News
45 OPM Scholarship Beneficiaries Depart For Turkey
No fewer than 45 beneficiaries of the Omega Power Ministries (OPM) undergraduate scholarship programme for undergraduate students, last Saturday, departed the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, for Turkey, to pursue various degree programmes for a duration of four years.
This brings to 65 the number of beneficiaries so far sponsored by the church to study in Turkey, as 20 of the scholars had in the early part of this year, travelled to the country for a similar purpose.
Interestingly, most of the beneficiaries are children of less privileged Nigerians, drawn from diverse backgrounds across the country.
Among those who benefited from the scholarship scheme this time around included, a 17-year-old rape victim, Mary Joseph; the son of one of the Ikoku 4 and victim of police brutality in Port Harcourt, last year, Mr Ifeanyichukwu Onyekwere; the daughter of a former cultist, Prisca Onum Omachi; and an orphan, Redemption Pepple, whose parents died, last year in Etche Local Government Area in the course of fasting for 21 days; among others.
The visibly elated beneficiaries, who were all resplendent in white track suits designed with sky-blue stripes and pairs of white canvas shoes to match, thanked the General Overseer of OPM, Apostle Chibuzor Chinyere, not only for the gesture but for also transforming their lives and those of the poor and the down-trodden in the society.
Chinyere told The Tide in an interview that the significance of the scholarship gesture is that it was intended to transform people’s lives, adding that “if you pick one person and transform the person’s life, you would have ultimately transformed the lives of 100 people at the end of the day”.
He said the motivating factor for all that he has been doing was Jesus Christ, pointing out that the current beneficiaries have already been fully enrolled in three universities in Turkey.
On his part, the President of OPM Divine Distributors, Chief Matt Offeh, said God has sown a seed of human kindness in Chinyere, adding that he has a rare passion for giving selflessly to the less-privileged.
He said the church was targeting to empower 500 persons educationally from now to the end of the year, adding that the church was going to send some professionals to Poland and the United Kingdom in due course to work.
Some of the parents and family members of the beneficiaries, who thronged the airport to bid their wards farewell, shed tears of joy, while others were seen hugging them, and urging them not to betray the trust and confidence reposed in them by virtue of bagging the scholarship awards.
The experiences of some of the beneficiaries, which they narrated to The Tide, before they met Apostle Chibuzor Chinyere, were as pathetic as they were harrowing.
One of the beneficiaries, Miss Redemption Pepple, who hails from Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State, said that she lost her parents within a space of one month, last year.
Redemption, who is going to Turkey to study Visual Communication Design, said her sister was currently living with the man of God.
Another beneficiary, Mary Joseph, who hails from Akwa Ibom State, said she was raped in Oyigbo, and thereafter became pregnant.
According to her, she delivered twins, two boys in August last year at the OPM free hospital.
On her part, her mother, Miriam Joseph, said she and her daughter were living in an uncompleted building in Oyigbo, where the latter was raped, having lost her husband in 2016.
Also, the father of one of the beneficiaries, Bright, Mr Ifeanyichukwu Onyekwere was full of praise, and thanked Chinyere for transforming his life.
Onyekwere, who was accompanied by his wife, said he was currently not working because of the injuries he sustained in the police cell, in spite of having seven children to cater for.
By: Donatus Ebi
Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.