Rivers
HYPREP Partners Rwandan Institution On Mangrove Restoration …Trains Over 2,000 Ogonis On Shoreline Clean-Up.
The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), says it is collaborating with the School of Wildlife Conservation in Rwanda for the restoration of oil polluted mangroves in Ogoniland.
This is even as it says it is currently training over 2,000 Ogoni youths on shoreline clean-up in Kpor, headquarters of Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Prof Nenibarini Zabbey, who dropped the hint while speaking with newsmen during a town hall meeting in Bomu Community in Gokana Local Government Area last Wednesday said the agency is collaborating with the school for the mangrove restoration project, which he noted is starting with Bomu Community.
He noted that the mangroves are destroyed in most areas in Ogoniland, while there are still a few areas with pockets of community reserved mangroves, stressing that there are three such communities where HYPREP would quantify the carbon stock both above and below the ground.
According to him, the collaboration with the Rwandan school is a win-win collaboration as the institution would send its interns to Nigeria for HYPREP to mentor them while the agency would in turn send some of its staff to Rwanda to learn how to quantify carbon.
Zabbey further indicated that when such staff return, they would start the quantification process for the agency.
He said HYPREP is expected to interface with critical stakeholders from seven shoreline communities in Ogoniland before embarking on the mangrove restoration proper; stressing that it was part of the reason for the town hall meeting in Bomu Community.
The Project Coordinator explained that the mangrove restoration project would cover over 450 hectares of the land across Ogoniland, adding that the importance of the mangrove resources to the wellbeing of people can never be over-emphasised.
According to him, mangroves are very important in terms of detecting climate change, as they act as sink of carbon.
Zabbey further revealed that HYPREP’s management efforts in Ogoniland are anchored on two major pillars which include the restoration pillar and the conservation pillar.
He said mangroves have both environmental and economic values whose benefits can not be quantified, saying, they are to the local communities what reclamation of lands to check erosion is to government for development purposes.
The Project Coordinator noted that the mangroves are places where the local community people get their livelihoods, as they depend on them for food, energy and protection of their shorelines.
Zabbey also used the opportunity to visit Government Secondary School, Kpor where over 2,000 young men and women are undergoing training on shoreline clean-up.
While addressing them, he explained that the training is intended to equip them for the task ahead, and urged them to take it seriously by actively participating in it.
He said the Ogoni clean-up project adheres to international best practices and global standards as those being trained would at the end of the day be awarded International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) certificates 1 and 2.
According to him, the certificates would empower the beneficiaries for life in keeping with HYPREP’s sustainable livelihood policy.
He disclosed that another training was going on concurrently and that another batch of trainees would come on board for similar training at the end of the current exercise, and hinted that over 20,000 community workers would be provided the necessary tools to participate in the clean-up of the polluted environment in Ogoniland.
By: Donatus Ebi
The Rivers State Primary Healthcare Management Board (RSPHCMB) says it will commence Supplemental Immunization activities on Saturday, May 3, 2025, to vaccinate children from 0-5 years across the State.
The State Health Educator, Dr. Diana Babbo, who stated this during a sensitisation meeting with Media Advocate for Health, Rivers State, on the update of immunization exercise in Rivers State, said the National Immunization Plus Days (NIPDs) is a re-enforcement of the routine immunization at the health facilities.
According to her, it is aimed at boosting polio immunisation against the circulating variance of polio virus currently threatening the total eradication of polio in the country.
She further stated that there are four pillars of polio eradication, namely routine immunization (administered on babies in the health centre), supplemental immunization activity (supplements to boost the babies), surveillance (searching for children that have weakness in their legs or some oart of their bodies), and outbreak response.
The Health Educator noted that the Novel Oral Polio Vaccination Type 2 (NOPV 2) will be administered to children under the age of 0-5 years, which targets a specific polio still in existence in communities and capable of causing paralysis among the stated categories of children, despite the country being certified a polio-free nation.
Dr. Babbo further stated that this year’s NIPDs will address the high number of unresolved non-compliance cases in the State.
She debunked what she tagged a false rumour by mischief makers which claimed that the vaccines are responsible for the development of autism in children.
She said, “vaccines are not known to be responsible for the development of autism. We’re just hearing that. The truth is that one cannot know everything.
“That aspect that has been found, have we looked into other aspects, such as genetically modified foods, drinks, and milks that our children are taking?
“Have we also looked at genetic compatibility between couples before we now say vaccines are causing x, y, z things?
“Are we looking at the environment where these things are happening, what they are peculiar to?
“It must not be peculiar to all the families, there could be something also that’s happening around that we have not known. Research is evolving, let us not accuse our precious vaccines that have succeeded so far in my knowledge, to keep as many sicknesses at bay.
“The reason we do not have small pox in our world today, apart from the lab (a bio-lab) is because we vaccinated to the point where we were able to move small pox totally out of existence from human beings. We can succeed with that same pattern with all kinds of viruses”.
She stated that the connection between autism and vaccination could merely be coincidence.
Babbo, therefore, urged all parents, churches, and school owners to avail their children/wards the opportunity to be vaccinated against polio the stated exercise.
Sogbeba Dokubo
Engr Obi Fortune, a renowned philanthropist, has donated 80 desks to four secondary schools in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State. The donation is part of his commitment to advancing education in the area.
The schools that benefited from the gesture includes- Community Secondary School Umuoye.
Community Secondary School Akwa- Government Secondary School Ozuzu and Community Primary School Okehi 2 and all the schools got 20 units each of the desks.
Speaking during the brief handing-over ceremony held recently in okehi recently, Engr Obi stated that the donation fulfills his promise to use proceeds from his book sales to procure desks for schools in the LGA.
He disclosed that more desks will arrive soon and expressed his continued commitment to supporting education in the area.
Obi urged the schools to make good use of the desks and called on other individuals to contribute to the educational needs in the area.
This gesture demonstrates Engr Obi’s dedication to improving education in Etche LGA.
A professor of social and political philosophy at Rivers State University (RSU ) Nkpolu Oroworukwu port Harcourt, Prof Agha Eresia _Eke has emphasized that citizenship participation is crucial for achieving true democratic government. He stressed that citizens’ involvement in exercising their basic rights, such as freedom of speech, assembly, and religion, is essential for a democratic institution to thrive.
Eresia _Eke stated this while presenting his inaugural lecture at the 111 university’s inaugural lecture series with the topic “Nigeria Democratic practices:a contextual paradox”held at the university senate auditorium in Port Harcourt, last Wednesday.
According to him, core democratic values which include:,- Respect for individual rights and freedoms, Protection of human rights and fundamental freedom, Equality before the law, Freedom of speech, assembly, and association, Protection of privacy and personal autonomy.
“Through out history, the problem that has agitated social and political philosophers has been to work _out a model for the realization of the common good of man.
Man has always sought and developed methods and systems of organising himself according to his true nature as a rational being.”he stated.
Eresia-Eke notes that Nigeria is not practicing a true federalism and highlights the importance of a pragmatic approach to democracy, where ideas and solutions are tested and refined in real-world environments.
He emphasized that citizens must hold their leaders accountable and demand respect for human rights, stressing that by doing so, citizens can undertake their civic obligations and responsibilities, strengthening society as a whole.
Earlier in his address, the Vice chancellor of the university, Prof Zeb _Obipi commended the lecturer for his brilliant performance, adding that he has justified and proven that he is a professor in his area of specialization.
The VC averred that the university has been consistent in the inaugural lecture monthly and assured that his administration will continue to continue to keep the trend.