Author: Emmanuel Obe

The Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (Rtd.), has declared that the emergency mandate given to him by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been successfully achieved with the restoration of democratic governance at the grassroots. Ibas made the declaration on Friday at Government House, Port Harcourt, during the presentation of the comprehensive report of the recently concluded local government elections by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC). He said the peaceful conduct of the polls and the swearing-in of elected chairmen and councillors in all 23 local government areas had fulfilled the core directive issued to him…

…unveils housing scheme for civil servants The Rivers State Government has approved the comprehensive rehabilitation and modernization of the Rivers State Secretariat Complex, a decision that has sparked both praise and criticism. The State Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (Rtd), announced the project during the 2025 Civil Service Week Gala and Awards Ceremony at Government House, Port Harcourt. The move comes barely two weeks after the House of Representatives Committee overseeing Rivers State decried the condition of the secretariat, describing it as unfit for serious business. Committee Chairman, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, had called the complex a “death hole,” urging urgent…

A former Chairman of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Western Zone (Delta, Edo, and Ondo States), Comrade Eric Kpemi, has faulted calls for the decentralization of pipeline surveillance contracts in the Niger Delta, insisting that the current arrangement under Tantita Security Services Limited (TSSL), led by High Chief Government Ekpemupolo (popularly known as Tompolo), has brought unprecedented results. Kpemi, in a counter-statement issued on Wednesday, dismissed as “false and suspiciously timed” the claims by the Southern Ijaw Unity Forum that the Tantita-led surveillance contract was failing. According to him, the critics were silent when the contract was previously managed from…

The Rivers State Government has disclosed that it saved over N5 billion from the payment of salaries for the month of August following the ongoing verification exercise in the state’s public service. The Sole Administrator , Ibok-Ete Ibas, who disclosed this at the closing of the Civil Service Week celebrations at Obi Wali International Conference Centre, Port Harcourt on Tuesday, said the savings were made possible through reforms targeted at eliminating ghost workers, payroll fraud, and other financial leakages that had drained public funds for years. The celebrations, themed, “Five Years to 2030: Accelerating Public Service Delivery for a Sustainable…

Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, has directed all indigenes of Benin Kingdom and non-indigenes living in Edo State to embark on two weeks of fasting and prayers ahead of the Emorho, the aged-long Benin new yam festival. A statement issued on Monday by Chief Efosa Igbinomwanhia, the Obamedo of Benin on the authority of Oba Ewuare II, said the fasting and prayers, will begin on Monday September 15th and would end on September 28th 2025 from 6am to 6pm daily during the period. The statement explained that the essence of the spiritual exercise, which also involves all Edo sons and…

Imo State Government has directed all principals and head teachers of public and private schools in the state to desist from compelling parents and guardians to provide items such as shovels, hoes, cutlasses, buckets, toiletries, detergents, and cash levies as conditions for admitting students into JSS1 and SSS1. The Commissioner for Primary and Secondary Education, Prof. B. T. O. Ikegwuoha, who issued the directive in a special announcement on Sunday, described the practice as “illegal and unapproved,” stressing that it has become a major concern to the Ministry as schools resumed on Monday, September 8, 2025. He said reports indicated…

The centuries-old question of identity has once again sparked intense debate in Delta State, following a renewed push by some Okpe elites and cultural organizations for the formal recognition of Okpe as a distinct ethnic nationality separate from Urhobo. What began as a historical reassertion by the Okpe Union has escalated into a fiery exchange of rebuttals, accusations, and deeply personal reflections across political, academic, and cultural circles. At the heart of the controversy lies a fundamental question: Is Okpe a sub-group of the Urhobo Nation, or is it a separate ethnic group with a unique history, language, and cultural…

The Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral (Rtd) Ibok-Ete Ibas, has said that the state government would soon set up the State Emergency Management Agency to take over the duties of the Central Working Committee on Emergency Preparedness, Flood Management and Control. The administrator also said that the government was engaging with the Federal Government and international partners to mobilise resources for improved flood management systems, covering pre-flood measures, interventions during flooding, and post-flood recovery projects, as well as early warning infrastructure. Speaking during a sensitisation campaign of the Central Working Committee on Flood Management and Control at the Dr.…

Niger Delta leaders from various ethnic nationalities have extolled the leadership of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by the Chairman, Mr. Chiedu Ebie, and the Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku. The leaders under the auspices of the Forum of Presidents of Apex Ethnic Nationalities, elder statesmen, and opinion leaders in the Niger Delta expressed delight at the pace of development across the region under the current leadership of the NDDC. They lauded the Board’s transformative leadership, highlighting initiatives like Project Hope, Youth Internship Scheme, and the Light up the Niger Delta programme, which have notably improved social infrastructure and…

Eco-Citizen Ogoni Initiative (ECOI), a non-governmental organization, has launched an Eco Volunteer Portal to register 560,000 youth volunteers for the takeoff of the planting of 560 million mangrove trees in the deforested Ogoniland, Rivers State. Speaking at the launch of the portal, www.ecocitizenogoni.org, in Port Harcourt to mark the International Youth Day, 2025, the Coordinator of ECOI in Ogoni, Pastor Nature Dumale said the youths would be recruited as part of the Global Green Marshalls. He said the project would be completed in 2035. “The groundbreaking digital platform, the Eco-Volunteers Portal, is designed to mobilise and equip 560,000 Ogoni youth…