Rivers
RSG Urges Children To Speak Up, Defend Their Rights
In commemoration of this year’s International Children’s Day, Nigerian children have been urged to speak up and defend their rights.
The Assistant Director, Department of Planning, Research and Statistics, Rivers State Ministry of Education, Dr. Alice Altride, gave this advice at an event organised by Christ Embassy, Port Harcourt, for school children to celebrate this year’s Children’s Day.
Speaking on the theme of the celebration, ‘Empowering Young Minds’, Dr Altride urged children to always speak up, defend their rights and stand for truth and justice, saying there are laws that protect children’s rights.
According to her, “Rivers State Government has enacted laws promoting children’s rights, the awareness and sensitisation is ongoing, but it’s sad that some parents are still in denial.
“Rights of children include rights to life, education, good health, survival and development among others. Rivers State Government also practices inclusive education for the physically challenged, hence, there should be no discrimination.”
On his part, the Group Pastor, Christ Embassy City Centre Group, Port Harcourt Zone 1, Pastor Strong Daniel, charged children on the need to engage their minds with productive and positive things as these are keys to their successes in life.
Pastor Daniel, who was represented by the Zonal Director of the church, Pastor Amaechi Udeaku, advised children to meditate on the words of God and guard their hearts with all diligence.
“What you see and what you hear are determinants of what goes on in your mind, hence be careful of what you watch and what you listen to. You must empower your minds to be successful by thinking on right things, obey your parents, yield yourself to instructions, obey God’s words, then the sky is just the beginning”, he said.
He also charged teachers to teach the children Godly virtues as contained in the Bible so that when they are old, the virtues will not depart from them.
The pastor explained that the mission of Inner City Mission and the Children Arm of Christ Embassy Church was to reach out to indigents children, bring them out of the slum and empower them with God’s words.
“All of these is our own ways of extending the love of Christ to the people”, Pastor Daniel stressed.
Also speaking, the Programme Director and Educationist, Rita Daniel Strong, described the theme as apt, noting that the children are tomorrow’s leaders and deserve to be empowered with God’s words to enable them have positive mindsets.
‘It all starts from the mind, if our younger ones can harness their thoughts and work on their minds, they will fulfil their goals in life because they will be able to use their minds positively”, she said.
A keynote speaker and Chairman, Nigeria Institute of Architects, Rivers State Chapter, Arc. Toku Fiberesima, enlightened students on who an Architect is and why it is important for them to take up Architecture as a career.
Speaking on the topic: ‘The Role of an Architect’, Fiberesima said: “Architecture is an integral part of our lives, without an Architect, there will be no where to live. With an Architect, we are able to build our cities, schools, markets, airports, among others.”
Highlights of the events include Bible quiz and Spelling Bee competition and debates.
At the end of the keenly contested competitions, the following schools: Dayton Model College, Noble Learning Int. School, Beryl Brooks Premier School, Readon Int. School, St. Maria Goretti Int’l School, Divine Anteo School, and Increase Int’l School went home with cash gifts and stationery materials.
Susan Serekara-Nwikhana
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The 5-day Maternal and Neonatal Child Health (MNCH) Week, which started last Monday, comes to a close today in Port Harcourt.
The MNCH Week, which is part of healthcare campaign and interventions for Rivers people, witnessed interventions for pregnant women, non-pregnant women, children under five years old, and men as well.
Disclosing this during the 2024 last quarter strategic meeting of the “Media Advocacy For Health in Rivers State”, the State Health Educator, Dr. Diana Babbo, of the Primary Health Care Management Board, said, the MNCH Care Week, is part of several health campaigns and interventions planned for Rivers people.
“We call it MNCH Care Week. Our ‘one-stop-shop’, from 9th to 13th December, we will be in the health facilities, we hope that our care givers and mothers will bring their children, and partners/spouses to come amd access care in our facilities”, she stated.
According to the State Health Educator, the second part of the campaign and intervention is the roll out of MPox or Monkey Pox vaccination which is a targeted immunisation campaign, and scheduled to last for ten days in Rivers State.
Dr. Babbo, said the Monkey Pox vaccine will be rolled out in six states: Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Enugu, Bayelsa, FCT, and Benue States.
She stated that the MPox vaccines roll out, which started on the 2nd of December, will also end today.
She explained that the MPox vaccination is targeted at communities, health workers, who are the frontline workers, and key population.
Such key populations include: commercial sex workers, People Living With HIV, transgender community, People Who Inject Drugs (PWID), and Men who have Sex with Men (MSM).
“We’re also saying that after the COVID-19 year, we noticed that there was a drop in immunisation generally worldwide. So, the world is trying to catch up”, she explained.
Towards this end, she stated that a team of Nigerians have been put in place with an aim to quickly close the gap, through intensification of routine immunisation.
Dr. Babbo said, “we will go to different communities where they are found and carry out what we call ‘Zero Dose Children'”.
Zero Dose Children, Babbo said, “means that they have not got their series vaccines, which are pental vaccines. They are those that have not completed their vaccines despite having started. So, we are going to target those categories of children”.
She further disclosed that in continuation of the interventions, malaria vaccines will be rolled out in Nigeria in January 2025, with Rivers State being one of the beneficiaries to have the vaccines in the public space.
A security expert and analyst, Charles Inkoh-Tariah, has recommended an Information Technology (UT) Communications driven security network in Rivers State.
Speaking during a live interview, “Viewpoint”, on radio, he said IT is very useful in reducing all forms criminality.
According to him, IT driven security is proactive and not reactive, while expressing regret that weakness in the security system stems from failure to adopt a modern and updated relevant IT-driven technology like other developed climes.
He also observed that there’s a lot of gap between the people and security agencies leading to weakness and failure.
Inkoh-Tariah, therefore, recommended a consolidated intelligence gathering system that will enhance effectiveness through adoption of technology and support of the people.
The security expert emphasized the need to revive the Neighborhood Watch , which, he said, is backed by law made by the State Assembly in 2008.
He insisted that there is need to also upgrade security facilities and improve performance of security personnel.
Furthermore, he called for adoption of Artificial intelligence, “which is more effective than all local or former security systems”.
By: Kevin Nengia
A United States of America-based socio-cultural organisation, Gbaaloo Nyo-Khana, which is an umbrella body of Ogoni, in Rivers State, Nigeria, has called on the people of Ogoni Kingdom to accord traditional rulers their deserved respect.
A statement jointly signed by the group’s President, Comrade LeBari Nzidee, the Secretary-General, Comrade Samuel Nwibana, and the Public Relations Officer, Barineka Akponi, condemned several utterances and derogatory statements by some youths against traditional rulers in Ogoni land, who they described as “natural custodians of Ogoni cultural heritage”.
The organization said such statements and behaviour doesn’t accord the high respect due traditional rulers in Ogoni land and called for a change of attitude towards traditional rulers who have the traditional blessings of the land.
According to the statement, the association condemns in its totality, recent unwholesome statements against a frontline traditional ruler in Nyo Khana Kingdom, saying it does not demonstrate a show of respect for traditional institutions in the area.
The statement said, “in as much as the organization will not support the ills or misbehavior of any traditional ruler, there’s the need for their subjects to address any act of misconduct with serious caution.
“If traditional rulers in other parts of the country are treated with dignity, such treatment should be accorded Ogoni traditional rulers and leaders at home and in the diaspora by the Ogoni people.
The group also accused some Ogoni indigenes in diaspora who are believed they be sponsoring the charade to get political recognitions because of their selfish interest to contest for elective positions in 2027.
Describing their intentions as “wild elephant dreams”, the group promised to expose such people.
The statement read in part: “some disgruntled ogonis in the diaspora are disrespecting our traditional rulers to score cheap political recognitions.
“We have come to realize that their intentions are borne out of the fact that they have an intention to contest 2027 elections, using falsehood, unscrupulous allegations to instigate fake news, through which they seek popularity in Ogoni”.
The group reaffirmed its commitment to “stand against any action that is not healthy in Ogoni land, especially when it has to do with not according traditional rulers their due respect and honour, specifically in Nyo-Khana Kingdom, and Ogoni at large”.
By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
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