Author: Emmanuel Obe

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has moved in to save the Humpback dolphins found in the coastline waters of Andoni in Rivers State. The union has already kicked off a training programme for select groups that will protect the special species of Dolphin found mainly in the coastal waters of West Africa. The inauguration of the groups took place at Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital under the coordination of the Biodiversity Preservation Centre. The trainees will be known as Atlantic Humpback Dolphin guardians. Mr. Gogo Abel Ujile of the Save Andoni Forest Elephant and Ecosystem Initiative…

IN 2010, Rivers State government launched a Strategic Health Programme under which it planned to bring healthcare to the doorstep of every resident of the state. To drive that programme was the primary healthcare scheme, which would ensure that there was a health facility within 20 minutes’ walk from everybody or at most, a five-kilometre distance from the next health facility. From 2010 to 2015, the state government committed to building ultramodern primary health centres, setting aside the sum of N21 billion. The money was to include the construction of 160 ultramodern heath centres fully equip with cold chain facilities,…

The Vice-Chairman of Eleme Local Government, Mrs. Virtue Ekee, tells EMMANUEL OBE in this interview that cases of hypertension, prostate cancer are increasing among women and men in the area. Does the local government have any scheme it has put in place to enhance healthcare delivery in the area? We have a healthcare scheme. What is it all about? We have primary healthcare scheme. We are giving a total of 100 persons. The scheme covers minor and major surgeries. The scheme, 50 percent is on the council and 50 percent is on the HMOs. So, if you have a surgery…

Candidate of the Labour Party in the forthcoming Bayelsa governorship election, Comrade Udengs Eradiri, shone brilliantly on Monday evening at the governorship debate organised for candidates in the November 11 election, as the candidates of Peoples Democratic Party, Governor Douye Diri, and All Progressives Congress, Mr. Timipre Sylva, stayed away from the debate. Also absent was the candidate of the Zenith Labour Party, Simeon Karioru. Eradiri took the opportunity to showcase his manifesto and won hearts as he took his time to reel out his plans for Bayelsa State if he wins the election. The debate, which held in Yenagoa…

Delta State Government and German construction giant, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, have signed N78billion contracts for the construction of flyovers, cloverleaf and road expansion projects in Effurun and Warri metropolis of the state. The contracts include road expansion of a section of DSC/NPA Expressway, including a cloverleaf Interchange at the existing Effurun flyover, alongside two pedestrian bridges, flyover bridges from Enerhen junction to Marine Gate, DSC Roundabout and the PTI Junction. Secretary to the State Government, Dr Kingsley Emu, and the commissioner for Works (Highways and Urban Roads), Comrade Reuben Izeze, signed on behalf of the state government, while the…

For five hours, guests were glued to their seats at Eko Hotel, Lagos as they awaited the declaration of the winners of the 2023 Nigerian Prizes for Literature, Science and Literary Criticism. The prizes are the biggest in Nigeria, and indeed the whole of Africa. The annual awards sponsored by Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) have become Nigeria’s version of the Sweden-based Nobel Prizes given annually to outstanding researchers, scientists and scholars in different fields of learning and endeavour in the world. Nigeria’s Wole Soyinka won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1986. In 2004, NLNG inaugurated the Nigerian…

The unity in the political camp of former Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has been shattered throwing the state into a crisis that could lead to a constitutional situation. Two factions of the House of Assembly emerged on Monday, with two speakers, taking conflicting decisions. The one loyal to Wike and under the speakership of Martin Amaewhule removed the Majority Leader, Edison Ehie, and went on to serve an impeachment notice on Governor Fubara. The other faction, loyal to Fubara, impeached speaker Amaewhule and elected Ehie as speaker. It went on to suspend the Chief Judge, Chukwudi…

Major oil producing companies, now known as settlors, were absent at a sensitization and engagement forum on Host Communities Development Trusts for Rivers West Senatorial District which held in Port Harcourt on Monday, September 19, 2023. The forum was an avenue for Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the regulatory agency, oil producing companies and host communities to engage and dialogue over their roles and duties in the Host Communities Trust Fund as provided for under the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021. The forum was facilitated by Deinomas Float Nigeria Limited. Rivers West Senatorial District comprises eight local government areas: Ahoada…

Art Choreographer, Dan Kpodoh and other art enthusiasts in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, have lamented the poor appreciation of the art industry in the city and indeed, the entire Rivers State. Kpodoh, who recently hosted Bolobolo, a stage performance in Port Harcourt, said on his social media handle, that it was disappointing that despite having a rich reservoir of players in the arts, entertainment and film industry, recognition of the arts was embarrassingly low in Port Harcourt. He said compared to Lagos and Abuja, big arts events in Port Harcourt do not attract much money to encourage entertainers…

Rivers State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ambassador Desmond Akawor, has been appointed by the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Siminalayi Fubara, to chair the committee set up to distribute the federal government cash and rice palliatives sent to Rivers State. Governor Fubara during the inauguration of the committee confirmed that the state government had received the sum of N2Billion from the federal government and 16,800 bags of rice from Nigerian Governors’ Forum as part of the palliatives to help the poorest of the poor deal with the biting effect of the fuel subsidy removal. Fubara said, “The…