Nation
THE STATES
Adamawa
Ahead of the 2012 governorship election in Adamawa, many supporters of former Vice President Abubakar Atiku are staging a return to the ruling PDP.
Many aggrieved loyalists of Atiku had left the party in protest over the conduct of the PDP presidential primaries that ushered in President Goodluck Jonathan as the party’s flag bearer in the April polls.
It was also gathered that the influx into the PDP in the state may not be unconnected with reports in the local media indicating that Atiku had directed his supporters to work for the party’s success in the forthcoming council and governorship elections.
The spokes man of the former vice president, Mallam Garba Shehu, confirmed the development last Saturday, saying Atiku had always stressed the need for a united PDP in Adamawa.
Bauchi
As the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan marks 100 days, some residents of Bauchi town have called for a complete overhaul of the security system.
The residents told the newsmen that while the administration had done well so far in some areas, the security situation had been a source of concern.
They said the achievements of the administration had been over-shadowed by the frequent ‘‘bombings and ethno-religious conflicts’’.
AlhajiAbdullahi Tanko, the Chairman of Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools, Bauchi State, said the situation was gradually de-generating and might get out of control if not checked.
Mr Austine Tsenzughul, a Bauchi-based journalist, lauded the efforts of the Federal Government toward tackling the security problem by increasing the number of police personnel.
Borno
Three persons were feared dead following a riot which broke out in Biu Local Government Area of Borno last Friday.
Eyewitnesses told newsmen in Biu that the crisis began after some suspected militants killed a military officer.
“Soldiers stationed in Biu stormed the township immediately the news filtered to them and began shooting indiscriminately,” Malam Isa Shehu, a witness said.
“No fewer than three persons were shot during the incident while dozens of shops were also set ablaze by the rampaging soldiers.
“But the incident led to mass riot as dozens of unemployed youths cashed in on the situation to ransack the town,” he said.
Shehu said the youths also destroyed some places of worship and government buildings during the riot before the military authorities took control.
FCT
Special Adviser says terrorism is contrary to Nigeria‘s traditional value
Dr Sarah Jibril, the Special Adviser to the President on Ethics and Values, said last Friday that acts of terrorism and senseless killings were contrary to Nigeria‘s traditional and cultural values.
Jibril made the remarks in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, insisting that Nigerians were peace loving people.
“Acts of terrorism through suicide bombing, improvised explosive devise and other forms of senseless killings and destruction are very profoundly unethical and represent everything contrary to the tradition, culture and religious values of Nigeria,’’ the statement said.
It said that Nigerians were not only peace loving people, but were very receptive and caring to foreign nationals and establishments in their midst.
Jigawa
A forum of students from states in the northern part of the country has pledged to play a role in tackling the mass failure of students from the area in the Senior Secondary School examinations.
This was contained in a communiqué issued last Friday in Dutse, Jigawa, at the end of the maiden meeting of the National Presidents of Northern States Students Forum (NAPNSSF).
The forum, which was formed recently and inaugurated in Jigawa, consists of presidents of the National Association of Students from the 19 states in the northern part of the country.
According to the communiqué, the rate of failure of students from states in the northern part of the country in WAEC and NECO was disturbing.
It said that as students in higher institutions from the area, they would play their part in changing the situation.
Kano
Elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure the implementation of his economic transformation agenda.
The veteran politician, said in Kano last Saturday that he was satisfied with the steps so far taken by the president towards realising the agenda.
Yakasai, who was the Presidential Adviser on National Assembly Matters to former President Shehu Shagari in the Second Republic, also commended the president for constituting an economic team of tested hands.
“By appointing the Economic Management Team under the leadership of our renowned international financial expert, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the president has taken the right step in the right direction.’’
Katsina
Katsina State Government has ordered the arrest of one Aminu Lawal, an accountant with the Kurfi Local Government Council of the state, over alleged diversion of the council workers’ salaries..
The order was contained in a statement issued last Friday in Katsina and signed by Alhaji Sani Makana, the State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
The statement directed the Local Government Services Commission to suspend Lawal, pending the outcome of an investigation into the matter.
According to the statement, Lawal, an accountant in the works department, is being accused of diverting the council workers’ salaries for August.
It warned that the ministry would not tolerate any case of misconduct, pointing out any staff of the commission found wanting would not be spared.
Ogun
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has hinged the defeat suffered by the party in the South -West Zone during the April general elections on indiscipline among PDP members.
Obasanjo, who is the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the PDP, spoke last Saturday at the South-West Zonal Meeting of the party held in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
“Absolute indiscipline and gross violation of the party’s constitution was the bane of our party during the last general elections,’’ he said.
He also attributed the poor performance of the party during the elections to strong internal strife as well as lack of commitment and loyalty to the party.
The former president, however, encouraged PDP members in the zone to learn from the past and forge ahead.
Sokoto
Thirteen lives have been lost to gastro-enteritis within the last two weeks in Sokoto State, Alhaji Abdullahi Maigwandu, the State Commissioner for Health, said last Saturday.
Maigwandu told newsmen that the disease was localised to six local government councils in the state.
He listed the councils as Gwadabawa, Rabah, Wurno, Goronyo, Dange/Shuni and Tambuwal.
Maigwandu pointed out that the 13 deaths were recorded as at Friday (September 2) from the more than 726 cases recorded.
He said that the casualties included males and females as well as children and adults.
Taraba
The T.Y. Danjuma Foundation last Friday distributed relief materials to the victims of the recent flood disaster in Taraba.
Presenting the items to the victims at the three Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camps in Jalingo, the organisation’s Executive Director, Ms Thelma Ekiyor, said the donation was under the organisation’s “Quick Impact Grant Scheme.”
Ekiyor said it was necessary to promptly attend to the immediate needs of the victims because Taraba was the Foundation’s “home state”.
“Seeing people who have lost everything calls for the support of all Nigerians. Private Institutions and individuals should work with the government to assist the victims in flood affected states,” she said.
Yobe
A cross section of Nigerians in the North East geopolitical zone, has advised the Federal Government to instal scanning equipment on all highways across the country to check proliferation of arms.
This was the consensus of a group of people who spoke to journalists in an interview.
One of them, Alhaji Musa Habu , a Damaturu resident said last Friday that the scanning machines would assist security operatives to detect hidden arms and its movement across the country.
“Security operatives will remain helpless without the necessary working tools to check trucks and lorries that are heavily loaded with goods and possibly carrying hidden arms.
“Government should also mount the x-ray machines at all border posts and, the highways to check the contents of all vehicles as a measure to curb arms smuggling into the country” he observed.
The President General of Ogbakor Ikwerre Cultural Organisation Worldwide and the Mgboh XIII of the Mgboh Royal Family of Emohua Kingdom in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, Eze (Barrister) Godspower Onuekwa, penultimate Friday celebrated his 80th birthday with pomp, pageantry and fanfare.
The celebration, which commenced with a symposium organised in his honour at Rivers State University on Thursday, August 21,2025, got to a resounding climax on Friday at Suntai Event Centre in Port Harcourt, where people from all walks of life, including business associates, friends, well-wishers, relatives, community folks, traditional rulers, and admirers, gathered to pay glowing tributes to the celebrant.
Before then, a well attended thanksgiving service was held that same Friday at Emmanuel Anglican Church, Okoro-Nu-Odo, to honour him and return gratitude to God Almighty for the fruitful and eventful life and accomplishments of the Emohua leader and icon.
The service which was officiated by Rt Rev Wisdom Budu Ihunwo, Bishop of Niger Delta North had other renowned and respected clerics like Most Rev(Dr) Blessing Enyindah, Dean, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion); Rt Rev(Dr) Emmanuel Oko-Jaja, Bishop, Diocese of Niger Delta; Rt Rev Innocent Ordu, Bishop, Diocese of Evo; and Ven Solomon Eze Nelson, Archdeacon, Okoro-Nu-Odo; among others lined up as officiating ministers.
The service lived up to its billing, as it featured powerful and soul-lifting praise and worship; point-blank prayers; and beautiful renditions, which electrified the entire atmosphere, essentially packaged to thank God for the life of the celebrant.
However, the crowning moment actually came when the who is who, the crème de la crème of the society, thronged the terraces and fabulously decorated expansive hall of Suntai Event Centre, to celebrate Eze Onuekwa, amid accolades, aplomb and panache, wining and dining, and clinking of glasses with him and all.
The chairman of the colourful ceremony, Chief Evans Woherem, who was represented by Eze(Prof) Christian Akani of the prestigious Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, praised the celebrant for his youthfulness in spite of clocking 80 years, generosity, humility, humaneness and selfless services to the Ikwerre ethnic nationality, the Niger Delta and Nigeria, and called on all and sundry to emulate his good legacies and simple disposition towards life and existence.
Goodwill messages also poured in in torrents to underscore and salute the doggedness, resilience, astuteness and uniqueness of the endearing life of the celebrant, with Prof Emenike Wami, the Ochia Ohna Ikwerre(XIV), taking the lead.
Prof Priye Iyalla, the wife of late renowned writer, novelist and playwright, Dr Elechi Amadi, held the audience spellbound as she masterfully reeled out the profile of the celebrant, amid intermittent applause from the crowd.
The Tiv Community from Benue State, resident in Rivers State, were not left out, as they honoured and decorated Eze Onuekwa in their complete traditional regalia.
Cultural displays from Baptist Church, Rumuowhor; ADNA Wogbuji Dancing Group, Egbeda; Tiv Dancing Group; and Promoter Eze and Rumu-Mgboh Emohua Wrestling Group, equally added colour and grace to the occasion, with the celebrant and his wife, Dame Ann Onuekwa, joining them to wriggle their waists and bodies in ecstasy.
In his response, the highly elated celebrant, Eze Onuekwa thanked all those gathered to celebrate with him, saying, celebrations would never cease in their homes, and attributed everything he represents in life, including his modest accomplishments to God.
Eze Onuekwa, while addressing newsmen, harped on the need for hard work among the youths and members of Ogbakor Ikwerre Cultural Organisation Worldwide, as a way of sustaining and giving meaning to the motto of the organisation, which he noted is anchored on peace, unity and progress.
He specially thanked God for sustaining his life, and for making everything possible for him and his family, saying, he was joyous that he has today become an octogenarian and elder statesman in Rivers State.
His son and medical practitioner, Dr Samuel Chizia Onuekwa expressed delight that people from far and near had come together to celebrate the father, whom he described as a role model and great inspirator.
He said it was a good thing that the children were celebrating their father when he is alive, stressing that the last time Eze Onuekwa was celebrated in such magnitude was 20 years ago, during his 60th birthday celebration, and prayed God to grant him many more years in good health.
Among dignitaries who graced the event were Senator Andrew Uchendu; Chief Sampson Agbaru; Prof Emenike Wami; Dr Peter Didia; Eze(Prof) Samuel Ugo Onyeka; and a host of others. Justice Iche Ndu(rtd); and C O Kattey were among personalities that attended the thanksgiving service, while the Vice Chancellor of Rivers State University, Prof Isaac Zeb-Obipi led the academics who graced the symposium, alongside Eze G A O Omodu.
As the 100 Ogoni youths trained by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) in Creative Arts close out their training on Tuesday at the Theatre Arts Department, University of Port Harcourt, the Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Prof Nenibarini Zabbey, has urged the beneficiaries to use the skills acquired to ensure that the Ogoni stories are told and heard in the right way.
The trainees, who had completed a four- month training in script writing, film production and make-up are beneficiaries of the HYPREP sustainable livelihood programme, aimed at providing high demand skills to Ogoni youths in the lucrative creative arts and entertainment industry.
Zabbey described the Creative Arts training as well as other programmes and interventions as HYPREP’s strategic sustained effort to create alternative sources of livelihood.
”Targeted capacity building for Ogoni youths and women remains a central strategy in HYPREP’s livelihood restoration and improvement efforts. Our goal is to reach every part of the Ogoni community and ensure that no group or talent pool is left behind. This training is a deliberate step to empower young people who aspire to make their mark in the creative and entertainment industry”, he said.
While commending the trainees for producing four short films within the training period, one of which was premiered at the ceremony-Dirty Festival, the Project Coordinator noted that the training would serve as a springboard into the industry, and enable them earn a living, become entrepreneurs, and open new doors of opportunities for themselves and their communities. The three other movies are Open Pain, Bomu and Green War.
He enjoined them to utilise their skills and platforms to promote civic responsibility, peace, and environmental sustainability, urging them to ensure that Ogoni is heard in the right way, speak for HYPREP and highlight the progress being made in implementing the recommendations of the UNEP Report.
Other speakers at the event, including the Director of Technical Services of HYPREP, Prof. Damian-Paul Aguiyi; Dr Ovunda Ihunwo, Head of the Theatre Arts Department of the University of Port Harcourt; Chief Douglas Experience, the Project Coordinator of Halibiz Consult Limited; and Mrs Josephine Nzidee, Head, Sustainable Livelihood of HYPREP, all applauded HYPREP for the training, and charged the trainees to maximise the opportunity.
The trainees were later presented certificates of participation.
Visibly elated Ms Lebee Tornwe, one of the beneficiaries, thanked HYPREP and the Project Coordinator for offering the trainees the rare opportunity to acquire skills in the creative arts and entertainment industry, and expressed delight that Dr Ihunwo and Halibiz Consult Limited gave their all in grooming them.
With the wrapping up of the Creative Arts training(100), HYPREP has trained 230 Ogoni youths in high demand skill sets ,viz; seafaring(100); and aviation (30). The Project will this year, commence training in other skill areas, including Mechatronic, Aviation, Full-Stack Development, Commercial Diving, Underwater Welding and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
Still in the offing is the training for Ogoni Persons Living with Disabilities in five skill sets- fish farming; basic computer skills; photography; fashion and design; and shoemaking in line with their Needs Assessment and HYPREP’s policy of inclusivity.
The National Youth Council of Ogoni People (NYCOP) had called on stakeholders to work collaboratively towards the development and empowerment of Ogoni youths.
NYCOP made the call in a communique issue over the weekend after an emergency Congress in Port Harcourt and signed by its President, Comrade Raymond Nwibani Marcus.
In the communique, NYCOP endorsed President Bola Tinubu’s appointments of the Governing Council and Board of Trustees (BOT) members of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), particularly Rt. Hon. Emmanuel Nwika Deeyah as Chairman of HYPREP’s BOT.
It respectfully appealed to the President to consider appointing a representative from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) under the leadership of Engr. Olu Andah Wai-Ogosu, being the pioneering social vehicle for Ogoni advocacy since the inception of the Ogoni struggle, adding that it would significantly contribute to the decision-making process.
The body commended the overall management of HYPREP and urges the President to continue funding the HYPREP project.
NYCOP furthermore recommended considering the conversion of HYPREP from a project to a full-fledged agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The communique also stated that NYCOP thanked President Tinubu for establishing the Federal University of Environmental Technology, and for appointing key staff, forming a dialogue committee, and initiating infrastructural projects like the Eleme axis of the East-West Road and the Bonny-Bodo Road, significantly enhancing regional connectivity and economic prospects.
In solidarity with the Renewed Hope Agenda, the endorsed President Tinubu’s second-term bid, saying it believes his leadership embodies the aspirations of the Ogoni people and Nigerians at large.
“After thorough consideration of the Disciplinary Committee’s report, NYCOP resolves:
” To indefinitely suspend Comrade Nade Nade Burale from his position as Secretary General due to misconduct.
“To declare Comrade Saviour Imeabe persona non grata on Ogoni youth issues, given his actions’ potential to instigate crisis in Ogoni and beyond” the communique stated.
NYCOP in his resolution issued a 7-day ultimatum to former HYPREP BOT Chairman Mike Nwialeghi to explain the $100 million HYPREP fund investment, warning of potential litigation.
NYCOP reaffirmed its commitment to safeguarding Ogoni youth interests and preventing personal aggrandizement.
According to the communique the resolutions demonstrate NYCOP’s efforts to promote the collective welfare and advancement of Ogoni youth.
“We will no longer tolerate any individual or group using the name or issues of Ogoni youth for personal aggrandizement.
” Our mandate is clear: to promote the collective welfare and advancement of Ogoni youth” the communique said.
NYCOP passes a vote of confidence in Hon. Emmanuel Nwika Deeyah, acknowledging his impeccable credentials and credibility to lead the BOT of HYPREP effectively.
Kiadum Edookor