Niger Delta
Delta Community Protests Against Chevron
The people of Polobubo (Tsekelewu) community in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State at the weekend urged Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL, to quench the fire in Ikpalakpalabou oil well and embark on assessment of the toxic effects on residents and the immediate environment as well as pay varying monetary sums as compensation for the disaster.
The people made the call at a peaceful protest following the recent fire outbreak four days ago which has been degrading the land and life of the people.
National President of the community, Ebilate Mac-Yoroki, in a presentation co-signed by Secretary of Polobubou, Midwest Kukuru, said, “As we speak, there is a thick cloud of smoke over Polobubo, constantly raining soot and oil on our people. In this current situation, the oil-well fire has caused Polobubou and its people so much pains, loss and is leaving so much damage behind.
“Chevron should immediately send qualified medical doctors to start attending to all the sick and weak in the community.
“We don’t need to die before they will believe that their activities are seriously affecting us adversely. We need clean potable water urgently because even the ones we currently drink have been polluted from their sources.
“We urgently need all sorts of food stuffs because we no longer have access to our main source of livelihood; fishing, which is also our main source of food. Hunger is worsening in the community.
“We need Chevron to, with immediate effect, embark on a process of cleaning the waters within and surrounding the community immediately.
“This is because they provide life for seafood, it is still the only means of recreation for our children, but as it is currently polluted by crude oil and gas, we can’t fish, just as our children cannot swim in it. It is almost a ‘concentration camp’ experience for us currently.
“We are a community of peaceful and hardworking people, but besides the fact that Chevron has refused to give our people jobs, the natural environment that ought to have been their source of livelihood has been taken away from them by the activities of the company. In the light of this, we demand that Chevron pays compensation to every member of Polobubou.”
Mac-Yoroki also said Chevron Nigeria Limited should provide them with potable water, food, medical aid among other things.
He said they are hungry and in dire need of medical attention, stressing that the fire has polluted their lands.
Mac-Yoroki said, “Our water and food sources”has been polluted by the fire.
He lamented the “unfair treatment” the people have suffered despite its peaceful disposition towards Chevron Nigeria Limited.
“All entreaties to Chevron to save our from the toxic effects of this fire have yielded no result. A much more grievous injustice by this company that has feigned friendship, against our ever-welcoming and peaceful people is the ongoing attempt to cede our land to Ondo state and thereby fan another needless ethnic crisis,” he said.
In his reaction, the Deputy Governor of Delta State, Barr. Kingsley Otuaro assured the people that the state government will not later than next Tuesday, send a delegation that may include CNL officials to assess the damage and proffer possible solutions to the issues raised.
He appreciated the community and its leadership for toeing the line of peace.
The Deputy Governor stated that while the State Government is aware of the fire incident, it also knows that the oil company is “making some frantic efforts towards getting that fire off”.
“I want to assure you that the Delta state government, led by Sen. Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, is a responsive government; a government that responds to the yearnings of its people and just like you have said, there is an issue and I want to say that between now and Tuesday next week, we will send a high power Delta state government team, possibly in collaboration with Chevron Nigeria Limited, to see, first hand, what the issues are, with a view to addressing some of them,” he said.
Niger Delta
LG Service Commission Chairman Calls For Recognition Of RDAs, Creation Of More LGAs For Bayelsa State
Acting Chairman, Bayelsa state Local Government service commission, Barr Uroh Omiekumo Kiani says the 8 local government status of the state remains a ploy by the Nigerian Government to continue marginalising the people of the state in Governance.
Kiani stated this on Tuesday while fielding questions on prospects and challenges of the state local Government service commission with The Tide in Yenagoa.
The legal practitioner and administrator stressed the need for the recognition of the existing 32 rural development authorities,RDAs in the state and creation of more Local governments, saying that when this is done the state would also be receiving more funding from the Federal Government, as according to him outside the usual 13% derivation formular that is employed by the Federal Government in sharing revenue between the states,Federal and Local governments in the nation, the number of Local Governments in a state is also used as a parameter to make allocations.
He added that over the years efforts by the state’s national Assembly caucus and other sympathisers to effect changes in the number of Local governments in the state has proved
abortive due to parochialism in the nation’s politics.
“Given the opportunity I’ll move for the recognition of the existing 32 RDAs in the state as local governments and ask for the creation of more”, he said.
“But the Nigeria system,our constitution has made it very difficult,because all the existing 774 LGAs in the country are listed in the constitution. So to create more you’ll have to amend that provision of the constitution”,he added.
“Our National Assembly members over the years have been helpless,that is because in Nigeria given the chance every state would want to ask for more just because Bayelsa is asking to be treated well in the number if recognised LGAs”, he restated.
The Local government service commission boss who also spoke on the welfare of staff in the various RDAs and councils ares of the state noted that the last time recruitment exercise was done in the Local Government system in the state was in 2012,emphasizing that the recruitment of staff for the LGAs by the commission is restricted to grade levels 7 and above,just as he pointed out that the junior staff recruitment committee of the unified Local
governments.
Inset: Barr.Uroh Omiekumo Kiani,Ag.Chairman Bayelsa state LG service commission.
By Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa.
Bayelsa State government has begun another round of distribution of food items as part of the palliatives to cushion the effects of the coronavirus pandemic in the state.
The items being distributed, which is the third round of palliatives by the state government, include rice, garri, beans, sugar, salt, spaghetti and noodles.
In press statement made available to The Tide Wednesday by the Governor’s Acting Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, disclosed that upon the directive of Governor the items are being distributed to the eight local government areas across the state.
The items were received from the Niger Delta Development Commission,NDDC, the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, Dangote Group and Multi-Pro Limited among other corporate organisations and individuals.
Giving a breakdown of the donations and the distribution during an enlarged meeting of the state’s COVID-19 Task Force at Government House, Yenagoa, the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Konbowei Benson, said the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation donated 1,000 bags of 5kg rice and beans each, NDDC 870 bags of 50kg rice, 2,112 bags of beans, 2,934
COVID-19: Bayelsa distributes another round of palliatives
By Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa.
Bayelsa State government has begun another round of distribution of food items as part of the palliatives to cushion the effects of the coronavirus pandemic in the state.
The items being distributed, which is the third round of palliatives by the state government, include rice, garri, beans, sugar, salt, spaghetti and noodles.
In press statement made available to The Tide Wednesday by the Governor’s Acting Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, disclosed that upon the directive of Governor the items are being distributed to the eight local government areas across the state.
The items were received from the Niger Delta Development Commission,NDDC, the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, Dangote Group and Multi-Pro Limited among other corporate organisations and individuals.
Giving a breakdown of the donations and the distribution during an enlarged meeting of the state’s COVID-19 Task Force at Government House, Yenagoa, the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Konbowei Benson, said the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation donated 1,000 bags of 5kg rice and beans each, NDDC 870 bags of 50kg rice, 2,112 bags of beans, 2,934 cartons of noodles and 60 bags of garri.
Dangote Group donated 3,000 10kg bags of rice, 1,920 packs of sugar, 976 bags of salt and 6,008 cartons of noodles while Multi-Pro presented 24,709 cartons of noodles.
Dr. Benson said the Brass Local Government Area was allotted 2,400 cartons of noodles, 1,600 bags of 10kg rice, 1,600 bags each of sugar and garri, 1,600 cartons of spaghetti and 90 bags of salt.
Ekeremor LGA got 2,880 cartons of noodles, 1,920 bags of rice, sugar and garri as well as 1,920 cartons of spaghetti and 108 bags of salt.
According to the SSG, Kolokuma/Opokuma got 2,640 cartons of noodles, 1,760 bags of rice, sugar and garri as well as 1,760 cartons of spaghetti and 99 bags of salt.
Nembe council received 3,120 cartons of noodles, 2,080 bags of rice, sugar and beans as well as 2,080 cartons of spaghetti and 117 bags of salt.
Others are Ogbia with 3,120 cartons of noodles, 2,080 bags of rice, sugar and garri as well as 2,080 cartons of spaghetti and 117 bags of salt.
Sagbama received 3,360 cartons of noodles, 2,240 bags of rice, sugar and garri, 2,240 cartons of spaghetti and 126 bags of salt.
Yenagoa council received 3,600 cartons of noodles, 2,400 bags of rice, sugar and garri as well as 2,400 cartons of spaghetti and 135 bags of salt.
By Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa.
Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT,Bayelsa state wing has advised the Bayelsa state Government not to undermine the role of their union in ensuring better and qualitative Education in the state.
The Union through its Secretary, Comrade Johnson Hector made their position known to The Tide at the weekend in Yenagoa, the state capital.
He mentioned that upon the shot down of the Educational system in the state following the novel corona virus pandemic,save for rumours the Union has heard from some undisclosed sources on a possible resumption date,the Government has not consulted the NUT on a suitable school reopening date.
The Teachers’ union scribe urged the Government to as a matter of utmost interest for the Education of the Children and wards of Bayelsans show proof of their preparedness to resume schools amidst increasing cases of Covid-19 in the state as it has been making the rounds.
According to him the state primary and post primary Educational sub sectors have deficit of Teachers,noting that more worrisome is that the largest number of schools and students are in
the rural areas where they lack sufficient awareness on Covid-19, just as he stated that there is also the menace of inadequate health facilities to contain the spread of the disease in the event of infection amongst students and Teachers respectively.
“We’ve made our position on resumption date known to the Government through our national body”, he said.
“So if the state Government wouldn’t heed to our advise and resume schools in the state amidst worsening cases of Covid-19 then maybe we’ll ask our Teachers to sit at home”, he added.
“Can the Government provide PPEs such as sanitizers,face marks,running water and soaps for all the Government owned schools in the state?” The NUT scribe asserted.
“They must not forget that our schools are predominantly in the hinterlands where there’s still little or no awareness on the containment of Covid-19”, he restated.
“In most of these communities there’re no health facilities.So let the Government tell us how they can contain the pandemic in these localities in the event of an outbreak in any school there”, the union added.
You would recall that there have been back and forth resumption dates of schools in Nigeria amidst worsening cases of the novel corona virus disease,with the Federal Government hinting that August,3, 2020 is the new date while the Bayelsa NUT says the state Government has kept the union in the dark on a possible date.
By Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa.
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