Author: nationalpoint

In the face of the horrendous impact of the 2018 floods on Niger Delta communities, stories of gallantry, personal sacrifice for the common good by concerned activists, community organisations emerge to point the compass to solutions to the deluge of communities set off by man made interventions and other developmental challenges of the Niger Delta.Food victims waiting to meet Vice President Osibanjo when he visited Bayelsa State After the floods of 2012 that left a trail of inundated communities, death, destruction, tears and pain for ordinary folks in hundreds of communities, the nightmare continues for many communities in the flood…

Mariam Nabatanzi, a 40-year-old woman from Uganda’s Mukono District has been dubbed the African country’s most fertile woman after it was reported that she has given birth to 44 children.In her home village of Kabimbiri, central Uganda, Mariam Nabatanzi is known as Nalongo Muzaala Bana (the twin mother that produces quadruplets) and that nickname is well-earned.In the 18 years that she spent being pregnant throughout her 40 year life, the woman has given birth to six sets of twins, four sets of triplets, three sets of quadruples, as well as a few single births.Out of the 44 children that she…

-By Inuiro Wils“Every morning … a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning … a lion wakes up, it knows it must run faster than [the gazelle], or it will starve.It doesn’t matter whether you’re the lion or a gazelle – when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.” (Christopher McDougall, Born to Run. Quoted on the blurb of “My Vision”, the book by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai)To present the keynote at the Strategic Leadership and Governance Platform is a privilege. I am…

When a brilliant mind which impacted many, many people very positively passes, even nature heaves, quakes at this demise. Tears flowed dampening starched etibos and Senator suits and the eulogies unprompted tumbled out unceasing in Toru Orua and  Yenagoa when the remains Of Prof Prince Ayebaye Efere were interred in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, Saturday, August 25, 2018.Prof Efere, who was popularly and affectionately known as Prince, was Dean of  Foundation Studies,  University of Africa, Toru Orua, Bayelsa State died suddenly June 13, 2018.The passing of the brilliant, passionate, self-assured intellectual and educationist had sent shock waves down the…

The uninvited intervention in the ongoing controversy over President Muhammadu Buhari’s senior secondary certificate by the West African Examination Council, WAEC, has further weakened faith in the examination agency’s integrity.On November 2, 2018, Nigerians watched on national television as an assumed delegation of officials of the WAEC including a Nigerian from its Ghana head office, paid a visit to Aso Rock and presented an attestation certificate to the president. The move was to halt heightening calls on the president to present his acclaimed certificate as required by the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC for candidates seeking to…

Ahoada West, Rivers StateNigerian government has been charged by experts to adopt sustainable measures on flood mitigation rather than the current reactive measures that have yielded no positive results over the years. Flooding has become an annual expectation in the Niger Delta with heightened negative impacts in 2012 and this year.An environment expert, Dr. Kabari Sam, head of environment and conservation, Centre for Environment Human Rights and Democracy, CEHRED, Port Harcourt says our response to flooding though a perennial problem, has been merely reactive. “We already know that the floods will come but wait until it comes before we start…

Gen. Ogailo Iborry handing over arms to Ondo State governor Agbola AjahiLEADER of ex- militants cutting across Ogun, Lagos, Ondo and other Niger Delta States, Gen. Ogailo Iborry is raising alarm over the neglect and renege of promises of the federal government of Nigeria and the relevant state government made to them on 27th of November 2017 during the surrender of arms.The government has at various times blamed them for the unrest faced in the Niger Delta region particularly in Ondo, Ogun and Lagos state areas.The federal government, through the Deputy Governor of Ondo State Agboola Ajayi, who was the…

The recent charge at the Anambra State 2018 Women’s Summit by wife of the vice president, federal republic of Nigeria, Dolapo Osinbajo was a wake –up call for women in the country irrespective of their political affiliations, to be more pragmatic and be more conscious than ever before, to be involved in party politics.Notwithstanding, some political pundits might dismiss it as a mere political gimmick to eulogize the women and win cheap popularity. On the contrary, the statement shares some similarities with the “I have a Dream” message by Martin Lurther King Jnr. and “I Can” in the Barack Obama…

Around the Security HouseEarlier in the year, precisely in the evening of 11th June,2018  a major oil spill occurred at Shell’s Okordia Manifold, in Ikarama; neighbouring community to Kalaba.  And, ERA/FoEN had promptly reported that incident after visiting the spill impacted environment. Not so long after that spill incident, some persons from Kalaba community informed ERA/FoEN that the spill from neighbouring Ikarama has spread to their community environment. Incidentally, ERA/FoEN didn’t follow up; as folks from Ikarama denied the claim when asked.Flood and spread of crude oil from neighbouring communityHowever, ERA/FoEN confirmed that up till the last week in September,…

By Gift E. JonahEmem Okon, Executive Director Kebetkache Women Resource Centre addressing participantsEmem Okon, executive director Kebetkache Women development Resource Center, Port Harcourt, facilitator of the project said the project, Gender and Accountability Cohort, is a programme being managed by WRAPA with funding support from the Mac Arthur Foundation with the major focus of amplifying the voices of women and highlighting issues and concerns around women for improved policies and services.The programme according to her, seeks to increase public understanding of issues on gender and how policies and government activities impact women noting that vices like non-transparency and corruption which…