Rivers

Cleric Wants Youth Involvement In Dev Process

Published

3 years ago

April 1, 2022

Parish Priest of Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church, Opobo, Rivers State, Rev. Fr. Pius Awuba, has called on the government to involve the youths in the development process, where they are to be carried along in the scheme of things of government and at all levels.
Speaking with The Tide recently in Port Harcourt, he said youths of today and leaders of tomorrow are left out of the development process, whether government or otherwise, noting that, as far as we are concerned, there is no tangible plans for the youths “ but, I think, it is high time these younger generations were included in the governance of the country for peace to thrive “.
Awuba further said that the youths needs better transformational blueprint and called for the immediate implementation of policies that would create employment for them, as this will discourage them from being in possession of fire arms, as well as social ills of kidnapping, armed robbery, rape, killings, child trafficking and other wayward lifestyles.
According to him, “ it is pathetic to see most of Nigerian youths wallowing in abject poverty, even with their avalanche of degrees and other higher certificates, as government now pays deaf ears to their plight in terms of providing skills training, employment and empowerment. He said when government fails to involve youths in the development mainstream, things will definitely go the wrong way. I suggest therefore, that all the governors and their local council authorities should chart profitable development path for the youths to allow for peace, unity and progress to be sustained.
The God’s servant opted for the creation of youth development centre in the 774 local government area in Nigeria, where they would be empowered to be self-employed to avert the seeming devastation of kidnapping, killing, political thuggery and other crimes due to lack of employment and other encouragements, adding that, “a hungry man is an angry man.”

By: Theresa Frederick

Rivers

Rivers State University Introduces SponsorsLink To Address Communication Gap

Published

7 hours ago

June 20, 2025

The Tide

The Rivers State University (RSU), Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt, has unveiled a new feature – Student-Sponsor Account, called SponsorsLink as part of its ongoing re-engineering efforts. This innovation is to address the problems of students collecting funds but not paying fees, leaving school but still pretending to be in school and inability of parents, guardians and sponsors to ascertain progress and performance of their children, wards and beneficiaries.

The platform is also designed to strengthen transparency, accountability, and communication between students and their parents, guardians and sponsors.

SponsorsLink is available on the university’s portal (www.rsu.edu.ng) and offers a range of benefits. Sponsors can track academic performance, monitor outstanding fees, make payments, and access detailed student profiles from a single dashboard. This centralized system ensures that sponsors are no longer left in the dark regarding the academic and financial status of their wards.

To utilize SponsorsLink, sponsors need to create an account on the RSU eCampus platform. This involves selecting a sponsorship type, filling out a registration form, and verifying their email address using a confirmation code. Upon successful registration, sponsors pay a one-time onboarding fee based on the number of wards they intend to manage.

Once registered, sponsors can add a ward by searching with the student’s registration number, matriculation number, or full name. After the student approves the request, the sponsor gains access to various features. These include checking results, which requires a result-checking fee, viewing student profiles, and making tuition or related payments directly through the platform.

The introduction of SponsorsLink demonstrates RSU’s commitment to enhance the educational experience of students. This initiative is expected to foster better communication between students, sponsors, and the university, ultimately contributing to the success of RSU students.

Rivers

Emohua Gears For Food Production, Employment Opportunities

Published

7 hours ago

June 20, 2025

The Tide

The Administrator of Emohua Local Government Area, Mr. Franklin Ajinwo, has said efforts are now underway to boost food production and create employment opportunities for youths in the Local Government and the State at large.

Ajinwo made this knwon recently at a stakeholders’ sensitisation programme by the Rivers State Rural Access And Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) organised in partnership with the Federal Government and World Bank in Rumuakunde, Emohua, the Council’s Headquarters.

The council boss noted that Emohua, as an agrarian Local Government Area is blessed with vast arable hectares of land and waterfronts suitable for both agriculture and fish farming.

According to him, the speedy implementation of the programme will develop the area, create better employment opportunities for the teeming youths and provide good roads to ease transportation challenges plaguing farmers in the area.

“We are very favoured because we have large expanse of land used for rice cultivation in Rumuewhor and we also have fishes in our rivers. This initiative, which is geared towards improving food production, will enable us feed our locals and Rivers State by extension as it aims to broaden commercial activities that will attract others from far and near”, he said.

He also advocated for speedy commencement of the programme, pledging support, cooperation and synergy that will address unforseen challenges to ensure success.

Earlier in his keynote address, the Project Coordinator of RAAMP, Mr. Joshua Kpakol, highlighted the essence of the sensitisation visit and its benefits to those in the rural areas.

Kpakol disclosed that RAAMP has been in existence for about ten years and operational in about 19 States across the Federation with focus on food security, rural development, provision of hospitals and construction of roads that give farmers easy transportation access to their market sites.

Describing the project as a collective responsibility that is all embracing and can change the economic fortunes of the Area for good, he said synergy will help yield better results if sustained.

“The rural dwellers are the direct beneficiaries of this project. Every strata of the society will be involved as it won’t discriminate, its aims and objectives are geared towards providing modern amenities and services to our people free of charge that will make them happy”, he said.

In his overview of the Project, Engr Ibibia Owubokiri defined the project as a Third-Generation Rural Access Project aimed at strengthening the institutional and

financing base for sustainable management of State and Rural Networks.

He also revealed the focal points of the Project, which include, Improvement of rural access and trading infrastructure, Sector Reforms asset management and Agro-logistics Performance, enhancement and Institutional Development, as well as Project Management and Risk Mitigation.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Communications, Emmanuel Ndah, was among dignitaries in attendance.

Rivers

Okrika SOLAD Charges Students On Involvement In Drugs, Others

Published

8 hours ago

June 20, 2025

The Tide

The Sole Administrator of Okrika Local Government Area, Engr. Tamunobipiboye Thompson Isodiki, has called on the leadership and membership of the Wakirike National Students Union to play a major role in re-orienting youth against drug involvement and other criminal activities.

Isodiki, who gave the advice recently when the Wakirike National Students Union and leaders of various tertiary institutions paid him a courtesy visit in his office, expressed concern about the alarming increase in the number of drug addicts and other criminal activities involving the young people.

He noted that if this trend is not checked, it would create serious problems in the Local Government Area.

“As students, I expect you to discourage young people who are seriously involved in these acts in order to create a crime-free society”, he said.

The Sole Administrator continued that, “my stay in office is not tenured, but I will pursue people-oriented programmes and projects for the overall benefit of our people.

“My decision to embark on the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) Computer Based Testing (CBT) is aimed at reducing the pain experienced by the teeming population of candidates of our Local Government Area, to enable them write the test.”

He noted that the recent take-over of the Ogoloma Youth Centre by the Council was “a deliberate attempt to train youths to acquire skills, to provide middle level manpower, and create employment opportunities among our youth.”

He also addressed Bursary payment issue raised by the students, saying, “as essential as it is, the Government will study the situation among other pressing issues and within available resources we will pay Bursary in due time.

“Other groups have also visited the Council for one request or the other, and these are all based on funds.”

Isodiki, however, emphasized that a careful study would be undertaken to give the needed support based on the resources of the Council.

He also assured the students that the Council will partner with them in executing their planned laudable programmes.

While thanking the students for the visit, he urged them to be focused on their studies and avoid issues that would bring shame to their parents and the generality of the Local Government Area.

Also, speaking the Chief of Staff to the Sole Administrator, Dr. Paul Wakama, cautioned the students not to embark on journeys to campuses across the country for welfare, bearing in mind the prevailing security risks such journeys may entail.

He added that they should make do with the global communication advantage to reach out to other students.

Earlier, the National President of the Wakirike Students Union, Mr. Owubokiri Bright Jamabo, had congratulated the Sole Administrator on his appointment and announced him as the Patron of the union by reason of his appointment.

Jamabo disclosed that the Union would carry out summer classes during the long vacation to teach secondary school pupils in all subjects, including Okrika Language.

He appealed to the Sole Administrator to pay bursary to students and sponsor the various activities and programmes, especially the Cultural Day Programme, of the Rivers State College of Health and Science, and promised that the students would always support the Sole Administrator to succeed in office.

Soibi Max-Alalibo