Bayelsa election: U.S., UK diplomats meet candidates, advocate credible, peaceful polls

Delegations from British High Commission and U.S. Embassy in Nigeria on Tuesday commenced meetings with candidates of leading political parties for the Nov. 16 governorship election in Bayelsa.

The envoys had in August visited Gov. Seriake Dickson on an advocacy for peaceful conduct ahead of the elections.
The U.S. Consul-General Claire Pierangelo and Leader of the British High Commission team Sarabjit Singh said they were in the state to advocate peaceful election by meeting with leading candidates in the election.

AN OPEN LETTER TO HON. MINISTER OF STATE FOR PETROLEUM

By Lucas Xavier

A hearty congratulations to Timipre Sylva on his appointment as the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.

In recent times, Timipre has stated that he would like to see to the closure of 4 Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) during his tenure, one of which would include the AKK (Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano) Gas pipeline as part of the 7 Critical Gas Development Project.

While this is reassuring from the Minister, the following thoughts would need proper deliberations for solutions, if Nigeria is to meet its mid to long term economic targets.

Fiscal & Regulatory Environment: Currently, Nigeria ranks 146th out of 190 countries on Ease of doing business, largely owing to lack of clarity on regulatory frameworks and fiscal regimes, especially in the oil and gas sector.

Bayelsa set to establish Oil Communities Devt. Commission

The Bayelsa Government has concluded plans to establish an Oil Communities Development Commission to accelerate development of oil bearing communities within the state.

Mr Monday Obolo , Speaker of Bayelsa House of Assembly ,who stated this on Thursday in Yenagoa ,noted that an executive bill sent to the Assembly by Gov Seriake Dickson had passed first hearing and would receive expeditious passage.

According to Obolo, the bill sets aside 13 percent of the 13 per cent Derivation Funds accruing to the state to be channeled to development of oil communities to complement the social obligation gestures of oil firms operating in the state.

Niger Delta: Shell pledges accelerated devt. to peaceful host communities

Shell Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) says it is prioritising development of its host communities which provide peaceful operational environment for oil and gas exploration in Niger Delta using the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) template.

Mr Igo Weli, General Manager, External Relations at SPDC stated this on Wednesday in Yenagoa during the inauguration of completed projects at Tarakiri Cluster Development Cluster in Ekeremor and Sagbama Local Government Areas (LGA) of Bayelsa.

Weli said that SPDC had completed 24 projects for N496.9 million in six communities within the Tarakiri cluster.

World Teachers Day: Bayelsa NUT bemoans neglect of teachers’ welfare

The Bayelsa chapter of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT)  on Saturday bemoaned the neglect of teachers’ welfare in the Bayelsa government policy on education.

The teachers noted that the myriad of challenges bedeviling the teaching profession and the the education sector in the state was discouragement and in contrast to the government’s claim of investing massively in education.

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In a remark during a low-key event to commemorate the 2019 World Teachers' Day at the Teachers House, Yenagoa, the state chairman of the NUT, Mr. Kalama Toinpre, said that teachers were poorly motivated.

JTF foiled 313 vandalism attacks on 3 crude oil export lines in N/Delta - Commander

The Joint Task Force (JTF) code-named

 REAR ADMIRAL AKINJIDE AKINRINADE, COMMANDER OF THE JOINT MILITARY FORCE IN THE NIGER DELTA WITH THE COMMANDS FLAG TO SIGNAL THE TAKE OFF OF THE SAETY CHECK 6 OPERATION AT ALAKIRI AREA OF OKIRIKA IN RIVERS STATE. 5/10/2019

Operation Delta Safe, (OPDS) averted some 313 sabotage attempts on major crude oil export pipelines in the Niger Delta region.

The vandalism incidents occurred between Jan and Sept. 2019.

The pipelines are the Trans Niger Delta, Trans Escravos and Trans Ramos lines operated by Shell and Chevron.

Gunmen kidnap Bayelsa Agric Commisioner's father

Gunmen on Wednesday night abducted the father of the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Doodei Week.

Police Public Relations Officer, Bayelsa State Command, Mr. Asinim Butswat, a Superintendent of Police, confirmed the incident.

Also Mr Doodei Week who also confirmed the incident to NAN on telephone said that his father was abducted at about 11 pm.

"It is unforfortunate that my father was Ill and so sad that that the youths have no conscience and no conscience and we pray for his safety," The Commisioner said.