By David Wei,Bayelsa

Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has described as unfair and unacceptable the situation whereby communities in the state which bear the cost of the nation’s wealth are left without the care they need to remain healthy and productive.

Governor Diri stated this at the weekend while inaugurating an 18-member steering committee for the establishment of the Bayelsa Cancer Treatment and Research Centre at Government House, Yenagoa.

Represented by his Deputy, Dr. Peter Akpe, the Bayelsa helmsman noted that cancer “is no longer a distant disease in communities around the state, due to decades of oil pollution with serious long-term health consequences on the people.”

According to him, breast, cervical and prostate cancers have become quite rampant among the populace, resulting in deaths even among young people in their most productive years, thus necessitating the establishment of the centre.

His words: “Let me begin with the plain truth: Cancer is no longer a distant disease in our communities. Almost every family in this hall has a story: a mother diagnosed too late; a brother who traveled to Lagos, Abuja or abroad and spent everything they owned on treatment.

“Breast, cervical and prostate cancers in particular are taking our people in their most productive years. Too many of these deaths are not because the disease cannot be treated, but because treatment was too far away, too expensive, or came too late.

“In Bayelsa, we carry an additional burden. Decades of oil pollution have left their mark on our land, our water, and we fear, on the health of our people. The Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission Report of 2023 raised serious concerns about the long-term health consequences of that exposure.

“We will not accept a situation where our communities bear the cost of the nation’s wealth and are then left without the care they need. Therefore, a cancer treatment centre in Bayelsa State is not a luxury; it is a matter of health justice.”

Highlighting the terms of reference for the committee, Governor Diri charged the chairman and members to make an empirical assessment of the cancer burden in the state, as well as recommend the most suitable location for the centre, equipment, infrastructure, partnerships and financing options, amongst others.

He also charged them to plan for the requisite and competent manpower, maintenance, training, accessibility to the facility and steady supply of drugs and consumables, noting that they were chosen on account of their competence and years of experience.

In his acceptance speech on behalf of the steering committee, the Chairman and Commissioner for Health, Prof. Seiyefa Brisibe, expressed gratitude to the governor for finding them worthy to work for the establishment of a world-class cancer centre in Bayelsa.

Prof. Brisibe, noted that setting up of the committee underscores the unwavering commitment and seriousness the Douye Diri Administration attaches to the health and well-being of the people of the state.

He said the burden of cancer in the state is a reality with huge economic and health burden on families and could no longer be managed with half measures, which informed the careful selection of members with the required expertise.

According to him: “First of all, let me appreciate, with deepest gratitude, on behalf of the members of this steering committee, His Excellency the Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, for his unwavering commitment to the health and well-being of all Bayelsans.

“It is visionary leadership and decisive mandate that have brought us to this inauguration today. The burden of cancer on communities is a reality that we can no longer afford to manage with half measures.

“Families in Bayelsa endure the excruciating financial, physical and emotional toll of travelling outside the state and often outside the country, just to access basic diagnostic and therapeutic cancer care. This will end with the mandate for the work we are about to begin.”

Members of the steering committee include Dr. Jones Stow, Prof. Jumbo Johnbull, Dr. Boboye Ifie, Dr. Oluwadare Marcus and Dr. James Omietimi.

Others are Dr. Ebikapaye Okoyen, Dr. Ngowari Torunana, Mrs. Beatrice Olomiete, Hon. Kingsley Kuku, Dr. Ibimonye Porbeni and Mr. Nimifagha Esindu.

Also to serve on the committee are Prof. Kelvin Kiridi, Dr. Timipa Peregha-West, Magdalene Alabinte, Prof. Beleudanyo Fente, Dr. Elizabeth Obiorah and Dr. Embeleakpo Apere.

By George Mgbeleke

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has strongly rejected the directive by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to decorate the First Niger Bridge with photographs of President Bola Tinubu, describing the move as an unacceptable personalisation of a public asset.

HURIWA in a statement signed it national coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko said the First Niger Bridge belongs to the Nigerian people and must not be converted into a platform for political personality promotion.

The rights group said it was particularly concerned by the minister’s statement directing the Senior Special Assistants to the President in the South-East and South-South to beautify and colour the bridge with photographs of the President.

Umahi had said:

“The South-South and South-East SSAs to Mr President, they have to fertilise the bridge. They’ll beautify, they’ll colour it with the President’s pictures.”

According to the minister, the President “deserves to be appreciated” for what he described as the quick intervention and quality of work being undertaken on the bridge.

But HURIWA says rehabilitation of public infrastructure cannot legitimately be presented as a personal favour by the President.

HURIWA says the First Niger Bridge was not built with the personal resources of President Tinubu, neither is its rehabilitation being financed from his private resources. It is a public infrastructure funded through public resources and therefore belongs to the Nigerian people.

The organisation says government has a constitutional and administrative responsibility to provide, protect and maintain public infrastructure for the common good.

HURIWA therefore rejects any attempt to personalise the bridge to President Tinubu or any other political office holder.

Public infrastructure must remain public. The First Niger Bridge should not become a billboard for the President, the ruling party or any individual politician.

Whether the project was initiated by a previous administration or rehabilitated under the present administration, it remains a national asset. No President acquires personal ownership of public infrastructure merely because his administration funds its rehabilitation.

HURIWA says Nigerians should be allowed to see public projects as investments belonging to them and not as political gifts from individual office holders.

The rights group further warned that the display of political photographs on public infrastructure could blur the distinction between government activities and partisan political promotion.

HURIWA says the Ministry of Works should instead focus on ensuring the structural integrity, safety and durability of the bridge.

The organisation noted that Umahi also directed the removal of unauthorised advertisements from the bridge, installation of additional solar lights, completion of CCTV facilities and an assessment of the bridge above and below the water level.

HURIWA says those measures are legitimate responsibilities of the relevant authorities and should be pursued without attaching the personality of any politician to the infrastructure.

The group therefore calls on the Minister of Works to withdraw the directive for the display of President Tinubu’s pictures and ensure that the First Niger Bridge remains a neutral national asset.

HURIWA says Nigeria must move away from the culture of naming, branding and decorating public infrastructure around individual political office holders. Public projects should be remembered for their service to citizens, not for the political personalities occupying office when they are constructed or rehabilitated.

By Our Correspondent

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has said adequate funding of elections is critical to providing the security and logistics required for successful conduct of the 2027 general elections.

Amupitan stated this on Wednesday in Owerri, Imo State, while delivering a goodwill message at the sixth edition of the Conference and Retreat for Senior Police Officers, themed: “Developing a Nigeria Police Roadmap for Effective Management of Security During Elections.”

The INEC chairman was accompanied by National Commissioners Dr. Ken Nnamdi Ukeagu and Rear Admiral Jamila Abubakar Malaga (Retd.), OFR, mni; the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Imo State, Chukwuemeka C. Ibeziakor, Esq.; and the Chief Press Secretary/Media Adviser to the Chairman, Mr. Adedayo Oketola. Also on the entourage were Mustapha Muhammad Dogondaji, Personal Assistant; Ahmad Yusuf, Executive Assistant (Finance); and Barr. Ezeh N. Emmanuel, Head of Legal, INEC Imo State.

Amupitan said although the commission’s funding was constitutionally provided as a first-line charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the scale of its responsibilities required sustained financial support to enable it to conduct elections effectively.

He explained that INEC was responsible not only for presidential and National Assembly elections, but also for governorship and state House of Assembly elections, voter registration and the registration of political parties.

According to him, the commission also has statutory powers to request the deployment of security agencies for elections and voter registration, making security an integral part of the electoral process.

He said: “Sometimes, it is not what you would like to do that you are able to do because of financial constraints. The system does make allocations of what is available and what is affordable at a particular time for the expenses and appropriation of the agencies, including the police and also including INEC.”

Amupitan stressed that voter registration remained the foundation of credible elections, saying an inaccurate or outdated voters’ register could undermine the inclusiveness of the electoral process.

He argued that because INEC conducts elections affecting the three tiers of government, election expenditure, including security-related costs, should be approached as a collective national responsibility.

The chairman said adequate funding was particularly important for the deployment of personnel and electoral materials to local government areas, wards, registration areas and polling units.

According to him, even where security agencies succeed in maintaining peace, inadequate logistics could still undermine the conduct of an election.

Amupitan said INEC had made both security and logistics priorities under his leadership, adding that the commission was working with government and security agencies to ensure that operational challenges did not undermine the 2027 polls.

He also highlighted the role of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), describing it as a platform that brings INEC and relevant security and government agencies together to coordinate election security.

He said the committee, which began as a coordinating arrangement after the 2011 general elections following concerns over post-election violence, had evolved into a structured mechanism for election security coordination.

According to him, ICCES now operates at federal, state and local government levels, with the Inspector-General of Police participating at the national level, commissioners of police at the state level and divisional police leadership represented at the local level.

The INEC chairman said stronger coordination among the agencies would be necessary ahead of 2027, noting that the police remained the lead agency when it came to election security.

He also cited recent off-cycle elections as evidence of the importance of adequate security and coordination, recalling that security agencies had helped to resolve incidents that could otherwise have disrupted the electoral process.

Amupitan said the experience of recent elections should be used to strengthen preparations for the 2027 general elections, particularly in intelligence gathering, logistics and inter-agency coordination.

He added that Nigerians expected a highly effective electoral system but must also recognise that achieving such standards required adequate resources.

“In Nigeria, we want the best. We want our electoral system to be 100 per cent. But sometimes we don’t ask ourselves the question: if we want the nation to be perfect, there must be a cost for it,” he said.

He urged the relevant authorities to provide the resources required by security agencies and INEC to perform their respective responsibilities effectively.

Reaffirming the Commission’s commitment to deepening operational synergy through ICCES, the Chairman expressed optimism that the Owerri retreat would produce an actionable, forward-looking roadmap ahead of the 2027 General Elections.

He charged senior police managers to sustain absolute professional neutrality, proactive intelligence gathering, and seamless inter-agency coordination to continuously protect the integrity of the ballot.

President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya,
charged the leadership and operational personnel of the Nigeria Police Force to extend their unalloyed support and synergy to the INEC Chairman in fulfilling his mandate.

The NBA President emphasised that robust policing support remains vital to safeguarding the electoral process and guaranteeing the delivery of free, fair, credible, and transparent elections across the nation.

E- Signed: