Residents of Shasha Akowonjo, under the auspices of Landlords and Residents Association have sent a Save our Soul, SoS appeal to the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola over what they described as an attempt by an agency of the state government to forcibly seize and demolish their structures in the name of building a market in the area.

WARRI—OVER 150 riverine dwellers have reportedly lost their lives and about 5,000 presently sick in Delta and Bayelsa states because of the alleged destructive chemical dispersant used to clean the controversial crude spill from the Bonga Oil Field, belonging to Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, SNPECo, on December 20, 2011.

TO get Nigeria’s 10 million out-of-school children into school and learning, today, alongside development partners, we will announce millions of dollars of international support in a joint effort with President Goodluck Jonathan and his state governors.

…Affected staff ruined the lives of 142 students…
University of Benin (UNIBEN) Governing Council recently sacked 44 staff of the institution allegedly involved in allegations that bordered on gross misconduct. But since the decision was taken, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Osayuki Oshodin, says he has not had peace. Recuperating from alleged food poisoning, he raised the alarm that some of those sacked by the university Council were after his life. In this interview, Oshodin alleges that some of the sacked staff were involved in sexual harassment, extortion and fake admissions which resulted in the rustication of 142 students. He also speaks on the current ASUU strike. Excerpts:

Declan Chukwuma Umege is a practicing Health Safety and Environmental professional. A University of Nigeria, Nsukka graduate of Microbiology and Masters degree in Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety Management, University of Portsmouth UK. As someone who has lived and worked in Niger Delta and seen the effects of oil pollution there, Declan recently came out with a book titled Muffled Voices, that tells the story of environmental and human rights crimes committed by oil companies against their host nation. In this chat, the Imo State born upcoming author explains why he wrote the book and other sundry issues.

He said the problem of Nigeria is disloyalty, not corruption; Obasanjo lied in his book, ‘My Command’; the first 1966 coup is not an Igbo coup but it ruined Nigeria. A Delta Igbo by paternal lineage but a Yoruba-cum northerner via maternal links, Alabi-Isama said God has destined Nigeria to be one country and those trying to dismember the nation labour in vain. He prayed that Nigerians should not witness another war because people are now very vicious. Excerpts:

For several years, sea pirates turned sea travel along the Oron –Cameroon –Gabon water channel into a nightmare. Harrowing tales of armed attacks, vandalisation and robbing of boats and ships along the channel were a constant feature of those who had cause to travel to Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea or Gabon for business or other activities by sea. Monsters or men of the underworld usually waylaid the water vessels by lurking inside ship wracks or hiding their speed boats in the crevices of the high sea weeds and creeks along the water channel at night and sometimes in the early hours of the morning.

The future of the stowaway teenage boy, Daniel Oikhena, became brighter, on Wednesday, after Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State met with him and his parents. Daniel stowed away in an Arik aircraft from Benin-Lagos penultimate Saturday, apprehended by officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) in Lagos and handed over to officials of the Department of State Security (DSS).

For instance, he said the Northern and Eastern Nigeria have jointly been ruling the country since independence in 1960 and Nigeria has not known peace; there was no pogrom against the Igbo during the war; Biafra would not have lost the war if her military leaders had been tactically disciplined and prosecuted the war professionally; and that Nigeria neglects her heroes and heroines.

WARRI, the oil city in Delta State, is, no doubt, one of the hotbeds of the Niger-Delta struggle and since ex-militants dropped arms in 2009 and accepted amnesty, the next task was for elected /appointed leaders, both at local and state levels, to develop the oil communities, which was the major basis for the agitation.