₦airaland Forum

increase the size of the window in the dining space and insert a high level window in the store to illuminate it.

Codedrock:
SOURCE: http://www.takemetonaija.com/2016/10/ten-most-influential-women-in-nigeria.html[

Why is Ann Kio Briggs, the amazon of the Niger Delta and human rights activist not mentioned?

Let him also embark on major projects in the riverine areas. RS does not begin and end in Ikwerre land. What is delaying the construction of the trans Kalabari road, which is included in this year's budget. Bulk of the oil money comes from areas other than Ikwerre land.

Ok, how much do you think will be realistic? I am up for the rides though.

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Shipping from Houston

Fellow NLers, please any body who has idea on the cost of shipping and clearing a Nissan Pathfinder 2000 model at Tin Can should help with the info. Thanks in advance!

So, what budget is a realistic one then?

Anybody has anyone for sale @ 900k?

Nigeria Line Up: Enyeama, Odiah, Yobo, Shittu, Afolabi, Ayila, Etuhu, Kalu, Aiyegbeni, Kanu, Obasi

This is the official team list. Argentina go hear wieeenn! Nigeria will make it to the semis while Argentina will exit early. You heard it here first!
ARGENTINA (3-4-1-2)

Sergio Romero
Martin Demichelis
Walter Samuel
Gabriel Heinze
Jonas Gutiérrez
Javier Mascherano
Juan Veron
Angel Di Maria
Lionel Messi
Carlos Tevez
Gonzalo Higuain


NIGERIA (4-4-2)

Vincent Enyeama
Chidi Odiah
Joseph Yobo
Danny Shittu
Taye Taiwo
Chinedu Obasi
Dickson Etuhu
Kalu Uche
Peter Odemwingie
Aiyegbeni Yakubu
Obafemi Martins

Below links will give a clue as to the performance of Rivers State government. Couldn't get much from the net. But to be fair to Amaechi, he is really doing well in the area of education, health and road construction.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rivers-State-Government-Scholars-Abroad/73475664645

http://www.facebook.com/#/album.php?aid=42583&id=33213172995

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs264.snc1/9131_152709973487_119586108487_3634742_7771671_n.jpg

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://theinformantrivers.net/photos/amaechi_inspecting.png&imgrefurl=http://theinformantrivers.net/sidenews7.html&usg=__GLNZCi74BXG2SZblbuGKmUj5TL8=&h=426&w=292&sz=313&hl=en&start=2&sig2=QENrT620meYF3A3Dimsebw&itbs=1&tbnid=c_7wUzGgI0SQSM:&tbnh=126&tbnw=86&prev=/images%3Fq%3Damaechi%252Broad%2Bconstruction%252Brivers%2Bstate%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG&ei=MqwgS_alL8PH-Qb-nqyxBg

http://www.javno.com/en-economy/chinese-firm-to-build-usd1-bln-road-in-nigeria_163963

http://www.riversstatenigeria.net/ghpd/images/Presentation/Picture19.jpg
Eleme junction bridge (completed)

http://precisiontcl.com/images/Project%20photo%20files/PORT%20H8.jpg

http://multiplanconsult-ng.com/images/MPC_portfolio_2pic2.jpg

http://www.riversstatenigeria.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=923:rsg-to-build-750-model-primary-schools-in-the-state--earmarks-n27b&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=216
Andoni-Opobo-Ogoni Unity Road

Well, below are a few links that can give you a clue as to the performance of Gov Amaechi of Rivers State.

Rivers govt sends 300 youths to study in India
Source:http://odili.net/news/source/2009/oct/20/300.html

Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi: GOVERNOR AMAECHI ADDRESSES ISSUES CONCERNING RIVERS STATE, ITS PEOPLE AND RESIDENTS AT HIS FIRST MONTHLY MEDIA BRIEFING
Source:http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=147620183976&

Answers questions from journalists

Excerpts from the event

EDUCATION

In the educational sector, after this administration took over primary schools from the Local Government councils, we started building 250 new primary schools. We have currently added another 100 to it. This will reduce what we will build next year because we had said 250 new primary schools this year, and another 250 next year. But with this additional 100 we are building this year, by next year we will build 150 to make it 500 new primary schools. Our target is that by the end of our tenure we should have built 750 new model primary schools. And that is the recommendation of the committee that we set up to look into primary education in the State. The committee said, demolish the 1300 primary schools that you have because it does not fit into what primary schools should look like. And if you demolish it, build 750 new models schools. If you look at the old 1300 schools, they are 6 classroom blocks but what we are building is 14 classroom blocks. The difference is that you have more number of classrooms than we had before.

In taking over the primary schools, we also took over the payment of teachers emoluments. And we also took over the payment of junior secondary school teachers salaries which the Local Government people were paying. At the end of the first month we paid between 1.1 to 1.2billion naira as teachers’ salaries at the primary school level and at the junior secondary school level which before now were the responsibility of the Local Government councils.

We have already completed 10 out of the 250 new primary schools. We believe 25 should be ready before the end of this month. By December, we should be delivering at least 150 new model Primary schools.

As for Secondary Schools, the one at Eleme is nearing completion. But I don’t pride myself with that one because the former Commissioner for Education located that school on only 8-9 hectares of land. We said that the secondary schools should be located on 25 hectares of land. So if you want to see a model of the school, go to the one at Tai, though they are the foundation level but in the next 2-3 months they should have hit lintel level. But I hear work has gone far in the secondary schools at Oyigbo and Omuma Local Government Areas. You should go and see what is happening in those two areas.

Unlike the Primary schools where we are spending only N27 billion, we are spending nearly 90 billion for the Secondary Schools and we are building 23 new Secondary schools. It will now be 24 because I have decided that they should build one at Ubima.

The rain has stopped us from continuing construction work at the new Rivers State University of Science and Technology in the new Greater Port Harcourt city. My plan was that by now we should have gone ahead with the foundation for the hostels. The capacity is for 60,000 students which means in the next 10 to 15 years they won’t be looking for accommodation. We’ve almost awarded the contract to Prodeco to build the Hostels because we needed to deliver it before next year September. This is because we are hosting the next National Sports Festival and we want to accommodate all the athletes there. When they finish the festival, we take back our hostels and hand them over to the University. Near the University, we are about to start construction of a Games Village. So, if the rain stops maybe October or November, we’ll resume construction. We have already awarded the contract for the infrastructures to Zerock because we’ll provide light, water roads-circular roads and internal roads, drainage and a sewage plant so that we don’t have what they call soak-away pit inside the school. While they are doing that, we have agreed that as soon as the rain stops we will start the construction of the faculties and other public buildings in the University.

We are tinkering with the idea of establishing a new teachers’ training college for the sole purpose of training teachers. We don’t have teachers and if we establish it, it becomes an easy avenue to feed the University. We want to also establish a Rivers State University of Education to train teachers because we completely lack teachers.

HEALTH

In the health sector, am sure you are aware that we are building 150 Health Centres. Some of them have been completed but they have not been opened up because there are no doctors. I met with the Rivers State Civil Service Commission and told them to hire all qualified and capable doctors that applied for jobs. I hear over 190 doctors applied. By the end of this month, we will have about 50 Health Centres completed. If we employ these doctors and nurses, then we can open them up for people to use. The essence is to reduce maternal and child mortality ratio in Rivers State which is currently very high.

We have completed three hospitals already. The Dental Hospital at Garrison, the New Niger Hospital at Emenike Street in Diobu and the 50-bed General Hospital at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology. We did agree with the University that that hospital will be open to both the students and the public. We are at the stage of equipping these hospitals and that will be done after due process has been completed. Also, work has commenced at the Justice Karibi Whyte mega specialist Hospital in the new Greater Port Harcourt city.

WORKS/TRANSPORT

In the area of roads, there are challenges in vehicular traffic flow. There are two other reasons outside bad roads that is the cause of the heavy traffic congestion in Port Harcourt. First, we don’t have enough roads for the whole city. This is why I think that the media should support us in our demolition exercise. There are so many new roads we want to build but these roads will include the demolition of people’s houses. Another reason is the bad driving behavior of motorists. To tackle that, we have sent a bill to the State House of Assembly. I try not to influence or be part of what happens in the State legislature, but I have sent that bill for over three months now – the “Traffic Management Law” so that we can set up a Traffic Management Agency that can manage traffic in Port Harcourt.

We have stopped work completely on all our roads because of the rains. It’s only those doing drainage work that you could still find at our road construction sites. If you check Rumuokwuta/Rumuola road, we are ready to asphalt but we can’t because we are waiting for the rains to stop. When we did the soil texture test, the moisture level was extremely high and we said we cannot asphalt with this kind of moisture level because the road will just fail one year after. An example is the Tombia road in GRA. People are saying it’s failing. It has not failed yet. We just covered it up so people can use it during the rains. After the rains they will remove everything and then reconstruct. But we had to do it because we didn’t want motorists to suffer on that road. That road will continue to the end of Woji road at that same level. And there will be a sub-surface drain or covered drain that will take water to Ntawogba axis.
Another area that may interest you is the flooding in some parts of the city. I have always said that Ikwerre people sold water to land buyers who bought water in the name of buying property. So I have decided that most of them will be demolished so that we can properly create water channels. When that one starts again, there will be people that will be demonstrating that I am demolishing their houses, their land, and ‘their ancient land where they have lived all their lives’. But that has to happen if we must have a city. You will agree with me that there’s no land I have taken from anybody for personal use. I have not bought one since I became Governor, so I have no acquisitive tendencies. All I’m doing is to recover and restore Port Harcourt to what it used to be. Even if I can’t move it forward, let me get it back to those days that people used to say that this is Garden City.

Rural Infrastructure

A lot of roads have been completed in the rural areas. People were writing that we are not doing anything in the rural areas and I responded that we have done more in the rural areas than in the city. Some said we have done nothing in the coastal areas and I say they should tell me where. Some people who wrote on my Facebook page mentioned Krakrama community, so I called the commissioners for Education and Health to name the projects we have in those areas. There are schools and health centres there. There is no Local Government Area that we don’t have new Health Centres or Primary Schools. So I think they are probably talking about roads. And I said it is difficult to do roads in those areas so what we are doing which we think is more challenging and which we think our coastal brothers need more now is land reclamation. So we are doing land reclamation in coastal areas. We have done in Buguma, Opobo, we doing at Abalama and in Andoni and these projects are in billions of naira. We are doing roads in Okirika about 4.5km road with bridges at over N3billion naira. The road to Andoni, I just saw on my record that out of N18billion, I have paid N11billion.

SECURITY

Another area that we have done is security of lives and property. I’m sure that some or most of you now feel a sense of safety in the city, better than it used to be before. I would like to take your minds back to 2005, 2006 when men will sit in their houses and young boys will walk in with guns and shoot people to death. How many times has it happened since I became Governor? The simple reason is anybody who commits an offence must be punished for that offence. And now people know that there is somebody who says, any offence you commit, you will be punished for it, they have reduced the number of times they commit offences.

The major demolition that is causing some confusion for which a few people are writing all sorts of things is the demolition of slums and shanties in Port Harcourt Waterfronts. And they know that I will not respond because I am going ahead. I have made up my mind, I have talked through the process, I have gone to the Executive Council and the Council says go ahead; I have called series of stakeholders meetings-one, I met with leaders and Chiefs of Okirika and I made the proposal to them. Nothing will stop me from demolishing Port Harcourt Waterfronts except God and probably the courts. If we end up at the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court says don’t demolish, then we have to obey the law. Beyond these two, I must demolish waterfronts.
Why do I want to go ahead with the demolition of shanties and slums in the Waterfronts of the city? The first reason is crime. If you go to waterfronts and they steal your property or they kill somebody, nobody from that Waterfront is allowed to report to the police. If you report, they will kill you. So they have their own structures, they have their own supreme court. And there can’t be two governments in a State, just like there can’t be two presidents in Nigeria. The governor of Rivers State is Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, so why do I have to allow other “governors” in the same state. We must bring down the Waterfronts for the interest of security. Last month or two months ago, we heard that people came from the Waterfronts and killed 5 persons near the Waterfronts. Then the next day, an innocent student who went home to collect money from his parents was shot dead on his way back. And I will continue to tell the world, if you look at the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Law and the Oath of Office, there is no where that I am told to construct roads or develop communities. The only oath that is impeachable is the Oath that says that I will protect lives and property. And since I don’t want to be impeached, I must protect lives and property. So nobody will tell me that we should not demolish because it is their ancient kingdom.

The argument they (Okrika people) are making is that there is a 1913 agreement. And when addressing me, some of the Okrika Chiefs told me that in 1913 they sold that land to the crown and I asked them, who the crown is? And they said government. So they are illegal occupants on government land. Now that I am Governor, I hold the land in trust for the people. In that meeting, I told them I will do the following things: first is that, I will not demolish all the Waterfronts settlements at the same time. I will start with Njemanze because I already have investors for Njemanze. When I finish demolishing Njemanze and investors move in, I will move backwards to Rumuolumeni and demolish that Waterfront settlement because all the criminals we chased out of Tombia community are now living at the Waterfront settlement in Rumuolumeni, from where they commit crimes. Then I will come back to Town axis and after that, Diobu.

Everybody in the Diobu area allowed us to enumerate, but in Town axis, people came out with guns and chased away policemen. If they chased away policemen with guns and even disarmed one policeman, it shows that I need to demolish for the sake of security. I told them that I will also pay compensation and in paying compensation I told them that I will pay compensation at full commercial value. It’s just for people to have enough money to be able to build another house somewhere else. Not only did I say I will pay compensation at full commercial value, I also told them that I will reclaim land for them in Okirika. And then we left the meeting. But after that meeting they went to court, they have done all sorts of things, but I am determined to demolish the Waterfront settlements and it is for everybody’s interest.

POWER

In the Power sector, between now and December, Port Harcourt will have about 280 mega watts of power. But the problem is not in generation but in distribution. The President will come and commission the 100 mega watts of power that we will complete before the end of December. Our plan is to change all the small transformers, do distribution lines so that once we hit the 280 mega watts of power, we will at least enjoy 70 per cent of power supply. And our target is that by 2011 we should be able to deliver 500 mega watts of power which means Port Harcourt and Rivers State should be able to have uninterrupted power supply by 2011. Also, we are awarding a contract to Saipem to build a new power plant at Afam (power station)-180 mega watts to complement what we have. If you add them together we will be having over 650 mega watts.

Q: This is the beginning of the new school session. What is the student population for primary and secondary schools in Rivers State? And how many teachers do you need?

A: You really caught me here. This is the same question I have been asking the Commissioner for Education. When we said we will take over primary schools from local councils, we got a figure of 12,000 teachers. As soon as we announced takeover, in less than one week it increased to 16,000 teachers. So where did this additional teachers come from.

When it comes to reforms, we are doing a lot. There’s financial management reform-the governor is no longer allowed to just wake up and spend money anyhow he likes. Our Fiscal responsibility bill is in the House of Assembly. Others before the House of Assembly are the financial management Bill, Public Private Partnership (PPP) Bill and we have passed the Due Process bill into law. However, it’s either that extra teachers were employed before the time of the count or the Education Board must have added some new teachers. So, I told them to give me the exact figure of the teachers present in the primary schools but till today, the Ministry of Education is still battling with that figure and that is why we have not employed. I told them I must know how many teachers we have now, how many teachers we require and for what subjects.

Getting the exact student population has also been difficult. When we came newly, we asked all commissioners to go home and count the teachers and students in their locality. They all brought in different figures. So I think that the best thing we could do is to get a consultant to go and get us the actual figure so that we know what we are paying for. Take for instance, each primary school we are building is for 500 pupils, but I went into the primary school at Churchill and discovered that the student population at Churchill is more than 500. And if you direct them to go to the nearby school, they will have a longer distance to either trek or their parents will now begin to pay transport for them. To stop that, I said they should build another primary school at Churchill, so they will now have two there. To your question, I have challenges in answering it, except the Ministry of Education gives me the complete and correct figure. But I have told them we need to get an Independent Consultant to get us the actual number of pupils we have. It is the same in the Secondary Schools. In fact, I am told that there are so many fake teachers and people are collecting their salaries.
Q: The MOT had been asked to stop operations pending when the bill is passed. But we still find some people wearing petty jackets harassing people and taking them away. Who is behind this operation?

A: I have not seen that, but now that you have mentioned it, I will ask them to investigate…… somehow in this country; it is because we shy away from struggles, from confronting the system that the system gets away with anything. We must compel Government to develop the economy. Government must take it as a responsibility and all it takes to develop the economy is to put a system in place. Nigeria is a place where systems don’t work. We personalize everything. The Governors and Government are too powerful. We must de-emphasize persons and create institutions and strengthen those institutions. Do you know how many times I have risked my life jumping down from my car to confront policemen with guns? I know you can’t exactly do that, but as governor, I can’t do everything. I can do as much as I can.

If you talk of employment, all the projects I’m doing are creating employment. The 150 Health Centres we are building, there’s no way you would not have at least 150 workers. I don’t want to say bunch of workers, but let’s say 1 worker per site. That means 250 primary schools-250 workers and that is 250 employments, if you must say so. We are building over 300 roads that must be over 300 persons employed too. So if it comes to employment, we are employing.
We are reviving industries too. Look at Pabod Breweries; I sold it because government cannot run such business. I sold it to South African Breweries Limited, so that we don’t finish reactivating Pabod Breweries and somebody comes tomorrow and say, this is a government company, I hereby appoint the Managing Director. He appoints a politician who cannot even run his house to become the MD of Pabod Breweries and they run it down. So we sold 80 percent of the shares we hold and retained just 20 percent. In the same way, we are reviving Risonpalm. I’m working on paying up the debts and buy out all those investors that were there before then we will move into the place build a new mill, start the process of cutting down the old oil palm plantation and plant new ones. All that is to focus on agriculture and create new jobs. We are negotiating with a British firm on how to build 10,000 hectares of rubber plantation…just to create employment.

Q: What is being done in the area of Waste management? The Eliozu road to Olu-Obasanjo Bye pass is fast becoming a death trap and the contractors should be made do something to it to help people using that road…. From all the revenue gotten from environmental sanitation, how much has the State generated as internal revenue?
A: The Company doing the road you talked about is Bulletine. Everywhere on that road is a death trap, but it is the same you that will accuse me of witch-hunting the past administration if, So, I have left that road until the contractor finishes and leaves site then I will award the road to a better contractor. That flyover was awarded by Celestine Omehia (the sacked former governor) and it was awarded 2 days before I became Governor and full payment made. 100 per cent full payment was done by Omehia two days before I became governor, so i have no form of control over the contractor. The contract is for 1 year and 6 months, I have spent nearly 2 years in government and the contract by law should have been delivered by now. A friend of mine said it is a contract where they are using shovels and wheel barrows to build a flyover. Should you be building a flyover with shovel and wheel barrow? But so that nobody accuses me of witch hunting anybody, I have left them to finish their work. When they finish, I will call a bigger contractor to work on that road from Ken Saro-Wiwa road to Ikwerre road because that road is very important. If you check that flyover, if we are not careful it will be a one lane flyover, even though I have told them to increase it to 7.3 metres. If they don’t, then it would surely be a single lane flyover. Then it would have the same problems we have at the Rumuola flyover and the CFC flyover where you cannot evacuate traffic easily and if any car breaks down, you are stuck… But not to cause political confusion, I am prepared to endure, take the abuse and the insult that would come out from that road. We are putting pressure now on the contractor, I have told the Commissioner for Works that as soon as the rains are over, he should put pressure on them so they at least complete the flyover and get out of site. Then we will call for a bid for a reputable contractor to reconstruct that road.
On the issue of waste, we are currently doing waste dispersal, not waste management. This is another area that I have political challenges. 90 per cent of the contractors are politicians not appointed by me but by a previous administration. And if I cancel it, they would say I am witch hunting my former boss. So I have left them until I finish constructing my waste management plants. There are three of them, two to manage solid waste, one to manage scrap or mega waste. I have told the Commissioner for Environment to produce bags and distribute them and nobody should dump waste on the streets, they should dump it in the bags and let the contractors go to their houses and pick up this waste and go and dump them wherever they dump them until we finish constructing. But that has not happened. I told the Commissioner for Environment, I told the Chairman of Environmental Sanitation Authority. I have not seen a response to that directive yet. But once we complete the three plants that we are building, one (the scrap one) should be ready by December. When we complete the solid waste management plant, then I will cancel all those contracts. No sentiments. If you have no facility to collect waste-the trucks, we won’t give you one. And like I told the Commissioner for Environment, we don’t need more than six contractors. Six of them that has those vehicles, maybe 2, 3, 4 vehicles each will do if they divide Port Harcourt into zones and go to people’s homes to take away those waste bags and proceed to the waste management plants. That way, we will get Port Harcourt looking clean. Port Harcourt is dirty, I am aware of that. And there is no Executive Council meeting that it does not come up. We make decisions and we are not carrying them out because, the politicians who are now waste collectors will say ‘they are witch hunting us because we did not support them’. So we have allowed them, they have continued for about two years now and I’ve not removed anybody. But we shall soon cancel the contracts.

Q: To save lives and save us the inconveniences we are going through; why not cancel the contract for the Eliozu road now and re-award it since you don’t want to ask for refunds or anything?
A: I just think that we should endure. Rivers people should endure. The contractor will complete that job latest by November. We will put pressure on them to complete the flyover. Let them complete it. Then, we will get a reputable contractor who will do the entire road. By December you will see that we have started the process of awarding that road contract.

Q: I understand there was supposed to be a reconciliatory meeting between you and Ateke Tom. On the issue of roads, contractors who are not qualified are seen doing roads and some of the roads in Port Harcourt have gone bad after one month.

A: There is no road that we have done that has gone bad except for one or two roads we just resurfaced and those were roads awarded before we came and they were completed before we came,

About Ateke Tom, I have no business speaking with him. I have said it to the whole world that I have seen Ateke once or twice in my life. The one I can vividly remember is the day Hon. James Fauyefika was having a thanksgiving service and I went to Okirika to Chair the thanksgiving service as Speaker of the Legislature, and one young man walks in and they said that’s godfather, and I said who is godfather and they said it’s Ateke Tom. Beyond that, I have never seen, I have never talked with Ateke all my life and probably may not talk with Ateke. I am not in charge of Amnesty so I do not have to meet with Ateke. If Ateke needs assurance from the Rivers State Government, I hereby assure Ateke, nothing, absolutely nothing will happen to him if he surrenders his weapons and comes out to be a free man because the President of Nigeria has declared amnesty. But it is important that everybody knows that it has an expiration date. And after that expiration date is where the battle starts- the Federal Republic of Nigeria versus anybody. I hope you people know that.
The second question you asked was on roads and I have told you that you are not correct. First we have this policy when we came in that we would give projects to Rivers State indigenes so that we would be able to empower Rivers people. We are doing quite a lot of that but if you look well, they are in the rural areas not in Port Harcourt city… the contractors working inside Port Harcourt are Stemco, Gitto, RCC, Homan, Julius Berger, MCC, Tell me one road that has gone bad? I have told you that on Tombia Street in GRA, what we did is a temporary job just to make it passable under the rainy season and we have achieved that. When you drive through the road and see small potholes please bear with us and don’t start complaining. We did it to allow motorists drive through until after the rains. After the rains, we will remove all those things and start a new process. And then, we have also awarded the contract to include Woji road to raise the road because what you are seeing there is the lowest part of that road and the road is below sea level. So we have to raise it back and then do drainage that takes all that water away. There is no road that this administration is doing that is failing. I have said this severally and explain the true situation. The roads that are failing are the old roads in Port Harcourt which means that whether government likes it or not, we need to do more road rehabilitation inside Port Harcourt city. Check the Abuloma/Trans-Amadi road, did I award it? The road we are about to award now is Garrison to East-West with a flyover at the Slaughter end and that flyover will launch after the bridge. We are currently talking with RCC because it’s not a road you give to just anybody. We have awarded Elekahia/ Rumuomasi road and have paid them 30 per cent. In fact every day I ask the contractor why they have not gone on site. And they say it’s because of the rains. We have awarded Rukpakwulusi/Eneka/ Igwuruta road. In fact, my anger with the contractor is that that road was awarded about 6 months ago, so I said whether rain or not, they must go to site. I have paid them 30 per cent and that road is worth N9billion. So, we don’t give our roads to unqualified contractors. I am not looking for cheap popularity,
Q: If you are in deed in support of the amnesty programme for militants, may we know to what extent you have supported the activities of the implementation committee? Rivers State is one of the States listed as not paying the Teachers’ Salary Structure (TSS), what is the position of government on this?

On the issue of TSS, I have told the teachers that if they want TSS, then let’s go back to their salary structure and remove all those other extra allowances that are not suppose to be there but are there. Teachers in Rivers State are currently the highest paid anywhere in the country. We pay more than Federal Government; we pay more than any State government. And I have challenged them to show me any State that pays higher and I will pay TSS. I have told the teachers, we pay TSS and we remove those allowances or you keep those allowances and forget TSS. So we are not going to pay TSS except they accept that we should withdraw those allowances and then start paying TSS. It’s better for me because I will save money and pay less, paying TSS than paying the allowances. Now, they want me to pay TSS and pay the allowances on top, that’s not possible because teachers do not constitute 90 percent of the public service neither do they constitute 90 percent of the people, and I have the people to take care of too.

On amnesty for militants, it is erroneous for anyone to accuse me of not supporting amnesty. They said provide a training ground and a ground for residence for the militants, and I have. I have released money for the renovation of the Aluu training centre. I was the first in Nigeria to open a training ground for anyone who comes out and surrenders his weapons and we are now graduating the first 300 repentant militants. We took them to Jos and some other places for leadership training, skills acquisition etc. We are now talking about how to deploy funds and assist them to establish and own their individual businesses. So how can anybody say I am not supporting Amnesty? It’s political and I don’t bother myself with political talks. The Federal government has made a lot of progress in Rivers State as far as Amnesty for repentant militants is concerned, and I support it whole heartedly. I have said here that the State government will not harm any repentant militant that takes advantage of the federal government amnesty deal. I will rather support anyone that comes out and surrenders his weapons. The only other issue is to rehabilitate them; we need to rehabilitate them for them to be able to fit into society again.

Bacoline,
I have sent 2 mails and a post on here asking you how much it will cost me to get a Toyota Camry 2000 model (xle). Save me all those arithmetic and be specific. I am serious! What is the payment plan, ETA, I am based in PHC.

Mail sent to you!

kiwi,
My own dad, late Mr. C.J. Miller was also a victim as he was killed by the Nigeiran army over false accusations of collaborating with the biafrans right in front of Abraham Solo's house. They also looked for my sisters and i with my 3 months old yunger brother to be eliminated after my father. So you are not alone here. My experience is even worse. I never really knew my dad as i was about 2 yrs old at the time.

The tantrum and vile in your write up is not necessary at all. Yes, you were wronged but i had worse experience but i have since moved on. I dont have any other town to call my own apart from Bakana.

As for your achievement, well keep it to yourself. Its of no use if you can't use it to better your kith and kin back at home. Bakana will move on with or without you.

By the way, your father was a legend in his time and that's what matters to us. Have a nice day!

Mbre Omongibo,
Igani ma ari i tomina ere ke isim gote, sisi. Ari ini na miju biama ye me kpoma te ibio belema lamam. Ida gboloma ye me te a ge ye meso ari ani sin te. Miemie so iganimari bebe si woriso ipiri.

Amiete inimi bara anie me buro ala? I ge ari ayi ma gban tombo ani go kuma mbo ine te ilekiri ba. Idukom mine se iyeri ci Berepiki tubo na piki Plane gboloma ye te ige ari ayi ma. Tombo ani ke google search ye kuma ilekiri me buro kuroye? Yeri so miju afi-ari be ere me ke google search ye kuma itomina ere pakabo ba.

Wamine ama me ani sibara sibara, wamine anie ine te piki ani telema bari ye. sigima bo goye, goye imbo ine te mie bari beye te amame ere gbusunuma bari ye goye, goye, imbo mie.
Wa bari ama me ere ke siye fie ma.

Omongiapu bem mine se ma opoli gboloma fulo anie miete ani bu gbem sigima bo goye, goye imbo inete miete ama me lolo bari ye goye, goye mie.

Ama me bo meni gbala, gbala itari ya beso, i pa bukuroma te ani bio korinama kori su bari-a. Ine te bara swa omina polo ania-nia omina wari bio su so, iye miete. Miemie ke kuroma bu su. Turoko, ba-a ju, ye sime bari bara gborubo so nimi-a. Imiete!

Take a virtual tour of Berepiki and Iyalla compounds. Click on the attached links.
http://www.maplandia.com/nigeria/rivers/portharcourt/bakana/squares/iyalla-compound/

http://www.maplandia.com/nigeria/rivers/portharcourt/bakana/squares/berepiki-compound/
http://www.maplandia.com/nigeria/rivers/portharcourt/bakana/

I accept the offer but will pay up by November ending. If this okay lets have a deal.

Hey Baconline,
How much can you get me a Toyotoa Camry 2000 model xle-full options? (preferable colour: leafy green and cream interior)

Mbre omongibo Kiwi,
Ari erim mine se igani kpoma te ibu emi. Sisi ama ke fomu te ere ke oki. Bakana me sime ari bara me ani tombo toru owu minji pakama ari. Ama me gbosima obu da-ari bara me wa moku ye miea-a  bebe, ba turo koju wamine awome anie ani ke toru si eri bari ye.

Sisi, wamine ogbo me ye bete doki ari ayi ma, wa bim wa ida (Dr. CI Brepike na piki japu na) ama bio korite ibi korinama ma ge pakama bote tomi ani gote bebe e, ini so ba oko diki ma te ina dumo anga bari bara anie wa diki ari.(bekin ani sim "role model", "mentor").

Ida bu wa ge wurari ayi ma diki te sin be ye emi bebe ani sin wapiri. Aniania, swa be ye piki emi bebe piki ani ke swa wamine piri. Ari ani ke obolo wurari miju. Imiete!

Mbre,
come join the "lovely people of bakana" group on facebook and lets chat. I am also a Bakana man from Marion Braide/Suku.

Tom Alabraba is actually your relative from Berepiki. His mum is Berepiki.

Lets meet up please. Our organisation, Pan-Bakana community development Initiative is organising a value reorientation summit in November, 2009. Visit our website @ www.theleaguebakana.org or www.pbcdi.org.

Good to see you here