Author: Emmanuel Obe

The burial of the former Amanyanabo of Okrika, King Alfred Semenitari Abam, has been scheduled for December 16 at Okrika. In a press announcement, Okrika Local Government Council in conjunction with Ado Royal Family and Central Burial Planning Committee, listed several events that will precede the burial of the king, who died on 8th September, 2021 at the age of 82. The statement issued on behalf of the Central Burial Planning Committee by the Chairman of the Publicity Sub-Committee, Dame Ibim Semenitari, gave the detailed activities for the burial are as follows: Monday 4th Dec. 2023 – Sekeni (Kiri-Owu) and…

The Martins Amaewhule-led faction of Rivers State House of Assembly met on Wednesday at the Assembly Complex, Port Harcourt and passed a vote of confidence on Amaewhule, the speaker, and his deputy, Dumle Maol. The members also elected Major Jack of Akuku-Toru 1 as the new Majority Leader to replace Edison Ehis that the faction removed four weeks ago. Similarly the assembly also elected Hon. Franklin Nwabochi, representing Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Constituency 1, as the new Whip of the House to replace Jack, following his new position as leader of the house. The house also gave First Reading to the Bill seeking…

Former Executive Secretary of Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Mr. Waziri Adio, has said governance is a moral enterprise which those given the opportunity to serve in must see as a public trust. Adio, a prominent journalist and public affairs expert, stated this last Saturday where he was hosted at the 2023 August Meeting in Port Harcourt where his book, The Arc of the Possible was read publicly to highlight how public officers can use their positions to strengthen governance. Adio, who admitted that public servants were always under pressure to do things that negate good governance and ethical…

The 1982 Class of Holy Rosary College, Port Harcourt on Friday inaugurated the school’s Physics Laboratory, which they undertook to rehabilitate. The laboratory was inaugurated by Dr. Patience Osaroejiji, who was the school’s Chapel Prefect in 1977/78 and a favourite prefect if the 1982 Class. The President of the 1982 Class, Mrs. Gloria Akujobi (Nee Fubara) said they felt the need to givebclback to the school where they were formed. “The physics lab was so dilapidated and we felt we should give the children a good landing,” she said. Dr. Osaroejiji said she was so excited by the gesture of…

Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has commenced oral interviews for over 1,050 candidates for its foreign postgraduate scholarship programme. The interviews, which is spread over 11 days, are for candidates that were successful in the computer-based test written by 5,000 applicants earlier in the month. The NDDC Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, who was at the venue of the interview with the Executive Director Finance and Administration, Alabo Boma Iyaye, the Executive Director Projects, Sir Victor Antai, and the Executive Director Corporate Services, Hon. Ifedayo Abegunde, said that the guiding principle for the interview was equity, fairness and transparency. He…

Eminent Niger Delta activist and leader of Ijaw ethnic nationality, Alabo Nengi James, has condemned the way voters in the last Off-Cycle Governorship Election in Bayelsa State sold their votes in the election. Alabo James, who spoke to National Point while monitoring the election in Yenagoa, the state capital, said he was thoroughly disappointed with the voters, who used their votes as bargaining chips in the election. “For the voters, I think I am so disappointed. I see a lot of vote buying, especially in areas that I have been to in the state capital. It has never be so…

Polling closed early in most of the polling units in the Off-Cycle Bayelsa State Governorship Election on Saturday, and action moved to the collation centres after votes counted and pasted on walls around the polling centres. Reports generally spoke of peaceful elections. But there were isolated cases of violence, particularly in Olugbobiri in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area and Ekeki in Yenagoa Local Government Area, where gunmen snatched ballot materials before voting commenced. In Yenagoa, the state capital, election materials and personnel began to arrive the polling units from 8.30 am. But turnout was generally low, about 30 percent in…

The boat mishap that threw 12 election officers into River Nun in Bayelsa State on Friday evening was caused by a wave generated by a military gunboat deployed to patrol the river. A survivor of the boat mishap, Mr. Emmanuel Choko, told National Point exclusively on Saturday in Yenagoa that 10 boats had left Amassoma with full loads of election metrials and personnel for Koluama when the incident occurred. He said a military gunboat had sped past as the 10 boats were slowly taking off from the jetty. While the other boats were able to maneouvre the waves, the tenth…

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…

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…