News
2023: Group Urges Youths To Shun Violence, Political Thuggery In N’Delta
Ahead of the 2023 general election in the country, a frontline socio-cultural organisation in Niger Delta region, Movement for the Survival of Izon Ethic Nationality in Niger Delta (MOSIEND) has called on youths to shun all manner of electoral violence, political thuggery and criminalities in the region, but vote wisely for candidates of their choice.
The group also admonished the youths and electorate to vote out bad leadership with their Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) come 2023.
This was disclosed by the National Director for Mobilisation (MOSIEND), Alhaji Abubakar Amaigo Brown at Abonnema during the commiseration of over 50 youths that were killed at the community during the 2019 general election by the military.
Brown said the essence of the exercise was to re-orientate the people of the clan and the youths to refrain from electoral violence, political thuggery, illegal bunkering and all manners of anti-social vices in the community come 2023 elections.
The mobilisation officer called on Niger Delta youths to select the leaders to govern them with their votes, and not to be used to carry guns and rig elections for the political class.
“We are lacking real leadership in the country, we need leadership and not those that would ask our youths to carry arms during elections and abandon them”.
He regretted that the government in power had abandoned the families of the youths that were killed in Abonnema during the 2019 elections.
“Their bodies were abandoned in the creeks, rivers for fish and cramps to feed on, no compensation was paid to their families by the political class”, Brown said.
Speaking at the event, National President, National Youth Council of Ogoni People (NYCOP), Comrade Mathew Dighi called on youths of the region, especially Rivers State, to shun all forms of electoral violence come 2023.
Dighi described the death of over 50 youths at Abonnema during the 2019 general election, as a colossal lost to the region and the state.
“We are here to create awareness and advise the youths not to act violently in the forthcoming elections, but vote wisely and vote leaders of their choice.
“We, as a group, don’t want such to repeat again in the 2023 general election in all the communities in the region”.
He advised the youth to be careful and intelligent during the forthcoming elections, as he urged them to use their PVCs to vote out bad governance and leadership in the country.
Also speaking, the State Chairman, Civil Liberties Organization(CLO), Clifford Christopher Solomon decried the loss of lives and property, and the wanton massacre that was carried out by the military at Abonnema during the 2019 elections.
Solomon appealed to the youths not to be used as instruments for election rigging and thuggery in the 2023 elections.
He admonished the military to refrain from electioneering process and supervision of 2023 general election in the country.
“It is not the responsibility of the Nigeria Army, Navy and the Air Force to come out during elections to shoot and kill innocent and armless civilians.
“Voting is the franchise of every eligible Nigerian to vote candidates of their choice, and not to be killed by armed personnel”, he said.
“It is not the duty of the military to come on election days to intimidate, harass and shoot at civilians, rather, it is the duty of the Nigerian police to supervise the process and not to kill”.
Earlier, Nyemoni Clan Chairman of MOSIEND, Comrade Emmanuel Selem Romeo, appealed to the youths of Nyemoni to desist from electoral violence, kidnapping, oil bunkering and political thuggery in 2023.
Romeo said the aim of the exercise was to commiserate with the families of the youths that were killed in 2019 general election in Abonnema.
He called on government to provide employment for the teeming youths of the community to better their lives than indulge in crimes and criminality.
Romeo, who admonished the youths that the political class has nothing to offer to the youths than arm them with guns and drugs to commit crimes, advised the youths to shun electoral violence in the forthcoming elections.
“This exercise is very key to Nyemoni youths, because our brothers were killed and dumped in the creeks and rivers by the military during the 2019 elections.We don’t want such sad situations to repeat in 2023.Election is around the corner; our people should be wise, and not die for nothing, not even for the political class.
“The political class cannot give you money to do business, but will give you money to buy guns and drugs to rig elections”, he said.
By: Chinedu Wosu
The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
Chinedu Wosu
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