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ABU Alumni Association Honours Rivers HOS
The Rivers State Head of Service (HOS), Mrs. Esther Anucha was among five distinguished personalities honoured by the Rivers State branch of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria Alumni association at a fund raising ceremony/public lecture held at the Atlantic hall of Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt last Friday.
In a citation read at the occasion, the Alumni association described Mrs. Anucha as the quintessential daughter of the state, a highly disciplined, diligent, skillful administrator and astute manager of human and material resources, who in just two years as the Head of the State Civil Service has made a lot of difference in the system and could be said to be the “Esther” of Rivers State Civil Service.
The citation went further to enumerate some of her landmark achievements as Head •of Service which include the eradication of the ghost workers syndrome through the successful implementation of the e-payment system, the introduction of reforms in the civil service through capacity building programmes, the annual celebration of the civil service week, the introduction of an annual inter-ministerial football competition which has united the state civil service and has also enabled civil servants to keep fit, the transformation of the entire landscape of the State Secretariat Complex, the provision of banking and decent fast food services, replacement of obsolete lifts, and the initiation of the process of unifying salary grading in the State Pubic Service, among several others.
Mrs. Anucha who holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) degree in Social Sciences from the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and a Masters Degree in Pubic Administration (MPA) from the University of Liverpool, is also a lovely wife and caring mother, happily married to Eze Dr. Dominic Anucha, a one-time deputy governor of the old Rivers State, and blessed with four children, two of whom have graduated as lawyers.
In her welcome address at the occasion, the Chairperson of the Rivers State branch of the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Dr Jessica Ezekiel Hart said the association had for several years pioneered efforts at improving infra structural content of their alma mater and the overall development of university education in Nigeria.
She appealed to invitees, Corporate organizations and other well-meaning individuals to join the Association in bringing succour to universities in the country, stressing that “government does not have the where-with-all to do it alone”.
The event, which was chaired by the Chairman of the Rivers State Economic Advisory Council, Prof. Nimi Briggs also featured a keynote address by the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Chibuzor Ogwuoha and a lecture entitled, “Strategies for Solving the Niger Delta Problem” delivered by Prof. Emmanuel Okoro of the University of Ilorin.
Other recipients of the award include the Archbishop, Ecclesiastical province of Niger Delta and Bishop of Niger Delta North, Anglican communion, Most Rev. Ignatius Katey, the Rector of the Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori, Prof. Tokubiye Sokari, the Rivers State Police Commissioner, Mr Bala Hassan, and Executive Director, projects of NDDC, Ach. E. 1. Etteh, all of whom are alumni of ABU, Zaria.
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I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
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RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
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Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.
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