News
Insecurity In Gulf Of Guinea, Serious Challenge -Diri
Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has expressed worry over the insecurity occasioned by sea piracy, drugs, human trafficking and other criminal activities in the Gulf of Guinea.
Diri stated this at a workshop on combating piracy and maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea which held in Yenagoa,the state capital.
The Tide reports that the governor spoke at the opening ceremony of the three-day event backed by the United Nations.
A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, quoted the governor as decrying the level of insecurity in the gulf, noting that the maritime industry was the backbone to the global economy and that no effort should be spared in tackling the menace.
He appreciated the initiative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on curbing the menace, saying that his administration would support the body to actualise the goals of the project.
The governor also expressed the readiness to host the Gulf of Guinea Security Conference in collaboration with major stakeholders in order to unravel the root causes and design a regional approach to combat the scourge.
“The malady might be preponderant in the Gulf of Guinea but it is equally a crisis of global dimension. Sadly, sea piracy is not the only security threat undermining us at sea and along our waterways. It has also focused spotlights on wider complications of maritime insecurity such as trafficking and smuggling of humans, weapons, narcotics and unregulated and illegal fishing.
“Bayelsa State is prepared to provide leadership and embrace international best practices to fight and prevent crime. I have no doubt that this project would be fundamentally beneficial to our people and state. We have traditional ties, through trade, religion, culture and ethnicity across the subregion, and this creates a platform for our modern security collaboration”, Governor Diri said.
He equally called on the United Nations, its agencies and partners to support his administration to empower the youths for development opportunities and make crime induced by drug abuse less attractive, stating that to create an enabling environment to attract investors, his administration was rejigging the security architecture of the state and the enabling laws through collaboration with relevant security agencies.
He called on the Federal government to ensure equity in the allocation of resources to bring about peace as a lot of evidence show that there was disquiet in the Niger Delta due to frustration resulting from unsatisfactory and unequal allocation of the resources from the region.
In his opening remarks, the United Nations Country Director on Drugs and Crime, Dr Oliver Stolpe, revealed that the Gulf of Guinea was the most dangerous maritime area in the world with 25 sea piracy attacks in 2020,just as he described the rate of drug use in Nigeria as three times higher than the global average, noting that effective fight against insecurity can only be attainable if drug use was effectively controlled.
While appreciating the Diri administration for the initiative, he said it would enable local communities to put strategies and interventions in place to prevent crime, calling on stakeholders to leverage on the community-based approach to address drug use and prevention.
According to Stolpes, the programme, which is a pilot initiative to test approaches, expressed the hope that it would be effective for other states to emulate and attract support from federal government and international bodies.
Participants at the three-day programme are traditional rulers, top government functionaries and civil society groups from Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states that are part of the Gulf of Guinea area.
By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells,
News
I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
News
RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

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
News
Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

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.
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