The Rivers State Government Reconciliation Committee on Lockup Shops at Mile 1, Rumuwoji Market in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area has denied allocating stalls to any one.
Chairman of the commitee, Mrs Ibiwari Clapton-Ogolo, said this in an interview with The Tide during the commencement of the first phase verification of the market allottees in Port Harcourt.
Mrs Clapton-Ogolo also insisted that original owners of shops will be given automatic allocations as long as they can prove themselves.
“No allocations for now. We are here to verify the allottees. Original owners of shops will have automatic allocations as long as they can prove themselves”, she said.
Mrs Clapton-Ogolo, who is the Permanent Secretary/Solicitor General of Rivers State, said the traders are happy that they are getting back to business.
She insisted that all prospective allottees must come with all required documents, including their National Identification number (NIN) before verification.
She also commended Governor Siminalayi Fubara for his efforts in getting the traders back to business.
Other members of the committee who also participated in the verification exercise are the Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Housing, Mr Boma Wakama, who is the Secretary of the committee; Mr Lawson Ikuru, Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Commerce and Industry, amongst others.
Some of the allottees, who spoke to The Tide shortly after the verification exercise, described the process as fair and transperant.
They told their colleagues not to embark on further protest, but follow the template put in place by the Committee to get verified.
Over six hundred allottees participated in the verification exercise.

John Bibor

The Rivers State Government, in collaboration with the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Rivers State, has sealed off two hospitals in Bonny Island.
The two hospitals sealed are Saint Child Surgery, Bonny, and former Ndukwe Clinic, currently operating at Macauley Plaza, Bonny.
At a joint media briefing, Wednesday, in her office, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr Adaeze Chidinma Oreh, said the two health facilities were sealed off for negligence and unprofessional conduct as well as non-registration of facilities.
The sealing of the two hospitals brings to three the number of hospitals so far sealed off by the government in the State.
Recall that last week, one Divine Love Hospital in Port Harcourt was also sealed off for unprofessional conduct.
The Commissioner said some of those engaged in unethical practices have also been arrested and being tried.
She explained that the situation goes against the philosophy and the determination of the Governor Siminalayi Fubara-led administration to ensure quality health care delivery in the State.
According to her, the present administration of Governor Fubara is determined to fight all incidences of quackry in the State, adding that when inaugurated, the committee will also go after those who use fake certificates to practise as medical doctors.
“It is important that we are not looking at it sorely from the perspective of the qualifications, the requisite qualifications of health care providers, the services that they provide, and the facilities, but those services delivered is also of paramount importance”, she said.
She continued that the State Ministry of Health is collaborating with the Nigerian NMA to ensure that the health sector is sanitized of quackery.
The Commissioner urged the public to give useful information to the Ministry on the existence of quack doctors and locations of substandard hospitals in the State.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the NMA, Rivers State, Dr Ebi Robinson, said the organisation has zero tolerance for quackery as far as the profession was concerned.
He said the fight against quackery was not motivated, but was borne out of necessity to sanitise the health care delivery system in the State.
According to him, the fight is not against only those who fake certificates, but also against unethical and unprofessional practices.
“In recent times, some hospitals have been sealed with the help of the Ministry of Health and some individuals who faked certificate to practise as medical centres have also been prosecuted by the NMA.
“On the 23rd of April, two hospitals in Bonny Island were also sealed by the Ministry of Health for non-registration of their facilities and for some unethical practices.
“The NMA was part of the team to ensure no one was victimised”, he stated.
Robinson thanked Governor Fubara and the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Oreh, for their support towards the fight against quackery and efforts to sanitise the health care delivery sector in the State.
He said the association is not leaving any stone unturned until the sector is sanitised for better medical practices.
Also speaking, the Director of Medical Services, Rivers State Ministry of Health, Dr. Vincent Wachukwu, said the government is putting all necessary things in place to ensure that Rivers people get access to quality health care services.
He, however, expressed regrets that some persons are making a mockery of government effort in this direction by not registering their facilities.
Wachukwu said government cannot allow these individuals to continue, and called on those wishing to offer medical outreaches to communities to get approval from the Ministry.

John Bibor

Cross River on Saturday dismissed as untrue a survey report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that it had the highest incidence of child labour in the country.
The NBS had stated in the report that of the 24.6 million children in child labour in Nigeria, Cross River recorded the highest incidence of 67.4 per cent, followed by Yobe with 62.6 per cent.
In the survey entitled: “Nigeria Child Labour Survey 2022’’, the NBS rated Lagos State has having the lowest incidence of 8.9 per cent.
The NBS described child labour as any work that robbed children less than 18 years of age of their childhood, potential, and dignity or had deleterious impact on their physical and mental development.
It stated that its survey showed that children between the ages of five years and 17 years were engaged in economic activities that amounted to child labour in Nigeria.
Dismissing the report, Cross River’s Commissioner for Information, Mr Erasmus Ekpang told The Tide’s source in Calabar that the figures released did not represent the true position in Cross River.
He said the figure for Cross River was not tenable since government had put measures in place since assumption of office in May 2023 to discourage child labour and to uplift vulnerable segments of the population.
He explained that the measures put in place centred on health, education, agriculture and other empowerment initiatives.
Ekpang stressed that government had also put in place programmes that empowered women economically and discouraged them from sending their children and wards out as child labourers.
“Women are empowered to take care of themselves and their families. Youths are also not left out of these policies and programmes.
“The initiatives are mostly in the areas of agriculture and small-scale enterprises.
“We also initiated programmes like school feeding to retain every child in school”, he stated.
Ekpang advised the NBS to revisit its 2022 figures and make amends.
The NBS report also stated that more than 14 million of affected children were engaged in hazardous work.
The survey also showed that child labour was considerably higher in the rural areas, with 17.5 million or 44.8 per cent of children involved.
In the urban areas, however, only 7.1 million children, or 30 per cent were involved in child labour.
Hazardous work is also more frequent in the rural areas according to the NBS.
“More than 10.5 million children or 26.8 per cent of those of them in the rural areas are in hazardous work.
“In urban areas, only about four million children or 16.3 per cent are in hazardous work”, it stated.
The report also indicated that the Northwest geopolitical zone had the highest of 6,407,102 children engaged in labour, followed by the Northeast with 4,466,808; North Central (3,884,576); South-South (3,682,773); Southwest (3,227,559) and Southeast (3,004,669).