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Atlantic Beach Party; Amaechi Has Opened Ikuru Town To Tourism -Deputy Gov

President Goodluck Jonathan (left), receiving a centenary greeting card from the national president, Road Transport Employer’s Association of Nigeria (rtean), Chief Musa Shehu, during the visit of rtean executives to the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday. With them is the Minister of Transport, Sen. Idris Umar. Photo: NAN
Rivers State Deputy Governor, Engr. Tele Ikuru, says the Ogoni/Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro Unity Road has opened up Ikuru Town in Andoni Local Government Area to limitless economic opportunities.
Engr. Ikuru said this at the weekend during the 2nd Ikuru Town Atlantic Beach Party held at the Atlantic shoreline behind Ikuru Town.
“Governor Amaechi has made this possible by constructing the Andoni-Opobo-Nkoro unity road. This has now made Ikuru Town easily accessible for businesses and has created an avenue for tourism to blossom which is what we are enjoying today. With this road we will soon begin to see hotels and industries cropping here,” he said.
Describing the carnival-like beach party which also had in attendance, the 2013 CARNIRIV Free Style event winners, Treasure Base Band, as an asset whose tourism potentials had not been discovered, Engr. Ikuru declared “it is a new discovery that is bound to open doors of opportunities and attract investments to this area with prospects of creating several job opportunities, thereby improving the local economy”.
He assured that the 2015 edition would be bigger and stronger, organization and package-wise, stressing, “we will see a much much bigger occasion than what we saw today”.
Earlier, the Director General of the State Tourism Development Agency (RSTDA), Mr. Sam Dede commended the indigenes of Ikuru Town for the novel initiative, saying “it’s exciting to see the beauty of nature blossoming with great passion and magnificence. I mean just standing by the ocean, celebrating and partying together is simply “wow”. It’s beyond description. Nobody thought there exists such a recreational edifice as this in Rivers State”.
He disclosed that RSTDA was already strategizing and exploring avenues of partnership with the organizers to harness the potentials of the event towards making it even bigger and groovier in 2015.
The event which pleasantly dazzled under the gazing and blazing sun in the open air filled with the freshness of the sea breeze oozing from the ocean featured several exciting games whose winners carted away handsome prizes ranging from deep freezers, to refrigerators, microwave ovens, electronic gadgets among others and was well attended by indigenes and fun seekers from within and outside the state.
Earlier, winners had also emerged from the marathon event which would come easily as the first riverine marathon perhaps in Nigeria. Over 135 athletes participated in the race which stretched a distance of 8km.
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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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