Author: nationalpoint

Appointment of Inspectors-General of the Nigeria Police under successive administrations have often triggered avoidable controversies that have been allowed to fester over the years, now crying for the immediate attention of, and resolution by, Mr. President, as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, and more specifically, as Chairman of the Police Counsel. The appointment by former President Muhammadu Buhari of Mr. Usman Alkali Baba as the Acting Inspector General of Police in April 2021 following his sudden removal of Mr. Muhammed Adamu (Baba’s predecessor), while he was on an official assignment in Owerri, Imo State expectedly stoked the…

No fewer than 40 journalists from the print, broadcast, and blogosphere have been trained on investigative journalism in Lokoja, Kogi State by Stallion Times Media Services, publishers of Stallion Times digital newspaper. The training which was conducted on Wednesday under the Participatory Governance and Media Literacy project tagged, “Get Involved, Dialogue and Improve (G-DRIP)” being implemented by Stallion Times Media Service in Kano and Kogi states, was supported by the Wole Soyinka Center for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) with funding from the MacArthur Foundation. The G-DRIP is in collaboration with the WSCIJ under the Collaborative Media Project (Collaborating for media independence…

Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, WARDC in association with NCAA organized an onsite/virtual media engagement for media operators from  Edo, Rivers, Delta and Akwa Ibom states, on ‘The Impact of Violence and Corruption in 2023 Election: Gender Integrity and Accountability,’ May 10, 2023.  The media session provided room for experience sharing between some civil society activists and media practitioners on the conduct of the 2023 elections, how the media performed and how to improve on media services to promote women and project accountability. Addressing participants from both print and electronic media, activists called for objectivity noting that some practitioners…

On May 29, 2023 Rivers State becomes a witness to not just history, but   something different since 1999. Social justice and equity raise a signal from  yesterday’s ashes of “might is right”. The embryo of a new convention among politicians comes alive. It is to ensure fairness and inclusion between ethnic groups and clans in the three Senatorial Districts. This is what the inauguration event unfolds.  But will it hold? Will Rivers people rise as true stakeholders of a State that holds so much promise as beacon for the Niger Delta, will the people rise to secure a foundation…

The Peoples Advocates (TPA) is an association and assembly of public interest lawyers and citizens of Nigeria who are interested in the rights of peoples globally. We are part of the Public Interest Lawyering Network in West Africa, Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Rivers State Network of Non-Governmental Organizations, CSO I-Report Platform/CIEPD Election Situation Room, Network of Police Reform in Nigeria, Transition Monitoring Group, Civic Space Watch Cluster etc. One of the significant lessons from May 29 in the history of Nigeria is that POWER IS TRANSIENT and as such citizens who have been given the mandate to…

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The state secretariat was once the centrepiece of the Port Harcourt skyline evoking memories of the good old days, when the young military governor, Alfred Diete-Spiff held sway as the helmsman of the old Rivers State. It used to be a beauty to behold. Alas, today the Rivers State Secretariat is a shadow of itself. As it were, it has received the beating of a lifetime. A beating punctuated by tales of decay and sheer neglect. The Rivers State secretariat is now more of a monstrosity than the beautiful state secretariat residents often showed off to visiting friends and relatives,…

It was a carnival like atmosphere, as the creme-de-la-crème of Kalabari, Rivers State and beyond besieged Abonnema, the Headquarters of Akuku-Toru Local Government Area as they defied the heavy downpour to bid Emeritus Prof. Nimi Dimkpa Tobin Briggs, final goodbye on Saturday May 20, 2023. He was aged 79 years. Ninah Nimi Briggs, the first child and only son of Prof. Nimi Briggs eulogized his father, stating that Prof. Nimi Briggs touched lives. “I’m only in his passing coming to understand the scope of what Nimi was all about. To all intents and purposes, I only knew him as Daddy.…

Women in Eleme Local Govern-ment Area of Rivers State have protested the culture of denying women the right to inherit family property. The women raised their voice at a one-day programme on Story Telling on Women Inheritance held at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church, Alode, Eleme last Tuesday. The programme was organized by Mba Okase Initiative Eleme and supported by Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre. Leader of Mba Okase Initiative, Eleme, Dr. Patience Osaroejiji, said, “Eleme culture and traditions have had no place for girls and women with regards to inheritance of land and houses, either from their father’s side…

The President-elect of the National Association Of Delta State Students Union (NADESSTU), Comrade Monday Wiska has frowned at the diverted N25m earmarked by the state government for Students’ Town Hall Meetings, describing it as an aberration. He promised members that all property and belongings of the union must be judiciously used for the benefit of students. Wiska made the revelation on Tuesday at the NUJ Press Centre, Asaba, Delta State while briefing journalists. Harping on prudence and accountability, he declared that all those who in the past had misappropriated the finances of NADESSTU must be brought to book. He congratulated…