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Flood: RSG Assures Victims Of Medical Attention …As Committee Visits More Camps
The Rivers State Government has assured thousands of flood victims in Orashiregion of adequate medical attention.
Chairman, Rivers State Flood Management Committee, Dr George Nwaeke, said this at AbuaCentral during the committee’s visit to some Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps for delivery of more relief materials to victims of the incident.
Nwaeke said the state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, was concerned about their plight, stressing that the governor was doing everything necessary to identify with them.
He also urged them to keep the camps neat to avoid sicknesses.
Items donated include bags of rice, yams, garri, and cartons of indomie, noodles, mattresses, large amount of cash and others.
The committee also made similar deliveries to camps in Ogba/Egbem/Ndoni and Ahoada West local government areas, respectively.
So far, the committee has covered the four local government areas in the delivery of food items, and the next phase is the provision of medical supplies, mattresses and others.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Red Cross Society has called for the provision of more boats to evacuate those trapped in their communities.
The Red Cross Camp Commander, Abua/Odual Local Government Area, Mr Sokari Ikpokirikpa, told newsmen that some people were trapped in their communities, especially in the Odual axis.
He also said the three camps in Abua/Odual need medical attention, stressing that more than 20 communities in the area had been submerged.
The camp commandant also commended the chairman of Abua/Odual for his intervention but said the council alone could not carry the burden.
He commended Wike for responding to the needs of the victims.
Also speaking, some of the victims from Adada and Ogboloma communities in Odualaxis, said their communities have been submerged by the flood.
Some of the victims, especially the women, complained of poor health conditions as they were made to sleep on the floor with children.
The victims said they need support in terms of mattresses,medical attention and money.
They decried the negligence and insensitivity by the Federal Government to render support and assistance to families of flood victims in the area.
The victims, who decried the devastating effect of the flood on the socio-economic wellbeing and properties of the people, commended the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, for demonstrating leadership in curtailing the hunger faced by the people, and prayed God to sustain him to take the state to an enviable height.
On his part, the member representing Abua/Odual and Ahoada East Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon Solomon Bob, urged the Federal Government to build new dams and dredge major rivers to forestall further perennial flooding in the country.
He said the flood has affected thousands of people in his constituency.
According to him, mattresses and other items were also donated to victims in the various IDP camps in the area.
Earlier, the Chairman of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, Hon Vincent Job, and his Ahoada West counterpart, Hon. Hope Ikiriko, commended wike for his kind gesture, promising that they would ensure equitable distribution of the materials to the flood victims in the area.
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
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.