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Rivers, Safest State In Nigeria
The recent comments by the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, concerning the safety and security of Rivers State, did not come to many people as a surprise.
His penchant for bitterness propelled propaganda and anger-fuelled political rhetoric are already well known to Rivers people and discerning Rivers watchers.
What is sadly surprising, however, is the occasion he used as platform to ventilate his hate filled sardonic comments, which has left many aghast by the brazen display of this rigid, unbending, cold hearted vindictiveness.
One had expected that a man like Amaechi, who has enjoyed unmerited favour in abundance and unquantifiable goodwill in excess, irrespective of his own very limited credentials, would at least have displayed a modicum of respect in the presence of the mortal remains of a distinguished elder statesman, whom he even referred to as his mentor.
But rather than show humility and reverence, Rotimi Amaechi chose the very sombre and solemn occasion of the funeral service of late Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte, to launch into an egocentric rant celebrating his regime as Governor, with disrespectful and megalomaniac impunity to the chagrin and consternation of all who had gathered to bid the great man goodbye.
The Transportation Minister, in his lamentations on what he, in his warped imagination, contrived as the rising spate of insecurity and political intimidation in Rivers State, told the gathering that: “You have lost your voice. The sage has gone under and nobody is speaking. When I was Governor, I gave people voices, but they have blocked those voices. I was happy with the sermon, the Bishop indicted us. If you are a Governor, have you governed well? If you are a politician, have you carried your people along?
“Everyone is scared. We are going back to when Ateke held sway. We are going back to the period where we run away from our people. We are back to a period when nobody can speak. But from next year, I will begin to speak, if nobody wants to speak.”
Rotimi Amaechi also made other atrocious and provocative comments, like casting aspersion on the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, for the non completion of the Trans-Kalabari Road, as well as some elementary advise he received from the late renowned jurist, which even a greenhorn aspiring politician should be knowledgeable about and all these of course have elevated Justice Karibi-Whyte to the enviable status of ‘his mentor’.
It is quite unfortunate that Amaechi had to spew this verbiage at such a poignant occasion, but those who know him well, have come to understand his uncensored demagoguery, unquenchable lust for divisiveness and the sadistic pleasure he derives in the politics of blackmail and subterfuge.
However, the question to ask Rotimi Amaechi is: what exactly does he want people to say that has not already been said by his diehard attack dogs, hirelings and refuseniks, who have not given the Governor Wike administration breathing space with their worthless, totally irrelevant negative criticisms since 2015? Indeed, which voice is he accusing the great Kalabari people of losing now that the sage is gone?
Obviously, Amaechi has forgotten so soon, how he deceived, insulted and rubbished the whole Kalabari ethnic nation, by first imposing with impunity, a candidate and his crony, who is a complete outsider, in the guise of riverine Governor agitation, at the expense of tried, tested, articulate and seasoned Kalabari sons who contributed huge human and material resources to build the structure he hijacked to achieve his selfish objectives.
Recall also that when that ill fated project failed woefully, he deceitfully dredged up a complete political greenhorn and drafted him as the favoured candidate, all in the name of appeasing Kalabari people. One is compelled to ask, is that the best Amaechi can do for Kalabari people?
Or does he want the people to recall how he sent soldiers to Abonnema, the very home town of the eminent Justice Karibi Whyte that he claims to be his mentor, to slaughter innocent men, women, youths in his quest to seize power at all cost? What did the people do to him as he came to dance on the graves of those that were killed? Nothing. Yet, those who sat down in that church and listened to him excoriate Kalabari people for not speaking out, clapped for him, all in the name of mourning the departed sage. So, what does he want them to say to him now?
The wickedness of Rotimi Amaechi’s anarchist mindset was further revealed when, in very choice sentences, he dragged King Ateke Michael Tom, the Amanyanabo of Okochiri kingdom, into his bitter commentary.
Of course, those who know better understand why he had to drag King Ateke into a hate speech in Kalabari kingdom, but what Amaechi forgot was that the people of Okochiri, with one loud, united voice, came together and unanimously crowned Ateke Tom as their beloved king.
Infact, there has been complete and permanent peace in his kingdom since he was crowned king, except for one incident of external provocation, when soldiers, acting on the command of the Transportation Minister, invaded King Ateke’s palace in the run up to the 2019 elections.
The calculation was to provoke reprisal attacks but wisdom reigned supreme and that evil was defeated and averted. So, will Amaechi’s attempt to foment another trouble again by dragging King Ateke Tom into his bitterness succeed?
The answer is a resounding No, because his dubious intention of invoking the name of King Ateke Tom in Kalabari land is not lost on anybody and the people are not at all fooled for one minute by this latest foul mouthed loquaciousness.
Rivers people, including the Kalabaris, are wiser now and have long passed that stage and nobody, especially Rotimi Amaechi, will drag them back there again for his selfish ambition.
Again, Rotimi Amaechi went to Kalabari land and told the people that President Goodluck Jonathan, who he shamelessly claimed to have reconciled with, refused to give him approval to construct the Emohua/Abonnema Road but he dualised the Airport/Elele/Omerelu which is a federal road project and the people are not talking.
Or maybe, what they should be talking is how come Rotimi Amaechi is getting billions of naira and dollars from China to do railway projects all over the country and even to Niger Republic, except in Rivers State, yet he cannot do anything for Kalabari people, if only to honour his “mentor”, Justice Karibi Whyte?
Talking about security, one must make the incontrovertible point that in Nigeria today, unlike Amaechi’s own imagination, Rivers State is arguably the safest State in the country at this present time and the reason is quite simple.
Governor Nyesom Wike embraced the security challenge frontally and deployed a proactive, effective, functional and pragmatic security strategy, accommodating all security agencies in a symbiotic synergy that completely rejigged the security architecture in the State.
At the commencement of his second term, Governor Wike initiated a comprehensive security platform to address the security challenges facing different parts of the State. This was a product of careful planning and implementation and on Friday, 26th July, 2019, right in the presence of all key stakeholders at the Sharks Stadium in Port Harcourt, he launched a new Rivers State Security outfit code-named Operation Sting.
Operation Sting is an outfit that involves all the security agencies, working in unison to address security concerns in all parts of the state. It is fully funded by the Rivers State Government with the aim of tackling criminal elements, the sources and drivers of insecurity in their diverse criminal manifestations and operations and to nip them in their buds, rout and root them out of existence and reduce crime and criminality in all parts of the state.
To ensure that the new security outfit responded effectively across the state, the administration provided the right logistics and equipment in patrol/operational vehicles fitted with communication gadgets; armoured fitted gunboats, to tighten coastal security and protect the waterways from the activities of criminals; Armoured Personnel Carriers for Police swift responses actions as well as; hand-held mobile radios to enhance communication among the security operatives and overcome the current wide gaps in intelligence gathering.
Operation Sting has functional and operational bases established in all the 23 Local Government Areas to strengthen the command and control structures of the initiative and ensure effective coordination and synergy between the State Headquarters, the Local Government Areas and the communities to achieve the common objective of providing comprehensive security cover for the State.
In addition, the operationalization of Operation Sting across the State has also increased citizens’ awareness and made the public to be more alive to the dangers of insecurity and their responsibility to be part of the present crusade to stamp this menace from the state and in appreciation of the officers and men who will participate in the new security architecture, the State Government set up a fund to cater for their families, in the event of any mishap in the course of service.
The result of this has manifested in the excellent collective intelligence gathering that has led recently to the smoking out and capture of some of the most dreaded criminal elements terrorizing the state over the years. Some were even apprehended outside Rivers State for the simple reason that the Wike administration has made the state too hot for criminals to operate or even hide out. This has made Rivers State arguably the safest state in the country today.
The Next Supermarket, the biggest in West Africa, Turkish Airline, Ethiopian Airline, Greenville Energy Company and Stockgap Nigeria Limited are new businesses thriving under this administration. In fact, the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Train 7 Project could not have taken off if there is insecurity.
To buttress this point Governor Wike, in a recent Television interview said: “Rivers State is safer than any other State. See what is happening in Borno, Kaduna and Plateau States where bandits have taken over their areas. When Amaechi was Governor, Julius Berger Nigeria PLC was chased away because of insecurity. But they are here now, constructing roads all over the State without fear.
“The heads of security agencies that Amaechi influences their postings, come here and see the reality on ground.”
So, the Transportation Minister, having nothing better to say, than to instigate people with his provocative comments, has confessed that he will start talking from next year, if nobody wants to talk from now till then. But sadly for him, Rivers people are now wiser and nobody is afraid of talking because many people have come to the realization that when they talk, the Governor listens and makes sure he delivers what the people want.
Governor Wike is not only delivering good governance, he is also fulfilling all the promises he made to Rivers people. And that is why, when he also talks, the people listen and comply, as they demonstrated commendably during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
This, of course, is a far cry from what obtained in the previous administration where, when the Judges talked the courts were shut down for two years, when lecturers spoke, they were suspended. In fact, anybody who raised a voice of dissent was either clamped down by the dictator or denied the dividends of democracy.
The fact remains that Amaechi is the singular most divisive political figure in Rivers State today and the feeling, even amongst his own supporters, is that he is only deceiving himself, if he believes he will continue to behave like a dictator and an unpopular godfather, whose word must be obeyed always, in the political space of Rivers State.
Rivers people have proved to him that they are not afraid to talk and they have spoken loudly and clearly every time it mattered most, especially in 2015 and 2019. Rivers people are talking and Governor Wike is a listening Governor, who hears what they are saying and is responding to their voices with the commitment and dedication of a leader who has the interest of his people at heart.
Nsirim is the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Rivers State.
News
RSG Moves To Diversify Rivers Economy …As Farmers, Others Laud Ibas Over Implementation Of RAAMP
The Rivers State Government has restated its readiness to diversify the economy of the state from oil to Agriculture.
This is as farmers and other stakeholders have commended the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (Retd) for approving the implementation of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing project (RAAMP) in the state.
Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this during a meeting on implementation of RAAMP in Ikwerre, Eleme and Ogba Egbema Ndoni Local Government Areas.
Ogolo said the programme would create an agricultural industrial hub in the 23 local government areas, and urged the people to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, rural farmers and other stakeholders in the State have lauded Ibas for approving the implementation of RAAMP in the State.
RAAMP is a world bank program with support from the International Development Association ( IDA), the French Development Agency and the Federal Government of Nigeria.
According to a statement made available to newsmen, the programme aims to strengthen the institutional and financial base for sustainable management of state and rural networks, fostering historic development to enhance food security, creating access in rural communities to boost agricultural processes through creation of durable access roads and agro logistics centres/hub.
Tide source confirms that the program has been in operation since 2020 with 19 states benefitting.
The benefitting states are Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi and Bauchi.
Other beneficiaries are Plateau, Kwarra, Ondo, Niger, Gombe, Anambra, Cross River, Taraba and Benue states.
The source said that 12 new states including Rivers State recently completed their requirements for inclusion into the RAAMP 3.
Speaking at the stakeholders’ meeting at Isiokpo, Nchia and Omoku, headquarters of Ikwerre, Eleme and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government areas respectively, a cross section of farmers described the programme as timely as it would boost food production as well as create markets for agricultural produce.
At Eleme, HRH Emere J D Nkpe warned against politicising the project.
The people also complained against incessant destruction of crops by herdsmen and called for it to be checked.
Also speaking at Omoku headquarters of Ogba Egbema Ndoni Local Government Area,Eze Allison Dan and Barrister Lola Nwaribe commendation the government for the program but warned against it going the way of other programmes.
For Barrister Nwaribe Women in the area needs assistance to break free from subsistence agriculture
Speaking at the three ocal government areas Ogolo said Rear Admiral Ibok Ete Ibas rtd needs to be commended for approving the implementation of the program in the state.
Ogolo said the program is aims at diversifying Rivers economy from oil to Agriculture.
He said the program will also enable farmers to move from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture, adding that access roads will not only be created to farms but markets will be built for farmers to sell their produce.
He listed other benefits to include creation of employment for the youths and helping small traders to boost sales.
Also speaking the state RAAMP Coordinator,Mr Joshua Kpakol said the “the essence of this project is to provide rural access roads and improve agricultural marketing systems across the 23 Local Government Areas of the state”
Kpakol said the project is divided into three components which are improvement of Rural Access and Trading Infrastructure, Sector Reform,Asset management and Agro logistics performance Enhancement and Institutional Development, Project Management and Risk Mitigation.
He urged farmers and traders to embrace the project as it would go along way in changing their fortunes.
At Ikwerre and Eleme local government areas respectively, the sole administrators of the two councils Hon Isaiah Christian and Dr Gloria Obo Dibiah said the councils will work towards the success of the program.
They commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Sole Administrator of Rivers state for ensuring that their respective councils benefits from the programme.
John Bibor
The FCT High Court in Abuja, yesterday, granted the suspended Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, bail in the sum of N50 million and one surety who must be a person of reasonable integrity resident in F.C.T Abuja and owns a landed property within the Abuja Municipal Area Council.
The trial judge, Justice Chizoba Orji, made the declaration in a ruling after taking arguments for and against the bail application from the parties in the suit.
The Attorney General of the Federation, in a three-count criminal charge marked CR/297/25, accused Akpoti-Uduaghan, the sole defendant, of making defamatory statements against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, during a live television broadcast.
The charge, which lists Akpabio and the former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, as nominal complainants, alleged that Akpoti-Uduaghan claimed Bello had conspired with Akpabio to orchestrate her assassination outside Abuja, disguising it as a mob or local attack.
According to the Federal Government, these allegations were made during a live broadcast on Channels Television’s Politics Today on April 3, 2025.
The Federal Government claimed that Akpoti-Uduaghan knowingly or recklessly made these imputations, fully aware that they could harm the reputation of the individuals involved.
The charge alleged that she said, “Let’s ask the Senate President, why in the first instance did he withdraw my security, if not to make me vulnerable to attacks? He then emphasised that I should be killed, but I should be killed in Kogi. What is important to me is to stay alive, because dead men tell no tales. Who is going to get justice for me?”
The charge also cites her statements during the programme as saying, “That you, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, on or about the 3rd day of April 2025, during the same Politics Today programme on Channels Television in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, made the following imputation concerning Yahaya Adoza Bello, former Governor of Kogi State.
“It was part of the meeting, the discussions that Akpabio had with Yahaya Bello that night, to eliminate me. When he met with him, he then emphasised that I should be killed, but I should be killed in Kogi. You knew or had reason to believe that such imputations would harm the reputation of Yahaya Adoza Bello, former Governor of Kogi State.”
The senator is also accused of making defamatory statements about Akpabio during a telephone conversation with Sandra C. Duru in Abuja on March 27, 2025.
The alleged statement is as follows, “That girl that was killed, what’s her name, umm…. Imoren Iniubong, her organs were actually used for the wife, because the wife was really ill… when they killed the girl, and her organs were used for the wife.”
The Federal Government contends that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan knew or ought to have known that this claim would harm the reputation of Senator Godswill Akpabio.
Meanwhile, the Senate President, Bello, and four others have been listed as witnesses in the trial.
The arraignment of Akpoti-Uduaghan was initially scheduled for June 3, 2025. However, the strike action of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria stalled the arraignment.
Meanwhile, a similar matter is also lodged before Justice Muhammed Umar, of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
While Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan was slated for arraignment before Justice Umar, she, however, did not appear for the arraignment since the prosecution had not been able to serve her as stated in court.
The prosecution, however, applied for a bench warrant to be issued on the suspended senator, which the court refused.
At the commencement of the hearing, the counsel to the Attorney General of the Federation, David Kaswe, told the Court that the matter is for arraignment of the defendant (Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan).
Natasha was docked, and the three-count read to her. She pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Akpoti-Uduaghan’s legal team, led by Professor Roland Otaru (SAN), afterwards informed the Court that a bail application filed on May 27 has been submitted to the court.
Kaswe, however, informed the court that the Federal Government is opposing the bail application and called the attention of the judge to a counter-affidavit filed before the court to this effect.
He proceeded to ask the court to remand the Kogi Senator in prison as she poses a flight risk.
He said, “In view of the charge, we will be asking for a remand in a correctional facility.
The defence counsel, however, interjected, stating, “We already filed an application for bail. We are in a court of law for Justice. We have a motion on Notice dated May 27, 2025. You represent the Ministry of Justice, not the Ministry of Injustice.
“If your lordship graciously will, we urge your lordship to grant the bail application. This is a case where your lordship has the discretion to grant bail, and nobody can query it, not even the president can query it. Even on self-recognition because it is not a case of murder.”
Referencing the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, Otaru added that anybody who is charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty. “And she pleaded not guilty. As she is standing there, she is innocent until proven otherwise,” he added.
Justice Chizoba Orji, after listening to both arguments, however, granted Natasha bail in the sum of N50 million, with one surety who must be a person of reasonable integrity resident in F.C.T Abuja and owns a landed property within the Abuja Municipal Area Council.
Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, has received 119 stolen artefacts from the Netherlands.
The Oba who disclosed this on Wednesday in Benin, the Edo State capital, said plans by some international cartel to re-loot the artefacts were thwarted after he prayed to God and the ancestors.
He said, “I thank President Bola Tinubu for supporting and committing to the efforts former President Buhari put in place to ensure the artifacts are not re-looted because there were groups in this country believed to be an international cartel that had all sorts of conspiracy to re-loot our artifacts.
“They stole and burnt our Kingdom. They killed my people and tried to kill their spirit and their morale. Today, the boldness, courage, and bravery of the Benin people are still there. Events of 1897 reduced that to a significant level that Sometimes when I see my people, they are afraid of the unknown.
“The return of these objects has reawakened the courage we had in our people. We do not want modern-day politics and partisan politics to diminish the courage of our people.
“The Director General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments has been doing wonderful work. His predecessor was part of the conspiracy to re-loot our artefacts. We had a running battle in this hall.
“I addressed my Chiefs in Benin language, and I said these artefacts belong to my ancestors, and I will not sit on the ancient throne and watch the artefacts re-looted. They would rather remain where they are than be re-looted. I thank the government of the Netherlands for working with us. This is part of the efforts to reawaken the morale and spirit of my people.
“After 1897, the kingdom was reduced. There was a government in this state that wanted to reduce the kingdom more and scatter it. I am angry when I speak about it. Why would anybody want to scatter the kingdom.
“The youths were courageous like the youths of those days. They were not afraid of anybody. I vowed that it would not happen. Not in my reign. Not while I am sitting on this throne. God heard my prayers. My ancestors heard my prayers. This throne is not partisan, but I should support what is good for my people.
“I urge the youths to be tough and strong in the face of adversity. This is not for anybody else. It is for my ancestors.”
The Benin Monarch further prayed for the return of more artefacts.
The NCMM DG, Olugbile Holloway, said the commission and the Benin Royal Palace were working hard to ensure more artefacts were returned.
Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, who was represented by the Secretary to State Government, Barr. Musa Ikhilor said his administration would continue to build necessary infrastructure to preserve the returned artefacts as well as collaborate with the Federal Government to improve the storage system for the artefacts.
The General Director of the Wereld Museum, Marieke Van Bommel, said, “The artefacts are looted, and we have a policy in the Netherlands to bring them back. We are bringing back 119 artefacts. We don’t have more. These are the collections in the Netherlands. There are more collections in Europe, but that is not up to us. They have been with us for over 100 years.”
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