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RSG Slams Sara-Igbe Over Comments On Wike …Says He’s Exploiting Ethnic Agenda For Self-Enrichment
The Rivers State Government has slammed a prominent elder statesman in the state, Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe, over his recent uncomplimentary statements against the person of the state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike.
Reacting to the uncanny comments, the government said that Sara-Igbe was only dancing to the gallery in order to exploit seemingly existing ethnic divisions to promote a parochial agenda designed to enlarge his pockets.
A statement signed by the Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Kelvin Ebiri, in Port Harcourt, last Wednesday, said that “In his usual manner, Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe has shown himself again as being infantile, ignorant, and pedestrian in his view on issues about the workings of state and governance”.
The statement explained that, “We have chosen, therefore, to do this reply to Sara-Igbe’s baseless allegations against the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike. The magnitude of falsehood peddled in his statement should not be ignored.
“To tact, Governor Wike had always sued for peaceful coexistence. He had created the climate for every ethnic nationality to consider themselves as one indivisible Rivers State.
“That was why, on September 12, 2022, while inaugurating the ultra-modern former Riv-Bank Insurance building in Port Harcourt, he said, ‘I have told people, let us live in peace. So many people think that if they don’t talk about us, they won’t survive. People like to use the dead of our prominent people to play politics’.
“Hours after listening to this counsel of the governor, Sara-Igbe would refuse that peace should prevail. He seemed to be a person whose survival depended on dragging the governor into everything he must think, write and discuss about. He delights playing to the gallery too, all too cheaply.
“Otherwise, what is the justification of his assertion when he alleged that Governor Wike operates a sectional and ethnic governance. Are Kalabari people not prominent in Wike’s administration? Are Ijaw people not also chief beneficiaries of the administration?
“We, therefore, strongly consider it would be a grievous error to ignore Sara-Igbe’s sinister attempt to paint a dubious picture that under the Governor Wike’s administration, the Kalabari ethnic group has been faced with the problem of alienation, and that Rivers State is a fragmented society.
“Efforts to integrate diverse ethnic groups in the interest of Rivers State has been, and remain, at the heart of the Wike’s administration endeavour to build a united and prosperous state.
“The Ijaw tribe has been and remained an important key player in the Wike’s administration. To this end, the latest vituperation by the self-appointed ‘protector’ of Kalabari nationality, does not and can never resonate well with people of Ijaw extraction.
“Sara-Igbe blinds himself to the reality he knows. The position of the deputy governor is Kalabari and Ijaw. The head of the Rivers State civil service is Ijaw. Just before the party primaries started, Kalabari, and indeed Ijaw held the post of the Secretary to the State Government.
“The Ijaw is sufficiently represented in the State’s Executive Council. If not that Sara-Igbe is suffering from chronic political tribalism and a fomenter of ethnic squabbles, does he not know about the ongoing construction work on the phase one of the multi-billion Naira Trans-Kalabari Road?
“The Trans-Kalabari Road was flagged off on June 24, 2021 by governor Wike. That road transverses several Kalabari communities and satisfies age long yearnings of Kalabari people. Other administrations paid lip service to it, but the Wike’s administration is doing it. This is a ‘Trunk A’ road and billed for inauguration before the end of 2022.
“The Wike’s administration has also rehabilitated and reconstructed hospitals, schools, roads and embarked on reclamation of vast expanse of land from the mangrove swamp.
“Some of the reclamation projects include the sand-filling of 52 hectares of land for the Abonnema people and over 18 hectares in Sara-Igbe’s home town, Kula. The commitment to accomplishing them transcends mere politics. In Asari-Toru, 18 hectares sand-filling work was done in Abalama Town, in addition to the 18 hectares reclaimed in Bakana in Degema to provide more hectares of land to the people.
“Would Sara-Igbe deny that in Akuku-Toru, the ring road with a bridge was not completed in Abonnema? The completion of that road made it easy for guests to Chief O. B. Lulu-Briggs burial to ply.
“In fact, on September 9, 2022, Governor Wike inaugurated the once decrepit Community Secondary School Obu-Ama, Harry’s Town in Degema Local Government Area. More schools have been reconstructed in Bakana and Tombia towns. He also revamped the Kalabari National College, Buguma.
“Sara-Igbe must be reminded that Governor Wike intervened at various times in addressing the family feud that rose in the wake of the burial of Chief Lulu- Briggs. The Rivers State Government participated fully in that burial.
“Concerning the burial of Chief Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas, Governor Wike stayed away because it was politicised.
“So, why would the likes of Sara-Igbe continue to delight in championing initiatives that aimed at systematically destroying aspects of life and living by laying decency in public discourse on the platter where brutish and valueless ramblings are traded?
“Sara-Igbe’s ranting that Governor Wike hates the Kalabari people and Ijaw nation is baseless and infantile. It is intended to stir primordial sentiments that will deliver no benefits to anyone in the state.
“Saga-Igbe’s tantrum is a mere smokescreen of a desperate man wanting to exploit ethnic agenda for self-enrichment and unmerited relevance.
“Since the creation of Rivers State in 1967, the diverse ethnic groups in our state have lived in harmony, and mutual friendship has been cultivated among the various nationalities.
“While primordial sentiment has been the bane for the dearth of national patriotism, Rivers State is among the few subnational within the Nigerian federation that has achieved some measure of success in managing ethnic conflict and enjoying relative political stability.
“It is then disappointing that someone of Sara-Igbe’s status would develop a gross penchant to stir up primordial sentiment, aimed at generating mutual distrust and tension in Rivers State for his self-aggrandisement.
“We, therefore, urge Rivers people to be wary of divisive and toxic characters like Sara-Igbe, whose personalities are socially transmitted diseases”, the statement added.
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.
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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.