Niger Delta

NYSC: Ijaw Youths Reject Posting To North

Published

12 years ago

August 6, 2014

The Ijaw youths, under the
auspices of Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, have rejected the posting of their graduates to the northern part of Nigeria to undergo the one-year compulsory national service for 2014/2015.
The IYC said on Monday that it was reckless and unpatriotic for the board of the National Youth Service Corps to post youths from the southern part of Nigeria to the North, considering the high level of insecurity in virtually all the states of the region.
The rejection by the Ijaw youths came on the heels of similar rejection by concerned parents and guardians in Bayelsa State.
Last Saturday, a group of Bayelsa parents and guardians, led by the National Women Leader, United for Goodluck Success Campaign, Mrs. Favour Alafuro, took to the streets of Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, to protest the posting of their children and wards to the North by the NYSC.
The protesters, marched through the popular Yenagoa-Mbiama Road to the office of Punch Newspapers in Yenagoa, said they feared that their children’s posting was like going on a mission of no return.
They asked the relevant authorities and the NYSC to review the posting without hesitation and vowed not to stop their action until the review of the posting.
They added that they had invested heavily in their children to allow them to be wasted like animals by the unrepentant insurgents in the North.
The protesting parents, who called on the federal and state governments to intervene in their collective concerns and prevail on the NYSC authorities to drop the idea, said it was curious that over 95 per cent of youths, who graduated from the state-owned Niger Delta University, were posted to the North.
They noted that the posting was an alleged ploy to decimate their youths in the troubled northern region.
The Ijaw youths said, “The IYC maintains its earlier position that Ijaw graduates and anybody from southern Nigeria should not be posted to the North and that the NYSC scheme should be reviewed to ensure that youths serve in their region.
“The idea of national integration which necessitated the posting of youths to different parts of the country cannot be used as a justification to post Ijaw youths to the North in the present security situation,” they added.
The youths warned that any threat to the lives of Ijaw youths as a result of NYSC’s board alleged recklessness would be visited with dire consequence from Ijaw youths.
They vowed that the youths would not accept a situation where Ijaw youths were killed in the North, while northern youths were enjoying in multinational oil companies in Ijawland and the Niger Delta region.

A PDP decampee to All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Hart Lawson Atemie (left), destroying his PDP membership card in Port Harcourt, yesterday

Niger Delta

Stakeholders In Delta Seek Stronger GBV Action, Women’s Leadership

Published

21 hours ago

March 2, 2026

The Tide

Stakeholders in Delta State convened in Asaba for a leadership workshop organised by Otdel Health Heritage and Environmental Initiative (OHHEI), focusing on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and women’s participation in decision-making processes.

OHHEI Project Director, Mr. Peter Olayinka, represented by a consultant, Juliet Obiajulu, urged participants to contribute meaningfully toward advancing women’s leadership and combating GBV across communities in the state.

He said the workshop aimed to strengthen participants’ capacity to influence policies, challenge harmful cultural norms, and reinforce initiatives designed to prevent and respond to GBV.

Olayinka said women often faced bias even when they occupied leadership positions, and stressed that gender diversity improved the quality of decision-making and promoted innovation and accountability in governance structures.

Speaking, the Chairperson of the Association Against Child Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, Mr Eris Jewo-Ibi, identified cultural norms, domestic responsibilities, political resistance, and grassroots barriers as constraints to women’s participation.

Delta State GBV Desk Officer, Mrs. Rosemary Okpuno, emphasised that effective decision-making required women’s perspectives, adding that inclusion remained critical to addressing persistent gender-based challenges.

Voke Angbagh of the Delta State Ministry of Justice outlined penalties for rape and called for the establishment of special courts to handle sexual offences cases.

Angbagh said frequent adjournments delayed justice for survivors, stressing that dedicated sexual offences courts would ensure timely trials and stronger protection for victims in Delta State.

The Tide’s source reports that facilitators identified cultural acceptance of violence, unequal power relations, discrimination, poverty, limited education, and low self-esteem as major drivers of GBV.

They emphasised that violence and exclusion resulted in social, physical and emotional harm, imposed economic costs, reinforced harmful stereotypes, and widened existing gender inequalities.

The source also reports that OHHEI, a local non-profit organisation, focuses on education, health, environment, and social justice, promoting sustainable development initiatives with gender equality at the centre of its interventions.

Niger Delta

C’River Suspends Taskforce Activities Over Drivers’ Protest

Published

21 hours ago

March 2, 2026

The Tide

The Cross River State Government has suspended all taskforce activities connected to commercial transportation and ticketing across the state.

The State Governor, Bassey Otu, announced the suspension at an emergency stakeholders meeting on Friday in Calabar.

It would be recalled that commercial drivers in Calabar metropolis took to streets on Thursday to protest alleged multiple taxation and extortion by government agencies.

During the protest, the drivers alleged that taskforce groups claiming to represent the state government openly harassed and extorted them.

Represented at the meeting by Ekpenyong Akiba, his Special Adviser on General Duties, Otu said the suspension would subsist pending further review of the situation.

The Governor stated that the state government did not commission anyone to extort drivers in the name of task force.

He urged commercial drivers and other road users to remain law-abiding while government worked out a lasting solution.

On his part, the Chairman, Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, Calabar Metropolis, Mr. Sunday Dennis, expressed optimism that the dialogue would yield positive results.

He said the meeting had provided an opportunity for the aggrieved commercial drivers to present their concerns directly to the state government.

Also speaking, the Chairman, Unified Drivers Association, Mr. Nta Henshaw, described the harassment on drivers as worrisome, and urged the state government to be decisive in resolving the matter.

Niger Delta

A’Ibom Assembly Urges More Private Investments In Agriculture

Published

21 hours ago

March 2, 2026

The Tide

The Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly Committee on Nutrition and Food Security has called for more private sector investments in agriculture.

The Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Moses Essien, made the call when the committee visited Aviclaire Farms, a private establishment in Usung Idem, Uruk Usoh in Abak Local Government Area.

Essien, who represents Ibiono Ibom in the Assembly, commended the Management of the farm for partnering an NGO, ECEWS, to promote private investment in agriculture.

He commended the partners for adopting climate-smart agriculture initiatives in their operations, adding that such move would promote food security.

“Your interest in using transformative intervention to promote food security is a veritable way of complementing the efforts of the state government,” he said.

The lawmaker continued that adopting practical climate-smart agriculture model would help to generate employment, improve nutrition outcomes, and strengthen food sufficiency.

He further said he was impressed with the strides recorded by the partners, saying, “your investment has created jobs for no fewer than 2,000 youths.

”You are an example of an environment-friendly investor. I urge Akwa Ibom residents to embrace environment-friendly and technology-driven agriculture models,” he said.

Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer, ECEWS, Dr. Andy Eyo, who conducted the committee round the farm, said the collaboration was conceived to demonstrate the viability of climate-smart farming in ensuring food sufficiency.

Eyo said the farm, which commenced operations with four greenhouses, had expanded to 14 within two years, and currently supplying high-quality produce to major markets in Uyo and neighbouring communities.

He said ECEWS was exploring cooperative frameworks to enable rural farmers and women’s groups to adopt greenhouse technology for sustainable livelihoods.

In her remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of Aviclaire Farms, Mrs. Victoria Eyo, said the controlled-environment ensured precision cultivation and consistent yields.

She further said the farm served as a capacity-building centre for students, interns, and agri-business trainees.