Editorial
Consolidating The Gains Of The Tide
Forty years tomorrow, the first edition of The Nigerian Tide, today’s The Tide, flag ship of the Rivers State Newspaper Corporation was formally launched by the First Military Governor of Old Rivers State, Lt Commander A.P Diete-Spiff in Lagos.
Copies of the first edition actually got to the News Stands on December 4, 1971. Subsequently, The Tide became a bi-weekly on May 24, 1974 and later, a daily with the inclusion of the Sunday Tide. Under The Tide stable were magazines like the Business Tide that later, became African The Tide.
The founding fathers of Rivers State were very clear on the need for a newspaper. Being a people from a minority area, the founding fathers wanted a voice for the state. They also wanted, to mobilize the people for economic advancement.
In order for The Tide to seek and protect the interest of the people and government of Rivers State, the corporation was supported with a well equipped commercial printing press that ensured that the corporation was not hindered by finance.
In 40 years, The Tide has gone through good and bad times, but its mandate has never been compromised. Being one of the first state owned newspapers in Nigeria, The Tide has stayed alive even when nearly all the other state owned newspapers went under.
It is therefore only expedient that the management and staff of the corporation would take this time to celebrate the sustenance of the newspaper and thank God for His grace through the years. The Corporation must also take this time to re-position the newspaper houses for the future.
As a way of consolidating on the gains of the newspaper, The Tide has rolled out a four-day plan to celebrate its 40th Anniversary. During the period, there would be exhibitions, landmark lectures and gala nite. The first Military Governor, now the Amayanabo of Twon-Brass, HRM Alfred P. Diete-Spiff is expected to speak.
No doubt, The Tide will hope to see her friends at this occasion. Although, quite a number of persons and organisations are partnering with The Tide in this anniversary, the paper would want to draw courage and inspiration from the solidarity of a grateful State.
There are truly a lot of reasons why the government and people of Rivers State should celebrate The Tide. It is a thing of honour that till date, The Tide is the most trusted and authoritative voice of the Rivers project. It is also listed as one of the major African newspapers on the internet. It is perhaps the first Nigerian newspaper to attain archival capability on the internet.
The Tide has in addition to keeping faith with its mandate, facilitated the training of high level manpower in the media industry. It is the first state newspaper to go daily on colour. The Tide has continued to excel in the impossible through the publication of a daily newspaper without Rotary machine.
Perhaps one area that The Tide cannot be appreciated enough is that of serving as the link between the government and the governed on the one hand and the people and the rest of the world. The Tide has in no small way contributed to good governance by advising and holding the government accountable.
It is also gratifying that quite a number of institutions and individuals patronise The Tide as the paper of first choice. The volunteering of information through press interviews and placement of advertisements actually kept the doors of the newspaper open.
At 40, The Tide is no longer a kid; its network, experience and even service have increased a thousand fold. Its plan for the future is even more challenging. This is one of the issues the anniversary will help to shape and colour in the interest of even the last Rivers man.
As solidarity messages and partnership offers pour in towards the anniversary, The Tide can only return praise to God and extend its loyalty and un-alloyed gratitude to the government and people Rivers State for actually keeping the publications afloat.
This is another opportunity for the media to celebrate itself. It is time all the staff of the corporation past and present and all the people who have ridden on the pages of The Tide to glory to come together and say thanks to God and to say yes to even a brighter future.
There are moments in the life of a legislature when plain speaking becomes a public service. Senator Adams Oshiomhole provided such a moment on the floor of the Senate when he accused the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, of manifestly neglecting critical federal arteries in Edo and Delta States, and implored his colleagues to prevail on the Minister to adopt a more equitable and genuinely national approach to road infrastructure delivery. It was blunt, it was uncomfortable, and it was necessary.
The specifics of his complaint deserve restating. Drawing attention to the recent approval of some 20 new road projects despite the parlous state of existing ones, the former Edo State governor lamented that Nigerians cannot travel from Benin to Warri, Benin to Asaba, Benin to Auchi, or Auchi to Okene without encountering severe distress. He alleged a deliberate omission of these corridors from the national budget in the last three years, save for palliative interventions directed by President Bola Tinubu through tax credit arrangements. His question — “What have we done wrong?” — resonates far beyond the chambers of the National Assembly.
We lend our full and unequivocal support to that call. The Auchi-Benin Road, for instance, has been in a deplorable and near-impassable condition for several years, turning what should be a two-hour journey into an all-day ordeal of broken axles, extortionate fares, and despondent commuters. The media have, on multiple occasions, chronicled the suffering of motorists, traders, and students who ply that route. To describe it as a federal road today is to stretch the meaning of the term beyond recognition.
This pattern of sidelining is not confined to Edo or Delta. Even here in Rivers State, the disposition of the Federal Ministry of Works has left much to be desired, particularly along the Eleme axis of the East-West Road. That road, which ought to be a flagship of federal presence in the Niger Delta, has remained in a wretched state for long. Those who use it daily — workers at the Eleme Petrochemical Complex, the two refineries, Onne Port, and the countless ancillary industries — can attest to its deterioration. Work has proceeded in fits and starts without the sustained urgency such a strategic road demands.
The Eleme stretch is not a mere intra-state byway. It is the gateway to the nation’s economic jugular. According to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing’s 2023 Highway Condition Survey, only about 35 per cent of the country’s 36,000 kilometres of federal roads are rated as being in good or fair condition, with the remainder classified as poor or very poor. The East-West Road, conceived in the 1970s to bind the entire Niger Delta, remains unfinished in critical sections more than four decades after. If it had been treated as a priority, the perennial gridlock, carnage, and economic loss on the Eleme-Refinery junction would have long been consigned to history.
The irony is as painful as it is glaring. The Niger Delta remains the goose that lays the golden eggs. Data from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative [NEITI 2023 Oil and Gas Audit] show that the region still accounts for over 78 per cent of Nigeria’s federally collected export earnings and about 65 per cent of total government revenue. The National Bureau of Statistics [NBS Foreign Trade Report Q4 2024] similarly confirms that crude oil continues to dominate export receipts. By every metric of equity and economic logic, a region that sustains the national purse deserves first-rate consideration in the allocation of infrastructure, not afterthoughts and tokenism.
Road infrastructure is not largesse to be dispensed by favour; it is the skeleton upon which commerce, cohesion, and citizenship hang. When contracts are concentrated in one geopolitical zone while other zones are left to contend with craters, it erodes trust in the federation itself. The World Bank’s Nigeria Development Update [June 2023] estimated that poor transport connectivity inflates the cost of moving goods by up to 40 per cent and costs the Nigerian economy an estimated $1.5 billion annually in lost man-hours and vehicle maintenance. If we profess to be one country, then equity must be the compass that guides key institutions before any project is executed. Development must spread round, not pool in one place as though other regions do not matter.
There is also a grave security dimension that can no longer be ignored. The deplorable condition of federal roads has become a veritable enabler of criminality. The NBS Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey reported over 2.5 million incidents of kidnapping-related occurrences nationally, with transport workers identifying bad road spots as prime ambush points. When vehicles are forced to crawl at 10 kilometres per hour through failed sections at Auchi, Sapele Road, or Eleme, they become sitting ducks for armed gangs. Fixing bad roads, therefore, is not merely about convenience; it is about safeguarding lives.
By his intervention, Senator Oshiomhole has hit the nail on the head and reminded Minister Umahi of a fundamental constitutional truth: public office is held in trust. The Ministry of Works is not a personal estate where contracts are awarded according to whim or political convenience. It is a national institution funded by the collective resources of Nigerians, including the oil and gas rents from the very communities whose roads are now neglected. The Minister must demonstrate balance, transparency, and a pan-Nigerian outlook in the distribution of projects that impact the daily existence of citizens. Selective neglect breeds suspicion, and suspicion is corrosive at a time when the nation is preaching unity, oneness, equity, and justice.
Consequently, the National Assembly must go beyond rhetoric and assert its oversight powers with vigour. Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution [as amended] empower the legislature to investigate and expose any maladministration in the execution of federal projects. If an office holder is not acting rightly, it is the duty of the Senate and the House of Representatives to call him to order. Oversight must not be reduced to budget approval ceremonies; it must translate to field verification, public hearings, and insistence that the Federal Character principle, as enshrined in Section 14(3) of the Constitution, reflects in road awards.
Let the Auchi-Okene, Benin-Warri, Benin-Asaba, and Eleme East-West gangways be restored to motorable dignity. Let priority be given to completing existing, economically vital roads before embarking on new ones. If those who, through their resources, sustain the federation are sidelined in the distribution of tangible dividends, it tells poorly of our nationhood. Bad roads must be fixed, and they must be fixed now, with fairness as the guiding standard.
