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3 Least Performing LGAs Should Be Punished – Danagogo

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There are as usual, countless complaints among stakeholders of poor service delivery by local government councils in Nigeria. The same is true in Rivers State but even more so because, after Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi took over payment of primary school teachers, amounting to over N1.2 billion monthly, many believed that the councils would be better equipped to the delivery of quality services to their people.

What went wrong? What role had the supervising ministry in charge of local governments, chieftaincy and community matters played to check the trend? Infact, is there hope for the rural people, considering the winner-takes-all-approach to local government administration?

Who else to proffer answers to these and many more questions than Dr. Tammy Danagogo, the man who heads one of the most sensitive ministries that touch the lives of the rural people most, Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Matters.

To do just to all these, Danagogo was guest of The Tide Round Table last week Thursday, and after two hours or so confessed that the experience was worth the while.

Following are first part of excerpts of the epoch encounter which we believe you’ll find most refreshing, cause we did.

Happy voyage.

Just before any question,  I think we ought to have the first thing first. For us, here, we known you.  For the public, who will you say you are?

Well, I am Dr. Tammy Danagogo, that is my name. I’m a lawyer by profession, graduated in 1990, I was called to Bar in 1991 and briefly, I did my youth service with National Concorde. I was like a press man.

I was a judicial correspondent for National Concorde in Lagos. I came back after my National Service. I was in legal practice between 1992 and 2003, 2004. I was elected local Government Chairman.

I finished my service there in 2007 and later 2007, I was appointed a Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Affairs. So that is me, basically. coincidentally, I had my first degree, masters degree and Ph.D all in law and I had my Ph.D in human rights and dispute settlement – an aspect in public law. That is why I was saying that in totality as a former chairman I know what it means to be a chairman; I know the tricks some Chairmen can easily do. But for Chieftaincy and Community Affairs, a good knowledge of Law and dispute settlement or dispute resolutions is key. What we do there, Chieftaincy and community Affairs, almost, say 50 per cent of it have to do with dispute resolution.

Chieftaincy disputes, disputes between community and oil company and so on and so forth. Basically, that is Dr. Tammy Danagogo.

We can actually describe you as a two time Commissioner for Local Government/Chieftaincy Affairs how has it been?

Well, let me start by thanking you for this opportunity at least to rob minds with you, to brief you as it were what our ministry is doing. It’s been challenging. The Ministry of local Government, Chieftaincy and community Affairs is a very big and challenging ministry.

But by the grace of God, we are up to the task. I have very experienced workers, Directors and other technocrats who have always been of assistance to me whenever I need it. By the grace of God, I also happened to fit into what is required there, as a former Chairman, as a lawyer I think by the grace of God, we are doing well.

Let me quickly take you up on what you said last about the tricks of local Governments, with that kind of tricks, you said you have, one would have expected that local government chairmen, would just keep quiet and do their work the way it should be, but if what the governor said at the last stakeholders meeting is anything to go by no local Government is performing, how did they outsmart you?

From the point you are looking at it, well that is a very good way to look at it. Every person sees every issue from the point he is looking at. Just like the story of the elephant, and the seven blind people. Everybody will tell you based on where he is touching I want to say, I want to be challenged on that, it is not true that all the local Governments in Rivers State are not performing. Even the Governor did not say that. The Governor is challenging Local Government Chairmen to work and to work very hard.

And as a Ministry supervising them, we have always been telling the Governor that it is necessary for the Governor to challenge them.. It is necessary for the governor to admonish them so that they would work harder.

But that doesn’t mean that all the chairmen are not working. I can tell you that there are some chairmen who are doing very well. There are also Chairmen who are not doing well. So I can say that you are correct, infact that some are not doing very well but some are doing well. So they have not out-smarted anybody. We are making sure that those that are not doing well; we will catch up with them. They say that, there are many days for the thief.

You don’t just stand up and begin to just say a Chairman is not performing. You take into consideration all the indices and when you finished and when you make sure every other information you need added to it then you tell the Governor, this is this and you can come out boldly and say this Chairman is a failure. This Chairman is a success. That is why you have not seen me may be come out to tell you that local Government ‘A’ is a thief, B is not doing anything, local Government C is doing that.

I tell you that from our observations and the monitoring, we’ve been doing, some local Governments are doing well.

Such as?

I can tell you that before I start , let me tell a kind of may be lodge a caveat why you’ve not seen us come out with an official result of this Chairmen is the best, this chairman is the worst, before you come out with that kind of result, first and foremost you will have briefed  His Excellency. It is only after you have brief His Excellency that you can now come out and announce to the world.

That is why we hardly do, as a commissioner because the moment I make that statement it is supposed to take a stamp of finality, because the only person who can talk after that is the Governor, if I am talking, it means I have the approval of the Governor.

We don’t announce it because we are still in the process of getting the final approval of his Excellency. On what we have observed, we have been briefing His Excellency. Infact at the last count, even your paper published it.

His Excellency said O.k. Commissioner and Officers of the ministry, you have been assessing them this way. That is your assessment. I also want another team to join you.

He appointed the team he said that, I should appoint the Secretary, which I did. Let them also reconfirm some of these in this kind of thing, before you go out to say, the public officer is bad that is good, it is in law, we say it needs corroboration.

Other persons need to say that, yes, the commissioner said, I also confirm. Infact when we are setting up our own team, usually we make sure, we invite some external bodies so that when I said this Chairman is the worst, naturally, I expected that, he would go round shouting, he would cry wolves. He would say that, oh; the commissioner does not like me; the commissioner did it for one political reason or the other.

Politicians have a way of painting everything, making everything look light. So he would say. But when, he would say that, my only resort would be the fact that, these other people were also part of this exercise and they also said this. That is just trying to lodge small caveat before we begin to address the question of who are the Chairmen performing.

The society expects so much particularly in Rivers State where you have a Governor that is doing so well. He has raised the standard so people expect the kind of corresponding performance from Local Government Chairmen.

But where, I sit, I see how much they get , I see how much they spent on their staff. I see what is left, so, I tailor my expectation to meet what we know they have.

A follow up to this, now there was this Excellence in Local Government Initiative (ELGI) Award and there was an award ceremony where, local Government Chairmen were rated as first, second and third that report was turned to your Ministry and having selected the first, second and third, you must have also selected the worst three. Is it possible for us to have an idea of who they are?

This is one issue that becomes very topical at this point in our stewardship in this Ministry. The Excellence in Local Government Initiative is a sort of a joint exercise between the Ministry, Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA) and corporate organizations.

You know, when I started I told you that, certain local Government, I always as a policy, having been a Chairman I know that once Ministry comes out with a score so many of the Chairmen will challenge it. I started out looking for external collaborators, external Audits, those that will support me, that will support us, so that when I tell you this is the result, I will be telling you that is not some thing that was done by the Ministry alone.

Shell was part of it First Bank was part of it, Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency was part of it, Sosoliso was part of it, so if, I am politically biased against you what about First bank, what about others that is the idea behind excellence in local Government Initiative.

And the idea, very wonderful idea. When the idea came up, after my assessment of the Caretaker Chairmen. Because I did an assessment of the Caretaker Chairmen and I submitted to His Excellency. In submitting my assessment, I told His Excellency what we want to do and we are already talking with Sustainable Development Agency.

We are talking with these organs. Shell, First Bank and so on and the idea, is that when we come out with the result, we will look for a way of giving incentives to those who are doing very well.

And also punishing the worst three. Is a carrot and stick way and His Excellency approved it, to do it that way, because, he also saw that there is a big sense in that way of doing it. But a few things went wrong which we are trying to get right now.

The thing was supposed to be comprised of some of our own people who have been doing the assessment from the Ministry. Five from the Rivers State House of Assembly, and three from all the various collaborating Agencies and corporate bodies that is what we agreed, at the beginning. At the end we couldn’t come out with what we agreed.

The Agencies and corporate bodies just went ahead on their own and started assessing and came out with that result. The Ministry was not part.

You see, a few things are wrong with that result and that is why we could not wholly and even His Excellency cannot wholly rely on it, as a standard basis of this is the best Chairman and this is the worst Chairman. Why you, see when the Ministry’s Assessors are not part of what they did, I can tell you that no Professor any where in the world can come to Rivers state and assess local Government and do it better than us.

I started by saying that I know all the tricks the Chairman can pull. If you just wake up here now, you are an experienced man you have all the knowledge, but it is very easy to just trick you and make you score a chairman very high and how will he do it. All he needs to do is, projects that was executed by his predecessor he will just repaint them and show you that this is my project, Professor for God sake from the U.S. you don’t know what is happening in Abual/Odual, you don’t know what is happening in Akuku-Toru, you just be taken in by it. What a lot of Chairmen do repaint and repackage projects executed by others and present them and you score them based on that.

But if it is the Ministry Officials, who have been assessing we assessed the last Caretaker Chairmen appointed by His Excellency, so the moment you show me a project that was not executed by you, I will say no, we have assessed this project for so so. So that is what I tell people, I’m just the ceremonial head. I just want to make sure I see things for myself, but the technical assessment of the value of projects and everything is done by the technical group.

So that was done without this data. It is the officials in the Ministry who will give you the data of what level of development was there before this Chairmen came in. How much money has this Chairman received? How much of this money is he using to service his staff? We have a nominal roll of all local governments. We have their allocation figures. So nobody can deceive me. Our assessment is usually based on your staff strength and your allocation strength.

Nobody can come here now and tell me that a Local Government like Port Harcourt and Ogu/Bolo we should use the same yardstick to assess them, no. Because virtually, what Port Harcourt gets is almost about double what Ogu/Bolo gets. So can you say, if I am earning N20 million per annum and he is earning N10 million per annum, you expect two of us to do the same thing. It is not possible.

The bigger they earn the bigger the headache.

Yes, but there are parameters. But if PHALGA gets N20 million, what they spent on their staff is, say N5 million, meaning that they are supposed to be left with N15 million. And Ogu/Bolo gets N10 million and what they spent on the staff is N2 million, so meaning that what will be left for him is N8 million. So while assessing what I will be looking at what PHALGA has done with its N15 million and what Ogu/Bolo has done with N8 million.

If Ogu/Bolo man has executed projects worth, say N8 million, I will assess him hundred percent. If PHALGA man with his N15 million left executed projects worth N10 million, I will score him 67 percent or there about. So PHALGA would have executed projects worth N10 million, Ogu/Bolo N8 million. But I’m saying that Ogu/Bolo is a better chairman than PHALGA. One thing is that, we also as a Ministry expect that there is a given percentage of your allocation that you are supposed to give to each sector.

A chairman cannot tell me that he has spent all his money on security. If he is fighting a war, I will know. If there is a war situation I will know. If there is a situation of emergency that requires that high level of expenditure, almost always since I become Commissioner I know that His Excellency will intervene.

So it will not be for him alone. These are some of the things, they used to deceive outsiders. If you come for instance and you don’t know, they can tell you oh; security problem, I did this JTF this, JTF that, but he cannot tell me because, I know what aspect the Governor does and what he does. So these are all the problems we had with that assessment.

These areas were not there. The other part of it was that because this fact that our involvement which is very crucial was not there, although we jointly conceived and worked on the idea.

You find that the issue of punishing those who are not good, was not addressed, because we were not there.

Also the issue of incentive was done wrongly. Because when we conceived the idea, the incentive is not for the chairman, as I am today, if I do very well, and you are giving me a prize, you give to my Ministry, you can say, a dedicated project, then you give us hundred million, we can use it for a dedicated project. You don’t give me money, because all of us were sworn to different forms of oath, code of conduct, this or that code of allegiance and that. And code of conduct is clear, you don’t give incentives to public officers, personally, you can give, for instance, the way we conceived it, there will be some money for dedicated projects handed over to the Chairman, quite well. Go and built or do so or so projects in your LGA and we will come and commission it and announce that this was given to you and your local Government because you are the best Chairman. The mistake was also done there because I didn’t attend, because we wrote to them that we didn’t know when they went round. We didn’t know. We were not part of that. So we said look we have not gone round.  You don’t know how much each of these local governments have, some chairmen show them projects that were done by their predecessors and you are giving personal gift to them and these are not in consonant with the idea of this Excellence in Local Government Initiative.

So we did not attend, His Excellency also did not attend. But right now we are back to the drawing board. They came, they saw reason with what we said and they expressed sorry. We all agreed that is a very good idea, and we need to work together, so we are working together.

Sorry, talking about failure to punish poor performing local Government Area, only recently House of Assembly suspended two local Government Chairmen you have not punished; you have not warned did it embarrass you?

Well it did not embarrass me. You see, we are different organs of government. Every organ of government has its statutory or rather constitutional responsibility. Actually, if you look at the Rivers State, Local Government Law, it is the responsibility of the House of Assembly upon proper cause, may be petitions written to them to investigate any local government and recommend appropriate punishment; petitions were written to them, they investigated their petitions and they came out with their result. It is their statutory responsibility so I cannot be embarrassed because, they have the right to do it.

My own responsibility, like I said, after assessing, I will submit to His Excellency: His Excellency can punish them. In most cases through the House of Assembly. Either on grounds of misconduct, which can include fraud and all that or security ground. And then request the House of Assembly to ratify his decisions.

I will not directly punish them. That is why I told you that when we conceived the Excellence in local Government Initiative, the idea was that, the Ministry would bring five, the Assembly Committee on local Government would bring five persons. The idea is that it is a one in all kinds of exercise. Both the Assembly, the Ministry, external people everybody is now aware, this is the best Chairman, this is the worst chairman.

While the Governor, the corporate bodies are given incentives, Governor and the Assembly will be working towards punishing those who are not performing well. The Assembly don’t need to go back to reconfirm our recommendations of who to be punished, because they were also part of the process.

So are we to say that the ministry has no power to punish any erring local Government Chairman?

The Ministry has powers that are exercised through the Governor. We recommend to the Governor I cannot as a commissioner suspend the chairman. They are only two ways you can punish a Chairman. If not anything you do to him, is like water on duck fowl, The only two ways are; suspend or remove him, that is one.

The second is to detain his money. That is the only way. None of this, I can do without the Governor’s approval. Their allocations as they come from Federation account, the highest it can stay with me are three days. The Governor has given the right. I don’t even need to tell the Governor before releasing it to them. Because, he has delegated me as the Chairman of Joint Allocation Committee. So as soon as the money comes, three days is the highest, then if we are calculating and distributing, highest is three days, we release their money to them.

On no account do you delay it. So if you can’t delay the money you cannot deduct from it, you can’t punish them except you have approval and that must be on a very strong ground. So far we came, we have not delayed any local government Allocation.

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Differentiation And Learning Strategies As Tool For Desired Learning Outcome

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What is differentiation? Differentiation refers to the learning experiences in which the approach or method of learning is adjusted to meet the needs of individual learners with a focus on the how of personalised learning.” (Culottes, R. 2016). It is a process that helps learners who are struggling and help gifted learners learn faster, this way, teaching becomes easier for the teacher and makes it easier to achieve the desired learning outcome. In differentiation, the learning objective is the same but the means through which it is achieved may be varied. It is like having a destination and arriving there through various means, by road, rail, water or air. It is one of the three elements of individualised learning which involves changing the instructional approach so as to meet the various needs of students.
Differentiation could also entail designing and delivering instruction by using different teaching styles and also giving the learners various alternatives for taking information. It provides flexibility to both the teacher and the learner but the learning objectives must be clearly defined to enable learners work their way towards achieving it. We should not mix up differentiation with learning styles. Learning style presumes that a learner learns better in a certain way, be it visual, auditory, or hands on. Although a learner might find a particular learning style useful for a particular topic, it does not mean that the particular learning style will apply to all other topics, for instance, if a learner learns a topic through songs, it does not mean that the same learner will learn every other topic through songs. Learning is not always as straight forward.
How a teacher can use differentiation in the classroom.
When practising differentiation in the classroom, a teacher can teach a particular topic using various teaching techniques that meet the needs and interests of the learners, a teacher can decide to put learners in groups based on their ability or interest and at the same time has to vary the content of the lesson to meet the needs of the learners. In differentiation, the teacher considers the learner’s personalised learning style and ability when the lesson is being taught. According to Carol Tomlinson, differentiation can be done through the following:
Content: Here differentiation can occur in the learning activities which have to meet the interest and need of the learner. Bloom’ s taxonomy levels of remembering, understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating and creating, which involves different levels of intellectual behaviour from lower to higher level thinking come into play. The teacher applies these in planning the lesson so that various interests and learning styles are taken into consideration. Bearing in mind the objective of the lesson, the teacher then provides the learners with options on the content and together they study to achieve the set objective.
Process: These are methods which a teacher employs in presenting learning materials to keep the learner’s interest. Learners may need different levels of support, some work better on their own while others prefer to work in pairs or in small groups. Grouping can be done depending on the learner’s readiness or as a way of complementing each other. Support can also be given to learners depending on their individual learning styles and so the teacher has to prepare a lesson plan that caters for visual, auditory, kinesthetic or those who learn through words.
Product: At the end of the lesson, the learner shows mastery of the lesson by the product the learner creates. It can be in form of a song, quizzes, tests, a story, an art project or any other activities the teacher may deem fit. All these are to assess how the learner has mastered the concept.
Learning environment: The classroom environment affects learning and so the physical and psychological conditions of the learning environment have to be right such as the furniture, classroom arrangement and classroom management. The learning environment has to be safe, conducive and supporting in order to sustain the interest of the learners. Learning environment can also involve changes to habits and routines such as recess time, circle time, lunch time or outdoor learning.

What are the Importance of Differentiation in Learning?
Differentiation is important in the classroom because it caters for all types of learners, whether high ability learners or additional needs learners. It gives learners the opportunity to learn in diverse ways so as to meet learning objectives the best way they can. Differentiation helps instructors to connect with the different learning styles depending on which works best for the learners. All learners may not respond well with a game, a song may work better for others or reading for others.
Differentiation is a great learning instruction for learners with additional needs.
Differentiation provides a platform for learners to strive to achieve set learning objectives.
Differentiation motivates learners to learn in a manner that meets their interest and personalised learning style. We know that all learners do not learn the same way and so the teacher has to employ various learning styles to know which best resonates with the learners. What Experts say about Differentiation in Learning? According to Carol Tomlinson, differentiation is a way of honoring the reality of the learners. They maybe energetic, outgoing, quiet, shy, confident or self-doubting, they could be interested in a particular thing or in a thousand things, could be academically advanced or struggling with cognitive, sociological, economic or emotional challenges. Many speak a different language at home and learn at different rates and styles and they all come together in our academically diverse classrooms. Carol Ann Tomlinson (William Clay Parrish, Jr. Professor and Chair of Educational leadership, Foundations, and Policy).
Differentiating instruction is really a way of thinking, not a list of strategies. Many times, it is making decisions in the moment based on this mindset. It is recognising that “fair” does not always mean treating everyone equally. It is recognising that all of our students bring different gifts and challenges, and that as educators, we need to recognise those differences and use our professional judgment to flexibly respond to them in our teaching.” Larry Ferlazzo (award-winning teacher at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, California, who writes a teacher advice column for Education Week.
Another expert, Lisa Westman posits that all teachers want their students to succeed, and all teachers try to make this happen, that is all differentiation is. She writes that we complicate differentiation by not allowing ourselves to be provisional with how we apply the foundational pieces of differentiated instruction. Instead if we address these four questions in our instructional planning, differentiation will always be the result: what do my students need? How do I know? What will I do to meet their needs? How do I know if what I am doing is working? Lisa Westman (instruction coaching, differentiation, and standards-based grading consultant and professional development facilitator). “Differentiated instruction is dynamic and organic. In a differentiated learning space, teachers and students learn together. Students focus on learning the course content, while teachers tailor their instructional strategies to student learning styles.” Alexa Epitropoulous (media and author relations specialist at ASCD). How to apply Differentiation in Learning. To apply differentiation effectively, the teacher has to do the following:
i.Do a baseline test for all students in order to find out where they are and to device strategies to help each learner achieve the desired objective using appropriate means to deliver the content.
ii.Explain the learning objectives clearly and what the standard for success is, this is the key for differentiation to thrive, a classroom environment where learners work towards a clearly defined goal. Here, the need of the student is very important and the teacher has to identify them and create a supportive environment where differentiation is accepted by the learners themselves and for their peers.
iii. Know the individualised needs of their learners in order for teaching to be effective so that cognitive as well as academic outcomes can be achieved.
What is a learning strategy? A learning strategy is a way a learner organizes and uses certain skills to learn the content of the curriculum and to complete tasks effectively be it in the classroom or outside the classroom. Learners depend upon their senses to process information and many learners make use of one of their senses more than others. There are basically four types of learning strategies and they are as follows:
1. Visual strategies: here learners learn and retain knowledge better when the content is presented in the form of pictures for example, charts, diagrams and symbols. To apply this strategy in a classroom environment, the teacher needs to do the following: Make use of a lot of; colourful visual aids like charts, pictures and diagrams which must be well explained. Use different handouts for various concepts and leave spaces in them so learners can write in them. If using multimedia, screens have to show clearly.
2. Auditory strategies: this involves creating learning experiences where talking and listening take centre stage. These instructional methods can be employed in the following ways: Start a new topic with a background information of the concept to be learnt. Use activities like story-telling and group discussions to encourage vocal collaboration. Learners are encouraged to read aloud the questions. Conclude by giving a summary of the lesson
3. Reading and Writing: this makes use of the traditional ways of learning such as copying of notes, reading textbooks or handouts and taking notes. They seem to learn better by doing the following in the classroom: Provide written information on worksheets and other resources. Students are to rewrite notes. Convert charts and diagrams into written text. If using multimedia, use bullet points. Learn to reference written texts.
4. Kinesthetic strategies: this is also called tactile learning since it has to do with the sense of touch. This is the most physical of the learning strategies because kinesthetic learners learn best through instructional methods that involve movement, motion and touch. These learners are able to sense body position and movement in the classroom environment. Tactile learning is achieved through activities like moving, touching and feeling things. Below are some of the strategies to use: Engage learners in physical movement such as dance. Make use of flash cards when teaching. Students are to draw images of information as part of formative assessment. Provide learners with hand-on experiences. There is no single learning strategy that works for all learners because it’s not a one size fits all, as such it will be impossible to devise a generalized strategy that works for the whole class. The teacher has to apply the different learning strategies in a classroom learning environment so as to meet the needs and interests of the learners because a blend of these strategies will most likely produce the desired learning outcome and also motivate learners to have a deeper understanding of the concept taught.

Tassie, a curriculum development specialist resides in Port Harcourt.

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#END Bad Governance: He Spoke Peace Tense, Protesters Understood!

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Compact with meekness. Compassionate. Empathetic. Never of him to trample under foot, humans and their concerns. He listens; attentively. He shows genuine understanding; with humbling humility. So, he is endeared, not just to a few but to many.
And truly so, Governor Siminalayi Fubara is a political liberator. In him, Rivers State has a championing, new order, albeit, movement of renaissance: Berthing the people at a new coast of fresh breathe; freed from political manipulations, strangulation and enslavement. This is why ‘Rivers First’; call it a mantra, is not a mere catchy phrase, but a propelling commitment, and indeed, a reflection of the embodied resolve to work the better for Rivers State.
Here, the nationwide #EndBadGovernance street protest also took place, peacefully.
Nigerian youths planned and staged it to last 10 days, from August 1 to 10, 2024. And it was so, even if it fizzled out so quickly, lost steam so early in the State – did not last beyond four days. The intervention of Governor Fubara through his strategic crisis management approach anchored on more inclusive engagements, obviously assuaged frayed nerves.
The organisers tagged it #EndBadGovernance protest. It was their chosen channel. With it, they voiced their pains amidst economic challenges: Of heightened hunger, soaring cost of commodities and unbearable living conditions. They looked to President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government to be more strategic. And he is doing so, nonetheless. More and more time is but solicited to see his policies being implemented, come through, under the Renewed Hope Agenda, in driving the national economy out of the woods.
Much more in that regard is known of Rivers State, several cushioning measures are being implemented to address the burden of excruciating economic realities on the people. Which is why Governor Fubara spoke up against the protest early enough. His position was firm. It was without a mincing of words, to the youths and to any other segment of the society. He made it clear that though, it is their fundamental right, the time they chose to stage the protest, is not right. This remained his counsel. The backdrop was to forestall a truncating of the prevailing but cherished sanity, peace and safety of lives and property that thrive here.
Street protests, unguarded, and when allowed to be hijacked, could bring tales of woes, such as the destruction of public facilities and personal property that took many years to bring to fruition. He insisted that if it must be staged, then ensure, nothing hampered the safety of lives and property. Just keep it peaceful: Give no room to political detractors. That reflected the message of Governor Fubara.
But political detractors always lurk around. If they are unable to hijack a thing, they become dramatis personae of what they conjecture. In fact, the hue and cry, baseless and meaningless hypes made by the then embattled Caretaker Committee Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tony Okocha in Rivers State, is a characteristic decoy. Mischief is central in his chosen political macabre dance. Otherwise, why dramatise a staged attack on APC billboard in front of its factional secretariat along the Port Harcourt-Aba Expressway in order to put himself in a position to curry public pity, by playing the victim. So cheap. Sorely despicable. What was he thinking? That people around will not notice the drama play out? Even security details who monitored the protesters from Artillery to Pleasure Park never raised any red flag on their conduct around any property within that circumference!
You see, his kind, at such opportunity, raise false alarm without solid evidence to substantiate the veracity of the claimed attack at the weakest police interview. At best, what the public knows is calculated acts, wherein his hired folks, at his instruction, torn down the flex section of the billboard, which was performed before sponsored camera lenses. Even the Police authorities had disowned the incident, insisting that no office of any political party was attacked in Rivers State during the days of the protest. Come to think of it, even the protesters who marched from Artillery Junction to Pleasure Park never took notice of his antics and playbook. In fact, credible reports abound that nobody’s property, not even a politician’s residence in the State was attacked by the protesters. It is on record!
Thus, largely so, the protest was not destructive in nature in the State. Why? Governor Fubara had stepped in proactively. He doused the tension and anger. He identified those strategic groups, maybe not all but those possible contacts, and affiliates to the organisers who were tipped, maybe to coordinate the street demonstration in Rivers State. Governor Fubara engaged with them as individuals and collective. The security reports were of leading nature. So, eventually, representatives of those groups of the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), stakeholders of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Rivers State ethnic and youth groups, Community Based Organisations (CBOs), Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Women Groups, Artisans and Traders, and the Ikoku Branch of Port Harcourt Motor Spare Parts Dealers Union, were brought together into one venue for dialogue; for mutual understanding of why the protest should not hold.
Heads of the security agencies in the State were also in attendance. At that meeting, held on July 31, 2024, Governor Fubara told them: “You are already aware of the political situation of our State, where people are looking for every avenue to destabilise this State. We don’t need to give them that opportunity to carry out that act. And that is the reason why, I, representing the Government, and the service commanders here, have always been in touch with you all, pleading that we should shelve this protest. And even if you have to do it, we should do it in a way and manner that it will not get out of control. I have information that you don’t have. I am aware of the people that are being hired to come into this State to cause mayhem. If anything happens here, we are going to be the greatest losers. Our property will be destroyed. Our economy will be destroyed. And when they finish, they will go back to their states.”
Those words were passionate. They resonated with the various groups amidst robust discussions. So, arising from that meeting at Government House in Port Harcourt, reason prevailed, positions aligned, and it was agreed that as groups, they will not participate in the protest.
In any case, some protesters still stormed the streets on August 1, in Rivers State. Not deterred, Governor Fubara went out and met with the group of protesters who stopped by at the gates of Government House. Standing amongst them unscathed, he addressed them, showing a glaring example of leadership: Courage. Acceptance. Endearment. Goodwill. He was the first so to do! Other elected representatives and political leaders had been overwhelmed by apprehension, and they unwittingly ran into hiding. But Governor Fubara showed his stuck as a leader when he made himself available to engage with the protesters, not done in a hurry, desperate impulse.
Because the moment was critical, he said: “I am one of you. I feel your pains, and in our Government here, we are doing everything to make life easy for our people. Our youths, I agree with you that there is hunger, but because we preach good governance, we are committed to make hunger disappear very soon. I am not against your protest, but we will not support any violent protest. We will not support anything that will destroy our State. We will not join forces with the enemy of progress (to destabilise our State). But if it has to do with the (peaceful) protesters, I don’t have any fears. Their demands are germane. I can understand them: hardship, bad governance, high cost of living, rent, medical bills. But we are coming from somewhere very bad. And we must start from somewhere to make things right,” he appealed.
With those words, his mien and presence, he inspired hope in them. He raised their downtrodden spirit to high heavens. It was organic. Surely, hope is enlivening. It strengthens the mind to trust in a blissful tomorrow. The protesters saw him as truer as a leader because he leaned his heart into the crisis, goodly too, to fully engage, motivate, and inspire them to expect greater accomplishments in the immediate or in the near future. It is this imbuing hope that kept the protesters peaceful, largely in the State.
And when a patch of the protesters saw his convoy pulled past Rumuobiakani Roundabout on the third day of the protest, they showed more excitement, cheered and chanted the praises of their most deserving people-centric Governor. The crowd of #EndBadGovernance protesters at the intersection of Trans Amadi Industrial Layout in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area waved Nigerian flag and green leaves while chanting: “Our Governor, carry go. Our Governor, we are solidly behind you and your government,” “We’ll support Governor that empowers the Youths”. The Governor came out of his car, waved back at them, and they cheered, their joy knowing no bounds. Thereafter, the Governor had easy passage as he continued his journey to attend the funeral ceremonies of late mother to the Chairman, Caretaker Committee of Khana Local Government Area in Kono Community.
At Kono on August 3, he took opportunity of the ambience to re-echo the need for peace. He urged the protesters to give government time to implement policies and programmes already designed and being rolled out to address the challenges facing the people. He asked for patience, understanding!
At Eleme on August 6, for the commissioning of the Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) Oxygen Plant built and installed by UNICEF in partnership with Federal Government, Rivers State Government, Canadian Government and HIS Towers, the Governor re-emphasised the primacy of peace and stability of the State as veritable tool for sustainable development. As he spoke peace and patience, the people cheered and chanted songs of support and cooperation.
Come to think of it: the Governor’s consistent emphasis on peaceful conduct of every resident of the State, and patience to allow the policies of government deepen their positive impacts on the people did not just resonate with the protesters alone. It also resonated with other well-meaning Nigerians both here at home and in the Diaspora, who were not part of the protest. It resonated with anchors and discussants, including lawyers, politicians, professionals from all walks of life, on major television and radio channels in the country and elsewhere. And it resonated with lawmakers across the country, including National Assembly.
In fact, the House of Representatives Technical Sub-Committee on Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) said so on August 15 during an audience with the Governor in Government House, Port Harcourt. The sub-committee was in Rivers State to perform its oversight functions as mandated by law.
Speaking during the visit, the Chairman, Hon Miriam Odinaka Onuoha, commended the Governor for his wisdom and leadership in the effective management of the protest, by ensuring that while not denying residents their fundamental rights to peaceful assembly, procession and freedom of expression, he made sure that they exercised their rights in very peaceful manner without infringing on the rights of other Nigerians.
What to appreciate was that Governor Fubara did not speak politics to the protesters. He spoke to what they knew and had seen implemented by his administration. In meeting the expectations and challenges of Rivers residents as a measure embedded in his policies, he also showed them that he supports what the Federal Government is already doing. He reminded them that his Government was the first to release palliative buses, operating up until now, to ease transportation costs on students and all residents of the State, effective just few days after President Tinubu announced the removal of the subsidy on petroleum products.
Governor Fubara also reminded them that his Government was cushioning the increasing cost of living with the N4billion single-digit interest loan he floated for traders and small businesses in the State. It is a facility that is helping traders: mothers, fathers, and youths in the business line to grow their business capital base. These are added to the ongoing implementation of deliberately crafted policies and programmes that are ensuring the delivery of quality infrastructure in the health and education sectors to eventually provide affordable services to all residents in the State while also laying the groundwork that will make agriculture attractive to more people than usual in order to achieve food sufficiency and meaningful employment for the youths.
In all, it is indisputable that Rivers State is in good hands, and those who plotted to use the protests to cause anarchy and chaos, destroying critical State assets that had taken years to put in place, failed, even more woefully, this time.
Like the wise men keep saying, “God does not make mistakes”. The God we serve didn’t make any mistake when He choose Sir Siminalayi Fubara to govern the State and liberate its people from the clutches of desperate, self-seeking buccaneers, at this time in the life of Rivers State. Thus, as long as Rivers people come first in his calculations and decisions, Governor Fubara has come to stay, because he has the people’s back, always!

Nelson Chukwudi
Chukwudi is the Chief Press Secretary to the Rivers State Governor.

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Re-Igniting Rivers Agricultural Stakes

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Let us agree on this: prima facie, in many parts of the world, Nigeria and Rivers State inclusive, agriculture has not been maximally harnessed. This is so because, what we have seen happen in the sector has not contributed to fulfilling the vital function of feeding the people sufficiently. It has also not provided basic commodities as required, or helped desirably, in the generation of stable income too.
But this is not what it should be, neither should it be allowed to be so. This is why productive hands should not remain idle and germane efforts merely wished away when deliberate and consistently implemented policies can coordinate robust agricultural activities, necessarily so, to ensure support for human survival and promote enduring well-being. Perhaps, this is what sane leaders do in any society that plans to grow and also feed its people.
administration of Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State is in such ranking: forward-looking and mindful of those things to do, that can help real growth of all facets of the society, howbeit, agriculture. It has taken decisions on what must be done in order to increase attention for agriculture, and mobilising requisite resources that will support in refocusing the interest of majority of Rivers youths, and indeed, agro-actors, towards harnessing agriculture potentials in Rivers State.
Nigeria has, regrettably remained a consumption-dependent economy, and Rivers State is a part of this quagmire. The reason for this is clear: age-long, chronic and troubling lack of holistic attention to public policy implementation on a consistent basis to achieve sustained progress. But pulling off from such stance, the Governor Fubara-led administration is resolved to strengthen the comparative advantage of Rivers State in the agriculture value chain. It is a herculean task but not impossible because the potentials are glaring. So, there has been careful examination of what should be done, and how it should to be done to achieve an agricultural growth status that will make the State stand out.
To start, Governor Fubara has taken a critical look at the level of existing support previously offered by the State Government to promoting agriculture before he assumed office. Books may not lie, even when there could be disparities in what is recorded and what can be seen on ground. That, in itself, does offer a bearing. So, at least, what is clear is that such support was often driven by the quest to achieve economic development, promote key target interests, set out the prescriptions and requirements that would boost agricultural production.
With mind set on the mantra of “Consolidation and Continuity”, vital decisions are being taken, arising from those critical scrutinies, not necessarily to undermine what existed but to establish a path for continuity. With a policy direction that should stimulate commercial farming, and let it signpost the level of awareness that should be created in achieving food security in the State, there has been a determined posture secured without ineluctably falling to the trappings of incoherence and poor coordination most policy initiatives had suffered.
So, to have a holistic perspective for the required results that are expected, the decisions being taken took into cognizance: the need to identify support or collaborations where none existed, commence one, and gear up efforts in seeking requisite and workable collaborations to achieve success. In areas where such support did exist, but were incongruous, a review has been streamlined to give a new direction. Where there was abandonment of any process, a revitalization has been decided and production capacities of endeavours of agro-actors strengthened.
There is also a focus on small holder farmers because their concerns are in keen consideration of what the administration intends to do in the sector. These farmers belong to the brackets of small and medium enterprises that do need greater opportunities facilitated for their agribusinesses in other for them to access credit that would enable them expand their portfolio. More efforts are being harnessed with a search for an effective synergy within favourable environment to attract investors and financial institutions into funnelling credit to farming endeavours and the process of having an updated databank is being formalised. Regardless, the Rivers State Government has brokered partnership with the Bank of Industry (BOI) in the disbursement of N4billion to small scale entrepreneurs in the State. This is an initiative that should impact on the sector, nonetheless, if the beneficiaries were true to tact.
But of note is the review embarked upon by the government concerning its agricultural investment in the Songhai Integrated Farms. This farm is located in Bunu community, Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State. The Songhai Integrated Farms sits on a vast expanse of land measuring 314 hectares. Where it sits was, in 1985 established as part of the School-to-Land Farms project. But it was repurposed in 2011 to become Songhai Integrated Farms.
It had distinct production sections that included livestock production, crop cultivation, fisheries, forestry, engineering services, agro-industrialization, and the training of aspiring farmers. The farm started off with an environmentally-sustainable agricultural production system that harnessed a holistic value-chain approach to ensure higher incomes for farmers and processors, as well as other agro-actors to guarantee social and economic prosperity.
It was set up to operate a self-driven zero waste farming model designed to protect the natural environment by mitigating the impacts of climate change. So, each production section was made up of different units, overseen by specialists who work in synergy. Within the production line, nothing became discard-able waste since the finished products/byproducts were sent from one production unit to another in a sequential manner to further transform them into other useful products for human use. It was a continuous circle, and consistently so to promote sustainable economy.
Those features had been carefully enumerated to have a proper understanding of the venture that was to make Rivers economy bigger and more progressive. But either by commission or omission, it became lame because it was driven into despicable condition, or rather, because it was abandoned. Every facility became decrepit as a result. For almost a decade, it remained so, and nothing was operational there. The hope that once soared, about all the potentials and contributions it was to make towards food security, and to provide gainful employment for the teeming Rivers youths, died, albeit, for the time it was in limbo.
Also, laid in waste were all the structures, those that were constructed with concrete, metallic, or wooden, and others that were installed, over the ground and underground. Most office equipment were stolen too, and carted away by vandals. The entire premises of the Songhai Integrated Farms became overgrown with short and tall grasses. And it was dangerously bushy too.
Those were the sorry sight that Governor Fubara beheld when he visited the farm on Saturday, October 7, 2023. The billions of naira in Rivers tax-payers’ money that was invested in the Songhai Integrated Farms project by the State Government went down the drains. So, the visit availed Governor Fubara the opportunity to do an on-the-spot assessment of the present condition of the farm, and ascertain what possible ways to bring it back to production stream again. On that visit, the Governor was conducted round the facility by the Manager of the Songhai Integrated Farms Project, Dr. Tammy Jaja. The revitalisation works to be done looked massive and very demanding but nothing is insoluble with political will, wisdom and courage.
In his explanation, Governor Fubara asserted the urgency that is required in restoring and repositioning the State for sustainable economic growth and development. With his visit, arising from the resolution reached when they last had the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja, where they had considered the exigency of diversifying the nation’s economy and harped on the need to cushion current economic hardship experienced by the citizenry, he was determined to kickstart the version for the State. In his words, Governor Fubara said: “In our last National Economic Council meeting, because of the present situation of our economy, which you are aware; the issue of removal of fuel subsidy and other economic bites affecting everyone, everybody was advised to diversify. The other option is agriculture, and we were all advised to see what we can do to improve on food sufficiency.”
The Governor had assured that his Administration was determined to use the Songhai Integrated Farms as a launching pad to revolutionise agriculture in Rivers State. To achieve that, everything would be done to revamp the Songhai Farms. And when revitalized, the economy of the State could then be diversified, providing foundation for the people to be engaged meaningfully while also increasing the food sufficiency capacity of the State.
Governor Fubara assured: “As I leave here now, we are going to bring in all the stakeholders to discuss the way forward. What I am seeing here will require long-term planning and going back to the site to reinstate the installed facilities that have become desolate. The State Government will not just do that, we will bring in people who have the resources, expertise, strength and commitment to partner with us to bring back this place to life. The advantages to be derived when this place comes back to life include food sufficiency and employment generation. It will also address issues of youth restiveness.”
That process has begun. The people who had been identified to have the strength and commitment to partner the State Government were already in touch, and brought to the negotiation table. The talking has been extensive and intensive. The best among them with more enduring approach and sustainable model are at the verge of being engaged. Songhai Integrated Farms must be revitalized. That is the commitment and it remains unwavering.
While the discussions were ongoing, the farm has been repossessed by the Government. It would no longer be accessed freely as thorough fare to members of the public as it was in the days of abandonment. Gradually, the clearing of the short and tall grasses and trees are ongoing, and would be concluded, eventually. What shall be done with that project would be devoid of a lack of clarity and the adopted plan, nothing of abrupt disruption is anticipated. For this farm, the level of independence with which it would operate would be such that it could remain dogged, contest its place within the sector and drive food sufficiency process at a pace more sustaining and enviable for the State.
Another investment that is of critical concern to the Government is the 45,000-metric tonnes Rivers Cassava Processing Company, which is located in Afam Community, Oyigbo Local Government Area. This is a multi-billion-naira investment that was engineered as a public-private partnership (PPP) venture between the Rivers State Government, Shell, Vieux Manioc BV of the Netherlands, and the Netherlands Embassy. Understandably, the motivation for establishing this processing factory was to address the challenges of value addition of the cassava crop in the value chain sub-sector. So, the factory was inaugurated on May 28, 2021, as a company that will support the economy of Rivers State to earn more revenue from the cassava value chain. The company then had a board of directors in place, which helped in the preliminary stages of preparations leading to its inauguration. But barely within the first two months of start of production, the subsisting administration then dissolved the board, which left the company without adequate supervision to help it actualize its core mandate.
Things remained so until March 7, 2024, when Governor Fubara visited the factory. The visit, the Governor explained, was propelled by the desire to see the level of effectiveness and efficiency of the existing production line. He explained that the team managing the factory, led by the Managing Director of the Rivers Cassava Processing Plant, Ruben Giesen, had requested financial support, in a letter sent to him. This, the team said, would enable them complete two more production lines at the factory to increase capacity utilisation in order to churn out more products.
Governor Fubara said: “I got a request from the people who are managing the cassava processing plant that we need to extend our support for them to complete two production lines that will give them a standard that they can start to supply in earnest to a lot of distributors who need the products from this plant. And I felt it would be proper for me to see what we have already invested, the stage they are at, so that it will encourage us to give more support.”
Governor Fubara further said: “From what I have seen here today, it is really impressive. I can assure them that we are going to give the financial support to ensure that the production lines are all completed. This is to encourage them to go into full supply of the products with international standards to anywhere in the world.”
The promise given by Governor Fubara to inject more funds is with the aim of revitalising this mega cassava processing factory in order to ensure that the finished products meet internationally accepted standards. Of course, these are well intended responses, and the drive is to ensure an increase in quantum of food production capability and attain the level of sufficiency while also creating gainful employment for the growing youthful population of the State.
It is obvious that the Governor Fubara-led administration clearly understands that Nigeria is the largest cassava producer at the global level. It is on record, that Nigeria accounts for about one-fifth (20%) of total cassava production worldwide. Indeed, Rivers ranked among the Top Five Cassava Producing States in Nigeria. It is, therefore, of necessity and thoughtful of a Government that cares for its farmers, to keep keen interest on this factory, and ensure that it is supported to enhance value addition, and guarantee employment for the people.
In fact, Governor Fubara knows that this factory would also promote adoption and the use of 10 per cent high quality cassava flour (HQCF) in bread and confectionery businesses, so as to reduce wheat importation and conserve foreign exchange earnings to meet other needs. Indeed, cassava is one of the defining ingredients of our family lives in this region, and it is a valued crop in Niger Delta and in other parts of Nigeria. So, this factory, with the promised support from the Governor Fubara-led administration, will attain full operational status. This will further be propelled by feedstock from about 3,000 farmers within the farming communities and other far away farmers in neighbouring communities.
What the people need to understand is that, as long as this factory’s capacity is not fully strengthened, it will be difficult for it to receive uninterrupted supply of raw materials from the thousands of hectares that could be cultivated to service it. By extension, this means massive waste of hundreds of jobs its prospect assures, particularly the over 20,000 farm families that will earn income to enhance their livelihoods and improve their standard of living.
Even as the threat to food security continues to alarm watchers in Nigeria with food inflation rate rising from 33.93% in December, 2023 to 35.41% in January, 2024, and not yet abating, these efforts of the Rivers State Government are to ensure that people do not spend more money before they can afford enough food for themselves and their families. Instructively, if there is no change in focus and the required actions are taken, guided by well-thought-out policy and implemented with the right political will, the threat to acute food security will be reversed.
It is possible that at the end of the day, these measures geared towards building sustainable food systems will feed everyone, everywhere, and every day. The cry of hunger is loud and palpably so. And Governor Fubara understands that only a focused attention on finding enduring solutions through strategic investments in boosting agricultural yields and increasing its value chain would address the needs of the people. This is why the Government sees the initiatives as a task that must be done. The Governor’s eyes will remain on the ball, until desired results are achieved with maximum impact. That is a promise he made to the people, a SIMple promise he has vowed to fulfil without fear of intimidation or favour.

By: Nelson Chukwudi

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