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I’m On Oath To Protect Lives, Property –Amaechi
Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has given more assurance on security in the state, saying he is on oath to secure lives and property of people of the state.
Governor Amaechi spoke during a Town Hall meeting with the people of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area (ONELGA) of the state at the council headquarters in Omoku last Wednesday.
“The only responsibility in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that the governor has is the responsibility he swears to on oath that ‘I will secure lives and property’. That is my responsibility to you. I promise you as I stand that I will continue to do that, to protect lives and property. We will continue to give all the necessary support to security agencies to restore law and order in ONELGA.”
“You know, there are two angles to this. One angle is me, I will give my necessary support but the police must also be ready to do their work. We believe that the new Police Commissioner is equipped like the former one to deal with the situation. But before you boo at your chairman, know that he does not have powers to arrest the situation, only the police can. In fact, it is the Federal Government’s responsibility to secure us but we as governors must work with our Commissioners of Police to ensure that you are secure but give us just one month to sit down and arrest the situation”, he said.
Amaechi said his administration had completed five primary healthcare centres in the local government with the sixth one under construction at Akabuka.
He listed the five model primary healthcare centres already in use to include the one in Ase Azagah, Omoku, Mgbede, Okwuzi and Ebocha.
The governor said, “You know, I promised to tell you the truth all the time. So here, out of six, five of them (primary healthcare centres) are completed and in use, so here we have done 90 per cent”.
He assured that his administration would complete ongoing road projects in the local government and reconstruct internal roads and drainages in the council headquarters, Omoku.
On education, Amaechi disclosed that funds had been disbursed to the State Ministry of Education to complete all model primary schools under construction in the local government.
“We assume that 60 per cent of the primary schools we started in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area are yet to be completed and what we have done, I can tell you is that we have released money to Commissioner for Education to start the completion of all primary schools we have not completed, so Omoku and all those areas will benefit”.
He listed the completed model primary schools in the local government to include Community Primary School, Ndoni, Community School, Obiede-Erema, State School, Obrikom, St. Stephens Primary School, Omoku, amongst others.
Amaechi reiterated that primary and secondary schools in the state were free and warned school heads not to collect any fees from students and pupils.
According to him, the state government had also awarded scholarships to 118 students from the local government to study in universities abroad.
He promised to build a model secondary school in the local government once the land was provided by the council and the people and spoke about plans to establish an agricultural investment in the area. He also urged the youths to be disciplined.
Earlier, Chairman of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, Hon. Raymond Nwokocha in an address of welcome praised Governor Amaechi for the Town Hall meeting initiative and commended him for his developmental strides.
”Indeed, His Excellency’s vision of periodically fraternising with the people of Rivers State aimed at acquainting the people with the policies and programmes of government, as well as identifying their pressing needs is highly appreciated. This is because, holding wider consultation, identifying the plight of the people and responding swiftly to them are the hallmark of sound democratic practice.
“Your Excellency Sir, there is no gainsaying the fact that you have recorded an indelible mark on the sands of time in terms of your giant development strides in the state. These various projects, ranging from model secondary schools, model primary schools, model health centres and roads etc., are all located throughout the length and breadth of the state, while most of these projects have been delivered, some of them are at various stages of completion. In addition, a good number of scholarship awards have been given to our students both at the undergraduate and post graduate levels, within and outside Nigeria. Above all, your swift intervention in the various crises that threatened the corporate existence of our area averted an impending breakdown of law and order that was cleverly masterminded by some social miscreants”.
The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
Chinedu Wosu
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