The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine

Tag: Delta State

  • FG Reopens First Niger Bridge After 38-Day Closure

    FG Reopens First Niger Bridge After 38-Day Closure

    Precious Nwonu, Enugu

    The Federal Government has reopened the First Niger Bridge linking Onitsha, Anambra State, with Asaba, Delta State, following about 38 days of closure for emergency rehabilitation.

    The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, announced the reopening on Thursday at the Onitsha end of the bridge, in the presence of federal and state representatives as well as traditional rulers from both states.

    The bridge was shut on September 7 after vandalised structural components, including steelwork around the expansion joints, were discovered and required repairs.

    The closure was initially expected to end on September 21 but was extended because of persistent rainfall and other delays.

    Speaking at the reopening ceremony, Umahi called on residents of the South-East and South-South to support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid, citing the Federal Government’s infrastructure projects in the two regions.

    “We have no regret supporting President Bola Tinubu. Let me declare, in opening this bridge, that I have no regret supporting Mr President,” the minister said.

    He described Tinubu as qualified to lead the country and said the reopening reflected the government’s efforts to improve infrastructure for residents of the regions.

    Umahi also thanked the governors of Anambra and Delta states and the contractor, SKCC, for their contributions to the rehabilitation work.

    “We must commend the contractors, SKCC, very, very highly; they have worked very well,” he said.

    The minister said the repairs were aimed at improving traffic movement and protecting road users, while acknowledging that some work remained unfinished.

    Completed in 1965, the First Niger Bridge is a major transport link connecting Nigeria’s South-East and South-South regions. Its closure had disrupted movement between Onitsha and Asaba, making the reopening significant for commuters and other road users.

  • OKOWA: DELTA STATE GOVERNOR PLANS TO REDUCE UNEMPLOYMENT THROUGH TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

     

    By Magnus Emuji

     

     

     

    Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, has underscored the importance of tourism development towards reducing unemployment in any society.

     

    Okowa stated this in Asaba in a keynote address during the launching of Senior Secondary Tourism Books for written by the Chairman of the Board of Directors in the State Tourism Board, Fidelia Salami.

    The governor, who was represented on the occasion by the State Commissioner for Secondary Education, Mrs Rose Ezewu, said that it was important for the younger ones to know more about tourism policies and business strategies in order to create market opportunities.

     

    He stated that as a people, there was need to possess requisite cultural repackaging and resources necessary for the development of efficient and sustainable tourism sector.

     

    The governor said that his administration was irrevocably committed to diversifying the state’s economy, adding that a properly developed tourism with service-oriented industries would help to redirect the energies of youths of nowadays.

    He decried the over dependence on oil sector, and pledged to ensure that the books would be recommended for use in schools in the state.

     

    Also speaking, former governor of the state, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, recalled that the Delta Beyond Oil initiative of his then administration was aimed at diversifying the state’s economy.

     

    Uduaghan, who underscored the importance of tourism development to the economic growth of any nation, called on well-meaning individuals to invest in the tourism industry.

     

    He commended the efforts of the author of the books, describing it as an ‘uncommon initiative’ to contribute her quota to the development of the sector.

     

    The former governor, who was the chairman of the occasion and chief launcher reasoned that for tourism to be pillar of economic sustenance, it should be included in the schools’ curriculum.

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.information.deltastate.gov.ng (delmininfo)

  • DELTA STATE TO PARTNER WITH RELEVANT AGENCIES, NGOS TO CURB HUMAN TRAFFICKING 

     

     

    By Oghenefejiro Okoh

     

     

     

    Delta State Government has assured it will continue to partner with relevant agencies to tackle the menace of human trafficking in the state.

    The Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Chief Patrick Ukah, gave the assurance yesterday in Asaba when the Executive Chairman, Roost Foundation, Dame Julie Okah-Donli, and members of the State Task Force on Human Trafficking paid him a courtesy visit in his office.

     

    Ukah noted that the best way to tackle the menace of human trafficking in the state was to prevent it and stressed the urgent need for a concerted effort to step up the prevention methods.

     

    He said that the state government, on its part, had taken proactive measures to curb the menace of human trafficking through the relevant government agencies by establishing skills acquisition and youth’s empowerment schemes in the state to engage the people meaningfully.

     

    The SSG, who commended the chairman of the foundation for making schools the target of its sensitisation exercise, said that efforts should be made to reach out to traditional institutions, whom he noted, had effective means of communicating with their subjects to make the advocacy on human trafficking effective in the state.

     

    Secretary to the Delta State Government, Chief Patrick Ukah (3rd left), listening to the Chief Executive Officer of Roost Foundation, Dame Okah-Donli, (2nd left) while she made her presentation during a courtesy visit by ffoundation and members of the State Task Force on Human Trafficking

     

    Earlier, Dame Okah-Donli, the erstwhile Director General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), commended the state government for its effort in the fight against human trafficking.

    She noted that Delta State Government had a well-established task force, including professionals and security agencies, saying that such arrangement could tackle the menace.

     

    Donli said that her foundation was proposing a state-wide prevention and sensitisation campaign to all the local government areas in the state to sensitize the people on the dangers of human trafficking.

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: information.Deltastate.gov.ng (@delmininfo)