News
Creation Of Job’ll Assist In Fight Against Insurgency -Amaechi
For the Rivers State Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the current problems arising from insurgency,kidnapping and other social vices could be linked to poverty and unemployment in the country.
Amaechi disclosed this when the Senate Committee on Privatization and Commercialization paid him a courtesy visit at Government House, Port Harcourt shortly after a facility tour of Federal Government-owned parastatals and agencies in Rivers State.
He explained that his administration started creating employment opportunities when he assumed office in 2007 by building over 140 primary health centres and over 300 model primary schools which created job opportunities in the state.
According to him, “the current problem we are having in Nigeria is tied to poverty and unemployment. I believe that one solution to this insurgency is education and employment. The easiest employment is farming, because, a large number of them are not educated and unskilled. I applied it here in Rivers State and it worked.
“Most of them who were given guns by the ex-militants, when we asked them, they told us that their parents could not train them, that is why we introduced free education and free healthcare programmes. And it occurred to us that to address this problem, we need social policing, and while you are doing physical policing, you must also do social and economic policing. And to do that, we started creating employment opportunities. If you visit these projects, there is no way you will not see up to at least 50 workers in each of the schools”, Amaechi said.
Amaechi said, “we created the Banana farms that have created jobs for over 2000 persons, we revived the Risonpalm, it was dead when we came, and it has employed over 5,000 workers. Also, the Songhai farm has employed over 2,000 workers, while five fish farms in strategic locations have been completed. We have done all that to create employment opportunities for our people. I am very sure that the establishment of farms will go a long way to reduce the recruitment of Boko Haram members.
The Federal Government must take education, employment and reduction of poverty as priority. We do appreciate the challenges the Federal Government is facing now”, Amaechi said.
He, however said his administration is perfecting measures to ensure 24 hours regular power supply in the state, and expressed dismay over the inability of the federal government to pay what is due to the state government on its investment to improve power supply in the state.
”From the time I became governor in the past seven years, we have been buying gas from Agip and Shell in billions of naira, and the federal agencies have been collecting the revenue without remitting anything to the state. When they said, distribution was a problem, the state government was able to build 88 sub-stations which are yet to be commissioned, but they are all working.
We invited them to our exco meeting and asked them how we can get back our funds, and they said, it is not from them, that all the money they realized had been paid to their regulators, including our money for the past seven years.
Yet, they tell us they are privatised, when they are still using Rivers State Government facilities to generate and distribute power”, Amaechi said.
If they pay us half of what they are owing us, we assure you, we will run 24 hours power supply, because we are only funding it and getting nothing out of it. This arrangement is not conducive for the state”, Amaechi stated.
Governor Amaechi further called on investors in the state to improve in their investment potential and seek ways of creating more opportunities for job seekers.
On his part, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Privatization and commercialization, Senator Olugbenga Obadara said they were in Rivers State to see ongoing activities in the privatization sector of the Federal Government, access the retrenchment of workers in the labour market and seek ways of bridging the gap.
The committee equally commended Governor Amaechi on his developmental strides and achievements which it noted, have given the state a face-lift.
“When we were also coming, we saw how you modernized the colonial buildings. This is a way of taking us from the past to the present”, he added.
L-R: Chinese Prime Minister, Mr Li Keqiang, President Goodluck Jonathan and the Founder/Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum, Prof Klaus Schwab, at the opening of 2014 World Economic Forum on Africa in Abuja, yesterday
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 1.63 million pills of tramadol concealed in two long trailers heading for Kano as it intensified efforts to dismantle a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria corridor.
The agency also arrested an 80-year-old suspected drug dealer in Rivers State, a businesswoman linked to cannabis shipments from Canada, a Chadian woman, a couple and other suspects in coordinated operations across Lagos, Edo, Kogi and Rivers states.
The NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement, yesterday.
According to the statement, the latest intelligence-led operation came barely one week after NDLEA operatives recovered 558,900 pills of tramadol concealed in the false-bottom compartment of a truck that entered Lagos through the Togo-Benin Republic route.
Babafemi said, “Ongoing efforts to dismantle a transnational drug trafficking syndicate smuggling tramadol from Togo, through Benin Republic into Nigeria have yielded another success with the interception of two long trailers used to move One Million Six Hundred and Thirty (1,630,000) pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in fabricated compartments of the trucks across multiple borders into Lagos.”
He added that one of the two trailers was intercepted on July 2 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where operatives recovered 853,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in a fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor.
Babafemi said, “One of the two trucks already heading to Kano was tracked and located on 2nd July 2026 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway where NDLEA officers recovered 853,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in a fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor of the trailer and arrested the 22-year-old driver Jabir Kabiru.”
He further disclosed that another trailer was intercepted two days later on the same route.
“Two days later, 4th July, NDLEA operatives acting on processed intelligence successfully tracked and recovered the second trailer from the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway while heading to Kano. A total of 777,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in a fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor of the truck were evacuated and the 22-year-old driver Muhammed Nuhu arrested,” the statement read.
According to Babafemi, investigations established a link between the three intercepted consignments.
He said, “Investigations revealed that all three trucks and consignments intercepted on 21st June, 2nd July and 4th July belong to the same transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria axis.”
The agency also intercepted 4.70 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
Babafemi said, “Two consignments of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, with a combined weight of 4.70 kilograms have been intercepted at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos. The cargoes, which arrived the Lagos airport from Canada in cartons with ‘Odugwu’ boldly written on them, came aboard British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights on 24th June and 3rd July respectively.”
He said two cargo agents, Ali Rotimi Samson and Orimolade Oluwagbenga, were initially arrested in connection with the shipments, while another suspect, Edeh Onyeamachi Stanislus, was apprehended after arriving at a logistics company to take delivery of the consignments.
The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction has denied claims that it has commenced registration for a purported ?50,000 National Support Allowance.
The ministry, in a public notice posted on its official X handle, yesterday, described messages, links and websites advertising the alleged programme as fraudulent.
It urged Nigerians to disregard such claims and verify information only through official government channels.
“The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction has NOT commenced registration for any ?50,000 National Support Allowance,” the ministry said.
It added, “Disregard fraudulent messages, links and websites claiming otherwise. Verify any info only through official govt channels.”
The alert is in response to a circulating scam flyer that falsely claims the program is ongoing under President Bola Tinubu’s directives.
The fake advertisement, which includes text in Hausa and English, directs victims to a suspicious website (kluspz.com) for applications.
The ministry’s warning comes amid heightened concerns over digital fraud targeting vulnerable populations seeking social support.
Similar scams have previously surfaced around programs like N-Power, prompting questions from citizens in replies to the official post.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has expressed its preparedness for a major national struggle for a comprehensive review of the national minimum wage.
NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, hinted at this while making his remarks at the commissioning of the Comrade Godwin Abumisi Pensioners Legacy House and Multipurpose Hall in Abuja.
Ajaero said it is no longer acceptable to discuss the welfare of workers without also discussing the welfare of those who have completed their active years of service.
He advised workers and pensioners to get prepared for the ideological and economic battles that lie ahead.
According to the NLC president, “The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) is one of the proud affiliates of the Nigeria Labour Congress. Therefore, your struggle is our struggle, and your welfare remains a priority for the organised labour movement.
“We are currently in the preparatory stages for a major national struggle for a comprehensive review of the national minimum wage.
“However, let me state unequivocally that it is no longer acceptable to discuss the welfare of workers without also discussing the welfare of those who have completed their active years of service.
“Accordingly, the Nigeria Labour Congress will not only push for a new national minimum wage but will also demand the establishment of a national minimum pension. It is a historical injustice that men and women who devoted their youth, strength and productive years to the service of this nation should be condemned to live below the poverty line after retirement.”
Ajaero noted that the cost of living has risen astronomically as food, healthcare and transportation have become increasingly unaffordable.
“We cannot continue to allow our senior citizens to survive on pensions that have become poverty wages. Every retiree deserves to live with dignity after decades of faithful service to the nation,” he said.
He urged pensioners across the country to remain united and prepared as the process begins, adding: “This Legacy House should not merely be seen as a physical structure; it should become a centre for mobilisation, strategic engagement and solidarity as we prepare for the struggles ahead.”
The NLC president pointed out that the working class has always understood that “those who exploit workers are united in advancing their interests. We too must remain united in defending our collective interests and ensuring that government fulfils its obligations to both serving workers and retirees.”
He urged pensioners across the country to remain united and prepared as the process begins, adding: “This Legacy House should not merely be seen as a physical structure; it should become a centre for mobilisation, strategic engagement and solidarity as we prepare for the struggles ahead.”
The NLC president pointed out that the working class has always understood that “those who exploit workers are united in advancing their interests. We too must remain united in defending our collective interests and ensuring that government fulfils its obligations to both serving workers and retirees.”
He said the completion of the project should serve as a clarion call to all workers and lovers of the masses.
“We must not only build physical structures but also build a strong movement capable of compelling government to honour its commitments,” he said.
Ajaero further stated: “We will continue to demand the immediate payment of all outstanding pension arrears and the implementation of a pension regime that guarantees every retiree a life of dignity and security.
“Together, we shall continue to fight until every Nigerian worker and pensioner receives the justice, respect and welfare they deserve.”
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