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...ESTABLISHES COMMISSION OF INQUIRY INTO EFFECTS ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION ...ARCHBISHOP ÒF YORK CANVASSES INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION The Governor òf Bayelsa State, the Honourable Henry Seriake Dickson, has again attacked the multi national oil firms for brazenly destroying the Niger Delta environment without adherence to international best practices in their activities. The Governor said that the mindless activities of the multinational oil firms in the oil rich state was responsible for the high infant mortality rate in Bayelsa and indeed the Niger Delta. The State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, quoted the Governor to have said that a UN survey revealed that crude oil spillage causes the death of over 16,000 infants within the first month of birth in the Niger Delta. Dickson noted that the Niger Delta environment was in turmoil and the livelihood of the people in peril because of the insensitive

...ARCHBISHOP ÒF YORK CANVASSES INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION The Governor òf Bayelsa State, the Honourable Henry Seriake Dickson, has again attacked the multi national oil firms for brazenly destroying the Niger Delta environment without adherence to international best practices in their activities. The Governor said that the mindless activities of the multinational oil firms in the oil rich state was responsible for the high infant mortality rate in Bayelsa and indeed the Niger Delta. The State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, quoted the Governor to have said that a UN survey revealed that crude oil spillage causes the death of over 16,000 infants within the first month of birth in the Niger Delta. Dickson noted that the Niger Delta environment was in turmoil and the livelihood of the people in peril because of the insensitive degradation of the environment by international oil firms who are driven solely by

AZUZUAMA, IKARAMA,AND OTHER COMMUNITIES SEEK JUSTICE AFTER OIL SPILL. #RiseforBayelsa Surely time, money and the health, livelihoods and emotional anguish of the affected communities like Azuzuama, Ikarama, Biseni, Peretorugbene and other communities could have been spared had Shell and Agip  simply accepted responsibility and cleaned up the oil spills quickly and thoroughly. The story of foreign multinational oil operators  like Shell and Agip in Bayelsa State has been that of outright impunity in spilling and covering devastating oil pollutions in the region. Members of Azuzuama communities are facing the worst form of neglect and environmental terrorism by Agip oil company as they register their grievances when the Chairman of the Bayelsa Oil and Environmental degradation Commission of Enquiries and Rise for Bayelsa Team went for inspection of oil spill sites in Azuzuama. Let’s #RiseforBayelsa.        

PICTORIALS OF FIELD TRIP BY Arch BISHOP JOHN SENTAMU TO EGBEGIRI  AND IKARAMA COMMUNITIES HEAVILY AFFECTED BY OIL SPILL

...Archbishop of York, ex-Ghana President members Posted by Cyril Onoka Governor Henry Seriake Dickson, on Wednesday, inaugurated the Bayelsa State Commission of Enquiry on Environmental Degradation. The eight-member commission is chaired by the Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu. Governor Dickson said the commission, which is comprised of Nigerian and foreign scholars and experts in various fields, had a three-point terms of reference, which include to investigate the environmental, health, socio-economic, political and human damage caused by operations of multinational oil companies. L-R: The Governor of Bayelsa State, His Excellency, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson; in a handshake with the Archbishop of York (Commission Chairman), Dr. John Sentamu, during the formal inauguration of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission, at Government House, Yenagoa. He also charged the commission to analyse the legislations governing the operations of multinational oil co

......inaugurates Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission Posted by Cyril Onoka Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson disclosed on Wednesday that the Niger Delta region is recording not less than 40 million litres oil spill annually compared with 4 million litres annually being recorded in the United States. The spill, according to a survey could have killed around 16,000 infants within their first month of life. Governor Dickson who gave the statistics at the formal inauguration of Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission at the DSP Alamieyeseigha Banquet Hall, Yenagoa said the State has suffered vast environmental and human damage in spite of her contribution to the socio economic growth of the country. He added that the State accounts for forty percent of Nigeria's oil wealth, and hosts the operations of all the major multinational oil companies. According to him, oil companies operating in the state have for decades acted with impunity and

*Urges caution on Africa free trade agreement Bayelsa State Governor, Honourable Henry Seriake Dickson, has said his administration focused on investing in critical infrastructure that drive economic growth in order to attract investors to the state. He stated this at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, where business and political leaders from across Africa and other parts of the world gathered for a two-day conference. Governor Dickson was quoted by his Special Adviser on Public Affairs, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, to have said his Restoration Administration had made a lot of strides in various sectors so as to open up the state and enable people come to invest and do business. His words: "We have made major strides. I keep saying that investment in education is the ultimate. We have built a lot of schools, schools and yet more schools, from primary to secondary. We have also built two universities - the University of Africa and the Bayelsa Medical University as well as

Pic 1:  Governor Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa) and his Ekiti counterpart, Dr. Kayode Fayemi Pic 2:  Bayelsa State Governor, Honourable Henry Seriake Dickson (right), with Founder/Chairman, BUA Group, Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu, at the ongoing Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda Pix 3: Bayelsa State Governor, Honourable Henry Seriake Dickson (second left), with the Kwara State Governor-elect, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Senator Khairat Abdulrazaq-Gwadabe and a guest at the ongoing Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda

March 21, 2019 Bayelsa State Governor, Honourable Henry Seriake Dickson, on Wednesday night launched the Rise For Bayelsa Campaign, an initiative to attract global attention to the ravaging effects of oil spills, pollution and environmental degradation in the state. At the event held at the Dr. Gabriel Okara Cultural Centre in Yenagoa, he was however unsparing of the international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the state. He accused them of constituting the biggest threat to the security and stability of the state and the Niger Delta region under the guise of awarding crude oil pipeline surveillance contracts. His Special Adviser on Public Affairs, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, quoted the governor as accusing the oil multinationals of funding terrorism, criminality and breakdown of law and order in the state. His words: "They are not only polluting our land, creeks, waterways and communities. They are also taking their terrorist and criminal activities to yet another fri

Posted By Cyril Onoka A new campaign to attract global attention to the ravaging effects of oil spills, pollution and environmental degradation in Bayelsa State will be launched this Wednesday evening in Yenagoa, the state capital. Tagged 'Rise For Bayelsa,' it is an international campaign supported by Governor Henry Seriake Dickson, which focuses on the plight of oil-bearing communities across the state. The launch will feature the screening of a short documentary that showcases the devastation caused by oil companies operating in the state. Apart from speeches by government officials, environmental activists and community leaders, there will also be a performance by popular Nigerian musician, Timi Dakolo, the Bayelsa Cultural Troupe as well as guest appearance by some Nollywood artistes, who support the campaign. A member of the Media and Publicity Committee of the campaign, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, in a pre-launch press release, noted that oil spills in the west

      The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State, has appealed to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai,  to investigate the role of the military in the violence that occurred in the state during the last general elections. The party alleged that some army officials directly participated in the elections and called on the military to redeem its image by probing incidents linked to them. Speaking at the party's secretariat in Yenagoa, the Chairman of PDP, Moses Cleopas, said that the activities of the army deployed in Brass, Nembe and Southern Ijaw, LGAs should be queried by the military. He wondered why the army had kept sealed lips on the killing of two PDP members in Southern Ijaw LGA without provocation by soldiers. Cleopas lamented that PDP members were prime targets during the elections, describing the situation as "totally unacceptable". He further took a swipe at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state, wo

The Bayelsa State Chapter òf the Peoples Democratic Party has condemned in strong terms the murder of a naval personnel by rampaging thugs of the All Progressives Congress in Brass. The State Secretary of the PDP, Chief Godspower Keku, said in a statement on Sunday that the Naval personnel, a rating, was on election duty when he met his gruesome death at the hands of the rampaging APC thugs in the waterways of Bayelsa, Keku said that information at the disposal of the PDP indicated that the Naval personnel attached to NNS FORMOSO, was escorting Electoral materials from Egwuama to Brass when he and his colleagues came under attack from the APC thugs. He said that the Navy in Bayelsa who have exhibited a high level of professionalism in the election, so far, may have come under the unprovoked attack for resisting attempts by the APC thugs to hijack the materials meant for the area to non designated location for thumbprinting in their usual way in Brass He said that it was unf

LOCATION OF INEC OFFICALS, ELECTORAL MATERIALS UNKNOWN.. An Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) accredited observer for the House of Assembly election in Bayelsa State, Women Arise Group, has said voting did not take place in the seven wards of Nembe-Bassambiri in Nembe Local Government Area of the state. Speaking to journalists in Nembe this afternoon accompanied by a team of other observers who monitored the House of Assembly elections in the state, Lawson said his team moved around various wards and discovered that there were no elections in seven wards under  Constituency 2 are 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12 and 13 all in Nembe- Bassambiri. Lawson who is a Senior Senior Programmes Officer, further disclosed that the polling units in the aforementioned wards were all deserted and there was no presence of INEC officials nor party agents. "Our findings revealed that the materials meant for the affected units were diverted to an unknown destination by kingpins of a

MRr OLUFEMI LAWSON  CALL FOR CANCELLATION OF POLLS IN THE UNIT... An Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)-endorsed election observer, Women Arise, has said voting materials and smart card readers meant for two units in Ward 8 in Ekeremor, Bayelsa State, were hijacked and diverted by suspected thugs loyal to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Foremost female activist and pro-democracy campaigner, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, is national coordinator of Women Arise. The Senior Programmes Officer, Mr. Olufemi Lawson, in a press statement made available to journalists in Yenagoa, alleged that the voting materials were diverted to the residence of the Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, in connivance with election officials. Mr. Lawson said the suspected thugs seized the materials on Friday night as they arrived the community and that the thumb-printing of the ballot papers took place in the Minister's residence. He said the act wa

...APC THUGS ATTACK COUNCIL OF CHIEFS CHAIRMAN IN SYLVA’S TOWN An ex-militant leader under the Presidential Amnesty Scheme, Mr. Paul Eris alias Ogunboss, has sacked policemen and Nigerian Security and Civil Corp deployed on election duty to Peremabiri. The Bayelsa State Chairman of the PDP, Chief  Moses Cleopas, said in a statement on Friday that the ex militant leader and his thugs have prevented security personnel deployed on election duty to the Peremabiri community. The PDP Chairman stated further that the ex militant leader and his thugs have chased out over 2000 supporters of the PDP from the troubled community. Keku said that the ex militant leader was preventing members of the community from getting into the community to carry out their civic responsibility of electing their leaders. Cleopas added that it was rather curious that the men of the Nigerian Army were supporting the ex-militant to deprive the people of the community the right to vote. He lamented that

The Governor of Bayelsa State, the Honourable Henry Seriake Dickson, has urged the President and the leadership of the various security agencies to charge their men to be professional in their duties as they resume for election duties in Bayelsa and other states of the South South geopolitical zone. A statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media Relations, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, quoted him as having made the comment while reacting to the fresh deployment of troops and other security agents to the state ahead of the Gubernatorial/House of Assembly election scheduled for Saturday, The Governor said that it was in the interest of the country and indeed the general good for the President and his security chiefs to place emphasis on professionalism of security personnel on deployment to Bayelsa and other states of the Federation. He called on the President to prevail on the security chiefs to ensure that their commanders are professional in the discharge of their securi