Author: nationalpoint

When the Federal government in obedience to the international court judgement in 2002, which favoured Cameroun, repatriated the Bakassi people to their home states, mostly Bayelsa State, hundreds of lives were shattered. The Federal Government was compelled to cede oil and gas rich Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroun after decades of bloody contestation. Twenty years after the court decision that upturned their lives in a place they and their forebears called home, many still live in a state of limbo in Yenagoa and other places. writes Preye Okah, who has been following the travails of the Bakassi returnees. Sarah Ezekiel, is…

Gloria Iyoyo is a resident of Setari Polo Community in Igbisikalama town in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area of Rivers State. She is one of the many community residents who suffer from poor sanitary conditions in slum communities in Port Harcourt. Gloria, like many others, also suffers from the brunt of polluted water source occasioned by open defecation and improper faeces and waste disposal in the communities. Igbisikalama town is one of the indigenous Okrika Ijaw towns in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area. It is made up of nine riverine communities which are also popularly called waterside communities.…

Auditors-General in the 36 states and the media are critical to ensuring the accountability of public officers in the control and management of public funds, experts counselled at the first Audit Reporting Training workshop held in Benin 5-6 October 2022. They advised that both journalists and state Auditors-General should follow the dictates of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to do proper audit reporting. While the Auditors-General will report their findings to the state Houses of Assembly, the media will comply with Section 22 of Chapter 2, to ensure that citizens get the information they need. Participants…

As flood continues to ravage different parts of Nigeria, Delta State has been experiencing its devastating effect. As it stands today, Delta State is among the worst hit states in the country being a coastal state. Travelling from Asaba to Ughelli, for instance, is now a nightmare because flood has taken over some parts of the road thereby making it difficult for low vehicles to move freely and those who risked it had themselves to blame, because many of these low vehicles packed up after venturing into the flood on the road. A trip from Asaba to Illah in Oshimili…

With many areas located within flood plains and below sea levels, flood disaster has become almost an annual occurrence in Bayelsa State since 2012. Since late September, there has been noticeable rise in water levels in the state which has now advanced to flooding. Most of Bayelsa communities have been affected by flood and helpless, community members are crying out for help to the government to find a lasting solution to the menace which disorganizes their lives every year. They have pleaded with the state government to provide for them, temporary shelters and relief materials as the flood has already…

The Niger Delta by virtue of its peculiar terrain as the bank of the Niger Delta from where water from the rivers empty into the Atlantic Ocean has always been in constant danger of being flooded but at no time in recent history has it become as vulnerable as now with the looming effects of climate change on an already oil damaged environment. Coastal communities are quietly being submerged even before the flood and perennial flooding translates to an unbreakable cycle of poverty as folks lose all to flood to start afresh after. In serious countries, the strategic position of…

Akwa Ibom State government has stated that the guidelines for the composition of host communities development trust funds must be followed religiously, in line with the relevant provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). Besides, the government advised the stakeholders to study the Act so as to understand the basic ingredients to avoid misgivings during the setting up of the trust funds. The state commissioner for power and petroleum development, Dr John James Etim gave the charges at a community stakeholders sensitization workshop on PIA and Host Community Development Trust put together by an indigenous oil giants, Oriental Energy Resources…

Apparently to boost the supply of raw materials for the State owned Coconut Oil factory, Governor Udom Emmanuel has flagged off additional 300 thousand seedlings to be planted across the state. At the event to mark the state’s 2022 Coconut Day Celebration, Tuesday, at Mkpu, Itu Mbonuso in Ini Local Government Area, the Governor described the coconut planting exercise as the hallmark of activities held to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the state. He expressed optimism that the State will become an economic hub with the availability of raw materials to boost production at St Gabriel’s Coconut Oil Factory in…

A team of Niger Delta media practitioners in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states have pledged commitment to the protection of the environment and pursuit of environmental justice in the region. At a media parley convened by a non-governmental organisation. Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Center in Port Harcourt which highlighted the devastation of communities and the attendant challenges which are not being given attention by government and the oil and gas extractors, because of very marginal media mention, the journalists promised to help change the narrative. They resolved therein to form a unified body, Niger Delta Journalists for Environmental Justice…

Alliance Française, the French language and cultural centre on Thursday hosted a conference on photojournalism in Port Harcourt where photojournalists were exposed to methods they can adopt to improve in their art and project their city to the world. The conference was led by international photojournalist, Victoria Uwemedimo, who tutored the participants on the ethics, importance and safety measures in photojournalism. She also taught the participants how to edit their works for impact and what to do to attract the attention of editors in both traditional and new media to their works. Nothing the low profile presence of Port Harcourt…