Four federal agencies have agreed to collaborate with the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs to intervene on the dilapidated Calabar – Odukpani- Itu – Ikot Ekpene – Aba road.
The intervention seeks to ameliorate the plight of motorists on the road.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Ita Enang led representatives from the four agencies namely, Federal Ministry of Works, Federal Emergency and Road Management Agency (FERMA), the Niger Delta Development Commission, (NDDC) and the Federal Road Safety Corps, (FRSC) over the weekend to an inspection of the road. Senator Ita Enang, SSA to the President on Niger Delta Affairs addressing journalists during the inspection of the Calabar -Itu road over the weekend
During the inspection, Senator Enang said the agencies have agreed to intervene on the road to ease vehicular movement during the yuletide.
Commuters now spend eight to ten hours between Uyo to Calabar, a distant which usually took an hour before the road became terribly dilapidated.
In the last two months, people traveling from Uyo to Calabar have resorted to using ferry services at Oron to Calabar.
Contract for the dualisation of the Calabar-Itu road was awarded to Julius Berger about two years ago, but work could not commence on the road because the government could not pay the contractor an agreed take-off fee.
Enang said the intervention is to make the road motorable pending the commencement of full dualisation of the road, stressing that the intervention was in response to appeals from road users.
He said the federal government has awarded contract for the dualization of 22 kilometers of the road which stretches from Odukpani in Cross River State to Aba, Abia State.
The President’s aide noted that out of the N54 billion contract sum, N7 billion was released to the company.
The SSA thanked all the agencies that have collaborated to intervene on the road.
“The essence of this assessment is for us to join forces in terms of recourses to provide intervention on this road. FERMA will take its part, the NDDC will take its part and the federal ministry of works will take its part.”
“As I have been saying, there are three sections of this road: the one that is awarded, the one designed, under procurement but yet to be awarded and the section that nothing has happened at all.”
“There is what the federal ministry of works calls ’ember month programme’. It is aimed at keeping federal highways workable and motorable during the Christmas period. They have that provision and that’s what they will be doing here”, Enang said.
The representative of the Federal Ministry of works, Engr. Peter Umoren who is the Project Supervisor for the road told journalists that their proposal for the project has received needed attention by the ministry.
“We have all ready sent our proposal to the headquarters for the Ember Month Programme. It is receiving attention and as soon as it is approved, we shall be here”, he affirmed.
A deputy Director in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Engr Etim Eyoette, said the agency will provide intervention on the road and make it motorable.
“We have seen the deplorable condition of the road. We are taking measurement and urgently sending proposals to the head office. NDDC is not new to this road. In 2016, we intervened on some portions of the road. So, we know exactly what to do in this situation”, he said.
The zonal coordinator of FERMA, covering Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Bayelsa States, Engr Backon Israel gave the assurance that necessary steps were being taken in order to tackle the situation.
However, while Julius Berger, through her Project Manager, Engr Christian Kloeptol has assured road users that her awarded portion of 12.2 kilometres would be maintained to allow for free flow of traffic.
Meanwhile, the Akwa Ibom Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, SC Aghenek Aro, has assured motorists that his men will continue to maintain ideal traffic situation on the road during the festive period.
BAYELSA – Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, is preparing grounds for the commissioning of the N24 billion Ogbia-Nembe Road, built in partnership with Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC.
It spans 29 kilometres through swampy terrains in Bayelsa State.
Speaking on behalf of the NDDC Acting Managing Director, Gbene Joi Nunieh, after inspecting the project on Sunday 24th November, the Acting Executive Director, Projects, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, affirmed that it aligns with the plans of the NDDC to revisit all legacy projects.
Ojougboh, who was accompanied by the Director, Project Monitoring and Supervision, Engr Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua; the Acting Director Utilities, Infrastructural Development and Waterways, Engr Fredrick Ogbeide, and other directors, said the NDDC would make sure that key projects were completed for the benefit of the people of the Niger Delta region.
Ojougboh said that the Ogbia-Nembe Road was handed over to the NDDC over a year ago and efforts were afoot for its commissioning in the shortest possible time. He added: “This is one of the legacy projects which the NDDC will like to showcase because it is a success story of what can be achieved through strategic partnership.
“The goal of the NDDC is to take development to the hinterland where the state governments and other development agencies may have failed to pay attention to. That is part of the mandate of the Commission.”
He observed that communities in the Niger Delta contribute immensely to the economic well-being of Nigeria and were, therefore, deserving of quality projects.
Audu-Ohwavborua, described the Ogbia-Nembe road as a model in partnership, with emphasis on quality job delivery, stating that the collaboration should be encouraged.
He declared: “This is the standard we will maintain for all our road projects. Going forward, we want to extend this to other areas such as shore protection and canalization projects.
“The Ogbia-Nembe road was a good demonstration of what could be achieved when development agencies, companies and state governments collaborate. It is a clarion call to all our development partners. They should take a cue from what Shell has done.”
The push for a financially independent local government system in the country has been re-energised in the Senate. A bill to amend the constitution to achieve financial autonomy for local government councils has already been gazetted and is ready for a debate on the floor of the Senate this week.
A copy of the bill seen by The Guardian stipulates the abrogation of the existing and much-criticised states and local government joint account. In its place, “each local government council is to create and maintain its own special account to be called Local Government Allocation Account into which all allocations due to the local government council shall be paid directly from the Federation Account and from the government of the state.”
The bill, sponsored by Senator Rose Oko (PDP, Cross Rivers State), further mandates each state to “pay to local government councils in its area of jurisdiction such proportion of its internally generated revenue on such terms and in such manner as may be prescribed by the House of Assembly.”
Also, “The House of Assembly of each state shall by law prescribe such percentage of the money allocated to the state and its local government council from the Federation Account to be used for the purpose of payment of salaries of primary school teachers and such other purposes as it may determine.”
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) confirmed yesterday through it’s Head, Media, and Public Affairs, Abdulrazaq Bello-Barkindo, that the 36 state governors have not reneged on their opposition to the attempt by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to grant financial autonomy to local government councils.
Last May, when the NFIU issued some guidelines to allow local government councils direct access to money granted to them from the Federation Account, the move attracted serious criticisms from the governors’ forum.
The governors also approached President Muhammadu Buhari on the action taken by the NFIU, which they accused of dabbling in a matter “beyond its mandate.”
In a letter to the president, they expressed dismay over what they called the NFIU’s “brazen attempt to ridicule” their collective integrity and “show total disregard for the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) as amended.”
The NFIU, which was excised from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, set June 1, 2019, as the takeoff date of the new order, making it compulsory for all local government allocations to go straight to their respective bank accounts.
The decision was contained in guidelines released by the NFIU after a lengthy meeting with officials of commercial banks in Abuja. The NFIU also pegged the total amount of cash that could be withdrawn from any local government per day at N500,000.
But the NGF condemned the directive in its letter to Buhari, titled “Re: NFIU Enforcement and Guidelines to Reduce Crime Vulnerabilities Created by Cash Withdrawal from Local Government Funds throughout Nigeria Effective June 1st, 2019.”
The then NGF chairman Abdulaziz Yari had argued that nothing in the NFIU Act 2018 gave the body the powers that it sought to exercise in the guidelines. He said the unit was acting in excess of its powers and in complete disregard for the constitution.
Yari also accused the NFIU of “stoking mischief and deliberately seeking to cause disaffection, chaos and overheat the polity.”
In a related development, some lawyers have declared support for the attempt to guarantee financial independence for the third tier of government. They nevertheless called for greater transparency in the management of funds by the local government councils.
A professor of law, Mr. Earnest Ojukwu, SAN, said: “I don’t think any law states that local government funds must be passed through the state. But just passing money directly to local governments does not solve the fundamental issue of transparency, openness, and accountability.
“We must also ensure that local governments abide by accountability standards. The decision does not also solve the challenge of governors interfering and sacking elected chairmen and councilors.”
Similarly, Yunuz Uztaz, SAN, said: “Section 7(6) of the Constitution provides that it is the National Assembly that shall make provisions for statutory allocation to the local governments. There is no provision that their money should go through the state governors.”
On his part, a constitutional lawyer, Mr. Mohammed Abeny, SAN, said: “The present constitution is based on three tiers of government to wit – federal, state and local governments.
“Allocation of revenue has followed that pattern. The fact that state governors have continued to divert local government financial allocations to their use is an aberration that is contrary to Section 7 of the constitution under which the financial autonomy of local government councils is guaranteed. Whatever the Federal Government can do to restore the financial autonomy of local government councils will be welcomed.”
The forensic audit of the NDDC ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari last month has provoked interest groups to launch more attacks on Senator Godswill Akpabio, the agency’s supervising minister. These attacks are vitriolic, trenchant and sometimes personal.
Clearly, the potential of these examinations to unravel the rots and corruption that have buffeted the agency for years has caused panic among the parasitic ruling elite. The spectre of being exposed by the auditors for collecting money without executing jobs given them has driven our politicians and their dubious contractors into a frenzy, and they have unwisely picked on Senator Akpabio as their punching bag. Are they not aware that the forensic audit was ordered by the President on the request of the governors of the Niger Delta? Do these people think that Akpabio would have inaugurated the interim management without the expressed approval of the President? Or is it a case of castigating the Minister just because you don’t want to needle at the President? If you cannot get the President, kill the Minister!
Just today, Hilliard Eta, a chieftain of the APC, launched a brutal criticism of the Minister. It was published in The Punch newspaper. The major thesis in Eta’s interview is that the interim management of the NDDC should be scrapped, and the Board should be inaugurated to assume duties and oversee the forensic audit. I have no reasons to doubt the genuine intentions of Hilliard Eta. He’s an important stakeholder in our region. I respect his views. But as a vigilant citizen, I have a responsibility to intervene.
First, I should emphasize that the interim management was inaugurated specifically as a short-term management team mandated to create unfettered and comfortable environment for the auditors. Unlike the Board of Directors that was proposed by various senior politicians and interest groups in the region, the interim management is not beholden to any group of persons or political blocs; and because they have a single-minded agenda of getting the audit exercise concluded in a few months, the interim management is not distracted by the usual swamp of contract bazaars and political influences that have been the preoccupation of past managements. The interim management will not be bogged down by contract awards, payments of past obligations and politics of employment. Their job is to provide all files, documents, personnel and indeed the environment needed to get the inquiry concluded. The Board will be inaugurated as soon as the audit is concluded, and their job would be to execute the recommendations of the auditors.
I should remind Hilliard Eta and many other critical stakeholders in our region that as recently three years ago, the President had approved the appointment of Mrs Ibim Semenitari as a Sole Administrator of the NDDC. She ran the place without a Board for a year. Mrs Semenitari, a fellow journalist, was a Commissioner in Rivers State when Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi was governor. Indeed, her appointment as the Sole Administrator of the agency was facilitated by Amaechi. Hilliard Eta and his tribe did not offer a single word of attack against her appointment. This is why I believe that these noxious politicians and contractors are only vocal now because the new interim management is executing the President’s agenda of overhauling and repositioning the NDDC. They had nothing against Mrs Semenitari because her agenda did not include forensic audit. Her job was not to unravel the locusts that fed fat on our collective patrimony. She had no business exposing the fat cats that took away our future. But the new interim management led by Mrs Joi Nunieh is saddled with the task of cleaning the Augean Stable. And now all hell is let lose. Clearly, the guilty are afraid!
I will conclude by emphasizing that this audit and the repositioning of the NDDC is not about Akpabio. Even if Akpabio were not the Minister, the audit would still have been inevitable; and somebody would have done it. The masses of the Niger Delta region are tired of waiting and watching helplessly as their politicians and their contractors continue to commandeer our Commonwealth. The audit must be done. Thank you, Mr President
ETIM is a journalist and a former member of the Editorial Board of The Guardian newspaper
Akwa Ibom state government has directed all contractors handling road projects in the state to return to site or risk being blacklisted.
The directive is coming few days after The Dune newspaper report detailed how newly completed roads constructed by the Udom Emmanuel adminstration were failing barely few months after they were inaugurated.
The report generated reactions from many citizens of state some of whom called on the governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, to sack the Commissioner for Works, Mr. Ephraim Inyang-Eyen whose ministry supervised the failed roads.
Following discussion of The Dune newspaper report on radio, callers into a programme, Team Nigeria Classic, broadcast on a private radio station in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state capital, expressed displeasure over poor quality of newly constructed roads in different parts of the state.
Indigenes of the state are worried that some roads which inaugurated by Governor Udom Emmanuel in May this year were having potholes, while others have multitude distresses of different geometric patterns.
READ FULL REPORT ON FAILED ROADS:
https://abntv.com.ng/2019/11/aibom-works-commissioner-ephraim-inyang-and-his-failed-roads/
Commissioner for Information, Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Charles Udoh, in a chat with newsmen over the weekend said the government is displeased by poor quality roads done by contractors.
“The government is miffed by pockets of complaints emanating from shoddy performance of a handful of contractors handling projects in the state, and has vowed that any contractor culpable will face drastic actions.”
Udoh emphasized the state would not fold its hands and watch its efforts sabotaged by any contractor, who might have attempted to cut corners rather than stick to acceptable standards.
He said government’s policy drive was to ensure all public funds channelled into infrastructural development, were judiciously accounted for.
“The ongoing efforts to expand road network in the state have been due to the deliberate efforts of government to aggressively tackle the rot in infrastructure across the state, to ensure that no part of it is left behind”.
He said Governor Udom Emmanuel is committed to ensure the state’s economic nerve centres are adequately connected by a network of quality and long-lasting roads.
Udoh assured that all projects embarked upon by the current administration would be completed on or before its terminal date.
The commissioner commended vigilant members of the public for drawing government’s attention to these lapses; stating that the task of developing the state remained a collective responsibility of all.
CROSS RIVER – Star Ultra Deep Petroleum LTD, a Chevron company, in collaboration with Cross River State Government, and other stakeholders has concluded a five day training for teachers in public schools as well as donated teaching and learning aids to five secondary schools in the state. Guests at the training on Friday, 22nd November, 2019.[/caption]
The five days capacity development, and donation of teaching and learning aids which took place at West African People’s Institute, Calabar, had teachers trained on safety, security, classroom management, environment and ICTs.
Speaking at the donation of learning and teaching aids to students and teachers, the Director Star Ultra Deep Petroleum Limited, Mr. Richard Kennedy represented by Mr. Ugo Mgbemene Christopher, appreciated Cross River State Government, State Ministry of Education and the NNPC which he described as senior partner, for their collaboration to the success of the event.
He expressed belief that the teaching and learning aids donated to the five benefitting public schools will assist in high grading teaching, learning and empower students for the challenges of the future.
“Partnership is one of the core values in Chevron companies and we are happy to have partnered with the Cross River State Government and other stakeholders to make today’s event a reality.
“The intervention of the Star Ultra Deep Petroleum Ltd and its co-venturers in OML 140 block is primarily to assist the government improve the supply of critical books and teaching aids in Nigerian schools and increase teachers’ capacity in using modern technique to impart desired knowledge to students.
“Apart from donation of teaching aids to schools in Nigeria, Chevron with its affiliates and co-venturers has made significant contributions over the years to raising the standard of education and ensuring Nigeria has requisite manpower for sustainable development and , also more access to good healthcare through its interventions in the health sector.”
The Director revealed that the partners have also Instituted specialised educational scholarship programmes in support of health and manpower development in Nigeria through targeted support for medical, nursing, laboratory sciences and engineering students.
He pointed out that for over five decades of operation in Nigeria, Chevron is proud to add value to the people of Nigeria and contribute positively to the socio-economic development of the country.
Earlier in his address, the Chairman, Oil and Gas Nigeria Ltd Chief Reggie Uduhiri, expressed hope that the company’s support for educational and economic empowerment programmes in the country will positively impact on the academic performances of youths and growth of entrepreneurship for the sustainable development of he country.
The Chairman who was represented at the event by Jane Coker, averred that Oil and Gas Nigeria Ltd is working with its co-venturers to assist Government of Cross River State and the Federal Ministry of Education to raise the standard of education to another level.
“The donations we are making today reflects our belief that education and skills acquisition are pivotal to the sustainable development of a country. And this is our contribution to make our country great.
“OMG with other stakeholders in OML 140, has also sponsored economic empowerment programmes in Anambra, Niger and Oyo states, aimed at building capacity in young Nigerians and helping them to be self-reliant.”
He noted that the intervention has led to employment creation, poverty reduction and livelihood improvement as well as development of rural-based cottage industries.
[caption id="attachment_612" align="alignleft" width="300"]Teaching and learning aids donated to schools during the training.
Earlier, the representative of Cross River State Government and Permanent Secretary Ministry of Education, Mrs. Aniedi Ekpenyong thanked Chevron, Oil and Gas Nigeria Ltd, and other partners for assisting the state government trained teachers as well as providing teaching and learning aids to five schools.
She apologized on behalf of the State Governor and the Commissioner for Education, as she said they were attending to urgent state matters.
The Permanent Secretary appealed for more supports in training teachers and equipping schools, adding that the state Ministry of Education is carrying out a comprehensive need assessment of public schools for proper communication to the state Governor.
Mrs. Ekpenyong urged the benefitting teachers to go back and train others from what they learnt.
Also speaking, the Director of Schools in the state Ministry of Education, Mrs. Charity Otoho who also participated in the training, thanked participants and encouraged them to put into practice what they learnt.
The highpoint of the event was the distribution of books, 100 desktop computers and teaching aids to five public secondary schools in the state which are :Etung Comprehensive Secondary School, Bendegehe, Ekiem; Kagbong Secondary Commercial School, Ikpong; Government Secondary School, Anatigha; Girls Secondary School, Obudu; and Community Secondary School, Ugep.
The Management of Maritime Academy of Nigeria is relentless in the advancement of its sustainable template for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for the host communities of the Academy.
On Friday, November 22, 2019, the Academy successfully organized a Sensitization workshop on the theme: “Curbing Drug Abuse, Cyber Crime and Cultism Among Secondary School Students”.
This was one of many in the series held by the Academy in the past two years.
Held in the ultramodern Rotimi Ameachi Auditorium, the workshop had in attendance 600 Secondary School Students drawn from 10 different schools in Oron Local Government Area, the immediate host community to the Academy.
As part of ensuring that the aims and objectives of the workshop were most effectively and satisfactorily realized, the Academy’s Management neither spared resources nor bothered about the rigours of assembling such a huge number of students and the best resource persons who are experts in their fields, to marshal proceedings and harness the nitty-gritty of the content and scope of the workshop through paper presentations, slide pictures, videos and interactive sessions.
The five resource persons who took turns to deliver their papers were drawn from the National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Uyo Command, represented by a Superintendent of Narcotics and Principal Staff Officer (PSO), Mrs. Naomi John Isang; the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Uyo Zonal Office, represented by SDS. Moses Otitoju; and Superintendent of Police (SP), Daniel Etuk, from the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Akwa Ibom State Command. Representing the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) and Head of Health Services of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria was Dr. Obioma Christopher; and a Senior Staff of the Academy and Ordained Minister of God, T. Dunya, on behalf of the Church.
The Rector of the Academy, Commodore Duja Emmanuel Effedua , in his welcome remarks had emphasised on the essence of the workshop and his administration’s unwavering determination to utilize Corporate Social Responsibility as a vibrant vehicle to impact positively on the composite segments and sectors of the host communities. He stated that the choice of the sensitization workshop was borne out of the recurrent incidences of social vices in contemporary times, perhaps as it specifically affect the Oron environment, which available statistics have found the youth to be most vulnerable.
The Rector who was represented by the Acting Registrar of the Academy, Mr. Peter Netson, in company of some Directors and other staffers, further maintained that it was necessary pragmatic and prompt steps be taken by the Academy to sensitize the younger generation through timely and quality exposures and orientation on the dynamics of social vices and their attendant dangers.
“The youths are the trustees of tomorrow. They are the future of this nation. For that reason, they have to be taken care of, well-exposed, equipped and protected at any cost against prevalent social evils in the society. That is why, in organizing events like this, the Academy cares little or nothing about what some might see as inconvenience but is essentially concerned about the health, opportunities, potentials and the future of our youth, which can easily be damaged if we as elders and institution failed in our God-assigned responsibilities.
Continuing, the Rector reiterated, “For us in the Academy, CSR is a necessity that cannot be taken for granted. That is why, before today’s workshop, most schools and other sections of the host communities have already benefitted from our goodwill. It is therefore expected that at the end of today’s exercise, the students will have come to better appreciate its essence as they return to their various schools and communities to be better students and children”. The Rector however hinted that more were on line for similar packages in the future, with variations in content and targets to cater for perceived existing and emerging needs across geography and demographics of the host communities.
In her paper entitled: “Danger and Remedies of Drugs Abuse to the Youths in Our Society”, Mrs. Naomi Isang disclosed that many youths have gone mad, died suddenly or became nuisance to the society because of addiction to narcotic drugs. Her lecture equally helped the students to identify drugs commonly used, processes of drug abuse, predisposing factors, stages of drug abuse, socially acceptable drugs, meaning and effects of addiction as well as made recommendations on how the menace could be curbed.
On the topic: “The Negative Effects of Cultism”, SP Daniel Etuk had taken the students down memory lane to how cultism may have sown its portent seed in the University College, Ibadan in 1958 when the Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, and eight others launched an advocacy group called Seadogs, to fight against the evils of colonialism. The officer however lamented how cultism has flowered with many names and deadly activities over the years and strongly warned the students to shun it in all forms because of dangers it poses to individual life and the society. The nuisance of cyber crime –its definitions, methodologies, target groups, social and legal implications and the need for abhorrence was handled by Mr. Moses Otitoju.
Just as the health talk by Dr. Obioma Christopher helped the students to better understand the effects of drug abuse and the intricacies in the use of term as well as opened their minds to subtle steps to addiction, the last paper of the workshop which was a sort of spiritual counselling by Mr. T. Dunya focussed on the spirit behind all evil thoughts. Making copious references to the Bible Book of Genesis 1: 26, 27; 4:10-14; Romans and 5: 23 and the need for all to repent and take full advantage of Jesus’s ransoming blood for forgiveness and salvation, he traced the origin of social evils to man’s disobedience to God in the Garden of Eden. Mr. Dunya however reasoned that the best life was that lived in the fear of God and therefore admonished the students to shun all kinds of evil and seek God through prayer, faith and testimonies.
The end-of-presentation session offered the students and the entire audience ample opportunities to ask questions, make observations and got answers from the resource persons. The expression of joy, gratitude and generous commendations of the initiative by MAN from enchanted students in their post-workshop interviews further buttressed the importance of the workshop especially in a bourgeoning, heterogeneous and semi-metropolitan coastal town like Oron.
Victoria Essien Ukim of Royal Comprehensive College said she was very happy because the workshop “was very informative, educative” and there were things she heard that she never knew about or really understood but which the workshop threw light. According to Daniel Okon Esidoke, an SS1 student of Etiedu International School, “I am excited to be here. I love their interest in us without charging us anything”. From Golden International School came Wellington Wellington Wiilam, SS3, who said: “Let me just say a big thank you to the Rector and all those who remember us this special way. I’ll always be grateful for today’s event.
Among the teachers who conveyed their feelings were Isangedeghi Mfon Silvester, Vice Principal of Royal College, Oron, who said the immeasurable importance of the workshop cannot be overemphasised. “With initiatives like this I think the Rector certainly know where he is taking the Academy to”. Mr. David Oboho, Mary Hanney Secondary School, Oron, “The programme has addressed squarely issues of contemporary times. It is timely”. Loveth Ononiba, a teacher at Golden International Schools, had simply responded: “it is a wonderful one. Those who attended should count themselves highly privileged. MAN is a great neighbour”.
The Roll Call of benefiting schools at the Sensitization Workshop had Infant Jesus Model Secondary School; Golden International Schools; Royal College; Etiedu Nursery School; Mary Hanney Girls Secondary School; Mainland Technical College; Methodist Boys High School; National Secondary Commercial School and Comunty Secondary School, EyoAbasi –all in Oron L,G. Area.
One of participating schools in a group photograph.
Chairman of CSR team and Acting Director for Works in the Academy, Engr. Wale who was also the organizing chairman of the workshop had, on behalf of the Management, Staff and students of the Academy registered gratitude to the resource persons, management and students of benefiting schools for honouring the day and making the event meet expectations.
It was far from novelty that Academy sponsored the Workshop. Like the Rector said, It has been part and parcel of the Academy’s focus from the moment Commodore Duja Effedua assumed office on September 6, 2017. Within the period, the Academy has donated computers and ICT facilities, desks and tables, and even bought JAMB forms for students. Many roads in the adjoining villages have been graded, sports and cultural events sponsored as well as the existing arrangement of providing drums of diesel to Iquita General Hospital, Oron, on a daily weekly.
The recent Workshop is therefore added confirmation of how the Effedua-led administration at Maritime Academy of Nigeria is redefining the principle of Corporate Social Responsibility for integrated development of host communities.
If you drive slowly from Ikot Akpaden, Mkpat Enin to Uyo through the 12.742 kilometres Mkpat Enin-ONNA road, from Comprehensive High School Ikot Ayan to the Y junction which leads to Awa, you will count about 50 potholes and multitude distresses of different geometric patterns. The road has moderate volume traffic with limited heavy vehicles, yet it has failed within a year after it was completed. Distressed spot at Ntan Ekim on the newly inaugurated 17.9km Mkpat Enin- ONNA road
Indigenes of Akwa Ibom state, including three journalists who traveled recently through the newly completed Nto Edino – Ekwerazu road observed that some portions of the road are already unmotorable. A resident of Nto Edino, Mr. Uwemedimo Udo said, “the current state of Nto Edino – Ekwerazu road few months after commissioning remains an indictment on the contractor, Seyang, the client and those who ‘supervised’ the work”.
Other distressed portions on the road
A frequent user of the road who works with the state government said “potholes are everywhere on the road, particularly before and after the bridge”. “It is just terrible to see the road that was commissioned last year has totally collapsed”, a journalist and lawyer, Barr. David Augustine who plied the Nto-Edino road last week wrote in a comment on Facebook on Tuesday 19th November.
Members of the Akwa Ibom state House of Assembly recently noted the poor state of the Nto Edino road and the structural defect on the newly constructed bridge on the road.
Also, portions of the controversial 1.5 kilometre Akpasak estate road which was inaugurated by Governor Udom Emmanuel on 25th May 2019, after his re-election have failed. The road was constructed by JOSUN Engineering. Residents of Chief Udo Eno street had to fill up two potholes on the road with concrete to prevent further tearing up of those spots, during last month’s sanitation exercise. The state government early in 2018 chased out NDDC contractors who had begun construction of the road and took over the project. This road receives very low volume of traffic and limited heavy vehicles, yet it started failing three months after it was inaugurated.
A pothole on the 1.5km Akpasak Estate road inaugurated by Governor Udom Emmanuel on May 25, 2019, patched with concrete by residents of the area during last month’s sanitation exercise [/caption]
On Monday 18th November, the chairman of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly Committee on Judiciary, Justice Public Petitions and Human Rights, Barr. Victor Ekwere, said 97 percent of roads constructed by the Udom Emmanuel administration have failed. Being a lawyer of repute and a government person, Ekwere would not sensationalize his data for whatever reason. In fact, he said he undertook a study of roads done by the Udom Emmanuel administration in nine local government areas.
“I have taken a case study of nine local government areas. So far, out of the 57 roads constructed by this administration, about 97 percent have failed according to statistics.”
“The Awa-Ukam road was commissioned barely two months on May 29th 2019, but it is now a total mess. I have gone to check the road myself. It is a real mess”, the lawmaker observed.
Ekwere is not the only member of the House of Assembly who has made this observation. Elder Mark Esset, member representing Nsit Atai said during an inspection tour recently, the bus that conveyed his team collapsed in one of the bad spots on Nto Edino -Ekwerazu road.
Esset said the commissioner for works, Ephraim Inyang-Eyen was using “learning contractors” who are incompetent to construct roads, noting that within four years, the state government has awarded contract for the dualisation of Nsit Atai- Oron road to four contractors, yet the road is getting worse.
“You brought inexperienced construction companies for the Nsit Atai road. The road instead of improving is getting worse. This is unacceptable!”, Esset fumed.
Mark Esset noted that the state government has paid at least N1billion to contractors it awarded the project to. However, the commissioner for works said the government has recovered N700 million from one of the companies that was awarded the contract. By acknowledging that N700 million has been recovered from the contractors is an admission of Elder Mark Esset’s assertion and an indictment that the commissioner flooded the state with incompetent contractors.
The overnight dilapidation of these roads may be the failure to meet standard specifications of acceptable base-course materials or inadequate knowledge of the geotechnical characteristics of the soils over which the roads are built, by the contractors and government team. Whichever of the two is the cause of the wastages, this terribly embarrassing reality is an indictment on the Commissioner for Works, Mr. Ephraim Inyang-Eyen and his lousy style of project supervision, as well as the quality engineers in the ministry of works whose duty it was to monitor compliance to specifications.
The ministry of works under Mr. Ephraim Inyang-Eyen has done more visibility supervision of road projects than it did under the immediate past administration, with Mr. Don Etim, as commissioner. Accordingly, the public expected better quality of roads. But, it appears that the ministry delivered to the state far more better quality roads under the former, silently. This is an embarrassment to the Udom Emmanuel administration whose brand reputation is “superior performance”.
Akwa Ibom people are worried about these poorly done roads. They are asking questions about the losses on these transactions and the dangers sub-standard roads pose to users. The state is running at a loss. And, who will bear the indemnity for these costs of quality? Are some persons trying to sabotage the good intentions of the governor which is to see that more communities in state have quality roads? Is anyone usurping a privilege at the detriment of the entire state?
Tongues are beginning to wag. Accusations are being peddled. People are arguing that the commissioner for works has stained his hands with asphalt, that is why he approved those poorly done roads. Of course such wild accusations are expected when people entrusted with responsibilities fail irredeemably as it is in this case.
The governor had set up a project verification and compilation committee towards the end of his first term, chaired by Ephraim Inyang-Eyen.
This committee could pass for an audit team. The question is, did the audit report submitted by Inyang-Eyen contain the mess as evident today? It is high time the governor ordered an independent audit of these failed roads.
[caption id="attachment_598" align="alignleft" width="300"] Mr. Ephraim Inyang-Eyen, Commissioner for Works, Akwa Ibom State.
The Akwa Ibom state government has suspended 71 students of Secondary School, Etoi, Uyo local government from school indefinitely for “unruly conduct”.
Their suspension was announced on 21st November by the state government’s education monitoring team.
The state governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel had said it will not hesitate to discipline any student found culpable in sabotaging the free and compulsory education programme of the state.
Commissioner for Education in the state Prof. Nse Essien said the suspension of the students was a result of preliminary investigations into an attack on the school principal and properties by the students on Wednesday, 20th November.
“Some senior students of the school had attempted to set the school building ablaze. They destroyed the school farm and properties. They equally held the principal hostage, and when policemen arrived to put the situation under control, they fought the police”, the commissioner said.
Prof. Essien advised the rest of the students to remain law abiding and expose bad eggs among them, declaring that any student that seeks transfer to any school must provide a transfer letter issued by the principal of his former school vouching for the character of such student.
During an inspection at Uyo High School, the Commissioner advised teachers against lateness to work, urging them to instill discipline in students in order to make them useful to the society.
He said government will not hesitate to sanction any teacher found wanting.
The commissioner was accompanied on the monitoring team by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education Mrs Helen Ante, Chairman, State Secondary Education Board, Mr. Umanah Sam Umanah, the SSA to the Governor on Education Monitoring, Mrs Idongesit Etiebet, the Director for Education Barr.Theresa Attih, the SA to the Governor on Research and Documentation Mr Essien Ndueso, the State chairman National Parents Teachers Association of Nigeria( NAPTAN) Mr Emmanuel Ataideh among others.
Meanwhile, the state education monitoring team led by the Senior Special Assistant on Education Monitoring to the governor, Mrs. Idongest Etiebet, has directed principals to query teachers who reported late to work and those who were absent without permission.
She noted that it is appropriate for teachers to come to school by 7:30am and be part of the morning devotion, and they should develop notes of lesson to enhance their teaching exercises.
Etiebet warned teachers and students against loitering during school hours.
Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly Committee on Finance and Appropriations has lauded the Akwa Ibom Internal Revenue Service (AKIRS) for the significant improvement in the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in 2019.
AKIRS generated N26.6 billion, which represents about 84 percent of its projected revenue, as at the end of September 2019.
Chairman of the committee, Mr. Uduak Udoudo, gave the commendation when the AKIRS board led by its chairman Mr. Okon Okon appeared before his committee to defend the board’s 2020 budget.
“Looking at the IGR profile of the State, there is tremendous increment. We commend AKIRS for this.”
He said the House of Assembly will give necessary supports to the revenue board to be able to meet its target for the 2020 fiscal year. Chairman, Akwa Ibom State Internal Revenue Service, Mr. Okon Okon (left) in a handshake with the Chairman, Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly Committee on Finance and Appropriations, Mr. Uduak Udoudo, on Wednesday during the defense of the 2020 budget by MDAs.
Udoudo urged the board to enforce relevant laws against anyone who evades tax.
In his presentation, the chairman of AKIRS, Mr. Okon Okon thanked tax payers in the state for coming out voluntarily to pay their tax.
Okon noted that the signing into law of the State Internal Revenue Service Administration Law which grants autonomy to the board contributed to the quantum leap in revenue generated by AKIRS.
He however said that the IGR of the state will improve significantly when the autonomy is fully implemented.
The AKIRS is expected to generate N45 billion in 2020. To realise this, the board says it will stretch its tax net to the informal sector, and will also beam its light on oil and gas and maritime sectors of the State.
Chairman of the board said digitization of revenue collection process, development of a database for taxpayers, training of revenue staff on use of technology for revenue collection and taxpayers engagements will help to rave up revenue of the state.
He said despite achievements recorded by the board, there was a huge technology deficit which must be met for greater efficiency and result.
“The chief of all the challenges facing AKIRS is technology capacity. We can’t be running after taxpayers manually. If we have adequate technology to take care of payment, it will reduce human interferences and leakages in the revenue collection process.”
Okon said AKIRS will organise town hall meeting across the state for taxpayers to sensitive them on relevant taxes.
The President of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Williams Akporeha condemns violent ordeal at FCT High Court.
The President of the...
Teaching and learning aids donated to schools during the training.
Mr. Ephraim Inyang-Eyen, Commissioner for Works, Akwa Ibom State.
