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2015: Wike Apologies, Urges Amaechi To Contest For Presidency
It was a touching moment when Rivers State Governor and Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, did not only have his stewardship publicly appreciated but was also begged to act fast to rescue Nigeria from the dungeon by contesting the 2015 presidential election as the only panacea to the present sad state of affairs in the country.
The plea was made by the cousin of Chief Nyesom Wike and a leading light of the Rumuepirikom community, Barr. Tasie Wike, during Amaechi’s resumed Meet-the-People Tour of Obio Akpor Local Government Area in the state.
This request, according to Barr Wike, is borne out of the fact that Governor Amaechi has contributed immensely to the economic development of the state and the country in general and in view of his administration’s landmark achievements which speak for themselves.
Presenting his community’s address, Barr. Wike said: “We are convinced that despite the huge effort put in place by our detractors to run you down, history and providence will speak volumes of your track records of infrastructural development which are unprecedented in the annals of Rivers State, and indeed, Nigeria. We must sincerely commend and congratulate you for putting Rumuepirikom clan on the threshold of history of Rivers State – indeed Nigeria – in the elevation of our traditional stool and influencing the appointment of one of our sons as a Minister of State for Education in the person of Chief Nyesom Wike, as well as Chief Promise Onuoha and Chief Cyprian Chukwu as members of Rivers State Local Government Service Commission, not minding that none of these are members of APC and are now constituting themselves as nuisance and stumbling block to further developments of our community.
“Your other areas of intervention in our community include construction of the Ada-George Road, Epirikom/Rumuolumeni Road, Rumuepirikom Health Centre, Rumuepirikom Community Secondary School, Elioparanwo Primary School, among other great feats. All these notwithstanding, we wish to express our huge disappointment over our son, Chief Nyesom Wike, for failing to fix internal roads in our community while he was given 100 per cent on the contracts by the Amaechi-led administration to execute these road projects. It is worthy to recall that Rumuepirikom internal road network was awarded to Chief Nyesom Wike. Your Excellency, after we visited D/Line area of Port Harcourt and saw the internal road network constructed there, and compared them with what was done in our community by our own son, we wept. Our governor, there is need to revisit the slipshod construction done on our internal roads by Nyesom Wike. Imagine what a man has unleashed on his own community. What a dastardly act.”
Responding, Governor Amaechi thanked the people for their support, and assured them of more developmental projects, including the construction of Rumuagholu Road in Ward 7 and completion of Rumuomoi Road in Ward 12 as well as construction of Eliohani/Eneka Road in Ward 1.
The governor said: “I thank all of you for the opportunity to address you. It’s basically for the interest of Rivers State that we are here. There is no village in Rivers State you will go to that you won’t see either a model primary school or health centre that I built. It is our responsibility, not about politics. And if you like, you can vote APC or you can vote PDP or any other political party but to meet your needs is my responsibility. I am paid salary for it, and it is the reason for which I drive a free car, use free fuel, eat free food and enjoy free sleep.”
The communities visited by the governor and his team in the course of the week included Rumuepirikom, Eliparanwo, Rukpokwu, Eneka, Rukpakwolusi, Eligbolo, Awalama, Rumuagholu, Elieke, Ekinigbo, Orosi, Rumuadaolu, Rumuola, Rumuokwuta, Oroigwe, Rumunduru, Eliozu, and Elimgbu, among others, al in wards 9, 1, 12, 7 and 13.
In Amaechi’s team during the tour were members of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dakuku Peterside; Hon. Ogbonna Nwuke; Majority Leader, state House of Assembly, Hon Chidi Lloyd; the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Sir Tony Okocha; the Rivers State APC Chairman, Dr. Davies Ikanya; Obio/Akpor CTC Chairman, Lawrence Chukwu, among others.
Chief of Staff, Chief Tony Okocha, in a symbolic gesture led the team to walk the one-kilometre route to the venue of the event from Chief Nyesom Wike’s family compound.
He described the successful outing in Wike’s community as the fall of the wall of Jerico and collapse of whatever maybe the myth or political power base of the junior minister.
It would be recalled that Governor Amaechi had suspended the tour on 13th August, 2014 in honour of the erstwhile Mayor of Port Harcourt, Hon. Charles Paul Ejekwu, who died that day, even as PDP thugs attacked APC supporters mobilising to receive the governor.
Rivers State Governor, Rt Hon Chibuike Amaechi (right) consolling the wife of late Port Harcourt City Local Government CTC Chairman , Hon Charles Paul Ejekwu, during the funeral service at St Thomas Anglican Church, Diobu, last Saturday
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
News
RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.