(By Iheanyi Ezinwo, Founder of Notable Outcome)- As mixed reactions trail the recent order by President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the financial transactions of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Hon.OCJ Okocha, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, has commended the president for the initiative. been commended for the initiative.

Speaking with the fonder of Notable Outcome in Port Harcourt, Hon. Okocha, SAN, who was the first Rivers man to become the National President of Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, explained that time has come for Nigerians to know exactly what is happening in the government institution, especially against the background that development is taking too long to come to the Niger Delta.

“Our people are wallowing in abject poverty; we are having difficulty moving from place to place. The major roads they said they are going to build from here to Bonny, and from here to Brass , they have not been built. When you go to Akwa Ibom and Cross River State, you will see similar complaints.

“You go to Delta, the story is the same: and we are still in difficulty and development is taking too long to come to the Niger Delta. We have not got a fair deal because bulk of money that goes to Federation Account comes from here. And those concerned should ensure they give people of the Niger Delta a fair deal.

The former Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice in Rivers State, who maintained that it was welcome in the nature of doing things, to investigate and know exactly what is happening in any government institution particularly a case like the Niger Delta Development Commission, added that all the rumours that have surrounded the NDDC and how monies have been either appropriated , misappropriated and under – appropriated, have made the probe a welcome development.

“I support the forensic probe so that we can get to the root of the matter. The way it is sounding now, forensic probe indicate that something more than the routine auditing of accounts is being undertaken. We must commend the president; let him audit the NDDC, let us know exactly what is going on there.

“So it is good that we find out what is going on so that the people of Niger Delta can be satisfied that monies are being duly released as and when due. Second, that the contractors who have received monies have performed in terms of fulfilling the terms and conditions of their contract by delivering the projects for which they have been paid for.

“And third, to disabuse this rumour that some people are just collecting money. for political purposes and to settle certain interests. And then, over and above it all, that the purposes for which the NDDC was set up are being actualized, so this is why it is important to investigate and know exactly what is happening there.

The decorated legal practitioner further clarified on the kind of development that the people of Niger Delta are yearning for.
“ I have said that NDDC should embark on heavy development and infrastructural projects, not on scholarships, not transport , not what they call empowerment and skills acquisition, and all such things. Let us have bridges, let us have roads , let us have shore reclamation projects, let us have those projects that are heavy. Infrastructural projects that will really transform the Niger Delta.

“Much of Netherlands is built on reclaimed lands. So it is shocking to me that nearly 20 years of NDDC, neither you nor I can point at anything that they have done. Our people should continue to make the point that we need to see the impact the NDDC has made in our region”, he further emphasized, challenging the people of Niger Delta, not to keep quiet in the circumstance because, according to him, “part of the money this region is contributing to the Federation Account should come back but it has not been so.”

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(By Chris K. Amadi)-The Coalition of Eastern NGOs, CENGOS, has condemned the recent reported serial killings of young women in hotels in Port Harcourt, calling on the appropriate authorities to ensure that justice is not only done but also seen to be done.

The call e was made by Mr. Franklin Nelson, programme officer of CENGOS in Rivers State, at a press briefing in Port Harcourt on Friday. He explained that they were organizing a step it up campaign against rape and all forms of gender based violence in commemoration of the United Nation’s women campaign against rape slated for November 25 through December 11, with the theme: 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence.

Mr. Nelson said that CENGOS has planned outreaches to schools as part of activities to commemorate 16 Days Activism – to educate students on their sexual and reproductive health rights and options opportunities for redress for victims of gender based violence.

He urge parents and victims of gender based violence, including rape to be bold and expose the perpetrators, adding that their organisation has machineries in place to assist victims get justice.
It would be recalled that the Coalition of Eastern NGOs began operation in Rivers State in 2015 and overtime, they have been engaged in capacity building programmes with students and teachers as well as relating with the media to campaign against violation of sexual and reproductive health rights and gender based violence.

(By Iheanyi Ezinwo) – Six pupils of Glory Baptist Academy, Elibrada, Rivers State, have been presented with certificates of scholarship award in honour of the memory of late Chief Isaiah Ogbakiri Ezinwo.

Speaking on Sunday, on behalf of grand and great grand children of Ogabakiri Ezinwo at the event, Mr. Vincent Akpu, said the move was a deliberate strategy to change the narrative of Elibrada, and in recognition of the inspiring role that their grand father played in the Baptist church in particular and in the advancement of western education in Elibrada.

Mr. Vincent Akpu further explained that the initiative was with the permission of Rev. Chinemenum Ezinwo, head of Ogbakiri house, and Mrs. Veronica Akpu, the first daughter and other immediate children of the revered late Ogbakiri Ezinwo.
Mr. Akpu further said that beneficiaries of the scholarship were nominated based on their brilliant performance, irrespective of their parentage . He was however glad that evidences of excellence were already manifesting in the Glory Baptist Academy, with satellite television already in place, adding that God is doing something new in Elibrada.

He urged the beneficiaries to remain steadfast to justify the confidence reposed in them, while reminding the parents to provide the much needed guidance to enable the pupils sustain their excellent performance.

Presenting the certificates to the scholarship beneficiaries, Mr. Iheanyi Ezinwo, founder of Notable Outcome, and direct son of late Ogabakiri Ezinwo, congratulated the beneficiaries on the awards and urged them to take advantage of the opportunity to further excel in their studies

(By Helen Briggs)-

Scientists have pinpointed the homeland of all humans alive today to a region south of the Zambesi River.

The area is now dominated by salt pans, but was once home to an enormous lake, which may have been our ancestral heartland 200,000 years ago.

Our ancestors settled for 70,000 years, until the local climate changed, researchers have proposed.

They began to move on as fertile green corridors opened up, paving the way for future migrations out of Africa.

“It has been clear for some time that anatomically modern humans appeared in Africa roughly 200,000 years ago,” said Prof Vanessa Hayes, a geneticist at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Australia.

“What has been long debated is the exact location of this emergence and subsequent dispersal of our earliest ancestors.”

Prof Hayes’ conclusions have drawn scepticism from other researchers in the field, however.
Lakeland haven

The area in question is south of the Zambesi basin, in northern Botswana.

The researchers think our ancestors settled near Africa’s huge lake system, known as Lake Makgadikgadi, which is now an area of sprawling salt flats.

“It’s an extremely large area, it would have been very wet, it would have been very lush,” said Prof Hayes. “And it would have actually provided a suitable habitat for modern humans and wildlife to have lived.”

After staying there for 70,000 years, people began to move on. Shifts in rainfall across the region led to three waves of migration 130,000 and 110,000 years ago, driven by corridors of green fertile land opening up.
Image copyright Chris Bennett, Evolving Picture, Sydney, Australia
Image caption Prof Hayes learning how to make fire with Jul’hoansi hunters in the greater Kalahari of Namibia

The first migrants ventured north-east, followed by a second wave of migrants who travelled south-west and a third population remained in the homeland until today.

This scenario is based on tracing back the human family tree using hundreds of samples of mitochondrial DNA (the scrap of DNA that passes down the maternal line from mother to child) from living Africans.

By combining genetics with geology and climate computer model simulations, researchers were able to paint a picture of what the African continent might have been like 200,000 years ago.
Reconstructing the human story

However, the study, published in the journal Nature, was greeted with caution by one expert, who says you can’t reconstruct the story of human origins from mitochondrial DNA alone.

Other analyses have produced different answers with fossil discoveries hinting at an eastern African origin.

Prof Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum, London, who is not connected with the study, said the evolution of Homo sapiens was a complex process.

“You can’t use modern mitochondrial distributions on their own to reconstruct a single location for modern human origins,” he told BBC News.

“I think it’s over-reaching the data because you’re only looking at one tiny part of the genome so it cannot give you the whole story of our origins.”

Thus, there could have been many homelands, rather than one, which have yet to be pinned down.
(bbc.com)

(By Chris K. Amadi) -Ogoni youths in Rivers State have disowned one Legborsi Pyagbara, who they said is attempting to perpetuate himself in office- against the constitution of MOSOP- as President of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People,MOSOP,  after his his tenure had since elapsed  December 31, 2018.

In a statement made available to Notable Outcome in Port Harcourt which was reacting to a recent media publications, president of the National Youth Council of Ogoni People,NYCOP, Theophilus Mbagha said Pyagbara was misrepresenting himself and falsely claiming the presidency of MOSOP given that his tenure as president expired constitutionally on December 31, 2018.

“The constitution of MOSOP is very explicit on tenure and in Article 5 (3c) states as follows: Tenure: Members of either the central or Executive committee shall hold office for three years in the first instance but may be re-elected for another term”

He said Pyagbara served as president of MOSOP from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2015. In December 2015, he was re-elected for a second term which commenced from January 1, 2016 and elapsed on December 31, 2018. Pyagbara therefore has no basis to make any claims to the presidency of MOSOP and his continual desire to perpetuate himself in office is a smear on his person and an embarrassment to a movement that had committed itself to the cause of justice.

Mbagha urged the media to check with the secretariat of MOSOP in Ogoniland for all information about the organization and not deal with  people  who seek to perpetuate themselves in office  against the rules and constitution of the organization

The Ogoni youth president further said Pyagbara was not recognized by Ogoni youths because, according to them, he has been  making claims to what does not belong to him and no longer has business with the presidency of MOSOP.

(By Iheanyi Ezinwo) – The remains of late Chief Lazarus Orlu Onuchukwu, who passed last month were laid to rest, Saturday at his hometown of Rumuohia in the Emohua Local Government area of Rivers State.

Late Pa. Onuchukwu, 90, was the father of the renowned Professor of Econometrics in the South South, Okey Onuchukwu, who is also the Director of University of Port Harcourt Business School.

Speaking at the funeral service at the St.Luke’s Anglican Church, Emohua on Saturday, the Bishop of Ikwerre Diocese ,Dr. Blessing Enyinda, urged the bereaved families, relations and friends of the family who have come in their numbers, to do all they can to make heaven.

Represented by Rev. Dr. Iheme, the Bishop explained: “If you have the best of life, you are famous all over the world, the day you breathe your last, all you have laboured for, you will not take away. You will abandon them and take your journey.

“Consider your end: When you breathe your last, you will appear before your creator. Hell and heaven are real: heaven is better than hell. Try as much as you can to see that you make heaven. The last day is important across religious divide. May nothing you have acquired rob you of having Jesus in your life”, the man of God summed.

In his tribute at the ceremony, Prof. Okey Onuchukwu remarked: ”The greatest mystery in life I have come to realize as a human being is death”. The professor however said that he will ever remain grateful to his departed parents for giving him the best training in life that is characterized by humanity, honesty, kindness, open mindedness and fear of God.

The Director of University of Port Harcourt Business School also recalled that his late father also gave sundry support to families and provided for the elders and the youth, stressing that Pa. Onuchukwu’s investment in human capital during his lifetime yielded commendable results including himself who is a notable academic.

He also thanked all who came to lend their support to the family as they gave the last honour to their late father.
The funeral was attended by dignitaries from all walks of life including Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, who came along with top government functionaries and politicians; Management and Staff of the University of Port Harcourt where the first son of the late Pa. Lazarus Orlu Onuchukwu, Prof. Okey Onuchukwu is a professor of Econometrics; and other friends and relations of the Onuchukwu families.

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Late Pa. Lazarus Orlu Onuchukwu retired as Pivotal Head Master Grade 1 in 1984, after years of service with the Anglican Church and the Rivers State Government. Meanwhile, even after his retirement, the late Onuchukwu also continued in his service to his immediate community of Rumuohia, the state and humanity until his passage recently

(By Iheanyi Ezinwo, Publisher) – The promise of O.B.Lulu-Briggs Foundation at its 18th anniversary celebration recently to sponsor free fibroid surgery for 100 indigent women in Rivers State appears to have been over subscribed as over 400 women have begun clinical investigations at both the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital and the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital to produce the most suitable cases for fibroid surgery.

Reacting to the development, Spokesman to Dr. (Mrs.) Seinye O. B. Lulu-Briggs, the Chairman Board of Trustees of the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation, Oraye St. Franklyn, said the foundation would welcome partnerships with well-meaning citizens in order to accommodate those who are not covered in the Foundation’s budget for 100 women.

Meanwhile, the O.B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation has partnered with the Preventive Healthcare Initiative, PHI, a non-governmental organization, on the screening of 1000 women for Cervical Cancer.

Speaking at a ceremony to present a cheque to PHI in support of cervical cancer screening by the O.B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation, Coordinator of Programmes for the Foundation, Mrs Ineba Tongkam, said the Foundation was giving the support to check the prevalence of cervical cancer in the society. She commended the organisers for their commitment to promoting health education and the well being of women.

Responding, PHI’s Chief Executive, Dr. Dorothy Okoh, thanked O.B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation for partnering with her NGO on Cervical Cancer screening for 1000 women. and pledged to justify the confidence reposed in them.
It would be recalled that the O.B.Lulu-Briggs Foundation have been involved in delivery of free health care services in the Niger Delta states of Nigeria and over the years, thousands of indigent citizens have benefited from their programmes.

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(By Iheanyi Ezinwo) – Worried by reports of sexual harassments across institutions of higher learning in Nigeria, especially against the background of the recent BBC report on a lecturer at the University of Lagos, the Rivers State House of Assembly has directed its Committee on Education to beam its searchlight on state-owned institutions of higher learning with a view to ensuring that neither lecturers nor non academic staff take advantage of the young girls in the institutions.

Speaking during plenary on Thursday, the Speaker, Rt. Hon.Ikuinyi Owaji-Ibani, recalled that the Rivers State House of Assembly has passed laws to protect the girl child and women, adding that the Assembly is prepared to support any effort aimed at giving the girl child quality education.

Rt.Hon. Ikiunyi Owaji- Ibani described as a sad commentary the recent BBC report of sexual harassment involving a lecturer at the University of Lagos. He further noted that the problem has other tentacles as lecturers, according to the speaker have also resorted to using course representatives as a vehicle to collect money in exchange for grades.

Meanwhile, responding to a motion by Hon. Dunle Magho, Lawmaker representing Gokana state constituency on the forecast of the National Metrological Agency (NIMET), over threats of serious flood in 18 Local government areas of the state and the need for appropriate response, the Assembly directed its Committee on Environment to meet with relevant government agencies to know what they are doing and things that are yet to be done in response to the emergent flooding threat across Rivers State.

The committee is to also meet with the 23 local government council chairmen for briefing on their level of preparedness in view of the NIMET’s prediction. The council chairmen are to further brief the committee on what they have been doing and where they have challenges to enable the Assembly know where to further intervene.

Rt.Hon.Ikuinyi Owaji-Ibani also directed the committee to interface with companies operating in the affected communities to ensuring integration of all efforts and feeding of the response centre with timely information. The speaker insisted on the support of the oil companies because, according to him, their activities contribute to global warming and depletion of the ozone layer, reasons for the predicted flooding.

Responding further, the Rivers State House of Assembly also condemned the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, for always failing to respond to emergency situations in Rivers State. The speaker recalled that all protests by the governor, Barr. Nyesom Wike and complaints by the Assembly in the past against the neglect of the state by NEMA have been ignored, a disposition he said ran contrary to the preamble in Nigeria’s constitution that the Federal government owes all citizens, irrespective of political religious and tribal affiliations, a duty of protection.

“It behooves on NEMA to see that they do in Rivers State what they have been doing in other states. Flood will affect, not only Rivers indigenes but also non Rivers people who live and do business in the state. They should not play politics with the lives of our people”, the speaker warned , adding that most people in positions are mercenaries of democracy, who are hired to practice democracy.

In a related development the Assembly has given first reading to the Port Harcourt Polytechnic Bill 2019 aimed at reflecting the change of name to Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, and related matters.