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2015: Vote For Change, Not Party, Amaechi Tells Nigerians
Civil Servants during the Civil Service week in Port Harcourt, recently. Photo: Obina Prince Dele
Rivers State Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has emphasized the need for Nigerians and Rivers people to vote for change to usher in a performing government that will guarantee the protection of lives and property in the state and the country.
Amaechi spoke Monday while declaring open the Nigeria Girls Guild Association National Camp and 95th Anniversary Celebrations at the Archdeacon Brown Education Centre in Port Harcourt.
The governor urged Nigerians to begin the process of assessing democratic and visionary leaders by their performance in office to establish change in the system; and advised Rivers people to shun any political interest that do not place the people first.
He said, “Assess all of us by our performance, not by religion. Always ask the political leaders, what is the outcome of what the people voted you for? If you do that and you vote for the right people, it will lead to change. And for me, I think we need change. Vote for your conscience, I didn’t say vote for me. If you feel that a PDP person is better in performance than the APC person, please vote for that PDP person, and if not, reverse it for a change. All I am asking for is change.”
Amaechi also called on women to guide their children and wards to be of good behaviour and resist all acts of impunity, propaganda and intimidation by those in authority who fail to follow democratic norms and values to choose credible leaders to form the right government.
“For you our mothers, we should not only guide the children to good behaviour. Good behaviour for me is that we must go home and tell our brothers that we should choose the right government, if not hunger will kill us.
According to him, “What we should do now in Rivers State is to do what the people of Osun State did. Do you know what they did? Three to four days before the election, law enforcement agents were shooting to scare people away from preparing to vote in the election. I hear that while the people were shooting, instead of the people to run into the bush, they were running towards the direction of the gun shots and singing ‘APC Aregbosola, APC Aregbosola.’ I was impressed by that boldness. And the essence of releasing the gun shots was to intimidate voters from coming out to vote at the polls.
“I charge you Rivers people to carry your chairs and come out on the day of election and seat down at your polling units and vote for credible candidates of your choice. If the queue is long, please, remain on the line until it is your turn to vote,” Amaechi said.
He decried the lapses in the current administration, stating the utmost importance of an oath of office and allegiance of a serving governor or president which is the commitment of protecting lives and property in their domain.
“Let me tell you about the oath of office of a serving governor or president. The oath of office is not that he will provide you with light, hospital or road. The oath of office is that the governor or president will protect lives and property. What about the lives of the Chibok girls? What have we done with their lives?
Meanwhile, Amaechi condemned the mayhem unleashed by the radical Boko Haram sect against innocent and law-abiding Nigerians in the North-Eastern part of the country, and equally warned desperate politicians to stop the attempt to divide the country.
“Boko Haram is after everybody, they care even after themselves. They are a group of people murdering people in the name of Islam. Some politicians are beginning to divide the country into Muslims and Christians. We cannot cover the failure of government with our religions, if not, there will be trouble. There is no difference between the Muslim in Yobe and the Muslim in Ekiti State. If Boko Haram had focused on killing Christians alone in the North-East, there would have been war by now, and the country would have been divided. It is only people who are not intellectually prepared that delve into religious bigotry,” Amaechi said.
He also explained the role played by his administration in providing economic infrastructure to tackle the problems of poverty and unemployment which incidentally triggered militancy in the Niger Delta region.
“As governor of Rivers State, what I did when I assumed office in 2007 was to think on how to put food on the table of our people as an alternative to militancy. And what I did was to build an economic infrastructure and you can see those infrastructures yourselves. In every school we built, we employed 50 persons and we have built about 500 model primary schools.
“And for every health centre we built, we employed a minimum of 50 persons and we have built 140 Model primary health centres. When we came, our hospitals had only 200 medical doctors, and we employed 200 more to make it 400. We knew that 400 will not be enough, and we employed another 200 to make it 600 medical doctors. With these plans we were able to reduce poverty and employment,” Amaechi stated.
Presenting an award of good governance to Governor Amaechi at the event, Chief Commissioner of the Nigerian Girls Guild Association and wife of former Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Dame Christie Toby said, the association found Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi worthy of his performance in office as governor, especially, the priority on education, including the building of several model primary and secondary schools and the free education policy of his administration.
In her keynote address, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt, Prof. Bene Willie Abbey urged the Nigerian Girls Guild Association to strengthen their volunteer services towards making girls and women to be productive elements in nation building.
As part of activities marking the Nigerian Girls Guild Association 95th Anniversary in Rivers State, Governor Amaechi led members of the association tour of ongoing and completed projects in the State, including the ongoing Woji bridge and road construction, model primary and healthcare centre at Elekahia, Ambassador Nne Furo Kurubo Model Secondary School, Ebubu, Eleme, the Afam Power Gas Turbine Station and the Songhai Farms Rivers Initiative.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
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RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.