₦airaland Forum

Very impressive, Nigeria is indeed blessed with ingenious minds all the country need is the right policies and conducive environment for these talents to blossom.

Ndubuisi Ekekwe, a serial high school distinction scholar, is also a holder of four master’s degrees, two doctorates in Management and Microelectronics, and in Electrical Electronics & Computer Engineering, specialising in Robotics and Neuromorphic systems, from the John Hopkins University in the United States.


Ndubuisi Ekekwe, a serial high school distinction scholar, is also a holder of four master’s degrees, two doctorates in Management and Microelectronics, and in Electrical Electronics & Computer Engineering, specialising in Robotics and Neuromorphic systems, from the John Hopkins University in the United States.

He is an engineering graduate of the Federal University of Technology (FUTO), Owerri.

He spoke with Business Editor, Bassey Udo, on how the marriage of technology and agriculture can reduce extreme poverty.

Excerpts:

PT: Despite its best efforts, Nigeria, and indeed Africa, has not been able to produce enough food her citizens. How can we make agriculture work for us?

EKEKWE: The simple challenge is that our environment has a lot of inefficiencies in our production systems, not just in agriculture, but across all other sectors. Agriculture occupies a significant place in our growth matrix.

Most of our citizens work in the agricultural sector. Our gross domestic product is heavily affected by agriculture. If we can fix agriculture, technically we can fix many things in Africa.

If we double our agricultural productivity, we can reduce extreme poverty by 2030. We cannot do this by scaling what we have been doing for centuries, which resulted in mass poverty in a community of farmers.

We must look for a new paradigm, by bringing a new technology to make our farmers think smarter, work more efficiently and be capable in utilizing factors of production in the agricultural business.

So, it is no more a case of the farmer going to buy his cutlass or hoe, but more of how he can scale his business systems in the agricultural space using technology.

The principle is simple: the farmer must be able to make decisions with certainty about what his farm wants, and not necessarily guesses of what our ancestors wanted, with no consideration to what the crops want.

Our ancestors made agricultural decisions on the hope that, because they offered sacrifices, the gods would give them a bumper harvest.

In the 21st century, if we can connect and have a battalion of farmers in our agricultural ecosystem, we can redesign the wellbeing of our citizens.

There is no Nigerian that is not connected to a family member at first or second level involvement in agriculture. So, if we fix agriculture, we can fix Nigeria.

PT: How do you fix Nigeria, practically, through agriculture?

EKEKWE: The only way we can make that happen is to make agriculture a business. We should not have farmers who are custodians of culture; who just go to the farm, because that’s a way of life. We should have farmers who go to the farm and make decisions to grow the bottom line. So, if a farmer goes to the corn, yam or cassava farm, he should make decisions that will affect the end-game of having a good yield at the end of the farming season.


If a farmer’s crop is not doing well because it is not getting enough water or other nutrients, how does he know before the harvest period?

This is where technology comes in. Technology will tell the farmer with certainty that his crops are not getting enough water, and the need to provide an irrigation facility to supply water, if there is no rain.

Or technology will tell you whether a farmer’s crops need nitrogen or not. Or whether the fertilizer supplied by the government is full of nitrogen phosphate. There are a lot of mismatch, because of working based on guess work.

But, we can bring engineering into the agricultural process by saying the crops do not really need nitrogen, but some phosphorous and potassium.

Technology will help the farmer to advice government that if fertilizer is to be sent to the particular region in the country, it should be the type that have more potassium and phosphorous, because that is what the crops there will benefit from.

When that is done, the farmer can add about 85 percent of the total yield from the farmland.

In that case, everyone is not doing things blindly. Decisions will be made based on data. That is one way to help the farmers.

There is also the element for the government. When farmers are given fertilizer, unfortunately some of them sell them. But, with technology, the farmer can make it easy for government to know within two weeks if the farmer does not use the fertilizer.

So, technology will make government not give fertilizer to farmers blindly without knowing whether the fertilizers are used or not.

Technology will tell the farmer the nutritional differential, either in phosphorous potassium, calcium or whatever the farmer needs in the fertilizer.

The technology will use the leaves of the plant to validate the changes that have taken place after the fertilizer was added by the farmer.

If there are 4 million farmers that government wants to support with 100,000 extension workers, it is possible that the output from them may not cover the total cost of those extension workers.

But, with technology, instead of using 100,000 extension workers, maybe 50,000 could be used.

With technology, one can stay in his office and monitor 2,000 farmers efficiently and effectively.

Technology will make it easy for the farmer to achieve marginal cost, which is the ability to serve the extra customer, as it turns down to zero.

With technology, most of the monies government is spending in agriculture will actually go into agricultural processing itself and not the mechanics of helping farmers, which is where so much money is spent, yet the farmers do not actually get enough.

We have seen how technology is working in companies’ logistics, where a cargo owner will stay in his office and see where his items are at any point in time.

The truck driver will also know how much money he’s being paid. There is an equilibrium point converging on a platform; bringing visibility, transparency and efficiency in the utilization of factors of production in the agricultural system.

PT: Can you say how technological applications can help agriculture?

EKEKWE: The technology I am talking about is called Zenvus, which is an electronic sensor in three different products.

The Zenvus Smart Farm is one that is put in the soil to collect information, like temperature, moisture, humidity, electro-conductivity of the soil.

If that data is sent through Wifi, GSM or satellite into cloud computing infrastructure to develop algorithm that will analyze all the data from the farm and used to tell the farmer what to do about his farm, it might tell the farmer when he does not have enough water in the farm for the crops and the need to irrigate the farm within a certain period of time. It will tell the farmer when to expect rainfall and other environmental conditions.

As the crops begin to grow, the farmer can read from the leaves what is happening with them.

If images of the leaves are taken using Zenvus Yield to analyze and get insights into how healthy the crops are. The farmer cannot see what is going on with his naked eyes. But, the technology will give indicators about the ingredients the crops are lacking, or a pest or disease that are attacking them.

When all the data from the vegetation and the soil are converged, the farmer can see a 360 degrees of the state of the farm. Based on that information, the farmer can say how, when and the best possible things he can do to improve yield in the farm.

It is an irony that a community of farmers, like in Nigeria, are hungry. That is what is happening in most communities in Nigeria.

Why it is that way is because the farmers are not effective in their agricultural systems. This is where the technology element is coming into play. Technology is not voodoo magic. It is more like guiding the farmer to have better yield.

Nigeria is one of the best countries in the world. We have a large expanse of arable land for agriculture. There are countries that want to farm, but don’t even have land or weather.

Now, if the farmer has produced the agricultural output and he wants to send it to the cities or factory, there are lots of leakages there. Unfortunately, we still have middlemen that are not playing by the rules.

For instance, the farmer can pack baskets or cartons of their products in trucks to supply to the buyers.

They farmer might be tracking the trucks conveying the products. But, this is not very effective, because someone might take off the items from the truck and still drive the empty truck to the destination the products should have been delivered and the owner will still be tracking the empty truck as if indeed the products were delivered.


We hear of cases where petroleum products meant for delivery to certain parts of the country are siphoned by the marketer into underground tanks and later diverted to other places, while the empty trucks with the tracking devices are driven to the place it was supposed to have been delivered.

But, the Zenvus Loci is different. It is a GPS with an in-built battery life that can last up to seven days without being connected to a power source.

If it is dumped in a container or bag for seven days, from his phone, the owner will know where the bag is.

If the farmer is shipping some farm equipment, and he wants to know where those items are at any point in time, he can do so with the technology.

So, if I have 50 suppliers of cassava to produce starch and I can predict that the supplies are coming within seven days, I can plan. These are technologies to help farmers in production.

There are also other forms of technology that help farmers to market their products as well as those to help in raising capital.

The Zenvus Manager is called the Electronic Farm Diary. A good small and medium enterprise (SME) entrepreneur, as a businessman, he has a book-keeping habit for goods that come in or the ones that have left the company.

Our farmers don’t think that way. But, the Zenvus Manager will help the farmer take care of that.

Just like electronic farm diary that records the number of hours the farmer or extension workers work in the farm in a day throughout the farming season.

The farmer will be able to determine the efforts put in by different people in production process, in terms of application of fertilizer and the cost.

At the end of the season, the farmer can determine the cost of inputs, to be able to know the price of the products to be able to break even.

There is also the Zenvus Capital, which is designed to allow the farmer share his farm data with a bank to stand him in a better a chance of being granted loans that would enable him to grow production.

The Zenvus Insure can also be useful for the farmer to insure his farm. There is the Zenvus Craft Fund and Zenvus Pricing for other services. There is also the Zenvus Markets, which is the technology that helps the farmer reach bigger markets for his products.


National Assembly members can also use the technology to track their constituency projects in their local communities. The GPS in the sensor will help locate the exact location the farms or projects are situated anywhere on earth.

There is also the Zenvus Boundary, which is a technology for surveying the farmlands.

If the farmer has the technology in his phone, if he walks round the perimeters of his farm and at the end presses the submit button, the technology will automatically take the GPS data and maps and super-imposes it on the Google Earth through the satellite, telling the farmer the exact location of his farmland. It will capture all features on the farmland, including trees and rivers.


PT: How affordable is this technology to the average farmer?

EKEKWE: It does not cost much. One does not need as much as N200,000 to have it. But, farmers can negotiate.

It is a device designed for four years, but the farmer can use it for seven farming seasons.

The technology was not designed individual farmers to buy. We see it as a farm input, just like the way government gives fertilizers to farmers. We want government to give the technology to farmers as they give fertilizers. As seedlings are being given to cooperatives, the technology should be given along. This is an essential agricultural input of the 21st century.

What’s the essence of giving the farmer fertilizer if he does not understand the need for it, or how to use it? We can remove guess work in agriculture and replace it with data with technology.

PT: Are you having discussion with policy makers and decision makers in government to have their buy in on the use of this technology?

EKEKWE: We are discussing with some members of the National Assembly, the Central Bank of Nigeria, Ministry of Agriculture and such agencies. We are hoping that there will be a fundamental shift from the past where agriculture was pursued with guess work.


PT: How did you come by this technology?

EKEKWE: Well, let start from my background. I am a village boy from Ovim in Isikwator Local Government Area of Abia State. I went to the Federal University of Technology, Owerri before moving to the United States where I developed a lot of competencies in electrical electronics engineering from the John Hopkins University in the United States.

I build Robots that operate on human beings. I have a PhD in Electrical & Computer Engineering, and specialize in Robotics. I also build micro-processors, the type that is essentially neuromorphic systems designed to emulate human biology.


Then, I resolved to take a little bit of my time to help my local community. I took time to understand the farming system in my community. As a child, I grew up with my grandmother. I used follow her to the farm during the planting seasons.

Having been involved in the development of technology, I said how can I use my knowledge of technological advancement, particularly my knowledge of the human system, to solve the problems in the farming system in the country?

I received the support of the U.S government through the USAID in the development of the technology. I deliberately did not want to raise capital from investors, since the technology was not for money making, but to help build the community to give the people a better life.

We have been working on developing new crop models. I am happy about the impact it is creating already.

I am hopeful that if every young person working in the agriculture space can double farming productivity, extreme poverty will be reduced.


There is no other way to have a catalytic impact in the life of our citizen than agriculture, because everyone is connected to it.

I was still in the Primary School in 1986 when the cassava mosaic disease broke out in the country.

But, it took Nigerian agricultural researchers less than six months to create a new variety of cassava stems that was resistant to the mosaic disease.

There was a clear famine that was coming to the country if that was not achieved. That disease affected one of the country’s most staple food crops. So, there is really nothing this country cannot do if means to. That is why I always say $1trillion economy is possible if we want.


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Lagos was an orderly urban environment 70 years ago. This was the case from the 1950s, when the city was a federal territory through to the 1960s when it became federal capital – a status it held until 1991.

The foundations of orderliness for any city are planning and management. Lagos had this in place in the early days. The city was governed by an elected Lagos City Council, Nigeria’s oldest, established in 1900. It was governed according to colonial legislation, particularly the 1948 Building Line regulations and the 1957 Public Health Law.

The city was much smaller and was made up of Lagos Island (Eko) which included Ikoyi and Obalende neighbourhoods. It was a beautiful environment that featured Portuguese, Brazilian, and British Victorian architecture. Its [streets were clean and tree-lined]
(http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/57](http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/57). Urban crime was virtually non-existent.

Governance standards declined when political control of Lagos, and the rest of Nigeria, came under military rule between 1966 and 1979 and again from 1984 to 1999. Proximity of the two capitals – federal and state, respectively – in the Ikoyi and Ikeja neighbourhoods of the same conurbation, put more pressure on the city. In the 1970s the city expanded to link up previously distinct areas such as Ikeja, Mushin, Orile, Ojo, Oshodi and Agege.

The result was increased pollution, congestion and wear on infrastructure. This was particularly true between 1970 and 1991.

But things have changed. Efforts have been made to revitalise the city in terms of a cleaner and greener environment, improved road and water infrastructure, urban bus system and waste management, overhaul of security and consultation with citizens through town hall meetings.

Nevertheless, big challenges remain. The city still has far too many slums and squatter settlements, it lacks a functioning public transportation system, proper traffic management, efficient waste disposal, sanitation, adequate potable water supply and routine road maintenance.

Lagos also suffers because of problems that afflict the country. There isn’t regular electricity supply, and there are high rates of poverty and unemployment. And, as elsewhere in the country, many residents don’t comply with laws on building, traffic and sanitation.

The history

Lagos was affected positively as well as negatively by Nigeria’s 1970s emergence as a major crude oil producer.

On the upside, there was investment in infrastructure. This included the building of the second bridge linking the Island, the Eko Bridge, and re-building of the first (colonial) Carter Bridge. The third and longest bridge was commissioned in 1990.

These bridges were aimed at improving accessibility between the two islands (Victoria and Lagos) and the mainland. But, uncontrolled commercial development on the islands has produced persistent traffic bottlenecks. This has been worsened by the lack of a public transport system.

Two developments added to pressures on the city. Its population burgeoned while infrastructure lagged behind. This period marked the beginning of the decline of planning for the city. The worst periods were the late 1980s and the 1990s. As architects Rem Koolhaas and Kunle Adeyemi noted in an interview, these were Lagos’ darkest times:

"Lagos, in the 1990s, was the ultimate dysfunctional city and an example of what happens to a society where the state is absent. At that point the state had really withdrawn from Lagos; the city was left to its own devices, both in terms of money and services."

The city was being governed by the military. But it was not cut out for governance, had no accountability and couldn’t care less about planning and environmental issues. As a result it routinely disregarded existing regulations.

In the 1990s, for instance, the largest public park in Lagos – the old, colonial 10-hectare Victoria Park in Ikoyi – was sold as residential development land. The waterfront of the Lagos Cowrie Creek in Victoria Island was also sold for commercial development, effectively blocking direct public access to the waters and a picturesque view of Ikoyi.

The collapse of zoning all over Lagos also led to residential neighbourhoods such as Victoria Island and southwest Ikoyi being converted for commercial use. The military had no reasoned response to Lagos’ urban challenges. Instead, it took the decision in 1975 to establish a new capital in Abuja.

This move, which finally came to fruition in December 1991, left Lagos forlorn.


The positives

Positive changes have taken place.

For example, over the past 15 years the authorities succeeded in raising more taxes using money to restore basic infrastructure, expand public services and strengthen law enforcement.

Research shows that the commitment to reform the city was driven by electoral pressures as well as elite ambitions to construct an orderly megacity. The return to democracy helped to make these changes possible by enabling an elected government to work in the people’s interest.

Improvements includes public transport and the reclamation and greening of previously disused and misused spaces below Lagos’s many flyovers, bridges and interchanges. In addition, roads have been fixed and pavements built. In some parts of the city there is potable water supply and blighted residential and commercial areas have been rebuilt.

But, given decades of neglect, a great deal still needs to be done.

What’s broken

One of the biggest problems is the lack of coherent and integrated development .

Another major issue is flooding which Bongo Adi, a Lagos based environmental expert argues, hasn’t been decisively tackled.

Nor have improvements over the past decade impressed everyone. As Femi Akintunde argues, Lagos remains deplorable, rowdy, unsanitary, and a city of the urban poor. Akintunde is the managing editor and CEO of Financial Nigeria International Limited.

Lagos still ranks low on liveability. Its governance deficits are acutely felt by the poor, but also touch wealthier residents.

For these issues to be fixed, the standard of governance has to improve.

Who should run the city?

There are two potential authorities: Lagos state, sitting at the top, and the municipal authorities which interact with the grassroots.

The problem is that Lagos city isn’t really run by the city authorities. But effective urban governance should be “bottom-up”, making it possible for the people to take increasingly greater control over their lives.

In addition, being run from the top means that local capacity is being stunted. This has implications for sustainable change. As international fellow at International Institute for Environment and Development Jorgelina Hardoy says,

"sustainable development in cities largely depends on the actions and capacity of local governments."

Whoever takes charge should recognise the necessity of getting residents’ buy-in before implementing modernisation policies. The city can’t develop by leaving its people behind.

Also, city planners should not plan for only the rich to the exclusion of the poor and disadvantaged. While accepting that slums and informal settlements have to be tackled, my research recommends a policy rethink that should involve


"enabling strategies which fully address the rights of people who are illegally settled on public land."


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The number of foreign nationals available for them to assault have reduced they've now turned on each other even on national TV...Issorite .


Diswan na Cheaters South African version.

Buhari the worst kind of plague to befall Nigeria, this is the kind of legacy that herdsman is bequeathing to Nigeria

Who is diswan deceiving...

The congregants just respect themselves leave front roll for Tonto and her hand bag, this geh wee not kee us for this con3...I like her ways sha, na she and bobrisky fit aproko Nigerians

Interesting times...very commendable

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has declared that the Rivers State Government has fully acquired Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) 45% interest in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 11 situated in Ejama Ebubu community in Eleme Local Government Area and the adjoining Ogoni and other communities of the State.

He said: "I am delighted to inform you that the Rivers State Government has fully acquired Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) 45% interest in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 11 situated in EjamaEbubucommunity in Eleme Local Government Area and the adjoining Ogoni and other communities of Rivers State".

In a state Broadcast on Monday at the Government House, Port Harcourt, Governor Wike in his address titled: “WE WILL CONTINUE TO ADVANCE THE STATE’S INTEREST,SECURITY AND PROSPERITY OF ALL", said his administration will always advance the best interest of Rivers State.

Governor Wike explained the Background for the acquisition of OML 11, which is premised on Court Judgements, which have been registered in the United Kingdom and Nigeria for enforcement.

He said: "This fresh case commenced in 2001 passed through four different justices of that Court arising from twists and turns associated with opposed litigations, until it was disposed of about 10 years after in June 2010 by Buba J. (the fifth judge to preside over the matter).



"SPDC and its parent companies appealed the judgment at the Court of Appeal in 2010, which again suffered the twists and turns passing through six different panels comprising three justices each between 2010 and 2017 before it was finally disposed of by the panel of that Court led by Gumel JCA of the Port Harcourt Division. The appeal was dismissed.



"SPDC and its parent companies took out a further appeal to the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2017, which appeal was considered and dismissed by that Court in a judgment read by Hon. Justice B. Akaahs, JSC delivering a lead judgment in a unanimous decision. After losing at the High Court, SPDC gave the successful EjamaEbubu Plaintiffs a Bond Guarantee stipulating that First Bank of Nigerian Limited would pay them the value of the Judgment debt and interests thereon in the event that SPDC’s appeal to the Court of Appeal fails at that Court. The original Bank Guarantee is still with the Community.,



" When SPDC’s appeal failed at the Court of Appeal, Shell instructed the Bank to dishonour their guarantee, which did and gave rise to a series of six different litigations in various Courts against First Bank and the Central Bank of Nigeria. SPDC’s excuse was that they had lodged an appeal at the Supreme Court of Nigeria. The enforcement cases had been to Owerri, Abuja, Lagos, etc. in six different lawsuits. On the 11th of January 2019, Shell’s appeal was dismissed at the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

" The judgments of the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court were registered in the United Kingdom for enforcement over there against SPDC parent companies domiciled outside Nigeria’s shores."

On the enforcement of the judgment in Nigeria, Governor Wike said:

"The EjamaEbubucommunity commenced enforcement by domiciling the judgment in the State High Court and levying execution on SPDC moveable’s in their Industrial Area in Port Harcourt;


(ii) Those chattels were attached on the ground but not removed;

(iii) SPDC invited the community and offered them N7 billion as against the judgment debt of N194 billion, which the community refused to accept;

(iv) The community approached the court for and order granting them leave to sell SPDC’s immovable property comprised in OML 11 and their kidney Island support base in Port Harcourt".

Governor Wike said upon the advertisement of the said immovable assets for auction, the Honourable Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of RiversState alerted the Government of the State.

He explained the reasons why the State Government resolved to purchase OML 11.

He said" "That the impact is still there and un-remedied since 1970 as admitted by SPDC vide letters they wrote seeking to clean the spill in 2006 while the case was at the trial Court;

"That the Rivers State has suffered the worst impact of environmental degradation resulting from oil related operations;

That the very difficult swamp and mischievous waterlogged terrain of the Rivers State has impeded development as a result of increased construction costs on the near and non-existent infrastructures and attendant rapid decay of the little we have been able to achieve as a result of oil related acid rain and black sooth enveloping the State;

That these phenomenal degradation and impoverishment had continued with the decline of revenue and inflation, lack of employment of well-educated Rivers State youths, idleness and restiveness arising from want;

That SPDC is said to have paid the sum of USD 2,000,000 (two million United States Dollars) only for the renewal of their operatorship and interest in the said OML 11 to the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources;

"That for the past 25 years, the rich oil potentials of OML 11 have remained untapped following the hanging of the world-renown Ogoni poet and environmental activist, Mr. Ken SaroWiwa and the Ogoni 9 as well as the unfortunate mob lynching and death of four prominent Ogoni citizens, one of whom was theSecretary of Government of the Rivers State and another, a Commissioner under the tenureof Lt. Col. Dauda Musa Komo as Governor of Rivers State;

"That it has become unlikely that for peace and security, the people of Ogoni in the Rivers Stat will welcome SPDC on their land forming part of OML 11;

That a lot of revenue is lost to the Federation Account accruable to the 55% stake of the Federal Government in OML 11 and by extension the rest of the Federating States of Nigeria due to non-production of nearly 250,000 barrels per day of its crude oil potentials equaling one sixth of the country’s total out-put per d

That the Rivers State Government has continued to loose 13% derivation fund from the said 55% stake of the Federal Government in that field for nearly 30 years now, which revenue would have transformed the State and its peoples for the better;



"That rather than standby and watch other persons or group purchaser SPDC 45% interest in that OML 11 and further exacerbate the poverty of the people of the State, a responsible and responsive State Government should weigh in and bid for the purchase of SPDC interest already set down for auction;



" That the present Government of Rivers State entrusted in my care through the Will of God and those of the peoples of the Rivers State have concluded that it will be in the overall interest of the State, the other Federating States and the Federal Government that we as a Government, should make a bidfor the purchase of the said interest of SPDC now placed on auction by extant Order of the Courts of Law."

Governor Wike explained the process: "Therefore, I directed the Rivers State Ministry of Finance Incorporated to make a bid of USD 150,000,0900.00 supported by a Bank Guarantee and cash payment to the Deputy Sheriff in the sum of N1 billion, the later payable to the Judgement Creditors while the former is escrowed.



" I have further directed the relevant Government agencies to take immediate steps to liaise with any financially capable companies to partner with the Rivers State Government to ensure that the said oil field come on stream within 15 months from today.



" In line with our commitment to accelerated development, industrial harmony and security, the Rivers State Government will graciously concede some portion of its 45% per cent equity interest to all the oil producingcommunities within OML 11 to enhance mutual ownership, participation and sharing in the benefits of these resources.



" I have taken these steps with all sense of responsibility believing that addressing the pains and poverty of our peoples with the resultant security and welfare of its people is the main purpose of governance and nothing less".

He added: " I have attached a Certified True Copy of the Judicial Certificate of Purchase of Land/Immovable property dated 25 September 2019 issued by the High Court of Rivers State under Order VII Rule 9 of High Court Rivers in reference to Suit No: PCH/1696/2019 Between Government of Rivers State of Nigeria vs. Chief Isaac OsaroAgbara& 5 Ors. and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd. & 2 Ors".

The Rivers State Governor noted that his Administration is sensitive to the agitation of Rivers people for political and economic freedom. He said the Administration shall continue to respond appropriately to the challenges of development either alone or in conjunction with the state's partners to advance her abiding interest in building the brightest possible future for Rivers people.

He outlined the circumstances that led to the dispute and the accompanying judgments.

He said: "Following a major oil spill from SPDC Trans Niger High Pressure Crude Oil Pipeline at Ejama Community, an approximate area of 255 hectares of arable agricultural land, fishing swamps and rivers were devasted.



"SPDC admitted that the oil spill came from their pipeline and occurred sometime in 1970. They paid some compensation to the community in the sum of N300,000.00 sometime in 1986 and promised to come and de-pollute the area. SPDC failed to de-pollute the area which gave rise to a lawsuit in 1991 commenced at the High Court of Rivers State, Nchia Division presided over by Hon Justice P.N.C. Agumagu(now retired). At the end of the trial, the Court found against SPDC and entered judgment in the sum of N1 billion in addition to and order for SPDC to clean up the spill or pay N6 billion in lieu thereof.


" SPDC appealed the judgement. During the pendency of the appeal, the jurisdiction of the State High Court was taken away and donated to the Federal High Court by a subsequent judgment of the Supreme Court. The EjamaEbubu Community conceded SPDC’s appeal without a formal hearing".

Ok this is a new high...police in fighting

Omotolatolulope:
Why are you this daft sef?
How can you work against someone who's clamouring for your success, think about it and use your brain.

If you haven't been so stupid you would have seen that the banner displayed in the rally bore 2023, how can aspiring for the exalted position of presidency after Buhari's tenure be adjudged as working against his principal.

Common sense is indeed very far from you, if you tag me again na ogun go visit you dis night. Iranu.

Fulani men dhan make kidnapping their cash cow

No smoke without fire....Osinbade knows about it.

Sowore in biiiiiig trouble in Buharia's Nigeria.

Oturugbeke!!...All the money Tacha dhan gather so never pass the prize money for the bbn winner so..?

According to the gun men afteral mace snatcher Omo Agege did it and was rewarded with deputy senator president why can't they take it a notch higher.

Well I can't give my informed assessment of the beauty queen because for whatever reason Op decided to use a sophisticated fake phone with very low resolution to take a picture shot of the queen.

:

Op stop sensationising which one come be microsoft specialist for that reportage now..


Anyways congrats to the intelligent young budding scientist.

Good old days when Nigeria's reputation abroad was almost pristine and unblotted by herdsmen, boko haram, yahoo Yahoo, kidnapping and the ilks.

Meanwhile this picture of Prince Charles and Diana speaks volume of the silent feud in their marriage, Diana particularly might be eying her Arabian born billionaire boyfriend while prince Charles resigned himself to fate with his forlorn appearance.

If my memory serves me right the last time a Nigerian president visited that country was when a certain herdsman developed hearing problems and the Queen was like I can't coman waste my time on someone that can't hear very well from a fantastically corrupt country

Op the trend is not just in Abuja, the same is prevalent in Lagos and port Harcourt.

Come to Ikoyi and Lekki there are countless numbers of unoccupied apartment and office buildings, what most developers have opted to do is to balkanize the duplex apartments and rent out each duplex to several people on per room basis with a central sitting room...In Port Harcourt, Odili road, GU Aki road and GRA you see several uninhabited buildings.

Person never see food chop na to go rent house N2M per annum. Issorite

Besides most of the empty apartments are due to relocation, a good measure of well to do families are leaving the country in droves they can't fathom the thought of raising their wards in a dysfunctional country like Nigeria .

NOETHNICITY:
Christians pretend as if religion should not attract fanatic adherence, yet their fanaticism can't make them stand Islam and it's Quran.
At every given opportunity they insult Muslims and they still complain about nairaland mods who can nolonger stand thier childishness and have to introduce barrier before Christians can access Muslim threads

Why don't you give your informed views on the issue at stake instead of chasing evasive shadows.

There's something fundamentally wrong with you people.

Just imagine this fvckery, closed down a school and suspended the teachers because some pages of the jihadist book were found in the sewers.

And one wonders why the north is backward. A region that the followers fight for their god as against the god fighting for them.

kalu61:
l have been lazy to read this episode, someone should summarise it

But you're quick to be FTC, iranu

dolphinife:
Very disheartening I say. I'm not exonerating Fashola and Ambode of this monumental fraud, nor am I exalting corruption, but I think the reason Lagos Rail line is much more expensive is because it passes through the water ways. I might be wrong tho

But you saw the point raised by Op concerning the discrepancy between what the government officials quoted the contract sum as and the one given by the Chinese construction company.

" By 2017, the Lagos state government changed tact and abandoned the project, coming up with a nonsensical idea of flooding the city with buses as its solution to transportation and traffic gridlock in the state. One Sunday evening, Ambode, former governor of Lagos state invited senior journalists and editors to his office to sell the new plan to them. He invited questions and by the time I asked him about the project, he not only refused to answer me, but abruptly ended the programme and some of my colleagues blamed me for ruining the event."

Op I find the bolded very hilarious...why you go spoil Ambode shine naa..

Breathe taking

C

Wow!

.