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NBA Confab Begins In Owerri, Today …Lawyers Face Screening For Ebola
The 2014 Annual Conference of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) will open today in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
The conference, which is expected to draw more than 10,000 participants from across the 36 states of the federation, will witness to hand over by the Okey Wali-led excutive to a new team elected in Benin City, the Edo State capital early this month.
The delegates, who began trooping into Owerri yesterday for check-in and other formalities, are expected to appraise the performance of the NBA in the last couple of years, review achievements and challenges, address certain issues affecting the profession within the context of the national political environment, and the place of Nigerian lawyers in global legal practice.
Earlier, the Federal Ministry of Health has given the NBA the green light to proceed with the conference, amid concerns that the meeting may provide the grounds for the spread of Ebola.
The NBA President, Okey Wali, said that after a “fruitful” meeting with Health Ministry officials, the NBA was given the go-ahead for the conference.
Wali said the ministry was now working with the association to curtail the spread of the deadly virus that has killed five people in Nigeria.
“We put our thoughts across to them about what we were doing. The preventive and safety methods put in place – sanitiser and temperature pens, and they were very impressed, and also gave a couple of suggestions to us about one or two things we should look at, and we agreed to work together even beyond the conference,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Health Ministry, Dan Nwomeh, confirmed that the government was satisfied with measures put in place by the NBA for the conference.
“The NBA has made provisions for spraying the hall with family sanitizer, they have provided additional mobile toilets and have made arrangement for spacing of the sitting arrangement,” Nwomeh said.
The Chairman of the Nigerian Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof Chidi Odinkalu, had urged the NBA to suspend the conference until the Federal Government has been able to curtail the spread of the virus.
Odinkalu, who is billed to give a speech at the conference, said he was staying away after being placed on observation of possible Ebola infection having been treated as an outpatient by one of the doctors who had contact with the Ebola index case, Patrick Sawyer.
“It will be ill-judged to continue with the conference in the circumstances of the present public health emergency prevailing in the country,” the NHRC boss said in a statement.
The NBA conference attracts large number of lawyers from across the country. Odinkalu said it could pose public health risk as the country is battling to contain the spread of the virus.
But Wali, said the Ministry of Health has agreed to send its officials to the NBA conference to help sensitise members of the association.
“Because the NBA has a very good reach with members all across the nation, they are disbursing some materials to us like leaflets and posters on how to check Ebola in the conference. In fact, officials of the Federal Ministry of Health would be attending the conference on Monday to give five to ten minutes talk on Ebola. It was very fruitful. In fact, we are all very happy with the way things turned out.
“But the most important thing is that we have put a lot of measures in place and the Federal Ministry of Health officials were very impressed with the steps that we have taken. In fact, they have said they wished that other organisations or people organising such thing would take a cue from what the NBA has done,” Wali said.
He added that the NBA is also working with the Imo State Ministry of Health, which has also set up an arrangement to sensitise the lawyers on preventive measures against Ebola.
He praised Odinkalu for the advice but said it was an isolated case.
“We are thankful to him that he was honourable enough to disclose the fact that he was under observation and will stay away from the conference but that is one case,” Wali said.
It would be recalled that Nigeria has recorded five deaths so far since the outbreak of the disease in July.
Eight people who have tested positive for the disease are still receiving treatment at the isolation centre in Lagos.
Over 200 people are being monitored. Last week, 61 persons were released from the observation centre after being certified by health officials.
Meanwhile, ahead of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference holding in Owerri, the Imo State Capital, from August 25 to 29, the state Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Mr Chukwuma Umeh, has said that the participants will undergo screening on Ebola virus.
Over 10,000 legal practitioners are attending the conference.
The Attorney General told reporters in Owerri that various points from the airport to the venue of the conference, which is the Imo International Convention Centre, had been earmarked as screening points before gaining access into the hall.
He also said that the state government was well prepared for the programme and had put adequate measures in place to ensure the security of all participants and the smooth success of the programme.
Umeh further debunked allegations that there was a court order restraining the government from using the venue of the programme.
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I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
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RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
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Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.