News
Declare Emergency On Ogoni Dev, FG Told

A group under the auspices of Ogoni National Congress (ONC) has called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on the development of Ogoni land to assuage the decades of under-development in the area as a result of the exploitation of the natural resources of the people and the despoliation of their environment.
The group made the call, recently, in Bori, Headquarters of Ogoni, during the commemoration of the 27th years remembrance of the judicial murder of Ogoni-born environmental activist and writer, Ken Saro Wiwa and eight of his kinsmen by the Gen Sani Abacha military junta.
Addressing the people at the event, Chairman of the group, Engineer Olu Andah, Wai-Ogosu said the demands for environmental, economic and political justice in Ogoni championed by Saro- Wiwa was yet to be addressed by the Federal Government, 27 years after the killing of the writer, activist and social crusader, rather Ogoni land still bore the brunt of oil pollution and has remained grossly poor, lacking in functional economic activities and inundated with instigated crisis and vices.
He said Ogoni through their struggle for social, political and environmental justice remains the symbol of hope for all the oppressed minorities in Nigeria, and urged the Federal government to address the demands of the people as embedded in the Ogoni Bill of Rights which was presented to the Federal Government by Ogoni leaders in 1990.
He urged all Ogonis to be unbroken in their spirit despite the threats to their existence as a people, and see the event of the remembrance of Saro-Wiwa and his fellow Ogoni compatriots as an avenue to rekindle faith in the Ogoni struggle, noting that the vision and ideas of Saro-Wiwa has set the pace for beckoning with the imperatives of justice in Nigeria and Africa.
The elder statesman said the deliberate delay of the Federal Government to address the issues of environmental justice in Ogoni and by extension other polluted Niger Delta environment underscored the recalcitrance of the powers that be to persist in the marginalisation of the minorities and other disadvantaged groups in Nigeria.
In his keynote speech, Niger Delta activist, Chief Anabs Sara Igbe, described the late Ken Saro-Wiwa as a patriotic Ogoni man and Niger Delta leader who used his literally prowess and committed his life to fight for the minorities in Nigeria, using the Ogoni struggle which he brought to international limelights to advance his clamour for justice and true federalism in Nigeria.
He said Saro-Wiwa had conviction in the course he lived and died for, pointing out that in a convoluted state like Nigeria were the rights of the minority ethnic groups that produce the wealth of the nation are subjugated, the ideals postulated by late Ogoni activist offers the broadest flicker of hope out of the the shackles of oppression.
Sara-Igbe used the deplorable state of the East-West Road that leads to the major economic route of the nation to exemplify the deliberate neglect of the Federal Government to develop Ogoni land and other Niger Delta communities.
He urged the Ogonis and the entire Niger Delta not to be cowed to submission but remain resolute in confronting their common foes; the Federal Government and the multinationals that exploit the natural resources of the people.
By; Taneh Beemene
News
I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
News
RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

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
News
Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

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.
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