Nation
THE STATES
FCT
The World Health Organisation (WHO) last Tuesday in Abuja urged employers globally to treat mental health illnesses with the same urgency and seriousness as physical illnesses.
WHO’s Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti gave the advice in a message to mark the 2017 World Mental Health Day celebrated annually on October10.
Moeti said that mental health was often neglected as a key aspect of employees’ health, adding that an estimated 10 per cent of the employed population globally had taken time off work because of depression.
She urged employers to be change agents by modifying risk factors for stress in the workplace, create an organisational climate that promotes wellbeing, creativity and facilitate care for those who need it.
Kaduna
The Speaker, Kaduna State House of Assembly, Aminu Shagali, has urged members of the House to sponsor private bills that would add value to ongoing reforms in the state and lives of their constituents.
Shagali said in an address on the floor of the assembly, which resumed after a long recess that the assembly would support any member who presents bills that would have meaningful impact on the lives of the citizenry.
He noted that though the assembly had deliberated on a total of 55 bills since inception, they were largely sponsored by the executive.
The speaker, however, commended the lawmakers for conducting oversight visits and public hearings in spite of the recess.
Kano
Kano State Government has reiterated commitment to initiate more youth and women empowerment programmes to fight unemployment and poverty in the state.
Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said this when participants of Course 26 of the National Defence College, Abuja on Geo-Strategic Study tour of Kano State paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House, Kano.
Speaking on the theme of the Geo-Strategic Tour, “Youth Empowerment and National Security’’, Ganduje said, “most of our programmes are geared toward youths and women empowerment.”
The governor said the state government would continue to initiate more youth empowerment programmes in order to train more youths in different skills to also reduce social vices.
“Government has done this in the past and is still doing its best to reduce the rate of unemployment, youths’ restiveness, poverty.
Katsina
The Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) in Katsina State has commenced a state-wide campaign to sensitise women on protective measures against rape.
The NAWOJ Chairperson in the state, Hajiya Hauwa Yalladan, said at a town hall meeting with women in Kaita Local Government Area of the state last Wednesday, that the campaign was part of the association’s efforts to highlight the dangers of rape in the society.
She said that NAWOJ decided to spearhead the campaign in view of rising cases of rape across the state.
“Rape cases in the state are becoming more rampant, no parent will want his daughter to become a victim.
“It has now reached an extent that even boys are not safe from rapists, so, we want all stakeholders to join hands to put an end to the menace,’’ the NAWOJ chairperson said.
Kogi
The Speaker, Kogi State House of Assembly, Matthew Kolawole says the House will enact laws that will promote the education and emancipation of the girl-child in the state.
Kolawole gave the assurance in a goodwill message to mark the 2017 International Day of the Girl-Child last Wednesday in Lokoja.
The message was signed by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Mr Femi Olugbemi.
He said the House would support and promote every cause that would enable women and girls to take their rightful positions in society.
Kwara
Members of the llorin Muslim Community in Kwara State say they would exhume the corpse of a civil servant killed by lightening on September 20, in Oro, lrepodun Local Government Area.
The Coordinator of the llorin Muslim cemetery and a lecturer in the University of llorin, Dr Abubakar Aliagan made this known in an interview with newsmen in llorin.
Aliagan said that the llorin Muslim Community had perfected arrangement to exhume the corpse to give him proper lslamic burial.
A correspondent reports that the victim, a 47-year old Salami Adekunle who was a staff of the Kwara State College of Education, Oro was buried at a Christian cemetery Okeose on September 21.
Adekunle was buried after his body was rejected at the Muslim cemetery in llorin.
Lagos
A Catholic Priest, Rev. Fr. Vincent Ezezue has urged the three tiers of government and wealthy Nigerians to empower the less-privileged to make them productive in the society.
Ezezue, also the Parish Priest of St. Michael, Raphael and Gabriel’s Catholic Church (Archangel Parish), Satellite Town, Lagos made the plea in an interview with newsmen in Lagos.
He spoke on the sidelines of the feast of Saint Vincent the Paul organised by the church.
Ezezue said, “It is necessary to always consider the needy and bring them closer to God by extending hands of fellowship to them.
“When we are marking the feast of Saint Vincent the Paul, our usual tradition is to gather the poor and the less privileged around us to share food items, clothes and other relief materials which they need.”
Nasarawa
The Nasarawa State Command of the Nigeria Prisons Service last Wednesday said that 25 inmates were undergoing degree courses at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) in the state.
The State Controller of Prisons, Ekwere Ekaneem, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen last Wednesday in Lafia.
According to him, 20 inmates of Keffi Prisons and five inmates of Lafia Prisons are currently studying various courses at the NOUN study centre in Lafia.
Niger
The Niger State Government has signed N1.2 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to improve healthcare delivery in the state.
Reports indicate that Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger State signed on behalf of the state while Dr Chris Elias, President of Global Development, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation signed for the foundation.
Bello who decried the neglect of the health sector in the past years said that the MoU would help strengthen the primary healthcare and reduce pressure on the secondary health sector.
Osun
The Osun State Commissioner for Education, Mr Kola Omotunde-Young has advised members of the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) serving in public schools in the state to be dedicated to their duties.
He also urged the Federal Government Youth Empowerment Programme (N-Power), serving in such institutions to do same.
The commissioner gave the advice during an inspection visit to the Africa Church Middle School in Osogbo last Tuesday.
Omotunde-Young said by being passionately dedicated to their duties, the corps members and the r volunteers would be seen to be contributing their quota to the development of education in the state.
Oyo
A Consultant Dermatologist at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Prof. Adebola Ogunbiyi has that hair problems among Nigerian women have become worrisome, stressing the need for hair management and hygiene.
Ogunbiyi who made this assertion while speaking with newsmen on health issues in Ibadan said Nigerians do not have adequate knowledge on how best to manage their hair.
Plateau
A Jos High Court has found Etisalat Nigeria (9 Mobile) guilty of trespassing into a personal property and ordered it to pay N15 million damages.
The judge, Mr Justice R.K. Sha ordered that the plaintiff be given the property.
The judgment was based on a suit filed by Christ Best West Africa Limited, Plaintiff versus Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited (Etisalat Nigeria).
Sha said that the act of running and maintaining the mast on the property amounted to trespass and constituted a nuisance to the rights of the plaintiff to exclusively use and enjoy the property.
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
