The Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, has sought the support of governments at all levels, agencies and individuals to tackle flooding currently ravaging some parts of the country, including the state.
Soludo noted that the flood water emanated and surged from Cameroon, asking the Federal Government to dialogue with the government of Cameroon with a view to proffering lasting solution.
He made the call on Thursday when he visited the Internally Displaced Persons’ camps set up for flood victims in Onitsha North Local Government Area, while also receiving displaced persons from Anambra West and IDP camps at Umuoba Anam and Ekpe Nneyi, Umueri in Anambra East Local Government Area.
The governor called for support to help alleviate the hardship faced by people displaced by the flooding across the country at large and Anambra State in particular.
He said, “Anambra State Government is doing everything possible to alleviate the sufferings of the people. They need support now and afterwards because their houses, properties and farmlands are submerged under water. I am worried that they will have to start life afresh.
“We are receiving people from Delta State to join the IDP Camp in Onitsha North. Today alone, over 400 displaced persons have reported here.”
Bayelsa’s flood committee
The Bayelsa State Government has announced the constitution of a task force to mitigate the impact of flooding in the state.
According to a statement on Thursday, the task force was set up during the weekly State Executive Council meeting presided over by the Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, on Wednesday.
The state Commissioner for Environment, Iselema Gbaranbiri, told journalists that he would chair the committee which had his counterparts from the Ministries of Works and Infrastructure, Health, Lands, Housing and Urban Development as well as the commissioners representing the three senatorial districts and the State Emergency Management Agency as members.
Kebbi donates N10m to Kogi
The Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu, has donated N10m to support the Kogi State Government’s efforts to provide palliative to the victims of the ravaging flood in parts of the state.
Bagudu made the donation on Thursday when he paid a solidarity visit to his Kogi State counterpart, Yahaya Bello, on the devastating flood in the state.
He said, “Under your leadership, Kogi is doing well in agriculture. We are competing in rice production but this flood would have reversed those gains.
“On behalf of the good people of Kebbi, I sympathise with you and the good people of Kogi State over the casualties recorded.”
Bello thanked Bagudu for identifying with the state and called on the Federal Government to support the state’s efforts at mitigating the effects of the flood.
New dams needed
The Director-General of the Delta State Orientation Bureau, Eugene Uzum, has canvassed for the construction of additional dams in Nigeria as a measure to checkmate incessant flooding.
Uzum stressed the need to build more dams to supplement the Kainji and Shiroro Dams which were said to be bigger than the one in Cameroon and still could not stem flooding in the country.
He made the call while speaking on a national television programme alongside other guests who took an overview of the ravaging flooding across the coaster parts of the country.
Delta market
Oko environs, including Oko Market popularly called Hausa Market in Delta State have been sacked by ravaging flood.
One of our correspondents reported that goats, cows and chicken were drowned in the flood.
Other goods, including tomatoes, onions and other perishable goods were also damaged in the flood.
PDP crisis: Aggrieved govs report Atiku to BoT, list peace conditions
Fresh details have emerged about the meeting between the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, and select members of the Peoples Democratic Party’s Board of Trustees when the latter visited him in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
Acting BoT Chairman, Adolphus Wabara; former Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Relations, Tanimu Turaki; ex-Kogi State Governor, Ibrahim Idris, and four others were in Port Harcourt earlier in the week in search of peace following a lingering crisis that showed no sign of abating.
However, there are indications that the BoT might advise the National Chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu, to resign as all entreaties made to Wike so far have fallen on deaf ears.
Sources told The PUNCH on Thursday that during the meeting, Wike wasted no time in telling his guests how the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, had serially failed to fulfil all the promises he made to the five governors who are insisting on the removal of the party chairman.
A former national officer of the party said Wike, who spoke on behalf of the aggrieved governors, left the PDP BoT members speechless after narrating all that had transpired, including how the PDP standard bearer had disappointed the Southern bloc of the party over and over with many unfulfilled promises.
The PDP chieftain, who served in the Uche Secondus-led executive, told our correspondent that the governor vowed not to have anything to do with the PDP Campaign Council unless the embattled national chairman resigned from office.
Before Atiku selected Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as his running mate, Wike was said to have nominated a former governor of a South-South state to serve as the vice-presidential candidate but the party’s standard bearer reportedly insisted on the Rivers State governor.
The source said, “Wike told them Atiku disappointed him. He said he didn’t bargain for vice president; it was Atiku who begged him. When he eventually agreed and he expected them to work something out, he came back to say he had picked Okowa.
‘’But when Atiku chose Okowa, he didn’t come back to them (Wike and other governors) to say anything. And the speech he made when he was unveiling Okowa was very disappointing,” the ex-PDP official quoted Wike to have said.
Continuing, the party chieftain said, “Wike also told them that Atiku came to London and assured him that Ayu would resign to balance things. He also complained about the gang-up and sharing of positions which they had already done. Ayo Fayose and Dan Orbih were present during the meeting.’’
According to him, “By the time he told them all that, they (BoT members) were speechless and they were convinced that Wike had been wronged. He told them how he took care of the party when all of them left and how he never abandoned the party for a day.
“After hearing all that transpired from Wike, they asked him the way forward. Wike replied that the only way forward was for Ayu to resign and that if Ayu does not resign, nobody should talk to him about PDP again. He vowed not to leave the party but at the same time he would not work for Atiku.”
The PDP chieftain also said Wike told the Wabara-led reconciliation committee how Atiku’s loyalist insulted him publicly and the former vice-president failed to caution them to order.
“Wike complained that there was a time Sule Lamido, Babangida Aliu and Tom Ikimi—all Atiku loyalists—were abusing him and Atiku refused to checkmate them until it got out of hand,” he added.
Meanwhile, a member of the BoT Reconciliation Committee, Shuaibu Oyedokun, has disclosed to The PUNCH that a meeting of the advisory body would hold as soon as the committee’s report is ready.
Having visited all the governors in Wike’s camp as well as Atiku and his running mate, Oyedokun said the committee was now set to compile its report, preparatory to presenting it to the BoT.
“After compilation, we will submit our report to a larger BoT meeting which will consider it before submitting it to the NWC. The working committee will in turn present it to NEC (National Executive Committee),” Oyedokun said.
In a separate interview with The PUNCH, former Jigawa State Governor and NEC, Lamido, came short of ruling out an immediate solution to the crisis saying, “It (reconciliation) is a continuous process up to the elections and even beyond.”
Like Lamido, a former National Vice Chairman (South-West) of the party, Eddy Olafeso, wants Nigerians to be patient with the party, stressing that the crisis would become a thing of the past in no distant time.
On when NEC was likely to receive the report of the reconciliation committee, Olafeso stated, “When they are done, they will give their report to the NWC and from there to NEC for deliberation. The party is one and we have established positions. We are on course in the desire to reconcile all members of our party.’’
Go back to classrooms immediately, court orders ASUU
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, has ordered the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities to resume work immediately.
The appellate court gave the order today while granting leave to ASUU to appeal the interlocutory injunction of Justice Polycarp Hamman of the Abuja Division of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria on September 21, 2022, asking members of the union to resume work.
The court presided over by Justice Hamma Barka, warned that if ASUU failed to comply with the court order, it automatically lost the right to appeal against the ruling of the lower court.
It, however, struck out the application by ASUU for a stay of execution of the order of the Industrial Court, based on the motion by the applicant’s counsel, Femi Falana (SAN) for the withdrawal of the application.
Reading the lead ruling, the Chairman of the three-man panel, Justice Hamma Barka, ordered ASUU to file its notice of appeal of the ruling of the lower court within seven days.
Details later…
Belarus’ Bialiatski, two others awarded Nobel Peace Prize
The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to human rights advocate, Ales Bialiatski from Belarus; the Russian human rights organisation, Memorial; and the Ukrainian human rights organisation, Center for Civil Liberties.
The Nobel Selection Committee made this known on its official Twitter page on Friday.
According to the committee, the peace prize laureates represent civil society in their home countries.
The announcement read, “The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2022 #NobelPeacePrize to human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Russian human rights organisation Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organisation Center for Civil Liberties.
“The #NobelPeacePrize laureates represent civil society in their home countries.
“They have for many years promoted the right to criticise power and protect the fundamental rights of citizens. They have made an outstanding effort to document war crimes, human right abuses and the abuse of power. Together they demonstrate the significance of civil society for peace and democracy
“With their consistent efforts in favour of humanist values, anti-militarism and principles of law, this year’s #NobelPeacePrize laureates have revitalised and honoured Alfred Nobel’s vision of peace and fraternity between nations – a vision most needed in the world today.”
Ales Bialiatski was one of the initiators of the democracy movement that emerged in Belarus in the mid-1980s. He has devoted his life to promoting democracy and peaceful development in his home country.
He founded the organisation Viasna (Spring) in 1996. Viasna evolved into a broad-based human rights organisation that documented and protested against the authorities’ use of torture against political prisoners.
Government authorities have repeatedly sought to silence Ales Bialiatski. Since 2020, he is still detained without trial. Despite tremendous personal hardship, Bialiatski has not yielded an inch in his fight for human rights and democracy in Belarus.
The human rights organisation, Memorial, was established in 1987 by human rights activists in the former Soviet Union who wanted to ensure that the victims of the communist regime’s oppression would never be forgotten.
The Center for Civil Liberties was founded to advance human rights and democracy in Ukraine. It has taken a stand to strengthen Ukrainian civil society and pressure the authorities to make Ukraine a full-fledged democracy.
Obi unveils website for donation, campaign
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Peter Obi and Datti-Baba Ahmed
By Adebayo Folorunsho-Francis
Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed
7th October 2022
The presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi, on Friday, launched an official website to promote his political campaign and solicit funds ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
The former Anambra governor made the announcement in a tweet via his verified Twitter handle.
Obi, who encouraged his supporters to visit the official campaign website for the Obi-Datti Campaign organisation, disclosed that donations from willing donors could also be made through the platform.
He tweeted, “I invite every member of the OBIdient Family, and every supporter of our march to a new Nigeria to visit. You can use that medium to support and donate in cash & kind to the campaign.
“Later today, I’ll be speaking at Oxford University on “Trends and Prospects of Nigeria’s Economy: Broader Implications for Africa’s Development.”
The development is coming two days after concerned Nigerians expressed concerns that Obi’s continual consultation in the diaspora was stalling his campaign.
This is even as the LP leadership said that the inauguration of its presidential campaign council could not be conducted in the absence of party flagbearer and its Chairman, Julius Abure.
Both Obi and Abure are currently attending rallies and political programmes organised by some Nigerians living abroad.
Meanwhile, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Abayomi Arabambi, told our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday that the constitution of the campaign council is being reviewed.
Arabambi disclosed that an inauguration date cannot be given in the absence of the party chairman and the candidate.