Niger Delta

OBALGA CTC Chairman Clears Salary Arrears

Published

6 years ago

March 21, 2018

The Chairman, Caretaker Committee of Obio / Akpor Local Govemment Area of Rivers State, Chief Prince Noble Amadi has set the machinery in motion to tum around the fortunes of the local government in accordance with the directives and mandate of the Governor of the State, Chief Nyesom Wike.
Barely one week in office, the council secretariat in Rumuodomaya has once more become a beehive of activities as the CTC Chairman has taken bold steps to put smiles on the faces of the people of the local government including residents of the area.
Already, workers of the Local Government Council are now counting their blessings, as the current administration, going by the Governor’s directive has cleared the backlog of salary arrears owed them.
Besides, the caretaker committee has launched ‘Operation Keep Obio / Akpor Clean’ to ensure that all nooks and crannies of the local government are kept clean and environmentally healthy. And to truly empower the people, the local government boss has constituted an empowerrnent committee and equally ordered the reopening and reactivation of the Rumuepirikom Skills Acquisition Centre for sons and daughters of the area to acquire one skill or the other, particularly those of them who are not engaged in any meaningful venture.
One of the cardinal policies of the present caretaker committee is to rebrand the local government by sanitising the revenue collection mechanism which had in the past seemingly destroyed and tarnished the image of the local government. With dissolution of all functional committees including revenue committees in the local government, the caretaker committee chairman has swung into action to give revenue collection a human face, to the extent that fake revenue agents are now in for serious trouble. Indeed, he is redefining revenue collection in the local government.
The council has already banned illegal street trading, as it is liaising with Community Development Committees (CDCs) in the various communities to assist in this direction.
Already, the Rumuekini Community has provided a piece of land within the market axis of the community for the purpose of relocating those selling liquor around the Obiri Ikwerre axis of the East- West Road. The unwholesome activIties of some businessmen and women operating around this area have often defaced the Gateway local government area.
Moreover, by virtue of the open door policy adopted by the present administration, the caretaker committee is expected to reach out to all spectrum of the Obio / Akpor society with a view to giving all and sundry a sense of belonging, to the extent that at the expiration of its tenure, the people would be glad enough to say that they have never had it so good.
These were some of the insights the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee, Chief Prince Noble Amadi offered in an exclusive interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt recently. He said the overall vision of his government is to run an open door administration because as he put it, he is a servant of the people rather than a leader. “My appointment is a call to serve the people. I am not a leader. I am a servant of the Obio / Akpor people”.
He also revealed that going by the Govemor’s directive, workers of the council have been paid their salaries up to date.
“If you interview the workers, they will tell you that they are happy with His Excellency. That a caretaker committee chairman has come and carried out what the Governor said. I have told people that I must obey all the directives of the Govemor. I am not owing workers salaries. And I will never owe”, he said.
“On revenue collection, the council chairman noted that those doing business in the local government as well as those who own property are only permitted to pay Tenement Rate as approved by the Rivers State GovemmenL Now, what we intend doing is revenue collection with dignity. You don’t go and begin to beat people. We have said that anybody that rnasquerades as corning from the Chairman’s office or the council should be snapped. What we intend doing is to ensure that touting is reduced to the barest minimum,” he said.
Against thiS~drop, therefore, he directed the people to
send SMS to ~ 5%ia Mld 08Q5:9=7A;:H1e8or contact him as
soon as anybody comes to them to demand revenue, adding that security agents would not hesitate to arrest any fake revenue agent. “I have addressed all revenue officers and contractors of Obio / Akpor because I have dissolved all functional committees and all revenue committees. I have also asked them to apply. We will scrutinise. We will know where they live. They will give us two passport size photographs. And each of the revenue committees must work with the police. The essence of this is to get it right.
We don’t want to tarnish the image of the State,” he said.
Chief Amadi also stressed the need for people of the state to continue to support Governor Wike.
“The Governor has done a lot. If you travel from one local govemment to another, you will see roads, hospitals, bridges and a lot of what the Governor has done including human capacity development. In all the sectors, the Govemor has performed. That is why he has gotten lots of awards. I want to say that all Rivers people should support the Govemor for second term in office because Rivers State is POP. Obio/ Akpor is POP. Everybody should go and get his PVC. PVC gives you a voice in 2019”, he said.

Donatus Ebi

Niger Delta

Ewhrudjakpo Counsels New Couples On Faith In God

Published

2 days ago

April 18, 2024

The Tide

Newly married couples have been advised to build their matrimonial homes on faith in God and trust each other for their marriages to stand the test of time.
Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, gave the advice, weekend during a wedding reception in honour of former Miss Sophia Oguru, daughter of former Secretary to the State Government, Professor Edmund Allison-Oguru, and her heartthrob, Mr. Daniel David.
Speaking as Special Guest of Honour at the event held at the Golden Tulip Hotel, Onopa, Yenagoa, Senator Ewhrudjakpo described matrimony as one of the most important sacraments of the church, noting that it was the first social institution established by God at creation.
While drawing attention to the fact that the first public miracle performed by the Lord Jesus took place at a marriage ceremony, he called on Mr Daniel David and his wife not to lose sight of the fact that the family is the first place of worship of God.
In a statement issued by his media aide, MrDoubaraAtasi, on Sunday, the Deputy Governor further admonished the couple to avoid absolving themselves of blame when wronged, being unnecessarily accusative and abusive, saying that doing so could ruin their relationship.
Ewhrudjakpo also charged them to imbibe politeness, patience, trust for each other, and prayerfulness as a habit for their life-long journey of marriage to be truly successful.

Speaking earlier as Chairman of the occasion, the former Deputy Governor of the state, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah (Rtd.), noted that no couple was perfect, and advised the newly weds to make tolerance their watchword.

Rear Admiral Jonah, who is also the Chairman of Bayelsa Elders Council, congratulated the young couple and prayed God to guide them all through their marital journey.

Also speaking, Father of the Bride and former Secretary to the State Government, Professor Oguru, thanked all the guests for honoring the invitation to the reception.

Professor Oguru, who particularly expressed gratitude to the Deputy Governor, and the Chairman of the occasion, Rear Admiral Jonah, said it gave him joy to witness the wedding of two of his daughters in a space of one year.

The Secretary to the State Government, Professor NimibofaAyawei, and the Commissioner in charge of Media and Publicity at the Bayelsa State Independent Electoral Commission, BYSIEC, Hon. Osomu Elliot, were among other dignitaries who graced the occasion.

By: AriweraIbibo-Howells, Yenagoa

Niger Delta

Traditional Rulers Council Honours Two Commissioners

Published

2 days ago

April 18, 2024

The Tide

The Usomini Council of Traditional Rulers in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, has bestowed prestigious traditional titles on two Commissioners currently serving in the State Executive Council in the State for their contributions to the development of the State and their local government as well as the Usomini community. They are Commissioner for Urban Development and Physical Planning, Hon Isaac Umejuru; and the Commissioner for Health, Dr Adaeze Oreh.
While Hon Umejuru was honoured with the chieftaincy title of Eze Chi na Chi 1 of Ogbaland, Dr Oreh was conferred with the title of Ugo Nwanyibueze.
The epoch-making ceremony was held recently in Obirikom Community, all attracted people from all walks of life.The event coincided with the grand reception organised by the Usomini community in honour of the two Commissioners, who all hail from State Constituency 1 in ONELGA.
Speaking at the event, EzeUsomini, Eze Allen Osoh said the Usomini traditional rulers council was elated over the appointment of its illustrious son and daughter into the State cabinet by Governor SiminalayiFubara, describing them as good and worthy ambassadors of the area.
He expressed gratitude to the Governor for the award of the contract for the construction of Igiri-Ubomini-Egbeda-Elele road project, which he noted would bring the much-desired development to the area.
The traditional ruler, however, pleaded with Governor Fubara to consider the award of contract for the construction of Usomini internal roads in order to alleviate the suffering of the people, particularly in transporting their agricultural produce to the urban area.
The Eze Ali Usominill of Ogbaland also made a passionate appeal to the Governor for the upgrading of the Usomini traditional stool to first class status.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Urban Development and Physical Planning, Hon Isaac Umejuru had expressed delight over the honour done him by his people, stressing that Governor Fubara would carry ONELGA along in the development agenda of his administration.
Umejuru, who is a former caretaker committee chairman of the local government council said peace, brotherhood and good tidings would come to his people for choosing the right path, contending that the governor would successfully rule for eight years like his predecessors so that the dividends of democracy would get to the people.
According to him, God would not allow anybody’s evil imagination to thwart the eight years tenure of the Governor.
“We have chosen the right path.The path to peace. Governor Fubara, our dear son will rule Rivers State for eight years and the dividends of democracy will come to us.God will not any evil to thwart it.Dr Peter Odili who owns the original political structures in the State did not fight anybody.Nobody fought the other governors after him.Would you want our son to leave office barely after five months? It is not possible.I will take this message to the governor and will tell him that my people said that anybody against him is an enemy of Rivers State “, he said.
On her part, the Commissioner for Health, DrAdaezeOreh thanked the Usomini traditional rulers council for finding her worthy of the honour.
DrOreh, who was represented at the occasion, said she does everything within her reach to promote peace and progress in Usomini community, and noted her willingness to always take Usomini as part of her home, and regretted her inability to physically grace the event due to official engagements.

Niger Delta

A’Ibom Targets 600,000 Households For Intervention Programmes

Published

2 days ago

April 18, 2024

The Tide

The Akwa Ibom State Government says about 600,000 households have been captured in the social register for its various intervention programmes aimed at ameliorating economic hardship.
The Commissioner for Economic Development, Mr Emem Bob, said this during the ministerial briefing in Uyo on Monday.
The Tide’s source reports that the ministerial briefing is tagged; “ARISE Score Card’’, with the theme “Food Sufficiency and Security: The Intervention and Sustainability Strategy of Governor Umo Eno”.
Bob said though the state Social Register had increased to 2.3 million people, government was reaching out to the vulnerable poor through 600,000 households captured in the social register.
“The social register is well-structured. It’s structured in such a way that we have broken the villages, wards and Local Government Areas.
“These make up the state social register and the total number of people we have in the social register is 2.3 million.
“When you talk about households, we have about 600,000 households in the social register and that is what we have been using for various interventions in the state”, Bob said.
The Commissioner said the process for selection into the social register was very clear and transparent.
He said the social register had been there for the past eight years, saying that the Governor only ordered that it should be expanded to accommodate those who had fallen under the poverty line.
“How people are selected for the social register is very clear. It is a very transparent process in the sense that there is what we call ‘Community Based Targeting’.
“Don’t forget that anything that involves the World Bank is very transparent; they are thorough.
“Community Based Targeting is what was used for social register and we have State Organising Coordinating Units which work with the National Social Safety Nets Coordinator Unit in Abuja.
“They work together and they have staff across the local governments. They go to villages, meet with village heads to pick these people”, he said.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, DrOffiongOfor, said the State Government had put in place a lot of intervention programmes to boost food production and reduce the prices of foodstuffs in the state.
Offor urged the people to heed to the governor’s call and return to farming, saying that farmers should form themselves into cooperative groups for easy accessibility.
“Food sustainability remains the priority of Gov. Eno’s administration. The first thing is that the Ministry of Agriculture merged with the Ministry of Rural Development which also has a component of cooperatives.
“This was deliberate because the cooperative system is the system that is driving food productivity anywhere in the world”, Offor said.