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FG Mulls 3,000-Capacity Prison In Ogoni …MOSOP Threatens To Resist Move
The Federal Government has concluded plans to construct a 3000-capacity maximum prison in Bori, traditional headquarters of Ogoniland in Rivers State, the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau has said.
Disclosing this last Friday, during a courtesy visit to the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike in Government House, Port Harcourt, Dambazau, said that the move was part of efforts of the Federal Government to decongest the prisons.
The minister explained that the Federal Government’s proposed prison project would be carried out on a land that was allocated to the Prisons Service in 1979 in Bori, headquarters of Khana Local Government Area of the state.
He pointed out that the Port Harcourt Prison, which was built for 804 prisoners, currently accommodates 4,204 inmates, noting that the strategy was to reduce the pressure on the already congested facility in Port Harcourt.
The minister told the governor that the Stakeholders Panel on Prison Decongestion had recommended Rivers as one of the states from the six geopolitical zones for the construction of a 3,000-capacity prison.
In his remarks, Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike promised to provide the necessary support and cooperation towards the commencement and completion of the new prison project.
Wike further called on the Federal Government to complete the ongoing construction of a prison in Omoku so that it could decongest other prisons in the state.
Also speaking, the Controller General of Prisons, Ja’afaru Ahmed told the governor that the contractor handling the Omoku Prison had been contacted to hasten the project for early completion, and promised to do everything humanly possible to decongest the Port Harcourt Prisons and make it a more humane centre of correction and rehabilitation.
Meanwhile, the President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Mr Legborsi Pyagbara has kicked against the Federal Government’s plan to build a maximum security prison and modern cemetery in Ogoniland.
MOSOP alleged that the plan involves the seizure of over 41 hectares of land in Bori, where Pyagbara claimed that arable land had been conspicuously difficult to find.
The MOSOP president, therefore, threatened that Ogoni people in the four local government areas of Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme would resist, with the last drop of their blood, the plan to build a maximum security prison and modern cemetery in the area.
Pyagbara told The Tide, last Saturday, in Port Harcourt, that they was urgent need for the Federal Government to jettison the plan at a time clean-up of the polluted Ogoni environment had not been done despite presentation of the report of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on the environmental assessment of Ogoniland to then President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja on August 4, 2011, and the ceremonial flag-off of the exercise by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in June, 2016.
Pyagbara said: “Ogoni people are opposed to this plan being hatched by the Federal Government against the Ogoni people.
“This action is a demonstration of crass insensitivity and a total disdain for the Ogoni people by the Buhari-led administration”.
“We want to stress that this plan to build a maximum security prison facility and modern cemetery in Ogoni will never be acceptable to our people because we see this as a broader attempt to suppress Ogoni people and forcefully begin oil and gas exploration in the area, without any constructive engagement and discussion with the Ogoni people,” Pyagbara argued.
Susan Serekara-Nwikhana
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.
News
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.