News
Old PH Township Wears New Look, As Residents Hail Wike
When Chief Nyesom Wike came on board on May 29, 2015, he promised to implement an urban renewal policy aimed at revamping the outlook of Port Harcourt metropolis.
The plan came in two fronts: “Operation Zero Pothole” and massive road construction. To achieve this he divided the city into two as he awarded the project to two multinationals – Julius Berger Nigeria and Chinese Construction Company (CCCE).
While Julius Berger is to oversee works in the Old Port Harcourt Township area comprising adjoining Streets of Niger, Bonny and Victoria stretching down to Borokiri, CCCE to oversee works in Diobu and Government Reserved Areas.
So, between May and October when the governor celebrated his 100 days in office, Julius Berger achieved a massive milestone when it completed the road leading to Borokiri waterfront with two massive drains emptying into the creeks bordering the area.
Currently, residents of Borokiri are enjoying a smooth ride to their houses, including a flood free environment in many homes within the axis.
Shortly after completing the Borokiri Road, the governor commenced the reconstruction of Creek Road, a major artery link to the heart of the Old City. Not only was Creek Road notorious for its traffic jam and roadside markets, the road became a trap due to abandoned road reconstruction work by the previous administration.
Due to the poor work executed by the construction firm, the road became more dilapidated than before with poorly built drains. The project was reawarded to the German Construction firm, Julius Berger Nigeria Limited.
Today from Creek Road stretching to Tourist Beach is now a new glieglight district with night life booming more than before.
A resident of the area Comrade Iyaye Johnson told The Tide that the new urban renewal in Old Port Harcourt township is unprecedented”, though the past administration tied to reconstruct the roads, but it was not a solid job, and that is why we commend Wike for the reconstruction”.
According to Comrade Johnson, “from Captain Amangala, Bishop Johnson to Tourist Beach the drains are very good and the water flashes down into the river”.
What excites him the more is the ongoing reconstruction work on Bonny Street He believes that the current project will cover adjoining streets of Victoria and Bendel.
Another resident who spoke to The Tide on the project is Osaki Konibo, who runs a computer business centre on Bonny Street.
“I have lived in this street for 14 years,” Konibo said, “before the current work there used to be flooding around here and many businesses was affected”
The young businessman is confident that once the project is completed business will bounce back, though currently most of the access to the adjoining streets have been blocked to allow smooth construction works.
Patrick Alalibo recalled that Bonny Street was among the streets that was revamped by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) between 2014-2015, but observed that the project was poorly executed.
“The drains were totally blocked before now, “ Alalibo recalled, they just poured tar and dug a very shallow gutter for us but I want to thank Governor Wike for remembering us again”.
Johnson further said that before now, “all these streets were in bad shape, especially Victoria Street, but I’am happy the governor has approved that Bonny Street should be rebuilt.
He wants the project to be extended to other streets as he commended Julius Berger for the good job they did to revamp Captain Amangala and Adaka Boro Streets.
Commenting on the ongoing work, Emmanuel Frank remarked, “this work is commendable and we thank the government for remembering us here in town”.
Frank is one of the many youths on Bonny, Victoria and Bendel Streets who subsist from watching over vehicles parked by those who go to buy wares from Creek Road market. They make brisk money from the car owners who park in front of the houses on the Street.
By allowing vehicles to be parked in front of their houses, they ask for security fees. “Since this project started our little business have stopped”, Frank lamented to The Tide.
The same view was expressed by Alalibo who said, “they blocked all the whole access points into the Streets making it difficult for us to survive”.
With their business shut down, most of them accused the construction firm of not engaging them in the project.
“We are not engaged”, Alalibo declared, “and we want the governor to know about it. As residents here we are supposed to be engaged in the menial jobs on site but we are not”.
He is of the view since many of them lack jobs, hence they engage in providing security and parking space to those who visit Creek Road market.
Another issue bothering the residents of the adjoining Streets to Creek Road market is the dumping of wastes by those selling fish in the area.
Frank stated, “Once it’s evening time we can’t stay in our houses because of the bad odour coming out from the market”.
He said most of the wastes are rotten meats and fish thrown into the drains by the market women, as he called on the authorities to intervene.
If the activities of the market women are not checked Franc maintained that soon the new drainage being built will be blocked by wastes.
Alalibo wants the market to be relocated from the neighbourhood, as it poses health threat to those living around the area.
“There is so much mosquito and rat from the drains because of wastes from rotten fish and meat thrown into them”, Alalibo said.
The same view was expressed by Konibo, “we have fresh fish sellers around here and they dump their waste into the drainage. Government should try and move the market outside here”.
Konibo insists activities of Creek Road Market is fast affecting the safety and health of residents in thearea.
A visit to Creek Road Market shows that with the reconstruction of the road and coupled with the road barricades built to restrict roadside hawking and selling, the market is now being pushed into adjoining streets and Bonny Street is the most affected.
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.