Author: Emmanuel Obe

The Public Interest Lawyering Initiative for West Africa (PILIWA), an international nongovernmental organization devoted to fighting for the rights of indigent people, has endowed a human desk at the Port Harcourt Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). At the formal presentation of the instruments, the Nigeria Country Director of PILIWA, Mr. Chima Williams, said PILIWA’s partnership with the NBA was to stand in the gap for people whose are too weak to seek redress for wrongs done them. He said, “Our job is to use our calling to defend ourselves, defend the defenceless and defend our environment. We fight…

The contractor handling the reconstruction of the Eleme axis of the East West-West road, Reynolds Construction Company Limited (RCC) has returned to site barely a week after the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, ordered suspension of work on the project. RCC returned to site just as Rivers State Governor, Mr. Siminalayi Fubara, promised that the state government was working hard to complete rehabilitation of the old Port Harcourt – Bori road to provide alternative to the traffic that use the East-West road. The governor, who also inspected work on the new 6.5-kilometre Woji-Aleto-Alesa road, said the state government was…

The University of Port Harcourt has made tree planting a cardinal objective to contribute to the international campaign to fight global warming. At a special ceremony just before its 34th convocation ceremonies, the best graduating student f the university, Osisi Upadhi Solomon, assisted by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Owunari Georgewill, planted a tree at the university’s new convocation arena. Solomon had a 4.91 cumulative grade point aggregate. At the convocation, which held between 23rd and 24th of February, the university conferred degrees on a total of 13,816 students. Giving a breakdown of the awards, the vice-chancellor said 477 of the graduands…

The Chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Rivers State Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr. Amaechi Okonkwo, has lamented the serious damage that illegal crude oil bunkering is causing in some oil bearing communities in Rivers State. Mr. Okonkwo, who just returned from a trip to some oil producing communities in Andoni Local Government Area, described as wicked the operations of the illegal bunkerers and artisanal oil refineries. He said the operations of the illegal refineries, known as Kpofire locally, have snuffed life out of the environment as a lot of animal life has been decimated. “Ooh! If only…

Eleme language spoken by the indigenous people of Eleme in Eleme Local Government Area in Rivers State came into focus last Wednesday when the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) celebrated the 2024 International Day of the Mother Tongue in Port Harcourt. At an elaborate ceremony at the National Museum in Port Harcourt, the Curator of the Nationaluseum, Mr. Victor Otuka, said the UNESCO international mother tongue day is dedicated to recognizing the vital role language plays in society. The theme of this year’s celebration is: Multilingual Education is the Pillar of Intergenerational Learning. Otuka said, “Our indigenous languages…

The erstwhile fortress of the Nyesom Wike political empire has suffered an earthquake and from unexpected quarters. His most formidable political platform, the Grassroots Democratic Initiative has received a crack. Leaders of the GDI in seven local governments on Sunday March 10, paid a visit to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, where they pledged their support for his administration. They said they were joining the Rivers people behind the governor, thus throwing aside ex-governor Nyesom Wike who before now, had a strong grip on them. The GDI is the major base of Wike’s political structure in Rivers State but from all indications,…

Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has explained that the state government cancelled the employment of about 2,000 people by Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE) because of gross irregularities discovered in the process. The head of service, Dr. George Nwaeke, who stood in for the governor when those who were affected by the cancellation protested to Government House, Port Harcourt, however said government would revisit the process. He said the government could not ignore the irregularities, which he said was intolerable, and had to cancel the entire employment process. He said the management of the institution was directed, based…

The world literally converged on the quiet town of Isiokpo, headquarters of Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State on Saturday to join family members to pay their last respects to Dr. Hebert Wigwe, former Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank PLC, his wife Chizoba and son, Chizi, who were killed in a helicopter crash in California, USA on February 9. The list of eminent guests was endless as they filled the RCCG Lion of Judah auditorium venue of the funeral service and the premises. At the head of the Nigerian government delegation was the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio,…

An American-based Nigerian investor in renewable energy, Mr. Joshua Okorie, has said that renewable energy derivable from solar, wind and nuclear power is what Nigeria needs to get out of the conundrum of public power supply. Mr. Okorie, who is the chief executive officer of Kodion Energy (Kodion Consulting) with bases in Kansas City, Missouri, Nigeria, and China, said the current dependence on fossil fuel and thermal stations to generate electricity is dirty and not sustainable. Okorie, who spoke during an online interaction with energy editors on Friday, said wind, solar and nuclear energy is not only renewable and cost…

The Ijaw National Congress (INC) has said that the Ijaw Nation has been watching with dismay the confrontation between the Rivers State House of Assembly and the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Siminalayi Fubara and is warning the it would not accept the impeachment of the governor in whatever guise. The President of INC, Prof. Benjamin Okaba, gave the warning on Wednesday in Port Harcourt while addressing a press conference on the political crisis in Rivers State. The INC president said the House of Assembly was overstepping its constitutional boundaries by querying appointments allowed the governor by the constitution thereby…