Against the current hard ship and hunger being endured by Nigerians, a notable grassroots politician and member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State, Pastor Joe Opanwa, says All Progressives Congress (APC) administration at the federal level is confused about how to tackle Nigeria’s economic and political challenges, especially poverty and insecurity.
Speaking with newsmen in Port-Harcourt recently, Pastor Opanwa said that Nigeria’s economic and political situation need to be overhauled to bring the expected dividends of democracy to Nigerians.
He maintained that, “This current Nigerian government under the administration of President Bola Tinubu remains a retrogressive one.
“Most of what they claim as growth is but the harsh redistribution of wealth from the bottom to the top.The bottom gets squeezed while the top expands. They are serving us the salad of hardship, hunger, corruption, insecurity and deaths”.
Pastor Opanwa said that the APC-led Federal Government promised peace, economic stability, abundant food, creation of jobs for Nigerians and security of lives and property, but noted that under its’ unwatchful eye’, insecurity, hunger and injustice have grown and Boko Haram/herders onslaught, among other insurgencies has turned large tracts of Northern Nigeria into ‘ no man’s land ‘.
He said that in the face of the economic crunch bedeviling Nigeria currently, there is no need for President Tinubu to continue in 2027 as the country’s president.
Pastor Opanwa, a stalwart of the Simplified Movement in the LGA, who also aspires for the position of Chairman of Oyigbo LGA in the scheduled October 5, 2024 Local Government election, further said that, “As leaders in Nigeria, we intend to pursue dynamic, time- tested and bold policies and programmes that will liberate our people by making sure our wealth works for all of us.”
He stated that Nigerians had become increasingly divided as a people because the APC-led federal government continues to take faulty steps in addressing poverty, hardship, hunger, insecurity, injustice and deaths, adding that, “They have ignored the cause and gone after the symptoms.”
The Chairmanship hopeful of the PDP in the area, urged the Federal Government to apply consistent policies and programmes of targeted law enforcement operations along with active programmes of economic development, negotiations and potential amnesty to lead Nigerians out of the present dire condition.
“The Bola Tinubu government set up multidimensional development committees, but all to no avail. This is symtomatic of a confused leadership.
If there is security in this jumbled policies and programmes of Bola Tinubu’s government, neither we nor the majority of Nigerians can find it”, he said.
He described the fact that those who control the system manipulate elections and governance with such impunity that they now see misconduct without sanction as a normal thing to happen.
Meanwhile, Pastor Joe Opanwa, has commended Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara over the appointment of Engr. Gogo Philip as Chairman, Caretaker Committee of Oyigbo Local Government Area.
He described the appointment as remarkable and a call to service of Oyigbo people for them to benefit from the dividends of democracy that had eluded them previously due to bad leadership in the area.
Pastor Opanwa, however, urged Engr. Philip and his team to operate an open door policy in governance, where quality contributions to the way forward of the LGA and its people can be made.

Bethel Toby

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said he never discussed the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, with the South-East governors in Enugu on Tuesday.
The clarification was contained in a statement by the Special Assistant on Media to the former president, Kehinde Akinyemi, on Wednesday in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
He said that the former President and Chief Emeka Anyaoku met with the governors on their own invitation to discuss regional development issues.
Mr Akinyemi said that the purported call for the release of Mazi Kanu by the Federal Government was not part of it.
He said that the regional development issues included security and infrastructure, economic and cooperative collaboration among others.
“The meeting with them was at my invitation and of Anyaoku before their summit began. The issue of Nnamdi Kanu was not on the agenda and was not discussed in my presence,” the statement quoted former President Obasanjo as saying.

The Chairman, Caretaker Committee of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State, Dr. Enyiada Cookey-Gam, has said that Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, is using the state resources and funds to aggressively develop the state, especially the rural communities that have been neglected in the past 25 years.
Reacting to alleged use of state funds in the recruitment of hoodlums to foment crisis in the state by Governor Fubara, Dr Cookey-Gam described the insinuations as untrue, baseless and the figment of the imagination of mischief makers.
Dr CookeyGam said the truth is that Governor Fubara had neither misused nor deployed state funds and resources on meaningless jamboree, rather his predecessor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, indiscriminately gave out state resources and funds in his quest to secure the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections.
“Nyesom Wike was the one that had misused our resources to support other states and deadly activities while Rivers people were dying of hunger, hardship, poverty and disease. It is on record that for the past eight years, Rivers State Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) was about #12 billion, but today, the amount has drastically changed from #12 billion to over #28 billion, meaning that the dispensation rough-handled our resources and funds to stupor.
“As far as we are concerned, the people’s Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara remains the political hero and leader of Rivers State.
“We need Godly leaders like Siminalayi Fubara who stands by his words in the morning, afternoon and night.God brought him to clean the development and political mess of the Nyesom Wike-led administration in the last eight years of dictatorial governance.”
Dr CookeyGam, a grassroots mobilizer and political gladiator in the LGA, has called on the Governor’s detractors, such as the factional leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chief Tony Okocha and his Abuja paymasters, to desist forthwith from negative and unfounded allegations against the Governor.
He warned APC leader to concentrate on his assignment as the Rivers State representative on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), where he is expected to attract viable people – oriented development projects and programmes.
“Since Tony Okocha became member on the board of the NDDC, he has not been able to attract tangible development projects and programmes to the state, talk less of scholarships, grants, and other empowerment largesse to both the students and youths.
“Hence, he is expected to shun the temptation of inviting the wrath of God and the people, as further clueless, senseless and immature insults to the office of the Governor will be resisted.
“Enough is enough of such irrelevant, irresponsible and unjustifiable rascality when all Rivers people are expected to join forces to work with the the present government to move the state forward developmentally.
Tony Okocha and his Abuja connections are busy misleading their followers on make- believe destructive polity that would do nobody any good”, the council chairman said.

Bethel Toby