Dr Mofia Tonjo-Akobo

By Nathan Nwakamma

Gov. Douye Diri of Bayelsa has reemphasised the need for Ijaw people to embrace unity and speak with one voice to actualise their dreams and developmental aspirations.

Diri made the call at the weekend during a funeral service in honour of Nigerias pioneer Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Late Dr Mofia Tonjo-Akobo at Tombia Town in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers.

The position was contained in a statement issued on Sunday in Yenagoa, by Mr Doubara Atasi, Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Bayelsa Deputy Governor.

Diri was represented at the event by his Deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo.

The governor noted that the current realities in the country called for a more cohesive Ijaw nation where its people must work together to build on the achievements of their forebears.

He said although the Ijaw tribe is the fourth largest ethnic nationality in the country, not much has been achieved because of lack of unity and oneness of purpose in their pursuit for development and progress.

He explained that as riverine people whose survival largely depended on their marine environment, the Ijaws should adopt all necessary measures to oppose the National Water Resources Bill and other forms of oppression.

Acknowledging the contributions of the deceased towards the development of old Rivers State in particular and Nigeria in general, Diri described the late Tonjo-Akobo as a great star who wrote his name on the sands of time.

He decried the glaring absence of any federal government delegation at the former ministers funeral service, describing the development as lack of appreciation and respect for not only the deceased; but for the entire Ijaw people.

For us the Ijaw people, this is the time to live in unity and peace. More often than not, we talk about unity without preaching peace. There is no way we can have peace without unity.

Unity is the foundation on which peace thrives. So, we use this opportunity to call on our brothers in Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Lagos, Edo, Delta, Ondo, Lagos, Bayelsa and beyond to come together.

Ijaw is the fourth largest ethnic nationality in Nigeria. But because of disunity among ourselves we have not been able to achieve much as a Nation.

If today M. T. Akobo was to be from one of the major ethnic group, I am sure the federal government would have sent a delegation.

But because he is an Ijaw, he is here lying alone without such honour. He said.

While expressing condolences on behalf of himself, the government and the people of Bayelsa, Diri enjoined the Akobo family, the Tombia community and his friends to take solace in the fact that the deceased lived a life worthy of emulation.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Akobo was a founding member of Izon National Congress (INC) in 1991, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Movement for National Reformation (MNR) and the Union of Niger Delta (UND) among others.

He also served as Rivers Commissioner for Works (1972-1973); Commissioner for Economic Planning and Reconstruction (1973-1974); Commissioner for Finance (1975); Pioneer Minister of Petroleum and Energy (1975 1976); and Minister of Economic Planning and Development (1976-). (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Personnel of NSCDC

By Chukwuemeka Opara

The Ebonyi Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) says it has arrested three persons for alleged impersonation and fake job offer.

The State Commandant of the corps, Lucy Samu, made the disclosure in a statement issued by the commands Public Relations Officer, Paul Odimba, in Abakiliki on Sunday.

Samu said that the suspects were arrested, following a tip-off, for allegedly deceiving unsuspecting members of the public with fake employment opportunities.

According to the statement, the suspects (all adults) impersonated and deceived the public with fake job opportunities into the Ebonyi Fertilizer and Chemical Company.

We want to assure the government and people of a thorough investigation into the matter while our legal team will offer advice on the way forward, she said.

The General Manager of the company, Mrs Emerald Ude-Akaji, said her office received several reports of alleged ongoing employment in the company by a syndicate through a widely circulated notice.

Ude-Akaji, who is also the Special Assistant to the Governor on Fertilizer Development, said she commenced investigation into the matter and decided to play along with the syndicate in order to bust it.

My personal assistant called them to indicate his interest and they gave him an appointment which he honoured with a team of NSCDC personnel attached to us.

We saw lots of unsuspecting applicants, who turned up for the job offer and the NSCDC personnel subsequently arrested members of the syndicate.

It is left for those arrested to explain whether they are leaders of the syndicate or people hired to work for it, Ude-Akaji said.

One of the suspects told NAN that they were not members of a syndicate but staff of Golden Neolife Diamite International (GNLD) Company, which deals in agro-based products and food supplements, amongst others.

Our company offers employment to people through the purchase and marketing of its products because we also deal in organic fertilizers (liquid).

The notice of employment, which we placed indicated a fertilizer company and not Ebonyi Fertilizer Company, the suspect said on the condition of anonymity.

The suspects said that they had contacted their management, saying that the company does not deceice people with offer of fake employment. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Young becomes sixth Inter player to test positive for COVID-19

Inter Milans Ashley Young has tested positive for COVID-19, the Serie A club said on Sunday, becoming the sixth member of their squad to be infected in the last week.

Inter said in a statement that the Englishman, who plays as a full back cum winger, was in quarantine at home.

Midfielders Roberto Gagliardini and Radja Nainggolan also returned positive results from tests carried out at Inters training ground this week.

Defenders Alessandro Bastoni and Milan Skriniar tested positive while with Italy under-21 and Slovakia senior squads, respectively.

Under Serie A rules, players who test positive have to quarantine for 14 days, which could leave Inter seriously depleted for their derby against AC Milan on Oct. 17.

Source: NAN News

Funding 2021 budget with oil revenue will be difficult -Expert

By Edith Ike-Eboh

Prof. Wumi Iledare, Professor of Petroleum Economics says it will be difficult to fund 2021 budget with oil revenue going by the development in the global oil market.

Iledare made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on Oct. 8 presented N13.08 trillion 2021 appropriation bill to the joint session of the National Assembly for passage.

The N13.08 trillion bill is predicated on crude oil benchmark price of 40 dollars per barrel at 1.86 million daily oil output.

Dont expect the budget to be funded by revenue from oil or hydrocarbons extraction.

That is impossible under the current global economic projections. Moreover, a great proportion of oil production is not accessible to the government for its budget funding, he said.

Iledare said that there were possibilities that budget might be increased from N13.08 trillion to about N15 trillion.

He said that non-oil sector might be the target if some stimulus packages were part of the budget.

He said that government should look into domestic funding and advised against foreign loan to fund wages and salaries.

One can also hope that a bulk of the funding will be dedicated to capital projects, he said.

Source: NAN News

By Diana Omueza

Youngstars Development Initiative, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), says more than 8,000 females across 35 African countries have signed up on its First Female and More Mobile Application created by the group.

Bangwell said that the platform was designed to become a storytelling platform for building self esteem of young women so they could have better belief in themselves.

He added that it would also enable them to raise their voices, engage social spaces and be inspired to pursue their greatest potential in life.

He noted that the number of entries received for the programme far outweighed the entries received during its introductory edition.

According to him, during the introductory edition of the programme which recently ended, only 200 participants were recorded.

This platform is majorly offering self esteem building for young and old African women across different sectors who have defied limited socio-cultural and inhibitive narratives to dream big, pursue and achieve greatness.

Overwhelmingly, since we opened the platform in August, no fewer than 8,000 females across 35 African countries have signed up.

The kind of response we have got to this project has confirmed our proposition that it is time to rethink how we engage women and galvanise them on development issues.

We are beginning to ask the question of where these ladies have been all these years when we organise physical meetings on women empowerment programmes.

We have come to realise that what makes this whole experience unique is that the application is a seamless process that happens at the touch of a button on your smart phone or computer.

And the entire process takes less than seven minutes to register, read the days story and answer questions, he said.

He said that the platform gave room for self esteem building and also conversion of reading of stories and referrals of the platform to other women into rewards and certifications.

He noted that anyone who joined the 30 days module could read a story per day, answer questions and earn points that cumulate into rewards.

Bangwell also said that participants would also enjoy personal development coaching on any area they felt passionate about.

He gave such areas as boosting low self worth, knowing and identifying you, overcoming negative past and trauma.

He noted that the coaching content and segments were by female coaches who were passionate about the subject matter they were providing coaching on.

He said that participants who would successfully complete the course would not only get certificates but also proceed to implementing a social impact project on any issue, including those of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

He said that successful execution of the projects would give room for continuous personal development on personal leadership skills, provide access to social spaces and create avenue to contribute to nation building.

Bangwell said that the programme was created from the organisations research that showed the extent to which self esteem had become a global problem for women.

According to him, 85 per cent of women and 79 per cent of girls say they will opt out of important life activities where and when they do not feel good about their physical looks.

Studies revealed that self esteem is a definer and a shaper of the quality of lives a woman can possibly have and live.

Seven in 10 girls with low self-esteem believe they wont be assertive in their opinion or stick to their decision if they are not happy with the way they looked.

More than 96.5 per cent recommended the need for a self-esteem boosting programme, he said.

Bangwell said the findings gave rise to the programme to help women build the right self esteem so they could improve their self value, think big, raise their voice and contribute to nation building.

He said there was no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women.

He said that contribution to empowering the woman was also commitment to building the nation.

Source: NAN News

By Victor Okoye

The Desert Foxes of Algeria on Friday pipped Nigerias Super Eagles 1-0 in an international friendly in Austria as the African champions extended their unbeaten run to 19 consecutive wins.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the match, played at the Wrthersee Stadium in Klagenfurt, saw Borussia Mnchengladbach star Ramy Bensebaini scoring the matchs only goal.

The Algerians piled up pressure on the Nigerians, scoring after just six minutes when full-back Bensebaini followed up a rebound from a header off a corner-kick with the Eagles defence in disarray.

Algeria continued to press forward as Nigeria struggled to settle into the match.

The Super Eagles first real chance at goal, however, came in the 22nd minute when Alex Iwobi fired a shot at the Algerian goal, but his effort screamed wide off target.

Nigeria finished the stronger of the two teams after debutant Zaidu Sanusis cross in the 39th minute located Paul Onuachu leading to a corner-kick.

Three minutes later, the FC Porto defender powered forward again and forced a save from Alexandre Oukidja, before Samuel Kalu shot directly at the goalkeeper soon afterwards.

Nigeria started the brighter of the two sides in the second half but they continued to give away possession and relied on counter-attacks to really get going.

Against the run of play, the impressive Tyronne Ebuehi drove from defence to shoot at goal on the hour, but again his effort failed to hit the mark.

Hoffenheim defender Kevin Akpoguma, who was recently cleared by FIFA to change international allegiance from Germany, made his Eagles debut when he replaced Ebuehi in the 67th minute.

However, it was the North Africans who pressed forward in an attempt to double their lead, while the few times Nigeria surged upfront they could not go past a very organised Algerian defence.

Goalkeeper Maduka Okoye tipped away a goal-bound effort by substitute Yacine Brahimi in the 84th minute.

Substitute Kelechi Iheanacho, who replaced Onuachu, came close to grabbing the much-needed equaliser with a last gasp effort in added time but his shot went off target.

This is a very good test for us. There are positives to pick from a tough game like this, Nigerian coach Gernot Rohr was quoted as saying on the teams official Twitter account

He said: Now we have to recover well and start to plan for the next game on Tuesday against another tough team, Tunisia.

The Super Eagles head to the Jacques Lemmans Arena on Tuesday to face the continents second-ranked team, Tunisia, who defeated Sudan 3-0 earlier on Friday.

Source: NAN News

Coronavirus update

By Abujah Racheal

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced 151 new Coronavirus (COVID-19), infections in the country.

The NCDC made this known on its official twitter handle on Friday.

The centre said that the 151 new cases brought the nations confirmed COVID-19 infection to 59,992.

It stated that the cases were reported in nine states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, but no death was recorded.

Consequently, the number of COVID-19 fatalities stood at 1,113.

The NCDC said that Lagos state recorded the highest daily infection with 71 new cases followed by Ogun and Kaduna with 26 and 17 respectively.

Other states were Osun (10), Oyo (8), FCT (6), Rivers (6), Plateau (5), Akwa Ibom (1), and Ekiti (1).

The public health agency said till date, 59,992 cases have been confirmed, 51,614 cases have been discharged and 1,113 deaths have been recorded in the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory.

The centre said that a multi-sectoral national emergency operations centre (EOC), activated at Level 3, has continued to coordinate the national response activities across the country.

Meanwhile, the NCDC said that Wearing a mask is the first step to protecting yourself and others from COVID-19 under the new normal.

A face mask must be worn when you are in public or when you are around people who dont live with you, it advised.

Source: NAN News

Hameed Ali, NCS Boss

By Chiazo Ogbolu

The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Western Marine Command, on Friday gave commendation certificates to 11 officers who facilitated the seizure of 10,000kg of cannabis sativa on April 21.

The Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Olugbenga Peters, made the presentation of the certificates to the officers in Lagos.

The Western Marine Command is an enforcement unit and its main function is to protect the waterways, fight insecurity and combat smuggling.

Peters said that the commendation certificates would serve as a morale booster to the officers and encourage officers of the Western Marine Command.

He noted that the officers on April 21, seized over 10 tonnes of cannabis saliva valued at N1.02 billion, the biggest single catch in the history of the customs on high sea.

The officers act has demonstrated zero tolerance to corruption and other vices in line with the policy thrust of the present administration, Peters said.

He listed the eleven officers as: T.H. Baba, N.E.Tangwa, T.D. Ogundipe, I. Sulaiman, S. Dauda, N. N.Udo, M.E. Okauru, S. Dimka, Y.K. Mohammed, R. Lawal and M. Akanni.

Peters said that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) had recognised the activities of the Western Marine Command in combating smuggling.

He also said that UNODC was perfecting plans to install a video teleconferencing equipment that would enhance the operations of the maritime industry.

Peters said that the equipment when installed would strengthen inter agency cooperation between the NCS and other maritime law enforcement agencies in the fight against piracy and other maritime crimes.

According to him, the platform will provide for remote witness testimony in the prosecution of maritime cases.

In a related development, Peters said that the command made a Duty Paid Value of N18.9 million from contrabands seized at various outstations from July to September.

He listed the items as: 1,033 bags of 50kg of rice, 24 kegs of 25 litres of vegetable oil, 26 cartons of footwears, 331 kegs of 25 litres of Petrol, 100 pairs of worn shoes, 52 kegs of five litres each of organic fertiliser and beauty products.

Source: NAN News

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo

By Chijioke Okoronkwo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has met with the Inspector-General of Police(I-G), Mohammed Adamu, Director-General, and heads of other security agencies over Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS).

In attendance were the Director-General, Department of State Services(DSS), Yusuf Bichi and Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission(NHRC), Tony Ojukwu.

Osinbajos spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement in Abuja said that the meeting was held on Friday, to determine the next steps toward addressing concerns of Nigerians on the excesses of SARS.

The Vice President and I-G later briefed President Muhammadu Buhari who gave further directives to the I-G on the matter, he said.

Meanwhile, Buhari has directed the I-G to ensure that personnel of the force remained fully accountable to the people.

The Presidents directive was made public in series of tweets on Friday night.

Buhari also affirmed the peoples right to public protest and appealed for calm.

Osinbajo had on Oct. 4, met with the I-G at his residence over the activities of SARS and other police tactical units.

The Vice President had told State House correspondents that he was angry that young people were harassed; sometimes maimed and killed by policemen.

He said such actions perpetrated by those saddled with the responsibilities of protecting the citizens were unacceptable.

Source: NAN News

President Muhammadu Buhari

By Ismaila Chafe

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday night met behind closed doors with the Inspector-General of Police, Muhammed Adamu, over ongoing efforts to reform the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

The president confirmed this development in a series of tweets on his tweeter platform late Friday night.

The Nigerian president added that he was being briefed regularly on the reform efforts aimed at ending police brutality and unethical conduct, and ensure that the Police are fully accountable to the people.

He, however, urged all citizens to show more understanding and patience as government would continue to do its best in protecting lives and property of Nigerians.

He said: I met again with the IGP tonight. Our determination to reform the police should never be in doubt.

I am being briefed regularly on the reform efforts ongoing to end police brutality and unethical conduct, and ensure that the Police are fully accountable to the people.

The IG already has my firm instructions to conclusively address the concerns of Nigerians regarding these excesses,