Author: Emmanuel Obe

Renowned environmental activist and Executive Director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Dr Nnimmo Bassey, has warned that indiscriminate mining and deforestation are threatening Nigeria’s ecological and human security. Bassey spoke on Tuesday while delivering his welcome address at the 3rd Nigeria Socio-Ecological Alternatives Convergence (NSAC) in Abuja. The convergence focused on the theme, “Deforestation, Mining and the Crisis of Human Security in Nigeria.” He said Nigeria’s environmental challenges stem from an extractive development model that prioritises profit over people, forests, rivers and communities. According to him, ecological crises are fundamentally failures of governance and values, stressing that…

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has donated relief materials to the Nigerian Correctional Service, Rivers State Command, as part of its humanitarian intervention to cushion the effects of the prevailing economic hardship on inmates across custodial centres in the state. Presenting the relief materials on behalf of the Managing Director of the NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, the Director of Social Services, Mr. Jeremiah Oritsejolone, stated that the intervention was in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the transformational leadership of the NDDC management. Oritsejolone noted that the donation reflected the Commission’s commitment to supporting vulnerable…

The Governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has demanded am urgent resolution of the challenges arising from the gas leakage in Bille, Degema Local Government Area of the state. Speaking at an enlarged stakeholders meeting at Government House, Port Harcourt, the governor pledged to upgrade the Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) in Bille to enable it address the health challenges now confronting the community. The stakeholders comprised representatives of the Federal Government, the state government and leaders of the community. The meeting was held to review the situation in the community and explore available opportunities to save the people from…

The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps has instituted an investigation into last Wednesday’s killing of a resident of Ukukalama Fimie community in Port Harcourt Local Government Area by an operative of the NSCDC. According to a press statement issued on Friday by the Public Relations Officer of the Rivers State Command of the NSCDC, Mr. Ihemnacho Umeado, “the State Commandant, Dr Dennis Lesor Reuben has directed the Intelligence and Investigation department, to swiftly initiate an internal investigation, to thoroughly examine the events leading to this regrettable loss of life.” Umeado said the corps has condoled with the family of…

Nigeria’s HIV/AIDS burden has remained largely stable, but the epidemic continues to vary significantly across states, with Akwa Ibom recording the highest prevalence rate while Rivers State has the largest number of people living with the virus, according to the latest analysis of the country’s 2025 HIV data. The report, compiled from verified data by the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), UNAIDS, the Federal Ministry of Health and peer-reviewed research, estimates that between 1.9 million and 2.0 million Nigerians are currently living with HIV, making the country one of those with the highest HIV-positive populations in the…

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the expansion of the Nigerian Army from eight to 12 divisions and the recruitment of an additional 28,000 personnel in a major move aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s security architecture and enhancing the military’s operational effectiveness. The approval, announced on Thursday in a statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, is part of the Federal Government’s efforts to improve the Armed Forces’ capacity to respond to the country’s evolving security challenges. According to the statement, the expansion builds on the Tinubu administration’s sustained investments in the military, including the…

..appeals to company to fund critical road projects Bonny Local Government in Rivers State has offered to forgo its 2027 tenement revenue from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited if the company accedes to fund some strategic road projects in the area. The Chairman of Bonny Local Government Area, Hon. Abinye Blessing Pepple, disclosed when the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NLNG, Engr. Adeleye Falade, paid him a courtesy visit at his residence in Bonny. Pepple said his administration has prioritised the construction of the Semidia Road linking Water Well 5 and the Akiama Road, alongside an…

…alleges attempts to impose sectional domination The Kalabari Dialogue Group (KDG) has condemned the forced denial of Governor Siminalayi Fubara of his right to seek reelection in 2027, alleging attempts by political interests to impose sectional political domination in Rivers State. In a statement issued after an extraordinary meeting on Thursday and signed by its Director of Communication and Strategy, Mr. Sotonye Ijuye-Dagogo, the group expressed concern over what it described as the growing politics of domination and the erosion of equity and rotational principles in Rivers State. The group alleged that Governor Fubara was prevented from securing the APC…

…to set up Clean Akwa Ibom Brigade Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, has announced sweeping measures to tackle perennial flooding in the state, including the demolition of buildings erected on designated drainage channels and the establishment of a specialised environmental task force known as the Clean Akwa Ibom Brigade. The governor unveiled the new flood control strategy while speaking with journalists after an unscheduled inspection of the Judiciary Staff Quarters project in Uyo, stressing that effective flood management requires the collective efforts of both government and residents. Governor Eno said the state would immediately develop a new flood…

The Eleme PhD Forum and the Eleme Graduates Forum have appealed to Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, to urgently initiate the permanent demarcation of the boundary between Eleme and neighbouring Okrika communities in accordance with existing government directives and judicial pronouncements. The appeal formed part of resolutions reached at a Joint Congress of both groups held on Sunday and contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting. The organisations argued that implementing the Rivers State Government White Paper on the Report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Eleme–Okrika Crisis would provide a lasting solution…