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Alliance Francaise Organises Exhibition For Students
The Alliance Française, Port Harcourt has organised an exhibition programme tagged ‘ The Endless World’ to mark the 2024 World Environment Day held at its premises in Port Harcourt.
The Director, Alliance Française, Mrs Marina Lacal, who disclosed this recently said that the exhibition tour was part of activities mapped out to mark the ‘Day’.
According to her, the initiative was made possible by the Embassy of France to Nigeria, a major sponsor of the initiative and Institute Français Paris, which provides the exhibition to its network to raise public awareness of the challenges of ecological transition.
She stated that the exhibition, is an Educational Visual Adaptation adapted from the graphic novel, “Le Monde Sans Fin” by Jean-Marc Jancovici and Christophe Blain (over 800,000 copies sold in France in 2022), the exhibition illustrates the indepth dialogue between the two authors. Jean-Marc Jancovici, as the guide, and Christophe Blain, in the role of the innocent, explore themes of energy: its historical use, the rise of fossil fuels, and humanity’s impact on the environment, particularly the climate. This exhibition calls for action by addressing essential questions such as non-carbon energy, food, transportation, and urban planning, while proposing concrete solutions.
She noted that in line with this year’s UN theme, ‘Generation Restoration’, about 165 students, ranging from wards from 6 primary schools in Port Harcourt, as well as students from the French department of both the University of Port Harcourt and those from the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education participated in the exhibition tour.
The UN theme, this year, ‘Generation Restoration’, is based on the premise that while we cannot turn back time, we are the generation capable of restoring our relationship with the Earth, saying that the exhibition offers a selection of content that illustrates and questions the major issues of the environmental crisis, while providing avenues for solutions to reduce our impact. Activities and Target Audience.
The Alliance Director, further said that the programme which is educational was aimed at creating awareness, foster connectivity of cultural propagation and proffer solutions to climate crisis affecting the earth with French Language.
“The Alliance Française, Port Harcourt has planned guided tours and mediations around the proposed solutions, aimed at primary and secondary school students, French department students, and learners at the Alliance. The goal is to raise awareness among the generation that will be active tomorrow. About 165 youths already booked their tour of the exhibition. An Educational and Cultural Opportunity The exhibition, provided by the Institut Français, is a boon for the Alliance Française. It fits into its cultural projects and idea debates, which aim to reconcile cultural dissemination with the learning of the French language,” she explained.
“The Endless World” combines the aesthetics of a French comic book with the expertise of two ecological figures, offering a unique opportunity to work on vocabulary related t eology.Ecological and Sustainable Solutions,” she said.
The Tide reports that the exhibition was printed on flexible PVC banners, a material that is both durable and lightweighted. Also, to avoid waste production, accessories such as bags, pouches, and keychains were made from these banners and distributed to participants. These accessories will also be used by the Alliance Française teachers for their professional needs. Seats were made for permanent installation at the Alliance. Additionally, the exhibition was mounted on wooden panels, thus reducing its ecological impact.
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.