ELVIRA’S PEN

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...

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...