ELVIRA’S PEN

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 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...

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...

The Department of Adult and Non-Formal Education, Faculty of Education, University of Port Harcourt, in collaboration with the Centre for Social Studies and Development (We the People), has called for a shift from environmental awareness to practical action as part of efforts to address Nigeria’s growing ecological challenges. The call was made at the Environmental Education Summit, at the Faculty of Education Auditorium, University of Port Harcourt, under the theme, “From Literacy to Action: Developing a Blueprint to Strengthen Environmental Education for Achieving Environmental Sustainability in Nigeria.” The summit brought together academics, environmental experts, policymakers, development practitioners, civil society organisations, students, youth leaders and indigenous knowledge holders to examine how environmental education can contribute to sustainable development. Participants identified pollution, biodiversity loss, climate change, deforestation, flooding, coastal degradation...

NOBODY TO BLAME - Elvira Jordan (Revised) Good Morning Beloved 😊 In our journey through life, we have all gone through difficult situations, and as the typical human mind works, while reflecting on the situation, we look for the causes, who to blame, what to blame and where to transfer our aggression. It is often a common feeling, and blaming our problems on someone or something will most times make us feel better about ourselves and about our situation, but doesn’t guarantee that the negative circle will end or lessons will be learnt.  I have seen friendships end, relationships broken, good contacts savored because someone had to take the fall or be blamed for something. There was even a pattern on social media, especially on Twitter; whatever blame we cannot direct at someone or something, we can always blame it on Desmond Elliot. Right now, we can just blame it on Tinubu 😂 (Just for fun.) The blame game makes people feel better about what has happened to them or what they are ...

Environmental advocates and stakeholders have called on the federal government and oil extracting companies to extend the ongoing environmental cleanup efforts in Ogoniland to all oil-producing communities in the region, citing persistent oil spills, pollution and environmental degradation. This was established at the Regional Dialogue on the Niger Delta Environmental Cleanup: Issues and Ways Forward, organised by the MIIDEEKOR Environmental Development Initiative (MEDI) in Port Harcourt on August 13, 2026. Renowned environmental activist and Team Lead of MEDI Comrade Celestine Akpobari while presenting his opening remarks at the meeting said the cleanup being undertaken in Ogoni by the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) should not be regarded as the end of efforts to restore the wider Niger Delta environment. According to him, decades of oil exploration and exploitation have left communities across the region heavily polluted, while the divestment of internatio...

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria —  Nigerian broadcaster, storyteller and author Stephanie BlackPearl has launched her debut book,  SURRENDER , a deeply personal reflection on faith, waiting, disappointment and the courage to God when life does not go according to plan. Launching the book on Wednesday, August 12, holds a special meaning for the author as it coincides with her birthday, making the release not only the beginning of her journey as an author but also a personal milestone as she enters a new chapter of her life. Written from personal experiences, SURRENDER examines the often quiet and difficult process of letting go of the desire to control outcomes and learning to trust God, even when the path ahead remains unclear. At the centre of the book is a question that speaks to anyone who has experienced prolonged waiting or unanswered prayers: What if the breakthrough you have been praying for begins with letting go? For BlackPearl, the book was born out of seasons marked by wait...

Health stakeholders in Rivers State have called for stronger community-based sensitization and collaboration to sustain access to HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria services amid declining donor funding and limited resources for community interventions. The call was made during an advocacy visit by the State Advocacy Team (SAT) to the Programme Manager of the Rivers State Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS (RIVSACA) on July 30, 2026, at the agency’s state office in Port Harcourt. The meeting focused on identifying practical, cost-effective and sustainable approaches to increasing community uptake of HIV, TB and malaria prevention, testing and treatment services, particularly as donor-supported interventions face increasing funding constraints. Stakeholders acknowledged that community-based testing, outreach programmes and integrated health campaigns had contributed significantly to improving access to essential health services. However, they noted that the changing funding env...

NAVIGATING THROUGH THE STORM - Elvira Jordan Good Morning Beloved 😘 If you’re a regular reader, you will understand that most of my write ups are either advice, encouragement or instructions to myself which I choose to share. 🪧 I had a hard time coming up with something today so I decided I examine my life at this very moment and give myself a little boost. 💡 For me, it has been a very chaotic season… I can’t begin to explain.  Every part of my life has been touched by this chaos… My finances My business My health  Everything has been shaken up one way or the other, so much that I may be using the rest of the year to pick up the pieces. In all of this, I am happy for the grace of God because I have not experienced one minute of sadness, anger, frustration or ingratitude. I always say to myself “someone somewhere is getting it worse than I am” and somehow, the universe looks for a way to prove it to me. The good part of everything is that I can’t even find a way to blame mys...

The funny thing is…we’ve been walking past priceless arts our entire lives… Imagine someone paying millions of dollars... for a chair your grandmother could weave before breakfast.   Sounds ridiculous... until you  realise  that's not too far from reality. Nigeria is home to some of the most beautiful handmade art and crafts in the world. Yet many of us walk past them every day without a second glance.   Think about it. We proudly buy imported home décor... while that  handwoven  basket in your village is quietly being admired in galleries overseas. Let's start with the famous  Akwete  cloth from  Abia  State. Every piece is woven by hand, sometimes taking days or even weeks to complete. The patterns aren't random. Many carry cultural meanings that have been passed down through generations. Then there's the incredible bronze casting from Benin City. Long before modern machines existed, Benin craftsmen were producing detailed bronze sculp...

 to Port Harcourt, Rivers State –  The state advocacy team for the ATM networks in Rivers State has reaffirmed their commitment to expanding access to the Rivers State Contributory Health Protection Programme (RIVCHPP) for vulnerable and underserved populations through stronger collaboration, integrated service delivery, and sustainable community engagement. The state advocacy team comprised the state coordinators, Mr. Messiah Fyneface Muzan, who led the delegation for the TB network, Pastor John Ihua-Maduenyi, standing in for ACOMIN, and Mrs. Chigozim Blessing representing NEPWHAN; media personnel and the state program officer shared the identified challenges across the 3 LGAs' implementations with the Executive Secretary of RIVCHPP. The commitment was made during an ATM State Advocacy Team visit and engagement meeting with the Executive Secretary of RIVCHPP, Dr. Vetty Agala, to review strategies for improving enrolment in the state health insurance scheme, particularly in ru...