Rivers
Kumuyi Admonishes Mothers, Girls On Purposeful Life
The General Superintendent of Deeper Christian Life Ministry, William Kumuyi, has admonished mothers and girls to be virtuous, value-driven and purposeful in life.
Kumuyi gave the advice recently during a Global Women’s Conference organised in Port Harcourt by the Change Makers International (CMI).
The Tide’s source reports that the theme of the six-day conference was, “Driving positive change and social impact”.
Kumuyi, who is the Convener of CMI, spoke on the importance of recreating purposeful-driven change makers.
Noting that society needs God-fearing people to be agents of change, he said, if everyone in society can change, the country will be a better place.
He asked, “Who can find a virtuous woman, who can free a victimised woman, who can form a value-driven woman?”
The clergyman further said virtuous women are found in every community as long as they make themselves available, as seen in Proverbs 31:16.
He also said God can form a value-driven woman and free a victimised woman.
“Many people have victimisation syndrome, they are tied down and conditioned like that.
“Anybody can tell stories of their accusers and people that conditioned them a certain way through their words and pointing fingers of accusation.
“Accusation is not condemnation. Conditioning your mind as a victim keeps you stagnant. Changing that mindset will set you thousands of miles from where you are.
“Walk away from accusation and abuse from those who condemn you, John 8:10 and 11”, Kumuyi said.
He advised young girls to make themselves different in their ways, sacrifice their time to study and develop themselves.
Earlier, the President, Rivers Women University Association and Guest Speaker at the event, Uchenda Okogbule, spoke on “Breaking barriers, turning adversities into opportunity”.
Okogbule said “break” could mean separation from barriers, while barriers are materials that want to block one’s ways.
She also said, “turning” could mean changing a direction, while opportunity also means a chance to advancement or progress or succeed.
She listed some of the barriers to include cultural, religious, political and social-economic.
Okogbule gave instances of barriers as gender-based violence, female genital mutilation, widowhood practices, segregation in worship places and child marriage, amongst others.
She also talked about political barriers, saying that women were not allowed to participate deeply in politics.
“These are dehumanising practices in our society”, she said.
She advised women not to consider themselves helpless and hopeless, but rather pursue education, knowledge and be a support system to one another.
“Women should refuse to be used for harmful practices against one another.
“Women should go on advocacy in their various communities and speak against these barriers to build better families and nation at large”, Okogbule said.
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.