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Calabar

  • Half salaries: ASUU to hold NEC meeting in Calabar

    Half salaries: ASUU to hold NEC meeting in Calabar

    The Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) will hold its quarterly National Executive Council meeting at the University of Calabar on Sunday.

    This was disclosed by a member of the NEC on Saturday in Abuja.

    “There is a quarterly NEC meeting and it’s for the fourth quarter. Lots of issues will come up and definitely, the issue of withheld and amputated salaries will come up.

    Recall that After ASUU suspended its strike on 14 October, the lecturers were paid half salary for the month, and the remaining months’ salaries withheld.

    Although the union confirmed that its members received full salaries for the month of November 2022.

  • I feel sorry for next Governor of Cross River – Ex-Gov Duke

    I feel sorry for next Governor of Cross River – Ex-Gov Duke

    Mr Donald Duke, a former governor of Cross River, has said that he felt sorry for the next governor of the state, revealing that such individual would be faced with an uphill task to reinvent governance in the state.

    He made the remarks at the inauguration of 1,080-member campaign council of the charter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Calabar on Saturday.

    The former governor, who had been saddled with the task of leading the campaign council, noted  that the essence of good governance had been lost in the state in the last eight years.

    According to him, “I never bargained to be governor of the state, but was driven by passion and commitment to positively change the fortune of the state, when I eventually became one.”

    He said that where he and his team envisioned the state to be by now was not where it was.”

    “I am worried about development in the state, a whole generation had been lost.

    “We know where the state ought to be by now. The plan was that we would have been governing the state without relying on federal allocation by now. The plans were all laid out.

    “Whole paradise had been lost. This is certainly not the best of time to govern Cross River State,” he said.

    Duke, however, said he was hopeful that the PDP governorship candidate, Sen. Sandy Onor, has what it takes to restore the lost glory of the state.

    He stressed that Onor’s past experiences in government had adequately prepared him for the uphill task of reinventing the state.

    “As a former Local Government Chairman, Vice Chairman and at a time Chairman of the Association of Local Government Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGON), in addition to being a former Commissioner for environment and Agriculture and now a Senator, Sandy has what it takes to right the wrongs.

    “I am glad that it is Sandy that will bring back the state that we have lost. I can stake for him because I know who he is,” he stated.

    In his remarks, the Onor said that the state had lost direction, as everything about the state had been abused and debased.

    Earlier in his address, the state party Chairman, Mr Venatius Ikem, called for the support of all party faithful irrespective of their present status.

    Ikem noted that all party members have the responsibility of selling the party’s candidates across the state.

  • Side chick Palaver: Man whose wife died in auto crash in Calabar fumes over reports of incident

    Side chick Palaver: Man whose wife died in auto crash in Calabar fumes over reports of incident

    Mr. Sonnie Bassey, the Calabar-based man whose lawyer wife, Claret Opara Bassey, reportedly died in a lone accident on Murtala Mohammed highway in Calabar on Sunday, September 18, has expressed disappointment in the reports of the incident.

    He pointed out that what he is interested in is for him to bury his wife and give her that respect, stressing “my wife is not the first woman that has died in a motor accident.”

    The incident had been enmeshed in controversy as different tales were woven around it, the most popular of which was the claim that the deceased woman, acting on information that her husband was seen in a shopping mall with a side-chic (girlfriend) was chasing her husband when the accident that killed her occurred.

    As the story goes, Bassey had sighted Claret as she arrived at the shopping mall and immediately zoomed off while Claret also ran after him. They both drove on the highway until the point of the accident as Claret allegedly tried to overtake Bassey who immediately veered off the highway with the result that she lost control of her car, ran into a ditch and also collided with a tree.

    Thereafter, there was also a story that made the rounds last week that Bassey had fallen into coma and died.

    In a telephone conversation, however, Bassey dismissed the various tales as nothing but figments of the imagination of their peddlers, saying that his family and that of his late wife will be talking to newsmen after the deceased woman is buried.

    He said: “Journalism goes beyond writing something you just hear from others. I have spoken with my elders, my relatives, my pastor and lawyers, and I have been advised to remain quiet for now.

    “You know that I’m a Christian. We believe that nothing surpasses the knowledge of God. Be that as it may, if there were not to be all those write-ups and even extra length suggesting that I have been in coma and I’m dead, maybe I would have granted an interview.

    “My wife was dead at the time I took her to the hospital, so there is no way she could have granted anybody an interview. From the things they wrote, it was as if the person was actually with my wife or my wife had told the person this was what happened.

    “To the best of my knowledge, nobody was with my wife in her car, but they were saying things as if my wife had told somebody what happened. Be that as it may, as I mentioned earlier, I have chosen to be quiet until I bury my wife. After that I intend to have a press conference.

    “Even the two families, my wife’s family and mine, intend to issue a briefing, but they also chose to be quiet at this point. So I want to crave your indulgence that you people should respect our space for now, because this is something that can happen to anybody.

    “Even as I am, one day, I will also die. I am from Akwa Ibom where we respect the dead.”

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that a side chick is a mistress, the other woman, the one who never comes home, the hidden one that no one knows, the force behind the scenes that the man cannot resist,  the babe over whom the man is willing to risk it all.

  • Unity of Nigeria remains unshaken, no region can do it all alone – Lai Mohammed

    Unity of Nigeria remains unshaken, no region can do it all alone – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has reiterated that the unity of Nigeria remains unshaken and “no region can do it all alone’’.

    The minister re-echoed his position in Calabar, after a Command Performance by the cultural troupe of the Department of Culture and Heritage, Cross River Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

    Newsmen reports that the performance is part of the activities lined up for the celebration of the 2022 World Tourism Day being hosted in Calabar.

    Speaking after the command performance consisting of dances and a stage play which centered on the unity and indivisibility of Nigeria, the minister underscored the importance of peaceful coexistence in the country.

    “What we have witnessed today is a performance that is world-class by any rate.

    “I wish that those who said Nigeria is at war, should witness what we have seen today.

    “Those who said Nigeria has no future, I wish they were here today.

    “On the drama on unity, it means, not one of us can do it alone and anyone that has witnessed war before, will never wish for war or separation,’’ he said.

    Mohammed said from the dances presented by the troupe representing the six regions, there were lots of similarities.

    He said the similarities from the dances translated to the fact that “we are all one community’’ though, with diverse traditions.

    The minister hailed the cultural troupe for its outstanding performance including dexterity of steps, the symphony, the synergy and fusion of the traditional with the modern.

    He particularly extolled the drummers for their seamless fusion of the traditional drums with the modern steel bands.

    While thanking the state governor, Prof. Ben Ayade for organising the event, the minister appealed to the younger generation to embrace performing arts.

    Mr Eric Anderson, the state Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, also thanked the minister and his entourage for coming to Calabar for the event.

    He said the troupe had represented the country in Egypt in 2016, Bangkok in 2018 and had been honoured globally for its outstanding performances.

    In the entourage of the minister were the Director-Generals, Nigeria Tourism Development Commission, Folorunsho Coker; Nigeria Institute of Hospitality and Tourism, Nura Kangiwa and National Commission for Museum and Monument, Prof Isa Tijani.

    Others included director- generals of the National Gallery of Art, Ebeten Ivara; National Broadcasting Commission, Balarabe Ilela; the General Manager, National Arts Theatre, Prof. Sunday Ododo; Artistic Director and CEO National Dance Troupe, Ahmed Mohammed as well as Directors in the ministry.

    Newsmen reports that World Toirism Day is celebrated annually on Sept. 27 to foster awareness on tourism’s social, cultural, political and economic values.

    The 2022 celebration being hosted in Calabar, Cross River capital, has the theme “Rethinking Tourism’’.

  • Who will take care of our three boys, husband of lady who allegedly died chasing his girlfriend, cries out

    Who will take care of our three boys, husband of lady who allegedly died chasing his girlfriend, cries out

     

    It is a pathetic story as husband of the lady who allegedly died chasing his girlfriend cries out saying who will take care of their three boys.

    In the stories trending online it was confirmed that the name of the lady Sonnie Bassey, a lawyer.

    Between them, they had three boys. on Sunday, Mrs Bassey saw her husband Mr Sonnie Bassey leaving the Spar shopping mall in Calabar with a female companion.

    She suddenly reversed and tried to block the husband’s car from leaving the mall, the man manoeuvered out of her path and hit the Murtala Mohammed highway. She gave them a hot chase and tried to double-cross her husband’s car, she lost control and had a crash.

    Her husband took her to the hospital but alas she was already dead. Overcome with grief and regret the husband crying profusely begged her dead body for forgiveness. Asking her to come back to life and take care of their three boys.

    #

  • Woman dies while chasing husband with ‘side chick’ in Calabar

    Woman dies while chasing husband with ‘side chick’ in Calabar

    The Sector Commander, FRSC Cross River, Mr. Maikano Hassan, has confirmed a lone accident in which a middle age woman died in Calabar on Sunday.

    Hassan said that the incident was caused by speeding.

    He said the which incident occurred on Muritala Mohammed Road, saw the Toyota Highlander the woman was driving skid off the road into a ditch by the highway.

    According to him, “Though the woman was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, she was pronounced dead minutes later due to injury sustained from the incident.”

    NAN gathered that the woman was pursuing her husband who was alleged to be with a “side chick” in his car when she lost control of her vehicle.

  • Calabar entrepreneurs lament setback as power outage enters day 7

    Calabar entrepreneurs lament setback as power outage enters day 7

    Businesses in Calabar have continued to suffer intense pressure and setbacks following a power outage in the city for seven days.

     

    It was gathered that the situation was due to a fire that occurred on Sept 3 at the 13233 KV Substation in Adiabo Calabar.

     

    General Manager Public Affairs, Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, Ms Ndidi Mbah, had on September 4 issued a statement assuring residents of the city of the company s ongoing effort to restore power.

     

    The statement stated that TCN engineers were replacing the affected equipment to ensure the restoration of power to the city by September 5.

     

    TheNewGuru.com reports that till September 9 the city was still in darkness with no hope in sight.

     

    According to a bank official, who pleaded anonymity, “the bank and others had shortened the operation period due to poor power supply and the high cost of diesel. A lot of people may criticize banks but you need to know what they go through daily to ensure service provision.

     

    “They run virtually on diesel and do you know how much a litre of diesel costs today, not to talk of other operational expenses? Poor power supply has made doing business difficult in this city.”

     

    Similarly, Madam Affiong Okon, a cold room operator, said her business was declining because power was needed to ensure that all the items in the cold room remained fresh.

     

    “This is painful because few months ago there was no power in the whole of Calabar for a long time due to one problem or the other. I am still imagining how I survived it. Today, another one has started.

     

    “To make matters worse, they are going round to share bills as we speak, even though there is no light in the whole of Calabar. Are these people not telling us to lose our minds and become violent one day,” she said angrily.

     

    Calabar and its environs had suffered total blackout between April 8 and May 16.

     

    TheNewsGuru.com gathered that it was due to vandalism of a tower in Itu that evacuated power from Ikot Ekpene Power Plant to the Adiabo plant in Calabar.

  • Gov Ayade grieves over Calabar market fire

    Gov Ayade grieves over Calabar market fire

    Gov Ben Ayade of Cross River has expressed sadness over the fire that destroyed goods worth millions of naira on Tuesday at the popular fruits Market at Marian in Calabar.

    The Cross River governor made this known in a statement by his Deputy Chief Press Secretary, Mr Linus Obogo and made available to newsmen in Calabar on Wednesday.

    He described as sad and disturbing recurring fire incidents at the Marian Market.cWhile empathising with the victims over the incident, Ayade promised to urgently profer solution to frequent fire incidents in the market.

    “I am saddened by the news of the fire outbreak at the Marian Market and the attendant loss of goods and property.cI deeply sympathise with the traders whose goods may have been destroyed as a result of the fire incident.”

    “| am worried about the recurring incidents of fire outbreaks at the Market.cAs a government, we are looking into how we can put a stop to it. It has happened one time too many,” he stated.

    It would be recalled that the popular Market was gutted by fire in the early hours of Tuesday and over 30 lockup shops were affected by the inferno.

    Mrs Olumayowa Olomola, Commanding Officer, Calabar Command of the Federal Fire Service disclosed that the fire was caused by gas explosion in one of the lockup shops.

    According to her, “The fire started from one of of shops where the occupant, a woman who was boiling beans, slept off.

    “The woman in question had other cylinder filled up with gas in her shop and this led to the explosion when what she was cooking got burnt.”

    She, however, said that no life was lost in the incident.

  • Gas explosion rocks Calabar fruits market, multi-million naira goods destroyed

    Gas explosion rocks Calabar fruits market, multi-million naira goods destroyed

    A fire outbreak at the Marian Fruits Market in Calabar destroyed goods worth millions of naira on Tuesday.

    It took men of the Federal Fire Service about five hours to put out the fire, which destroyed goods in more than 30 lockup shops.

    Mrs Olumayowa Olomola, Commanding Officer at the Federal Fire Service in Calabar told NAN that the fire was caused by a gas explosion in one of the lockup shops.

    She said that the command received a distress call at 2.40 a.m., when the fire started and its operatives immediately swung into action.

    “The fire started from one of the shops where the occupant, a woman who was boiling beans slept off.

    “The woman in question had other cylinders filled with gas in her shop and this led to the explosion when what she was cooking got burnt.

    “There was no response from any other fire service until the Federal Fire Service put out the fire around 7 a.m.,’’ she said.

  • Environmentalists seek reduction in emission footprints

    Environmentalists seek reduction in emission footprints

    Some environmentalists have advocated the need for a reduction in emission footprints as part of the solution to the current global economic and environment crises.

    The environmentalists advocated this at the 6th edition of the Africa Cleanup Conference in Calabar, with the theme “The People, The Planet, The Green and Circular Economy.”

    Newsmen reports that the two-day conference which climaxed on Sunday with an award ceremony and dinner night saw the various speakers listing the benefits of moving from linear economy to circular economy.

    The environmentalists highlighted the need for a concerted effort to change the present statutory by both the government and private sector in a bid to ensure a safety environment and healthy well-being of the citizens.

    One of then, Mr Chidiebere Emmanuel, said that the present economy of take-make use-dispose was no longer sustainable as the economy had become large when compared with the natural ecosystem.

    Speaking on the topic: “Existing Relationship Between Green Economy and Circular Economy: Leveraging on Opportunities for Growth and Expansion,” he pointed out that Green and Circular economy were the way out.

    Emmanuel said that the impact of COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of the relationship between man and nature.

    According to him, nature is in crisis and thus placing human and planetary health at risk.

    “It reminds us that the profound consequences to our well-being and survival that can result from continued biodiversity loss and the degradation of ecosystem.

    “It also reflects the fact that the risk of emergence and spread of infectious diseases increases as nature is destroyed,” he said.

    Emmanuel said that changes that would ensure the well-being and economic prosperity of the present and future generations in a healthy environment were needed.

    “That change is Green Economy one that can generate growth and improvements in the people lives in ways consistent with sustainable development.

    “Green economy is now seen as a potential solution to the current global environment and economic crises and a potential mechanism by which sustainable development might be achieved,” he explained.

    Similarly, Ms Temitope Dosumu, Commercial Manager of Geocycle, a subsidiary of Lafarge Africa Pls, said there were numerous inherent benefits of waste recycling.

    Dosumu, who spoke on the topic: “Circular Economy: Managing Waste Through Co-Processing” said that of the 58 million tonnes of waste generated annually, 90 per cent were not properly dumped and thereby causing environmental challenges.

    According to her, “Geocycle manages more than 10 million tonnes of wastes annually thus making a tangible contribution to bringing society a step closer to a zero-waste future.”

    She said some of the inherent benefits of waste recycling were job creation, technological development and safer environment, among others.

    In his submission, Dr Ola Oresanya, who spoke on the topic: “The Role of Government in Driving Green and Circular Economy,” advocated that private sector should  be the driver of the process.

    “Government cannot be the regulator and driver of the process,” he said.