REGISTRATION OF EVENTS WITH THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND TOURISM RIVERS STATE.

Quality of events, Safety of entertainment halls and eradication of scammers remain the reasons for the announcement by the Ministry of Tourism. 

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is concerned about the quality of events, the manner in which they are conducted and how much of local content is involved. 

And the venue in which events are held; to avoid any form of building collapse and stampede as a result of over-crowding and unsafe structures.

In this era of fabricated tents with steel roofs, used as events halls, the safety of spectators is of great concern to the ministry, to avoid a possible collapse of building, especially with the high decibels of sound production transmitting through the mega speakers used in most entertainment events. 

 

The ministry only want things to be organized properly so that people will not be using the ministry's name for racketeering and soliciting for funds without the ministry's endorsement. 

However, the ministry believes that the entertainment/hospitality sectors in Rivers State still have noble entrepreneurs that have what it takes to compete, and should be encouraged and protected by government. 

And therefore the ministry desires to know those behind each entertainment event, to ascertain ownership of the title they promote.

This is about due diligence, and the protection of the Port Harcourt entertainment market from scammers and pirates.

 

Finally, it's also important to state clearly that this notice is not about revenue drive, and it's strictly for entrepreneurs in the entertainment and hospitality industry, and does not affect weddings and birthdays as detractors have made the unsuspecting pubic to believe.

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AMAECHI IN A BATTLE OF HIS LIFE - Friday, Nuka

To Rotimi Amaechi it doesn’t matter if Rivers State collapses, what is important to him is that he must deliver the entire seat to APC in the coming re-run election on the 10th of December, 2016.

Amaechi who failed in delivering his party the APC in the last March 19th re-run election, has been challenged this time by the cabal to make sure he delivers this time by all means possible.

The cabal who was not happy with Amaechi concerning what happened in the last re-run election, where he failed woefully to deliver the party even after giving him all that he requested for to enable him win the election, yet he failed. Which lead to the cancellation of elections in some LGAs by power from above.

Now, Amaechi is in the battle of his life as the cabal this time has mandated him to make sure he does not fail this time.

In order to fulfill that order by all means, Rivers State APC started the printing of INEC result sheet at No. 12 Isiokpo Street to be used to rig the election. But as karma may have it, they were caught and up till now INEC has said nothing about an offense of this magnitude. The matter is now swept under the carpet.
You will wonder what kind of corruption we are fighting.

No wonder the Governor of Rivers State said INEC has given Amaechi the result sheet for the election. Because nobody can tell how many bags of result sheets has already been removed out from the Printing Press before they were caught.

Just like Rotimi boasted in the March 19th re-run election and still failed, he has also started again. Telling his followers that all the Forces have been handed over to him to command in order to win the election.

Just because of the Electionl, Amaechi has come with his usual ‘Wayo’ of deceiving people with the ‘Ogoni Clean-Up’. Must he only bring up this issue of Ogoni Clean-up during election and forgets about it after election.

This is unacceptable! Rivers and Ogoni People are wiser now!

One thing Amaechi has refused to understand is that majority of Rivers people and its residents has rejected him totally.

We are building a NEW Rivers State together, trying to bring lasting peace to our state and move forward.

Amaechi should leave Rivers State to be in peace and allow a free, fair and credible election.

By Friday, Nuka
28th Dec., 2016

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DAKUKU PETERSIDE, ANOTHER WASTING ONE - By Oraye St. Franklyn

In politics, how people of promise manage to destroy themselves and waste their vantage opportunities is something that will continue to elicit discussions for years to come as it always has done. The name Dakuku Peterside is not unknown in the politics of Rivers State. He is the defeated candidate of the All Progressives Congress at the 2015 General Elections in which he ran for the Governorship of Rivers State.

Although thoroughly browbeaten at the Governorship contest, the young politician unlike a sportsman hasn't taken his defeat fairly. Since his loss, observers have seen Dakuku metamorphose into a bitter and sad man rapidly aging with rage, just like his sponsor and mentor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, the immediate past governor of Rivers State.

Dakuku, who is the proprietor of Development and Leadership Institute (DLI), which operated from the same 12 Isiokpo Street that is now rocked in an INEC Result Sheets printing scandal, ought reasonably to know that based on his Christian and leadership posturing, society would expect him to know that politics is not do-or-die as he now makes it look. Unfortunately, with the lure for lucre and the challenge on character, the inconvenience of propriety  takes a back seat when push comes to shove for those without enduring maturity and rooted convictions. And it is true, a man's character is not what he professes but what he becomes under the intensity of heat. Dakuku, after all said and done, has lost all the finesse he adorned in the lead up to the last General Elections; and this sadly accounts for why a greater percentage of Rivers people are peeved by his saltless, divisive, aggressive and unnecessarily vicious rhetoric which contrast his appealing mien. So sad.

Dakuku says the Governor of Rivers State has done nothing but patch roads in Rivers State. As laughable as that it, it is worrying to confirm that the former clergyman, as he so claimed, has finally lost his salt. What the Rivers State Government under the leadership of His Excellency, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, CON, Dakuku's Governor has done and continues to do is out in the open for all to see. The failings of the Amaechi led government, as acknowledged by the Economic Advisory Council set up by the same government, are properly documented. Yet, Dakuku Peterside is proud to condemn the gains recorded so far and commend those failings that pitched that government against the people in spite of the humongous revenue it raked in from the oil boom at the time.

Dakuku Peterside is not the first to lose an election in Rivers State, yet he is going down in history as the one to demonstrate the worst form of remonstration in the history of Rivers State politics, after his mentor, Mr. Amaechi. Ebenezar Isokariari, Prince Tonye Princewill, Nimi Walson-Jack, Charles Harry, Biobele Odesola and many others, to name a few have all ran for and lost their bids, rightly or wrongly, to govern Rivers State. Yet, the heavens didn't fall. If anything, they are contributing to the development of the State and nation in their own ways. It therefore smacks of demonic induction for Dakuku Peterside and his co-travellers like Sody Peterside and Atonyesia Dimieari-Peterside to wish that the State be grounded on account of Dakuku's electoral misadventure and successful loss. What could be more selfish?

Let me please emphasise. I do not begrudge  Dakuku or challenge his right to free speech as to say what he pleases and how so. Not at all. His bias is his right. His myopia is his right. His hate is his right. But the decision of who becomes elected into whatever office is beyond his to solely determine. Just like his fate was popularly determined in the last election, that decision will remain the exclusive preserve of the majority collection of Rivers people.

I do believe that what Dakuku owes himself is truth and comportment like his leader, by my ranking, Dr. Dawari Ibiateli George, in order to avoid going down the same slope as his mentor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, whom he has every reason to be far better than.

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RIVERS STATE GOVERNMENT BEGINS NEW PHASE OF PROJECTS

As part of the commitment of the Nyesom Wike Administration to develop all parts of Rivers State, Governor Wike will flag-off a range of projects across the State.
According to a statement released by the State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dr. Austin Tam-George, the flag-off activities will begin on Wednesday, 23rd November, 2016 with the construction of Olakwor-Afara-Nihi Road.
The Governor will also flag-off the rehabilitation of Okrika Internal Road in Okochiri, Okrika, on Thursday 24th November, while the reconstruction of the Igbo-Etche Road, will be on Friday 25th November, 2016.
Other roads to be flagged-off include Chokocho-Umuechem-Ozuzu Road, on Friday, 2nd December, and the flag-off of the completion of the abandoned Andoni-Opobo-Nkoro Unity Road, on Tuesday, 6th December, 2016.
Governor Wike will round-off the series of project flag-off activities with the reconstruction of the Elimgbu-Atali Road, on Friday 9th December, 2016.
Dr. Tam-George restated the determination of the Rivers State Government, to make the development of the State a non-negotiable priority of the Wike Administration.
Signed:

Dr. Austin Tam-George
Hon. Commissioner for Information and Communication

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MMM-Nigeria donates relief materials worth N5 million to IDPs in Abuja

‘MMM-Nigeria’, a community of mutual financial aid and donations, on Saturday donated relief materials worth N5 million to two Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in the Federal Capital Territory.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the gesture was part of the community’s humanitarian week tagged ‘MMM cares’ to mark its one year anniversary.

The Gwoza and Bama IDP Camp located in Durumi area and the New Kuchingoro IDP camp were the two beneficiaries of the relief materials. Bags of rice, beans, garri, as well as cartoons of beverages and noodles, were some of the items donated by the group. The group also donated clothing, drugs, and educational materials for the pupils among them.

Mr Seyi Bello, a Guilder in the ‘MMM Community’ said the donation was motivated by the desire of the group to affect the society positively, especially the less-privileged. “We are marking our first year anniversary and we have decided to come and celebrate it with our brothers, mothers and children in the camp. “As a community, we do not only provide help to our members, we also extend that to the larger society as part of our social responsibility.

“In these times of economic challenges, the IDPs are the ones that need help and support more than any other person; that is why we visited them today,” he said. Bello explained that besides providing help and donations to its members, humanitarian service was a flagship programme of the group. He said that the relief items were bought from free-will donations of members in their quest to touch lives positively.

He said: “The N5 million was raised from voluntary donations my members in the FCT. “That is what defines us as a community of people providing financial help to each other on the principle of reciprocity and benevolence. “In MMM there are no lenders and no debtors. One participant asks for help, another one helps.’’

Bello appealed to individuals, groups and corporate bodies to always remember the IDPs across Nigeria, since government alone would not be able to provide for them adequately. “They are our brothers and sisters who have left the comfort of their homes and are now struggling for survival here.

“No matter how little, let us always extend a hand of help to them to complement what government and other donors are doing, “he urged. Mr Enoch Yohanna, General Secretary of the IDP camp at New Kuchingoro, who received the items, expressed gratitude for the gesture which he described as `timely.’

“The Christmas season is very close; we thank MMM-Nigeria for bringing these items to us. “We hope to share them satisfactorily among us for everybody to be happy and have a happy Christmas celebration, “he said. NAN reports that the visit to the IDPs camps was preceded by a two-hour environmental sanitation by members of the group on Nyanya/Mararaba route, a suburb of the FCT. Members of the group came out in their numbers to clear garbage from drainages and streets in the area.

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INEC again suspends Rivers re-run election

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has once more, put on hold all actions concerning elections into federal and state Assembly in Rivers State.

The electoral umpire said it awaits the receipt of a comprehensive report from its Field Officials and Monitors on the state of security in the affected constituencies.

INEC said the suspension does not affect areas where the exercise has been done and the results declared by the Returning Officers.

INEC’s Director, Voter Education and Publicity, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, in a statement on Wednesday night said, “Pursuant to the Orders of the Court of Appeal, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducted elections into various seats in both the National and the Rivers State House of Assembly yesterday, the 19th of March, 2016.

“Rather unfortunately, some of these elections witnessed the disruption of the process, including the barricading of some of the INEC Local Government offices and Registration Area Centres (RACs) used for the distribution of Electoral materials which led to the late commencement of the exercise in some places and consequently, its smooth take off.

“Of more serious concern was the level of threats, violence and intimidation of election officials and voters by well armed thugs and miscreants allegedly acting on behalf of some politicians, which marred the elections in some areas.

“ There were reports of numerous attacks resulting in fatalities, kidnappings, ballot snatching, diversion of officials and materials, amongst others, which necessitated its suspension in 8 Local Government Areas.

“Regrettably, such deviant behaviour has continued today. Several permanent and ad hoc staff engaged have been attacked, again resulting in fatalities, while some have been forcibly abducted and taken to presently unknown destinations.

“Under such difficult circumstance, the Returning Officers were only able to collate and declare results in 1 Federal and 9 State constituencies where the disruption and malpractices were not so widespread.

“Having reviewed the situation, the Commission is compelled to suspend all further action concerning the exercise in all the other constituencies in the State pending the receipt of a comprehensive report from its Field Officials and Monitors.

“For the avoidance of doubt, it should be noted that the suspension does not affect the constituencies where the exercise has been completed and the results declared by the Returning Officers.”

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#RIVERSRERUN: HELP-MATE CONSULT LTD'S FILE MISSING FROM CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION

Officials of Nigeria's  Corporate Affairs Commission  (CAC) have confirmed that the company files of Help-Mate Consult Limited, believed to be owned by Mr. Dakuku Peterside, the defeated APC Gubernatorial candidate of Rivers State and current Director General of NIMASA, are missing.

Help-Mate Consult Ltd, the official APC Printing Press contracted to produce INEC Result Sheets, was stormed by eagle-eyed officers of the Nigerian Police and apprehended while producing results sheets for INEC. Although INEC has since distanced itself from the APC printing syndicate, it has been unable to explain how the syndicate got the security codes and polling unit numbers which have not been officially communicated the Parties contesting the elections by the Commission.

Meanwhile in spite of the litany of accusations, Mr. Dakuku has neither denied ownership of No. 12 Isiokpo Street D-Line Port Harcourt nor of Help-Mate Consult, the multimillion naira Printing Press which operates from it.

As at the time of writing this post, 2 weeks since the busting of the criminal syndicate, the APC controlled Federal Government, said to be fighting corruption, has made no statement on the issue or taken steps to ascertain the veracity of the various claims.

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