ELVIRA’S PEN

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TB Network Raises Concern Over PHC Erema Infrastructure, NIN Barrier in ONELGA

The State Advocacy Team of the TB Network–Rivers has raised concerns over infrastructure challenges at the Primary Health Centre, PHC Erema, and barriers to National Identification Number, NIN, registration affecting access to the Rivers State Contributory Health Insurance Programme, RIVCHIPP, in Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area, ONELGA. The concerns were raised during an advocacy visit by the team to the Medical Officer of Health, ONELGA, Dr Emmanuel Pelebo, where the group discussed gaps in health-service delivery and ways to improve community access to health insurance services. The advocacy team highlighted the dilapidated roof at PHC Erema and the absence of an adequate client convenience facility as major infrastructure concerns. Speaking during the visit, State Coordinator of TB Network–Rivers, Mr Messiah Fyneface Muzan, said the condition of the facility could affect the safety, comfort and quality of healthcare services provided to residents. He also noted that the abse...

RIVERS MOVES TO UNIFY GBV RESPONSE ACROSS STATE

The Rivers State Government is moving to establish a unified system for tackling gender-based violence, with plans to develop a Standard Operating Procedure, SOP, to coordinate prevention and response efforts across the state. The initiative, led by the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development, CEHRD, in collaboration with the Rivers State Ministry of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation, is expected to clearly define the roles of government agencies, civil society organisations and other stakeholders involved in GBV response. Speaking at a fact-finding meeting organised by CEHRD and the Ministry, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation, Lauretta Davies-Dimkpa, said the SOP would reduce duplication of efforts and ensure survivors receive timely and appropriate support. Davies-Dimkpa called for stronger collaboration among stakeholders, stressing that a coordinated approach would improve the fight against gender-based violence. She also urge...

Stakeholders Call for Preservation of Indigenous Languages to Advance Environmental Justice

The call to preserve and revive indigenous languages as repositories of cultural wisdom and tools for addressing environmental challenges took centre stage at the 2026 Wisdom Gathering Session held in Kaani, Ogoni, Rivers State. The gathering, organised by the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) in collaboration with Miideekor Environmental Development Initiative (MEDI), brought together stakeholders to examine the role of language and indigenous philosophies in advancing socio-ecological justice. Speaking at the session, Executive Director of HOMEF, Nnimmo Bassey, linked the loss of indigenous knowledge and the persistence of environmental injustice in the Niger Delta to the manipulation and erosion of language. Bassey said, “All the environmental injustice meted out on the people of Niger Delta have been achieved through the manipulation of language to confuse the common people and sell false solutions to them.” He urged participants, particularly young people, to return to the...

Bonny Lawyers Demand Accountability Over Gas-Flare Penalties, Seek Federal Medical Centre

The Bonny Lawyers’ Forum has demanded a transparent account of gas-flaring penalties applicable to petroleum operations affecting Bonny Kingdom, insisting that funds collected under the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, should translate into environmental remediation and meaningful relief for affected host communities. The Forum also called for the establishment of a Federal Medical Centre in Bonny Kingdom as a sustainable medical-relief intervention for communities living within the petroleum-producing and industrial environment. The position was contained in a statement by the Bonny Lawyers’ Forum signed by its Chairman, Pepple Victor Frederic , which commended the member of the House of Representatives representing Degema/Bonny Federal Constituency, Hon. Cyril Hart, for bringing the issue of the application of gas-flaring penalties for the benefit of affected host communities to public attention. The Forum said the matter should be examined from the perspective of environmental jus...

WHEN THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS - Elvira Jordan

WHEN THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS - Elvira Jordan Good Morning Beloved 😘 Have you ever had a perfect plan? I mean that kind of plan you have checked and rechecked to be sure you’re doing it right. To be sure you have all boxes checked, you may even come up with a plan B to support your plan, and even a plan C in case plan A and Be doesn’t work. Yea…yea! Some of us are master strategists like that. Before taking decisions or embarking on projects, the right thing to do is to come up with a game plan or strategy, as many as possible, to see us through it. In some other cases, our moves are planned through some possible outcomes. We just look at what we want to do and tell ourselves how it may turn out to be. Either this way, that way or the other way. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where nature surprises you and your plans? I mean when all your possible outcomes did not work out. Even plan B, C and D failed. Such situations can be so frustrating! I’ve had a coupl...

Development Experts Challenge Nigeria to Turn Gas Wealth into Affordable Energy

Nigeria’s huge natural gas reserves should be used to tackle the country’s persistent electricity crisis and improve living standards, development experts and environmental stakeholders have said, warning that energy policies must prioritize citizens and communities over commercial interests. The stakeholders made the call on Thursday, August 20, 2026, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at a programme organized by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) in collaboration with Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN). The programme, themed “Who Controls Our Energy? Energy Access and Social Justice,” focused on Nigeria’s energy inequality, ownership of energy resources and the social justice implications of the country’s transition to cleaner energy. Speaking on “Mapping Our Reality – Energy: Access Inequality and Democracy,” Executive Director of Policy Alert, Tijah Bolton , expressed concern that Nigeria continues to waste enormous quantities of natural gas through flar...