ELVIRA’S PEN

 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...

EMBRACING THE NEW - Elvira Jordan  (Revised) Good Morning Beloved!!! Just like every one else, I pray to God for a change; for something new to come into my life. However, when I begin to see glimpses of the new, it scares me. I am certain this is not an uncommon feeling.  There are times when we didn’t even pray for something new, but because nature sees a need for a change, it just happens. Sometimes, because we didn’t anticipate the changes or didn’t ask for it, we subconsciously reject it. No matter how badly we need something or how much we have prayed for that thing we want, if our subconscious mind rejects it either due to fear, anxiety or lack of trust (for the unfamiliar) no matter how badly we need this thing, it will never come to us.  For instance, a young man is writing an exam to gain admission into a UK university. He wants this admission by all means. But while taking his exams, he looks at the questions and decides that the exam was too tough for him to p...

The Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI) has urged the National Assembly to expedite passage of the National Alcohol Control Policy Bill to support the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in its nationwide enforcement of the ban on sale of alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. RDI made the demand as NAFDAC teams commenced enforcement of the ban on the products in Nigeria's six geopolitical zones, in an exercise targeting markets, motor parks, retail outlets, bars and other distribution channels where it is identifying, seizing and removing the products from circulation. The House of Representatives passed the Bill for an Act to Provide for the Control, Regulation and Reduction of Alcohol-Related Harm in Nigeria on May 7, 2026 for a second reading. It targets the production, marketing, and consumption of alcohol to protect minors, and is sponsored by Hon. Oluwatimehin Adelegbe. In a statement issued i...

by Erabanabari Theophilus   The designation of the Kporghor Community in Tai Local Government Area as a site for emergency detonations by oilfield servicing companies suggests a troubling trend. This marks the second time the community has been used as a demolition site for degraded logistics; in 2024, the blasts were carried out by Baker Hughes Company Limited, and currently, in 2026, by Halliburton Energy Services Nigeria Limited. This disturbing cycle raises a critical question: which corporate giant is next in line to clear its hazardous waste on Ogoni soil? This hazardous process of open-air detonation only becomes an "emergency" because oilfield servicing companies store volatile inventories until they pass their safe shelf life. Once these materials degrade, multinational firms are forced to trigger urgent, highly regulated disposal protocols to avert catastrophic accidental detonations or toxic chemical leakages of commercial explosives, such as perforating charges an...

A GOOD TIME TO START - Elvira Jordan For over a week now I have been lying in a hospital bed.  (If you’re tempted to stop this message and check up on me, no need. I am very much okay. 😁) It’s not really funny being confined to a place, especially for a wakaholic like me. It has indeed been a humbling experience for me. It has given me the opportunity to appreciate good health, life, and our everyday abilities even more. It is so funny how many lessons I have learnt just by sitting still for a while. This past week has taught me a lot and has helped me to go through some thoughts that I have been putting off. It has also forced me to review some parts of my life I may have ignored; to rethink some of my decisions, to restrategise, to replan and to restructure my cards.  Once in a while, my world tends to experience these kinds of pause; giving me a moment to do some self reflection and see some aspects of my life that my usual busy routine will not let me see.  A good ex...

Before Nigeria became known as Africa's oil giant... before pipelines stretched across the Niger Delta... before oil money shaped politics, cities, and the economy... the land told a very different story. For generations, communities across the Niger Delta lived by farming, fishing, and trading along winding creeks. Life moved with the rhythm of the rivers. Beneath their feet lay a treasure so valuable that no one could have imagined the future it would create. The search for that treasure began long before Nigeria gained independence. In the early 1900s, foreign companies arrived, convinced that the country's soil held vast petroleum reserves. But finding oil was anything but easy. They battled dense forests, endless swamps, tropical diseases, floods, and the disruption of two World Wars. Expedition after expedition ended in disappointment. Wells were drilled... only to come up dry. Years turned into decades, and many began to believe Nigeria simply wasn't meant to become ...