It is pedestrian information that Pursuant to the provisions of Section 72(1) of the Electoral Act 2022, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday 29, 2023, issued Certificate of Return to Chief Sheriff Oborevwori , Delta state Governor-Elect. The ‘ritual’ followed his electoral victory at the Saturday March 18 gubernatorial poll in the state as conducted by INEC. With the victory, Sheriff who is the current Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, has clearly shown that history does matter and demonstrated that ordinary calculation can be upturned by extraordinary personalities. Most importantly, with his victory, the ancient…
Author: JEROME-MARIO UTOMI
As the nation Nigeria stands at the exit door of President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government, and gaze at the May 29 inauguration date of incoming administrations at both state and Federal Government levels, it is important to underline that the protracted leadership crisis witnessed at both state and Federal levels occurred not because the democracy and federal systems we practice are on their own bad or unable to provide the needed solution to the nation’s array of political and economic needs, but because too many politicians and public office holders exercised power and responsibility not as a trust for…
Like every new invention which comes with opportunities and challenges, the passage by the National Assembly and signing into law of the Petroleum Industry Bill into law about two years ago, by the President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government, after about 17years of protracted back and forth debates, was greeted with mixed feelings. While some hailed the development, others welcomed it with skepticism. Aside from the believe that the coming of PIA will make innovation possible within the petroleum sector, those who expressed happiness about the coming of the Act, predicated their joys on the fact that the provisions as sighted in…
It is no longer news that some of the first-term governors-elect will face many months of unpaid workers’ salaries and mounting pension liabilities, as well as agitation for the implementation of the nationally agreed minimum wage, rising inflation, escalating prices of goods and services, and dwindling purchasing power. These incoming governors, about seventeen of them, according to reports will have a difficult time boosting the economies of their individual states because they will take over at least N2.1 trillion in domestic debt and $1.9 billion in foreign debt from their predecessors. It is equally a common knowledge that in January 2023,…
As the Nation Nigeria braces for the forthcoming February 25 and March 11 general elections, each time I look at the sea of heads that flood every political campaign and rallies put together by public office seekers at both state and Federal levels, it reminds me of an event that happened back in the days. Though used in part a while ago in a similar intervention, I however, believe that such an account has become even more relevant in the present threshold of our nation. The referenced event was recorded one Sunday morning during the celebration of the holy mass…
If there is any action in recent weeks that glaringly confirm as true the words of Alabo (Dr) Nengi OON, 2nd National Vice President, Ijaw National Congress (INC), that the Presidential Amnesty Program is failing in its responsibilities because it was executed with militarization, rather than with civilization, it is the widely circulated statement signed by Mr. Freston Akpor, Special Assistant, and Media to the Interim Coordinator of PAP, Major-General Barry Ndiomu (Retd), announcing the suspension of two amnesty scholarship beneficiaries identified as Patrick Ipidei and Papems Peter Etolor. The referenced statement reads in part; “The Presidential Amnesty Programme, (PAP)…
Many Nigerians with critical interest had hitherto believed that the advent of Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which was signed into law in the aforementioned years, and arguably the most audacious attempts to overhaul the petroleum sector in Nigeria, will solve the real and imagined challenges in the nation’s petroleum sector, and turn Niger delta region, particularly host communities to zone of peace in their relationship with Crude Oil prospecting and exploration companies. However, facts have since emerged that instead of providing the legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian Petroleum Industry and the host communities, the Petroleum Industry Act (Act),…
Looking at the number of politicians in Nigeria that play politics with neither ideology nor principle, it will not be characterized as hasty if one concludes that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist and political ethicist, had Nigerians particularly politicians in mind, when he, many years ago, remarked that seven things which has to do with social and political conditions will destroy a man. Gandhi, who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign against the colonial master in India, named these seven sins to, include; Wealth Without Work, Pleasure Without Conscience, Knowledge Without Character, Commerce (Business) Without Morality (Ethics),…
By; Jerome-Mario Chijioke Utomi If there is any sign in recent times that proved beyond reasonable doubt that it is not yet a new dawn for widows in the country, it is the recent news report that some widows with placards of different inscriptions protested in front of the National Assembly over what they described as stigmatization against them due to some cultural practices. Speaking on behalf of the women, the President, Widows Support Network, Bibiana Okereafor, said that the stigmatization against widows in Nigeria is getting worse by the day. Despite being an old practice that should have been…
By; Jerome-Mario Chijioke Utomi The debate on climate change is among the most presently discussed topics on the surface of the earth. All these years, I have, going by the commentaries from the Western world believed that Africa’s non commitment to the call for global action on climate change was responsible for the real and imaginary challenges confronting the continent. Making this perceived climate change challenge look real was the recent news report that to tackle the problems, the World Bank Group has committed about $70 billion, and urged government of different nations to set up structures to engage and…
Benikrukru Community field, Gbaramtu kingdom, Warri South West Local Government Area, Delta state, the kick off venue of the Ijaw/Itsekiri peace and unity football competition initiated by Chief Sheriff Mulade, Ibe-sorimawei of Gbaramatu kingdom and National Coordinator/CEO, Center for Peace & Environmental Justice (CEPEJ), was on Wednesday November 16, 2022, filled to capacity and moderately dotted with imposing banner conspicuously positioned with screaming but familiar inscriptions that emphasizes on the importance of peace and unity to humanity. The ambience at the Venue was refreshing as merrily dressed guests strolled in. Community members of Ijaw and Itsekiri origins were relaxed in…
Gong by information at the public domain, a Warri , Delta state based Newspaper, GbaramatuVoice, in furtherance of its Niger Delta Economic Discourse Series, will on Tuesday, November 29, 2022 by 10am, at the BON Hotel, Warri, Delta state, hold a focused group discussion that centers on two separate but related typical and topical issues – the recently extended Presidential Amnesty Programme and Federal Government Proposed but abandoned Modular Refineries in the region. The dialogue which has as a theme,: Presidential Amnesty Programme and Modular Refineries: Towards sustainable human capital relations”, will bring together, to deeply appraise the programmes and…
There is no gain any more saying that the nation Nigeria is currently riddled with high rate of insecurity which includes but not limited to banditry, armed robbery, kidnapping, is no longer the news. Such daily sad occurrences have become word made flesh and now dwells among us. The newsy aspect of the conversation is that the weak, defective and unclear provisions of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution not only exacerbate the challenge, discouraged development in the country but most regrettably responsible for the myriad of problems confronting the nation in ways that see both Nigeria and Nigerians keep doing the same…
Despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent signing into law, of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) on Monday August 16, 2021, after years of back and forth movement,- an Act which provides legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian Petroleum Industry and development of host communities, my recent ‘sojourn’ in the creeks of Niger Delta region, South South Geo-Political Zone, Nigeria, in the past one month or thereabout has strengthened my belief that nothing has changed. Aside from raising consciousness that the poor level of infrastructural and socio-economic development in the region is an indication of a sustained poor management…
It is a well established axiom that leadership thrives where leaders demonstrate in right proportions a mixture of sympathy and empathy. While sympathy helps a leader understand how his followers feel, empathy on its part assists such leaders feel the way followers feel, enters into their lives and participates in their struggles. Despite the popularity of the above saying, the leadership of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), appears unmindful of such a leadership belief system. It was recently reported that Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), as part of its resolve to providing succor…
There are recorded events in the recent past that have proved beyond reasonable doubt that the nation Nigeria may not need gun boats to solve its problems particularly, in the oil rich Niger Delta region, notorious for crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism. Essentially, evidence has emerged and points to the fact that what the nation needs is a sincere and selfless leadership, a politically and economically restructured polity brought by the national consciousness that can unleash the social, economic and political transformation of the country via sustainable Public-Private sectors partnership while rejecting the present socio-economic system that has bred…
God gave us a brain so that we can give him rest- T.D Jakes, American author, filmmaker and Bishop of The Potter’s House, a non-denominational American mega church. It is now common knowledge that Floods have hit parts of Nigeria in the last two months with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) saying that about 2.5 million persons were affected and over 603 persons killed by the flooding. It is equally a pedestrian information that within this period, Houses and farmlands have been submerged in Lagos, Yobe, Borno, Taraba, Adamawa, Edo, Delta, Kogi, Niger, Plateau, Benue, Ebonyi, Anambra, Bauchi, Gombe,…
The recent News report that Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (DESPADEC) donated fifty (50) grass cutting machines, to the good people of Okerenkoko community in Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South Local Government of Delta state, has again shown an agency that is yet to take control of, or improve the quality of its administrative energies regardless of external pressure they face. More than anything else, the donation, as subsequent paragraphs will explain, brought to the fore DESOPADEC’s reluctance to appreciate development plans and reform programmes from a need-based perspective. For a better understanding of the piece, DESOPADEC is an…
It is no longer news that the Delta State Government recently addressed the media where they among other things stated that the multi-billion naira contract for the construction of Ayakoromo bridge in Burutu Local Government Area of the state had been terminated due to poor performance by the contractor. At first glance, the latest action for me, depicts Delta state government as an administration that is internally directed; people focused, externally open and above all, a right step taken in the right direction particularly as such action is long overdue. However, as an author that has in the past supported,…
Going by historical events and developments starting from 1914, it is evident that Nigeria is not a natural country, state or nation but an artificial creation via a marriage of two unwilling brides who had no say in their forced and ill-fated union- amalgamation of the northern and the southern protectorates on the 14th February 1914, a day set aside to celebrate love all over the world, by Sir Lord Luggard. The British colonial overlords probably intended the protectorates to operate in a symmetrical manner with no part of the amalgam claiming superiority over the other. This arrangement conferred on…
One recent occurrence that typifies the nations’ education sector as an area in urgent need of help is the current shoddy state of Ologbo Primary and secondary schools, Ologbo, Obarentin community in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo state, formerly called Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria Primary and Secondary school, Ologbo. In addition to signaling the gory tale of poor leadership, neglect and outright abandonment of responsibility by the Edo state government, the pictures and accompanying commentaries diverted attention from real threat deserving of healthy and appropriate fear, Federal Government’s protracted inability to resolve their impasse with the Academic Staff…
It may not be characterized as hasty to conclude that the president Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government , after living in denial for a very long time, have finally come to terms with the fact that Nigerian workers have in the past seven to eight years faced unprecedented hardship as government continues to debate minimum wage, and not even living wage, in a country where every commodity has skyrocketed except the monthly take home of workers. The above belief flows from a recent statement by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, who revealed this at the Nigeria…
The recent disengagement of Colonel Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd), as the interim Coordinator, Amnesty Programme after two years of being in saddle, by President Muhammadu Buhari, precisely on Thursday September 15, 2022, and has in his place, appointed Major General Barry Tariye Ndiomu (retd ), has again shown that Bosses are neither a title on the organization chart nor a function. But they are individuals and are entitled to do their work. It is incumbent for the occupier to do this work or be shown the way out by the real owner of the job. Qualifying this recent development as…
If there is any occurrence that further supports the belief that in Nigeria’s public leadership corridors, once a direction is chosen, instead of examining the process meticulously and setting the right course; one that will allow us to overcome storm and reach safety before we can progress and achieve our goals, many of our leaders obstinately persist with the execution of such plans regardless of need for a minor or major shift in circumstance, it is the recent insistence by Officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) that the ongoing demolition of illegal structures in Kuje Area Council was…
I remember now with nostalgia how about a year ago, precisely on Tuesday August 10, 2021, Nigeria’s Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo at a function held in Lagos, among other remarks, told the gathering that President Muhammadu Buhari led administration is determined to see through the completion of all the critical projects that had been embarked upon in the Niger Delta region. In his words, “we have invested significantly in the Niger Delta as the region that holds the energy resources that have powered our progress for six decades as well as the keys to an emergent gas economy. In…
About two years ago, when President Muhammadu Buhari removed Professor Charles Dokubo (now late), as the interim Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, and in his place, appointed Mbiama, Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State born Colonel Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd), stakeholders were happy for varying reasons. Centrally, their happiness going by commentaries was anchored on the fact that, as Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) 21st Regular Combatant Course graduate, who was later appointed the Academy Cadets Adjutant in recognition of his leadership qualities and voluntarily retired in the rank of Colonel in July 2004, after many years of…
Talking about the theory of value judgment, media professionals are of the view that ‘the function of the press is very high, almost holy and to misstate or suppress information is a breach of trust. Moral philosophers, on their part, are also worried over the issue of standards for evaluating leadership performances. Some prefer the purpose of action shown in the ethical theories. Others prefer the nature of action to its purpose. Some still prefer the usefulness of action. Whereas the rest talk about the relevance of duty performed by a leader to the subjects. In line with the above…
On 25 June 2009, President Umoru Yar’Adua (now late) granted presidential amnesty to Niger Delta militants who had directly or indirectly participated in the commission of offences associated with militant activities in the Niger Delta, and who were willing to surrender their weapons and renounce armed struggle within a 60-day ultimatum (6 August–4 October 2009). The government targeted up to 10,000 militants whose attacks in the six Niger Delta states have cost the country a third of its oil production. The programme was meant to stand on a tripod. First leg of the tripod was targeted at the disarmament and…
The barrage of reactions and commentaries that trailed the recently published disturbing pictures that drew the attention of the Delta state government to the visibly distressed structures, dilapidated classrooms with fallen ceilings, windows and doors at Oyoko Primary School, Abavo, Ika South Local Government Area of the state, has again given credibility to the belief that a free press is not a privilege but an organic necessity in a great society. For without reliable and intelligent reporting, the government cannot govern. For there is no adequate way in which it can keep itself informed about what the people of the…
The barrage of reactions and commentaries that trailed the recently published disturbing pictures that drew the attention of the Delta state government to the visibly distressed structures, dilapidated classrooms with fallen ceilings, windows and doors at Oyoko Primary School, Abavo, Ika South Local Government Area of the state, has again given credibility to the belief that a free press is not a privilege but an organic necessity in a great society. For without reliable and intelligent reporting, the government cannot govern. For there is no adequate way in which it can keep itself informed about what the people of the…
