The Nation Newspaper

Tag: South-South

  • South-South rejects Baribote’s ban

    South-South rejects Baribote’s ban

    The South-South Football Stakeholders has rejected the 15-year ban placed on Victor Rumson Baribote by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), declaring that the action was a witch-hunt of members from the zone.

    This decision was reached during an extra-ordinary meeting of the body which held in Benin City on Friday. The stakeholders noted that the NFF’s resolution to ban Baribote was a hasty one and did not follow due process.

    The body stressed that banning a man who is contributing so much to Nigerian football development by being one of the few private owners of a Glo Premier League club is a total injustice to the nation’s football.

    The Stakeholders maintained that henceforth any attempt by any group to intimidate its members would be resisted. It stated that the body is made up of law-abiding citizens of Nigeria who are not interested in causing trouble.

    The group stressed that the people of the zone have contributed immensely to Nigerian football, while arguing that the zone deserves to be treated with respect with regard to how they treat their members.

    “We are not against punishing of anyone who has contravened the law, but we are insisting that in doing so, all channels of due process must be followed before such punishment is meted out,” a statement from the Stakeholders said. “We are proud of Baribote for sponsoring a Premier League club in the country. We feel he should be applauded by those managing the nation’s football for given employment to several youth of this country and not be crucified.”

    The group then showered encomiums on clubs from the zone for their performance in the last league season. “After reviewing the performance of last season, we commend the efforts of club owners from the zone and governors in the states for their continuous support of the club.”

    All aggrieved members of the zone were then charged to come together in the fight to save the South-South. The body maintained that it is only through that they can withstand the seeming intimidation targeted at its members. It called for a regular holding of its zonal meeting especially as the NFF election draws near.

    Finally, the Stakeholders’ representatives on both the current NFF board and those that would emerge in the future were charged to take the interest of the South-South zone at heart.

    Several top dignitaries from the zone graced the meeting, among them were former Nigeria Premier League Chairman, Oyuki Obaseki, Edo State Commissioner for Sports, Omorede Osifo, Commissioner for Sports in Rivers State, Barrister Fred Igwe, Edo State Director of Sports, Betty Omoruyi and the Chairmen of Bayelsa United, Nembe, Dolphins, and Sharks FC. The others were Harrison Jalla, Ben Agari, Colins Eselemo among several others.

  • ‘Southsouth should not be forced to support Jonathan’

    ‘Southsouth should not be forced to support Jonathan’

    The representative of the Rivers Southeast Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Magnus Ngei Abe, has declared that the people of the Southsouth zone should not be forced to support the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Abe, in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, said there was no need to heat up the polity ahead of 2015 general elections, since there is freedom of association and choice of who to support, as guaranteed by Nigeria’s constitution.

    He expressed displeasure over the utterances of some politicians, who claimed that with President Jonathan seeking re-election in 2015, no other person from his geopolitical zone should aspire to be the nation’s President.

    Abe, a former Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), is an ally of Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who is the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), but had been at loggerheads with President Jonathan over 2015.

    The President is from Otuoke in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, while his wife, Dame Patience, hails from Okrika, the headquarters of Okrika LGA of Rivers State, both in the Southsouth and Niger Delta.

    It is being speculated that Amaechi, an Ikwerre, who is a former Speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly, is nursing vice-presidential ambition, which he has been denying.

    Abe also stated that the ascendancy of the Southsouth zone was as a result of the zoning arrangement in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), stressing that the people of the crude oil and gas-rich zone did not constitute majority in the country, hence the need not to abuse the benefit.

    The senator berated persons attacking Amaechi for not supporting the second term ambition of President Jonathan, declaring that while the President had the constitutional right to seek re-election, the Rivers governor also had the constitutional right to support whoever he wanted to support.

    He said: “The best thing for us to do in this country, whether North, East, South, West or Southsouth, is to allow our politics to be driven by ideas.

    “Those who feel strongly enough about something, regardless of where they come from, must be allowed to canvass their opinions and express their feelings.

    “Those who acknowledge that President Jonathan has the constitutional right to contest, must also acknowledge the constitutional right of others to support whoever they want to support or refuse to support who they do not want to support. The constitution is for everybody.”

    Abe also stated that the NGF chairman remained a leading light in the country, especially as a performer, noting that his developmental strides would speak for him at the appropriate time.

    The senator added: “Governor Amaechi has already achieved a lot for Rivers people in different sectors. A leader with a focus and we will continue to support him under rain or sun. We must leave a legacy for the people of Rivers State, through the projects of this government.”

     

  • ‘South-South lost N2.51trn to floods’

    ‘South-South lost N2.51trn to floods’

    The Director General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Alhaji Muhammed Sidi on Tuesday said the South-South region lost about N2.51 trillion to the 2012 flood disaster.

    Sidi gave the figure in Asaba, Delta State , at the South-South Zonal Flood Awareness Campaign for Non-Governmental, Community and Faith-based Organisations and government agencies organised by NEMA and Delta State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

    He said that the amount was the “estimated combined value” of the damage and losses suffered by people, communities and organisations in the region during the period the flooding lasted.

    According to the D-G, who was represented by Mr Emenike Umesi, NEMA Zonal Coordinator, South-South, the total value of losses on economic activities economy alone is estimated at N1.1 trillion.

    He said that 363 deaths were recorded while seven million people were affected with 2.3 million people displaced and 597,476 houses damaged.

    He said that the flood marked a watershed in the nation’s disaster management apparatus as it tested the country’s contingency plans “at every front’’.

    He said that though the impact of the flooding was enormous, it brought all stakeholders together “as never before to address the consequences of the flood’’.

    “If experiences of last year flooding are anything to go by, then the 2013 seasonal rainfall predictions by Nigeria Metrological Agency (NIMET) must be taken seriously

    “In addition, the National Flood Outlook for Nigeria by Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency must be taken seriously,’’ he said.

    Earlier, Mr Kingsley Osawaru, NIMET Manager in Delta, while reviewing the rainfall predictions of the zone, said that there would be lots of rainfall in the area with possibilities of flooding.

    According to him, the volume of water expected this year in the region will rise more than that of last year.

    He said that the region would experience an average about 260 days of rainfall and 2,000 millimeters of rainfall, this year.

    He advised all stakeholders to rise to the challenge and do all within their reach to avert a repeat of 2012 experience by clearing all water channels

  • South-South PDP pushes PIB

    South-South PDP pushes PIB

    The South-South caucus of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the support of the National Assembly in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

    It noted that when passed into law, the PIB “will launch Nigeria into the next level of sustainable development of our hydrocarbon resources.”

    In a communiqué read in Asaba yesterday, the PDP caucus called for a review of the present Revenue Allocation Formula, adding that the formula has “long ceased to reflect the changing realities.”

    It called for its urgent, reasonable and pragmatic review to achieve vertical and horizontal equity among the tiers of government.

     

     

     

     

     

  • 2015 presidency splits South-South govs

    2015 presidency splits South-South govs

    There are strong indications that President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid in 2015 has caused a major division among South-South governors, his home region.

    Although the parting of ways over Jonathan is still a carefully guarded secret at the top, The Nation learnt that some of the governors are so crossed with the president that they have entered into political alliances with other possible contenders, a move that is certain to rattle Jonathan’s return ambition in 2015.

    Unlike what obtained in the 2011 general elections when all the South-South governors threw their weight behind Jonathan’s election as President, the 2015 election is poised to be dicey. This time around, except Jonathan acts fast to save the situation, it seems two, out of the five South-South governors, are no longer queuing behind him.

    The South-South governors that may have withdrawn their support for Mr. President, according to impeccable sources, are Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke.

    According to sources close to Amaechi, he is of the view that the next presidential race should not be based on ethnic considerations, but that the best candidate from any of the regions in the country should emerge as the next president.

    But beyond his opposition to ethnic affinity in deciding the 2015 race, sources close to him revealed that Amaechi’s cold war with the president is a fall-out of the alleged plan by federal authorities to cede about 45 oil wells in the Kalabari area of Rivers State to Bayelsa, the president’s home state.

    Despite the president’s assurances that he was not using his executive powers to favour Bayelsa State in the oil well controversy, Amaechi, according to sources, feels otherwise.

    At a town hall meeting held in Port Harcourt recently, Amaechi, according to a source, told the audience that the reason some powers-that-be have decided to deny Rivers State of the oil wells boils down to the politics playing out ahead of the 2015 elections. He allegedly accused the president of attempting to clip his wings so as to stop him from supporting an opponent in the 2015 presidential election.

    Imoke’s grouse is also connected to oil wells. We gathered that Imoke’s anger is traceable to Mr. President’s alleged indifference to the plight of Cross River State after it lost substantial oil wells to the neighbouring Akwa Ibom State in a case that dragged on to the Supreme Court. The decision of the highest court of the land deprived Cross River State of huge revenue.

    A source told The Nation that “The unanimous opinion of many Cross River State indigenes, including the governor, is that the president, after assuming office in 2010, should have used his exalted office to broker a political solution to the oil well issue, rather than allow the state to lose out completely.”