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RSG Beefs Up Security In ONELGA: Warns Kidnappers …Uncovers 8,000 Ghost Workers
The Rivers State Government, says it has beefed up security in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area (ONELGA) to stem the incessant kidnap cases that have rocked the area in recent times.
Permanent Secretary, Government House, Mr Fortune Oguru gave the indication on Monday when protesting lecturers and students of the Federal College of Education Technical, Omoku marched down to Government House over the frequent abduction of lecturers in the school.
Mr Oguru while assuring the protesters of government’s prompt action, said government was on top of the situation since the state valued security of its citizens above everything.
The Permanent Secretary further assured, ‘ what you are going through, we know, but give us sometimes, and we would act.
He lauded the protesting students and lecturers for their peaceful conduct during the protest, while urging them to go back and support the security agents in fishing out the hoodlums in the area.
Mr Oguru submitted that so far, the state government had spent huge sums in strengthening the security of the state in the acquisition of equipment and training of policemen, and therefore assured them that their plight would be forwarded to the appropriate authorities for quick action.
Earlier, leader of the protesters and chairman of the college’s chapter of Academic Staff Union, Comrade Chima Geofrey decried the incessant abduction of lecturers of the institution.
“Just Tuesday last week, one of our senior colleagues, Director of Degree Programme, was also kidnapped but was released yesterday”, Comrade Geofrey lamented.
So far, he stated that no fewer than nine lecturers were abducted by the kidnappers, while the whereabouts of one Dr Ihua Maduenyi kidnapped last year was yet to be unravelled.
The Academic Staff Union chairman lamented that “we are only left to our fate. The local government and security outfits cannot do anything to check the menace”.
Comrade Geofrey, therefore, demanded that the security outfit of the area be overhauled, while calling on the governor to draft more security personnel to the area.
Meanwhile, Chairman of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, Hon Raymond Nwokocha has called for calm over the incessant kidnapping in the area.
Hon Nwokocha while responding to allegations made by protesting staffers of Federal College of Education Technical, Omoku at Government House, Port Harcourt on Monday, explained that the council authorities had not rested on their oars over the security threat.
Said Nwokocha, ‘ we are not relenting in tackling the situation… the DPO and other security personnel have been tackling and arresting these hoodlums on a daily basis”.
The ONELGA chairman, while expressing sadness over the development, called on the residents of the area to support government’s efforts to check the malaise, stressing, ‘no human being has the right to tamper with the life of another human being”.
Meanwhile, the former Head of Service (HOS) in Rivers State, Mrs Esther Anucha, says the state government discovers 8,000 ghost workers in its service.
Anucha disclosed this in Port Harcourt on Monday at a send-forth ceremony organised in her honour by Etche indigenes in the state civil service.
She said she fought the ghost worker syndrome in the state civil service and reduced the work force from 54,000 to 46,000.
Anucha, who was the first female head of service in the state, said her administration was characterised by industrial peace and harmony.
She said she served the state wholeheartedly and meritoriously, saying “selfless service pays”.
Anucha said that she spare headed the building of the Public Service Institute (PSI) at Chokocho, in Etche Local Government Area of the state and also introduced inter-ministerial sports competitions.
According to her, she retired a fulfilled woman having laid a solid foundation for a vibrant state civil service, and advised Etche indigenes in the service to be good ambassadors of their community.
In his address, chairman of the organising committee, Mr Innocent Anyanwu said Anucha’s administration had brought many Etche indigenes into the state civil service.
Anyanwu said Anucha’s administration had also trained and retrained civil servants, and noted that training and retraining were very essential for success in every human endeavour.
He said that the retired Head of Service had worked hard and left a legacy of harmonious, robust and success-driven civil service and rewarded hard work in the state.
Anyanwu said that many Etche indigenes employed as cleaners, gardeners, security guards and messengers had retired on the same designation after serving for 35 years.
He said such development should be corrected in the state civil service.
Our correspondent reports that Anucha retired in September, 2012.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
News
RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.