Nation
THE STATES
Benue
Two persons died in a motor accident that occurred last Friday in Wannune, Tarka Local Government Area of Benue State.
Mr Daniel Ezeala, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Benue State, said in Makurdi that the accident occurred when a lorry conveying members of the NKST Church, travelling from Ukum to Makurdi, fell off the road after hitting another vehicle, killing two persons with others sustaining injuries.
“`The vehicle, which tried to avoid a speed bump, ran into another vehicle in front, thereby causing it to fall into a ditch, which resulted into the death of the two passengers,’’ he said.
Ezeala said that the passengers were travelling for a conference of the NKST Church in Makurdi,
FCT
The Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Mr Reginald Stanley, last Saturday assured Nigerians of steady fuel supply.
A statement issued in Abuja by Mr Lanre Oladele, the Public Relations Officer of PPPRA, quoted Stanley as saying that the NNPC and other marketers had sufficient fuel in stock.
The statement said that the agency gave the assurance to remove the fears created in the minds of the public that there might be fuel scarcity.
It said that the agency, however, expressed regret that some marketers usually hoarded petroleum products so as to make profit during festive periods.
“We wish to assure Nigerians that there is steady trucking out of products across the country and the trend shall continue without any hindrance,’’ the statement said.
Gombe
The Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Gombe has been upgraded to a Teaching Hospital.
According to a release signed by Malam Haruna Abdulrasheed, Assistant Director, Public Relations of the hospital issued last Friday, the approval for the upgrade was given by President Goodluck Jonathan
It said copies of the approval have been sent to the Minister of Health, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Governor of Gombe State.
The release further said the upgrading was to enable the hospital to be used for the training of medical students of the Gombe State University.
Jigawa
The Police in Jigawa State said it recorded 21 murders and four suicides from January to December 2013.
The Commissioner of Police in the State, Mr Kayode Theophilus, made the remarks in Dutse last Sunday.
Theophilus said 13 of the cases had been charged to court while the remaining ones were being investigated.
Theophilus stated that 72 persons were arrested for causing grievous harm/ inflicting injuries on people. “The suspects have been charged to court.’’
He disclosed that 10 armed robbers were arrested while 426 people were nabbed for stealing and three others for forging currency notes and disclosed that crime rate in the state had drastically reduced when compared with the past.
Kadunaa
The Kaduna State Police Command last Saturday in Kaduna paraded seven suspected members of a gunrunning syndicate involved in the sale, manufacture and repair of locally made guns.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr Olufemi Adenaike, said that the suspected gun-runners were arrested following a tip-off from a member of the public.
Adenaike said that seven suspects, including Malam Aliyu Yahaya, the Village Head of Sabon Gidan, Kakau, in Chikun Local Government Area of the state, were arrested in the operation. According to him, investigations are still going on, with a view to arresting other members of the syndicate and others involved in the manufacture and repair of locally made guns.
He urged the public to continue to support security agents by providing them with useful information that would aid efforts to safeguard the state against terrorism and other crimes.
Kano
The Kano State Government says it will establish an e-learning centre in each of the 44 local government areas of the state this year.
The state Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Tajuddeen Gambo, said last Friday in Kano State that the project, which would be executed in collaboration with a Canadian non-governmental organisation, was part of the government’s effort to encourage e-learning.
“By 2015, JAMB examination is going to be done electronically. “So you have to ensure that all your students taking the examination are computer literate otherwise they will not pass the examination.
“The e-learning centres will be opened in each of the local government areas with no fewer than 30 computers in each centre,’’ he said.
According to him, the state government will also provide 61 computers in every secondary school.
Kebbi
The Kebbi State chapter of the Nigeria Cassava Growers Association says it is collaborating with local government councils to secure a N500-million loan for cassava growers and processors.
The association’s Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Nasiru Magaji, in a statement in Birnin Kebbi last Saturday, said that 20,000 cassava growers and processors would benefit from the loan.
He said that the gesture was to encourage more people to participate in cassava farming and processing and commended the state government for assisting 1,488 cassava farmers to obtain loans from the Bank of Agriculture.
Magaji also said that the moribund Cassava Processing Plant in Birnin Kebbi was being revived to produce pellets, chips, industrial starch and flour for domestic and international markets.
“The national body of the association will also assist the state branch with six additional cassava processing plants to boost the fortunes of cassava farmers,’’ he said.
Kwara
Members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and youths under the auspices of Youths for Change Initiative (YCI) in Ajase-Ipo in Kwara State, last Sunday pledged to work for the victory of the party in the 2015 general elections.
The groups, in a joint communiqué issued at a meeting on political developments in the state, said the party deserved their support at this critical period.
The communiqué was jointly signed by Yusuf Rasheed, Ward 2 Secretary of PDP and the Public Relations Officer, Oyinloye Simeon, while Suleiman Mansur, signed for YCI.
According to the groups, the achievements recorded by ex-governor Bukola Saraki and his successor, Alhaji Abdulfatai Ahmed, were made possible by the people-oriented policies of the PDP.
Lagos
Commercial motorists in Lagos State last Saturday appealed to the Lagos State Government to extend the December 31, 2013-deadline fixed for the new registration of commercial vehicle operations.
Lagos State Ministry of Transportation commenced the new registration of commercial vehicles on November 1, 2013 and the exercise was expected to end on December 31, 2013.
The Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Kayode Opeifa, said at a recent meeting with transport service providers that the new vehicles’ registration was for purely security reasons.
He said that the measure was adopted to address some security issues, including kidnapping, which were always linked to commercial vehicles in the state.
Yobe
Yobe State Government has refuted the claim by the Minister of State for Finance that the Federal Government is building the 31km Gashua-Yusufari road.
In a statement by the Special Adviser to Governor Ibrahim Gaidam on Information and Press Affairs, Abdullahi Bego, the government said the claim is “stunningly false”.
The statement reads, “the attention of this office has been drawn to a false claim by the Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Yerima Ngama, that the Federal Government is building the Gashu’a-Yusufari road. “The minister made the claim during the 9pm network news of the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) last Thursday.
“Why would the minister ignore the lack of Federal Government projects in the state and instead choose to make desperate and false claims to projects being executed by Governor Gaidam.
“Coming from a politician desperate to explain the troubling lack of federal presence in Yobe State and much of the Northeast, the minister’s claim, though unbelievable, is understandable,” Bego said.
Plateau
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Plateau State said last Monday it secured 122 convictions and seized 1,494.185 kilogrammes of hard drugs in 2013.
The NDLEA Commander in the state, Mrs Ngozi Madubuike, said in Jos that all the convicts were males between the age of 17 and 22 years.
Madubuike said that their jail terms also ranged between 30 days and seven years in prison and she attributed the rise in the use of drugs in Plateau to various factors, including peer group pressure, family disintegration, unemployment and cold weather.
She appealed to the public to cooperate with the agency by providing it with useful information that could assist in stopping drug trafficking and abuse.

L-R: Majority Leader, Oyo State House of Assembly, Mr Oyeniyi Akande, Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice Badejoko Adeniji, Governor Abiola Ajimobi, the deputy, Otunba Moses Adeyemo, and Chairman, Oyo State All Progressives Congress, Chief Akin Oke, at the inter-religious prayer session to usher in 2014 in Ibadan last Monday. Photo: NAN
Nation
Accolades, Fanfare As Ogbakor Ikwerre President General Celebrates 80th Birthday

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.
Nation
Ensure That Ogoni Is Heard In The Right Way, HYPREP Urges Creative Arts Trainees

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.
Nation
NYCOP Urges Stakeholders To Develop, Empower Ogoni Youths

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.
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