Monarch prides Abraka as best producers of garri in Nigeria

By Debra Akudo

The monarch of Umraghwa Oria Abraka kingdom, (Rtd) has told members of the Community Newspaper publishers that, Abraka his kingdom produces the best garri in the country.

He made this revelation recently when the publishers paid him a courtesy visit to know more about the cassava mechanized farming going on in Abraka. The monarch pride that Abraka is a semi urban and semi-rural community mainly into agriculture and mainly into cassava farming. “The quality of garri in Nigeria is measured by the Abraka garri standard, it is the best in the country and we are proud of it”

Ovie of Abraka kingdom, HRM AVM Lucky Ochuko Ararile

we have been eating it for centuries and after ascending the throne I realized that we needed some form of productive activity that will engage the youths, because unemployment is fundamental to the meeting youth restiveness if you don’t provide job an don’t get the youths engaged there is nothing you can do, they will be restive, sometimes I put myself in their shoes thinking if at thirty for example I wasn’t employed and I had a degree what would I have  become because in trying to solve a problem you must first of all put yourself in the person’s shoes, so when I thought about that I said what can I do, I don’t have that kind of money to set up industries here so I attracted the attention of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to the fact that we have vast arable land in Umiaghwa that can be used for cassava cultivation and it was a partnership between the community, the federal ministry of Agriculture  and the Delta State government,  somehow the fed government got disinterested probably because at the time the agreement was made it was during the time of  Jonathan’s administration when APC came into power we tried to reengage with the new government, I went to Abuja saw the minister for Agriculture, chief Audu Ogbeh and we agreed that the project should continue, as part of the agreement the federal agreement outsourced the implementation part of the project to a private company, a concessionaire  and the idea was to get sufficient cassava to run a cassava  mill , the plan was for a 240 metric tons per day cassava processing mill now part of the problem we ran into, after starting when we planted the first 400 hectares.

So we have that project there which is what relatively has brought some measure of peace because the youth are engaged and majorly the women are engaged, my strategy actually is to engage the women more because if the women are employed and they can provide food in the home there will be food for the family, you know if you empower the men first they may end up marrying more wives and keep the wives hungry, so my concentration is actually on the women. On a daily basis we are harvesting, there is a company, Ereghwa Farms who is the actual owner of the farms, they are the ones doing the planting, it is because of the problem concerning the land.

Specking further, he said the original plan was to plant 2000 hectares directly by the company then an additional 1000 hectares out growers scheme, the company will assist farmers based on their capacity they will provide seedlings, fertilizers and clearing the farmers are just to maintain and when it is harvest time, they will harvest and sell to the company at an agreed market price but all those things are now in abeyance, they  can’t bring in the plant because we have not been able to guarantee them the land to plant 2000 hectares, so far they have done about 450 hectares which they are harvesting now, and because the plant is not available they are not actually making profit because they have to harvest the cassava and take the cassava to Lagos where there are plants that mill the cassava and each of the 30 tons trailer is about 150,000 naira per trip to  Lagos so if the plant was here you can imagine the savings per transportation cost so that is a major problem the sooner we sort out this land encroachment issue the better it will be,  with the guarantee of the plant within nine months being operational in this kingdom .

Specking on the herdsmen killing, “We have also been able to manage the Herdsmen Crisis in this kingdom”

EFCC Drags Globacom To Court Over Alleged $6.7m Fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has charged telecommunications company, Globacom Limited, before the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja for an alleged fraud of $6,786,674.61.

The firm was charged alongside its Indian Chief Marketing Officer, Ashok Israni, who was listed as the first defendant in the case.

The one count filed before Justice A.O. Williams against the defendants, read, “Ashok Israni and Globacom Limited, sometime in 2008 in Lagos, within the Ikeja Judicial Division, with intent to defraud, induced Emitac Mobile Solutions LLC, Dubai, United Arab Emirates to confer a benefit on you by permitting Emitac Mobile Solutions LLC to provide you with Blackberry solutions services, valued at USD 6,786,674.64 on the understanding that the benefit will be paid for, which pretence you knew to be false.”

The prosecuting counsel for the EFCC, Mr. A.B.C. Ozioko, who signed the charge sheet, claimed that the firm and Israni acted contrary to Section 1(2)(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006.

However, when the case was called in court on Monday, the defendants were not in court.

The prosecutor, Ozioko, said the EFCC was making efforts to produce Israni, who had been granted an administrative bail by the anti-graft agency.

“My lord, we are sorry we are not able to produce the defendants.

“As part of efforts to ensure that trial commences, we brought the complainants all the way from Dubai.

“We have no choice but to seek a date for arraignment,” he said.

In the circumstance, Justice Williams adjourned the case till May 15, 2018 for the arraignment of the defendants.

Omo-Agege released as police recovered mace

The police recovered mace has recovered the symbol of authority (the mace) allegedly stolen by thugs who invaded the hollow chambers yesterday. 
The police said the mace was recovered at the flyover before the city gate, Abuja Omo-Agege, the senator representing Delta central has been released on self-recognition.

 He was arrested in connection to the invasion that led to the missing mace that was found. Omo-Agege was accused of alleged to have mastermind the invasion, maybe due to his suspension by the senate for 90 legislative days. However while the police promised to investigate what led to dastardly act by the invaders, the senate has also promised Nigerians to get to the root cause of the matter.

Fake stout beer, malt drinks factory uncovered in Lagos

The Lagos State Police Command on Wednesday uncovered an illegal brewery where malt drinks and fake stout are produced at Egbe-Afa, Igbobo area of Ikorodu in Lagos.

Five of the suspects behind the factory were also arrested by a team led by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, who took newsmen to the scene of the crime.
It was discovered that the illegal brewery produced malt drinks, stout and Ethanol which they pump into trucks to bottle at another location. According to Imohimi, the suspects would be further interrogated to know where the drinks were bottled and sold.

The Police boss urged residents to know their neighbours, saying that vigilance was the only way to have a crime-free society.
“This success story of the police is an evidence that community policing and partnership is working in the state.
“This is an illegal distillery where malt, stout and ethanol are being produced in an unhygienic environment thereby feeding poison to the people.

“You will recall that a fake wine factory was also discovered at Mushin recently. This is as a result of vigilance. I encourage the people to do more.
“This is an information which should have got to the police earlier, but I commend the people for sharing this information with the police.

“People must be deeply involved in crime fighting and this can only be done if we are vigilant.
“Lagosians can only give credible information to the people when they are healthy; so I will encourage you to say something when you see something,” he said.

Online coalition to purchase form Okowa's re-election

AHEAD of the 2019 general elections, members of Senator Ifeanyi Okowa Online Coalition have endorsed Senator Ifeanyi Okowa for a second term in office with a  resolve to purchase nomination form for his re-election as the Governor of Delta State. 

The group at a meeting in Asaba yesterday where android phones and laptops worth millions of naira were given to its members stated that they will raise fund as a group to purchase the nomination form.

They observed that the track record of programmes and project delivery by Governor Okowa has made the campaign for his continuation as Governor from 2019 to 2023 an easy job.

 

From left; Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Charlse Aniagwu; Executive Assistant to the Governor on Orientation, Barr.Eugene Uzum and PDP Chairman, Patani Local Government Area, Comrade Godspower Asiuwhu

“We will buy the nomination form for the Governor, we will start saving, when the time comes, we will buy the form, visit the Governor and present the form to him, do the follow up by campaigning for the Governor till after the elections,” Hon. Godspower Asiuwhu, coordinator of the group said. 

He continued, ‘the communication gadgets are for us to let the world know what the Governor is doing, what he has done and why he should be voted for overwhelmingly in the 2019 elections.”

“By buying the nomination form, it shows that this project is our project and if it is our project, we should work to achieve desired results,” Hon. Asiuwhu asserted and thanked members of the coalition for their commitment to project the programmes of Governor Okowa's administration .

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Delta State,  Mr Charles Aniagwu who bagged award with the Executive Assistant to Governor Okowa on Orientation, Barr. Eugene Uzum for their efforts in information management of Governor Okowa's activities, noted that Governor Okowa was elected in 2015 because of his track record as a Senator and other positions he held in the past but, “in 2019, the projects he has executed across all the local government areas of Delta State will earn him a second term.”

Mr Aniagwu who listed some of the programmes and projects executed by Governor Okowa's administration said, “the Governor has more than enough track record as a Governor to be re-elected, marketing Governor Okowa is not going to be a Herculean task, he will run on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the 2019 election will not be about money, it is going to be about performance and our Governor has performed.”

The CPS commended the group for resolving to purchase the nomination form for the re-election of the Governor in 2019, assuring that it was a positive development that will encourage Governor Okowa to do more.

Others who spoke at the event commended Governor Okowa for his wealth creation programmes which has made a lot of jobless youths to become employers of labour and also, providing infrastructure across the state without discrimination.

Looters’ list: APC, PDP are disgrace to Nigerians -Okogie

A former President, Christian Association of Nigeria, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi-Okogie, has lambasted both the ruling All Progressives Congress and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party on their accusations and counter-accusations over those who looted Nigeria’s treasury.

The retired Lagos Archbishop of the Catholic Church described the back and forth accusations between the two major parties as a show of shame.
Okogie stated this in a press statement, titled, ‘We Are Watching and Waiting 2.’
The statement was the second in the series that the cleric sent to The newsmen recently.
He said, “Nigerians are currently forced to watch a show of shame by the ruling party of today and the ruling party of yesterday. Such are accusations and counter-accusations of looting that Nigerians find it difficult to differentiate between the accuser and the accused.
“Huge sums of money belonging to the people of Nigeria obviously got into wrong hands and for the wrong reasons. There are good reasons to suspect that the looting that took place cut across party lines. Nigerians deserve to know how, for example, the two leading parties financed their campaigns in 2015.

“But instead of honest answers, we are treated by the two big parties to a theatrical display of politically-motivated compilation of lists of looters. We are forced to say what Jesus said to the accusers of the adulterous woman in the Gospel: whoever has not sinned let him cast the first stone.”
The vocal cleric pointed out that the political class and the ruling elite were a threat to the country’s security. He said whoever loved Nigeria should be concerned about the security of life and property within its borders.
He noted that insecurity affects all, irrespective of party, ethnic, religious lines, social and economic status.
“Unfortunately, it can and it ought to be said that our political leaders constitute the greatest threat to security in this country, not armed robbers nor kidnappers, not Boko Haram nor herdsmen.
“Nigerians are impoverished by those who are put in charge of her enormous resources while our political leaders live in affluence. The standard of living continues to nosedive. And while politicians display ill-gotten wealth at birthday and wedding parties, there is widespread dilapidation of infrastructure.
“Our government got a friendly reminder recently. Counselled to invest resources in the people of Nigeria, its apologists, as usual, insulted the messenger. Has Bill Gates become a ‘wailer’ and a looter as critics of this government are often labelled?”
The cleric added, “Instead of indecently jostling for positions in 2019, the immoral electioneering propaganda that has replaced good governance, and the vicious fight over whose turn it is to capture the pot of honey that Nigeria’s wealth is, our politicians across party lines should stop and ponder: what type of Nigeria are we handing over to our children and to our children’s children?
“Whether our political leaders in all the parties will seek wise answers to that question is left to be seen. That is why we are still watching and waiting.”
Okogie pointed out that due to poverty, Nigerians, especially the nation’s youths, are easily recruited by all kinds of militia groups as another season of elections approaches. “So, we move from one unending season of insecurity to another,” he said.
The cleric added, “The fire of Boko Haram has yet to be extinguished. Government officials tell us Boko Haram is ‘degraded’ or ‘technically defeated’. The same officials tell us they are discussing ceasefire terms with a defeated army. What a contradiction!
“This same ‘degraded’ Boko Haram cruised in a convoy into Dapchi, abducted over 100 young schoolgirls without the Nigerian Army firing a shot; cruised back a few days later to return the girls; again, the Nigerian Army was nowhere to be found.”

Senators, Reps hold joint session, give police, DSS 24hours to recover mace

The National Assembly has given the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris and Daura Lawal, the Director General of Department of State Services (DSS) 24 hours to recover the mace snatched by a group of thugs who invaded the Senate some minutes after commencement of plenary on Wednesday.

This resolution was made during a joint session of both chambers of National Assembly hurriedly convened at the instance of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, over the incident.
Ekweremadu was presiding over the senate session when the symbol of authority was taken away by yet to be identified thugs. 

At the joint session, he briefed lawmakers how the armed thugs stormed the senate chamber in a commando style, beat up the Sargent At Arms who tried to stop them, and even tried to kidnap two senators, before they made away with the mace.

He asked the police boss, Ibrahim Idris and Director General of DSS , Lawal Daura to go after the invaders and ensure that the mace is recovered.

He described the incident as an afront on the parliament and democracy, just as he vowed to get to the root of matter. 

Investigation revealed that a protest was organised at the gate of National Assembly to distract the attention of the security. 

Immediately after the incident, a spare mace was provided to enable the Senate continue with its sitting. 

Ekweremadu and other senators tactically escaped through the emergency doors in order not to be caught up in the melee. 

Meanwhile, tension is still high in the premises of the National Assemby as security has been beefed up within the premises. 

BREAKING: Court sacks Osanebi, Delta deputy speaker

DELTA State High Court sitting in Kwale, Ndokwa West Local Government Area of the State, has removed the Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mr Friday Osanebi over alleged falsification of Information. 

Osanebi

The court presided over by Justice V. I Ofezi ordered the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC to immediately withdraw the certificate of return it issued Mr Friday Osanebi and issue same to Mr Emeka Odegbe, saying he is the validly nominated candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP in the 2015 general election.

Bill against electricity ‘crazy bill’ passes first reading in Rep

A bill to criminalize the use of ‘estimated billing’ in the calculation of electricity consumed and to be paid for by consumers by Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies has passed first reading in the House of Representatives.

The bill which was sponsored by the House Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, contains sections criminalizing the arbitrary estimation of energy consumed by consumers who have not been supplied pre-paid meters by the electricity distribution companies.

In a press statement, Gbajabiamila’s media aide, Olanrewaju Smart, quoted the lawmaker as saying the bill was necessitated by complaints from constituents across the country who felt regulations by the executive had failed to arrest the highhandedness of electricity distribution companies. Femi Gbajabiamila
Furthermore, Gbajabiamila, who represents Surulere I. Federal Constituency, said the legislation would resolve the unfavorable technical manipulation of the reading pattern of existing pre-paid meters, which have led to in commensurate calculation of purchased electricity credit.
The bill recommends six months imprisonment for any official of an electricity distribution company found guilty of illegally disconnecting a customer or failing to provide a pre-paid meter for a client after 30 days of application.
Gbajabiamila guaranteed that the legislators would push the bill until it is signed into law.

Activist applauds FG over take off of Nigerian maritime university, Okerenkoko

A Niger Delta Environmental Activist and Delta State House of Assembly hopeful,  Comrade Sheriff Mulade has applauded the Federal Government for the successful take off of the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Gbaramatu kingdom, Warri South West Local Government Area of the State.

Comrade Sheriff Mulade

In a press Statement made available to newsmen at the weekend in Warri, the House of Assembly hopeful, Comrade Mulade expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for the smooth take off of the University.

The Environmental  Activist, equally commended the efforts of the Delta State Government for the actualisation of the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko.

He said that;" I want to sincerely  express my appreciation to President Mohammadu Buhari and Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State for their tireless efforts toward the kick-off of the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko. I want to equally commend other stakeholders for supporting the take off of the University. It was not easy getting the University off the ground".

While hailing the Federal Government over the Nigerian Maritime University, Comrade Mulade said that;" We are assuring the Federal and State Governments of conducive learning environment and the  guarantee of security  to staff and students of the University now that normal academic activities have kicked off in the University."

He however,  appealed  for special focus on the development of the Niger Delta Region,  particularly the  riverine oil and gas host  communities to give them sense of belonging.

Ofuafo declares intention for Delta state House of assembly promises human capital development

By

Kelvin Ohoror 

A medical practitioner and CEO of Sundof Clinic and Eye Centre Dr. Ofuafo Sunday recently at the palace of HRM Anthony Williams Onovughe Ovrawah (JP) Omogha 1 the Odio-ologbo of Oleh Kingdom in Isoko South Local Government Area, Delta State declares his intention to contest for the Delta State House of Assembly, Isoko South Constituency 1,promises Human Capital Development. 

Speaking during his declaration Dr. Ofuafo Sunday stated that, custom demands that,if you want to do certain things you must begin from home, hence the reason “I have to inform my traditional ruler and my community my intention to contest the for the Delta State House of Assembly Isoko South Constituency 1,under the platform of the People's Democratic Party (PDP)”. 

Dr. Ofuafo hinted that, if elected his agenda will be focused on human capital development which will help to take the youths of the constituency from the street, noting that, “today if you look at our streets you see people's loitering the whole place, they don't have anything doing and there is need to take them off the streets”. 

He reiterate that, our educational system is nothing to write home about, saying that, his vision is to go through that sector and get it organized in the Constituency while paying the bills of students who are very vibrant but not financially buoyant to pay their fees. 

He further said that, the House of Assembly is a place for superior argument and sponsoring of bills to bring something home for the Constituency not by big chest it is for the intellectual and very vibrant people who knows why they are elected. 

He also pointed out that, his coming to contest for Isoko South Constituency 1 House of Assembly is as a result of clamouring and cry of the people of  Constituency 1,noting that with his human capital development agenda that will enhance education and skills acquisition, the suffering in the area will be less. 

On his the Odio-ologbo of Oleh Kingdom HRM Anthony Williams Onovughe Ovrawah (JP) Omogha 1 said that, as a traditional ruler he belongs to all the party, noting that at the end only one person will emerge victorious to represent the good people of constituency 1.

He also stated that, Dr. Ofuafo as a Medical practitioner he has chance of giving the good people of Isoko South Constituency 1 effective representation,urging him to keep to his promise of developing the youths of the  Constituency if elected.