Towards institutionalising Nigeria’s efforts at ensuring food system transformation that is sustainable, inclusive, and resilient, the Federal Government of Nigeria has inaugurated the Steering Committee on States’ implementation of the food systems transformation pathway.
“Due diligence was undertaken in the identification of high-level policy implementers and critical thinkers that will drive the implementation of the food system transformation pathway both at the national and sub national levels of Government in Nigeria.
There is no better time to inaugurate this Committee than now that the present administration is transiting to a new one on May 29, 2023,” said the Honourable Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba, at the inauguration of the committee on Thursday, 20 April 2024 in Abuja.
He recalled that the journey for transforming the Food Systems started in 2020 with the call by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that countries should take proactive measures to make their food systems more sustainable and resilient.
Addressing the 20-member committee further, Prince Agba disclosed that the committee would be expected to provide leadership for Zonal coordination of the implementation of the Food Systems Transformation Pathways in all the 36 states including FCT.
The committee, the Hon. Minister explained, would lead advocacy to the State Governors and Governors’ Forum in each geopolitical zone and galvanize both political and financial support for implementation by critical stakeholders in each geopolitical Zone including the private sector and potential donors in the six Zones.
The National Convenor of the National Food System Transformation, and Director of Social Development, Federal Ministry of Finance Budget and National Planning, Dr Sanjo Faniran, urged the Permanent Secretaries in the six geopolitical zones to share with his office as quickly as possible, reports of good practices in preparation for the stock-taking event coming up in Rome in July this year. He added that the States and the zones were ready for the implementation of the 2023 workplan.
The Minister is the Chairperson of the Committee while Mr. Fred Kafeero, the FAO Country Representative; Ms Dede Ekoue, the International Fund for Agriculture (IFAD) Country Representative; and Mr. David Stevens, the World Food Programme (WFP) Country Director, are Co-chairs. The National Convenor serves as the Secretary.
Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, alongside the Vice President-elect, Kashim Shettima, and the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Umar Garbai Elkanemi, led thousands of Muslim faithfuls in Borno State to observe Eid prayers in Maiduguri.
The two raka’at prayers were led by the Imam Eidain of Borno, Imam Shettima Saleh, at Ramat Square, Borno’s central Eid ground.
Other dignitaries at the Eid ground include the Deputy Governor of Borno, Umar Kadafur, Minister of State for Agriculture, Mustapha Baba Shehuri, and the APC’s National Vice Chairman (North), Abubakar Kyari.
Others are, Borno Central Senator-elect, Kaka Shehu Lawan, members of the state and national assembly, house of representative-elect, Engr. Bukar Talba, and some members of the state executive council.
Delivering his Eid sermon, Imam Shettima reiterated on the importance of fasting six days of the month of Shauwal.
Prayers were offered for the restoration of total peace in Borno, the northeast and the entire country.
Meanwhile, the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Umar Garbai Elkanemi, hosts an annual Sallah durbar to celebrate Eid-El Fitr.
The durbar festival is an age-long tradition observed on Sallah days with district heads, village and ward heads among other title holders and royal families match pass on horses adorned with traditional regalia.
At the durbar where Governor Zulum, VP-elect, Kashim Shettima, top government officials and several APC officials with thousands of residents of Maiduguri in attendance. The durbar was held at the palace of the Shehu of Borno.
Delta State’s Governor-Elect and Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, has felicitated with Muslims across the country as they celebrate this year’s Eid El-Fitr, urging them to rededicate themselves to the teachings of Prophet Mohammad.
In a Press Statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Dennis Otu, Rt Hon Oborevwori, who is also the National Deputy Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, stressed the need for inter-religious harmony in Nigeria.
Part of the statement read: “As Muslims globally celebrate Eid Mubarak, I urge our Muslim brothers and sisters to continue to pray for the peace, unity, and progress of Nigeria….I believe that no matter our faith, religion should be more than a badge of identity; it should also serve as a vehicle to contribute to the socio-economic advancement of our country.”
Rt Hon Oborevwori prayed that the bonds of friendship, service, and commitment to the unity and peaceful co-existence of Nigeria will be renewed and strengthened in this season. He encouraged Nigerians to remain hopeful about the future of Nigeria, notwithstanding the current economic and security challenges.
The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, NESREA and the Nigeria Police Force have sealed off Pure Bio-Tech Company Limited for contravening environmental law by discharging pollutants into public water system.
A statement on Tuesday by the spokesperson of NESREA, Amaka Ejiofor said: “On Monday, 17th April, 2023 at about 12.30 pm, the combined team of officials of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, NESREA and Officers of the Nigeria Police Force, Benue State Command Headquarters sealed off a facility belonging to Pure Bio-Tech Company Limited situated along Gboko Road, Makurdi, the Benue State Capital, for discharging untreated effluent into water bodies thereby endangering human lives and the environment, and also flouting extant environmental laws and standards.”
Ejiofor said the company, an ethanol production plant, which belongs to the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sector, uses cassava as its raw material, noting that the production of ethanol using cassava is a wet process that requires the installation of a functional Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) which would ensure that waste from these processes is well treated before being discharged into the environment, insisting that the non-availability of the ETP is in clear violations of the provisions of the National Environmental (Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Soap and Detergent Manufacturing Industries) Regulations 2009 S.I No.36 and National Environmental (Sanitation and Waste Control) Regulations 2009 S.I No.28.
She disclosed that In March 2023 the Facility Consultant (NESREA Accredited) carried out an Environmental Compliance Monitoring (ECM), and the Report of the Effluent analyzed by the Consultant was submitted to the NESREA Field Office Makurdi on the 16th April, 2023. The Report revealed that most of the parameters analyzed from the Effluent were above NESREA Permissible level as provided under the National Environmental (Sanitation and Waste Control) Regulations 2009 S.I N0.28, adding that the facility had earlier been issued notices of compliance concerns to halt production until a functional ETP is fully installed but it failed to comply.
She said NESREA subsequently moved in to avoid further endangering of lives of residents who use water from the river for their basic household needs. This is in conformity with the provisions of the NESREA Act 2007 (as Amended), which allows the agency to carry out such enforcement activity in situations where it becomes expedient and necessary to halt an action posing imminent danger to human life, animal the environment.
She alleged that in addition to not having an ETP, the facility was also found to be operating without an Environmental Impact Statement, and did not complete the process of conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before commencement of its operation which contravenes the EIA Act CAP. E12 of LFN, 2004, also accusing the Facility for operating without relevant Environmental Permits contrary to the National Environmental (Permitting and Licensing System) Regulations 2009 S.I N0.29.
She said the facility therefore remains sealed while investigations continue, stating that at the conclusion of investigations, the appropriate sanctions will be meted out on the company.
Meanwhile, the Director General of NESREA, Prof Aliyu Jauro has reminded facilities that compliance with laid down environmental laws is a must for any company operating in the country, warning that the agency is fully determined to ensure that non-compliant facilities are made to face the full wrath of the law.
Transcorp Hilton Abuja has won the Sales Team of the Year Global Award at the 2022 Commercial Services Summit Awards.
A statement by the hotel on Monday read that: “Transcorp Hilton Abuja, the pride of Nigerian hospitality, challenged over 37 Hilton properties worldwide to win the Sales Team of the Year Global Award at the 2022 Commercial Services Summit Awards.”
The statement added that: “Despite the challenges posed post pandemic, the sales team at Transcorp Hilton Abuja has continued to exceed their targets and drive growth for the company. Their innovative strategies, unwavering determination, and strong work ethic have enabled them to consistently deliver outstanding results, even in the face of adversity.”
Commenting on their achievement, Islam Elmaddah, Hotel Manager, Transcorp Hilton Abuja said, “The Sales team’s collaborative approach has been a key factor in their success. Each member brings a unique set of skills and expertise to the table, and they work together seamlessly to achieve their goals. Whether it’s identifying new opportunities, negotiating deals, or providing exceptional customer service, the team operates with a shared sense of purpose and an unwavering commitment to excellence. In addition to their impressive results, the Sales team has also demonstrated a deep commitment to the community through supporting local charities, mentoring aspiring sales professionals, and leading industry events to help advance the sales profession.”
“Our guests remain the greatest beneficiaries of these achievements as we are challenged to consistently exceed their expectations and deliver world class experiences to them” said Director of Sales, Transcorp Hilton Abuja, Daniel Ekun.
He added that: “No hotel can succeed without loyal guests so we deeply appreciate the patronage from our esteemed guests and are determined more than ever to exceed their expectations by providing exceptional services.”
Transcorp Hilton Abuja, a multiple award winning hotel, is the flagship of Nigeria’s hospitality industry. Built in a remote location in the ‘80s, the hotel pioneered a bustling community and catalyzed Abuja’s evolution into the thriving capital city it is today. Centrally located in the capital’s commercial district, the hotel is one of the largest in sub-Saharan Africa and serves as a national landmark, having hosted countless heads of state and global events. With a host of on-site facilities including 667 guest rooms, seven restaurant and bars, a shopping arcade and extensive recreational facilities, the hotel is acclaimed as the beating heart of the city.
Six persons are said to have lost their lives to rainstorm and windstorm recorded in Oko Community in Oshimili South Local Government Area of the state.
The incident was disclosed by Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu at a news conference on Thursday in Asaba.
The information boss said that five others who sustained various degrees of injuries were being treated at the hospital.
According to him, a collapsed structure led to the death of 6 persons, one other person is critically injured and is being attended to at the Asaba Specialist Hospital, 5 others sustained various injuries are already in stable condition.
“It is something that is quite disturbing and unfortunate. It is our prayer that God will grant the deceased eternal rest even as we pray to God to comfort the bereaved families and grant them the fortitude to bear their loss,”
In a related development, Aniagwu said a 10-year-old boy was swept away at Okotomi area of Okpanam Community in Oshimili North Local Government Area.
He said the State Government was coordinating rescue efforts to recover the boy.
One of the most painful aspects of our national dilemma is the ease at which our troubled citizens desiring help are abandoned. With all the promises made by this outgoing administration of President Buhari to ensure the release of Leah Sharibu to the waiting hands of her agonising parents, no one, not even Buhari and his handlers remembered her anymore. And this is very disheartening.
Leah’s only offence was to have been born in a nation that pays lip service to safety, security and peace within her borders. A nation that plays politics with even the very life of her citizens with reckless abandon.
Leah Sharibu was among the 110 students of the Government Girls Science and Technical College Dapchi, Yobe State, forcefully adopted on February 19, 2018. When her colleagues were returned by the terrorists a month after, 14 years old Leah was held behind on an alleged refusal by her to denounce her Christian faith.
Ever since then, the traumatised teenager and her parents have become a strange metaphor for national regret and abandonment. But who truly cares? For a grandfather like President Buhari to abandon a young girl like Leah, old enough to be his grandchild after many promises of her soon return, while preparing to go home to Daura after an unimpressionable tenure, leaves much to be desired.
Apart from the unresolved crises of subsidy and scarcity in the petroleum downstream sector, the issues of terrorism and insecurity, institutionalised corruption and the electoral debacle; the issue of Leah Sharibu and many other abandoned citizens in the unsafe haven of kidnappers and terrorists must not be left behind by a regime that rode on the back of populists sloganeering like anti-corruption, patriotism and security to power.
What could be going on in the teenage mind of Leah during these five long years in captivity? What could be her thoughts about her nation Nigeria? A nation that could not go after those heartless folks that went after her to extinguish her burning dreams as a young student in a technical school.
Except something drastic happens in the remaining days of the Buhari tenure to bring a smile to our faces as regards Leah’s ordeal, wherever the history of the Buhari administration is written or discussed after May 29, the story of Leah Sharibu will stand out like a shining scar on the forehead that cannot be hidden. May God comfort the weeping soul of Leah’s mother, Rebecca Sharibu and her traumatised husband.
Austen Akhagbeme is a Columnist with Blank NEWS Online
The road leading to the market was decayed, in ruin and wrecked. The market, the Onicha Olona market was originally built by the Aniocha North Local Government of Delta State in 2003. But the people for whom it was supposed to bring succour for business – an open place where they are to gather in public for buying and selling of merchandise, especially farm produce could not access the location. As a result, what was supposed to bring help and relief to them was in an unpleasant condition. Frustration set in and the site was accordingly abandoned.
Before now, Dr. (Mrs) Doris Amaka Ochei never knew that the dilapidated road led to a market. Just out of sheer compassion to ease the suffering that the road in bad shape brought to the people, this woman of essence and substance took up the challenge to rebuild and repair the road, using her Foundation, the Dr. Doris Amaka Ochei Foundation. It was in the course of commissioning the road, now repaired, that she observed from the scene of the commissioning that there was a space having stalls like a market, but abandoned. Visible all over the structures were decay as the roofing sheets had gone and the site overwhelmed by weeds that had grown to become giants and lush weeds. Of course, they were weeds, whether lush and giant. Dr. (Mrs.) Doris Amaka Ochei saw the situation as unbecoming and empathised with the people. She then announced that by the Easter celebration of April 2023, that that market would become ready for use. Today, that road, now pliable, has been named Dr. (Mrs) Doris Amaka Ochei Road, Onicha-Olona.
Of course, she kept to her promise to rebuild the market, with a grand opening held on Tuesday, April 10, 2023 and Easter Monday. Expressing the delight of the people in recognition of the personage of Dr. (Mrs) Doris Ochei, the Master of Ceremony at the market’s inauguration said: “Dr. (Mrs) Doris Amaka Ochei has brought joy to the Onicha-Olona community,” adding that Onicha-Olona is blessed with good sons and daughters and good wives.”
Now the guests that came for the commissioning were gathering. The market women and men saw the day and event as being for their benefits. Dignitaries from far and wide, notable among them were well known sons and daughters of Onicha-Olona began to drive into the arena. Former Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly, a prominent politician and Executive Director, NIMASA, Rt. Hon. Victor Ochei, a son of the soil, arrived. The Executive Chairman, Delta State Waste Management Board, Hon. Emma Chinye arrived. The monarch of Onicha-Olona, His Royal Majesty, Obi Uzu Diji arrived. Hon. Kennedy Okoh, Secretary, Aniocha North Local Government Area who represented his boss and Chairman of the Local government, Hon. Kevin Okwechime arrived. Also present was the Omu Anioma, HRH. Obi Martha Dunkwu. Now the sun was in its glory and brightness, endowing weather, conducive and perfect for the market’s formal inauguration.
Before long, Dr. (Mrs) Doris Amaka Ochei arrived, accompanied by her husband, an officer and gentleman, Major General Raymond Ochei, a splendid athletic figure and dazzling in his all white outfit. Alighting from the Jeep that drove her into the market arena, her oval features were amazing; her creamy rosy complexion and stunning beauty glowed. The market women struck the traditional music tune and marched forward in a blaze of praise and welcome for their benefactor who reciprocated, dancing to the music and expressing her thanks to them for offering her generous welcome.
The President General of Onicha-Olona Development Union, Sir Patrick Ejidoh welcomed all and thanked Major general Raymond Ochei and his wife, Doris. In a special way, and on behalf of the community, he thanked Dr. (Mrs) Doris Ochei for her interest in the development of Onicha-Olona town. He said: “She completed and tarred this road, and went ahead to proclaim that the market would be completed by Easter.”
Sir Ejidoh continued: “This market was built 20 years ago by Mr. Callistus Nwawolo who was the local government council Chairman then. When the market was completed, the road was dilapidated and it discouraged traders from coming because it was difficult terrain. The people resorted to trading at the centre of the road in the town. But Dr. (Mrs) Doris Amaka Ochei stepped in and uprooted all the trees.” He also informed the people that the contractor who did the work of rehabilitating the market was from Dublin. “The water system and the conveniences are working,” Sir Ejidoh said, adding that there are 460 stalls in the market and that the market beginning from Tuesday, April 11, 2023 was opened for operation on a daily basis, while allocation of stalls would be by ballot. “Nobody will be allowed to sell on the main road anymore,” he declared. In other words, it is henceforth a taboo for traders to sell their wares outside the market in Onicha-Olona.
Indeed, Hon. Kevin Okwechime was full of gratitude to Dr. Doris Ochei for her great generosity and noble spirit act. Represented by the secretary to the local government, Hon. Kennedy Okoh, Okwechime paid glowing tribute to Dr. (Mrs) Doris Ochei’s effort in helping to deepen the concept of Private, Public Partnership and self help effort in community development. He said: “It is in this regard that we salute the vision and commitment of the Dr. (Mrs) Doris Amaka Ochei Foundation with the rehabilitation/expansion of this modern market, which by design would inspire a wide range of income generating and livelihood enhancing activities.” For the Council chairman, DAO Foundation has created in Onicha-Olona another window for improved economic activities towards wealth creation and poverty reduction. “May God reward your modest effort to impact on humanity,” Okwechime prayed.
The Omu Anioma, HRM Obi Martha Dunkwu, who also goes by the traditional NNEOHA, unveiled the plaque of reconstructed Onicha-Olona Market in Aniocha North LGA, which was rebuilt and donated by DAO Foundation and it’s chairperson, the wife of Maj. Gen. Raymond Ochei to the community through Aniocha North Council, after performing the necessary rites and offering prayers as the Mother of all Market women, to signal the traditional commencement of market activities by traders and buyers.
Omu Dunkwu, while presenting the Traditional Akwa Ocha to her as a mark of encouragement and appreciation, extolled the elegant wife of Maj. Gen. Raymond Ochei, whose NGO – Doris Amaka Ochei Foundation rehabilitated the market and delivered it for the use of Onicha-Olona community, noting that her legendary philanthropy kind-heartedness was rare, especially after she had, in addition to rebuilding and handing over the market free of charge to the Council and community, also empowered 89 market women with #50,000 each in order to enhance their trading activities.
Omu Dunkwu equally commended General Raymond Ochei, husband of the market builder for his philanthropy, maintaining that his rare and uncommon generosity to the people of Onicha-Olona in particular, and Anioma people in general is worthy of mention.
As the Mother General of Anioma Nation, Obi Martha Dunkwu not only admonished well to do Anioma daughters at home and abroad to emulate the virtues and generosity of Mrs. Ochei, she also offered prayers for the Nigerian Armed Forces for the good work they were doing in protecting the nation even as she urged them to continue in that patriotic assignment of keeping the nation safe, secure and peaceful.
Maj. Gen. Raymond Ochei and his wife, Dr. (Mrs) Doris Amaka Ochei, later presented varying gifts to Omu Dunkwu and her entourage, which marked one of the highlights of the colourful ceremony.
In truth, Dr. (Mrs) Doris Amaka Ochei’s disposition for assisting the underprivileged is one that is innate in her and influenced by her desire to give God glory for being faithful and good to her. On how the DAO Foundation came into being, she said: “The Foundation is my initiative and I am the President. It’s an initiative that is birthed because I feel that God has been so faithful in my life. He has been so awesome that I need to give back to the community, especially the community that has made me who I am and that is Enuani as a whole. So it’s not limited to Onicha-Olona or any other place.”
Shortly after the commissioning of the rebuilt and expanded Onicha-Olona Market, Dr. (Mrs) Doris Amaka Ochei fielded questions from CHUKWUDI ABIANDU, Editor-in-Chief, banneronlinenews.comand CHIJIOKE UGBOLUE, Editor-in-Chief cshowcasenews.com. Read on.
Tell us about your Foundation and the motivation.
The Foundation’s name is Dr. Doris Amaka Ochei Foundation, aka DAO Foundation. The Foundation is my initiative and I am the President. It’s an initiative that was birthed because I believe that God has been so faithful to me in my life. He has been so awesome that I need to give back to the community, especially the community that has made me who I am and that is Enuani as a whole. So, it’s not limited to Onicha-Olona or any other place.
We are fairly new but we have also done quite a number of things. For instance, the road that leads to the market. Then at Ubulu-Uku, we have actually built a modern multi-purpose hall for the Ezemuge grammarSchool, which is my alma mater. The Foundation has also empowered about 200 market women in Ubulu-Uku. We gave them an interest free loan. As a matter of fact, it’s not really a loan but what I tried to do is not to give them money. You know our people, you give them money and some will say “let me use it to buy something.” Some will use it to buy clothes. So what we did was to teach them how to save; teach them how to do business well and properly. What we did was to give them N50,000 each in a year. We asked them to pay N1,000 every Eke market day. The next day whatever that is their account we give it back to them and we add like 50 per cent so they now start to grow their capital.
What we are trying to do is that these people, most of the time they start a business from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, they don’t have anything to account for because they don’t have the saving culture. So we want to inculcate in them the culture of saving. It is to ginger them up to start saving and they are so excited about that. Because it’s really not a loan because the money we give to them we don’t take back, rather we add to it. There’s quite a lot that we are doing; we are interested in community development. We are interested in empowering the youth, the women in manpower development. We are interested in ensuring that these women understand what it means to do business, especially the rudiments of business. Because I am an entrepreneur by God’s grace. I will say that I am a successful entrepreneur. So I also want to teach them some little-little tips they need to know in terms of savings.
in terms of starting a business small, small; in terms of knowing that you don’t need to have billions to start a business and in terms of not dipping your hand into your business funds.
In fact, the next level we are going into is to put a workshop together where we bring these women together and do some talks on capacity building to encourage them. There’s a whole thing we are trying to do. God has put in my heart that I am doing just to say thank you to God for keeping me to where I am today because there’s nothing you can do without God.
Tell us about other projects your Foundation is involved in.
As a matter of fact there are other projects that we have actually done, not in Olona alone, we have done projects in Ubulu-Uku. In Ubulu-Uku, we have done 10 solar powered boreholes. We are also paying WAEC fees for every child that is writing WAEC exams. We also support children in inter house sports schools competition. We pay attention to health issues like people coming to us that they have health issues. We make sure that they go to the hospital and we finance it. A lot of things we are doing are all encompassing – community development. Like I said at the commissioning of the Onicha-Olona market stalls, I said that the community starts with women and ends with women. Let me tell you why I said so. Women, we are everywhere; we take care of our husbands, take care of the children and we take care of ourselves. We raise our children. So you find out that if you empower the woman, then you’ve touched virtually everybody because when a woman is financially capable you find out that she puts less pressure on the man. And with less pressure on the man, there will be peace in the house. The man will appreciate you more, respect you more, treat you better and there will be peace at home. And that will also radiate even in the way the home is run and you see that the children will be happy too.
Most of the family issues that you have all boil down to Naira and Kobo. That’s the truth. Because when the woman is not getting enough from the man, probably the man is not giving enough, possibly because he cannot carry it all alone, so you find that the woman will start nagging, the man starts getting tired and a lot of things are happening. And the man, maybe he’s not always at home and it’s rubbing off on the children. So, women for me are a priority.
You have talked about your motivation and that you are not a politician, speak to us about not being a politician.
Let me tell you that Dr. (Mrs) Doris Amaka Ochei as a person is an entrepreneur with many businesses. Just to name a few, I’m a stockbroker; I have a stock brokerage company. I am a travel consultant; I have a travel agency where we do ticketing, tourism and I train for elites and other agencies. I do training for travels. I have Bureau de Change; I also have a bottled water company, not just bottled water, sachet water and dispensable water. Then I have an engineering company where we do dredging. So, I have a whole lot going on. So, what do I do with all of these?
By God’s grace, God has blessed me. So, I looked and like I said earlier, this is to say thank you to God Almighty. So I’m giving back to society. I am grateful to God that God is faithful to me. What I do at the end of every year, a certain percentage of all the proceeds that I have mentioned I put into charity. So I come up with how much I have to put into charity and what exactly that I want to do.
I want to let you know today that there’s no political motive, no political undertone. I am not a politician and I am not going to be a politician. And you know why? I have a lot happening in my hands. And you know my husband is not a politician. So after retirement, we want to relax and enjoy ourselves. Like I said, you can see that I’m a very busy person. I am not a politician. I don’t want to be a politician tomorrow. This Foundation is 100 percent financed by me. No donation, no external financial support and no political motive.
Is your area of concentration just Aniocha North and Aniocha South?
Let me tell you, I am interested in humanity. I don’t care where a person comes from. Even in Lagos where I live, there’s a community, the Makoko community, there’s a school there that I pay bills and I do things for them. It is that when I see things to be done in terms of finance, sometimes it’s not about giving financial aid; sometimes you meet children that need a shoulder to cry on. Somebody they will look up to as a mentor even as a mum. So I am there for everybody and anything humanity. It’s not about any location, no.
Let’s get to know you. Who is Dr. (Mrs) Doris Amaka Ochei?
Dr. (Mrs) Doris Amaka Ochei is a girl child from Ubulu-Uku, who has grown to be a mother today, a wife, an entrepreneur. I was born by late Mr. Fidelis and Mrs. Margaret Nwaefulu in Ubulu-Uku. I had my primary and secondary schools in Ubulu-Uku. Then moved to Lagos where I did my B.sc in Accounting in UNILAG (University of Lagos). After that I got married, then moved to the United Kingdom (UK) where I did my Masters in Business Administration, University of Wales. Then I went to the United States where I did a second B.sc in Public Policy, after which I did my Ph.D in Forensic Accounting in Karisma University.
Apart from my educational qualifications, I am a professional, a Fellow in accounting and also a member of IOD. I am also a chartered Taxation practitioner. Actually, as I speak to you there are some other things I plan to do; one of it is that I got my Ph.d because I actually want to be a lecturer.
Where do you derive your strength from?
I don’t understand myself. I am as confused as you are. I just wake up with these ideas and I pursue them. Sometimes, I do ask myself, “what’s your problem?”
Sometimes my husband gets frustrated like “come when are you going to stop?” Because I keep coming up with different ideas and driving motivations. And so far so good, I’ve been able to articulate everything in a way that my home front is not suffering. But that’s another thing because by the time you want to be a professional or you want to be a successful business woman; if you don’t balance it, it will tell on your home, it will tell on your children. But you know one thing, I’m a manager. That’s the truth. I’m a solid manager. Even my staff will tell you. I can use people to get what I want. I know how to organize my things. I make sure that the home front is running the way it should run; I make out time.
It’s not easy though. I’m not going to sit down here and tell you that it is easy. I will be lying. But sometimes it gets overwhelming, but then it gives me joy.
I started business with telecoms and I sold so much in telecoms that I was one of the top 20 that Adenuga gave Land cruiser Jeep. From telecoms I migrated to travels. Why did I even go to travels? Because I was looking at a business that I don’t really need too much money to start. That was exactly why I went to travel. After that I went into brokerage. Why? Because my husband loves shares and he said “I want to retire as a stockbroker.” And I encouraged him, I said “fine, let’s go and write the exams.” And everybody was like, “where are you going to get the time?” I said we are qualified, we are chartered. We are both chartered stockbrokers. So there’s a lot.
But we find a way to put them together so that we are not found wanting, especially at home with the children. So that’s it. But it’s God Almighty; He is the one giving us the strength, the capability, the knowhow and everything. We give God the glory.
You just spoke about the children, in all these are some of your children aligning with some of the things that you are doing or are they aligning with their father?
Let me put it this way, we have four children, two sets of twins, a boy and three girls. Our children are still very young because we got married and for 11 years we didn’t have children before God finally blessed us. So they are still very young. Actually, my children believe that I work too hard. But I don’t know, I don’t know. It gives me joy actually.
Reported By Chukwudi Abiandu, Williams Ugbolue and David Diai
*** Says He Is Not Quitting Politics, Open To Any Other Opportunity
The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, (APGA) in the just concluded 2023 governorship election in Delta State, Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru has said he would not be in the ballot for the 2027 governorship election in the state.
Chief Ogboru who who clocked 65 years old on Monday, April 10th, 2023, made this known on Monday while addressing journalists in his country home at Abraka, Ethiope East Local Government Area of the state, said the 2023 Governorship Election was marred with irregularities.
The APGA candidate in the March 18, 2023, governorship election, thanked all AGPA members and his teeming supporters for their support during the 2023 Governorship election.
He also commended APGA candidates for their various positions in the just concluded 2023 general elections but decried voters’ intimidation, violence, vote buying and other election irregularities during the general elections.
Chief Ogboru said it was worrisome and unthinkable for the youths to willingly sell their votes, noting that they have enslaved themselves and have no right to condemn the next administration if they are not satisfied with the governance.
He congratulated the Delta State Governor-elect, Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori and urged Deltans to give him the needed support for him to succeed during his tenure.
Chief Ogboru disclosed that he would not contest the 2027 Governorship election and thanked his supporters, especially those that have been with him politically for over 2 decades
Asked about his next move, he said that he is not joining the race to become governor in 2027, is because he is optimistic that Rt.Hon Oborevwori will perform very well and there will be no need to contest in 2027, but stressed that his decision not to run does not mean he is quitting politics, saying that there are other opportunities and he is open to any of them as God proposes.
Responding to why he visited Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori after the Governorship election, Chief Ogboru revealed that he decided to support the Governor-elect because of his humility and respect for constituted authorities.
Chief Ogboru stated that his former party, APC was hijacked hence he decided to contest the 2023 governorship election on the platform of APGA.
A 24-year old pregnant woman, Rabetu Abdulrasak, and a crippled, Shehu Adams were among the people arrested for various drug related offenses by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in the course of last week.
A statement on Sunday by the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi said the pregnant woman and the cripple were arrested by NDLEA operatives in Agbede, Etsako West local government area of Edo state while over 14 kilogrammes of assorted illicit drugs including cannabis, methamphetamine, tramadol and swinol were recovered from them last Saturday.
Babafemi also disclosed that consignments of tramadol, rohypnol, Ecstasy (designer drug) and cannabis concealed in winter jackets and bottles of body cream were intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
He said the psychoactive substances were recovered at the new terminal of the airport last Friday following the arrest of a passenger, Josiah Sunday who was traveling on a Qatar Airline flight via Doha to Oman, in the Middle East.
He noted that a thorough search of the suspect’s two black bags led to the discovery of 4.8 kilogrammes of cannabis concealed in three winter jackets and various quantities of tramadol, rohypnol, Ecstasy (designer drug) hidden in bottles of body lotion, adding that preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect came into Nigeria from Oman on April 7, and was returning exactly a week after.
He also disclosed that a Lekki Lagos based businessman, Cyril Chidiebere was on last Friday arrested along with two of his freight agents: Mejabi Sunday and Oyeyinka Babatunde over their involvement in the importation of 12 parcels of Loud, a strain of cannabis, weighing 6.5 kilogrammes, which was part of a consolidated cargo brought in from the United States of America.
He revealed that the arrest and seizure followed a three-day intelligence led operation. He said: “Following the arrival of the cargo at the NAHCO import shed of the MMIA, its movement out of the airport was closely monitored in a sting operation until the actual importer, Cyril Chidiebere, was arrested in his house at Abraham Adesanya estate, Ajah, Lekki area of Lagos. Both Mejabi and Chidiebere have made useful statements to confirm that the latter has been involved in dealing on illicit drugs in the past.”
Babafemi also said a 22-year old HND 1 female student of Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Ogun state, Isoyo Susan was last Saturday arrested opposite 2nd Gate of the institution for dealing in illicit drugs. He said recovered from her include 1,100Ml. of codeine-based cough syrup and 283 grammes of cannabis, noting that this is just as operatives in Lagos arrested two suspects: Nonso Peter, 21, and Bright Chibike, 23, with 43.4 kilogrammes cannabis at Ile-Epo, Abule Egba area of the state last Friday.
In Katsina state, no less than 1,730 bottles of codeine-based syrup were seized from a suspect, Bishir Sa’adu in Katsina metropolis on Sunday 9th April just as Muhamadu Yusuf was equally arrested same day with 8,000 capsules of tramadol inside a commercial bus along Kano – Katsina road.
In the same vein, NDLEA operatives in Kaduna last Thursday raided a clandestine laboratory where mist potassium citrate was being produced in a residential apartment at 16 Sabon Gari, Zaria. The owner of the lab, Christopher Agodi was arrested and 102 cartons containing 2,448 bottles of the substance recovered; while a suspect, Salisu Abdullahi, 25, was arrested along Abuja-Kaduna road with 11.7 kilogrammes cannabis concealed in two jerrycans, which he was moving from Port Harcourt to Kano. Operatives also last Saturday nabbed one Atiku Abubakar, 22, on the same road with 50 blocks of cannabis weighing 28 kilogrammes while travelling from Lagos to Shinkafi in Zamfara state in a commercial bus.
He added that similarly, anti-narcotic officers acting on a tip-off, arrested two suspects: Aminu Saudi, 45 and Abdullahi Sani, 35, at Ogbese, Ondo state, with 11 jumbo bags containing 211 kilogrammes of cannabis concealed in rice chaffs. This was closely followed by the destruction of six hectares of cannabis farm in Uso forest in the state lat Thursday. Meanwhile, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd) has commended the officers and men of the MMIA, Edo, Ogun, Lagos, Katsina, Kaduna and Ondo Commands of the agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week. He urged them and their compatriots across the country to remain focused and continue the current drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts simultaneously.
***Enjoins Deltans To Help Incoming Governor To Succeed
Group Chairman of Jeddapel Construction and Engineering Limited, Augustus B. El-Bethel, has congratulated the Delta State Governor-Elect, Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori on his landslide victory at the just concluded Governorship Election in in the State and drummed support from all Deltans for him.
He enjoined Deltans in a Press Statement he personally signed to give the Governor-elect, Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori, the needed support, saying that he has the interests of Deltans at heart.
According to him, having served as the longest Speaker in the history of the Delta State House of Assembly since the creation of the State, he was convinced beyond every reasonable doubts that Rt Hon Oborevwori would make a good Governor.
While saying that the Governor-elect would address the needs of Deltans, he said that roads, bridges, highways, building projects, drainage systems, Water projects, storm and Waste management, irrigation projects, Costal protection, flood and erosion control and environmental pollution management and others known for by Jeddapel Construction and Engineering Limited would do the needful by offering professional advice to the incoming administration under Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori.
He said that ; ” We at Jeddapel Construction and Engineering Limited wish to Felicitate with the Governor-elect of Delta State, Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori on his landslide victory at the March 18th, 2023 governorship Election. We are very sure that our Governor-Elect will not disappoint Deltans who voted for him massively”.
“We are ready as a construction and engineering company to be of great help to the incoming administration because we know that our Governor-Elect, Rt Hon Oborevwori is going to turn the state into a construction site and we are imploring Deltans to rally around him to succeed and so once again, we congratulate him on his victory at the polls”, he said
He also said that; “As an Okpe man from Aghalokpe, I want to appreciate Gov Okowa, PDP and indeed all Deltans for helping us realize the dream of having an Okpe man as governor in Delta State. That has been our prayers and our heart desires. That it happened in our time is my greatest joy”.
The story of Maris Annual Public Service Lecture series is that of strong belief in God and the surrendering of oneself to the will of God. It was instituted to tackle societal challenges and to enlighten the public on sundry relevant issues.
On Saturday, October 30, 2010, a promising young girl who was a pupil of Patricia Group of Schools, Asaba, fell ill, complaining of stomach pain. Naturally, the best thing for the parents to do was to take her to the hospital which they did, but, alas! She was admitted at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba with the statement, “let us watch her till tomorrow.” Tomorrow came and that was a Sunday and they said, again, “let us watch her again, till tomorrow.”
On that Sunday, she was no longer complaining about the stomach pain; she was talking freely, just her normal self and that statement of watching her again till the next day dashed the hope of going home with her parents on that day. Then Monday came- that was, November 1, 2010, All Saints’ Day- and the parents were told again to hold on for the medical experts to monitor her closely despite the fact that she was full of life, playing with the parents and moving around.
But about Midnight of that day, on All Souls’ Day, November 2, she was pronounced dead, implying that she has gone to be with the angels. It was devastating to the parents and, according to the father, Comrade Fidelis Egugbo, even driving became difficult as at times, he would drive past his destinations before he would recollect himself. As such, he advised himself to stop driving and to survive the pains, he buried himself in making a book out of his written works which became the “Memoirs Of A Journalist In Government Media,” a compendium that has become an encyclopedia of what transpired during the administration of Governor James Ibori and the early part of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s administration in Delta State.
The book was presented to the public on the 40th birthday of Comrade Fidelis Egugbo, that was October 8, 2013 – ten years ago – at the Press Centre, Government House, Asaba, and had General Godwin Alabi- Isama, author of the book, “Tragedy of Victory,” as Chairman of Occasion.
On the acknowledgement page of “Memoirs Of A Journalist In Government Media,” Comrade Egugbo wrote that proceeds from the sales of the book would be used to build an institution to immortalize Stella-Maris ChukwufunimnenyaEgugbo. And on July 25, 2018, Maris Schools, Okpanam, was officially opened to keep to the promise of immortalizing the name of a promising young girl, a beloved daughter and the first fruit of the family of Comrade Fidelis Egugbo.
As God would have it, at the Holy Mass celebrated by an array of Catholic Priests to formally open the school, Egugbo, in his vote of thanks, assured dignitaries present at the ceremony who included former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan and the Deputy Chief of Staff during the administration of Governor James Ibori, Chief Emma Ejiofor, that, “by the grace of God, next year (2019) we shall have an annual lecture in memory of Stella-Maris ChukwufunimnenyaEgugbo.”
That was how the Maris Annual Public Service Lecture series was birthed through Divine Will, shortly after the 2019 general elections and before the swearing-in of another administration on May 29, 2019, Chief Williams Makinde was invited to deliver the first Maris Annual Public Service Lecture at which occasion he spoke on the topic, “Managing Post-Election Challenges: Nigeria As A Case Study.” The well attended lecture took place at the main hall of the Orchid Hotel, Asaba. Sen. Dr. IfeanyiOkowa, now Delta State Governor, was the Special Guest of Honour; Chief Nicholas Chizea (OshimiliAtata of Ahaba) was Chairman of Occasion, Barr. (Mrs) Josephine Ada Kachikwu was Mother of the Day, Rev. Fr. John Konyeke was the Spiritual Father of the Day, while Sen. Stella Omu, Olorogun Barr. Fred Majemite, Dr. David Oba, Ms Faith Nwadishi were discussants at that lecture which had DrKemiEmina as Moderator.
Stella-Maris was born on Wednesday, 10th April, 2002. She passed on after a brief illness at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, Delta State, on Tuesday, 2nd November, 2010. Thus, she lived for 8 years and 7 months on earth. She was “very active, dutiful and selfless at home.”
To Catholics and other strong believers in the unseen hands of God Almighty, her brief life on earth (was it really brief? Some lived for only one day) was of great significance. The Church celebrates the feast of several Saints on April 10. Some of the Saints and Blesseds whose feast day is April 10 include Saint Miguel de Sanctis, Saint Fulbert of Chartres, Blessed Antoine Neyrot, Blessed Boniface Zukowski, Blessed Pedro MaríaRamírez Ramos, Blessed Mark Fantucci, Saint Maddalena of Canossa, Saint Macarius of Antioch, Saint Bademus, Blessed Paternus the Scot, Saint Bede the Younger, Blessed Eberwin of Helfenstein, and Blessed Antonio Vallesio.
From the array of personalities who have attended the Maris Annual Public Service Lecture from inception, one can only quote Rev. Fr. John Konyeke who resumed duty as a Priest in charge of Catholic Church of the Ascension, Asaba ( where the Egugbo’s attend the Holy Mass), the same period that Stella-Maris died, “Aka ChukwuDia (God’s Hand Is In It).” Very consoling indeed.
However, the success story of the lecture series has not come without some personal pain to the Egugbos, especially in the material sense.
Truly, God’s hand is in the activities that involves Stella-Maris Chukwufunimnenya because, we all know that Comrade Egugbo, as a faithful journalist, is not rich in the true sense of financially rich Nigerians, but God has used him to sustain this annual lecture of identifying the challenges of the society and proffering solutions to them. Also, in the heat of the Covid-19, Egugbo, whose journalism exploits were recognized by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as a journalist who was almost the longest serving reporter in Government House, from Governor James Ibori’s administration to his (Governor Okowa’s) administration and gave him the position of Special Assistant, Media, directed that parents should not pay the tuition fees of pupils and students of Maris Schools for a term.
Today, we are all gathered at this august event that used to hold every Wednesday before Easter Sunday, that is the Wednesday of the Holy Week to discuss topical issues, meet ourselves and share ideas about how to make the world a better place to live in, will Egugbo use his salary to foot the bills incurred for this annual event? It would be recalled that three months after the 2019 edition, he was still battling to pay the debts incurred to organize that lecture.
He has never been forceful when it comes to the issue of money because of his strong belief in God, always smiling and saying, “that is the way God wants it.”
If God touches your heart and you feel that you can assist in any way in sustaining this lecture or grow Maris Schools which comprises Nursery, Primary and Secondary Schools, kindly pay into Maris Secondary School Account – Zenith Bank Account Number: 1017189528 or call Fidelis on 08032933933 to know how to contribute.
Egugbo cannot thank you enough for sustaining this programme, through your physical presence, active participation and contributions in several ways for this lecture to succeed. The Governor of Delta State, Sen. Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, CON, in particular, has done a lot to see that this lecture is successful and his predecessor in office, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, CON, and the Chairman, Maris Trust Council, Chief Kenneth Olise, Ph.D, FCA deserve a BIG THANK you for supporting the activities of Maris Trust Council.
May God always give you reasons to smile through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Professor Abideen Olaitan Olaiya is a member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) that secured the victory of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President -elect of Nigeria. His political trajectory dated back to the mid 90s. He contested for the position of APC National Secretary in 2022, he was the running mate to Late Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala in the 2019 gubernatorial race in Oyo state.
He hails from Oke Oluokun, Ibadan and bagged his Ph.D in Agronomy from the University of Ibadan in 2006.
His political experience dated back to 1995/96 when he contested for Chairman of Ibadan South East Local Government through the Zero party platform and subsequently under GDM and PDP. He contested for the Oluyole Federal seat in 2007 under Labour party with Former Governor Rashidi Ladoja as the leader.
He joined ACN in 2010 under the leadership of Chief Lam Adesina to produce Late Chief Abiola Ajimobi as Governor of Oyo State. Professor Olaiya together with Otunba Alao-Akala rejoined the APC in a political merger in 2019 to support the party in Oyo State. He has since contributed to the development of the party in all ramifications.
Olaiya, 56, lectures at the Department of Plant Physiology and Crop Production, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta.
Tinubu’s Government of National Competence and the overwhelming choice for Ministries Lead
A few days after the ‘almighty’ 2023 Presidential election was won and lost, some individuals called Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to form a government of National Unity to persuade the aggrieved and chart a call for unity in the country. This statement caused a swift flashback to the fearless statement of MKO Abiola where he promised the then Abacha’s Military Junta to form a Government of National Unity in an effort to reclaim his mandate of June 12, 1993. Were the circumstances similar in 2023? Of course, NOT. Did we need a Government of National unity? Yes, but we need to even step more further. And here the concept of competence sets in.
A Government of National Competence; first or second agenda?
No doubt, one of Asiwaju’s unique selling points is his talent for hunting talent. No one in the history of Nigeria’s political success has achieved better than him in regard to building a strong team and mentoring them to become leaders. To date, his Commissioners back in his governorship years is super relevant after 20 years. So, one’s attention was drawn to a statement credited to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu that he would form a government of national competence, this is a welcome development as against the proposed government of national unity.
An author once said “The secret behind the success of Dubai is in its leadership. Dubai Ruler, Sheikh Mohammed knows what he wants, and it is impossible for these projects to happen without his consent and personal supervision. It is obvious that he is giving men and women in Dubai full powers, but, at the same time, he holds them accountable for the outcome and the promises they make.” On this premise, it is certain that the first task for Asiwaju is not forming a government of National competence, rather, it is to have a clear understanding of what he wants for Nigeria. Thereafter, getting the team to deliver comes next.
Renewed Hope: Action Plan for a Better Nigeria
In answering the question of what Tinubu wants for Nigeria, let us take a quick look at what Tinubu’s plan entails as contained in his manifesto for Nigeria entitled Renewed Hope . The 80-page action plan is fully loaded with beautiful thoughts. It’s an action plan that needs a serious-minded team to execute. In some cases, these plans had their goals and intended solutions. Of all the plans, the flawless plan’s vision for Agriculture in Nigeria is superb. It’s actually fascinating, to say the least. The promise to bring back the commodity board which had been abandoned for so long, the creation of grain reserves and food storage, rural infrastructural development, irrigation, access to finance, farm cooperative among others are well thought out.
That’s just on agriculture, he still have unambiguous plans on national security, economy, power, oil & gas, education, and health care among other very important sectors.
The cabinet formation and list of competence It is an open secret that the race for appointment in the Tinubu’s government has begun. The struggle is in two categories, presidency and ministerial. Under the presidency, we have the following as offices to be filled – Chief of Staff, CoS, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Special Advisers, SAs, and Senior Special Assistants, SSAs.
The name of the likes of Nasir El-Rufai, Abdullahi Ganduje, Femi Gbajabiamila, Babatunde Fashola, James Faleke, Wale Edun, Dimeji Bankole, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Bayo Onanuga and several others are all over the media space.
Flowing from names being touted in the media, it is expected that the bulk of people that will work in the presidency and in the cabinet are Tinubu’s core loyalists and competent members of the party.
For ministerial lobbying, this area comes with many complexities, scheming, and state political peculiarity. Notwithstanding all these, Asiwaju must look deep for productive personalities and not replicate a retirement benefit for former governors or political big-wigs.
Oyo State and her long list of ministerial aspirants
Oyo state stands out amongst others being a pacesetter with regards to Ministerial nomination permutations. It is going to be another form of battle royale reminiscent of internal intense party primaries. The scheming, no doubt, is similar in many other states as well.
The mere fact that Teslim Folarin of APC was unable to unseat the incumbent Seyi Makinde of PDP during the March 18 governorship election in Oyo state had made the ministerial contest even more competitive among the gladiators. Folarin has a national political war chest within the APC, and many had speculated that he may be compensated for losing the Guber race by a ministerial nomination. But this reminded me how Sunday Dare was appointed minister and Adebayo Adelabu of APC who lost to Makinde of PDP in the 2019 governorship election was not compensated. Sunday Dare, the current Minister of Sports got the slot instead as an Asiwaju’s boy, and so he can’t be written off too in the new dispensation. The likes of Sen. Soji Akanbi, Prof. Adeolu Akande, Adebayo Shittu, KK Raji, Prof. Abideen Olaiya, Engr.Rauf Olaniyan, èrstwhile Deputy Governor to Seyi Makinde and many others are names on the radar.
Of all the names being bandied around, Prof. Abideen Olaiya stands out going by his credential in politics and profession as a good catch for Asiwaju’s passionate drive for Agricultural revival and food stability. Olaiya has the pedigree to do the magic in the agriculture ministry especially at this critical time when Asiwaju needs extraordinary performers and technocrats. More importantly, the Ministry of Agriculture had been managed by all kinds of non-agricultural experts since 1999. Aside Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, who had his degrees in Agricultural economics, no other minister till date can be said to have background in core agricultural discipline.
Ministries of Finance, Power, Education, Petroleum, Health, Foreign Affairs, Labour, and Employment are also ministries that deserve expert and committed individuals.
Olaiya preference stemmed from the fact that he is a loyal member of the party that have severally sacrifices his ambition for party success. He stepped down for APC governorship candidate in 2019 in Oyo state without any compensation . He was also asked to step down for national secretary at the last APC convention with the promised of refund not yet fulfilled till date by the party.
Olaiya was a strong supporter of Asiwaju presidential project, belonging to several support groups and PCC.
He is sincere and dedicated advocate of good governance with an NGO, Political Awareness Group (PAG) formed to his credit.
He is a competent professional in the field of agriculture, education, value reorientation and Youth development.
Olaiya is not just an ordinary Academic farmer but has personal farms scattered around Oyo, Ogun, Osun and Ondo States as well as supplying farm products and practical trainings/consultancy services to the farming communities.
Prof Olaiya was also involved in the establishment and management of private educational institutions from basic to tertiary levels, contributing immensely to attainment of millennium development goals in educational sector.
For competence in all ramifications and well suited personality for any presidential and cabinet position, Olaiya towers above his peers especially from Oyo state with intimidating credentials and academic excellence that fits in into Asiwaju’s Renewed Hope agenda for Nigeria.
Kemi Daniels , a public analyst, writes from Ibadan. kemidaniels@yahoo.com
The National Laboratory Equipment Calibration Centre (NaLECC) with the assistance of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC) and funding from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has attained ISO 17025:2017 accreditation.
A statement from the United States Embassy on Friday read that Nigeria’s National Laboratory Equipment Calibration Centre (NaLECC), in its efforts to align with international standards and with support from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC) and funding from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), has attained ISO 17025:2017 accreditation from the Kenya Accreditation Service.
ISO 17025:2017 provides requirements for the competence, impartiality, and consistent operations of laboratories.
NaLECC, a standard laboratory equipment calibration centre, was established in 2020 through US CDC funding to strengthen laboratory service delivery in Nigeria. Hosted and administered by the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN), NaLECC is the first of its kind in the country. Technical assistance for the establishment and accreditation of the centre was provided by U.S. CDC partners, the Africa Society for Laboratory Medicine, the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, and the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria.
The statement said at the event to formally present the accreditation certificate, the Minister of State for Health Barr. Joseph Ekumankama commended MLSCN and its partners for the significant milestone.
The accreditation certifies that the centre provides services that meet ISO 17025:2017 quality standards, a first for a PEPFAR-supported laboratory in Nigeria. It also allows internationally accredited laboratories in Nigeria and across West Africa to have their equipment calibrated in Nigeria rather than outside of the region.
U.S. CDC Country Director Mary Boyd expressed confidence that with continued support to NaLECC, the accreditation would be sustained. She also emphasized the U.S. government’s commitment to prioritizing and sustaining support for quality laboratory services in Nigeria.
That the recently concluded General elections in Nigeria left a sour taste in our mouths as regards the processes of preparation, execution and outcomes are no longer in doubt.
This has thrown up, for the umpteenth time, the recurrent issues of unity, ethnicity, elite hypocrisy and electoral violence. And this is capable of disparaging the appreciable positive vibes the election brought to the table.
For the first time in a long while, a third force emerged to unseat age-old political permutations and punditry. The Labour Party became a moving train that turned the apple cart in the unexpected direction to the benefit of our representative democracy and the quest for a departure from the usual and the familiar.
The crises of confidence that engulf the electoral umpire by the people’s numerous accusations and the various accusations and counter-accusations by the political parties have left us with a politically gloomy atmosphere that seems to have postponed “the evil day” to the ball court of the judiciary.
While waiting for the judiciary, so many questions need to be asked and more answers provided to address the present deepening mistrust among Nigeria’s federating units vis-a-vis the rebirth of the monster of religious politicking among the conquering ruling elites.
Politics have once again been reduced to tribal tirades and everyone seems to be in support of their ethnic convenience as against the general well-being of the generality of the Nigerian people.
Highly educated and supposedly informed and respected individuals have returned to the convenience or inconvenience of their ethnic cocoons, firing ceaselessly at the relative peace we have mutually enjoyed over the years, to the spiteful consternation of the other and equally intolerant ethnic group.
Yet, all these are brought about and further deepened by our very variant of Democracy and the democratisation process and not a military regime. Then, how united are we as a nation and how disunited can we likely become amid this melee, in the nearest future?
Democracy is blind and ineffective when it cannot address the basic problems of representation and fundamental rights of citizens. Our Democracy seems to be powered by disjointed and highly competitive cyclical elites who seem to have conquered us all, using the instrumentality of ethnicity and religion. It is a pity!
Our hydra-headed dilemma as a nation can be likened to the proverbial chicken and the egg; which one comes first in our troubleshooting scale? Is it the people or the system? For example, was the Nigerian electoral body the problem or the people that run it?
We must once again, take a cursory look at our institutions and the need to strengthen them beyond the easy influences of the men that run them with the connivance of state power.
Our politics should go beyond petulant perversities and the mundane levels of unnecessary hate, bigotry and negative energy being displayed by both the older generation and the younger. Let us reject the elite manipulation that is putting everyone on overdrive. It is a deceptive strategy from hell.
Austen Akhagbeme is a Columnist with Blank NEWS Online
Abuja – Nigeria graduated the third cohort of the Growing Expertise in E-Health Knowledge and Skills (GEEKS) fellowship program graduated in Abuja. GEEKS is a capacity-building program funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and implemented by the Africa Field Epidemiology Network and the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria. The cohort included seven fellows from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
During the program, fellows, with oversight from ten mentors, developed a Data Analysis and Visualization Tool for Nigeria’s District Health Information Software 2 dashboard to show linkages between adverse events following immunization (AEFI) and immunizations received to help facilitate the fast-tracking of responses to any adverse events following immunization. The fellows also developed a routine immunization and vaccine-preventable diseases (VPD) dashboard for Nigeria’s Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System to link immunization coverage with outbreaks. Both dashboards will help inform and improve Nigeria’s public health programming and response efforts.
The GEEKS fellowship was established in 2019 as a data management capacity-building program where nominated staff of government agencies participate in a 12-month intensive training and mentorship initiative focused on transferring and strengthening technical skills to optimize data collection and analysis to inform evidence-based decision-making and improve public health service delivery. Since its inception, the program has trained over 50 government of Nigeria staff on data management, triangulation, interpretation, communication, and research writing.
Recruitment for the fourth cohort is currently underway and will include staff from NPHCDA, NAFDAC, NCDC, and the Federal Ministry of Health. The training and mentorship sessions will take place from May 2023 to April 2024 and will focus on building the capacity of subnational-level government staff.
The GEEKS fellowship reinforces the U.S. government’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s federal and states ministries of health in the development, implementation, and evaluation of disease response efforts and programs that contribute to a strengthened public health infrastructure.
… Market Begins Daily Trading Activities Tuesday, April 11, 2023
The Doris Amaka Ochei Foundation (DAO Foundation) Monday achieved a milestone when it brought back to use the market at Onicha-Olona that was built 20 years ago by the Aniocha North Local government administration of Callistus Nwawolo but abandoned because of lack of good access road.
However, through the magnanimity and benevolence of the DAO Foundation that has Dr. (Mrs) Doris Amaka Ochei, wife of Major General Raymond Ochei as founder and President, the market was rehabilitated, expanded and commissioned by the incumbent Local Government Chairman, Hon. Kevin Okwechime for immediate us.
Okwechime was represented at the event by the Secretary to the Local Government, Hon. Kennedy Okoh.
The event which brought joy to the sleepy town of Onicha Olona was graced by notable personalities, including the Obi of Onicha-Olona, His Royal Majesty Obi Uzu Diji, former Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly and Executive Director, NIMASA, Rt. Hon. Victor Ochei, Major Gen. Ochei, Chairman, Delta State waste Management Board, Hon. Emma Chinye, the Omu Anioma, Obi Martha Dunkwu, the clergy among numerous others.
Speaking at the commissioning and unveiling of the plaque of the market, President of DAO Foundation, Dr (Mrs) Doris Amaka Ochei, while thanking God for the grace and the guests for gracing the occasion said: “Today for me is a dream come through because the day that we came to commission this road, I looked at the market and I felt that it was a huge waste leaving the market lying like this. And I decided that something has to be done to encourage women to come here to start trading.”
She said that the Dr. Doris Amaka Ochei Foundation (DAO Foundation) is one that is interested in the development of community, especially uplifting the standard of living of the men, women and children.
She explained that this is because of the peculiar nature of women and the responsibility of training and bringing up the children, taking care, of their husbands, the home and making themselves as wives presentable to husbands make huge demands on the women.
Dr (Mrs) Ochei said: “That is why DAO Foundation is interested in women. So we looked at it and said if were empower women so they can become financially capable. When I say financially capable, I don’t mean being independence because you can’t be independent from your husband, no matter how rich you are. But capable to be able to take care of some things; take care of yourself without stressing the man all the time.”
She urged the women to understand that it is important for them to engage their minds to be financially able to done things little by little and thus help to reduce pressure on husbands.
“You will help to train the children; you will look good for your husband and even come to assist your husband in case he becomes a little bit financially dependent,” Dr. (Mrs) Ochei said.
She pointed out that being women they need to be financially capable.
“This is why we said putting this market into operation will enable women to take advantage of it to support their families. That’s why we took interest in bringing up this market,” she said.
Dr. (Mrs) Ochei then encouraged the women to immediately begin to put the market to use by moving their wares and products into the stalls.
Urging them to begin to operate the market daily henceforth, she said: “Operating daily market is important. With daily market people will no longer go to Issele-Uku to buy things. It is based on this that we said that the 87 market women who are already established as traders in this market, DAO Foundation will support you with N50,000 each . This will stand as take off grant for you.”
She continued: “I encourage you to move into this market immediately. Understand that once this becomes a regular market in Onicha-Olona, it will attract other commercial activities; attract people including those who operate garri business. When they begin to come, they need rented accommodation and so on and so forth.
“That’s why I am asking and pleading with you to move into this market facility immediately to commence trading activities,” the Dao Foundation president said.
She greeting members of the Omu institution, acknowledging that the market place is their turf and responsibility.
Speaking, the Aniocha North Local Government Chairman, Hon. Kevin Okwechime, who was represented by the Secretary to the Local Government, Hon. Kennedy Okoh, while commending the people of Onicha-Olona for the epoch making event that will go down in history as an effort to deepen the concept of Private-Public- Partnership and self-help effort in community development, acknowledged with commendation the vision and commitment of Dr. (Mrs) Doris Amaka Ochei Foundation to the rehabilitation/expansion of the modern market that has the potential to inspire a wide range of income generating and livelihood enhancing activities.
“Permit me therefore to assert here with every sense of responsibility that with your resounding successful execution of this project, you have demonstrated your love for our people and created another window for improved economic activities towards wealth creation and poverty reduction,” Hon. Okwechime said, adding that the strategic location of the Onicha-Olona places the town as a transit community and market/commercial hub of its neighbouring communities.
While pointing out that the modern market beckons on all market men and women within the local government area and beyond, the Council Chairman called on the people to urgently acquire stalls in the market to boost their individual trade.
He said: “It is worthy at this juncture to state that it’s consistent with regular practice and pursuant to Section 7, 4th Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which confers maintenance and management of markets to local government, the Aniocha North Local Government in liaison with the Onicha-Olona Development Union has duly initiated the process of allocation of open stalls in the market through open balloting system. We urge all concerned to urgently pick up the interest expression form either from the Office of the President General of the town’s development union or office of the Secretary to the Local Government at Issele-Uku. Moreover, the Local Government is not unaware of the identified need and upgrade to daily market in the near future.”
The Local Government chairman commended the Onicha-Olona Development Union for its impact on the Council’s area over the years through self-help as evidenced in the novel ideas and patriotism per excellence that the current President General is bringing to bear on community service. “His modest effort is inspiring and requires encouragement,” Hon. Okwechime said.
The President General, Onicha-Olona Development Union, Sir Patrick Ejidoh earlier in his welcome address, expressed the community’s gratitude to Major General Raymond and his wife, Doris for the good gesture. He specially singled out Dr. Mrs Doris Amaka Ochei for her interest in the development of the town. “She completed and tarred the road and went ahead to proclaim that the market’s rehabilitation would be completed by Easter,’ Sir Ejidoh said.
The PG recalled that the market was built 20 years ago in 2003 when Mr. Callistus Nwawolor was the local government chairman. “When the market was completed, the road was dilapidated and it discouraged traders from coming because it was a difficult terrain and people could not access the market. The people resorted to trading at the centre of the road with its attendant risk and danger.”
Ejidoh also announced that the contractors have done a good job, adding that the water system in the market is working and that the conveniences. However, he said although those essential facilities were working but that it is not yet Uhuru because there’s still much to be done. That notwithstanding, he said Effective today, Tuesday, April 11, 2023 that trading activities will commence in the market. He then said that no trader will be found trading along the road anymore.
Ejidoh also announced that there are 460 stalls in the market, and that the former allocations have been revoked because the allocations were lopsided, pointing out to the applause of the people who rose to dance to the cheering news that the N1,000 each for the form has been paid for all the 87 market women by a good Samaritan, Mr. Nelson Nwachi.
Those who are yet to be allocated stalls, Ejidoh announced that allocation would be made to them by ballot, while each form costs a non refundable fee of N1,000 that must be returned within three days. Onicha-Olona market is therefore, opened for everybody beginning Tuesday, April 11, 2023,” the PG said.
Highlight of the event was the cutting of the tape to inaugurate the market, which was done by the Aniocha North Local Government Chairman, Hon Kevin Okwechime represented by Hon. Kennedy Okoh, Secretary to the Council. Thereafter, the unveiling of the plaque was done by Omu Anioma, Obi Martha Dunkwu, assisted by the Dr (Mrs) Ochei, her husband, Major Gen. Ochei and the PG, Mr. Ejidoh.
Omo Anioma, Obi Dunkwu also performed other traditional rites, praying for the good of the market and dancing while acknowledging cheers from the people.
-By Gertrude Onyekachukwu-Uteh and IfeanyiOmenogor:
Ifeanyi Joel Ugwu is the CEO of Ifenoz Royal Ventures. He hails from Aniocha South LGA; he enrolled into the Delta State Government’s Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs Programme (YAGEP) inthe 2021/2022 cycle in which he was retrained and supported as an existing poultry farmer. He is an SSCEholder. He shares his testimony.
“YAGEP has impacted on me positively and has givenme financial settlement. It made my family comfortable. My poultry is growing daily. From the support package of two hundred birds and sixty-five bags of feed, I have grown to three hundred and fifty birds and more bags of feed in one year. Okowa is great.
“I have trained six persons and currently, I have one trainee and one employee. I have acquired a plot of land measuring 100×100. I got married after my YAGEP and I feel fulfilled. I know my future is bright. I earn enough monthly to provide for my family.”
The Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, (APGA) , in Delta State, in the just concluded 2023 general elections, Chief Great Ogboru, Monday, offered reasons why he congratulated Rt. Hon Sherrif Oborevwori, saying he was convinced that the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) won the March 18 Governorship Election.
Interacting with newsmen at Abraka, Ethiope East Local Government Area, Chief Ogboru, who clocked 65 years old, Monday, April 10th, 2023, described insinuations that he was bought over by the PDP, as false, reiterating that he was one of the few people that could not be induced with money in any cirmcumstance.
In his words; “If anybody was making that insinuation, they are wrong; when we went to the elections, the PDP approached us and as a matter of facts, they came and approached us that we should step down and I said no, it should be the reverse, your candidate should step down and endorse me.
“After few weeks, we met with the state governor and in that meeting we agreed that one of us should win that election and that if Sheriff won, Great Ogboru that win and if Great Ogboru won, it is Sheriff that won.
“So to that extent, l have to congratulate him and be part of the celebration, but in any case it was not pre planned because it was not to be so and without any apology we have to congratulate him because we did not win that election.
“The issues of apathy, violence, voters inducement and intimidation are not issues to be adjudicated upon in the court, these are realities, and if you are not able to change it because the law did not permit you to do so, you must accept the outcome.
“There are no contradictions to the facts that the elections were marred with shortcomings, but it did not take the fact that somebody won the election as it were.We accept that report and we are standing by it.
“I have no words for other constants, they have their own party and l have my own party, the decision we took was not a decision l took by myself but it was after due consultation with members of our cacus, very senior members of our party and it was not a personal decision.
“They would have to come to the conclusion themselves and by the time they realized as l have realized that it is not going to be easy, it is going to be impossible for that matter to prove some of the allegations levied against the election.
“They would come to the inevitable conclusion that they will not question the outcome. In any case, it is a process, let them go to court, they have their grievances, let them go to court and do what they think is the best.
“We stand by our own judgement, confirmation that Sheriff Oborevwori won the election properly.”
Delta State Governor-Elect and Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori has hailed Chief Great Ogboru, the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, (APGA) in the March 18, 2023 Governorship election in the State, as a “true democrat and great patriot.”
In a congratulatory message that was signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Dennis Otu, the Governor-elect was full of praises for Ogboru’s spirit of sportsmanship before, during, and after the recently concluded gubernatorial election in the State.
“On behalf of my family, political associates, constituents, and the good people of Delta State,” Rt.Hon Oborevwori said, “I celebrate a great man of our time, Chief Great Ogboru on his 65th birthday. A man with a large heart and an apostle of politics without bitterness, he was the first governorship candidate to congratulate me after I was declared winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election in Delta State. Indeed, Chief Ogboru is a true democrat, an exemplary leader, and great patriot.”
According to Rt.Hon Oborevwori, Chief Ogboru earned the appellation of ‘The People’s General’ because of his “undiluted passion for and unwavering commitment to good governance, and a nation anchored on the principles of equity, fairness, and justice.”
He lauded Chief Ogboru’s avuncular disposition, noting that “many politicians in the state realised their political ambitions through him.” Similarly, the Governor-elect added that as a successful businessman and wealth creator, hundreds of Nigerians have been rescued from the jaws of unemployment and poverty through Chief Ogboru’s companies.
Concluding, Rt Hon Oborevwori said: “I celebrate my brother and friend on this wonderful occasion of his birthday. I pray that God would add many more years to him in good health, sound mind, boundless joy, manifold wisdom, and prosperity.”
The Metropolitan Archbishop of Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province Most Reverend Valerian Okeke
charged Inmates of Correctional Center Onitsha to have absolute Faith in God.
The Archbishop gave the charge while delivering a homily at Correctional Center, Onitsha during an Easter Sunday service with the inmates.
He called on the inmates to always have faith in God, stating that with Him, their problems will be solved and charged them to always channel their problems to Him.
Archbishop Okeke described Easter as a celebration of victory and counselled Nigerians to cue into the celebration for a total transformation in all spheres of their lives.
He said nothing is impossible with God, while nothing also happens by accident or mistakes in the affairs of God.
Archbishop Okeke who showered the inmates with various gift items charged them to have faith and be prayerful reminding them that God did not forsake the Israelites when they called on to him while facing imminent danger from the Egyptians who were pursuing them as they approached the Red Sea.
He charged the people to move forward with fidelity, faith and total abandonment to the will of God, noting that with faith one can do greater things.
In his remarks the Chaplain Onitsha Correctional Center, Reverend Father Bath Okpalugo, thanked Archbishop Okeke for his achievements in the facility, especially the ongoing Skill Acquisition Center
Rev. Fr. Okpalugo also extolled Governor Soludo for his giant strides in the State and called for support from Ndi Anambra.
Speaking to our correspondent, the Commissioner for Education, Professor Ngozi Chuma-Ude, said she was privileged to be part of the Mass to identify with the inmates and asked them to believe in God.
The Controller of Correctional Center in Anambra State Mr Patrick Chukwuemeka, who appreciated Archbishop Okeke for remembering them asked God to continue to bless him.
The event attracted some friends of the facility including, Governor Chukwuma Soludo, represented by the Commissioner for Education Professor Chuma-Ude, member representing Onitsha Constituency Two, Mr Edward Ibuzo, Director Catholic Women’s Organization Onitsha Archdiocese, the Controller Correctional Center in Anambra State Mr Patrick Chukwuemeka, among others.
Yobe State Governor, Hon. Mai Mala Buni has called on Nigerians to use the Easter occassion to pray for a successful and peaceful transition of power as Nigeria prepares for change of leadership.
Buni stated this in a goodwill message to the Christian faithful to mark the Easter occassion.
He said, it is very important to internalise the values of love and sacrifice as reflected in the teachings of the Easter at this period of our national life.
Buni said: “The good lessons of love and sacrifice should be used to promote peace and unity for the prosperity of the country and Nigerians.”
The Governor noted that this is a blessed period when Christain faithful observe the Easter at a time when their Muslim brothers are observing the Ramadan fast.
He said: “It is therefore a great opportunity for us as a Nation to take advantage of this period to pray for our country.”
The called on religious and community leaders to always preach peace and peaceful coexistence, stressing that: “We can only practice our religions and acheive prosperity when we have peace.”
He recalled that: “Some few years back, we could not go to mosques and churches in Yobe state due to security challenge, but today we glorify God for the peace we now enjoy across the state.”
He advised that: “We should therefore guard it jealously and avoid anything that could tamper with peace and security in Yobe state and Nigeria.”
India’s Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has advocated for the conservation of the big cats in order to prevent their extinction.
The Prime Minister, in a mega international event held on Sunday at Mysuru, Karnataka, to commemorate 50 years of Project Tiger, made the call for their conservation.
Modi while launching the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) for conservation of seven big cats namely Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Cheetah, Jaguar and Puma harbouring our planet, noted that India has a long-standing experience on the tiger agenda and conservation of other big cats like lion, snow leopard, leopard, now the translocation of the Cheetah to bring an extinct big cat back to its natural habitat.
According to a report from one of India’s major newspapers, IBCA will focus on protection and conservation of seven major big cats of the world such as tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, puma, jaguar, and cheetah in collaboration with countries harbouring these species.
“The belief of Narendra Modi has been integral in the environmental consciousness. Wide-ranging efforts have been undertaken, which have together positively impacted the wildlife in the country,” according to a government release.
The IBCA will provide assured support over five years with guaranteed funding of over Rs 800 crore.
The group will work towards the protection of the seven big cats — tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, puma, jaguar and cheetah.
Membership to the alliance will be open to 97 “range” countries, which contain the natural habitat of these big cats, as well as other interested nations, international organisations, etc.
The IBCA will engage in advocacy, partnership, knowledge e-portal, capacity building, eco-tourism, partnerships between expert groups and finance tapping.
The main objective of the alliance is to rehabilitate the big cats, with the alliance disseminating information on benchmarked practices, capacity building, resources repository, research and development, and awareness creation.
In July 2019, Prime Minister Modi had called for an Alliance of Global Leaders to firmly curb poaching and illegal wildlife trade in Asia.
According to the government, the population of tigers increased by 33% over 4 years to 2,967 in 2018.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi visited Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka where he interacted with frontline field staff and self-help groups involved in conservation efforts, as part of programmes to mark 50 years of ‘Project Tiger’.
Chairing the Ministerial session on global status of big cat conservation Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Bhupender Yadav said conserving big cats and their habitats can secure some of the most important natural ecosystems on Earth leading to natural climate change adaptation, water, and food security for millions of people, and provide livelihood and sustenance to forest communities.
He said the Alliance will strengthen global efforts and partnerships on big cat conservation, while evolving a platform for convergence of knowledge and best practices, supporting existing species specific inter-governmental platforms, while also providing direct support to recovery efforts in potential range habitats.
Shri Yadav said with big cats as mascots for sustainable development and livelihood security, India and the big cat range countries can usher in major efforts on environmental resilience and climate change mitigation, while paving a future where natural ecosystems continue to thrive, and gain centrality in economic and development policies in the “Amrit Kaal”.
The Ministers of Big Cat Range countries acknowledged and appreciated the leadership of India in big cat conservation and praised the efforts of Prime Minister, Union Minister and senior forest officials of the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate change.
The Ministers of Big Cat Range Countries made the following remarks on the momentous event of launch of International Big Cat Alliance by the Prime Minister of India.
Forest Minister of Bhutan in his speech accepted the leadership of India in guiding them. His passing remarks like may Goddess Chamundi shower her blessings on all of the forest fraternity and his words in Hindi reverberated around the hall.
Forest Minister of Bangladesh praised India in helping in their conservation efforts in saving their pride that is Sundermani and Chittagong tigers.
His Excellency from Cambodia, was enthusiastic in getting tigers from India and rehabilitating them in in their Cardamom Hills and in their Sripok Wildlife Sanctuary.
He also spoke about the re-introduction plan prepared by them.
Kenya’s Minister of Wildlife, Tourism and Culture, through her video message lauded the help rendered by Government of India and Indian Forest Service, in formulating the protocols, good managerial practices, in the conduct and evaluating of Census results of wild animals especially Lions in her country.
Minister from Nepal, accepted the leadership of India in the field of wildlife conservation and offered all support to the alliance.
Ethiopian Forest Minister without mincing words expressed his greatest satisfaction in being a part of an endeavour to save big cats all around the world.
His Royal Highness the Regent of Pahang was all praise for India’s efforts and wanted assistance in recovery of tiger population in Malaysia. Besides this Ministers and head of delegations of Suriname, Armenia, Tanzania, Nigeria, Vietnam, Thailand and Lao also expressed their appreciation for the said initiative.
The Union Minister Shri Bhupender Yadav acknowledging the overwhelming support promised to work on modalities to take the launch of IBCA forward and thanked everyone for their participation.
Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum has felicitated with Christians in Borno State and the rest of Nigeria on the ongoing Easter festival.
Zulum, in his message released by his spokesman, Malam Isa Gusau, urged citizens in Borno State to pray for the full restoration of peace in the state and to also pray that the second term of his administration will be guided by God to deliver on hundreds of infrastructural projects, programmes and policies that will improve living standards in ways that will far surpass what was achieved during his first term that will soon end on May 29, 2023.
The address read: “On behalf of Borno State Government, I heartily felicitate with our Christian brothers and sisters in Borno and across Nigeria at this Easter season.”
“I urge security agencies to sustain their good efforts in preserving security during the festivities and far beyond.”
“I call on all celebrants to make sacrifices in reaching out to family members, friends, neighbours and other community members who might be in need of help.”
“As we round up our first term, I want to specially request that all the good people of Borno State commit our second term to prayers by devoutly asking God to guide us towards the full restoration of peace, towards the safe resettlement of citizens still displaced, towards the reviving of means of livelihoods across all communities previously affected by insurgents’ destructions and the strengthening of economies in areas less affected by attacks in all senatorial zones.”
“I also seek prayers that God guides us to undertake hundreds of meaningful infrastructural projects, programmes and policies that will fairly impact on all our 27 local government areas.”
“Above all, I seek prayers that God sustains our human efforts to be good leaders whose hearts and minds will remain overwhelmed by the sincerest desire to serve the good people of Borno State.”
A 34-year-old male South American from Suriname, Dadda Albert has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Rivers state for bringing into Nigeria 117 parcels of cocaine concealed in extra-large latex condoms factory packed inside bottles of 100ml body spray.
A statement on Sunday by the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi said the suspect claimed he departed his country, Suriname, located in the North Eastern coast of South America on 2nd April for Sao Paulo, Brazil and from São Paulo boarded Qatar Airways flight to Nigeria last Friday in search of his long-lost Nigerian father whom he called “Omini.”
In another development, NDLEA officers at Tincan seaport in Lagos have intercepted 110 parcels of Colorado, a strain of cannabis, weighing 55 kilogrammes hidden in a container marked MSCU 4972769 from Toronto via Montreal, Canada.
According to Babafemi, the illicit consignment was discovered in the container bearing five units of used vehicles, during a joint examination of the cargo by NDLEA and other port stakeholders. He disclosed that the seizure was part of a total of 1,559.3 kilogrammes (1.5 tons) of the psychoactive substance seized during interdiction operations in five states in the past week.
He said while two suspects: Nura Ibrahim, 40, and Habibu Sadiq, 38, were arrested with 120 blocks of cannabis weighing 148.7 kilogrammes along Zaria-Kano road, Kano on Sunday 2nd April, not less than 418.5 kilogrammes of the same substance and a Sienna space bus used in conveying it were recovered last Thursday at a notorious drug hub, Patey, Lagos Island.
He disclosed that a suspect, Azi Solomon was arrested same day at Ojota garage while attempting to move 23 kilogrammes cannabis to another state. Similarly, two suspects: Abubakar Abdulahi and Stanley Tobias were arrested last Friday with 108,000 tablets of tramadol at Oyingbo motor park in Lagos.
In Imo, NDLEA operatives on routine patrol along Owerri – Onitsha expressway intercepted a commercial bus from which a total of 37, 210 pills of opioids and 30 bottles of codeine syrup were recovered and three suspects arrested in follow up operations.
Babafemi said a total of 40.9 kilogrammes cannabis was sized from two suspects: Haruna Adamu, 32, and Salisu Ibrahim, 30, in parts of Taraba, just as 502,840 pills of tramadol and exol-5 were recovered from a suspect, Imrana Aliyu in Wukari lastThursday; 205.6 kilogrammes was recovered from the home of a fleeing suspect in Gida Dubu area of Bauchi metropolis.
He disclosed that the Sokoto state command of the Agency also received 667.6 kilogrammes cannabis seized by men of the Customs Service along Illela-Niger Republic border.
Meanwhile, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd) while commending the officers and men of PHIA, Tincan, Kano, Lagos, Imo, Taraba, Bauchi, and Sokoto Commands of the agency for their vigilance and professionalism, urged them and their peers across the country to maintain the current momentum in their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts and even strive to exceed set targets.
SINCE the inception of Maris Annual Public Service Lecture series, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly, will be the first person to attend the lecture as Governor-elect.
Rt. Hon. Oborevwori, Governor-elect, Delta State, can be described as a lucky man who will be attending the lecture with a Governor who will hand over power to him, Governor Ifeanyi A. Okowa , CON, of Delta State (2015 – 2023) and a former Governor of the state, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, Ph.D, CON, (2007 – 2015) and wife of a former Deputy Governor of the state, Lady Esther Elue (1999-2007.)
To event watchers, Rt. Hon. Oborevwori, and lovers of democracy will be at the lecture which will be delivered by an administrator and democrat, Chief Sir Fidelis Tilije, who will speak on the topic, “Provision Of Infrastructure As Catalyst For The Growth Of Democratic Governments.”
Oil magnate, Dr. Gabriel Ogbechie, OON, Group Managing Director, Rainoil Limited, shall be the Chairman of the lecture which will hold on Wednesday, April 12, 2023 at the prestigious Unity Hall, Government House, Asaba. Time for the lecture is 12 noon prompt.
Lady Elue will be Mother of the Day at the lecture and Rev. Fr. John Konyeke, will be the Spiritual Father of the Day.
To discuss the thought-provoking lecture are Dr. Festus Goziem Okubor, Dr. Augustina Erah, Dr. Paul Oweh and Comrade Olumami Oyibo while Dr. Anthony Kemi Emina will be the Moderator.
A brief biography of Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, Special Guest of Honour at this year’s edition of Maris lecture is presented below:
Rt. Hon. (Chief) Sheriff F. O. Oborevwori, (JP) was born on the 19th of June, 1963 to the reputable family of Chief Samuel and Mrs Esther Oborevwori of Osubi town in Okpe Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria. He had his early education at Alegbo Primary School, Effurun. And attended Aladja Grammar School, Aladja. He later went on to Oghareki Grammar School, Oghareki.
He attended Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma for a full time programme, where he graduated with B.Sc. Second Class (Hons) Upper Division in Political Science. He subsequently pursued his post graduate education at the Delta State University, Abraka, where he obtained the M.Sc. in Political Science.
Hon. (Chief) Sheriff Oborevwori is a man who had always availed himself to serve others even in the face of daunting challenges.
Consequently, his people had no hesitation when they elected him as Councillor in 1996, and he was subsequently appointed the Supervisory Councillor for Works in Okpe Local Government Council.
Meanwhile, he was the pioneer Chairman of Osubi Community from 1996 to 2003. Following his developmental strides in Osubi Community as well as other contributions to peace and security, he was given the Chieftaincy title of the UKODO of Okpe Kingdom in 2003, by His Royal Majesty, the Orhorho 1, Orodje of Okpe Kingdom.
On May 25, 2022, Rt. Hon. Sheriiff Oborevwori, won the gubernatorial primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
Rt. Hon. Oborevwori, on March 18, 2023, emerged as the Governor-elect, Delta State with 360, 234 votes against his closest rival, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who scored 240,229.
He is happily married with children.
AWARDS:
Hon. (Chief) Sheriff F. O. Oborevwori (JP) has been recognized and honoured by many organizations for his service to humanity, social and traditional institutions, which include:
* Member Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered).
* Chartered Management Consultant, Chartered Institute of Management Consultants, Canada.
* Certificate on Top Executive Leadership Programme, Manchester Business School, Manchester University.
* Certificate on Conflict Resolution in Democracy, Dubai.
* Certificate on Legislative Management and Leadership, International Law Institute (ILI) , Washington DC, USA.
* Certificate on Leading Inclusive Development from London School of Economics And Political Science.
* Merit Award from National Association of Okpe Students (NAOS).
* Merit Award from National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).
* Certificate of Honour from Okpe Kingdom and other several Awards from different Organisations and Institutions.
POSITIONS HELD:
* Senior Special Assistant on Security to the Executive Governor of Delta State from 2012 to 2014.
* Special Assistant to the Governor of Delta State on Youth Development from 2003-2006.
* Justice of Peace, 2007.
* Special Adviser to the Governor of Delta State on Land Security, August 2007 to September 2010.
* State Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme, 2009 and 2010.
* Elected Member of the Delta State House of Assembly in 2015 to represent Okpe State Constituency.
* Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, May 11, 2017 till date.
* Gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP 2022-2023
The Senior Special Assistant to Delta State Governor on Youth Development and Research Dr. Davids Akpobokaemi commended the Chairman, Okoloba Federated Community in Bomadi Local Government Area, Delta State for being thoughtful to have initiated Multipurpose Hall / Skills Acquisition Centre.
Below were his words.
In his words “The multipurpose hall/Skills Acquisition Centre is a well idea, it has being in offering for a very long time as rightly said by the Community Chairman . The old hall that is almost falling apart, is a byproduct of cultural Group in Okoloba Community who by virtue of their dancing skills were able to put money together to build it years’ ago. Right from our primary school, the old structure was there , the hall was existing before we all started our primary, finished and left”
“The hall does not meet the requirements of modern society because population has tripled men women all that, than there is need to have a befitting hall and of course skill acquisition has to come in because of the time that we are because our people actually in need of skills to enhance social economic development “
“This project when completed, first, it will enhance sense of belonging to all Okoloba sons and daughters because this the centre , Oge ground the founder of Okoloba Community, so this is the nucleus of Okoloba therefore, it will afford us coming together all time to have conducive atmosphere to continuously interface on how to forge ahead as a community in terms of our social economic development, cultural heritage to promote it and at course to also articulate political integration in the local government and of course, in the state.So it is a star project and a welcome development”
“I give kudos to the Chairman and his executive to have come up with the project at this critical time, In term of completion, Dr. Davids Akpobokaemi said like it is done in other places, it is not everything that government has to be solely responsible or government must initiate, development can be initiated by people, and government can come in to enhance facilitate, fast track, so for this project, the Community has initiated it, we are hoping, strongly on well meaning sons and daughters of Okoloba Community both those in diaspora would be able to contribute very very effectively in terms of finance (funding) to assist the Community EXCO in completing the project, and also looking forward to assistance that can come from critical stakeholders in political super space and of course, if government comes in at the critical juncture, it will also seriously enhance the funding. Those critical areas are open which the Community is hoping on to complete it within record time”
“He thanked the Community chairman for his focus and purposeful leadership, because the project has been in the drawing board for longtime, but in his time as chairman, he has being able to start it and made it a tangible thing that everyone can see. He advised him to keep up the pace , he should not lose focus and not be discouraged. Starting a project is very demanding because of funds and other things but since he has started a good job, he can be assured that the Community is going to be behind him. The necessary funding and other assistance he need would be given to him ” Dr. Akpobokaemi the Senior Special Assistant to Delta State Governor on Youth Development and Research said.
Earlier, the Okoloba Federated Community Chairman, Mr Ebiboloemi Bidi took the Delta State Governor’s Aide round the Multipurpose Hall / Skills Acquisition and gave reason why he has to start the project at this critical time.
In his words “I am building the multipurpose Hall/ Skill Acquisition Centre in order to meet the modern needs of the society such as library, promotion of our cultural heritage etc. according to him the over 50 years building that was used as town hall, was owned by cultural Group existed years’ ago does not befitting hence we are putting on this structure which is going to cost the Community about fifty million naira (#50, 000, 000).”
“He said it is the responsibility of all sons and daughters of the Community, he noted that starting is a project good, but completing it is most important and fulfilling “Says Ebiboleami Bidi, Okoloba Federated Community Chairman.
There’s no denying the fact that Edo State is in dire need of purposeful and people-oriented governance, devoid of intra and inter-party crises that distract and takes the government far away from the people.
The Politics of Vendetta, ego and acrimony that Edo state has become in the past seven years needs to give way to purposefulness and peace that breeds development in the state.
It is against this backdrop that all hands must be on deck to support a trusted and tested personality whose vision is to ensure the general good and welfare of the greatest number of Edo state’s already pauperised citizens, seething with discontent.
Dr Azemhe Azena, a well-known philanthropist, clergyman and youth-centric advocate, is offering to provide the “missing link” that will endear governance to the good people of Edo State under the platform of the Labour Party.
Here’s a man that exudes passion for service with intentional goals to turn the state around in all its ramifications. Having lived and schooled in Edo for all his adult life, Dr Azemhe understands the needs of the common people vis-a-vis the hypocrisy of the government’s vain promises to ameliorate them.
Talking with Dr Azemhe gives you an overwhelming impression of a rebel with a cause, seeking an opportunity to unleash his developmental ideas in building a robust agricultural sector by taking advantage of the vast natural opportunities of arable land that favours the cultivation of certain crops on which we have a comparative advantage as a state, on a commercial level.
His vast knowledge and experience in youth development and empowerment over the years within and outside the state put him on a higher pedestal to deploy such passion and experience to develop the people through the instrumentality of the state on a larger scale when given the opportunity.
The deplorable state of health care in Edo state did not escape his prying eyes. His observation through personal research shows the lack of medical personnel in our hospitals and an unbelievable Doctor-to patient-ratio, especially in Edo North, where he hails from.
This is the time for a political rebirth and sober introspection in the management of our political affairs and governance in Edo state. We can not afford to hand it over again to those whose stock in trade is to divide the citizenry while weaponizing governance to underdevelop the state.
This is why we zoom in on Azemhe to come to our rescue in Edo state, under the platform of the Labour Party ( LP) in 2024. May the will of the people prevail.
Austen Akhagbeme is a Columnist with Blank NEWS Online
-By Pastor J. O. Ikupa (Worldwide Publicity Secretary)
The Worldwide President of the Ambrose Alli University Alumni Association, Ekpoma, Dr. Clifford Imade Omozeghian, has inaugurated the Sapele main branch of the association. The inauguration of the branch took place on April 8th 2023 and has as her Chairman, Barr. Arierhe Odiete, a 1992 law graduate of the university also has Chief Barr. Asudo as the Legal Adviser, Engr. Marvis Adu as the Secretary.
Other members of the inaugurated executive Committee include: Eguare Akpomuvire – Treasurer, Ms Loveth Ogbebor – Organizing Secretary, Mrs Ifeoma Nwafor – Publicity Secretary, Mr. Bright Apete as the Editor in Chief.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony the Worldwide President, Clifford Omozeghian express thanks to God for his election and the inauguration ceremony of the Sapele branch which he said marks the beginning of greater things to come in the life of his administration. He called on those who contested the election with him but lost to eschew litigation and join hands with him to build the alumni association noting that a call to selfless service should not be misconstrued as an avenue for self enrichment. He stated that his administration has been running without any funds from the association since they were sworn in in December 2022 and will continue to do so for as long as it takes to salvage the association from the present quagmire.
He highlighted the recent invitation of the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki to the alumni association to join him to visit the university on a one day interactive session with the university community. A visit which marked his first official assignment and recognition by the Edo State Government and the entire university community.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman designate, Sapele Main branch, Barr. Arierhe Odiete gave thanks to God for bringing it to pass and called on all members of the Sapele main branch to be united in order to ensure that the Sapele main branch of the alumni association stand the test of time.
The high points of the ceremony were the proclamation of the branch into existence and the presentation of the certificate of recognition as a branch to the Chairman Barr. Odiete, by the Worldwide President, Dr. Clifford Omozeghian as well as the administration of the oath of office on the members of the executive Committee by the Worldwide Legal Adviser, Barr Presley Okojie.
Present at the inauguration were members of the Sapele main branch, the Chairman, Ughelli branch Chief Barr. Odiete and three members of his executive committee, Secretary Warri branch John Bello Esq., Legal Adviser Warri branch, Pius Kwode Esq., Publicity Secretary of Warri branch Nicholas Ugbo and a Delta State House of Assembly Warri North constituency contestant at the just concluded House of Assembly elections, Comrade Abulu Graham, who is also a member of the Warri branch of the association.
The newly inaugurated Environmental Health Council’s (EHCON) Chairman Honorable Tonye Longjohn has advised the management and staff of the Council to be more dedicated to their duty, insisting that the days of truancy by staff are over.
Longjohn made this assertion in his first address with the top management and staff of the Council after the inauguration of the board of agencies under the Ministry of Environment by the Minister, Mohammed Abdullahi. Also in attendance were the other members of the Board at the Council’s office in Abuja.
According to the Chairman, “Mr. President would not be happy with us if he finds out that we are defaulting on discharging our duties, that would not be nice,” adding that “there would not be room for truancy, please , if you have subordinates that are truants, please tell them that the days of truancy are gone.”
The EHCON Chairman, however assured the staff that they were not there to disturb anyone from carrying out his/her work because, they are all brothers and sisters. He informed the staff that whatever benefit is due to them, shall be made available to them as at when due, either promotion or welfare.
On his part, the Registrar EHCON, Dr. Yakubu Mohammed Baba who was represented by his Senior Technical Adviser (STA) and a Director, Registration, Ethics and Standard in the agency Dr. Isah Adamu praised President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing a board for the Council after many years, he however, went back to memory lane on numerous achievements the Council had recorded since the appointment of the Registrar, Dr. Yakubu Mohammed Baba two years ago.
Speaking further, Adamu said that the Council was established in 2002 by an Act of Parliament and was known and called Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON) but now that the Act has been amended by Mr. President, the Council is now known and addressed as the Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON).
He explained that the practice of EHCON is segmented into two, one is for individual practitioners and the other is the companies’ service providers, adding that, the sanitary inspection of Premises, Cleaning Services, Public health officers and sewage collection, the Council ensures Registration and Regulations are done in administrative way at the headquarters.
Adamu however, on behalf of the Council promised the Chairman and other members of the Board that the Council is ready to give full support and maximum cooperation to the Board in order to discharge their duties creditably.
Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, on Tuesday paid an assessment visit to Malam-Fatori, a former Boko Haram stronghold on the shores of the Lake Chad.
Malam-Fatori is headquarters of Abadam Local Government Area (LGA) in northern Borno and is yet to be fully reoccupied by residents since Boko Haram violently took over the town around 2014 and forced residents to flee to Niger Republic. The military dislodged the insurgents but it was not clear in what year.
Zulum had visited Malam-Fatori a couple of times, first to commence reconstruction and other times to supervise ongoing works.
In his latest visit (Tuesday) the governor held interactions with troops at 68 battalion of the Nigerian Army in charge of the town who also lead the fight against Boko Haram insurgents in the area.
Zulum was received by the commanding officer of 68 battalion, Malam-Fatori, Col. A. Onyeukwu.
The governor announced his approval for the soon to be released armoured personnel carriers (APCs), patrol vehicles and some security gadgets for soldiers.
The support, Zulum noted, was to strengthen the military’s capacity to increase their effectiveness in the fight against insurgents.
The governor commended the officers and men of 68 Battalion, Malam-Fatori, for their bravery and professionalism in discharging their duties.
… Targets May for resettlement
Meanwhile, Governor Zulum during the visit, disclosed that his purpose was to see for himself the clearance process in the town and to also offer support to the military ahead of his target for safe and voluntary return of refugees from to Malam-Fatori community.
The refugees are currently in neighboring Bosso, Tumur and Diffa, all in the Republic of Niger.
The governor is targeting May for resettlement of the refugees.
“My main objective here is to see for myself the clearance exercise and discuss how we can return people. The town was displaced due to flood last year”, Zulum said.
He added, “we want the people to return next month (May) for normal activities to return to this part of the state, insha’Allah. We will give all the necessary support to the Nigerian military to make sure that this objective is achieved, insha’Allah. We call on our people to be resilient and give maximum cooperation to the security operatives working to restore normalcy” Zulum said during his interaction with the commanding officer of 68 battalion, Malam-Fatori, Col. A. Onyeukwu.
Zulum was accompanied by the House of reps-elect for Marte, Monguno and Nganzai, Engr. Bukar Talba, Commissioner for Local Government and Emirates Affairs, Sugun Mai Mele, Transition Council Chairman of Abadam and some prominent indigenes of Abadam.
The Federal Government has declared Friday, April 7 and Monday, April 10 as public holidays for the 2023 Easter celebration.
This is contained in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Dr. Shuaib Belford.
Belgore, in the statement, said that the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, made the declaration on behalf of the federal government.
The Minister urged Christian faithful to emulate the virtues of sacrifice, togetherness, forgiveness, Kindness love peace and patience which were attributes and practices of Jesus Christ, as exemplified by His ministry on the earth.
He also called on Nigerians to use the occasion to pray for an end to the security challenges in some parts of the country, adding that security was everybody’s business.
He also enjoined them to love their neighbours through acts of kindness and generosity of spirit, with the well to do sharing their substance with the less privileged around them.
He urged Nigerians and foreigners resident in the country to display high sense of citizenship and public spiritedness by supporting the efforts of the security agencies.
This, the minister said was with a view to ensure peace and security of lives and property of Nigerians.
He said that the federal government was doing all that was necessary in ensuring a peaceful transition of government following the peaceful conduct of the 2023 general elections.
“The nation is persistently on the part to greatness and I urge all Nigerians to positively deploy their creative energy to the full realisation of the coming prosperity, as there is surely light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
The minister wished all Christian faithful a most blissful celebration and all Nigerians a happy holiday.
Ogoni Youth Federation (OYF) Worldwide, an umbrella body of Ogoni youth in River States has commended the ongoing clean-up of Ogoniland.
The association while giving an Award of Outstanding Performance to the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi on Tuesday, said the award was in recognition of his keen interest and commitment towards the implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on Ogoniland, as well as the success of Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP).
Leading other Ogoni youth leaders to present the award to the Minister, the President-General, Ogoni Youth Federation, Chief Legborsi Yamaabana said the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project is one strategic Federal Government intervention initiative, whose essence and significant cannot be overemphasized. “And while we commend successive Honourable Ministers of Environment, who at different times, made their contributions, superintending over this ministry and the Ogoni clean-up project. We want to emphatically stress here, that under your watch, as the Honourable Minister of Environment and the supervising Minister of the Ogoni cleanup project, several uncommon milestones are been achieved.
“From the Ogoni power project to the recently-approved Specialist Hospital and the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration. You have proven to all, that indeed you are the square peg for this square responsibility.”
Yamaabana said “Honorable Minister sir, it is in recognition and appreciation of your steadfast, focused and passionate disposition towards the success of this project that informed our visit today. We are here on behalf of the entire Ogoni youths, to re-assure you of our continuous support and prayers in all your effort to succeed.”
He equally thanked President Buhari for keeping his promise to the Ogoni people as well as his gracious approval of funds for the project.
The Minister, who thanked the youth promised that many groundbreaking projects are going to be flag off before the end of the present administration.
He called for the support of the youth to continue to keep the South-south safe
National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at working jointly at tackling the menace of drug trafficking in the country.
The MoU aimed at sharing information and strategies that would further strengthen the ongoing war on drug trafficking in the country.
The MoU was signed at the NDLEA headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday by the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd) and the Comptroller General of NCS, Col. Hameed Ali (Retd).
In his speech during the signing, Marwa that with the MoU, the two organisations would collaborate at inflicting maximum loss on drug cartels bent on trafficking illicit substances at the detriment of Nigeria and Nigerians.
Marwa expressed his delight at the decision by the two government agencies to document their working relationship in an MoU, even as he listed the huge benefits of such to the country.
He specifically commended Col. Ali for his excellent record of performance as Customs CG and his past years of public service in the Nigerian army especially as military governor of Kaduna state. He said: “I have always known Col. Ali as a patriotic, hardworking and disciplined officer with excellent track record of achievements.”
He added that the MoU is “certainly a benchmark for information and or intelligence sharing. It is also a platform for sharing of operational and administrative experiences with a view to adopting best practices that work. With this united front, there can only be one assurance that the criminal elements in our society will definitely be the losers and I assure you that they will certainly lose big as we come for them to put them where they rightly belong and cripple their crime syndicates.
“While there is no doubt as to the benefits that this MoU will provide to our two services and the nation at large, it is my hope that its successful execution and implementation will provide the necessary impetus for extension to other sister law enforcement agencies (LEAs) operating at our airports, seaports and land borders. On this basis, it is imperative to drive the implementation of the MoU to ensure that its objectives and derivable are achieved.
“Therefore, on behalf of the NDLEA, I assure you of our commitment to this MoU and intend to provide all the necessary support required to drive the implementation process in order to ensure the realization of all accruable benefits. As it is usually said, together we stand and remain undefeatable.”
Marwa while stating the great significance of the MoU, said the document contains a number of innovations that will encourage interpersonal relationship amongst the rank and file as well as at the various levels of command and administration of the two organisations. “It provides for joint training of personnel just as it makes provisions for regular meetings of command officers at various levels of our command structures. These are the meetings of Commanders/Comptrollers of the various relevant formations, at the relevant directorates/departments of the national headquarters and at the highest level of policy making between the Comptroller-General of Customs and my office, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, which is expected to take place at least twice a year.
“The expected outcome of these series of interactions is to foster better understanding of the respective roles and mandates of our two organisations and how they complement one another in a mutually inclusive way. The ultimate objective is to dissolve suspicion, friction and general interagency rivalry that does not do our nation any good in terms of effectively securing the entry and exit points of our dear country. This will provide an effective defence line at our various ports of entry/exit to prevent the influx of offensive materials and substances that undermine our national security, and ensure that our national assets are not smuggled out to undermine our economic progress and stability.”
In his remarks, the Customs boss commended Marwa for initiating the MoU. He said: “This MOU is sending a very strong signal to fighting crime. We believe that coming together shows commitment to saving this nation from drugs and other substances. I want to take this special opportunity to thank my senior for initiating this MOU. I must say something, he is a very committed person. It is not new to us in the uniform to see his strides, for those who have had the opportunity to serve with him. He is a game player and a game changer. When my attention was drawn to this initiative, I knew this was the Marwa trend. I thank him for initiating this event, and creating an avenue for us to synergize and come up with a veritable way for fighting drug abuse in this nation.
“The essence of our being here has been underscored by my brother, but I want to reiterate that our coming together does not send a signal only to our nation but to the international partners, that we are committed to protecting our borders from illicit drugs. We have all along been doing this, finding drugs in the borders, but thank God the sole responsibility has been removed from us, and we had some relief. What we do now is that when we arrest the suspects, we hand them over to the NDLEA, where they will be pursued, investigated, and punished severely. The coming of Marwa has given us confidence that the suspects will be handled accordingly.”
He expressed the commitment of the Nigerian Customs Service to the implementation of the MoU, stating that: “We are indeed very grateful, to have been incorporated in this your thought and want to assure that the entire Customs will be behind this MOU. I want to believe that collaboration will make impact in reducing to the barest minimum the drug menace.” He said both NDLEA and the Customs must invest in technology to fight the drug menace.”
He added that: “Both of us must ensure we deploy technology as we go into this commitment, to fighting the drug menace. It is the key to success, as methods of concealment are numerous, with other illicit drugs put in pockets, shoes, and edible foods.”
Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, (NIDCOM), Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has congratulated British-Nigerian former World heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (AJ) for getting his mojo back by defeating American Jermaine Franklin on Saturday.after successive lost.
Dabiri-Erewa, in a signed statement on Sunday by one of the officials of the Media, Public Relations and Protocol Unit of NIDCOM, Gabriel Odu, expressed joy over the boxing exploits of the two-time World heavyweight champion as he made a victorious comeback to the global boxing books by defeating the American.
Dabiri-Erewa, while describing AJ’s win as a “never- say-never, the I-can-do-spirit of Nigerians anywhere in the world,” added that AJ is a true ambassador at large, making Nigeria super proud and projecting the good image of Nigerians globally.
This is Joshua’s first victory since 2020 after he successively suffered defeats from Oleksandr Usyk.
The 33-year old former World heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, on saturday, returned to the boxing stage with a unanimous points-decision over Jermaine Franklin with the three judges giving the fight to on 118-111, 117-111, 117-111, at London 02 Arena, Saturday.
Yobe state Governor, Mai Mala Buni has assured that his administration will sustain the leading position in accountability, transparency and Public Finance Auditing in the country.
Yobe was rated by the State Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS), a World Bank assisted-programme, and the Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative report on the performance of Nigerian states on Subnational Audit Efficacy index 2022 as the Second Best Performing state in Nigeria.
The report which assessed the operational level of transparency and accountability in management of public funds and implementation of public policies in the 36 states, scored Yobe state as the Second-Best Performing state.
Buni responding to the award, explained that his administration would continue to apply prudence in the use of public resources to ensure that there is value for money on all policies and programmes executed by the state government.
He said: “We are a state with little resources and emerging out of an over a decade security challenge that needs resources to rebuild the state and its people.
“There are competing demands amidst little resources to rebuild the state, therefore, there must be accountability to achieve our set goals”
“The prudence applied in the use of our resources has assisted our administration greatly to execute our legacy projects that were recently commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“I am happy this report collaborates with the report by the State Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) a World Bank-assisted programme that rated Yobe state as the Overall Best Performing state in Nigeria in Accountability, Transparency and Good Governance” he said.
He added that: “The Public Procurement Association of Nigeria also rated our government as the best state in Transparency and Due Process in conducting government business in Nigeria, l am delighted our performances are being recognised by such reputable organizations.”
The Governor dedicated the awards to the people of the state “especially the civil servants who have been dedicated to our reform programmes in accountability, transparency and good governance.
He assured that: “We will not only sustain these achievements but we will build on them for Yobe state to remain Nigeria’s leading state in fiscal transparency, accountability and good governance.”
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has declared a Port Harcourt, Rivers state based popular prophetess and founder of Christ Power Adoration Ministries, Faith Ugochi and a celebrity couple: Igho Ubiribo and Danielle Allen, who are the arrowheads of an international syndicate operating from Los Angeles, USA, wanted for recruiting teenage girls into drug trafficking.
A statement on Sunday by the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi said the lid was blown off the cartel when NDLEA operatives at the NAHCO import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos intercepted a consignment of 32.7 kilogrammes of Loud, a strong variant of cannabis concealed in cartons of used wears on 16th November 2022.
A freight agent, Ukoh Oguguo was subsequently arrested while further investigations led to the arrest of four more suspects: Chikodi Favour; Obiyom Shalom; Nnochiri Promise and Edward Omatseye (aka Montana).
Babafemi said the 15-year-old Favour was the first sales girl to be arrested at a fuel station in Ajah area of Lagos. She thereafter led the operatives to a duplex accommodation around Ikate area of Lekki, which was later discovered to be a rented apartment by the criminal group purposely for four young girls that the syndicate uses for marketing and distribution of illicit drugs.
Another girl, Shalom who is a fresh graduate of Agricultural Science from Rivers State University of Science and Technology was picked from the house alongside Favour.
He said during their preliminary interrogation, it was learnt that the syndicate rented another building used as drugs warehouse inside Richmond Estate, Lekki, noting that by the time operatives located the house, it was discovered that other members of the syndicate had broken into the store and carted away bags of illicit substances, disclosing that however, some illicit drugs paraphernalia including sealing machine, bloating machine and packaging bags were recovered from the warehouse.
Babafemi said a follow-up operation led to the arrest of Edward Omatseye at his residence around Lekki area. Edward confessed during interrogation to be working for Igho and his wife, Danielle, who are identified as the overall heads of the criminal group.
The spokesman said investigation was able to establish that Favour and Shalom were recruited as salesgirls in the illicit drug trade by Prophetess Faith Ugochi of Christ Power Adoration Ministries, using her church platform to recruit teenage girls brought to her for help, on behalf of the celebrity couple: Igho Ubiribo (aka Tiny) and Danielle Allen (aka Dani), who are the owners of the business, while Edward Omatseye (aka Montana) coordinates the illicit drug trade activities for them in Nigeria, with Nnochiri Chidinma as representative of Ben Cargo Ltd, a freight company responsible for the shipment of illicit consignments into the country.
He said while Nnochiri Chidinma and Edward Omatseye (aka Montana) have already been charged to court and are currently facing trial at the Federal High Court, Lagos alongside Ben Cargo Ltd, a freight company which had been linked to two previous drug seizures and also involved in the current case, several attempts to get Prophetess Faith Ugochi, Igho Ubiribo and Danielle Allen submit themselves for questioning have proved abortive.
He said a letter of invitation sent to Prophetess Faith Ugochi of Christ Adoration Ministries, No. 27 Anozie Street, Mile 2, Diobu, Port Harcourt, Rivers State on 28th November 2022 was received and acknowledged by her mother, with whom she runs the Church. The letter was followed with a reminder on 9th January, 2023 after a long wait.
In the same vein, he said letters of invitation were also extended to Igho Ubiribo and Danielle Allen. A reminder was also sent when the couple did not show any readiness to respond to the first invitation. While Prophetess Ugochi fled her home and went into hiding but continued her prophetic ministration on Facebook, the duo of Igho and Danielle initially sent a legal representation to ask for another time to honour the invitation, they have since gone incommunicado.
He said curiously, they hurriedly moved all funds traced to their company Lasgidi Backwood Ltd where all proceeds from the sales of illicit drugs were deposited into a private account of one Victor Imagoro. The Agency has since blocked the sum of N80 million traced to the account and obtained a court order to seize all properties including a fuel station linked to the suspects in Lagos and Port Harcourt.
The NDLEA has further sought and obtained an order of the Federal High Court Lagos to declare wanted the celebrity couple: Ubiribo Igho and Danielle Allen, as the arrowheads of the illicit trade as well as Prophetess Faith Ugochi, who recruits teenage girls as sales representatives for the duo.
Meanwhile, the agency in collaboration with other stakeholders including the Customs Service last Friday conducted a joint examination of two containers marked TRHU 4758549 and TRHU 6936803 where 143.8 million tablets of Tramadol 225mg were discovered in 720 cartons weighing 10.3 tons (10,386 kilogrammes). The opioid pills, which were mixed with cartons of sweet, according to him were imported from India, noting that the interception followed credible intelligence and cooperation of sister agencies.
In the same vein, officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigations, DOGI, have intercepted at a courier firm a cargo of 1.5 kilogrammes cocaine concealed in a carton declared to contain hair cream, shampoo, hair rollers and burners, going to London, UK.
In Kaduna, operatives last Monday raided Dan Wata village, Soba local government area where they arrested one Abdurrashid Musa, 33, with 142.8 kilogrammes cannabis while the principal suspect, Ibro Danwata is still at large, while another suspect, Shamsu Abdullahi (aka Waja), 35, was also arrested the previous day during a follow up operation at Rigasa Kaduna, after he had abandoned 80,000 tablets of Diazepam weighing 13.4 kilogrammes and escaped arrest earlier.
Babafemi also disclosed that about 63 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 600 kilogrammes stored in a house at Okpe village in Akoko-Edo local government area were recovered last Friday when operatives raided the area, while a raid of a warehouse owned by one Shehi Mallam at tomatoes market, Dei Dei Abuja same day led to the seizure of 80 sacks of cannabis sativa weighing 842.4 kilogrammes. In Cross River, 12,000 pills of tramadol 225mg were seized from a female passenger, Talatu Adamu, 46, when NDLEA officers intercepted the commercial bus she was travelling in along Ogoja/ Katsina-Ala road last Monday.
He said while a suspect, Abraham Alaigwu was arrested at Slaughter, Trans/Amadi area of Port Harcourt, Rivers state with 91.7 kilogrammes of cannabis last Thursday, 228 kilogrammes of same substance was seized from Ayodele Osuya, 35, in a Toyota Camry car around Quarter Guard area of Akure, Ondo state.
Meanwhile. While commending the officers and men of MMIA for a painstaking investigation of Prophetess Faith Ugochi and the celebrity couple, Igho Ubiribo and Danielle Allen along with other members of their cartel, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd) assured that no effort will be spared to ensure the fleeing suspects are brought to face the consequences of their action.
He also expressed his gratitude to operatives of Apapa, DOGI, Edo, Cross River, Rivers, Kaduna, FCT and Ondo Commands of the agency for their resilience, professionalism and excellent synergy with other security agencies in their areas of responsibility. He however charged them and their colleagues across the country to continue to raise the bar in their daily attainments.
Merit Obarakpor hails from Ethiope East LGA. She has a B.Sc. in Economics. She was unemployed until she enrolled into the 2018/2019 STEP cycle of the Delta State Government’s Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme. She was trained and established in Fashion Design and Tailoring. She is now the CEO of Merit NY Concept, Warri. In spite of all odds, she is focused and determined to succeed. She shares her testimony.
“Business is good and thriving. I acquired two industrial and three manual sewing machines. I bought a weaving machine too. I enjoy good patronage and it is quite rewarding.
“Since establishment, I have trained four persons. I currently have two trainees and one employee. I make enough money monthly to cater for my needs and those of my siblings who are now my responsibility.
“I have diversified into event planning to increase my streams of income. STEP lightened my path; it is my dream come true. It made me a business owner. With STEP, I overcame my limitations.”
Delta State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Isaiah Bozimo has said that the State Government through the Ministry of Justice and taskforce on human trafficking and irregular migration will always embrace holistic approach towards collaborating with relevant stakeholders to enhance the safety and security of Deltans.
Bozimo stated this in his office in Asaba when he played host to the Programme Manager, DEVATOP Centre for Africa Development, Mr. Emmanuel Ibiabo and his team who paid him a courtesy visit.
He said that the State taskforce on human trafficking and irregular migration had continued to interface with stakeholders on critical areas of support such as integration, awareness raise and shelter initiatives for victims of human trafficking in the state.
Bozimo,who stressed the importance of the ease of reporting cases of human trafficking in order to ensure rapid response mechanism in tackling the issue, said that the the taskforce was keen in ensuring that indigenes of the state were aware of the dangers associated with human trafficking.
The AG said that the initiative of DEVATOP was in line with what the taskforce was doing in the state, adding that the taskforce was established in the state by Delta State Governor, Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa.
He explained that since inception, the taskforce had played proactive role in combating human trafficking and irregular migration with robust synergy with domestic and international partners such as NAPTIP and now DEVATOP.
Earlier, the Programme Manager, DEVATOP Centre for Africa Development, Mr. Emmanuel Ibiabo told the Attorney-General that his team was in his office to seek Ministry’s and the taskforce on human trafficking and irregular migration partnership in fighting human trafficking.
He stated that DEVATOP had four objectives such as increasing awareness of issues of trafficking in communities, enhance psychosocial support for the team of trafficking in the area of training and promoting multi sectoral engagement between governments and CSOs and private sector.
Mr. Ibiabo, who said that Delta State was among the three states including Enugu and Sokoto where their activities would take place, listed some of the activities to include talk and act and grading of existing application.
He said that the collaboration would cenre on human trafficking, rapid response to cases of trafficking, investigation and prosecution, protection and shelter and integration of victims of human trafficking.
Highpoint of the visit was the presentation of some documents /flyers with the inscriptions, abeg no de ignore human trafficking, if you see human trafficking talkam and human trafficking violates human rights , stop it .
