Dennis

The  Bayelsa State Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with  DrugStoc, Health Spaces, Sterling Bank and Zipline, forming a consortium to ensure sustainability and continuous availability of medical products within the value chain for distribution of drugs to the nooks and crannies of the State using drones. The MoU, which was signed by the commissioner for health, Dr. Pabara Igwele, on behalf of the state government, representatives of DrugStoc, Health Spaces, Sterling Bank and Zipline, took place at Banquet Hall, Government House, Yenagoa.   Introducing the consortium project, Divisional Head, Health, Education and Finance,  Sterling Bank PLC, Obinna Ukachukwu, said system is well tested across  Africa and the United States, and described it as a giant step in expanding universal healthcare access in the country. His words; Our system is well tested across Africa and the United States, and there is no doubt that it is a giant step in expanding universal healthcar

  Four Chibok girls have been released from the captivity of the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters. Recall that the girls were part of the victims kidnapped during an invasion of Kautikari village of Chibok Local Government Area in Borno State on Friday, January 14. Bayelsa Daily Online News gathered that the girls were taken to Dille village which shares a border with Sambisa forest before they were released on Sunday afternoon. Confirming the development, a resident of the town said that the girls regained their freedom on Sunday. He told newsmen that the girls are with the District Head of Kautikari village who resides in Chibok town. “I can exclusively confirm to you that the four young girls who were in the captivity of insurgents have regained freedom today (Sunday). “I was informed that they were taken to Dille axis of Askira Uba local government area of Borno state which shares border with Sambisa forest. “Presently, all the girls are cooing off with the Dis

Report reaching Bayelsa Daily Online desk has it that  Rwanda has reopened its land border with Uganda after a three-year closure, signalling a thaw in relations between the two East African neighbours. The frontier had been closed in February 2019 as political tensions between Kigali and Kampala spiralled, leading to the near-collapse of two-way trade. Rwanda announced its decision to reopen the border last week as a step towards repairing ties that had been soured by various rival accusations of espionage, abductions and meddling. It followed a visit to Kigali by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s powerful son Muhoozi Kainerugaba, where he met Rwandan President Paul Kagame. The main Gatuna crossing post, known as Katuna in Uganda, officially reopened at midnight, and traffic was expected to gather pace throughout the day. Museveni and Kagame were close allies in the 1980s and 1990s during struggles for power in their respective countries, but relations turned deeply hostile. Rwanda

The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oludayo Amao, said the Nigeria Air Force now has a total of 38 new aircraft inducted into its inventory.   He said the latest addition to the fleet included the 12 A-29 Super Tucano aircraft recently acquired by the government.   According to him, while some of the aircraft had been deployed to tackle insecurity in some parts of the country, the others were being used to upscale its pilots’ training.   He disclosed these in the latest edition of the Airman, a magazine of the Nigerian Air Force.   Amao said, “Prior to the coming on board of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)-led administration in 2015, the NAF was in the pitiable state owing to neglect as most of its platforms were grounded or in states of disrepair.   “The NAF can now boast of 38 brand new aircraft to tackle various security challenges and upscale its pilots training. The latest addition to the list is the A-29 Super Tucano aircraft which were recently inducted int

  The Senate has said the Federal Government will have to justify the fresh demand for N3tn for the extension of the subsidy on petrol  before it is approved by the National Assembly.   Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Ajibola Basiru, made this known against the backdrop of the controversy surrounding the actual volume of petrol, which Nigeria consumed daily.   The government is billed to present executive bills to the parliament to amend the 2022 Appropriation Act and the Petroleum Industry Act, as part of the move to extend the subsidy regime, following the protests that greeted its planned removal.   Already, the House of Representatives, last week, resolved to investigate the correct daily consumption volume and the actual state of the nation’s four refineries. The Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, had set up two ad hoc committees to carry out the probes separately within six and eight weeks, respectively.   Speaking to journalists  on Sunday, the Senate’s sp

  Report reaching Bayelsa Daily Online desk has it that, one soldier has been reportedly killed while two others were wounded in an attack by gunmen in Rivers State. It was gathered that the attack happened in the early hours of Sunday at the boundary between Asari-Toru and the Emohua Local Government Areas of the state. The Chairman of Akuku-Toru, Local Government Area of the state, Rowland Sekibo, who visited the scene confirmed that the soldiers were ambushed. Sekibo noted that the two soldiers injured were in critical conditions and have been moved out for treatment. Meanwhile, the Chairman of Asari-Toru Local Government Area, Onengiyeofori George, said the incident happened around 5:30 am, adding that the soldiers were on their way to their duty post before they were attacked. George said, “The incident happened this morning, around 5:30 am. The soldiers were on the way to their duty post. Between Emohua and Asari-Toru Local Government, there is a river demarcation, the criminals

No fewer than 20 road, educational, health, media and agricultural projects will be inaugurated during the second anniversary in office of the Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, on February 14, 2022. The projects include those inherited from the past administration and completed in the last one year and others initiated by the Diri's administration during same period. A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Daniel Alabrah, indicates that the anniversary activities will commence a week before February 14 and will continue till the end of the month due to the number of projects lined up for inauguration. According to the statement, Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo is expected to flag-off a bridge project across River Nun at Angiama linking Oporoma, headquarters of the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area. Governor Diri, at the weekend, inspected some of the projects at various stages of completion.  They include the Yenagoa-Oporoma road, Bayelsa State Mega Medi

  The National Council on Establishment has approved salary grade level 10 as the entry-level for graduate nurses. This was decided at the 43rd meeting of the council held in Abuja. A copy of the communique issued after the meeting reads, “(The council) approved the review of the entry grade level of graduate Nurses from SGL 09 (CONHESS 08) to SGL10 (CONHESS 09),” a copy of the communique issued after the meeting stated. The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and Chairman of Council, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan and the Permanent Secretary of the Office of Head of Service of the Federation, Dr. Emmanuel Meribole co-signed the communique. Speaking, President of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, Mike Nnachi, commended the development, saying it is an appropriate grading. “It is a good one for the students and even for us. That’s what we have been fighting for and we are happy,” he said. The one-week-long meeting, which was presided over by Dr. Yemi-Esan, was a

  The Labour Party in Ekiti state, on Saturday picked Olugbenga Daramola as its  consensus  candidate for the June 18 gubernatorial election in the state. At a ceremony, held at its situation office located at Dallimore junction, Ado-Ekiti, the Chairman of the party, Odunayo Okunade, presented Mr Daramola with the party flag. Mr Okunade, who appealed to the people of Ekiti to vote the party’s candidate in the June 18 governorship elections, said that the party will provide an alternative to the alleged misrule of the PDP and APC. He said, “the time is now to take our future in our hands. We should say enough is enough to foreigners and liberate Ekiti from their hands, saying it is time for the home-based to govern their own state by themselves. The party chairman noted that time has come to resist any form of rigging in the state. “It is unfortunate that those who took over the affairs of the state since the return of democracy are not projecting the state well and in order to put the

By Hananeel Jackson  South-South Zonal Representative in the board of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation Ama-Ebi Ebikapolade has reiterated his commitment to groom talents within the zone that will represent the country in the future. Ebikapolade last year emerge winner of the south- south zonal election in the board NTTF to end Orok Duke’s sixteen years reign on the board. In an interview Mr Ebikapolade said as a representative in the NTTF that his dream was to organize a Table Tennis league for South-South state in order to engage youths, noting that if the youths are engaged that it would reduce crime rate in the zone. He noted that the country is blessed with abundant talents but lamented that the absence of trained coaches was impacting negatively on the players. Ebikapolade pointed out that the inability of our local coaches to adapt to modern   equipment has continued to affect performance of players. Ebikapolade who doubles as the Chairman of the Bayelsa State Table Tennis Ass

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reduced ATM withdrawal charges, inter-bank transfer fees as it issues a downward review of charges for electronic banking transactions in its revised guidelines to charges by Banks, Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) and Non-Bank Financial Institutions. In its amended guidelines to charges by banks, other financial institutions (OFIs), and non-bank financial institutions, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has downward reviewed charges for electronic banking transactions. This is according to the circular by Chibuzor Efobi, the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, titled  “RE: GUIDE TO CHARGES BY BANKS, OTHER FINANCIAL AND NON-BANK FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS”. The CBN stated  that the review was in response to “further evolution in the financial industry in the last few years.’’ The new guide, according to the top bank, included a review of other bank charges in order to comply with market changes. There were some changes like withdraw

A real estate agent, 50-year-old Diran Elijah, has lost his life after having sex with his former wife identified simply as Idowu, at a hotel in the Agbado area of Ogun State.   Idowu, who has remarried with two children for her new husband, reportedly separated from Elijah about four years ago.   Bayelsa Daily online gathered that the ex-couple reignited their love affair lately when Elijah contacted her on the phone and they agreed to meet at the hotel around 10pm last Sunday.   Elijah was reportedly taking some rest after a pleasant time in bed with Idowu when he suddenly became unconscious and gasped for breath.   The woman was said to have raised the alarm but it was too late as he reportedly gave up the ghost at the hotel.   A resident of the area, identified only as Afolabi, told newsman that the incident caused anxiety in the neighbourhood, adding that police from the Agbado division visited the scene.   He said, “The owner of the hotel initially wanted to lie that the man slum

  The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has said the nation’s judiciary is becoming more confusing and contradictory in its decisions.   Wike also said the ongoing dispute between Rivers State and the Federal Government over the legitimate authority to impose and collect Value Added Taxes had enormous constitutional implications that should be addressed directly.   The governor, who spoke at a book presentation titled, ‘Contemporary Essays on Law & Practice,’ in honour of retired Justice Anwuri Chikere of the Federal High Court on Friday, further said the Supreme Court was responsible for the controversy that had continued to trail the collection of VAT by state governments.   Wike stressed that the judiciary was the exclusive authority through which all persons, authorities and agencies were subjected to the precepts and dictates of the Constitution and ordinary laws of the nation.   According to Governor Wike, no nation could be seen to be free, fair and just without a stron

  FirstNews, a budding News Media organisation, has presented an award to Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, for his outstanding performance in 2021  FirstNews, a budding News Media organisation, says the governor's leadership style, unprecedented level of peace and stability achieved under his administration were some of the qualities that endeared them to him. Making reference to the letter of award, the Publisher and former State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said, " In the last two years, we have closely followed your leadership style and we are greatly impressed on how you have made Bayelsa the desired destination of many. Aside supporting security agencies to effectively combat crime and criminality, you have reduced the political tension in the state which used to be a major cause for clashes and inter-party rivalry. " He continued, "We make particular reference to how you invited some members of the opposition part

  Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, says the removal of the paramount ruler of Otuokpoti community in Ogbia Local Government Area of the State,  Chief Cousin Wongo, is irreversible despite protest in some quarters. Recall that Governor Diri, had on Monday, announced the monarch’s dethronement as well as the removal of the community development committee chairman and its youth president as a result of their complicity in the kidnap of the Commissioner for Trade, Industry and Investment, Mr. Federal Otokito, from his residence in the community. Mr. Otokito, however, regained his freedom on Monday after his abductors inflicted severe injuries on him. Speaking during a reception at Otuokpoti shortly after commissioning a Divisional Police Station constructed by the Ogbia council chairman, Ebiyon Turner, the governor said his action was in accordance with the Nigerian Constitution and the laws of Bayelsa State. His words: “I did not depose your paramount ruler because I hated him. The cir

The Seme Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), on Friday, said its men intercepted a bus conveying religious books which contained cocaine weighing 11.913 kilogrammes with a street value of N3.9billion. In a statement,  spokesman of the command, Hussain Abdullahi, said a sizeable amount of petroleum products packaged in sacks were also intercepted during the anti-smuggling efforts of the command. Abdullahi said, “The Seme Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has initiated offensive patrol against the smuggling of petroleum products along the creeks within the Seme and Badagry axis. This renewed effort led to the interception of large quantities of petroleum products packaged in sacks on Wednesday, 26 January 2022. “The aforementioned items were successfully evacuated to the command premises where an examination was conducted. 1,065 jerrycans of petroleum products, equivalent to 31,950 litres were discovered with Duty Paid Value of N10,041,198. “In the same vein, off