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How PHC Got Appeal Court – Okocha
The name OCJ Okocha is a household name not only in Rivers State but nationwide. His fame has gone international especially in legal profession. He is a giant and luminary in law.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and former president of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA). The man was also a Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General in the old Rivers State. A man of many parts, humble, brilliant and devoted leader.
In this Round Table Encounter, a vintage Okocha tackled various questions from The Tide Editors on a range of issues, including his person, Derivation, State Creation, Amnesty for militants and the Law. This is the first part of a long journey.
Happy reading.
We know you because of the interactions we have with you over the years but how would you want members of the public to know O.C.J. let us start with the initials O.C.J?
These are my initials. O stands for Onueze, C. stands for Chukwujinka and J stands for Joe. Joe incidentally is a family name which emanated from my father’s first name which is Jonathan. Some people make mistake sometime they call me Joseph.
I’m a lawyer based here in Port Harcourt at No. 71B Aba Road. I think that should be okay for introduction.
Let us know what these names really mean and if it has affected your life we know when people give child his name, the name must have relevance?
That is correct incidentally in my family we are always named by the eldest man and it happened that my grand father was the eldest man in Okocha family. So the name Onueze is the way Ikwerre man would say Onueze, Onu is mouth Eze is chief, but the way he explained it to me is that it means what God has said, the voice of God is what God ordained my father has had five daughters in a row and so everybody was praying for a boy to come along. When I come along, they now said oh! That this is what God has said, so I was named the voice of the king.
Chukwujinka is from my mother’s place Onitsha. I was born there. Chukwujinka God is holding this world Chukwujinka, and Joe as I said emanated from my father’s first name Jonathan his friends in the police used to call him Joe, so when I was born it was like this is Junior Joe.
People started calling me Joe. You cannot really say at this time in point how those names have affected my life. I have carried on by the special grace of God.
We will take liberty of your presence here; you will help us today with the history of how lawyers started accepting money for their services?
Well you know in the olden days going by the history of the profession in England there were two categories of the legal profession in the category of lawyers, yes generally there are two categories, the Bar and the Bench, but the lawyers are a body we know as the Bar. At the Bar, there are two groups of professionals, Barristers and Solicitors. Barristers were drawn from the rank of noblemen, gentle men of those olden days.
Their responsibility is to go before court and plead the case of their clients as advocates. They just go to court and stand as well as represent you, forward your case and your defence and try as much as possible to get the law to you.
In those days Barristers because they were noble men and gentle men never charged fees. And if you look at the Barristers gown worn by lawyers you will see something like a cord, the rope and behind, you see something that looks like a bag, is a relic of the bag which the Barrister uses to put his implements of work.
The way it came about that lawyers were now charging fees, was that they never charged fees, when you have done your beat for your client and he felt impressed, as you are leaving he would slip some money into that bag behind you. You won’t see it, you don’t discuss fees. That is the relics that you see in the Barrister’s gown that we as Barristers wear. But of course with the passage of time, it became a recognized profession and the profession as you all know is a calling which entitles you earn your living from it and so Barristers started charging fees.
Barristers considered it beneath there dignity to even discuss fees, so the solicitor is the first point of contact of anybody who has a case in the court.
Solicitor’s responsibility is to find a Barrister to represent you and in that solicitor who will discuss the fees not with the Barrister, but with the clerk of the Barrister. Every law firm has a clerk and in those days, the way it happened, you go to your chamber in the morning your clerk will just hand you briefs so somebody is appearing before the home base, somebody is appearing before the criminal court. That morning you just take your time, you glance through, you go to court and you stand and put forward the case.
So when, Barrister and Solicitors now became a recognized profession, fees became the order of the day. The fees as I said were settled between Barristers and Solicitors. But in Nigeria, the early lawyers we had in Nigeria went to England and those of them who became Barristers, but because they were the only people learned in law, they would practice as Barristers and Solicitors.
Those of them who studied as solicitors and could go to court and present cases. Solicitors don’t appear in the High Court in England but now, a solicitor can even appear and wear the gown. So the profession has come a long way, but in Nigeria once you have passed through the law school you are called to the Bar, by the Authority of the body of benchers. And as provided in the Legal Practitioners Act you are entitled to practice as a Barrister and a Solicitor. So Solicitor was the cadre that were usually office workers who take instructions from clients and prepare the cases. The Barrister is the Advocate who goes to court and pleads the cases.
Now in government, you have the Solicitor General, Attorney General, how do their job move?
Oh! these were statutorily done because the Ministries of Justice there was a time when we have Town Council in Colonial days the department that was charged of doing solicitor’s work. Writing agreements for government, preparing cases, while there was the other cadre which was mostly under the Director of Public Prosecutions the (PPP) were mainly the Barristers who went to court to plead cases.
So when the Ministries of Justice were formed, it was recognized that they still needed to be quite apart from the Attorney General, who is the head of the Ministry, a solicitor general. The Head of the Administrative arm of the Ministry of Justice, The Solicitor-General was an offshoot from the solicitor profession, who stayed in the office and prepared the case. The attorney general was the head of the ministry under the constitution as it is now, he is incharge of all matters that will link to prosecution of offenders, that is how the office is run, but they are now legislated on. There is a solicitor-general’s law which creates the office of the solicitor-generals, both at the federal and the state service.
They said before you get a SAN, you would be prepared to have bank account elsewhere?
That is not true.
What is the lowest SAN can have in the bank?
The lowest and this is in the legal practitioners Act, because we do not want a Senior Advocate to handle every case; there must be a chance for young lawyers to grow. A Senior Advocate is not expected to accept instructions from any matter the value of which is under 400 pounds. 400 pounds, you can now begin to do the conversion. Some people are using the exchange rate as stipulated by the Central Bank, some people are using the black market rate, but the stipulations in the law is that, a Senior Advocate quite apart from other restrictions on his ability to go to court, should not accept instructions in any matter the value of which is below 400 pounds.
In recent times, we have come to approximate that to be at some point N50,000, some have said N100,000.
You see before you become a QC in England as we become Senior Advocate here, Queens Counsel or Kings Counsel if the person on throne in England as at the time you are appointed is a man, what you needed to do is to reduce the number of cases making demand of your time and that is why you have to apply for it because it has added responsibility. It will decrease the number of cases you are handling. It will now make sure the cases you are handling are high value cases. Because as a Senior Advocate, as a QC, in civil matters you are obliged to appear with a junior and the way of charging is that you charge first amount, one third of that first amount is added for your junior who appeared with you. So anybody going to brief Queen counsel or King counsel or a Senior Advocate should accept that the fees you will pay will be higher than what you would ordinarily be paying is not only going to pay for the lawyer, the SAN or Queen counsel appearing. He will also in addition pay one third of what he has agreed to pay to that Senior Advocate to the junior, so he was supposed to make you exclusive in a way, so that Queen Counsel, SAN is not for all comers.
What made you read law?
I said to some other journalists, the fear of the mathematics led me to law. During the civil war we lived at a place in Umuahia near a magistrate court. I used to while away my time and go and stand in the court premises and just watch lawyers do their thing.
Some of them were given to all mannerism so I cultivated an interest. As you may know, my father was a policeman and all that , so when I finished secondary school in 1972 in Government Comprehensive Secondary School, we were looking through the universities prospectus syllabuses and all that. I tried to choose a course and I have my difficulties with Mathematics. Happily I ended getting C5 in Mathematics. It wasn’t my worst subject, my worst subject was Physics. I had C6. Why I got a C5 I was good in Arithmetic and Trigonometry, so I was determined not to come across Mathematics again anywhere in my future career, so looking through the only courses I had that has noMathematics, is History. No Mathematics, single honours BA History.
Economics had Mathematics, I was very good in Economics, that is what I thought I should go and read. But thinking about it I spoke to my father he said, I should learn from his experience, he was a policeman with only O levels he didn’t have any profession; he said look go and study a professional course so that if government refuses to employ you, all you have to do, put up a sign board somewhere, then start working for yourself. So I looked through all the courses; medicine has Mathematics, Architecture has Mathematics, the only one that did not have Mathematics was Law. And I remembered how I used to enjoy those lawyers with their wigs and gowns at Umuahia in those days only to get to Ife and the first year, we had Mathematics 001 Mathematics 102, so it turned out that you cannot really run away from Mathematics, so it was the fear of Mathematics that actually led me to do Law and I ended up teaching logic, logic is Mathematics 102; and then symbolic logic 001, so that was how I ended up becoming a lawyer, advice of my father and the fear of Mathematics.
As time went on, I realised that there was something about law, and my genes you know in my family, my great great grand father had always been a law enforcement officer. My great great grand father was a native court judge in the old Obio District Court. My grand father followed in that same mould, because when he became the head of the family, he also went and became a member of the Obio Native Court. Those courts in the colonial days, now they are calling them customary courts. Then my father went into the police, law enforcement too, and here I am a lawyer one sister is a judge, one brother is a lawyer, one decided to follow and he inherited all my fatehr’s books. He is a Chief Superintendent of Police now.
Sir Before we go into more contemporary issues what are the true goal, factors for becoming SAN. Why is it difficult for more Rivers people to become SAN. The impression being created is that, else where, some lawyers, helped people to pay the prescribed fees of their clients to get to Supreme Court, that would qualify you, how true it is?
Well I don’t know about the truth of lawyers paying the fees for the litigation cost for their clients is professionally unethical to do so. And |I will not agree with you that Rivers people have not become Senior Advocates. We had quite a few. Indeed, the first Senior Advocate appointed in Nigeria was a Rivers man. Dr Nabo Graham Douglas, former Attorney-General of Nigeria of blessed memory.
After him, there was also Galima Peterside, Opobo man, who became SAN. He was practising in Jos. The truth of the matter let me be frank with you is that, the cost of the major qualifications required to apply to Senior Advocate of Nigeria, you need to have met some minimum number of appearances, argued minimum number of cases in the superior courts.
High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. We were not too easily or readily exposed to those other superior courts like Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. In the olden days, the Supreme Curt used to sit in circuit. It would move from one capital of one region to the other and sit there, when it was the Federal Supreme Court, even when they had The West African Court of Appeal, it would move from the capital of one country to the other and would sit like that. But when the law was passed, that created the Senior Advocate cadre. It became important that you have to practice where all these courts were within the jurisdiction.
You see the realities of the situation is that if I have a case in the Supreme Court, and Supreme Court is in Lagos, as it was in those days, someone needs to brief a lawyer in Lagos, because if I brief a lawyer in Port Harcourt and other provincial headquarters, it means to pay, not just his transport. I will pay also not just his fees, will pay his transport, also pay his hotel accommodation and so on and so forth. So those lawyers who were in the area where those courts were located are in a vantage position.
It took a long time for us to move the Court of Appeal to Port Harcourt. When the Court of Appeal was originally created, it had divisions only at the regional headquarters. Ibadan, apart from Lagos which was the capital of Nigeria, Kaduna and Enugu. Sometime I was secretary of the Bar Association here in Port Harcourt. We made very serious effort to have the Court of Appeal Division from Port \Harcourt crated and to have the court also moved to Port Harcourt. Because when the Court of Appeal Division for Port Harcourt was created, it was still sitting in Enugu. And some lawyers used to think it was greater advantage to earn transport money, to earn hotel bill and go to Enugu to do cases.
So when Wifa became chairman and I the secretary, B.M. Wifa SAN, and I secretary, we fought seriously to move that Division to Port Harcourt and immediately, Oh, virtually no year would pass without one SAN and that court came here in 1992 or there about, 1992, 1993, Graham Douglas had been appointed SAN in 1988, 1987, 1988, when the Court of Appeal was in Enugu, but when it came to Port Harcourt, it came here in 1992 as I said before. By 1994, 1995, when I became SAN two years later Dr Osanakpo, the next year, Wifa and virtually every year now, we have two or three appointed as Senior Advocates.
Informatively for you, we have 16 senior advocates. And this is even not counting our former Attorney-General Odem Ajumogobia who is now the Minister of State for Petroleum. He was the Attorney-General here when he was made SAN.
These are the reasons for the qualification, you must have minimum of ten years post call experience. Second you must be of good character; third, you must have a good law practice. These days, they actually come to inspect your office, see how many juniors you have. Look at the library and facilities you have in your office and then you must have argued a minimum number of cases in the Supreme Court as well as Court of Appeal and High Court. These three categories, Supreme Court cases is category A, two Supreme Court cases and four courts of appeal.
Second category, category one Supreme Court. Four Courts of Appeal and six High Court cases. Because people argue that you know most of the practice is in the High Court. Court of Appeal and Supreme Court are reviewed panels to look over what has been done by the High Courts and so real advocacy is at the High Curt level, so you have those three categories, and you must qualify in any of those three categories. Now they’ve also imposed a certain fee that you must pay. When I applied for SAN, I didn’t pay anything, What you have to pay, I think is N200,000.
You also have to show that you have been a good citizen, you pay your taxes as at when due, and then that at the time of your application you are not being investigated or having been convicted or liable in a case of professional misconduct. So there are the parameters by which you get appointed as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
Creation of State taskforces, are they in accordance with the constitution?
I would say is not inconsistent with democratic culture we are trying to build. Task forces by their very nature are charged with particular task so is expected that they focus their full time and attention towards the cardinals of whatever task is assigned them. The problem which ma be … is that some of the taskforces don not understand that they are naturally bound to follow due process in carrying out of any their assignment so you may have a point when you say, these taskforces are not acting in accordance wit rule of law or due process as you say. But there is nothing inconsistent with the constitution, or with democratic principles of government decides that it want to set up taskforces in view of particular problems.
Focus
Differentiation And Learning Strategies As Tool For Desired Learning Outcome
What is differentiation? Differentiation refers to the learning experiences in which the approach or method of learning is adjusted to meet the needs of individual learners with a focus on the how of personalised learning.” (Culottes, R. 2016). It is a process that helps learners who are struggling and help gifted learners learn faster, this way, teaching becomes easier for the teacher and makes it easier to achieve the desired learning outcome. In differentiation, the learning objective is the same but the means through which it is achieved may be varied. It is like having a destination and arriving there through various means, by road, rail, water or air. It is one of the three elements of individualised learning which involves changing the instructional approach so as to meet the various needs of students.
Differentiation could also entail designing and delivering instruction by using different teaching styles and also giving the learners various alternatives for taking information. It provides flexibility to both the teacher and the learner but the learning objectives must be clearly defined to enable learners work their way towards achieving it. We should not mix up differentiation with learning styles. Learning style presumes that a learner learns better in a certain way, be it visual, auditory, or hands on. Although a learner might find a particular learning style useful for a particular topic, it does not mean that the particular learning style will apply to all other topics, for instance, if a learner learns a topic through songs, it does not mean that the same learner will learn every other topic through songs. Learning is not always as straight forward.
How a teacher can use differentiation in the classroom.
When practising differentiation in the classroom, a teacher can teach a particular topic using various teaching techniques that meet the needs and interests of the learners, a teacher can decide to put learners in groups based on their ability or interest and at the same time has to vary the content of the lesson to meet the needs of the learners. In differentiation, the teacher considers the learner’s personalised learning style and ability when the lesson is being taught. According to Carol Tomlinson, differentiation can be done through the following:
Content: Here differentiation can occur in the learning activities which have to meet the interest and need of the learner. Bloom’ s taxonomy levels of remembering, understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating and creating, which involves different levels of intellectual behaviour from lower to higher level thinking come into play. The teacher applies these in planning the lesson so that various interests and learning styles are taken into consideration. Bearing in mind the objective of the lesson, the teacher then provides the learners with options on the content and together they study to achieve the set objective.
Process: These are methods which a teacher employs in presenting learning materials to keep the learner’s interest. Learners may need different levels of support, some work better on their own while others prefer to work in pairs or in small groups. Grouping can be done depending on the learner’s readiness or as a way of complementing each other. Support can also be given to learners depending on their individual learning styles and so the teacher has to prepare a lesson plan that caters for visual, auditory, kinesthetic or those who learn through words.
Product: At the end of the lesson, the learner shows mastery of the lesson by the product the learner creates. It can be in form of a song, quizzes, tests, a story, an art project or any other activities the teacher may deem fit. All these are to assess how the learner has mastered the concept.
Learning environment: The classroom environment affects learning and so the physical and psychological conditions of the learning environment have to be right such as the furniture, classroom arrangement and classroom management. The learning environment has to be safe, conducive and supporting in order to sustain the interest of the learners. Learning environment can also involve changes to habits and routines such as recess time, circle time, lunch time or outdoor learning.
What are the Importance of Differentiation in Learning?
Differentiation is important in the classroom because it caters for all types of learners, whether high ability learners or additional needs learners. It gives learners the opportunity to learn in diverse ways so as to meet learning objectives the best way they can. Differentiation helps instructors to connect with the different learning styles depending on which works best for the learners. All learners may not respond well with a game, a song may work better for others or reading for others.
Differentiation is a great learning instruction for learners with additional needs.
Differentiation provides a platform for learners to strive to achieve set learning objectives.
Differentiation motivates learners to learn in a manner that meets their interest and personalised learning style. We know that all learners do not learn the same way and so the teacher has to employ various learning styles to know which best resonates with the learners. What Experts say about Differentiation in Learning? According to Carol Tomlinson, differentiation is a way of honoring the reality of the learners. They maybe energetic, outgoing, quiet, shy, confident or self-doubting, they could be interested in a particular thing or in a thousand things, could be academically advanced or struggling with cognitive, sociological, economic or emotional challenges. Many speak a different language at home and learn at different rates and styles and they all come together in our academically diverse classrooms. Carol Ann Tomlinson (William Clay Parrish, Jr. Professor and Chair of Educational leadership, Foundations, and Policy).
Differentiating instruction is really a way of thinking, not a list of strategies. Many times, it is making decisions in the moment based on this mindset. It is recognising that “fair” does not always mean treating everyone equally. It is recognising that all of our students bring different gifts and challenges, and that as educators, we need to recognise those differences and use our professional judgment to flexibly respond to them in our teaching.” Larry Ferlazzo (award-winning teacher at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, California, who writes a teacher advice column for Education Week.
Another expert, Lisa Westman posits that all teachers want their students to succeed, and all teachers try to make this happen, that is all differentiation is. She writes that we complicate differentiation by not allowing ourselves to be provisional with how we apply the foundational pieces of differentiated instruction. Instead if we address these four questions in our instructional planning, differentiation will always be the result: what do my students need? How do I know? What will I do to meet their needs? How do I know if what I am doing is working? Lisa Westman (instruction coaching, differentiation, and standards-based grading consultant and professional development facilitator). “Differentiated instruction is dynamic and organic. In a differentiated learning space, teachers and students learn together. Students focus on learning the course content, while teachers tailor their instructional strategies to student learning styles.” Alexa Epitropoulous (media and author relations specialist at ASCD). How to apply Differentiation in Learning. To apply differentiation effectively, the teacher has to do the following:
i.Do a baseline test for all students in order to find out where they are and to device strategies to help each learner achieve the desired objective using appropriate means to deliver the content.
ii.Explain the learning objectives clearly and what the standard for success is, this is the key for differentiation to thrive, a classroom environment where learners work towards a clearly defined goal. Here, the need of the student is very important and the teacher has to identify them and create a supportive environment where differentiation is accepted by the learners themselves and for their peers.
iii. Know the individualised needs of their learners in order for teaching to be effective so that cognitive as well as academic outcomes can be achieved.
What is a learning strategy? A learning strategy is a way a learner organizes and uses certain skills to learn the content of the curriculum and to complete tasks effectively be it in the classroom or outside the classroom. Learners depend upon their senses to process information and many learners make use of one of their senses more than others. There are basically four types of learning strategies and they are as follows:
1. Visual strategies: here learners learn and retain knowledge better when the content is presented in the form of pictures for example, charts, diagrams and symbols. To apply this strategy in a classroom environment, the teacher needs to do the following: Make use of a lot of; colourful visual aids like charts, pictures and diagrams which must be well explained. Use different handouts for various concepts and leave spaces in them so learners can write in them. If using multimedia, screens have to show clearly.
2. Auditory strategies: this involves creating learning experiences where talking and listening take centre stage. These instructional methods can be employed in the following ways: Start a new topic with a background information of the concept to be learnt. Use activities like story-telling and group discussions to encourage vocal collaboration. Learners are encouraged to read aloud the questions. Conclude by giving a summary of the lesson
3. Reading and Writing: this makes use of the traditional ways of learning such as copying of notes, reading textbooks or handouts and taking notes. They seem to learn better by doing the following in the classroom: Provide written information on worksheets and other resources. Students are to rewrite notes. Convert charts and diagrams into written text. If using multimedia, use bullet points. Learn to reference written texts.
4. Kinesthetic strategies: this is also called tactile learning since it has to do with the sense of touch. This is the most physical of the learning strategies because kinesthetic learners learn best through instructional methods that involve movement, motion and touch. These learners are able to sense body position and movement in the classroom environment. Tactile learning is achieved through activities like moving, touching and feeling things. Below are some of the strategies to use: Engage learners in physical movement such as dance. Make use of flash cards when teaching. Students are to draw images of information as part of formative assessment. Provide learners with hand-on experiences. There is no single learning strategy that works for all learners because it’s not a one size fits all, as such it will be impossible to devise a generalized strategy that works for the whole class. The teacher has to apply the different learning strategies in a classroom learning environment so as to meet the needs and interests of the learners because a blend of these strategies will most likely produce the desired learning outcome and also motivate learners to have a deeper understanding of the concept taught.
Tassie, a curriculum development specialist resides in Port Harcourt.
Focus
#END Bad Governance: He Spoke Peace Tense, Protesters Understood!
Compact with meekness. Compassionate. Empathetic. Never of him to trample under foot, humans and their concerns. He listens; attentively. He shows genuine understanding; with humbling humility. So, he is endeared, not just to a few but to many.
And truly so, Governor Siminalayi Fubara is a political liberator. In him, Rivers State has a championing, new order, albeit, movement of renaissance: Berthing the people at a new coast of fresh breathe; freed from political manipulations, strangulation and enslavement. This is why ‘Rivers First’; call it a mantra, is not a mere catchy phrase, but a propelling commitment, and indeed, a reflection of the embodied resolve to work the better for Rivers State.
Here, the nationwide #EndBadGovernance street protest also took place, peacefully.
Nigerian youths planned and staged it to last 10 days, from August 1 to 10, 2024. And it was so, even if it fizzled out so quickly, lost steam so early in the State – did not last beyond four days. The intervention of Governor Fubara through his strategic crisis management approach anchored on more inclusive engagements, obviously assuaged frayed nerves.
The organisers tagged it #EndBadGovernance protest. It was their chosen channel. With it, they voiced their pains amidst economic challenges: Of heightened hunger, soaring cost of commodities and unbearable living conditions. They looked to President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government to be more strategic. And he is doing so, nonetheless. More and more time is but solicited to see his policies being implemented, come through, under the Renewed Hope Agenda, in driving the national economy out of the woods.
Much more in that regard is known of Rivers State, several cushioning measures are being implemented to address the burden of excruciating economic realities on the people. Which is why Governor Fubara spoke up against the protest early enough. His position was firm. It was without a mincing of words, to the youths and to any other segment of the society. He made it clear that though, it is their fundamental right, the time they chose to stage the protest, is not right. This remained his counsel. The backdrop was to forestall a truncating of the prevailing but cherished sanity, peace and safety of lives and property that thrive here.
Street protests, unguarded, and when allowed to be hijacked, could bring tales of woes, such as the destruction of public facilities and personal property that took many years to bring to fruition. He insisted that if it must be staged, then ensure, nothing hampered the safety of lives and property. Just keep it peaceful: Give no room to political detractors. That reflected the message of Governor Fubara.
But political detractors always lurk around. If they are unable to hijack a thing, they become dramatis personae of what they conjecture. In fact, the hue and cry, baseless and meaningless hypes made by the then embattled Caretaker Committee Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tony Okocha in Rivers State, is a characteristic decoy. Mischief is central in his chosen political macabre dance. Otherwise, why dramatise a staged attack on APC billboard in front of its factional secretariat along the Port Harcourt-Aba Expressway in order to put himself in a position to curry public pity, by playing the victim. So cheap. Sorely despicable. What was he thinking? That people around will not notice the drama play out? Even security details who monitored the protesters from Artillery to Pleasure Park never raised any red flag on their conduct around any property within that circumference!
You see, his kind, at such opportunity, raise false alarm without solid evidence to substantiate the veracity of the claimed attack at the weakest police interview. At best, what the public knows is calculated acts, wherein his hired folks, at his instruction, torn down the flex section of the billboard, which was performed before sponsored camera lenses. Even the Police authorities had disowned the incident, insisting that no office of any political party was attacked in Rivers State during the days of the protest. Come to think of it, even the protesters who marched from Artillery Junction to Pleasure Park never took notice of his antics and playbook. In fact, credible reports abound that nobody’s property, not even a politician’s residence in the State was attacked by the protesters. It is on record!
Thus, largely so, the protest was not destructive in nature in the State. Why? Governor Fubara had stepped in proactively. He doused the tension and anger. He identified those strategic groups, maybe not all but those possible contacts, and affiliates to the organisers who were tipped, maybe to coordinate the street demonstration in Rivers State. Governor Fubara engaged with them as individuals and collective. The security reports were of leading nature. So, eventually, representatives of those groups of the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), stakeholders of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Rivers State ethnic and youth groups, Community Based Organisations (CBOs), Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Women Groups, Artisans and Traders, and the Ikoku Branch of Port Harcourt Motor Spare Parts Dealers Union, were brought together into one venue for dialogue; for mutual understanding of why the protest should not hold.
Heads of the security agencies in the State were also in attendance. At that meeting, held on July 31, 2024, Governor Fubara told them: “You are already aware of the political situation of our State, where people are looking for every avenue to destabilise this State. We don’t need to give them that opportunity to carry out that act. And that is the reason why, I, representing the Government, and the service commanders here, have always been in touch with you all, pleading that we should shelve this protest. And even if you have to do it, we should do it in a way and manner that it will not get out of control. I have information that you don’t have. I am aware of the people that are being hired to come into this State to cause mayhem. If anything happens here, we are going to be the greatest losers. Our property will be destroyed. Our economy will be destroyed. And when they finish, they will go back to their states.”
Those words were passionate. They resonated with the various groups amidst robust discussions. So, arising from that meeting at Government House in Port Harcourt, reason prevailed, positions aligned, and it was agreed that as groups, they will not participate in the protest.
In any case, some protesters still stormed the streets on August 1, in Rivers State. Not deterred, Governor Fubara went out and met with the group of protesters who stopped by at the gates of Government House. Standing amongst them unscathed, he addressed them, showing a glaring example of leadership: Courage. Acceptance. Endearment. Goodwill. He was the first so to do! Other elected representatives and political leaders had been overwhelmed by apprehension, and they unwittingly ran into hiding. But Governor Fubara showed his stuck as a leader when he made himself available to engage with the protesters, not done in a hurry, desperate impulse.
Because the moment was critical, he said: “I am one of you. I feel your pains, and in our Government here, we are doing everything to make life easy for our people. Our youths, I agree with you that there is hunger, but because we preach good governance, we are committed to make hunger disappear very soon. I am not against your protest, but we will not support any violent protest. We will not support anything that will destroy our State. We will not join forces with the enemy of progress (to destabilise our State). But if it has to do with the (peaceful) protesters, I don’t have any fears. Their demands are germane. I can understand them: hardship, bad governance, high cost of living, rent, medical bills. But we are coming from somewhere very bad. And we must start from somewhere to make things right,” he appealed.
With those words, his mien and presence, he inspired hope in them. He raised their downtrodden spirit to high heavens. It was organic. Surely, hope is enlivening. It strengthens the mind to trust in a blissful tomorrow. The protesters saw him as truer as a leader because he leaned his heart into the crisis, goodly too, to fully engage, motivate, and inspire them to expect greater accomplishments in the immediate or in the near future. It is this imbuing hope that kept the protesters peaceful, largely in the State.
And when a patch of the protesters saw his convoy pulled past Rumuobiakani Roundabout on the third day of the protest, they showed more excitement, cheered and chanted the praises of their most deserving people-centric Governor. The crowd of #EndBadGovernance protesters at the intersection of Trans Amadi Industrial Layout in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area waved Nigerian flag and green leaves while chanting: “Our Governor, carry go. Our Governor, we are solidly behind you and your government,” “We’ll support Governor that empowers the Youths”. The Governor came out of his car, waved back at them, and they cheered, their joy knowing no bounds. Thereafter, the Governor had easy passage as he continued his journey to attend the funeral ceremonies of late mother to the Chairman, Caretaker Committee of Khana Local Government Area in Kono Community.
At Kono on August 3, he took opportunity of the ambience to re-echo the need for peace. He urged the protesters to give government time to implement policies and programmes already designed and being rolled out to address the challenges facing the people. He asked for patience, understanding!
At Eleme on August 6, for the commissioning of the Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) Oxygen Plant built and installed by UNICEF in partnership with Federal Government, Rivers State Government, Canadian Government and HIS Towers, the Governor re-emphasised the primacy of peace and stability of the State as veritable tool for sustainable development. As he spoke peace and patience, the people cheered and chanted songs of support and cooperation.
Come to think of it: the Governor’s consistent emphasis on peaceful conduct of every resident of the State, and patience to allow the policies of government deepen their positive impacts on the people did not just resonate with the protesters alone. It also resonated with other well-meaning Nigerians both here at home and in the Diaspora, who were not part of the protest. It resonated with anchors and discussants, including lawyers, politicians, professionals from all walks of life, on major television and radio channels in the country and elsewhere. And it resonated with lawmakers across the country, including National Assembly.
In fact, the House of Representatives Technical Sub-Committee on Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) said so on August 15 during an audience with the Governor in Government House, Port Harcourt. The sub-committee was in Rivers State to perform its oversight functions as mandated by law.
Speaking during the visit, the Chairman, Hon Miriam Odinaka Onuoha, commended the Governor for his wisdom and leadership in the effective management of the protest, by ensuring that while not denying residents their fundamental rights to peaceful assembly, procession and freedom of expression, he made sure that they exercised their rights in very peaceful manner without infringing on the rights of other Nigerians.
What to appreciate was that Governor Fubara did not speak politics to the protesters. He spoke to what they knew and had seen implemented by his administration. In meeting the expectations and challenges of Rivers residents as a measure embedded in his policies, he also showed them that he supports what the Federal Government is already doing. He reminded them that his Government was the first to release palliative buses, operating up until now, to ease transportation costs on students and all residents of the State, effective just few days after President Tinubu announced the removal of the subsidy on petroleum products.
Governor Fubara also reminded them that his Government was cushioning the increasing cost of living with the N4billion single-digit interest loan he floated for traders and small businesses in the State. It is a facility that is helping traders: mothers, fathers, and youths in the business line to grow their business capital base. These are added to the ongoing implementation of deliberately crafted policies and programmes that are ensuring the delivery of quality infrastructure in the health and education sectors to eventually provide affordable services to all residents in the State while also laying the groundwork that will make agriculture attractive to more people than usual in order to achieve food sufficiency and meaningful employment for the youths.
In all, it is indisputable that Rivers State is in good hands, and those who plotted to use the protests to cause anarchy and chaos, destroying critical State assets that had taken years to put in place, failed, even more woefully, this time.
Like the wise men keep saying, “God does not make mistakes”. The God we serve didn’t make any mistake when He choose Sir Siminalayi Fubara to govern the State and liberate its people from the clutches of desperate, self-seeking buccaneers, at this time in the life of Rivers State. Thus, as long as Rivers people come first in his calculations and decisions, Governor Fubara has come to stay, because he has the people’s back, always!
Nelson Chukwudi
Chukwudi is the Chief Press Secretary to the Rivers State Governor.
Focus
Re-Igniting Rivers Agricultural Stakes
Let us agree on this: prima facie, in many parts of the world, Nigeria and Rivers State inclusive, agriculture has not been maximally harnessed. This is so because, what we have seen happen in the sector has not contributed to fulfilling the vital function of feeding the people sufficiently. It has also not provided basic commodities as required, or helped desirably, in the generation of stable income too.
But this is not what it should be, neither should it be allowed to be so. This is why productive hands should not remain idle and germane efforts merely wished away when deliberate and consistently implemented policies can coordinate robust agricultural activities, necessarily so, to ensure support for human survival and promote enduring well-being. Perhaps, this is what sane leaders do in any society that plans to grow and also feed its people.
administration of Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State is in such ranking: forward-looking and mindful of those things to do, that can help real growth of all facets of the society, howbeit, agriculture. It has taken decisions on what must be done in order to increase attention for agriculture, and mobilising requisite resources that will support in refocusing the interest of majority of Rivers youths, and indeed, agro-actors, towards harnessing agriculture potentials in Rivers State.
Nigeria has, regrettably remained a consumption-dependent economy, and Rivers State is a part of this quagmire. The reason for this is clear: age-long, chronic and troubling lack of holistic attention to public policy implementation on a consistent basis to achieve sustained progress. But pulling off from such stance, the Governor Fubara-led administration is resolved to strengthen the comparative advantage of Rivers State in the agriculture value chain. It is a herculean task but not impossible because the potentials are glaring. So, there has been careful examination of what should be done, and how it should to be done to achieve an agricultural growth status that will make the State stand out.
To start, Governor Fubara has taken a critical look at the level of existing support previously offered by the State Government to promoting agriculture before he assumed office. Books may not lie, even when there could be disparities in what is recorded and what can be seen on ground. That, in itself, does offer a bearing. So, at least, what is clear is that such support was often driven by the quest to achieve economic development, promote key target interests, set out the prescriptions and requirements that would boost agricultural production.
With mind set on the mantra of “Consolidation and Continuity”, vital decisions are being taken, arising from those critical scrutinies, not necessarily to undermine what existed but to establish a path for continuity. With a policy direction that should stimulate commercial farming, and let it signpost the level of awareness that should be created in achieving food security in the State, there has been a determined posture secured without ineluctably falling to the trappings of incoherence and poor coordination most policy initiatives had suffered.
So, to have a holistic perspective for the required results that are expected, the decisions being taken took into cognizance: the need to identify support or collaborations where none existed, commence one, and gear up efforts in seeking requisite and workable collaborations to achieve success. In areas where such support did exist, but were incongruous, a review has been streamlined to give a new direction. Where there was abandonment of any process, a revitalization has been decided and production capacities of endeavours of agro-actors strengthened.
There is also a focus on small holder farmers because their concerns are in keen consideration of what the administration intends to do in the sector. These farmers belong to the brackets of small and medium enterprises that do need greater opportunities facilitated for their agribusinesses in other for them to access credit that would enable them expand their portfolio. More efforts are being harnessed with a search for an effective synergy within favourable environment to attract investors and financial institutions into funnelling credit to farming endeavours and the process of having an updated databank is being formalised. Regardless, the Rivers State Government has brokered partnership with the Bank of Industry (BOI) in the disbursement of N4billion to small scale entrepreneurs in the State. This is an initiative that should impact on the sector, nonetheless, if the beneficiaries were true to tact.
But of note is the review embarked upon by the government concerning its agricultural investment in the Songhai Integrated Farms. This farm is located in Bunu community, Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State. The Songhai Integrated Farms sits on a vast expanse of land measuring 314 hectares. Where it sits was, in 1985 established as part of the School-to-Land Farms project. But it was repurposed in 2011 to become Songhai Integrated Farms.
It had distinct production sections that included livestock production, crop cultivation, fisheries, forestry, engineering services, agro-industrialization, and the training of aspiring farmers. The farm started off with an environmentally-sustainable agricultural production system that harnessed a holistic value-chain approach to ensure higher incomes for farmers and processors, as well as other agro-actors to guarantee social and economic prosperity.
It was set up to operate a self-driven zero waste farming model designed to protect the natural environment by mitigating the impacts of climate change. So, each production section was made up of different units, overseen by specialists who work in synergy. Within the production line, nothing became discard-able waste since the finished products/byproducts were sent from one production unit to another in a sequential manner to further transform them into other useful products for human use. It was a continuous circle, and consistently so to promote sustainable economy.
Those features had been carefully enumerated to have a proper understanding of the venture that was to make Rivers economy bigger and more progressive. But either by commission or omission, it became lame because it was driven into despicable condition, or rather, because it was abandoned. Every facility became decrepit as a result. For almost a decade, it remained so, and nothing was operational there. The hope that once soared, about all the potentials and contributions it was to make towards food security, and to provide gainful employment for the teeming Rivers youths, died, albeit, for the time it was in limbo.
Also, laid in waste were all the structures, those that were constructed with concrete, metallic, or wooden, and others that were installed, over the ground and underground. Most office equipment were stolen too, and carted away by vandals. The entire premises of the Songhai Integrated Farms became overgrown with short and tall grasses. And it was dangerously bushy too.
Those were the sorry sight that Governor Fubara beheld when he visited the farm on Saturday, October 7, 2023. The billions of naira in Rivers tax-payers’ money that was invested in the Songhai Integrated Farms project by the State Government went down the drains. So, the visit availed Governor Fubara the opportunity to do an on-the-spot assessment of the present condition of the farm, and ascertain what possible ways to bring it back to production stream again. On that visit, the Governor was conducted round the facility by the Manager of the Songhai Integrated Farms Project, Dr. Tammy Jaja. The revitalisation works to be done looked massive and very demanding but nothing is insoluble with political will, wisdom and courage.
In his explanation, Governor Fubara asserted the urgency that is required in restoring and repositioning the State for sustainable economic growth and development. With his visit, arising from the resolution reached when they last had the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja, where they had considered the exigency of diversifying the nation’s economy and harped on the need to cushion current economic hardship experienced by the citizenry, he was determined to kickstart the version for the State. In his words, Governor Fubara said: “In our last National Economic Council meeting, because of the present situation of our economy, which you are aware; the issue of removal of fuel subsidy and other economic bites affecting everyone, everybody was advised to diversify. The other option is agriculture, and we were all advised to see what we can do to improve on food sufficiency.”
The Governor had assured that his Administration was determined to use the Songhai Integrated Farms as a launching pad to revolutionise agriculture in Rivers State. To achieve that, everything would be done to revamp the Songhai Farms. And when revitalized, the economy of the State could then be diversified, providing foundation for the people to be engaged meaningfully while also increasing the food sufficiency capacity of the State.
Governor Fubara assured: “As I leave here now, we are going to bring in all the stakeholders to discuss the way forward. What I am seeing here will require long-term planning and going back to the site to reinstate the installed facilities that have become desolate. The State Government will not just do that, we will bring in people who have the resources, expertise, strength and commitment to partner with us to bring back this place to life. The advantages to be derived when this place comes back to life include food sufficiency and employment generation. It will also address issues of youth restiveness.”
That process has begun. The people who had been identified to have the strength and commitment to partner the State Government were already in touch, and brought to the negotiation table. The talking has been extensive and intensive. The best among them with more enduring approach and sustainable model are at the verge of being engaged. Songhai Integrated Farms must be revitalized. That is the commitment and it remains unwavering.
While the discussions were ongoing, the farm has been repossessed by the Government. It would no longer be accessed freely as thorough fare to members of the public as it was in the days of abandonment. Gradually, the clearing of the short and tall grasses and trees are ongoing, and would be concluded, eventually. What shall be done with that project would be devoid of a lack of clarity and the adopted plan, nothing of abrupt disruption is anticipated. For this farm, the level of independence with which it would operate would be such that it could remain dogged, contest its place within the sector and drive food sufficiency process at a pace more sustaining and enviable for the State.
Another investment that is of critical concern to the Government is the 45,000-metric tonnes Rivers Cassava Processing Company, which is located in Afam Community, Oyigbo Local Government Area. This is a multi-billion-naira investment that was engineered as a public-private partnership (PPP) venture between the Rivers State Government, Shell, Vieux Manioc BV of the Netherlands, and the Netherlands Embassy. Understandably, the motivation for establishing this processing factory was to address the challenges of value addition of the cassava crop in the value chain sub-sector. So, the factory was inaugurated on May 28, 2021, as a company that will support the economy of Rivers State to earn more revenue from the cassava value chain. The company then had a board of directors in place, which helped in the preliminary stages of preparations leading to its inauguration. But barely within the first two months of start of production, the subsisting administration then dissolved the board, which left the company without adequate supervision to help it actualize its core mandate.
Things remained so until March 7, 2024, when Governor Fubara visited the factory. The visit, the Governor explained, was propelled by the desire to see the level of effectiveness and efficiency of the existing production line. He explained that the team managing the factory, led by the Managing Director of the Rivers Cassava Processing Plant, Ruben Giesen, had requested financial support, in a letter sent to him. This, the team said, would enable them complete two more production lines at the factory to increase capacity utilisation in order to churn out more products.
Governor Fubara said: “I got a request from the people who are managing the cassava processing plant that we need to extend our support for them to complete two production lines that will give them a standard that they can start to supply in earnest to a lot of distributors who need the products from this plant. And I felt it would be proper for me to see what we have already invested, the stage they are at, so that it will encourage us to give more support.”
Governor Fubara further said: “From what I have seen here today, it is really impressive. I can assure them that we are going to give the financial support to ensure that the production lines are all completed. This is to encourage them to go into full supply of the products with international standards to anywhere in the world.”
The promise given by Governor Fubara to inject more funds is with the aim of revitalising this mega cassava processing factory in order to ensure that the finished products meet internationally accepted standards. Of course, these are well intended responses, and the drive is to ensure an increase in quantum of food production capability and attain the level of sufficiency while also creating gainful employment for the growing youthful population of the State.
It is obvious that the Governor Fubara-led administration clearly understands that Nigeria is the largest cassava producer at the global level. It is on record, that Nigeria accounts for about one-fifth (20%) of total cassava production worldwide. Indeed, Rivers ranked among the Top Five Cassava Producing States in Nigeria. It is, therefore, of necessity and thoughtful of a Government that cares for its farmers, to keep keen interest on this factory, and ensure that it is supported to enhance value addition, and guarantee employment for the people.
In fact, Governor Fubara knows that this factory would also promote adoption and the use of 10 per cent high quality cassava flour (HQCF) in bread and confectionery businesses, so as to reduce wheat importation and conserve foreign exchange earnings to meet other needs. Indeed, cassava is one of the defining ingredients of our family lives in this region, and it is a valued crop in Niger Delta and in other parts of Nigeria. So, this factory, with the promised support from the Governor Fubara-led administration, will attain full operational status. This will further be propelled by feedstock from about 3,000 farmers within the farming communities and other far away farmers in neighbouring communities.
What the people need to understand is that, as long as this factory’s capacity is not fully strengthened, it will be difficult for it to receive uninterrupted supply of raw materials from the thousands of hectares that could be cultivated to service it. By extension, this means massive waste of hundreds of jobs its prospect assures, particularly the over 20,000 farm families that will earn income to enhance their livelihoods and improve their standard of living.
Even as the threat to food security continues to alarm watchers in Nigeria with food inflation rate rising from 33.93% in December, 2023 to 35.41% in January, 2024, and not yet abating, these efforts of the Rivers State Government are to ensure that people do not spend more money before they can afford enough food for themselves and their families. Instructively, if there is no change in focus and the required actions are taken, guided by well-thought-out policy and implemented with the right political will, the threat to acute food security will be reversed.
It is possible that at the end of the day, these measures geared towards building sustainable food systems will feed everyone, everywhere, and every day. The cry of hunger is loud and palpably so. And Governor Fubara understands that only a focused attention on finding enduring solutions through strategic investments in boosting agricultural yields and increasing its value chain would address the needs of the people. This is why the Government sees the initiatives as a task that must be done. The Governor’s eyes will remain on the ball, until desired results are achieved with maximum impact. That is a promise he made to the people, a SIMple promise he has vowed to fulfil without fear of intimidation or favour.
By: Nelson Chukwudi
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