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Poverty, Nigeria’s Biggest Affliction –Amaechi
Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, has described poverty as the biggest affliction currently plaguing the country. However, he acknowledged that it was self- inflicted by the many years of bad administration of the collective wealth of the people.
Amaechi spoke last night at the 1041th Wilton Park Conference in West Sussex, United Kingdom. The governor, one of the distinguished speakers who headlined the conference spoke on the broad theme, ‘Ending Internal Conflict: Comparative Approaches to Stabilisation and Counter-Insurgency, the Niger Delta Example”.
Governor Amaechi told his audience of top level security and conflict resolution experts from around the globe that ninety-nine percent of the internal conflicts in Nigeria are economic driven, caused by the many years of bad administration and mis-application of the huge resources of the country, which has rendered the masses poverty-stricken.
Amaechi said that “besides the Niger Delta, there were crises in the north. Boko Haram(Islamic religious fundamentalist sect) is in Northern Nigeria. There is the Jos crisis… Virtually all the crisis or conflicts in Nigeria have economic origins or base, and this is because of the inability and failure of successive governments to manage the huge resources we have in the country.”
“I honestly don’t see how the Niger Delta crisis fits into what you call insurgency. I don’t, because it’s just crime and this is because of the weakness and failure of the institution of government in Nigeria. These so called militants leverage upon this failure to commit these crimes. Endemic corruption… have nearly killed governance in Nigeria. And it has affected virtually every sector or institution in Nigeria.”
“I have always said that the rich and the poor all want to survive, they all want something to eat. If the rich who govern are unable to provide an economic environment that provides an opportunity for a legal means of livelihood, then the poor in their own capacity would provide an illegal means of livelihood, whatever would bring money, because either way they would die. If they commit crime, they may die when caught, if the government does not provide a means of livelihood for them, they could also die of hunger…
Either way the poor are doomed. But the easiest way out now, since the government has not been able to provide a legal means of livelihood is to explore the illegal means of survival. And the chances are that they may not be caught since the security system is poor and porous.
Even when they know that they are going to be caught, most often, they would rather take their chances on surviving illegally, instead of dying from hunger.”
”So if we want to find the solution to the current crisis in Nigeria, the internal conflicts in the country, which is not limited to the Niger Delta, then, we must tackle the issue of poverty… we must look at it from the perspective of poverty, tackle it from the root, because if we sort that out, we would be able to put an end to what you call insurgency.”
At the forum, Governor Amaechi also advocated the practice of true fiscal federalism in Nigeria, strict enforcement of law and order, development of the oil-bearing communities and their participation in the oil economy, provision of basic infrastructures to drive the economy etc.
He decried successive governments, over-dependence on oil for most of their revenue and not much is been done to diversify the sources of revenue.
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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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