Rivers
OPM Plans Free University In Nigeria …As 15 Scholarship Beneficiaries Depart For Cyprus
The Omega Power Ministries (OPM) will soon have its own university in Nigeria which would be free for all Nigerians.
This is even as the General Overseer of the church, Apostle Chinyere Gift Chibuzor, has offered scholarship to 15 more young people to study at the prestigious Final University in Cyprus, as part of his 49th birthday celebration.
The beneficiaries, who were visibly elated, departed the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, in company of the General Overseer on Monday.
Speaking to newsmen at the airport before the departure of the beneficiaries, Chibuzor said it has become necessary for OPM to have its own free university due to the high cost of sponsoring scholarship beneficiaries of the church in foreign countries.
He said as soon as the new university comes on stream, OPM will no longer send young people abroad to study, lamenting that sponsoring people abroad on scholarship today was taking a heavy financial toll on the church due to the high exchange rate of the naira, amid other global challenges.
Chibuzor disclosed that the flight ticket for one of the scholarship beneficiaries which was a little above N500,000 six months ago, has now risen to N1.7million, contending that in spite of the seeming setback, the church has sustained its foreign university scholarship programme for over 10 years now.
He noted that taking the 15 scholqarship beneficiaries to Cyprus this time around, was his birthday gift to the world, and urged the beneficiaries to always concentrate on their studies and not be distracted by the beautiful things and worldly pleasures abroad in order to assist others on their graduation.
The General Overseer further hinted that the church has, through tithes and offerings, already paid the school fees and accommodation of 80 beneficiaries, adding that the 15 were the first batch, as other batches would soon follow suit, and recalled that 84 OPM scholarship beneficiaries were already studying in Cyrus.
Among the beneficiaries were three damsels who had earlier been sent to Dubai by the church to train as nurses for a brief spell, but had some challenges due to the seeming frosty relationship between the Federal Government and the United Arab Emirates.
The trio, who narrated their ordeal said they were brought back to Nigeria by the General Overseer who offered them another opportunity to complete their Nursing programmes in Cyprus for a duration of four years like the other beneficiaries.
More pathetic is the story of another beneficiary, Mr Godswill Chibuzor Uchendu, who had an accident some years back which left one of his legs broken.
Uchendu said he was rescued by OPM when he had been abandoned by the society, and was only ekeing a living by carrying blocks.
The young man said in an interview that Apostle Chibuzor did not only provide him with an artificial leg and a walking aid, but also gifted him a parcel of land in Port Harcourt as well as considered him worthy to be among those travelling to Cyprus to upgrade his education. For all these, Uchendu thanked God and the cleric.
His father, Mr. David Uchendu, who is a carpenter, spoke to newsmen amid tears, and thanked the man of God for his good deeds.
Miss Emmanuella Assimita from Cross River State; Mr. Lucky Emmanuel Wonaemi from Bayelsa State; and Miss Covenant Kelechi Onyenze from Imo State, said in separate interviews that Apostle Chibuzor was God-sent and prayed God to grant him long life.
Another beneficiary, Miss Mmesoma Favour Obasi, who hails from Abia State told The Tide that she was living in Lagos with her parents but could not cope with her education because of poverty.
She, however, expressed delight that she was discovered by OPM to be among those travelling to Cyprus to further her education.
By: Donatus Ebi
Judges of the High Court Port Harcourt Rivers state will on Monday July 21, 2025 commence this year’s annual vacation.
The State Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi in a statement signed by the Chief Registrar High Court Port Harcourt, David Ihua_ Maduenyi (esq) made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt over the weekend, said that the 2025 annual vacation for judges of the State High Court will begin on Monday, July 21, 2025 and end on Wednesday ,September 17, 2025
The statement said the vacation is in pursuant to Order 49, Rule 4 (d) of High Court of Rivers State (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2023, as altered, adding that all the judicial divisions of the State High Court shall remain closed during the period of the vacation.
The statement further disclosed that normal court sessions will resume on Thursday 18, July 2025 across all the divisions.
The statement however, noted that during the period, a vacation judge shall be appointed by the chief judge to sit on urgent matters and applications and advice litigants and lawyers to take notice of the information.
The International Federation Of Women Lawyers,(FIDA )in collaboration with the Police Community Relations Committee,(PCRC ) have held a one day training on paralegal exposure aimed at equipping police officers across the Rivers state police command on ways of handling gender based violence cases in the state.
The one-day capacity training workshop organised by the two humanitarian organisations in the state, the FIDA and PCRC was designed to boost the knowledge and capacity of the police echelons in the state on how to deal with gender” based violence cases reported in there various Divisions and areas.
Speaking at the event held at the police officers mess in Port Harcourt, yesterday, the state Commissioner of Police ,CP Olugbenga Adepoju emphasized the importance of capacity building for Police Officers, stressing the need for continuous training and development for the officers to stay abreast of emerging trends and best practices in law enforcement.
Adepoju noted the police have being having lectures like this from time to time as directed by the Inspector General of Police and urge the police officers to turn out in their numbers to come and gain one thing or the other.
“There is nothing as good as building our capacity to ensure we deliver service to mankind and let Rivers be a different. to others.
“We have people who have the capacity that can deliver and they are here with us. And we will not hesitate to ensure we employ and use them. What ever we have learnt here, jot it down and ensure you use it judiciously”.
Also speaking, the Chairperson of FIDA Rivers, Life Jim George stressed that
the paralegal training offers the opportunity where retired Police officers, desk officers and different division in charge of gender based crime are assembled to educate them on how to handle with the gender violence and abused public ,how to deal with reporters of all kinds of Gender Based Violence.
“They need to be empathetic, they need not to judge them as they move into them. They need not to throw them away immediately or to make the atmosphere very toxic so that they will just go away and at the end of the day extort them and make known that Police is not your friend is only in the book””.
“We remind you all that you are not just a Police officer,there is a duty imposed on you to look at the laws. Not just to drive people away because We have reports where, once you approach a Police station and say my husband or wife beat me up,they drive you away, please madam this one is husband and wife matter, go and settle with your husband or wife. They began to judge you.”
“We are saying no,that is not what the law is.
Please show empathy, if you throw them away like that, most of them can take their life. Some go into third degree depression and is difficult to bring them out.They will now began to blame themselves for going to the Police station.
In his speech,the Chairman of PCRC in the state, Mr Voke Emore explained that One primary responsibilities of the PCRC is to bring the community closer to the Police, while FIDA as an international organization cares for the less privilege and handle cases involving women and children.
“The police only protect women and children in talking of gender abuse in the society rather taking the issue of gender violence as wholistic that includes men,women and children in every strata of the society.So that is the essence why the two humanitarian organisations ,FIDA and PCRC decided to partner to ensure that the things are done rightly in line with global practices.”
“And the only way to do that is to give training We always talk about training and re-training of Police officers.he stated.
The training focused on key areas such as
The Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) of Rivers State,
Dehumanizing and Harmful Traditional Practices Laws,
Prohibition of the Curtailment of Women’s Rights to Share in Family Property Law and
Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law amongst others.
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.
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