to succeed Amaechi.

    He also advised the Supervising Minister for Education, Nyesom Wike, to forget about running for Rivers State governor.

    Harry said his ambition was against the public perception in the state.

    Said he: “Rivers Ijaws will not sit still and watch idly our posterity and heritage consigned to hewers of wood and fetchers of water in the political matrix of our state.”

    If Rivers’ people have a gentleman’s agreement on the leadership of their state, this is no time to break it, as doing so may do more harm than good.

    The state has more than 30 ethnic groups and so talking about rotation of offices among 30 ethnic groups is not realistic. What is practicable is the two main geopolitical divide- upland and riverine or the three senatorial districts .

    It is not realistic to say after Dr Odili, an Ndoni man, it is the turn of an Egbema or Egi man from the same Local Government Area  because they are of another ethnic stock. It is also not practicable to say after Amaechi from Ikwerre, let  another Ikwerre man from a different Local Government Area or an Etche man take over the seat because it is another ethnic nationality or after an Ogoni, let an Eleme man become governor.

    Broadly, the upland part of the state is made up of different ethnic nationalities as the riverine too.

    What is fair is for the governorship to rotate among different ethnic groups when it comes to a particular geopolitical divide. So, when it is the upland’s turn, let all the groups in the upland part of the state be considered and when it comes to the riverine’s turn, let it rotate among the different groups there.

  • Rivers votes N15b for entrepreneurship fund

    Rivers votes N15b for entrepreneurship fund

    The Rivers State government has set aside N15 billion for entrepreneurship fund. Known as ‘Rivers State Private Equity Fund,’ it will be raised in three years to support people with great business ideas, but who lack access to affordable funds to actualise the ideas.

    The funds will be managed by specialised fund managers who will collaborate with the state government to ensure their proper administration. The fund managers, it was learnt will also come with their own funds, which will be combined with that of the state government in specific equities.

    The fund managers will participate in the management of any business or enterprise with proposal considered deserving of financial support.

    For instance, if a business proposal requires about N100 million to execute, the state could provide N50 million or N60 million, while the fund managers will provide the balance of N50 million or N40 million, as the case may be. They will then become part of the management of such companies, a structure, which removes the government from its management.

    The Secretary to the State Government, Mr. George Feyii, told The Nation on the sidelines during the just concluded three-day Energy, Environment and Investment Forum held in Port Harcourt, tagged, “Sustainable Energy, the Key to Africa’s World Integration.” The forum was organised by the state government.

    Feyii, said the proposal is currently before the State’s House of Assembly and expressed hope that the lawmakers will endorse it shortly, so that it would become operational this year. The fund, he explained, will get N5 billion this year, another N5 billion next year, adding that the balance of N5 billion would be realised in 2016.

    He said: “The proposal we have before the House of Assembly is called Rivers State Private Equity Fund and we expect the fund to be N15 billion. We will make contribution to the fund in three instalments of N5 billion each over the next three years. We will start with N5 billion.

    “The objective is to create a way of supporting private sector with the benefits it brings, to make capital available to people who otherwise would not have had access to capital but have great ideas. And what that fund does is that the first year, the government makes a contribution, and there are specialised professional fund managers who also have their own funds. They merge government’s contribution with theirs. “So when proposals for providing capital come to them, they evaluate the proposals in the strictest manner in which such proposals should be assessed.

    “They will now make investment into the companies that are starting up. A lot of people have great ideas but they don’t have money to fund it and some companies have got to stages where they need more money in order to grow but they don’t have access to the money and the banks are not structured to provide such money because of their risk factor.

    “The fund managers will look at such proposal and make available the fund that such companies will require and also be involved in the management of the companies so that the needed management and fiscal skills required to make the business successful are provided.”

     

     

    Feyii said the fund managers will be in relationship with the organisation or enterprise for specific years of between two to five years as is necessary. If the company is comfortably positioned and can move on its own, the fund managers will pull out and move to provide support to another one.  That’s the way the equity fund should operate, he added.

    The criteria for beneficiaries to access the fund, Feyii said, would be set out by the fund managers, afterwards, people who have great ideas and need such support will approach them and get the fund. But the criteria are what we expect in a normal business setting with the right kind of discipline to make it succeed, he added.

     

  • Eight killed in Rivers clash

    Eight people have died in a supremacy clash in Oyorokoto, Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State.

    Sources said there was a clash between suspected members of Icelanders and the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) at the weekend.

    The bodies of seven of the victims have been recovered; several others were injured.

    The sources said the suspected MEND members allegedly invaded Oyorokoto and attacked Icelanders members, who have their base in the town.

    “At the end of the fight, seven bodies were brought to the community waterfront for their relatives to claim them.

    “The Oyorokoto community has been deserted by residents, who have fled to neighbouring communities.

    “Apart from Oyorokoto, people in other neighbouring communities in Andoni now live in fear as the two groups have their members in all communities in the area.

    “Oyorokoto had suffered from cult-related crises in the past  but this is the worst, going by the number of casualties.

    “Residents are to blame for refusing to chase the miscreants out of town. Members of the Icelander group are known to almost every resident of Oyorokoto, yet nobody is ready to do something about them. What we need is a military outpost in the area,” they said.

    Police spokesman Ahmed Mohammed could not be reached for comments.