Author: Emmanuel Obe

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…

The MIIDEEKOR Environmental Development Initiative (MEDI), an indigenous non-governmental organization, has raised the alarm over the worsening oil spill and fire outbreak in Kpean community, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, accusing the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) of neglect. Speaking at a press briefing in Port Harcourt, the Team Lead of MEDI, Comrade Celestine Akpobari, said the oil spill, which started on August 3, 2025, from Well 14 at Yola, Kpean, had contaminated farmlands and rivers, crippling the livelihoods of local farmers and fisher folk. He disclosed that the situation escalated on August 15, when a fire…

The late elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark’s will is out. And in it, the former Ijaw National Leader left out three of his wives because they had left him a long time ago. According to a report by Society Watch, “The deceased left behind billions of naira in several banks, and properties scattered all over the country. However, Clark reportedly deliberately left his three wives in the cold, as they are not included among the beneficiaries of his vast estate in the Will prepared in October 2022.” Reading the Will titled “The Last Will and Testament of Chief (Dr.) Edwin…