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Hold Public Office Holders Accountable, Nsirim Tasks Journalists
The 2021 Correspondents’ Chapel of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Rivers State Council’s week kicked off, last Monday, with a charge by the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Pastor Paulinus Nsirim, to journalists to continue to hold public office holders accountable in all their actions.
He admitted that journalists were facing challenges from hoodlums, thugs, and even security agents.
Represented by the Director, Public Enlightenment, Ministry of Information, Mr Celestine Ogolo, Nsirim said the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has granted unhindered access to information in the state.
He described the theme of the event as apt and revealing.
While declaring the event open, the commissioner emphasized that the governor has done well in providing infrastructural facilities for the people, pointing out that Rivers State in the near future will become a model to other states in the country.
In his opening speech, the Chairman of the occasion, Chief Ogbonna Nwuke, said journalism would continue to determine the future of the society as Fourth Estate of the Realm.
Nwuke, who was a former member of House of Representatives, commended the Correspondents’ Chapel for organising the press week despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
He noted that the event was an avenue for journalists to rob minds on the way forward.
He specifically lauded the Correspondents’ Chapel’s Chairman, Mr Amaechi Okonkwo, for doubling as Caretaker Committee (CTC) chairman of the State Council of NUJ, urged him to sustain the tempo while ensuring that the State Council of NUJ returns to normal.
Also speaking, the Director, Corporate Communications of Indorama Petrochemicals and Fertiliser Company, Dr Jossy Nkwocha, said gone were the days when journalists aspired to end up as veterans.
He challenged journalists to instead leverage on their positions to become lecturers, political leaders, business tycoons, and urged them to start the journey by registering business names to compete in the corporate world.
Nkwocha equally said that there was nothing wrong with journalists transforming from reporters to become authors and earn good money, and urged them to research on topics around their areas of coverage and do books out of them.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman of Correspondents’ Chapel, Mr Amaechi Okonkwo, had said that the event was “a period of self-examination, review, and relaxation with friends of the Correspondents’ Chapel in Rivers State and beyond.”
According to him, it is ironical or pathetic that journalists who preoccupy themselves with fighting and defending others are kept captive by many issues in their operational environment.
He cited the lockdown era, occasioned by COVID-19, where he said journalists went all out to defend the society as frontline workers, but ended up being neglected when frontline workers were being listed and compensated.
Okonkwo also said that it is regrettable that media practitioners as members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm globally, have not been allowed to occupy that position in Nigeria by deliberate hostile policies of government for reasons best known to them.
“That rating or consideration is only true in other climes and not in the case of Nigeria,” he said.
The Correspondents’ Chapel chairman stressed that evidence has shown that the first to third estates have taken up all the spaces in the realm leaving no one for the media.
He said this year’s chapel’s week is to assert the space of the Fourth Estate.
He further pinpointed poor remuneration of Journalists, lack of insurance policy for media practitioners, among others, as deficiencies that have left the media and journalists at the mercy of harsh economic realities.
He said this has made it impossible for them to operate at full capacity.
The theme of the week is, ‘Survival of Journalists in Security and Economic Uncertainties in Nigeria; Focus on Strategic Reporting of the Maritime Sector’.
By: Nelson Chukwudi
As part of activities to celebrate the 50th birthday of Governor Siminalayi Fubara today, 50 persons will benefit from free surgical operations and other healthcare initiatives in all government accredited facilities in Rivers State.
The State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Adaeze Oreh, announced this at a media conference in Port Harcourt alongside the Executive Secretary of Rivers State Contributory Health Protection Programme (RIVCHPP), Dr Vetty Agala.
She said the initiatives were designed to enhance access to quality healthcare, strengthen social equity and also reaffirms the governor’s Health For All Rivers Vision.
Oreh listed the health packages to include: Sim Jara Health Scheme, Expanded Health Coverage For Vulnerable Populations and Mass Enrolment of Fifty Thousand Vulnerable Persons Across All 23 LGAs.
She explained that those to benefit from the surgery are enrollees on the Sim Jara Scheme offered by RIVCHPP beginning from yesterday (Monday) to Friday of this week.
The Health Commissioner also announced special health packages for persons in state-run care homes, pensioners, pregnant women and persons in correctional centres.
She said: “The first 50 individuals who subscribe to the Sim Jara Health Plan and require surgery would be eligible for free surgeries as part of this milestone celebrations. This initiative reflects our commitment to financial protection and access to life-saving surgical interventions for our people.
“In honour of His Excellency’s birthday, the Rivers State Ministry of Health will fully enrol the following vulnerable groups into the RIVCHPP Equity Health Plan; children in state-run homes, residents of correctional centres and pensioners. This is to ensure comprehensive and free healthcare coverage for those who need it most and removing financial barriers to essential medical services.”
Dr. Oreh added that the RIVCHPP programme also aimed to enrol 50,000 vulnerable persons on the scheme in conjunction with the 23 local government councils in the state to enable people at the grassroots access quality healthcare.
While calling on members of the public to take advantage of the initiatives to access quality healthcare services, she warned that no health personnel in the accredited facilities are expected to collect money from beneficiaries of the programmes to access care, threatening severe sanctions on any defaulter.
She emphasized her ministry’s zero-tolerance for exploitation and compromise in service delivery.
The commissioner who commended some council chairmen in the State for keying into the initiative, urged citizens of the State to visit their local council secretariats, the offices of RIVCHPP or their online platforms to get enrolled.
Elaborating on the services offered by the initiative, the Executive Secretary of RIVCHPP, Dr Vetty Agala, added that within this one week of the governor’s birthday celebration, beneficiaries can get up to 15 free surgeries including pregnant women who require caesarian sections.
She, however, added: “If you are under the Sim Jara Scheme or any of the informal sector schemes, it means that you will not pay for surgeries but you will pay a fifteen percent on your drugs and your medications and that’s to help them revolve those drugs”.
While acknowledging that the cost of healthcare is currently very high, Agala stated; “We are interested in driving down maternal mortality, we don’t want our women dying, we don’t want our neonates dying, so ensure that you register with the scheme.”
By: John Bibor
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has stated his resolve to work harmoniously with the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, Senator Bala Mohammed, to reposition the party in the right direction.
This is as he restated the cordial working relationship between Rivers and Bauchi states under the leadership of Governor Bala Mohammed.
Fubara made the assertion when he paid a condolence visit to the Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammad, in Bauchi to condole with him and his family on the demise of his step-mother, Hajia Hauwa Mohammed, last Saturday.
The governor, who is also the Deputy Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, noted the enormous task ahead in repositioning the party, but asserted that time has come when people need to come out strong and take a position that will rightly get things done properly.
He said, “As a State, we have always worked together with the Bauchi Government. Not just the Bauchi Government, but this particular government, which I happen to be the Deputy to him as the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum.
“What I am doing here is to show everyone that we have a good working relationship, and we are in together to make sure that we work to set those things that are wrong rightly in the party. I know it is not an easy task, and names would be called, but it gets to a time when you come out strongly and take a position so that things will be done rightly.”
Fubara, while condoling with his Bauchi State counterpart and his family, described the loss of any family member as tragic to the relatives, irrespective of how old the person is, particularly when they have a closer relationship with the deceased.
He said, “We are here this afternoon to pay a condolence visit to the First Family. At this particular period, it is important, no matter how late it is, to show our support, to comfort His Excellency and his family on the loss of their step mother who is also their mother.”
He emphasized that, “Loses, when it comes to life, is a very tragic thing. It doesn’t matter the number of age, but when life is taken, you must feel that loss, and more especially, if you have a relationship with the person. I was made to understand that His Excellency, my Oga grew under the late Hajia Hauwa. So, you can see why this visit is important to us.”
The governor noted that the vacuum created by the demise of their step mother cannot be filled by any mortal man, except God (Allah), and prayed Him to provide the family all the needed comfort to bear the loss and also grant the soul of the deceased perfect rest.
He added, “We cannot fill that vacuum. It is only God Almighty, Allah as you people call your own, that can feel that space for you. He is the only one that can give you the lasting comfort. So, we join you to say that Allah will provide all that is needed for the family at this particular time that our mother has left us. Allah will also make sure that she rests in a perfect place because of the wonderful work that she had also done while on earth.”
Responding, the Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, lauded Governor Siminalayi Fubara for the visit to empathize and sympathize with his family, saying it demonstrates the closeness between both of them.
Senator Mohammed noted the support his State had always given to Governor Fubara, which he described as a “Good SIM for Rivers and for Nigeria”, assuring that his State will continue to stand on the side of justice, equity and truth.
He congratulated Fubara for his dexterity in taking back the political structure of the PDP in the State, which the present reality confers him as a governor and leader.
Mohammed noted the support given to Fubara by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, assuring that with all the governors already with him, they will continue to close rank to ensure that they minimize rancor in the party, except where it is necessary to straighten records.
The Federal Government, through the Federal Civil Service Commission, has announced the commencement of recruitment into various positions within the Federal Civil Service.
The FCSC’s Head of Press and Public Relations, Taiwo Hassan, who disclosed this in a statement yesterday, said that interested and eligible Nigerians can apply for the available positions through the commission’s official recruitment portal.
He stated that applicants are to apply for only one position.
The statement read, “The Federal Civil Service Commission is receiving applications for various vacancies in the Federal Civil Service. The vacancy announcement is published on the commission’s website: www.fedcivilservice.gov.ng and in national newspapers.
“Eligible applicants are to apply for only one position via the application link: https://recruitment.fedcivilservice.gov.ng. Applicants who are physically challenged should state the nature of their disability.
“Applicants are to upload the following documents as applicable: I) Curriculum Vitae, II) Ph.D/Master’s Degree Certificate,
III) Degree/HND/NCE Certificate, IV) WAEC/NECO/NABTEB Certificate, V) Primary School Certificate, VI) NYSC discharge/exemption/exclusion certificate, VII) Birth Certificate/Declaration of Age, VIII) Local Government Identification
IX) Recent Passport photograph
“All applications are to be submitted on or before Monday, 10th March, 2025.”
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