Nation
THE STATES
Ekiti
An Ado-Ekiti Customary Court has dissolved a 9-
year-old marriage between Mrs Enema Friday and his wife, Mary.
Our correspondent reports that the case first came up for mention on May 6.
The marriage was dissolved on grounds of frequent beating, threat to life, as well as lack of care.
Mary, 32, told the court that her husband maltreated her which made her to pack out of his house.
She said the husband had not been taking care of her because of her childlessness, and that he once threatened her with a pistol for allegedly having extra marital affairs.
Mary explained that she contributed to the building of their house, but had to pack out because of the threat.
FCT
Some workers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)
have reacted to plans by the territory’s administration in conjunction with the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) to provide affordable, quality accommodation for workers.
While some of the respondents commended the initiative as a way of ameliorating the high cost of accommodation in Abuja, others advised parties to the agreement to extend such opportunity to workers in the public sector.
According to Mr Samson Isah, an Abuja-based civil servant, the housing initiative was commendable and should be encouraged by well-meaning Nigerians.
He advised government and the labour unions to monitor the project thoroughly to ensure that the contractors delivered on schedule.
Gombe
Members of the Sickle Cell Association club in
Gombe, have appealed for increase in their drugs following a rise in the number of their registered members.
The Chairman of the association, Malam Isa Barkama, made the appeal in an interview with newsmen in Gombe.
He said that the number of the registered members rose from 10,000 to 17,000 following awareness campaigns embarked upon by the association.
“Initially, we had only 10,000 members who were registered but our number increased to 17,000 because of the awareness campaigns we embarked upon,” he said.
He said that the wife of the Gov. Hajiya Adama Dankwambo, had been giving them the drugs free of charge.
He said that people were now voluntarily bringing their children for the test, adding, “it is important for everyone to know his or her genotype’’.
Jigawa
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence (NSCDC)
in Jigawa State said it arrested a 33-year-old-man with 16 bags of adulterated animal feed.
The NSCDC Commandant in the state, Mr Muhammad Gidado, told newsmen in Dutse that the suspect was arrested at Maigatari International Market recently.
Gidado complained that many people engaged in selling adulterated food items, particularly Sesame oil and other cooking oil.
He said “our men have succeeded in arresting a 33-year-old-man with 16 bags of adulterated animal feed at the popular Maigatari International Market.
“Intelligence report shows that many people have developed the habit of selling adulterated food items such as Sesame oil, cooking oil and many more.’’
Katsina
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund),
yesterday, said it placed top priority on entrepreneurship training of lecturers and students in public tertiary institutions.
The TETFund Board Chairman, Alhaji Musa Babayo, stated this in Katsina at the opening of a two-day capacity building workshop on Entrepreneurship Development in Public Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria.
According to him, the capacity building workshop for lecturers in public tertiary institutions is aimed at promoting entrepreneurship skills.
He said “entrepreneurship has the capacity to create wealth for students and empower them to become self innovative and creative thinkers in business.”
Kwara
Kwara State Government said it was working
toward improving its internally generated revenue (IGR) to better the lots of its citizens.
The state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Mr Tunji Moronfoye, stated this in llorin in an interview with newsmen.
He said that the improved internal revenue would augment the shortfalls in the state’s allocations from the Federation Account.
According to him, this is part of viable initiatives being put together to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people, adding that the government was committed to providing quality and affordable healthcare services.
He said that no fewer than 8,500 people had benefited from the state’s primary healthcare programme.
Lagos
An Ikeja High Court has rejected the bail application
filed by a 52-year-old man, Moses Olayemi, accused of defrauding a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr Aliyu Salman, of N2.5 million.
The trial judge, Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo, in a ruling on Olayemi’s bail application, agreed with the objections raised by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The judge noted that the defendant was previously convicted for the same offences by a Kano State High Court.
He said that Olayemi’s prior criminal record and the severity of the charge could make him abscond if the application was granted.
Lawal-Akapo consequently dismissed the application and ordered Olayemi to be remanded in Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison, pending the conclusion of the case.
Ogun
The convener, Save Nigeria Group, Pastor Tunde
Bakare, says students unionism has fallen from its pinnacle of intellectual doggedness to become mere appendage of political parties.
Bakare, who made this assertion in Abeokuta at the 2014 anniversary of the International Day of Students, said “it is also now a tool for corrupt politicians”.
In a paper titled: “Good Governance: Sustainability of Democracy, the Role of Students in the Forthcoming General Election”, Bakare said students unionism in the country had lost its activists steam and was in a sorry state.
He called on the students’ body to embark on a journey of rebirth to return to the good old days of students’ activism.
“To achieve this, you must rid yourselves of cultism and other self-destructive tendencies and take back student unionism from hoodlums and charlatans.
Osun
The Osun State sector command of the Federal Road
Safety Commission (FRSC) said last Tuesday that it issued 268 new number plates to motorists in the state in the month of October.
The Sector Commander, Mr Muhammad Husaini, made the disclosure in an interview with newsmen in Osogbo.
Husaini said the figure was submitted to the commission by the state revenue board, the department responsible for number plates production.
He added that the figure covered number plates for cars, buses, articulated vehicles and motorcycles.
The sector commander said “the FRSC works in partnership with the state revenue board in registration and production of new number plates or upgrading of old ones by motorists.’’
Sokoto
Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State said that
about 1,000 indigent students of the state were currently pursuing various academic programmes in various universities abroad.
They are being sponsored by the government.
Wamakko announced this at the inauguration of Hamma Ali Road in Kware Local Government Area of the state.
He said that the students were studying Medicine, Pharmacy and Engineering, among others.
He said that the state government was committed to producing the needed manpower to develop the state.
Wamakko said that already 240 ward primary health centres had been equipped and provided with ambulances to ensure smooth and effective health care delivery in the state.
President Goodluck Jonathan (left), receiving letter of credence from the new Ambassador of Denmark to Nigeria, Mr Torben Gettermann in Abuja recently
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.
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.
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.
Kiadum Edookor