Okowa congratulates James Ibori at 62

Chief James Onanefe Ibori.

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta has congratulated former a governor of the state, Chief James Ibori, as he clocks 62 on Tuesday, August 4,2020.

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Olisa Ifeajika, on Monday in Asaba, Okowa eulogised Chief Ibori for his path-finding and immense contributions to the development of Delta and outstanding input to nation-building.

Felicitating with his boss whom he served as two-term Commissioner, he remarked that Ibori's deep knowledge of politics and his administrative acumen puts him ahead of his contemporaries, and stood him out as a worthy and legendary leader of all time.

Okowa commended Ibori for his championing and doggedness in the fight for Resource Control, which one of the results was the establishment of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by the Federal Government as an interventionist agency for the development of oil-producing communities.

He said: “My distinguished leader, I can recall clearly that you and other great leaders fought very hard for the oil-producing states of the Niger Delta to enjoy 13 per cent derivation of the nation’s oil resources.

“As a champion of Resource Control and Fiscal Federalism, you were among the true patriots who struggled for the establishment of a regional interventionist agency to address the issues of development and environmental degradation of the oil-rich Niger Delta, which gave birth to Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

"As a respected voice in Nigeria's democratic experience, we were not surprised when your colleagues in the Forum of former Governors named you as "Patron" of the group in obvious recognition of your political sagacity and amiable disposition to the unity of the country.

“As the father of modern Delta, let me commend you for the visionary and inclusive leadership that you epitomised in the eight years of laying the foundation of the desired modern Delta laced with building bridges of unity among the diverse ethnic groups in the state.

“On behalf of my family, the government and people of Delta, I rejoice with your family members, friends, political and business associates on this occasion of your 62nd birth anniversary.

"It is my prayer that your best years are yet to come even as God Almighty grants you long life, good health and wisdom to keep navigating Nigeria's political and business landscape fruitfully."

SERAP urges court to compel Buhari to publish govt loan details since 2015

President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to order President Muhammadu Buhari to publish the details of loans that have been obtained by his administration since May 29, 2015.The Deputy Director of SERAP, Mr. Kolawole Oluwadare, said in a statement on Sunday in Lagos that SERAP also sought the details of the interest rate on such loans, the total amount of debts that have so far been incurred by the government, and details of the projects on which the loans have been spent.

It explained that the request was made in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/785/2020 filed before the court in Abuja.

According to the statement, the respondents joined in the case included Nigeria’s Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami; Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed; and the Director-General of the Debt Management Office, Patience Oniha.

However, no date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

It recalled that the National Assembly had approved a loan of N850 billion and another $22.79 billion loan requested by the President for government projects and others.

On stolen loans, SERAP sought “an order of mandamus to direct and compel President Buhari to tell Nigerians the names of countries and bodies that have given the loans, specific repayment conditions, and whether any public officers solicited and/or received bribes in the negotiations for any of the loans, and if there is plan to audit the spending of the loans, to resolve any allegations of mismanagement and corruption.”

It also asked the court to “direct and compel President Buhari to tell Nigerians if he would instruct the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to monitor the spending of all loans obtained since May 2015.”

The group believes the opacity in the spending of loans will continue to have negative impacts on the fundamental interests of citizens.

It, however, stressed that transparency would ensure that the loans were not diverted to private pockets, increase public trust that such loans would be used to benefit Nigerians, provide good value for money, and reassure Nigeria’s creditors.

“This suit is permitted under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the UN Convention against Corruption to which Nigeria is a state party.

“While access to loans can provide indispensable resources, the mismanagement and squandering of any such resources would be counter-productive. Nigerians should no longer be made to repay debts incurred in their name, but which have not benefited them in any manner, shape, or form,” the group said.

It explained that the suit followed its FoI request dated May 30, 2020 and addressed to the President in which it raised concerns that while governments since 1999 have borrowed money in the name of Nigeria and its citizens, much of the funds have reportedly been mismanaged, stolen or squandered, leaving the citizens with the burden of having to repay such loans.

The suit was filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers Oluwadare and Adelanke Aremo.

Link: https://www.journalducameroun.com/en/nigerian-firm-urges-court-to-compel-buhari-to-publish-govt-loan-details-since-2015/

 

Oyo govt. to repatriate trafficked indigenes stranded in Lebanon, says Gov Makinde

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State.

By David Adeoye

Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State says the state will ensure the repatriation of all its indigenes found to have been trafficked to Lebanon.

Mr Taiwo Adisa, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, in a statement in Ibadan said the state would not stand by and be watching its indigenes suffer dehumanization, under any guise, in any part of the world.

Makinde stated this while receiving a brief on the plight of the state indigenes trafficked to Lebanon from the Senior Special Assistant on Diaspora Matters, Mrs Bolanle Sarumi-Aliyu.

“We will pay for the repatriation of all Oyo State indigenes who have been confirmed to have been trafficked to Lebanon. Please, put all the necessary plans in place to bring them back.

“I understand that some well-meaning individuals and groups have made some donations to some of the victims. Let them use such donations as pocket money.

“This state will pay for their flights and the fees requested to conduct COVID-19 tests on each of them,” he said.

Earlier, Sarumi-Aliyu informed the governor that a number of Oyo State indigenes had been discovered to be illegal migrants who were trafficked into modern-day slavery in Lebanon.

She said that while 40 of such victims had been screened and ready for the journey back home, more were still being discovered.

The governor’s aide added that her office had been working closely with the Lebanese authorities to identify those indigenes stranded in Lebanon, adding that the 40 victims already screened would be returning home on Aug.12.

“Since the government found out that we have some victims of human trafficking, who are stranded in Lebanon, we have stepped in.

“On July 11, we received 11 victims and they are going through rehabilitation with the social workers in the Ministry of Women Affairs.

 

Modular refinery will drive industrial revolution in Edo, says Osagie

By Kevin Okunzuwa

Edo Government says the ongoing Modular Refinery project at Ologbo in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of the state, will drive the state’s industrial revolution quest.

Mr Crusoe Osagie, Special Adviser to Gov. Godwin Obaseki on Media and Communication Strategy, made this known in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin on Sunday.

He said the Edo Modular and Refinery Company Ltd. and AIPCC Energy, were on the verge of completing the 5,500bpd Edo Modular Refinery, now at 70 per cent completion stage.

“This is a key legacy project by the Gov. Godwin Obaseki-led administration to recalibrate the state’s industrial base, birthed through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

“The project, sited at Ologbo in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area, would produce from its feedstock 50 per cent of diesel (500,000 litres), 25 per cent of naphtha (300,000 litres) and 20 per cent of fuel oil (200,000) litres.

“The crude is to be sourced from the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company’s (NPDC) facility – oil mining lease (OML) 111, near Benin City.

“The Chinese consortium handling the construction of the modular refinery is made up of Peiyang Chemical Equipment Company of China (PCC), Sinopec International Petroleum Service Corporation (SIPS) and African Infrastructure Partners (AIP),” he said.

Osagie said the modular refinery project was among the growing list of ongoing legacy projects through MoU with local and international private investors, which included the 55MW CCTEC Ossiomo Power Plant, which had been completed and ready for use.

“The Benin Enterprise and Industrial Park, which development is ongoing and the Benin River Port, for which preliminary works are ongoing,” he said.

He said the governor was committed to resetting the economy of the state for prosperity and industrial growth.

According to him, the local content component of the refinery project ensures that Edo citizens are trained in welding, refinery operation and fabrication works to enable them participate in the construction of the refinery as well as its operation, post-commissioning.

“The refinery is at 70 per cent completion and we are very sure that it will soon be ready for commissioning,” Osagie said.

He added that the actualisation of the project was premised on the governor’s smart thinking and financial savviness from which he mobilised funds and resources to initiate and execute the project.

“Recall that the Edo State EXCO approved the release of N700 million as redeemable preference shares (investment) in the Edo Refinery and Petrochemical Company Ltd.

“The venture is expected to create legitimate employment opportunities, thereby reducing poverty, provide job opportunities for teeming youths in the communities.

“To facilitate the establishment of a fabrication yard as proposed by the promoters and create basis for expertise, professionalism and further training in the oil and gas industry.

“The take-off of the Edo Refinery and Petrochemicals Company benefits from a series of groundwork by the Obaseki-led administration that led to the setting up of Edo Investment Scheme Ltd.

“A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to hold N2 billion investment funds in which the Ministry of Finance Incorporation (MOFI) and the Edo State Oil and Gas Producing Areas Development Commission (EDSOGPADEC) are to hold shares of 20 percent and 80 per cent respectively,” he said.

Osagie noted that the project would facilitate the state’s investment in various initiatives across the oil and gas sector, petroleum exploration, drilling and filling stations, sales and supply of gas, agro-allied products, petroleum and petrochemical products and other related businesses.

 

PERSPECTIVE - Humour among thieves

Mr. Bashir Abubakar.

By Felix Oboagwina

Assistant Comptroller General of Customs (ACG) Bashir Abubakar has learnt in the hardest way that two rights can turn into a wrong. Just in 2018, the world toasted him for rejecting a bribe of $412,000 (circa N171 million) from unscrupulous Tramadol drug smugglers, but this year he got disgraced out of the service after leading a raid on the warehouse of a suspected imported rice smuggler in Daura, the President’s hometown in Katsina State.

Breaking at the same time that corruption scandals rocked the investigation of government parastatals in the National Assembly, news of Abubakar’s dismissal (part of a general sacking exercise in the Customs) practically slipped under the radar; and the irony in the Customs man’s story failed to get the deserved media limelight. An honest man fell at the same

time scandal was born. And scandal stole his spotlight. After merely nibbling at the dismissal of the crack Customs officer as breaking news, the media subsequently gave Abubakar’s travail the cold shoulder treatment without doing follow-ups. Editors rather followed the bandwagon of attention devoted to reporting the National Assembly committee oversight sittings that stank of suffocating stenches of sleaze, corruption and thievery. The theatre of the absurd staged by members of the President’s cabinet dominated the traditional media and quickly went viral on social media.

A number of MDA heads and ministers appeared at the Legislature’s oversight investigations to display sadistic humour. In addition, these dramatis personae appeared determined that if they must fall they would achieve two things: Firstly, they would not fall alone; and secondly, they might go down with their integrity in tatters but with their sense of humour intact. Begin with the Nollywood-style fainting of Professor Kenebradikumo Pondei, Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) under scrutiny.

Move to the “off-the-mic, it-is-enough” episode of the Niger-Delta Minister Senator Godswill Akpabio, who had accused Federal legislators of securing 60 per cent of the commission’s contracts. Akpabio’s diatribe came days after the legislative enquiry saw him crossing swords with former NDDC MD, Ms. Joy Nunieh, who claimed to have dealt him a dirty slap for sexually harassing her. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, The Right Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, joined the fray to challenge Akpabio to open the Pandora Box on NDDC contractors in the National Assembly. In the mix, the Labour Minister Chris Ngige came to trade insults with a “Mushin boy” Lagos Legislator instead of concerning himself with the corruption in the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), a parastatal in his portfolio. And then the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Sadiya Umar Farouq, mounted the stage to dillydally over delays in NPower beneficiaries’ monthly stipends running into billions, only to allege Federal legislators had been allocated hundreds of slots, a charge they dismissed as a fabrication. Similarly, the opposition has raised hell over how the ministry could claim to spend N13.5 billion, about N679 million daily, on a school feeding programme with children unable to attend classes due to the pandemic.

One common thread ran through proceedings. All the dramatis personae demonstrated a determination to divert attention from the putrid skeletons that the Legislature’s post-mortem should focus upon; they instead hoodwinked the audience with a symphony of comedies. They reduced the subject matter of corruption to the elephant in the room too embarrassing for anyone to talk about.

However, he who brings home ant-infested firewood must welcome the visit of lizards. All these shows of shame have come into the public domain, so talk we must. Who remembers the IF-YOU-TARKA-ME-I-WILL-DABOH-YOU episode in the Second Republic, when Godwin Daboh accused fellow Benue kinsman and serving Minister under General Yakubu Gowon, Mr. Joseph Tarka, of corruption; and the former threatened to unearth the dry bones in his Accuser’s box in retaliation? Thus, this generation of politicians are merely borrowing from their predecessors’ “do me I do you” tactics of responding to corruption accusations with counter- accusations.

Fela spoke about them. In his 1980 hit album, “Authority Stealing,” Abami Eda captured Nigerian leaders’ penchant for accusations and counter-accusations.

I no be thief (You be thief)

I no be rogue (You be rogue)

I no dey steal (You dey steal)

I no be robber (You be robber)

I no be armed robber (You be armed robber)

Argument, argument, argue (Argument, argument)....

Beyond the comic relief that the actors presented in these COVID19-ravaged times, people have queried why the President appears to have surrounded himself with questionable characters. That may be true or not. But behind PMB’s outer facade of a military toughie, there lies a heart that reposes childlike trust in people. Maybe old age too has whittled the veteran’s cutting edge. All this, several of his aides exploit.

Let us assume, without necessarily conceding, that all the President’s appointees currently facing corruption investigations are guilty as charged; it will mean that the President must have somehow brought all this trouble upon himself and upon the country. Some scenarios bear out this conclusion. Buhari went ahead and appointed Ibrahim Magu EFCC Chairman in 2016 despite DSS reports that indicted the policeman for failing the integrity test; that report pushed the National Assembly to disqualify Magu, whom the President stubbornly retained as the anti-corruption Czar. Similarly, Akpabio faced a N108 billion corruption investigation from his tenure as a Governor, leading to wide protests immediately his name surfaced as a ministerial nominee; PMB appointed him nevertheless. Then when he became Minister for the Niger Delta Ministry, people raised questions about his strange contraption of an illegal Interim Management Committee (IMC) that subsumed the NDDC’s statutory board, but Buhari encouraged him in this perfidious path that has resulted in an IMC sleaze of N4.9 billion.

That, in a government noted for its self-righteous anti-corruption mantra, it took a joint committee of the National Assembly to expose these jaw-dropping Executive lapses leaves many citizens livid. Imagine the hypocrisy! This sordid image has led to someone caricaturing Nigeria’s three arms of government as LEGISLOOTERS, EXECUTHIEVES and JUDISHARING.

In fact, Transparency International’s Corruption Index ranked the country 146th last year, worse than her 126th in 2015 when PMB came to power. Of course, critics like Senator Shehu Sani have said that the President applied deodorants to sanitise the corruption within his inner circle while deploying the sledgehammer against outsiders.

But is Nigeria really bereft of people of integrity capable of rendering due diligence in managing public funds? The regime of Olusegun Obasanjo discovered apolitical technocrats like Nasir El-Rufai, Charles Soludo, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the rest. Where are the likes of Frank Kokori, Olisa Agbakoba, Pat Utomi, Olu Falae, Donu Kogbara, Agba Jalingo, Ledum Mittee,

Annkio Briggs and all those who pushed the struggle for Niger-Delta development? Couldn’t any of them be co-opted to run with their pet visions in an interventionist institution like the NDDC for the infrastructural advancement of the Niger Delta?

When, earlier in his regime, PMB announced a list of appointees that received wide condemnation as a sectional and recycled assemblage, aides quickly cooked up the defense that

Buhari had selected people he knew and could trust. Pray, is it only thieves that PMB knows?

Why is the President surrounded by thieves? Why has he succeeded in putting together an Executive, containing a good dose of dishonourable scallywags, incapable of giving value for public money, and who are propelled by the idea that public service provides them an opportunity to loot the commonwealth and feather their nests? Has anything really changed from the corruptive past?

However, with a hanging debt burden hovering around N40 trillion, a good slice pilfered into secret sleaze accounts, the country must break this vicious cycle of humouring thieves with public posts. Thus, President Buhari, like Obasanjo, must eschew this party-patronage and job- for-the-boys mentality. He must begin to look beyond the knights of his round table. Outside Baba’s cycle, there exist Nigerians who rise above filthy lucre, capable of delivering on nation-building visions. Yes. Look for someone with the same moral code as the Customs officer who rejected a N171 million carrot, someone like the prematurely retired ACG Bashir Abubakar.

·       FELIX OBOAGWINA IS A JOURNALIST AND WRITES FROM LAGOS.

Nigerian girls stranded in Lebanon appeal for rescue

President Muhammadu Buhari.

By Aderogba George
About 30 Nigerian ladies trafficked to Lebanon are appealing to Nigerian Government to rescue them as they are stranded in that country.

They made the appeal in a statement by the President of Journalists International Forum for Migration (JIFORM), Mr Ajibola Abayomi, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday.

Abayomi said that the message was being relayed based on an encounter with the victims, which necessitated the call for a speedy rescue action from government.

“JIFORM has forwarded details of the human trafficking agents involved in this matter to the relevant agencies and shall monitor it to the logical conclusion to ensure proper investigation and prosecution of those involved.’’

He said that the ladies were all camped in one room with faulty toilet and other utilities, and were presently housed in a building at Dawra city in Lebanon.

Abayomi said one of the victims, Miss Adebisi Comfort-Oluwatoyin with Passport No. number A10597908, disclosed to JIFORM that they had to escape from the inhuman treatment by their mistresses and hosts.

According to him, the 23 years old lady hails from Ondo State, graduated from the Edo State Polytechnic, Ekpoma, and was a resident in Osun State before departing Nigeria in December 2019.

“Help us plead with the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and others to save us. The Nigerian embassy in Lebanon have tried but we want to go back home.

“Our belongings and international passports were seized with no payments for the service we have been rendering for months. They loosen and cut our hairs with razor blade.

“The police and their immigration are always on their side. We are not getting justice and our lives are in danger,” Abayomi quoted the victim as saying.

Abayomi said that the Executive Director, Rescue Africans In Slavery Organisation (RAIS), Ms Omotola Fawunmi, who spoke from the United States of America, also pleaded with government and other agencies to come to the victims aid.

Fawunmi who claimed she has been responsible for the upkeeps of the ladies stated that the victims are seriously suffering.

“The Nigerian government must act fast. Apart from this case, there are over 300 of them trapped in Oman and thousands across other Asian countries, beyond sustaining the ladies, we have facilitated evacuation of thousands of human trafficking victims in the last few years,” she said.

Also, Clare Henshaw, the County Manager, the Migrant Project Nigeria, also called on the NAPTIP and Nigeria in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) for urgent action.

“First, we want the ladies to be rescued as soon as possible. Their condition is very critical because they don’t have good shelter, food and they need urgent medical attention. My personal conversation with Comfort showed that they were really in a bad state at the moment.

“After rescuing the ladies, there must be thorough investigation and punishment for the agents and other human traffickers involved in this,” Henshaw pleaded.

2020 World Breast Feeding week: Mothers urged to begin early

Dr. Mordi Ononye, Delta's Commissioner of Health.

By Donald Ojebo

Stakeholders, particularly breastfeeding mothers have been told to embrace early initiation of breastfeeding practice in the first hour of birth and into the second year of life of children.

The Delta State Commissioner for Health, Dr Mordi Ononye, made the call in a statement he released as part of activities to mark the 2020 World Breast Feeding Week, which run from August 1 -7, 2020, with the theme: ‘Support Breastfeeding for a Healthier Planet’.

Dr Ononye stated that early initiation of unrestricted exclusive breastfeeding results in ample milk production to sustain the infants and leads to 87% preventable deaths in infants younger than 6 months and also ensures quicker recovery from childhood illnesses.

According to him, adequate breast milk provides energy, protein, vitamins, minerals and water for a healthy growth and development for cognitive development of children to make them do better in school.

He listed other benefits of adequate breastfeeding to include strong immunity through the transfer of maternal antibodies that protects the child from common ailments such as diarrhoea and vomiting, respiratory tract infection and reduction in the risk of being infected with disease.

For the mother, Dr Ononye said that breastfeeding would stimulate uterine contraction resulting in the prevention of Post-Partum Haemorrhage, promote uterine involution and lowers the risk of developing breast cancer later in life.

He stressed that adequate breastfeeding is also good for the family, explaining that It enhances the natural family planning by pausing ovulation and menstruation for proper child spacing, economical and promotes family bonding.

Overall, Dr Ononye said the communities and nation will be better for it, saying that there would be a healthy grooming of the young into a healthy and productive adult and ensure a cleaner, eco-friendly, environment by reducing the generation and dumping of artificial/processed breastmilk substitute containers/packages.

During breastfeeding, he noted, bonding is established between the baby and mother creating a healthy psycho-social relationship in the family and wellbeing for all in the face of the COVID-19 disease, to keep mother and baby together thereby preventing avoidable exposure to strangers. 

He said statistics from the Multiple Indicators Custer Survey (MICS 2017) showed that Nigeria had 97% breastfeeding rate for all nursing mothers and an exclusive breastfeeding rate of 25% (less than the 2025 Global target of 50%) for the first six months of child birth.

The commissioner gave the National Nutrition and Health Survey-NNHS 2018 statistics for Delta State breastfeeding rates for children 0-23 month of age to include 94% for ever being breastfed, 49% for being breastfed within the first hour birth, 80% for being breastfed within the first day of birth.

He expressed worry at the State’s 49% breastfeeding rate within the first hour of birth, saying it is still lower than the 2025 global target of 50% and called for the redoubling of efforts to improve the rating.

Ononye affirmed that WHO's member states that endorsed the global targets for improving maternal, infant and young child nutrition were committed to monitoring progress, adding the targets are vital for identifying priority areas for action and catalyzing global change.

The Global Nutrition Targets 2025, he said are to  address stunted growth by 40% in the number of children under-5 years, reduce Anaemia by 50% in women of reproductive age and birth weight by 30% in low birth weight rate.

Others targets are to stop over weight and Increase the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months up to at least 50%. Even though Delta State targets 80% in the first instance, as well as reduce and maintain childhood wasting to less than 5%.

The health commissioner disclosed that state government through the Primary Health Care Development Agency in collaboration with Partner Agencies had commenced the establishment of Breastfeeding Support Groups in the LGAs and Wards.

This, he explained, is to protect and promote women’s access to skilled breastfeeding counselling, imploring women including nursing mothers and care givers to advantage of this initiative.

He said the World Breastfeeding Week should remind everyone of the need to promote, protect and support breastfeeding practices so as to develop the young (our leaders of tomorrow) adequately for a better and productive adulthood.

Noting that while the Breastfeeding Week runs from 1st to 7th August, 2020, he encouraged all to promote breastfeeding always, appealing to institutions, organizations, families and individuals to implement the breastfeeding policy adapted by the Delta State Government in line with the global guidelines.