The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has vowed to demolish the recently erected statue of late Ezeigbo Gburugburu, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, if urgent action is not taken by government to clear the vicinity of criminals and traders and to complete the road named after the late statesman.
“If Ojukwu Gateway & Statue continue to wear an eyesore and a disrespectful look in weeks to come, we shall have no other option than to remove the sacred statue and detach the name from the area renamed,” MASSOB, which was inspired by the late Ojukwu, threatened this evening.
The threat is contained in a joint statement issued in Onitsha, where the Ojukwu Gateway and Statue are located, by MASSOB, the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety), Civil Liberties Organization (CLO), Human Rights Club of LRRDC-HRC and Human Rights Development International (HRDI).
Entitled “Ojukwu Gateway& Statue In Onitsha Abandoned & Converted To Sodom & Gomorrah”, the statement was signed by Comrade Uchenna Mmadu, National Director of Information, MASSOB; Comrade Emeka Umeagbalasi, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Intersociety Nigeria; Comrade Aloysius Attah, Chairman, CLO, Anambra State Branch; Comrade Samuel Njoku, Coordinator, HRC of LRRDC, Anambra State Branch; and Comrade Peter Onyegiri, Zonal Coordinator, HRDI, Southeast Nigeria.
“While condemning the present eyesore status of the Ojukwu Gateway,” the activists called “on the Government of Anambra State to as a matter of uttermost urgency and importance, address the problems enumerated above or remove the Ikemba’s statue from the site and return the area renamed to the status quo ante bellum if the State Government lacks the capacity of competence and urgency.”
Continuing, the statement said: “Any project in Ikemba’s name and honour should defy any form of delay including excuses of rainy season. Besides, the mobilisation stage of road reconstruction involving clearing of unwanted soil/sand, removal of obstruction objects such as shanties, kiosks and bricks, and construction/reconstruction of drainages, usually done at the heat of rainy season, have not been done and completed in this respect, not to talk of the reconstruction proper. From our detailed findings, the Government of Anambra State should swiftly ask for the immediate removal of the Federal Controller of Works for Anambra State as well as the site manager of the firm handling the reconstruction work; the CCC Nig. Ltd., Eng. Chamy. Our joint call for their immediate removal is premised on suspected conflict of interest, sabotage, selfishness and corruption.
“If funds are responsible for putting the work at the lowest pace, the Government of Anambra State should provide enough funds immediately and seek for refund from the Federal Government later; if security is the problem, the State Security Council should post adequate security personnel to the site to be aided with human rights kits; if relocation of those trading and transporting in the area is the problem, the State Government should fully, forcefully but humanely carry out the relocation exercise and ensure that such exercise is environmentally and commercially friendly; and if the construction firm is the problem, the State Government should issue an ultimatum to the firm and in consultation with the President, revoke the contract and reward it to a more competent firm in the event of continuing slowest pace.
“We further call on the Government of Anambra State to clear the entire Niger Bridgehead-Ojukwu Gateway of hoodlums including motley of government revenue agents, both fake and authentic. As a matter of fact, the ASTA office under the Bridge should be closed down permanently and the entire place ridden of thuggish IGR agents, Motor Park touts, Okada and vehicle riders/drivers’ permits and emblems’ revenue collectors, etc. The Ojukwu Gateway should be adorned with a befitting roundabout and a recreation facility. It should also be magnificently flowered, lightened and kept clean at all times. It should as well be declared a freedom square for free speeches with immunity from arrest and trial. The sanitization exercise should be extended to Lagos and Aba Parks at Onitsha Upper Iweka where fake and serving police personnel from Okpoko Police Station in Ogbaru LGA, who usually go in mufti, as well as touts and criminals are causing havoc by terrorizing the innocent passers-by on daily basis with impunity. The despicable attitude of the iron traders at Uga Junction/Atani Road, who heap tons of rods on the edges of the newly constructed gutters of the Atani-Ogwuikpere Federal Road, built by the present Government of Anambra State, should also be checkmated as a matter of uttermost immediacy.
“On the issue of police brigandage, we call on the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ballah Nasarrawa, to ensure that no illegal roadblocks and extortionist activities are carried out anymore by police personnel working under the trio of the Onitsha AC, the DPO of the Onitsha CPS and the DPO of the Fegge Police Station. We also call on the CP to declare the DPO of the Fegge Police Station, Mr. Roland Omotoje a disaster and unfit to continue to serve in Anambra State. The reported criminal activities of the DPO including mass arrest and serial extortion of the Okada operators in Fegge usually from 6.30pm, has risen to an apogee. Those who refused to pay huge bribes or could not afford them are ordered by the DPO to be charged to magistrate court with spurious felonious charges, from where they are dumped in awaiting trial prison custody.”
News Express recalls that Ojukwu Gateway and Statue, located close to the famous Niger Bridge, were commissioned amid fanfare by President Goodluck Jonathan during his August 30 visit to Anambra State.
…Journalist Bribed to Paint Victim as notorious Armed Robber
THE Ondo State police command under its notorious police
commissioner has killed a community youth leader, Mr. Ajayi Bejide
and bribed a news reporter to manipulate the facts of the murder.
Sharpedgenews.com reliably gathered that two men of the Nigeria
Police, Corporal Hassan Shehu and Inspector John Jasper
Nwaegbu, in broad daylight, caused Mr. Bejide, a community youth
leader who was also until his death a community organizer for the
ruling Labor Party in Ondo State, bodily injuries that resulted in his
death.
However, the police who had initially tried to bribe the family of the
deceased with monetary inducement have now paid a journalist with
one of Nigeria’s newspapers to paint the deceased as the “kingpin
of armed robbers in Ayede Ogbese.”
According to sources in Ayede Ogbese, a small farming town along
Akure-Owo expressway in Akure North Local Government Area of
Ondo State, the late Bejide, was in his home when one of his
neighbors, identified as Mr. Adigbo, called in distress that the
deceased should assist in negotiating the release from certain
aggrieved youths the release of a gun seized from a police Corporal
Hassan Shehu, who had previously unleashed raw use of force
against those he accused of marijuana cultivation.
The deceased, allegedly still in loin clothes, was said to have left his
wife and five other friends to negotiate the release of the seized
police weapon.
Ajayi, the deceased, allegedly succeeded in taking the gun back to
the police station. After handling the gun over to the police, Corporal
Shehu and Inspector John Jasper Nwagbu allegedly asked him to
write a statement. The peacemaker and negotiator who assisted the
police to recover a gun was now being harassed by the police.
The policemen allegedly descended on him in the full glare of
onlookers, and pummeled him such that he started bleeding from
the ear, mouth and nose. Immediately, that Tuesday, the youth
leader lost the use of his arms and legs, suffering apparent
paralysis.
The police, sensing that trouble could come from relatives and irate
mob, asked for reinforcement. Ajayi was admitted on emergency at
the Federal Medical Center in Owo. But because he was in critical
condition, he was recommended for specialist care at the University
College Hospital in Ibadan, where he died on Wednesday at 3pm.
The Ondo State police commissioner initially offered to contribute
the sum of 10,000 naira towards the transportation of Ajayi Bejide to
the teaching hospital in Ibadan. The money, which was paid to the
family, was through a deputy police commissioner.
However, after the man died, the same police commissioner
advanced the family of the deceased another 100,000 naira through
the same unnamed deputy police commissioner.
Upon arrival in Ayede Ogbese from Ibadan where arrangements
were being made for the burial of the remains of the victim of police
brutality, the family was confronted by a publication in a copy of the
Sunday Mirror, with a story planted by the state police command
through a compromised news reporter, describing the extra-judicial
murder of the victim as a successful killing of the most notorious
armed robber in Ayede Ogbese.
The reporter, Biyi Adegoroye, was allegedly bribed with an
undisclosed sum of money to do the maximum violation of the
memory of a man unjustly murdered by the police.
The murder of Ajayi Bejide, a prince of the Osupa Ruling Family of
Akure who is also a grandson of the famous Sasere of Akure, has
exposed the Nigeria Police once again as the ultimate terror
organization in Africa’s most populous country. The police
incessantly raid Ayede Ogbese.
Police have decimated the population of a bustling cocoa-cultivating
community. They harass and arrest innocent children and violate
the women of the town at will. Recently, the police killed the two
children of one Mr. Ajileye. When questioned about the event, the
state police commissioner threatened to annihilate everyone in the
town.
The Abia state government says it has completed the process of acquisition of a fresh site at Ahiaudele for the relocation of butchers currently operating at the head bridge at Aba waterside.
This was part of the decisions reached at the state executive council meeting held in Umuahia.
Briefing newsmen at the end of the meeting, the commissioner for Information and strategy, Chief Eze Chikamnayo said government would proceed to provide the necessary facilities at the new site as well as partner with the traders and other private investors to erect the stores and then followed by the final movement of traders to the new site.
Chief Chikamnayo announced government’s intention to commence the immediate dredging of the Aba River as soon as the relocation exercise was completed.
He said that some professionals had engaged to commence the process of relocating some Abia state university faculties to Umuahia, noting that they were expected to produce detailed architectural plans for the faculty buildings and other structures in the new site.
The commissioner stated that EXCO commended the governor for his vision, courage and sense of responsibility that led to the reopening of the Osisioma depot that closed for so many years, pointing out that the governor through the revamping of the depot demonstrated his love for Abians whose source of livelihood has been restored to its spiral effect on economic activities in Aba and environs.
He revealed that EXCO lauded the governor for institutionalizing the security apparatus necessary for sustenance of the security of the pipelines from vandals.
Chief Chief Chikamnayo said approval was also given for the establishment of Abia state implementation unit (SPIU) of the Rural Access and Mobility project( RAMP) and also the release of funds for same.
He said when established, the state project implementation Unit would work in partnership with RAMP and other development partners to actualize 130.9km rural roads in the first instance and 500km rural roads before the end of 2013.
The information boss said approval was also given by the council for the engagement of a consultant/company to generate revenue data base for Abia state, noting that data enumeration is a critical infrastructure for the orderly development of a state.
According to him, the planned exercise is aimed at achieving a state-wide inventory of assets and resources as well as revenue sources.
He remarked that that the ministry of transport was commended for its efforts as it concerns the closure of illegal motor parks and was directed to put all necessary measures in place to sustain the success already achieved.
On flooding in Aba, chief Chikamnayo said the council applauded the measures being taken by government to ensure that flooding in Aba is completely checked and condemned the indiscriminate building of structures in drains lines and obstruction of water ways.
The commissioner noted that the governor the governor was commended for his resolve to demolish illegal structures in order to give Aba residents the desired respite from the menace of perennial flooding and urged Aba residents to voluntarily vacate from all such shanties and illegal structures before the force set up by government moves in.
Following continued relevance of China as a global financial player and western financial crises, the Central Bank of Nigeria has decised to convert more foreign reserves from the dollar into the Chinese renminbi or yuan.
The CBN had disclosed last March that it converted $500m of the country’s external reserves into the yuan in the previous six months and The Financial Times reported last month that the central banks of Nigeria and Tanzania joined their counterparts from other continents in adding more renminbi to their reserves.
Governor of the CBN, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, said the aim was to gradually increase the yuan holdings to 10 per cent of the reserves.
According to the Financial Times report, together, Nigeria and Tanzania bought bonds worth Rmb500m out of the Rmb2.5bn three-year issue from the China Development Bank, the Chinese state development lender.
Standard Bank, the South African bank with close Chinese ties, which handled the issue, said one fifth of the total bonds went to African investors in a “landmark bond sale.”
In a statement, the Managing Director, Standard Bank China, the Beijing arm, Bing Fan, said, “The internationalization of the renminbi is inevitable and Africa is a fertile soil and important front for this process. We believe that African central banks will become increasingly interested and involved in the offshore renminbi market.”
Nigeria, with $36.4bn in foreign exchange reserves, could become a significant buyer. Tanzania, with just $3.8bn, may trouble bankers rather less. But it is a country with growing trade and investment links with China.
Standard Bank, in which the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has a 20 per cent stake, estimated two years ago that $100bn or 40 per cent of China’s trade with Africa would be facilitated in renminbi by 2015.
However, some continue to have their doubts about China’s bid to elevate its currency in global trade. Trust Chikohora, secretary general of COMESA business council, an economic integration lobby group, recently told reporters that emerging markets would be better off with “the current basket of currencies” for now.
“Although there is now talk in the Brics about moving towards using the yuan, I do not think that this is close to implementation,” he said.
Nonetheless, with China enjoying relatively low-cost renminbi funding on the continent, Fan maintained his position, saying he anticipated an increase in African deals with China.
When asked about the likelihood of African countries’ foreign reserves being dominated by the yuan rather than the dollar or euro, Fan replied, “We expect that in the next five years, roughly 20 per cent of the African total reserves of $500bn will go renminbi.
“As the dollar loses its value and the euro stands on the edge of the cliff, the renminbi has posed as the best choice at the moment for the African Central Bank reserve portfolio.”
Nigeria’s External reserves hit 25-month high High crude oil prices have continued to raise the level Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves as figures rose to a 25-month high of $38.62bn by August 29.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said about 85 per cent of the increase in reserves was from crude oil. Nigeria’s crude oil production hit a record high of 2.7 million barrels per day on August 1.
The $38.62 billion figure was 5.81 per cent higher that the previous month.
The forex reserves stood at $36.5bn on same date last month and at N37.18bn on August 25 last year, the closest available comparable figure.
Reserves had risen by 5.71 per cent month-on-month to $38.51bn at August 28, 2012, from $36.43bn recorded a month earlier.
It showed that forex reserves rose to a two-year high of $38.51bn. The reserves have not been as high as this since August 10, 2010 when they stood at $38.59bn.Forex reserves had fallen by 1.4 per cent month-on-month to $36.40bn at July 25, from $36.93bn recorded a month earlier.
The $53m decline, according to analysts was attributed to falling oil prices and strong dollar demand.The reserves had plunged in the month of June, dropping by $1bn to $36.768bn on June 28, from $37.768bn it stood on June 6, 2012.
Forex reserves had risen to their highest in 21 months to $37.02bn by May 14, from $36.66bn at the end of April.The CBN had reportedly said that the nation’s external reserves had continued to grow since the August 1, 2012. Consequently, the Minister of Finance and coordinating minister for the economy, DrNgoziOkonjo-Iweala, stressed the need for the country to shore up its external reserves. At a meeting with the Organised Private Sector in Lagos recently, Okonjo-Iweala said that there was the need to build up the reserves to $50bn before December.
She said that this would help the country to stand on its feet in the event of any global economic recession. The CBN sold a total of $10.18bn at the Wholesale Dutch Auction System in the first half of this year.The CBN had sold and offered a total value of $14.85bn at the WDAS in the first quarter of last year. Forex sales were less than forex offered by $285m by half- year 2012.
Following Thursday’s attack on some youth corps members in Jalingo,
Taraba State, the Young Journalists Forum (JYF) has called on the
state government to immediately investigate the matter and bring the
assailants to book in four days.
In a statement signed by its Secretary, Zacheaus Somorin, JYF stated
that the state Governor, like his counterparts within the region,
always play lip service to the protection and security of the corps
members saying the attack would have been another major national
tragedy.
Somorin pointed out that the state, instead of employing teachers, like
its counterparts, use corps members, on a yearly basis, to fill the
gaps despite which they are poorly paid and exposed to danger.
”Thursday’s attack would have been another major tragedy in the
history of Nigeria. It gives credence to the reality that some parts
in North are not safe to engage youth corps members” the statement
said.
It added: ‘what is also curious and dangerous was the religious
coloration that the attack depicted. Why was RCCG hostel isolated for
attack? It means that the attackers were blood-thirsty religious
extremist as the attack took the same format through which christians
have been hewn down in the North.
The attackers had reportedly stormed the Family House of the Redeemed
Christian Corpers Fellowship (RCCF), held the corps members hostage
for hours, taking away laptops and about 24 mobile telephone sets.
The gunmen were said to have gained entrance into the members lodge
through a toilet in the female wing of the building.
While making reference to various incidents in which many corps
members have been killed in the north, the groups expressed its
disappointment at the continued deployment of corps members to
volatile areas in the region accusing government at various levels
feigning ignorance of the dangerous situation.
Somorin therefore called on the state governor, Dambata Suntai, to
fish out the perpetrators and bring them to justice within four days
failure which will compel the group to drag the state to court
demanding corps members’ redeployment to safer states.
The Action Congress of Nigeria has exposed the callous and evil plot of the People’s Democratic Party to arrest development and progress in all ACN states by manipulating banks, including the apex bank, the capital market, financial institutions and regulatory authorities to withdraw financial support to all ACN states through a sustained campaign of blackmail , calumny and arm twisting.
In a statement issued in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed the party said it can authoritatively reveal that the first phase of this plot is for the PDP to make available to the Honourable Ministers of Finance and National Planning and Director General of the Debt Management office false representation of the debt profiles of ACN states accompanied by wild and unsubstantiated allegations financial recklessness and improprieties against ACN states for deliberation at the next meeting of the Federal Executive Council.
According to the party the Federal Government will then enlist the support of the Central Bank Governor who will table the contrived damning indictment before the Bankers Committee who in turn will unsuspectingly withdraw their financial support from all ACN states.
But the People’s Democratic Party led Federal Government will not stop at this. It will thereafter manipulate its appointees at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission and other relevant regulatory authorities to block the ACN states access to the capital market even as the same Federal Government itself had resorted to the same Capital Market to fund its own deficit budget, the party elaborated.
The party recalled that the People’s Democratic Party when it had no answer to Lagos State’s unprecedented developmental successes under the administration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu employed this same devious plot and would have succeeded in arresting the phenomenal success of that administration but for the financial ingenuity and resourcefulness of the former governor.
The recent unrelenting and sustained smear campaign against the ACN governors by the do nothing People’s Democratic Party is nothing but a prelude to this grand conspiracy to financially cripple all ACN states . Rather than emulate the giant strides of the ACN states especially in the areas of security, youth employment, infrastructural development etc, and make life more meaningful and bearable for the millions of citizens under its watch the People’s Democratic Party has true to character resorted to this evil plan to stunt the growth of the ACN states and condemn the people of these states to a life of misery, poverty, chaos and hardship as is the norm in almost all PDP led states, the party noted.
The People’s Democratic Party led Federal Government is advised however to immediately retrace its steps otherwise it will face a people’s revolt and anger the like of which it has never witnessed as the the citizens of all ACN led states will rise in with one voice to resist with all means at their disposal any attempt by the clueless PDP led federal government to truncate the unprecedented era of peace , progress and development currently being enjoyed in these states after the locust years of the PDP.
–
Alhaji Lai Mohammed
National Publicity Secretary
Action Congress of Nigeria
Lagos, Monday, September10, 2012
Senator Chris Ngige, a former governor of Anambra State, who now represents Anambra Central Senatorial Zone at the National Assembly, in this interview with Nwanosike Onu and few other journalists in Onitsha, spoke on Anambra State’s 2014 governorship election, President Goodluck Jonathan’s recent visit to the state and other issues. Excerpts:
Recently, President Goodluck Jonathan visited Anambra State to commission some projects, including the Orient Petroleum Resources Company. What are the gains for the state?
Yes, we have a lot to gain from Mr. President’s visit to our state. We are also happy about the success story of Orient Petroleum Resources. That project was discovered earlier by the former governor, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, who started the push for the exploitation of the oil and gas reserve in Anambra State. By that time, I was the president of a PAN Igbo organisation, known as Aka-Ikenga in Lagos. We, as a body liaised with Ezeife and the then Minister, Professor Chu Okongwu on the prospects of having a refinery in Anambra State. But the regime of Ezeife was short-lived. Then, former governor Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju came into office and continued. He was able to secure license for the project and set up Board of Directors. He also gave Orient Petroleum an office complex as its operational base.
When I came into office as governor, we organised an investors’ forum for Orient Petroleum and worked with the Board of Directors that was put up as at then.
Like you know, government is a continuum and my administration acquired the land where Orient Petroleum is currently operating and also gave them the Certificate of Occupancy. We at the National Assembly shall push it further for Anambra State to have its share as an oil producing state and this is determinant on the quantum of the number of barrels that we produce.
So, the dream of Orient Petroleum on that day materialised and I must not fail to commend the incumbent governor, Mr. Peter Obi, for his contributions as a government to the success of Orient Petroleum. Anambra State is sitting on a large deposit of hydro carbon; we use to have a gas leakage in Ugwuagba and parts of Idemili area. So, we are going to move a step forward through gas committees in the Senate, Federal House of Representatives and Anambra gas must be tapped fully.
And during the stake Holders town hall meeting in onitsha, issues were raised about the second Niger Bridge?
We the South-East senators have made representations before the Federal Government about the second Niger Bridge. We have also told the Secretary to the Government of the Federation that if this bridge doesn’t work in the next two years, our people will not forgive them. Already, we have approved the 2020 plan which they brought to us in that regard but my worry is that they are constructing the bridge on Public Private Partnership (PPP) which means that there will be toll gates where our people will be compelled to pay. So, if you are going to Asaba you pay toll.
The President also commissioned the Onitsha River Port, how happy are you with that?
Giving the availability of road infrastructure, can it cope when the goods are discharged there? The answer is no! The answer is a big no, except for the fact that the Onitsha-Owerri road is almost completed. But you know that the road has taken almost eight years to complete.
Let us look at the National Assembly and the probe panels, especially power?
The probe panels are okay. They are good. We are not members of the executive. The panels put people stand on their toes. They make them sit up. And it is like an X-ray. And if you remember, it is not only probe that we do.
We also carry out what is called public hearing on any matter that has cloudiness that we are not clear on, or a matter that we want to legislate on. There has been a lot of hearsay in Nigeria, a lot of rumor-mongering, that give us the opportunity to clear the air. So in a probe panel too, it is the same thing, so he, who has done no wrong, has nothing to fear. There was a probe panel on power led by Hon. Ndudi Elumelu and later on Senator Ubani. So, as it were, they synchronise. That was the sixth senate and we looked at that report and a lot of things in that report are factual and good.
How would you react to the resignation of Professor Bath Nnaji, the former Minister for power?
You know that in that town hall meeting with Mr. President at Onitsha, before it was raised, I told Mr. President that this question will be raised. I told him that the crux of Ndigbo are here and they would talk about Nnaji their brother, because already they have started feeling that the man was victimized. And you heard what he said. He said that Barth Nnaji did not commit any offence. That is the cardinal thing. He committed no offence.
He quit the job based on his background. He had been in America and Europe and he had been sitting in America as a Professor of Robotics and Industrial Engineering and he said he wanted to do what is done in civilized countries. I have a company. I resigned from that company as Chairman/MD. I am now minister, but this company, because I put my interest there in a blind trust, this company had gone to align with another company without telling me and this other company that they aligned with bidded for arts and power distribution and for Enugu distribution company. So, it is a clash of interest.
I have to step aside while the analysis and every thing go on and that is honourable. That is what is being done in civilized clans. We Nigerians don’t do it. Many Nigerians don’t do it, many Nigerians even when their family company is doing business with whatever name, they are still telling you that it is okay. I know that Professor Barth Nnaji’s resignation would be a major set back in our power reforms. But in any case, he has laid very solid foundation.
Now that he has resigned how do you see power supply in Nigeria?
That is what I am saying. He has laid foundations; it is only for the next successor to be a knowledgeable person. He must have managerial acumen. On how to manage men and materials that is all, and he will then build up on that. All of you can attest that your power supply has improved and I can assure you that by 2012 December, a lot of generating stations will put in more mega wax into the grids. A lot of rehabilitation works being done in transporting them are carried out. This is because a lot of grids are old and decayed.
The senate has embarked on constitution review, how far has it gone?
So far it has been full of progress. We are in the review to define the political structure. We have six geo-political zones in Nigeria but it is not enshrined in our constitution. It is not there. So, there is the need to define it, or we say let us have regions instead of geo-political zones. Even in the area of state creation, apart from Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Delta and Lagos States, some people say that the rest of the states are not viable. Others say we need more whether they are viable or not. Even those that are viable are being assisted by the oil companies. If you remove money from the federation accounts, how many states can stand on their own? How many of them can do business.
Also at the review, some said let us have regions due to the non viability of the component states. But my take on this is that every state in Nigeria is viable only that they are lazy. Is it Anambra or Enugu that has coal? Ebonyi State has lead, zinc, salt and rice. We have Abakaliki and Omor rice. In Anambra State, we are still on the area of state creation, we in the south -east zone are saying, no matter what is being said, there is a zone that has been badly treated and that is the South-East. So far, there must be equity. A state must come from south-east if other zones say there should be parity and evenness in the number of states of each geo-political zones then our zone should have two more states comparatively. We shall go to the presidency for an executive bill for the creation of states.
Anambra North is calling for the next governor to come from their zone, do you agree?
I have heard it and I have read in the papers that the incumbent Governor Peter Obi is also canvassing the same view and in response, the Obi of Onitsha told the governor that he would allow the governor to have a hand on his successor. This is undemocratic. We are not discussing Ichieship or Kingship hereditary, when you say it is your person, if he does not win, there will be trouble. If he wins they say he rigged and he was anointed by his godfather or godfathers. I am a politician and I know what that means. Anambra people should be free to choose who ever they want. The second plane of my fears is that this particular pronouncement has caused trouble in APGA. They now have big crack and figure other states in the south-east. I am a progressive and I am also radical. I like radicalism, I am not a member of APGA but we know how APGA was formed. I was as at then, an executive member of the PDP in the South East zone, and we know our contributions to the formation of APGA. The party was formed as an alternative due to what the then president, Obasanjo was doing. We used to attend the conclave at Chris Okoye’s house in Enugu. The records are there, you can ask Victor Umeh. APGA had today been cracked due to the position of the
governor. But I have three questions for the North. I had asked this question during the 2010 governorship election in Omabala forum. Has there been any election till now that Anambra North said okay we give you the chance to contest, we will not contest so that after you, it becomes our turn?
In 1999, it was Chief Frank Oramulu from Anambra North. ABC Nwosu from south but Mbadinuju snatched it, if not he would have won.
All the zones made gargantuan and titanic efforts at the primaries and even at the election proper. Same was the case in 2007. Senator Emma Anosike from the North contested in the primaries and later became running mate to Professor Charles Soludo.Politics should be devoid of deceit and as soon as we stop it the better. Number two question: Have politicians in Anambra state ever sat to rotate it? And the answer was defining silence, a big no.
But Ndigbo are facing the same fate at the National level?
Yes and that is why we are carrying out constitutional review, so that we agree on the rotation and enshrine it in our constitution; that is what should be done in Anambra State.
But we expect you politicians and stakeholders to do that in Anambra state.
Yes, we are ready to do that but who would call for that conference? Who should call for that meeting? It is still the governor that should call for that meeting instead of making such pronouncement like he did recently. That is why we want to sit down and agree on rotation and it becomes sacrosanct in the state. The governor is not doing this with good intentions.
The Federal Government has unwittingly endangered Nigeria’s national security and encouraged ongoing armed insurgency across the Northern States by banned armed Islamic rebels by the reported award of juicy security contracts to secure Nigeria crude oil pipelines by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to some former leaders of repentant armed militants in the Niger Delta and therefore must be withdrawn and replaced with broader practical and pragmatic infrastructural development of the criminally neglected crude oil rich Niger Delta Regions. The Rights group tasked Government to compel indicted multinational crude oil firms in the Niger Delta to immediately clean up the heavily polluted environment and ecosystem of the oil rich region.
This was the position of the Democracy inclined Non-Governmental Organization- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA, [HURIWA] in a media statement on the precarious security situation of the Nigerian State issued and jointly endorsed by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Director, Miss. Zainab Yusuf just as the group called on the Federal Government to transparently account to the Nigerian people on the correct situation of the suspects allegedly arrested by the nation’s security agencies since the armed insurgency began nearly two years ago.
HURIWA call for open and transparent prosecution of the arrested terrorists for the mass murder of several innocent citizens is coming amid general apprehension among Nigerians that suspected armed insurgents arrested and detained by the Federal Government have not been brought to justice in the competent courts of law and if true, then this may constitute general breach to the fundamental human rights of the suspects and also capable of truncating the enforcement of constitutionalism, Principle of Rule of Law and total elimination of impunity in the country.
HURIWA insists that those armed terrorists responsible for the mass murder of Nigerian citizens must be made to face transparent, open and constitutional justice in the competent courts of law if Nigeria is to remain a law abiding and democracy inclined nation.
On why it thinks that the reported multi-million United States Dollars security contracts awarded to former militants who are of the Niger Delta origin by the Federal Government to secure the crude oil pipelines of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation [NNPC] constitutes a clear and present danger to national security, HURIWA submitted that as national assets the crude oil pipelines ought to be protected by the constitutionally created armed security services like the Armed Forces of Nigeria or operatives of the Nigerian Police Force and if in the event that Government makes new policy on award of security contracts to private sector institutions then Government’s action must be guided by the legally binding provisions of the National Public Procurement laws by ensuring and enforcing the provisions that obliges Government to publicly advertise any public transactions that would be undertaken by the Nigerian Government on behalf of the good people of Nigeria.
HURIWA contends that selective award of juicy security contracts to friends of the Presidency is not only a violation of established laws that protects competition and transparency but amounts to bribery of the most unprecedented dimension if not reversed immediately by President Good Luck Jonathan.
HURIWA said the selective award of juicy security contracts to former armed militants is a signal to the armed Islamic rebels who are unleashing a regime of bloody terror-related violence against national and private sector owned assets like the telecommunication masts and public schools and would induce them with the belief that one day the Federal Government would be blackmailed into awarding their members similar juicy contracts to secure those vital national and private assets in the Northern States of Yobe, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Adamawa States.
“This immoral and unconstitutional action of the Federal Government is also a boost to those armed marauders unleashing unprecedented violence in the South through targeted assassination and kidnappings for ransom payments who would also be hoping to bag juicy security contracts from the Federal Government some day in exchange for their surrender and cessation from these atrocities”.
HURIWA urged Government to reform the security agencies and national security architecture to enable the operatives to carry out effective intelligence-driven anti-terror law enforcement all across the nation without let or hindrance.
Editor’s Note: In this first of a five-part series, Middle East and Islam specialist Daniel Pipes begins his inquiry into Barack Obama’s early Muslim connections by noting the president’s autobiographical inaccuracies. Future installments will establish his many connections to Islam.
President Obama has come out swinging against his Republican rival, sponsoring television advertisements that ask, “What is Mitt Romney hiding?” The allusion is to such relatively minor matters as Mr. Romney’s prior tax returns, the date he stopped working for Bain Capital and the nonpublic records from his service heading the Salt Lake City Olympics and as governor of Massachusetts. Mr. Obama has defended his demands that Mr. Romney release more information about himself, declaring in August that “the American people have assumed that if you want to be president of the United States that your life’s an open book when it comes to things like your finances.” Liberals such as Paul Krugman of the New York Times enthusiastically endorse this focus on Mr. Romney’s personal history.
If President Obama and his supporters wish to focus on biography, of course, that is a game two can play. Already, the temperate, mild-mannered Mr. Romney has criticized Mr. Obama’s re-election campaign as “based on falsehood and dishonesty,” and a television ad went further, asserting that Mr. Obama “doesn’t tell the truth.”
A focus on openness and honesty is likely to hurt Mr. Obama far more than Mr. Romney. Mr. Obama remains the mystery candidate with an autobiography full of gaps and even fabrications. For example, to sell his autobiography in 1991, Mr. Obama claimed that he “was born in Kenya.” He lied about never having been a member and candidate of the 1990s Chicago socialist New Party. When Stanley Kurtz produced evidence to establish that he was a member, Mr. Obama’s flacks smeared and dismissed Mr. Kurtz. Mr. Obama’s 1995 autobiography, “Dreams from My Father,” contains a torrent of inaccuracies and falsehoods about his maternal grandfather, his father, his mother, his parents’ wedding, his stepfather’s father, his high school friend, his girlfriend, Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. As Victor Davis Hanson put it, “If a writer will fabricate the details about his own mother’s terminal illness and quest for insurance, then he will probably fudge on anything.”
Into this larger pattern of mendacity about his past life arises the question of Mr. Obama’s discussion of his faith, perhaps the most singular and outrageous of his lies.
Asked about the religion of his childhood and youth, Mr. Obama offers contradictory answers. He finessed a March 2004 question, “Have you always been a Christian?” by replying: “I was raised more by my mother and my mother was Christian.” But in December 2007, he belatedly decided to give a straight answer: “My mother was a Christian from Kansas. I was raised by my mother. So, I’ve always been a Christian.” In February 2009, however, he offered a completely different account:
“I was not raised in a particularly religious household. I had a father who was born a Muslim but became an atheist, grandparents who were non-practicing Methodists and Baptists, and a mother who was skeptical of organized religion. I didn’t become a Christian until I moved to the South Side of Chicago after college.”
He further elaborated on this answer in September 2010, saying, “I came to my Christian faith later in life.”
Which is it? Has Mr. Obama “always been a Christian” or did he “become a Christian” after college? Self-contradiction on so fundamental a matter of identity, when added to the general questioning about the accuracy of his autobiography, raises questions about veracity. Would someone telling the truth say such varied and opposite things about himself? Inconsistency is typical of fabrication: When making things up, it’s hard to stick with the same story. Mr. Obama appears to be hiding something. Was he the areligious child of irreligious parents? Or was he always a Christian? A Muslim? Or was he, in fact, something of his own creation — a Christian Muslim?
Mr. Obama provides some information on his Islamic background in his two books, “Dreams from My Father” and “The Audacity of Hope” (2006). In 2007, when Hillary Rodham Clinton was still the favored Democratic candidate for president, a number of reporters dug up information about Mr. Obama’s time in Indonesia. His statements as president have provided important insights into his mentality. The major biographies of Mr. Obama, however, whether friendly (such as those by David Maraniss, David Mendell and David Remnick) or hostile (such as those by Jack Cashill, Jerome R. Corsi, Dinesh D’Souza, Aaron Klein, Edward Klein and Stanley Kurtz), devote little attention to this topic.
I shall establish his having been born and raised a Muslim, provide confirming evidence from recent years, survey the perceptions of him as a Muslim, and place this deception in the larger context of Mr. Obama’s autobiographical fictions.
To begin with, Barack Obama readily acknowledges that his paternal grandfather, Hussein Onyango Obama, converted to Islam. Indeed, “Dreams” (Page 407) contains a long quote from his paternal grandmother explaining the grandfather’s reasons for doing so: Christianity’s ways appeared to be “foolish sentiment” to him, “something to comfort women,” and so he converted to Islam, thinking “its practices conformed more closely to his beliefs” (Page 104). Barack Obama readily told this to all comers: When asked by a barber (Page 149), “You a Muslim?” for example, he replied, “Grandfather was.”
Mr. Obama presents his parents and stepfather as nonreligious. He notes in “Audacity” (Pages 204-5), that his “father had been raised a Muslim” but was a “confirmed atheist” by the time he met Barack’s mother, who, in turn, “professed secularism.” His stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, “like most Indonesians, was raised a Muslim,” though he was a nonpracticing, syncretic one who “followed a brand of Islam that could make room for the remnants of more ancient animist and Hindu faiths” (“Dreams,” Page 37).
As for himself, Mr. Obama acknowledges numerous connections to Islam but denies being a Muslim. “The only connection I’ve had to Islam is that my grandfather on my father’s side came from that country,” he declared in Dec. 2007. “But I’ve never practiced Islam. For a while, I lived in Indonesia because my mother was teaching there. And that’s a Muslim country. And I went to school. But I didn’t practice.” Likewise, he said in February 2008: “I have never been a Muslim other than my name and the fact that I lived in a populous Muslim country for four years when I was a child, I have very little connection to the Islamic religion.” Note his unequivocal statement here: “I have never been a Muslim.” Under the headline, “Barack Obama is not and has never been a Muslim,” Mr. Obama’s first presidential campaign website was even more emphatic in November 2007, stating that “Obama never prayed in a mosque. He has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian.”
These emphatic statements notwithstanding, much points to Mr. Obama’s having been a Muslim.
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Daniel Pipes (DanielPipes.org) is president of the Middle East Forum.
On January 16, 2012, the entire shoreline communities of Bayelsa State, the home state of the President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebelemi Jonathan was hit by a gas fire disaster and oil spillage from a Chevron owned rig. Two lives were lost and immeasurable damage was recorded as a forty six [46] day gas fire ensued and spewed crude oil and gas. President Goodluck Jonathan visited the affected community 42 days after the gas explosion.
“I noticed that many issues have been raised and these are issues we are quite conversant with. I can assure you that we will look into it, the company, the state government and the federal government will continue to address them,” – stated President Goodluck Ebelemi Jonathan on February 27, 2012 to the angry youths of the affected communities who welcomed him with war songs – waving the national Ijaw flag.
Chevron rig fire offshore Nigeria
Information available to 247ureports.com through an inside source within the presidency, indicates that the President has shown little indication of fulfilling on his promise to the community beyond ‘relief’ material disbursed by Chevron to the community – materials such as rice, garri, yam, cow, groundnut oil, frozen fish, chicken, beverages, tin tomatoes, salt and sugar – of which the traditional ruler of Koluama1 said were not enough, adding that Chevron only acted because of pressure from the State government. “We want to see the federal government”, the monarch said.
The source indicated that the affected community had anticipated the President would weigh on the oil-multinationals into addressing the disastrous impact of the gas fire – and proffering a remedy – along with associated compensation.
According to the source who also is an indigene of the Niger Delta community, the activists and leadership of the area had long been ‘pocketed’ by the oil multinationals – to the extent – most have lost the ability to muster civil agitation for the rights of the host communities. “Even the elected officials in the likes of the governors and Abuja elected politician are all in their pockets in exchange for campaign funds.”
Cursory inquiry into the affected communities reveals the unspoken. Anger within the affected community appears brewing silently over the perception that the Federal government and the President have turned their backs on them and may have joined the oil multinational against them. This comes against the action by the heads of each affected community in drafting four letters to Chevron [dated April 12, 2012, May 2, 2012, May 15, 2012, and July 25, 2012] detailing demands for immediate payment of compensation for damages suffered by them as a result of gas explosion, oil spill and fire at K. S. Endeavor rig between 16th January 2012 and March 2, 2012.
crude oil spill
Specifically, the community leaders jointly made the following demands:
Clean up of the entire waterways, creeks and rivers adjoining communities in an environmentally friendly way to free it of any trace of crude oil;
A full and comprehensive disclosure of all the facts and circumstances of this spill including the cause, the number of barrels of crude oil spilled, the volume of gas released into the atmosphere and the condition of the gas well among others.
The payment of the sum of N2billion to each community for the untold damages suffered.
The payment of the sum of N1billion to each of the community for inconveniences, injurious affection and loss of income.
Because of the urgency of this matter, we also demand that our demands be met within 7 days of their receipt of our letter.
Chevron has yet to respond to the letter. But the Managing Director of Chevron, Deji Haastrop in a June 28, 2012 statement to the press mentioned that an independent panel will be set up and charged with the assessment of the damage to the community. The independent committee is to comprise of – NNPC, Chevron, Bayelsa State government, DPR, NOSDRA, NGOs and Regional Development Communities. The finding of the panel has yet to be made public. It is uncertain the extent the panel investigated the damage.
In what appears to resemble a flicker of hope, a source within the Bayelsa State government house in Yenogua reveals the Bayelsa State Ministry of Environment had recently requested from the affected communities, a list of damages and demands. The source who stated that the list had been submitted and received by the Ministry also added that the State government of Bayelsa appears apprehensive to act – largely because of Mr. President. “This is Mr. President’s home state, we have to follow his lead” said the source.
“We are waiting on Mr. President and the folks at Chevron”, clarified the source who pointed the blame for the delay squarely that the presidency. He adds that the managers at Chevron “understand the body language of the presidency”. The source pointed out the huge volumes of crude oil produced by the oil company as one of the reasons the presidency may be dragging its feet. In 2010, Chevron pumped an average 524,000 barrels per day of crude from the said community – equivalent to $19.2billion [N3trillion]. In addition, Chevron has the exclusive exploration rights over 2.2million acres of Niger Delta land and waters.
A February 17, 2012 editorial by Punch Newspapers captured the presidency’s attitude towards the gas disaster as follows:
“That the current disaster at the Chevron gas facility has failed to draw serious attention of The Presidency and National Assembly as well as relevant agencies like the Federal Ministry of Environment, is not altogether surprising. The age-old nonchalance about the environment and well-being of citizens is simply being replayed. If anything, the government is getting even further removed from the populace and the symptoms of a failed state are becoming more pronounced. In 1980, President Shehu Shagari was at Funiwa for first-hand information about the oil spill and to show sympathy and support for the local people. Not so with President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012 whose recent visit to campaign for and vote in the Bayelsa State governorship election did not include a visit to the affected communities.”
Historically, the Niger Delta regions has suffered an overwhelming crude oil related disaster in the hands of oil multinationals in cohorts with weak and/or corrupt Nigerian Presidents. In 1978, Gulf Oil Company of Nigeria caused the Escravos spill in which 300,000 barrels of crude were emptied into the environment. In the same year, the Forcados Terminal Tank Farm, owned and operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company, spilled 580,000 barrels. In 1980, there was the Funiwa oil blow-out in which a facility owned and operated by Texaco Overseas spilled 400,000 barrels.
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List of affected Communities –
Mr. Ikioukenighe Isaac, Mrs. Braye Ikporo, Mrs. Disemi Kolu, Mrs. Ebiake Abraham and Mr. Prince Tukuru all of Koluama Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State and 300 others;
Atalawei Emmanuel, Atalawei Alawei, Atalawei George, Atalawei Namaka, Atalawei Beril and Atalawei Naataco Sam all of Olugbobiri Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State and 1, 178 others;
Mr. Katsina Friday, Mr. Franklin Yewei, Mr. Ebikemefa Samuel, Mr. Godknows Yewei, Mr. Innocent Markson and Mr. Enelly Torubele all of Fishtown Settlement, Kefe Host Communities of Brass LGA of Bayelsa State and 538 others;
Mr. Ebibotei Pudighe, Mr. Nathaniel Innocent, Mr. Toidighe Felix, Mr. Ayibalatei Friday, Mr. Tarilatei Diepriye and Mr. Puyefa Doutimi all of Ekeni Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State and 186 others;
Chief. Iyowei Amakiri, Mr. Seiyebo Tuwaghe, Miss. Better Taylor, Chief Ebiri Douglas, Mr. Sinclair Emmanuel and Mr. Ere Gidi all of Forupa Community, Southern Ijaw LGA of Bayelsa State and 410 others;
Paramount Ruler, Council of Chiefs and the entire people of Olugbobiri Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State;
Paramount Ruler, Chiefs, CDC Chairman and entire people of Diebu Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State; and
Paramount Ruler, Council of Chiefs and the entire people of Peremabiri Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State.
Suoma Community, Koluama Clan, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Koluama Well Head, Camp 1, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Koluama Well Head Camp 2, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Koluama Peletei Fishing Camp I, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Koluama Peletei Fishing Camp II, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Koluama Peletei fishing Camp III, Sagbama LGA, Bayelsa State
Pulo Fishing Camp 1, Koluama, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Koluama Angala Fishing Port I, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Koluama Angala Fishing Port II, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Koluama Olodo Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Peremabiri Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Okoronama Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Ondewari Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Ikpaingi Community, Sagbama LGA, Bayelsa State
Eyogbene Community, Sagbama LGA, Bayelsa State
Egbopulo-Ama Community, Sagbama LGA, Bayelsa State
Etebegbene Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Awegbene Community, Sagbama LGA, Bayelsa State
Keme-Ebiama Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Umbugbene Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Dabas Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Agberikigbene Community, Sagbama LGA, Bayelsa State
Tari-Ama Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Zion Kiri Ama Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Ondewari II Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Isoni Community, Sagbama LGA, Bayelsa State
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Otokogbene Fishing Settlement, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Pulo Fishing Camp II, Koluama, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Olugboboro Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Doinkighegbene fishing Settlement, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Agbedewari fishing Settlement, Sagbama LGA, Bayelsa State
Ayama Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Onyoma Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Okungbene fishing Settlement, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Akeddei Community, Sagbama LGA, Bayelsa State
Gbaraun Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Location Gbene, Sagbama LGA, Bayelsa State
Edeworkiri fishing Settlement, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State LGA, Bayelsa State
Boudigbene fishing Settlement, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Egoligbene fishing Settlement, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Mbasikiri fishing Settlement, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Pargatanga Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Tengi Tereke Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Sobite Kiri Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Eremikaye Fishing Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Benben Kiri Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Eneghan –Ama Community, Sagbama LGA, Bayelsa State
Edepie Commiunity, Yenagoa LGA, Bayelsa State
Azi-Okunu Community, Yenagoa LGA, Bayelsa State
Amoviadem Community, Yenagoa LGA, Bayelsa State
Etegwe – Epie Community, Yenagoa LGA, Bayelsa State
Miebi Gbene fishing Settlement, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Pere -Ama Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Ombu – Ama Fishing Settlement, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Gbobo Fishing Town, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Hart – Kiri Fishing Settlement, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Amaye Fishing Town , Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Billy KIRI Fishing Camp Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Ockiya Iwokiri Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Ologoama Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Ekowe Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Dongoisaigha Fishing, Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Ekperiama Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Otuabula Community, Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State
Abobiri Community, Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State
Otioama fishing Settlement , Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Elukama Community Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Dorgu Iwoama Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Alama Community Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Waniye fishing Settlement Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Aya -Ama Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Okiki 1 Community, Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State
Ematebuke Community, Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State
Otuabula II Community, Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State
Otuobhi Community, Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State
Otuekpein Community, Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State
Ayebaye-ama Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Otuaganagu Community, Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State
Abobiri Community, Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State
Akoloman 1 Community, Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State
Akoloman 11 Community, Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State
Ologoghe Community, Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State
Onuebum Community, Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State
Lugugbeinwei-ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
Ologi Town, Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State
Otuedu Town, Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State
Ayakoro Town, Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State
Ogbema Fikoru-Ama , Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Akakumama Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Olukama Community , Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Ala-Ama fishing Camp Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Otio -Ama fishing Settlement Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Iria –Ama fishing Camp Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Matthew kiri fishing Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Friday kiri Community Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Daneke Fishing Camp Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Godwin Kiri fishing Camp Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Ogbulu –Ama fishing Camp Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Osakir Riri Community Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Ebiaye –ama fishing Settlement Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Izagba kiri Community Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Inowei-ama fishing Camp, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Ombu –Ama Fishing 11 Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Onyoma Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Okun.gbene fishing Settlement, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Edeworkiri fishing Settelement, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Kassama Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Aza-kassama Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Azama Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Olateiama Town, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Owei-ama Town, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Usakubebe-ama Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Asagala –ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
Dubalaye –Ama, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
SundayKiri Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Gibsonowei-Ama Settlement , Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Judepogokiri Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Luckykiri Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Alabokelvin-Kiri Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
George-Ama Fishing Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Okitotoru Fishing Settlement, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Mark Fishing Settlement, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Igonikiri Fishing Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
Mr. Ebibotei Pudighe, Mr. Nathaniel Innocent, Mr. Toidighe Felix, Mr. Ayibalatei Friday, Mr. Tarilatei Diepriye and Mr. Puyefa Doutimi and 186 others of Ekeni Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
Otuogori Community , Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State
100.Goluboama Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
101.Sangakubu Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
102.Obarigbekiri Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
103.Don Goewogha Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
104.Okokoama Okokokiri Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
105.Arukurgha Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
106.Oweiama fishing settelement, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
107.Akoinama Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
108.Okporama Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
109.Asuogha Community , Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
110.Egoligbene Fishing Settlement, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
111.Imbasikiri Fishing Settlement , Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
112.Ayebaye-Ama Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
113.Serekeama Fishing Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
114.Onunakubor okiki Community, Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State
115.Ama-Ebimo-Ogbo Gbaraun, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
116.Ebiladei-Ogbo (Gbaraun), Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
117.Agbarikigbene Community, Sagbama LGA, Bayelsa State
118.Olukama Community , Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
119.Azi-Okumu Community, Yenagoa LGA, Bayelsa State
120.Eneghan-Ama Community, Sagbama LGA, Bayelsa State
121.Iyirepama –ogbo (Gbaraun) Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
122.Tamarau Erepamowei –Ogbo, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
123.Omom-Ema Community, Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
124.Ogbema Community , Nembe LGA, Bayelsa State
125.Obiene –Ama, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
126.Ebinabo Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
127.Shell-Kiri Community , Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
128.Martha-Kiri Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
129.Asagala –ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
130.Arukurgha Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
131.Lugugbeinwei-ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
132.Asuogha Community , Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
133.Bele –Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
134.Kalakabia –Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
135.Oborua Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
136.Kaka Soubere Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
137.Godnodie-Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
138.Famokuma –Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
139.Gbaribo –Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
140.Papadogu Asack Kiri Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
141.Dighabo –Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
142. Amiesakiri 11 Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
143. Inieso –Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
144. Ogonibo –Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
145. Andrein –Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
146. Nathaniel –Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
147. Pereowei Kiri Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
148. Meshaeh Okolo Kiri Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
149. Digha –Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
150. Ebi –Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
151. Irufagha –Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
152. Doll- Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
153. Bogote- Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
154. Bendick –Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
155. Robinson – Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
156. Okuro Olali – Ama Commmunity, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
157. Daniel –Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
158. Biodomoye – Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
159. Alakuro –Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
160. Donah – Ama community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
161. Mathew – Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
162. Gila –Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
163. Iyagama Kiri Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
164. Numomiyegha Kiri community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
165. Ngibote Kiri community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
166. Karibo Kiri community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
167.Francis Iderite Ama, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
168.Teifie Ama, Odioma Kingdom, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
169.Ilaje Ama, Odioma Kingdom, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
170. Noble Kiri Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
171. Akpaka Kiri Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
172. Ogbiabo Kiri Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
173. Izulu –Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
174. Banado –Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
175. Atiei –Ama Community , Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
176. Alabo- Ama Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
177. Tubo Kiri Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
178. Aduga Kiri Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
179. Gbidibo Kiri Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
180. Junior Kiri Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
181.Onu Ama Community, Odioma Kingdom, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
182.Yunre Ikioworio, Eleefa Calmclay, Iniste Oweifubo, Tension Victor, Biodri Lucky & 295 others of Egele Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
203.Imgonabo P. Rockson, Adiniekinyou P. Rockson, Victor Pagamote, Kelly Agini, Muma Amagrite, & 184 others of Tolubugo Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
204.Trust Lazrush, Erikakumo Erefah, Ikakumo Samson, Ipogi Matthew, Solomon Inemo & 184 others of Peterkiri Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
205.Sunday Ikorogu, Maclean Inamunu, David Ogoni, Benson Gladys, John Itua,
& 92 others of Obokologbene Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
& 131 others of Emmankiri Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
207.All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State Chapter and 58 Cooperative Societies affiliated with it.
208.Bayelsa State Cooperative Women Alliance Ltd and all its 56 affiliates.
209.Banado Ama Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
210.Alabo Ama Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
211.Ogbiabo Ama Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
212.Akapakpa Kiri, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
213.Noble Kiri, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
214.Izulu Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
215.Atei Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
216.Digha Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
217.Ifiemi Peter Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
218.Okuro Olali Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
219.Emmanuel Vanman Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
220.Benedict Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
221.Robin Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
222.Egebe Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
223.Papadogu Asack Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
224.Ogonibo Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
225.Oborua Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
226.Bele Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
227.Pereowei Kiri, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
228.Gbanibo Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
229.Famokuma Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
230.Dighabo Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
231.Pargatanga Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
232.Meshach Okoto Kiri, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
233.Godnodie Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
234.Iboromo Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
235.Inieso Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
236.Matthew Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
237.Doute Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
238.Amiesa Kiri, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
239.Kaka Soubere, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
240.Kalakabia Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
241.Kaka Nathaniel Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
242.Doll Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
243.Ebi Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
244.Iruofagha Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
245.Obio Ebitei Ama, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
246.Olomu Kiri, Fishing Community, Brass LGA, Bayelsa State
247.Jacob Igburu, Nancy Jacob, Racheal Nicholas, Julius Selekeere, Ayebadiepriye Julius and 102 others of Ezetu 1, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
248. Abaraka Patrick, Agidi Ayibake-Ipreye, Bipeledei Tari, Bipeledei Victoria, Bright Confidence and 2058 others of Ezetu II, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
249.Chief Emmanuel Paul, Mr. Dennis David, Mrs Helling Nichalas, Mr. Stephen Samuel and 3022 others of Furopa Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
250.Chief N. K. Lazarus, Mrs Maureen Lazarus, Ikioworimene Nicholas, Favor Nicholas and 113 others of Olugbobiri Community, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State
251.Yenagoawei Trinity, Nembere John, Nicholas Victoria and 118 others of Koluama II, Southern Ijaw LGA, Bayelsa State.
