Bayelsa State Government is to undertake some quick-win projects across the various constituencies of the State, alongside the ongoing big ticket projects to fast-track development in the state.
The State Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, stated this at a meeting with key stakeholders in Brass Constituencies 1, 2 and 3, in Government House, Yenagoa.
According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr Doubara Atasi, the Deputy Governor explained that the essence of the interaction was to assess the areas of their needs to enable government address such challenges.
He said while the Prosperity Administration was handling the construction of key projects such as the three senatorial roads, it has become imperative to also provide immediate interventions in projects that would impact directly on the people across communities.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo, who charged Chairmen of Community Development Committees (CDC) in the constituencies to work closely with other community leaders, charged them to take responsibility of ensuring peace and stability in their domains.

Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo During The Commissioning Of The Federal Secretariat Complex In Yenagoa

Reacting to issues of lack of teachers in schools in the communities, the Deputy Governor called on the CDC chairmen to work with other stakeholders to monitor schools and submit a monthly report to his office and the Ministry of Education about teachers who fail to report at their duty posts.
He stressed that henceforth, teachers posted to community schools who abandon their duty posts would face disciplinary measures.
On ocean surge and erosion affecting most communities, Senator Ewhrudjakpo said the problem was beyond the State Government and would require the collaborative efforts of the Federal Government to tackle the situation.
He also directed that a delegation led by the Commissioner for Health, Dr Pabara Igwele, should visit Ewoama Community within the week to ascertain the status of the health facility there and come up with a report.
Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt.Hon. Abraham Ingobere, lauded the State Government’s decision to get first hand information from the people about their challenges, saying it was the first of its kind.
Rt. Hon Ingobere, who acknowledged that the present administration had worked hard particularly in infrastructure development, however, noted that communities needed a fair spread of government projects.
The speaker also identified lack of security, internal roads, town halls, pipe borne water, electricity supply and health centres as major problems bedeviling the people.
In her remarks, Chairman, Bayelsa State Science and Technology Board, Prof. Ayibaemi Spiff, traced the lack of teachers, particularly science-based ones, to the absence of accommodation and incentives.
She, therefore, urged the State Government to make concerted efforts to enhance teachers’ welfare.
In their separate remarks, the various stakeholders, including the political class and CDC chairmen from the three constituencies, lamented absenteeism on the part of teachers and health workers in most of their communities.
Their requests ranged from provision of landing jetties, electricity, construction of link roads, health and school infrastructure, police stations, lodges for teachers and youth corps members to the construction of shoreline protection in Odioma and other coastal communities in the area against ocean encroachment.
Some government officials who made submissions at the meeting included, the Member representing Brass Constituency 1 at the State House of Assembly, Hon Charles Daniel: Commissioner for Mineral Resources, Dr Ebieri Jones: Special Duties (East), Hon. Preye Broderick: and their Lands and Survey counterpart, Hon. Andrew Esau.
Others were the Governor’s Special Representative in Brass LGA, Hon Bemoye Pogonyo: a member, Local Government Service Commission, Hon Uroh Kian: and the Acting Caucus Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Brass, His Royal Highness Moses Kenibara.

By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells,
Yenagoa

The Chief Physician to the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel, has said Government-owned hospitals performed eight successful cardiac peacemaker implantation at the General Hospital in the state.
Ignatius disclosed this during an interaction he had with medical experts at Uruan LGA.
He said three cardiac peacemaker implantation was performed on Thursday, at the General Hospital, Awa in Onna LGA.
“The first peacemaker implantation carried out at the General Hospital Awa, took place on Wednesday till Thursday.
“Akwa Ibom has eight successful cardiac peacemaker implantations in the state since the facilities were procured by Governor Emmanuel’s administration”, Ignatius said.
Ignatius described the feat as unprecedented in the history of general hospitals in Nigeria.
He said Emmanuel’s administration had received more accolades for eight years of sterling interventions in the health sector across the state.
According to him, the party was organised to appreciate the team of medical professionals, which painstakingly contributed to the health sector achievements of the administration.
Ignatius thanked the Governor for training the cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons, anesthetist, intersivits, radiologist, radiographers, cardiac unit and theater nurses and the procurement of ultra modern theatre that made the implantation possible.
He also thanked the medical personnel for supporting the administration professionally to register the successes it in the last 8 years.
In his remarks, the cardiothoracic consultant at LUTH, Dr. Ezekiel Ogunleye, who led the surgery team for the pacemaker implant, appreciated Governor Emmanuel and his Chief Physician for the tenacity of making the pacemaker implant a reality in a general hospital in Akwa Ibom.
Ogunleye said they started the pacemaker insertion in 1999 and since then they had not done the implant in any general hospital in Nigeria.
“We started the pacemaker insertion in 1999; we have never done the surgery in any general hospital in Nigeria”, he said.
He stated further that when the idea of the implant was nursed, there were conflicting thoughts on whether the surgery would be successful or not.
Another surgeon, who has also been partaking in the pacemaker surgery, Prof. Eyo Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery, commended Gov. Emmanuel for putting the facilities on ground to aid in major surgeries in the state like the pacemaker insertion.
Explaining the procedure, Ekpe said that for the implant to be successful, several machines had to be put in place in a theater.
He mentioned that the C-Arm machine was one of the machines that had to be in a theater for such procedure to be carried out and that the machine was not common even in teaching hospitals in the country.
The Tide’s source reports that cardiac peacemaker is a life saving procedure that helps to control heartbeat.

The Niger Delta Civil Society Group, consisting of the Niger Delta Solidarity Forum, Niger Delta Progressive Front and Coalition of Niger Delta Youth Movement, has described the open letter written by a group, “Coalition of Niger Delta Ex-Agitators” as untrue, fallacious, and regrettable.
The civil society group in a joint statement signed by Daso Famous Bibawari in Warri, said the open letter was devoid of truth and could be inciting.
The group noted that the writers decided to supplant truth with lies, saying that such must not be allowed to flourish in the minds of the people, lest they believe the concocted lies.
The group said: “It is worrisome that the writers of the open letter admitted that there was a case of multiple accounts being operated by a single individual detected by the forensic exercise conducted by the Barry Ndiomu-led Amnesty Programme. What is more worrisome is that the group admitted to such fraud with either a weak defense in a shameful manner.
‘’What would have been the fate of those who are legitimately entitled to a #65,000 monthly stipend when certain people decide to use various means to divert multiple people’s entitlement?
“What is more worrisome is that these unscrupulous people have been benefitting illegally from other people’s proceeds before the current administration detected it and stopped it.
“Though the Amnesty Programme was designed to redeem ex-Agitators from the shackles of violence, destruction, and civil unrest, the Ndiomu leadership has continued to prioritize the interest of these people, even when he inherited backlogs of unpaid stipends from previous administrators, he never gave excuse in discharging his duty”.
The group added that since the PAP boss assumed office, he has paid the entitlements of legitimate ex-Agitators monthly, and even encourage them to get contemporary skills that can help them survive the current economic realities in the country.
It also commended Ndiomu for his brilliance, noting that it has made it possible to conceive a Cooperative Scheme that can serve as a way of supporting ex-agitators with soft loans.
‘’He not only stopped there, Ndiomu has also made sure to rally support from philanthropists to contribute towards the success of all his initiatives, for the overall good of the ex-Agitators.
’’We also note his efforts at enlisting some of our qualified men into the Nigeria Military and Para-Military, having met with the leadership of these security architectures.
“If we are to defeat corruption, one must take time to praise General Ndiomu, for putting the interest of legitimate beneficiaries at heart, rather than supporting crimes under the guise of fraudulent payment.
“We have gotten to a stage in our life where we need to start eschewing every form of dishonesty and acts that are counter-productive to the Niger Delta region. If we are very vocal on manners in which certain politicians have amassed wealth for themselves at the detriment of the people, we then, need to serve as a right example.
‘’One of the greatest decisions the Interim administrator has done is sanitizing the scheme to allow qualified people access to their funds.
“Coming from an era where illegality is the order of the day, we are now at the phase where we can now begin to have a strong belief in public institutions.
“The public need to disregard those spurious lies because they are capable of harming our collective progress. Those who are legitimately qualified for the monthly stipend have continued to show appreciation to the Interim Administrator for the timely payment.
“We associate with the people’s General, an administrator par excellence, and agree with his efforts at sanitizing the system. It is only when we have a sanitized system that the money can go around to everyone qualified people.
“We call on the incoming President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to retain an upright man like Ndiomu to continue his good work in the office”, the group stated.

By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells,
Yenagoa.