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Tag: Semenitari

  • Impeachment: Elders battle to halt Rivers crisis as Peterside, Semenitari sue for peace

    Impeachment: Elders battle to halt Rivers crisis as Peterside, Semenitari sue for peace

    Rivers elders have activated various reconciliatory moves to stop the brewing political crisis in the state following moves by 24 aggrieved members of the House of Assembly led by speaker Martin Amaehule to impeach the governor.

    Among the elders said to be making frantic efforts to reconcile the gladiators in the impeachment war are former governor Peter Odili and the chairman of Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council, His Majesty, Ohna Seargent Awuse.

    Others are Chairman of the Rivers State Elders Forum, Ferdinand Anabrara: a former member of the House of Representatives, Ken Chikere and former President, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), OCJ Okocha, SAN.

    Amidst the chaos on Monday, it was gathered that Awuse, Anabrara, Okocha and Chikere held a prolonged meeting with Fubara at the Government House in the night.

    Though details of the meeting were not disclosed, the elders were said to be trying to stop further actions from both camps to allow for discussions and resolutions of issues that led to the crisis.

    It was gathered that some youths kept vigil at the main gate of the Government House and continued to barricade the area on Tuesday.

    Reactions continued to greet the development as a former acting Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dame Ibim Semenitari warned that political crisis would not favour the state.

    She insisted that an “unnecessary and avoidable” crisis at this or any other time would be of no benefit to the state and called on political actors to apply the brakes.

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    Semenitari, who noted that Rivers had gone through too many crises, said that at no time was the state the ultimate beneficiary.

    She said: “This state has had too many political crises and was at no time the ultimate winner. At each time, the economy and the people suffered. We cannot continue to whirl in this sad cesspool while other states move up the political and economic ladder.”

    She condemned the moves to impeach the governor saying it was outrageous that only six months into the administration some people would consider such action.

    She said: “This goes against the grain of all that is noble, Semenitari said. The Nigerian Constitution is clear on this fact which is that a sub-nation in the Nigerian Federation should have only one elected governor who shall serve a four-year tenure renewable, though, for another four. Why then does anyone want to render the outcome of the elections stillborn?”

    Semenitari, who also served as Commissioner for Information and Communication, said she was particularly concerned about the role of the security personnel in the saga.

    She called on law enforcement agencies to decipher between loyalty to Nigerian taxpayers and political actors.

    She said: “Our law enforcement agencies should always draw the line between loyalty to Nigerian taxpayers and political actors. It was bizarre to see Nigeria Police personnel let loose their water cannon and tear gas canisters on the Rivers State Governor. I condemn it in very clear terms.”

    Former governor of Rivers State and elder statesman, Chief Rufus Ada George, condemned the crisis that led to the setting ablaze of the hallowed chamber of the House of Assembly.

    George in a statement, sued for peace and advised those he described as the dramatis personae in the crisis to seek a quick resolution.

    He said the crisis if not checked with the urgency it deserved had the capacity to precipitate violence of unimaginable consequences.

    He also urged the police and other security agencies to deploy men and officers to the flashpoints to de-escalate the crisis and maintain the peace in the state.

    A former governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dakuku Peterside, said that the once peaceful Rivers should not be turned into a theatre of the absurd by desperate political actors.

    He condemned, in all ramifications, the raw violence that followed what he said should ordinarily be average political engagements

    Peterside said: “I also completely condemn the unwarranted disruption of normal governmental activities by politically motivated interest. All people of goodwill who love our dear State and democracy must condemn this in no mean measure.

    “In good conscience, impeachment issues cannot arise in less than five months of incumbency. It sends the wrong signal that our state is a land of theatrics.

    “Nothing in the political landscape has shown that the executive governor has compromised the state’s interest or put our state in a severe security quagmire.

    “I have always said that no pursuit of personal interest or ambition can override the interest of Rivers State and its people. We, political leaders, must always watch our actions and tame our excesses.

    “I appeal to all political actors to allow time and space for the Governor to do his job. Only one Governor can function at a time. I also appeal to members of RSHA to focus on the business of law-making and get less distracted by the pursuit of personal ego or narrow pecuniary interest.

    “I appeal to all leaders in Rivers State to intervene in measured terms with the overall interest of our State in mind. Posterity will judge all of us. Let us allow reason to prevail.”

  • Semenitari’s legacies in Niger Delta

    Semenitari’s legacies in Niger Delta

    Mrs Ibim Semenitari’s tenure acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) will not be forgotten in a long while

    Ibim Semenitari is a woman with the heart of gold. Looking at her gives you the feeling that we have a future in this country. She has demonstrated an uncommon selflessness and kindness to the weak as represented by Cross River State in the midst of other Niger Delta states. I can spend a whole day celebrating her.”

    Prof. Ben Ayade, the Governor of Cross River State, said these and more about an amazon who has left indelible footprints on the sands of the Niger Delta. The governor in more ways than one cast Mrs Semenitari, who just finished her assignment as the Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, as a “woman of inestimable value.”

    Ayade was speaking at the Government House in Calabar during a courtesy visit by Mrs Semenitari and other NDDC directors.

    It was a day the professor of environmental microbiology struggled to find the appropriate adjectives to describe Mrs. Semenitari. The governor said he was particularly impressed by Semenitari’s the performance, noting that but for the intervention of the NDDC, the 2016 Calabar Carnival would have been a disaster because nobody would want to come due to the deplorable state of the roads leading into Calabar.

    Prof Ayade had more to say and he literally got everyone drenched in emotions as he added: “You have demonstrated that women can deliver on their duties and touch even many more lives. For this reason, our carnival torch which signifies the commencement of the Calabar Festival will be lit by you as a mark of honour.”

    The governor had good reasons to be excited because Mrs Semenitari, through the NDDC, saved his state from isolation. A few weeks earlier, both the Calabar-Itu highway and the Calabar-Ikom highway, the two major arteries to the state capital, were impassable. She turned the deplorable situation around in a matter of weeks.

    So, it was an appreciative governor, who promised that Cross Rivers State would roll out the red carpet for Semenitari. He predicted that she would be called to a higher national duty having performed well in NDDC, stating: “Semenitari is a special gift from God to humanity.”

    It is not surprising, therefore, that this outstanding amazon of the Niger Delta was picked out by President Muhammadu Buhari on December 21, 2015, for a special assignment in the oil-rich region. Three days to Christmas, Mrs Semenitari, arrived Port Harcourt from Abuja to the warm embrace of an enthusiastic crowd that gathered at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa.

    She quickly mounted the saddle as the baton of leadership was handed over to her by  Bassey Dan-Abia, at the Commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt.

    From the onset, Mrs Semenitari left no one in doubt that she was ready for a serious assignment. In her first address to management and staff of the Commission, she promised to reposition the interventionist agency for better service delivery to the people of the Niger Delta.

    She charged the staff of the commission to brace up for hard work. “We will ensure that we put the people of the region first. For that reason, we must make sure that contractors are not allowed to get away with shoddy jobs as we must insist on getting value for money spent on projects and programmes,” she said.

    Ten months down the line, the stories coming out of the NDDC have been remarkably and refreshingly different. Semeniari’s sterling performance has attracted so many testimonials similar to the opening quote from Prof Ayade. The accolades were crowned with a royal title from Ondo State.

    The Olufon of Ifon, Oba Israel Adegoke Adeusi, may well have been speaking the minds of other traditional rulers when he described the NDDC as a performing government agency with a woman of substance at the helm of affairs. The Oba was obviously impressed and he showed it.

    He adopted Mrs Semenitari into his Council of Chiefs, honouring her with the prestigious title of Eleru of Ifon in his palace.

    The royal endorsement was also stamped with a legal seal, as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Niger Delta, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, declared: “We are impressed by the innovations introduced by the Acting MD of NDDC.”

    The Senator Nwaoboshi-led committee had inspected the emergency repairs on the Calabar-Itu Road and the DDPA Housing Estate Road in Asaba, Delta State. At the project sites, Mrs. Semenitari, told the Senators that the deplorable state of the roads made it imperative to take urgent action to reduce the sufferings of road users and save the economy of many states in the region.

    A list of the projects produced by the NDDC Directorate of Utility, Infrastructural Development and Waterways showed the spread of the massive intervention in the nine mandate states of the Commission.

    The document showed that the Commission was working on 18 roads in Abia State, 32 in Akwa Ibom, 14 in Bayelsa and 4 in Cross River, including the Calabar-Itu-Ikot-Ekpene-Aba Federal Highway. The other roads covered in the emergency intervention are 26 in Delta, 8 in Edo, 22 in Imo, 6 in Ondo and 64 in Rivers State.

    Other stakeholders that acknowledged the efforts of the NDDC included the Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC. The APC Chairman in the state, Dr Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, congratulated Mrs Semenitari for moving swiftly to rehabilitate important roads in the Niger Delta for the benefit of the people.

    To add an international flavour to her accomplishments, Mrs Sementari was in Washington DC, United States of America on August 19, 2016, to share her experiences with other women of note across the world. She was, indeed, the toast of the 8th edition of the African Women in Leadership Organisation. It was a moment the audience, which included top political leaders, business moguls, African-American lawmakers, listened to the dynamics of women owning their voices for the greater good.

    Some of Semenitari’s remarkable achievements include the completion of the Ogbia-Nembe Road project, and the revival of many abandoned projects scattered in several parts of the Niger Delta region. Indeed, she was already looking forward to the commencement of work on the second phase of the Ogbia-Nembe Road which will take the road to Brass.

    The 27-kilometer Ogbia-Nembe Road with six bridges and more than 50 culverts was awarded at the cost of N24.5 billion and executed by the NDDC in partnership with multinational oil giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC.

    Under her watch, several project sites of the Commission were reactivated to step up development of infrastructure. She said: “Some of our key projects where contractors had left site are now active, as we have made some payments to encourage them. We have carried out a number of inspections and supervisions and I have directly carried out 43 projects supervisions and inspections since assumption of duty, while commissioning and handing over a couple of projects.”

    It is noteworthy that Semenitari re-activated the abandoned 3.65-kilometre Okrika-Borokiri road by mobilising the contractor back to site to complete the project. This key road had three bridges connecting Kolabi, Abotoru and Okpoka creeks to Port Harcourt and it is expected to ease traffic along the East-West Road and connect several communities.

    The NDDC under Semenitari gave impetus to its Post Graduate Foreign Scholarship Programme. On October 4, beneficiaries of this year’s foreign scholarship were given their letters of award and prepared for departure to their various universities overseas.

    Addressing the NDDC scholars, Mrs. Semenitari said that they represented what could be achieved through hard work, commitment and determination.

    In the area of healthcare, the NDDC under Ibim endowed a Professorial Chair in Malaria Research for the Centre for Malaria Research and Phytomedicine, (CMRAP), at the University of Port Harcourt, for the sum of N25 million per annum, to encourage the global fight against malaria.

    The desire to enhance stakeholders’ buy-in prompted Mrs Semenitari to host the Partners for Sustainable Development (PSD) forum on Tuesday, July 19. Many stakeholders share her views that the forum was very important for “the development of our Niger Delta,” especially at this auspicious time when the country was relying on major actors in the Niger Delta to come together and address the development challenges facing the region in view of the Change Agenda of Mr President.

    As part of the motivation, the Commission moved its Rivers state office from a rented accommodation to an imposing three storey complex, thus ending its 16 years of operating from a rented office. The state office project was started several years ago by previous managements of the NDDC but was later stalled until Semenitari revived it on assumption of office.

    The edifice has provisions for several facilities, including a large reception hall, conference/multi-purpose hall for 250 people, staff canteen, sick bay and offices for drivers on the ground floor. Each of its four floors has ample space for offices and a basement floor for archiving and car park.

    The traditional ruler of Port Harcourt, Eze Victor Woluchem II, described the office as a magnificent structure that had changed the skyline of his domain.

    Among the new things she brought to NDDC was instilling the culture of transparency and accountability. This was reflected in the release of NDDC’s first and second quarterly reports, now online on the NDDC website.

    The NDDC under Mrs Semenitari also played a leading role in kick-starting the clean-up of Ogoniland. The Commission collaborated with the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs to ensure the success of the flag-off exercise.

    To further demonstrate its concern for the environment, the Commission organised a road show to sensitise the public on the value of tree planting to mark the 2016 World Environment Day.

  • Atsuwete, enemy to infraction on human rights, says Semenitari

    Atsuwete, enemy to infraction on human rights, says Semenitari

    Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, has said the slain Port Harcourt lawyer, Ken Atsuwete, was an enemy to any infraction on human rights.

    She said last Monday’s killing of the frontline lawyer at his Omoko-Aluu home in Ikwerre Local Government of Rivers State, near the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), dehumanised Niger Delta’s collective humanity.

    Mrs. Semenitari described as sad and shocking the assassination of the lawyer, who was also a pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).

    She said: “When, on Monday, August 29, 2016, I received with shock the assassination of Ken Atsuwete, a comrade, lawyer and friend par excellence, an enemy to any infraction on human rights, I was benumbed and confused.

    “The assassination of Atsuwete is not only despicable, barbaric, anti-democratic and height of impunity in Rivers State, it was also a summary of what Rivers State has become in the last one year.

    “This cold-blooded assassination is a huge loss to the Niger Delta region and further dehumanises our collective person as a region struggling to reframe the ugly narrative out there as a people. It was violent and bestial. Even as we strive to change this sad testimonial through hard work, openness and truth, the virtues for which Atsuwete lived, his assassination dents darker our resolve.

    “Atsuwete was committed to his conviction that all men were created equal and, so, ought to enjoy unfettered freedom and justice; where any abuse occurred, the fine lawyer in him would kick, albeit through legal means and judicial processes, until such a yoke was loosened. He lived to see others happy and free. He lived fighting for the common man, the wretched of the earth, whose rights to life, respect and freedom of movement and association suffered any breach.”

    She added: “Atsuwete was a believer and a comrade. His faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and personal Saviour emboldened him through thick and thin. His certainty of ‘a better city, whose maker and keeper is God’ meant he was content and not able to be bought by filthy lucre. Such is my memory of this vibrant Niger Delta son and follower of Jesus Christ.

    “His stand on issues, even those qualified as controversial, was always unequivocal. His vocal stance against bad governance and rogue regimes stood him out. A true citizen of Nigeria and son of the Niger Delta, Atsuwete carried in him the blood of our progenitors, who withstood and fought off foreign domination. I am saddened I have to be referring to him now in the past.

    “Those who killed Atsuwete would think they have eliminated that benignant tumour in their body system, but unknown to them, this is just the beginning of their eternal suffering and sorrow. Not only will they die worse, miserable deaths, the sword shall never depart from their homes. As is written in the Eternal Word of God, The Holy Bible, ‘… Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house …’ (2 Samuel 12:10). So shall it be unto them.”

  • Militancy can’t slow down Niger Delta’s progress, says NDDC boss Semenitari

    Militancy can’t slow down Niger Delta’s progress, says NDDC boss Semenitari

    The renewed militancy in the Niger Delta is a temporary challenge, the Acting Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, has said.

    Mrs Semenitari, a former Rivers State Commissioner for Information, said the activities of the Niger Delta Avengers were not in the interest of the people but  the hostility had not slowed down the commissioners progressive stride and  projects.

    The Federal Government, she said, is “seriously addressing” the challenge, adding that the Presidency had been meeting with Niger Delta elders and other interest groups to resolve the problem.

    Mrs Semenitari spoke at a dinner organised in her honour by her colleagues in the media. The event was held at Westow Hostels in Ikeja, Lagos at the weekend.

    She said: “All of us know that the things (militancy) happening in Niger Delta are not in the interest of the people. Clearly, government is seriously addressing the problem. We need to engage all of these persons and we have been doing so. Although every engagement is not on the pages of newspaper; you need to believe that we have been engaging them. And I believe sooner than later, there would be peace.”

    The NDDC boss identified what she called “rent collection” as root of the challenges facing Niger Delta, saying people usually asked the commission’s workers for money whenever NDDC embarked on projects. She regretted that a substantial  part of the resources accrued to the commission in the last 16 years was embezzled by politicians, which resulted in entrenched poverty and militancy in the region.

    Since her appointment, Mrs Semenitari said she had suppressed corrupt practices among  the staff of the commission, noting that she received threats because of the reforms she introduced in NDDC.

    She said: “We are aware that the only government some communities in Niger Delta know is NDDC. It takes a death threat for a journalist to turn down a job, the NDDC assignment is a task we have taken up in people’s interest. The challenges are enormous, but we will do what we can to bring about desired development.”

    Mrs Semenitari hailed the organisers of the event, saying newsroom taught her the virtue of hard work. She also praised her husband, Henry, for supporting her all through her years as a journalist.

    She said: “It doesn’t matter what we said to each other as media practitioner, but every one of us meant well. As reporter, I climbed every rung of journalism and newsroom taught me the virtue of hard work. I also must confess that my colleagues made me who I am today.”

    Chairman, Editorial Board of The Nation and chairman of the occasion, Sam Omatseye, described Mrs Seminatari as a thorough-bred professional, saying her appointment as NDDC boss was a testimony to the professionalism in the media practice.

    Omatseye said the event was to honour Mrs Semenitari and to remind her of the expectations of her colleagues in the media.

    The event was attended by top NDDC officials, media executives and senior editors of notable newspapers, including The Nation, The Punch, ThisDay, Vanguard and The Sun, among others.

  • Semenitari reassures Niger Delta communities on projects’ delivery

    The Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, has reassured the people of the Niger Delta, especially those of Opobo, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State of the execution of more projects and programmes in the region.

    She gave the assurance on Friday, when members of the Vanguard of Opobo Nation visited her at the commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt.

    Mrs. Semenitari, a CNN award-winning journalist, stated that the Federal Government’s interventionist agency recognised the need to bring governance closer to the grassroots, where most of the challenges of development exist.

    She said: “The commission is paying special attention to developing communities in the Niger Delta to ensure that the people enjoy the benefits of the oil that is produced in their land.”

    NDDC’s acting managing director also stated that the commission had continued to intervene in the areas of health, education, social services and skills’ acquisition, among others.

    In continuation of the developmental efforts, she assured leaders of the Opobo community that urgent attention would be paid to upgrading their health centre.

    Mrs. Semenitari, who is a former Rivers Commissioner for Information and Communications, expressed regret that the Opobo health centre had been a sore point for many years.

    She said: “The NDDC’s Directorate of Education, Health and Social Services will assess the situation of the Opobo health centre to see how we can help. Fortunately, this is not a new health centre, because part of what we have said to ourselves is that we are not going to keep building new health centres that do not have personnel. But existing health centres that need renovation and rehabilitation will be upgraded.”

  • Can Semenitari take NDDC from cemetery?

    SIR: In comparing the agitations being made by the Ondo State people for one of theirs to head the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, with the substantive appointment of Madam Ibim Semenitari as Managing Director, I came across a vital cliché. There is a delicate balance between what the people of Ondo need as what seems to be their legitimate right to run the affairs of the NDDC, and that of the President in his desire to put square pegs in square positions. But there is also another fundamental need to see how we can balance the legitimate aspirations of a people whose ‘turn’ to occupy the ‘juicy’ position of NNDC chairman against the backdrop of the problems that the NDDC has had over the years.

    There are stipulations in the NDDC Act for the managing director’s position to rotate among the five states which make up the states that the NDDC should cater to – Delta, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Edo and Ondo. Three of these states have ‘tasted’ the sweet juice but the other two have not. Therefore, one of them, Ondo, want their ‘turn’ and this is irrespective of the belief that the NDDC is allegedly a clearing house for corruption and needs to be revamped. We would not be hard put to find out why they want their ‘turn’ at a commission embroiled in one scandal of corruption or the other. For instance, nobody can access the NDDC budget, and if you do you just might find out that the one in your possession is counterfeit. Very many ‘big’ men and women lobby Aso Rock and sometimes employ the services of voodoo priests and the like to get bogey contracts that will never be executed. Before he was kicked out, former managing director Dan Abia was alleged to have awarded anN882million contract for the purchase of luxury cars.

    This is why the agitation by the Ondo contingent to occupy the chairmanship of the NDDC is a bit curious. Are they looking to occupy the ‘juicy’ position of managing director of the NDDC so as to turn things around? Or is their ambition borne out solely because one of theirs has never occupied the position and so they want the notoriously juicy position at all costs? Do they as a matter of fact have somebody who can turn the fortunes of the NDDC around?

    Prior to the constitution of the President’s cabinet, gist from the mill had it that he was on the lookout for ‘angels’ – people without any baggage of corruption. That search for angels eventually led to a mixed bag of personages of known antecedents and who were not too different from the people who have occupied one office or the other. And so, we were saddled with an Ibim Semenitari as Acting Managing Director of the NDDC, probably until the President finds an angel to run the NDDC.

    So who is Semenitari? Her profile on the internet is that she is the first female journalist in Nigeria to win the CNN African journalist of the year, together with sundry awards for her work as a journalist. Those who worked very closely with her as a journalist describe her as strong-willed and very opinionated. If she sets her heart on a project or programme, it would take all the demons in hell to stop her. After a stint as publisher of Business Eye Magazine, she joined the Rivers State government under Rotimi Amaechi as Commissioner for Information. Fiercely loyal to her principal and feisty in his defence, her antagonists insist that Mrs. Semenitari should take credit for the frosty relationship that blew open between the APC and PDP in Rivers State.

    For some, they care less from which corner of this country the NDDC Managing Director comes from. They just want somebody with the balls to throw the budget of the NDDC open for public scrutiny. They also want monitoring teams to carry out strict supervision during project implementations, to ensure compliance and to avoid sub-standard projects. If Mrs. Semenitari could pull this off, particularly that part that has to do with throwing open the budget for public scrutiny, then the NDDC would be out of the cemetery in no time.

     

    • Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku,

    ANEEJ, Benin City.

  • Why Amaechi hosted Soyinka, by Semenitari

    Why Amaechi hosted Soyinka, by Semenitari

    A former Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, has explained why the Rotimi Amaechi administration hosted  Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka to a birthday dinner.

    Mrs Semenitari, now Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt, through her Special Assistant (Media), Bekee Anyalewechi.

    The ex-commissioner noted that the decision to honour Soyinka had a link with his role in the naming of Port Harcourt as the UNESCO World Book Capital City 2014.

    Mrs. Semenitari’s successor, Dr. Austin Tam-George, alleged that N82 million was wasted on hosting the Nobel laureate, threatening that the Nyesom Wike  administration would involve the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe the expenditure.

    Mrs Semenitari said: “N82 million was not spent on the dinner alone, as Tam-George, PDP and their cohorts would want the world to believe. We challenge him (Tam-George) to release the entire documents as contained in Mrs. Ibim Semenitari’s memo, reference: MOI/COM/C./82/Vol. III/227 to cover dance drama by University of Port Harcourt Arts Village, Great Singha and his highlife band; set design, stage lighting and costume design, costume design and stage property, dinner, transportation and accommodation of guests from outside the country and those outside Rivers State, decoration, travels and logistics, among others.

    “Unfortunately and to show the sinister intent of the whole issue, to which the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had also shown undue excitement, references were made to Prof. Soyinka as a ‘friend of Amaechi,’ without putting in context what necessitated the honour for the Nobel laureate, by the then Rivers State Government.

    “While the whole claim is nothing but bare-faced lies, deliberately hatched to smear the literary scholar (Prof. Soyinka) and the Acting Managing Director of NDDC, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, it is a shame that officials of the Rivers State Government would indulge in this kind of gimmick, just to settle petty scores. We feel particularly sorry that Tam-George, barely a week in office, has manifested such gross incompetence in the procedures of his office, as spokesman of government.

    “Nothing can be more callous than the imputation that the dinner was because Prof. Soyinka ‘is a friend of Amaechi.’ Having turned down several other overtures for an open honour to his enormous contributions to the growth of the literary industry in Rivers State, it was a decision of the State Executive Council to celebrate a man who had been a strong voice in the birth of Garden City Literary Festival (later Port Harcourt Literary Festival), which catapulted the state to a global player in the arts.”

    Mrs Semenitari also stated that rather than face his  job to see whether he could help reposition an administration that was fast losing credibility in the eyes of civilised people in Rivers State, Tam-George would prefer to smear the exalted reputation of Prof. Soyinka.

    She added: “We can forgive Tam-George’s attempts to smear the reputation and hard work of Mrs. Semenitari, who meritoriously served Rivers State for six years, since he must be suffering from a serious complex, but to drag the name of Prof. Soyinka into their coven of inferiority is beyond the pale.

    “We state unequivocally that if the media invitation to anti-crime agencies to probe Semenitari was on the expenditure of the N82 million, her doors are open any day, any time to welcome them.”

    Mrs. Semenitari also stated that she remained focused in her duty in NDDC and would not be distracted.

     

  • Semenitari promises better NDDC

    Semenitari promises better NDDC

    President Muhammadu Buhari, in his determination to make life better for the people of the crude oil and gas-rich Niger Delta, on December 21, 2015, appointed the immediate past Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, as the Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    The Federal Government’s intervention agency (NDDC) was established in year 2000 by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    Semenitari hails from coastal Opobo, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State.

    As at the time of her appointment on December 21, Semenitari was in Abuja and without wasting time and in order to hit the ground running, thereby quickly cleaning the rot in NDDC, she moved to Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital on December 22 and was received by a large crowd at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa.

    The airport’s tumultuous crowd consisted of beautifully-dressed women in uniform, and other eminent persons from the nine states of the Niger Delta: Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ondo, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Imo and Abia, with many people singing, drumming, dancing and waving at the new NDDC boss in admiration, before joining her car.

    The hardworking and foremost journalist quickly moved to the corporate headquarters of the commission on the Port Harcourt-Aba Expressway, with the outgoing managing director, Bassey Dan-Abia, a lawyer and an indigene of Akwa Ibom state, who was two years in office on December 18, handing over to her at NDDC’s Boardroom on the eighth floor of the office complex.

    The Rivers chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) also lauded President Buhari for appointing hardworking Semenitari as NDDC’s helmsman, describing the decision as a step in the right direction, in order to move the Niger Delta forward.

    APC, through its Rivers Publicity Secretary, Chris Finebone, said: “We thank President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing Mrs. Ibim Semenitari as Acting Managing Director of NDDC.

    “The leadership and entire members of the Rivers State Chapter of the APC wish to, most profoundly, thank President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, for finding one of us, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, worthy for appointment as the Acting Managing Director of NDDC.”

    Semenitari, while addressing the directors and other top officials of the commission, shortly after the handing over at NDDC’s corporate headquarters in Port Harcourt, promised to ensure a better life for Niger Deltans,.

    She noted that she understood what the challenges and issues confronting the crude oil and gas-rich, but marginalised region were, stressing that she had in-depth knowledge of what NDDC ought to be doing.

    The distinguished journalist, who spoke extempore, said:  “In all of my working life, I have agitated for better life for the Niger Delta, because I am a firm believer in the fact that we are the goose that lays the golden eggs. We have a right to benefit there from. In all of my working life as a journalist, I have made it my responsibility to expose the ills that have bedevilled the region. So, I have a clear understanding of what the issues are in this region. As a reporter, I have covered matters in NDDC. I was there from the first day. I was there at the launch of the master plan. I did stories about it. So, I have indepth knowledge of what this commission ought to be doing.

    “I have followed events, not just as a journalist, but as somebody who has worked in this region. Therefore, I understand what our challenges are. It is now time, by the grace of God, for me to do my part. When I was told about this appointment, the first thing I said was that God keeps and places us in time and space for a reason. So, at this time, it has pleased God to put me in this place. I have a responsibility, first to God. Secondly to the President and Commander-in-Chief, to make sure that his vision, which is the development of the Niger Delta, comes to pass. I owe it to my region, to defend it and develop it..”

    The new managing director also reiterated that hers was an acting position, with absolutely no time.

    She said: “What that means for the directors and other members of staff of this commission is that you will forgive me, because we will have pressure-pot pressure.

    “For the sake of our region, it means we will take away a little bit of your sleep, but I am sure you will be satisfied, when you see the results of the loss of sleep.”

    Dan-Abia stated that he tried his best, while at the helm of affairs at the commission and had no regrets.

     

     

  • Semenitari promises better NDDC

    Semenitari promises better NDDC

    President Muhammadu Buhari, in his determination to make life better for the people of the crude oil and gas-rich Niger Delta, on December 21, 2015, appointed the immediate past Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, as the Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    The Federal Government’s intervention agency (NDDC) was established in year 2000 by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    Semenitari hails from coastal Opobo, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State.

    As at the time of her appointment on December 21, Semenitari was in Abuja and without wasting time and in order to hit the ground running, thereby quickly cleaning the rot in NDDC, she moved to Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital on December 22 and was received by a large crowd at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa.

    The airport’s tumultuous crowd consisted of beautifully-dressed women in uniform, and other eminent persons from the nine states of the Niger Delta: Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ondo, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Imo and Abia, with many people singing, drumming, dancing and waving at the new NDDC boss in admiration, before joining her car.

    The hardworking and foremost journalist quickly moved to the corporate headquarters of the commission on the Port Harcourt-Aba Expressway, with the outgoing managing director, Bassey Dan-Abia, a lawyer and an indigene of Akwa Ibom state, who was two years in office on December 18, handing over to her at NDDC’s Boardroom on the eighth floor of the office complex.

    The Rivers chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) also lauded President Buhari for appointing hardworking Semenitari as NDDC’s helmsman, describing the decision as a step in the right direction, in order to move the Niger Delta forward.

    APC, through its Rivers Publicity Secretary, Chris Finebone, said: “We thank President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing Mrs. Ibim Semenitari as Acting Managing Director of NDDC.

    “The leadership and entire members of the Rivers State Chapter of the APC wish to, most profoundly, thank President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, for finding one of us, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, worthy for appointment as the Acting Managing Director of NDDC.”

    Semenitari, while addressing the directors and other top officials of the commission, shortly after the handing over at NDDC’s corporate headquarters in Port Harcourt, promised to ensure a better life for Niger Deltans,.

    She noted that she understood what the challenges and issues confronting the crude oil and gas-rich, but marginalised region were, stressing that she had in-depth knowledge of what NDDC ought to be doing.

    The distinguished journalist, who spoke extempore, said:  “In all of my working life, I have agitated for better life for the Niger Delta, because I am a firm believer in the fact that we are the goose that lays the golden eggs. We have a right to benefit there from. In all of my working life as a journalist, I have made it my responsibility to expose the ills that have bedevilled the region. So, I have a clear understanding of what the issues are in this region. As a reporter, I have covered matters in NDDC. I was there from the first day. I was there at the launch of the master plan. I did stories about it. So, I have indepth knowledge of what this commission ought to be doing.

    “I have followed events, not just as a journalist, but as somebody who has worked in this region. Therefore, I understand what our challenges are. It is now time, by the grace of God, for me to do my part. When I was told about this appointment, the first thing I said was that God keeps and places us in time and space for a reason. So, at this time, it has pleased God to put me in this place. I have a responsibility, first to God. Secondly to the President and Commander-in-Chief, to make sure that his vision, which is the development of the Niger Delta, comes to pass. I owe it to my region, to defend it and develop it..”

    The new managing director also reiterated that hers was an acting position, with absolutely no time.

    She said: “What that means for the directors and other members of staff of this commission is that you will forgive me, because we will have pressure-pot pressure.

    “For the sake of our region, it means we will take away a little bit of your sleep, but I am sure you will be satisfied, when you see the results of the loss of sleep.”

    Dan-Abia, earlier in his address, stated that he tried his best, while at the helm of affairs at the commission and had no regrets.

    He said: “My business will be to formally hand over to our sister, a true daughter of this region, somebody with track record, which I have no doubt in my mind will bring her wealth of experience to bear, in the administration of this commission.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

    It is a new dawn in NDDC, with the appointment of the hardworking and dogged journalist, who has promised to ensure real transformation of the region, thereby writing her name, once again, in gold.

  • Semenitari, three others bag awards

    ivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications Mrs Ibim Semenitari, the Chairman of Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers, King Godwin Giniwa, the Vice Chancellor of the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, Prof. Rosemund Green-Osahogulu and the Managing Director of Falconwood Limited, Port Harcourt, Mr George Ariolu have been honoured by the Notable Outcome Newspaper, a Port Harcourt –based tabloid.

    Mrs Semenitari was given award as the “Most Innovative Rivers Commissioner in 2013”; King Giniwa bagged “Rivers Traditional Ruler of the Year 2013; Green-Osahogulu got the award of “Excellence in Educational Administration”; and Ariolu received award for “Excellence in Company Relations and Entrepreneurship”.

    It was during the tabloid’s seventh anniversary where a former National President of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr OCJ Okocha (SAN), picked holes with the style of governance at all tiers of government as well as the structure of the federation.

    Okocha said revenue collection, revenue allocation and resource control pose challenges to the well-being of Nigeria.

    In a lecture entitled “Nigeria at 100 – Significance and Implications”, the former NBA chief said security and the maintenance and enforcement of law and order need to be addressed as these areas “have led to the clamour for State Police and Local Government Police.”

    He faulted the style of administration of justice and establishment of courts in the country.

    Other problem areas of the economy, which he listed, are the infrastructural development inclusive of power generation; transmission and distribution; agricultural development; education; health and other social developments.

    Others include: trade, commerce, economic development and devolution of powers and functions to the federating units of the country and the various tiers of government.

    To address these issues, Okocha advocated for “a truly Sovereign National Conference and the making of a new constitution for Nigeria.

    “There is great benefit to be gained in staying together and we can see this in the efforts being made by other developed and developing countries to stay together.”

    In his welcome address, the publisher of Notable Outcome newspaper, Mr Iheanyi Ezinwo recalled the challenges his management has been tackling to remain afloat in newspapering business.

    Despite all these, Ezinwo said: “We can beat our chest and say that we have no single case in court. Although there had been isolated cases of threats to do so by those who were offended at one time or the other by our reports but they could not proceed beyond correspondences with our legal advisers because of our adherence to the principles of fair hearing in our reports and inadequate grounds for them to proceed with legal action against us.”

    Highlights of the occasion was the unveiling of the second edition of a book entitled: Managing Students Crisis: The Nigerian Experience written by Ezinwo. It was reviewed by the immediate past Chairman of Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Rivers State chapter, Mr Karibi George.

    The occasion was chaired by a former Commissioner in Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, Nimi Walson-Jack.