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RHI Education Support: Five Rivers Indigenes Among 200 Scholarship Awardees
The unceasing encouragement given by wife of the Rivers State Governor, Lady Valerie Siminalayi Fubara to nudging children to take advantage of available opportunities have led to five Rivers university students winning the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) scholarship award among 200 Awardees.
Awarded under the Education Support Programme of the RHI, the scholarship is to help the 200 benefiting Nigerian youths to access qualitative education and also pursue their studies to logical conclusion.
RHi, which is a brainchild of Nigerian First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, and coordinated in Rivers State by wife of the Governor, Lady Valerie Siminalayi Fubara, worked in collaboration with AUDA-NEPAD and African School of Economic to ensure that the scholarships are available to the beneficiaries.
At the unveiling of the recipients of the AUDA-NEPAD, African School of Economics and RHI scholarships programme at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja, on Thursday, the five students of Rivers extraction were also presented with their certificates of award alongside the other 195 beneficiaries.
Speaking after the presentation of the scholarship certificates to the five students, wife of Rivers State Governor, Lady Valerie Siminalayi Fubara, who was represented by a former Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Hon Tonye Briggs-Oniyide, expressed appreciation to the wife of the President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, for paying priority attention to the education of the youths in the country.
She praised the effort of the wife of the President to address the key needs of the people by laying a solid foundation for their future, saying that any initiative aimed at advancing the educational career of the youths would help catalyse the accelerated development of the State.
The team leader of the winning students, Kingsley Eke, who returned to Port Harcourt on Friday, explained that the experience was rewarding for the beneficiaries, who emerged purely on merit.
This, he noted, was because the winners had waited for feedback after they sent in their essays on designated topic, as entry for the completion together with copies of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) score slips and other documents.
Eke said, “I am the team leader that took them to Abuja for the award. At least, they did a lot for them, and the president’s wife promised and emphasised the need for this scholarship award, and at the end, said it will help them now and in the future.
“This went through a process and these winners are the first batch. The next batch will come in September. They are five awardees of the scholarship as seen now as pioneers of RHI, a programme of the First Lady that she is using to enrich and empower Nigerian children.
“The initiative will help them to actualise their educational goals to have competitive academic knowledge. There will be more selections because we are expecting the next batch, maybe soon.”
On her part, an awardee, Alfred Munachimso Precious, expressed excitement over winning the scholarship, adding that the award will propel her to concentrate more on her study without the worries of paying school fees.
“I give God all the thanks for this great opportunity. I didn’t know I was going to get this scholarship award.
“First, we just submitted WAEC, the essay and every other thing they requested, and to God be the glory. Through the opportunity from our First Lady, I got the offer. I am a student of Rivers State University, studying Medical and Laboratory Sciences.
“I want to say to our First Lady, Her Excellency, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, a great thank you for what she has done. I also want to thank our First Lady, Lady Valerie Siminalayi Fubara for this. I say a very big thank you to her.”
Also, Waribo Walter Fubara, who is studying Human Physiology at the Rivers State University, said it is by the grace of God that he was able to get into RHI Scholarship competition and won, and expressed appreciation to Senator Oluremi Tinubu and Lady Valerie Fubara for the great financial respite to him and his parents.
On his part, Blue-Jack Nelson Tamunotonye, said he is impressed with what he called a straight-forward and transparent selection process that has given him confidence of unimpeded finance to see him through study of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
He said, “I recently just received a scholarship offer from the RHI Foundation. It aims at selecting the best 200 people in Nigeria, equally divided between the 36 States of Nigeria and the FCT.
“There was a very rigorous selection process, and I am actually very grateful to the First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, and to the First Lady of Rivers State, Lady Valerie Siminalayi Fubara, because without them, it won’t have been possible.”
Also speaking, Bright-Worlu David Chimenem, an awardee, said he is filled with gratitude to the wife of Rivers State Governor for creating the atmosphere for the award and to the First Lady of Nigeria for midwifing the initiative.
Speaking further, another beneficiary, Jack Adolphus Patricia Ibingo, thanked Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu and wife of Rivers State Governor, Lady Valerie Siminalayi Fubara, for making her dream of successfully completing educational pursuit possible with the financial support.
She prayed for the initiative to be sustained to give other students, particularly brilliant but indigent children, the opportunity to realise their full potentials educationally.
The Rivers State Chief judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi has granted pardon to six inmates standing awaiting trial at the Port Harcourt maximum correctional center.
The six lucky inmates granted pardon on Tuesday by the state Chief Judge included Nwekeala Chizoba, Samuel Emmanuel, Aniete Kelvin, Ebube Fubara and Goddey Okpara who were on awaiting trial as murder suspects and have all spent between 10 years to seven years in the custody without a proper information filed against them in the court.
Justice Amadi during a special gaol delivery exercise last Tuesday at the Port Harcourt Maximum Correctional Centre opined that the special gaol delivery was part of activities lined up to commomerate the 2024/2025 legal year in the State and restated the commitment of the state judiciary in decongesting the correctional centre and ensuring that those inmates who are not supposed to be there are removed from the custody.
The state chief judge stressed the need for all stakeholders to work together to build a society that supports rehabilitation and gives a second chance to anyone or group of people who have fallen short of the expectation of the law and have been punished accordingly.
He stressed that the National Judicial Council(NJC) encourages judges to pay more attention to criminal matters to enable them to decongests the correctional facilities, noting that since his assumption into office, his administration has been able to reduce the number of inmates in Nigerian Correctional Centres and the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre in particular, to less than 2,000 as against the over 4,000 inmates previously in the faculty.
According to him, “as they release the deserving inmates, they affirm their commitment to justice, compassion and rule of law but that they must not forget the fundamental principles of justice delivery system which is truth and fairness, integrity and equality before the law.”
I encourage you all the released inmates to return to your families and become better citizens. You must not engage in action that will return you all back to prison. Let me say that while the judges show empathy to you all, it does not absolved individuals from being held accountable for actions against individuals, corporate organisations and state which the law frowns at, ”he stated
The Chief Judge thereafter stood down the exercise to enable the DPP to intervene to case files following the fact that majority of the persons listed to benefit from the exercise are facing murder charges and adjourned to a date that will come before December.
Earlier in his goodwill message, the outgoing state Comptroller of Nigerian Correctional Centre, Port Harcourt, Felix Lawrence, who was recently promoted to the rank of Assistant Controller General, commended the state judiciary led by Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi for their continuous effort aimed at ensuring justice and decongesting the facilities.
Other activities lined up for the event included special church service at St Paul’s Cathedral , Anglican Communion, Rebisi Port Harcourt, inspection of guard of honour by the state Chief Judge mounted by officers of the Nigerian police and a special court session held at the ceremonial court hall.
By: AkujobiAmadi
The Director General of Rivers State Bureau on Public Procurement (RBoPP), Dr. Ine Briggs, has explained that the Sir Siminalayi Fubara administration plans to enforce transparency in governance through public procurement.
Speaking at a one-day Public Procurement Enlightenment workshop organised in collaboration with the State Local Government Service Commission for newly elected chairmen, vice chairmen, secretaries and leaders of legislative assemblies, Dr. Briggs said it is key for grassroot development.
She stated that the Sir. Fubara administration plans to reduce wastage and at same time infuse efficiency in public expenditure.
The RSoPP DG said the local government political office holders remain key drivers in the new vision hence the workshop is to arm them with knowledge on how to execute projects in tandem with needs of the people.
“ Your role in the prudent management of public resources is, therefore, not just administrative it’s the cornerstone of delivering the dividends of democracy. Every procurement decision you make must reflect a commitment to fairness, transparency and accountability” Dr. Briggs submitted.
One of the key goals of the administration she further reminded the participants was to use their offices to foster economic growth through public procurement.
She warned that the law establishing the agency empowers it to penalise defaulters, but that what is more important is voluntary compliance to the laws.
In addition to that, she said urged the local government council leaders that champion the practice and implementation of public procurement law.
On his part, Acting Chairman of Local Government Service Commission, Pastor GoodLife Ben Iduoku averred that the aim of the workshop is to arm key stakeholders in the local government system to generate new ideas, innovation and strategies in tandem with government policies and programmes.
The workshop dealt on various topics on procurement planning, methods, Understanding Bid Process, including types of Construction Contracts and law.
Some participants were awarded excellence and meritorious awards as part of the programme.
By: Kevin Nengia
The 19th anniversary of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Rivers State Chapter, recently ended in Port Harcourt in grand style, with participants from various schools including proprietors, the academia, civil society groups and top government functionaries charting the way forward for educational improvement.
The 19th NAPPS anniversary christened, ‘Innovation and Adaptation: Transforming Challenges Into Opportunities’ was held at Casoni Hotels, Port Harcourt.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Rivers State Chapter of the association, Dr. Jaja Adafe Sunday expressed gratitude to the members and executives for their untiring efforts towards the achievements of the body.
He sought the intervention of government on the lingering crisis on the economy as it is affecting the running of schools.
He decried high cost of things including fuel and raw materials which has adversely affected the running of schools and payment of teachers.
Dr. Sunday hinted that the current economic situation in the nation is biting hard on the operations of schools, saying inflation, removal of fuel subsidy, fuel scarcity, poor electricity supply, tariffs and lack of government grants are some of the challenges faced by schools, and urged the members to brace up to the challenges, as it is the panacea to building a brighter future.
Guest speakers from the health sector and the academia thrilled the gathering on the essence of basic education which they said is the key to national development.
Former Dean of the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Professor Azuru and the Chief Medical Director of Meridian Hospitals, Dr. Odo Iyke were some notable guest speakers who delivered lectures at the occasion.
Some distinguished proprietors also got special recognitions and awards.
The 19th anniversary cake was cut by the Rivers State NAPPS Chairman with representatives of the state government assisting.