BAYELSA NEEDS MORE HANDS FOR DENTAL HEALTH-Dr. Sagbe

Dr Solomon Sagbe 

There has been a call on Bayelsan medical students in Nigeria and in the diaspora not to shy away from studies of dentistry. He made the call while exchanging views with the Golden Pen Newspaper in the Bayelsa State capital, Yenagoa.

Dr. Solomon Sagbe said it  has become  necessary to raise an alarm because of the backwardness of the oral health sector and the suffering of dentistry patients, due to lack of man power in the sector. 

Dr. Sagbe who was the head of dental health care in Rivers State before the bifurcation, following the creation of Bayelsa, himself and nine others came over which made a total of ten (10) dental health care practitioners as follows:

"Before we came over, I was the head of dentistry in Rivers State. Those who came over with me include Dr. (Mrs) Opukiri, she is now a Permanent Secretary,  two dental therapists,  George and John, we had two dental technologists, late Mr.Reginald Kenigbolo and one Ebiweni Ugo who just retired last year and we had up to three dental technicians, just 10 of us" the dental specialist revealed.

He went further to explain that his vision as the leader of that sector, he had offered suggestions to successive administrations to establish a dental hospital in the state, and establish a comprehensive dental centres in each of the Senatorial Districts, and oral health centres in every Local Government Area in the state."

Dr. Solomon Sagbe who started work as a dentist in Rivers State and came over to Bayelsa said, he was full of hope for the state, considering her position as a virgin land that had the advantages of development at all the sectors of health care delivery, especially dentistry.
 Looking into the future of the practice he stated thus:
"Most of us are not in active practice... the only persons now practicing are just three, one in Government House Specialist Hospital, one in Diete Koki Hospital and one in Niger Delta University  Teaching Hospital,  Because of lack awareness, some people don't know that Bayelsa has dental facilities; hence some go to Rivers and Delta states for dentistry, they use to ask them and direct them to come back to us. "
To sustain the practice of dentistry in the state, Dr. Sagbe called on the students of Bayelsa state within Nigeria and in the diaspora to study dentistry which he said is an open door for easy employment.

COMRADE GBASSA CONDEMNS GOV. DICKSON, WARNS AGAINST SACK OF WORKERS By Evans Tubonah

Comrade Ebiserikumoh Gbasa

A Bayelsa based Human Rights Activist in the Niger Delta Region, South/South Nigeria, Comrade Ebiserikumoh Gbasa had condemned the Governor of Bayelsa state, Henry Strike Dickson over what he described as indiscriminate sack of civil servants in the state.
Ghasa who spoke with the Golden Pen Newspaper in the state capitalYenagoa, said, that the governor's action was illegal and unconstitutional and should be reversed without delay or else he will commit suicide.
Comrade Gbasa who is a social justice crusader stated that over five hundred (500) civil service workers have been sacked without reasons, without query and against the Civil Service Rules in Nigeria and across the world. He spoke with the Golden Pen in these words:
"My anger with Governor Dickson today is that, he has put Bayelsa in a pathetic situation. The Henry Seriake Dickson government has a destructive agenda against our people; workers, pensioners and contractors alike. And that has even transcend down to the children including old people, the pregnant women, and so many people have died..."
Comrade Gbasa graphically explained how  the Dickson government brazenly sacked the innocent workers  at various sectors, saying that:
"The Governor, Seriake Dickson has without reason, and illegally, and unconstitutionally removed over 3, 000 workers of the state. Over 1000 staff of Sanitation Authority, especially those who go to work 4.a.m. to clean our major roads, Niger Delta Television (NDTV), 3/4 of the workers have been laid off, Radio Bayelsa the same way, 3/4 sacked.
In the Niger Delta University (NDU), more than 2000 none academic staff are being forcefully transferred to another University a private University owned by Governor Dickson called African University. Since Seriake Dickson came...they have not carried out genuine recruitment exercise except through the government house. He is laying off people, he is recruiting in the back, his relations, his cronies."
Comrade Gbasa who noted with concern, stated that it's like the state is under the rules of 'a draconian law', while the governor goes around Nigeria to buy awards., and that he promised to turn Bagels to Dubai but Bayelsans have not seen anything near Dubai, not even Port Harcourt, mile One Diobu is better, the Human and People's Rights Activist and Social Justice crusader, called on the governor to call back the workers to save many from going to graves early.
Hear this:
"I don't know when government business  become a one man business, Today, some people amongst the civil servants have taken snyper (poison) and died, some pensioners who over 2years have not receive their pensions and gratuities and contractors  that were denied payment, suffer, like the contractors that built ecumenical centre at Igbogene, he had not been paid fully. If you demand for your money, they use police to chase you away"

Comrade Gbasa said the sacking of the workers was wrong and should be 're-visited in earnest, because , as he puts it:
"There is nothing like that in the Civil Service Rules and Regulations, for government to massively sack workers. Those that are due retire,ment, let them go genuinely.Don't treat them like fowl or goat. Call them back and restore back their hope, confidence and dignity. If this is not done, I will commit suicide" Comrade Gbasa threatened.
When Golden Pen Newspaper visited the office of the Head of Service, Rev. Thomas Zidafamor, to have clarification on the matter, he was said to have been very busy, but in a telephone interaction reacted sharply thus:
"Did you not listen to the radio broadcast by the governor? The governor had said all about it, and his line went off..."
In a related development, Golden Pen Newspaper also visited the office of the Chairman of the state Civil Service Commission, Dr. Peter Singabele who said:
 Sorry, I can't talk now, I have a meeting with the deputy governor, you come next week."
All efforts to reach other government officials for their comments proved abortive.

A FRONTLINE JOURNALIST HARPS ON MEDIA INDEPENDENCE/ OBJECTIVITY- Evans Tubonah

Kola Oredipe from right, with Evans Tubonah left

The Chairman of the Federated Chapel of Nigerian Union of Journalists, Bayelsa State, Comrade Kola Oredipe has called on media practitioners to hold tenaciously to  the professional tenets of independence and objectivity.
Comrade Oredipe, who is the Sub-Editor with Radio Nigeria in Bayelsa State, made the call while exchanging vies with the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Golden Pen Newspaper, Chief Otonye Evans Tubonah who visited him in his office, in Yenagoa.
Looking critically into the practice of journalism, Comrade Oredipe noted that whereas,  the Nigerian media is growing side by side with her peers across the world, turning inward, he said, the practice today as compared to what obtained, the ethics and professionalism years ago had dropped tremendously. Hear him:-
"You still refer to those early Journalists as the fathers of the profession, the value they brought into the profession is not what people are seeing today, that may be a question to ask, what had changed between that time and now?
 I think it's a reflection of the Nigerian economy, now...journalists are more exposed to corruption, a lot of journalists are also getting appointments, you can see the dynamics that came with the practice; but in those days they held the ethics so dearly. That is the challenge that we have now"
Speaking further on standards and  ethics, he noted that the standards and ethics of the profession had dropped which he attributed to state of the economy that had adversely affected media organizations not being able to pay their workers which according to him, had made some practitioners to compromise.
Kola Oredipe, said,
"it is not enough just to give an I.D card to journalist and to say, 'take,  this is your mail ticket',  and expect such journalist who has a family to cater for, and other siblings depending on him not exposed to corruption nor have ethical and or professional challenges. He however expressed confidence in some journalists who he said cannot compromise position no matter what! Hear this:-
"But I know that there are still journalists who can stand up and say... I stand with integrity, abide by the ethics, the code of conduct of the profession, trying to be fair and objective in their reportage, and with that we can say the media is still independent..."
He noted with concern that the Nigerian nation had not given the Media her rightful position in the scheme of things, he bared his mind to Golden Pen Newspapers in these words:-
"The three arms of Government, namely, the Executive arm, Legislative arm, and the Judiciary, see the journalist as a spy, so, they are never comfortable to see journalists around them, and it's very simple in the Nigerian system, because they feel that they are doing something that they don't want other people to see, and when they hear that a journalist is around, they feel very uncomfortable.
 "How can we grow the democracy without the media? We owe the people a lot in terms of information. What is happening in government, we owe the people, it's our duty to tell them this man holding public office should be accountable to the people, and it is through the channel of the media that the information and reports will come..."
Comrade Kola Oredipe posited.
Still spitting fire against the three arms of government: the Executive, the Legislative arm, and the Judicial arm, the frontline journalist stated that, the trio have given no space to the Media in the Nigerian system in the practice of freedom of expression, freedom to report, freedom of association which he said tantamount  trampling upon the constitutional functions of the media as the watch dog of the society.
 He described as unreasonable to sideline the media under whatever system of government and called on the authority at all levels to acknowledge the fact that, the media practitioners are all part of the Nigerian federation and that whatever happen to other Nigerians also happen to them.
He therefore called on the three arms of government to accommodate the fourth estate of the realm, the media,  to achieve cohesiveness in nation building, in our country.
Comrade Kola Oredipe's final word to the media on this encounter is a call on practitioners to maintain their professional independence in the report of factual news, maintain their integrity so as to be a reference point as to truthfulness and objectivity in  the noble profession, while warning against the media or some practitioners becoming a willing tools in the hands of other organizations or personalities.

CHIEF AGAMA THAN GOD, APPRECIATES SUPPORT FOR MOTHER'S BURIAL By Evans Tubonah

The first Son of the centeranian mother, late Madam Laura Igbogitariye Jonah Okoro, Chief (Sir) Stephen S.N. Appi Agama has appreciated God and the people of Nembe and others across communities within and outside Bayelsa State for their support at the burial.
Chief Agama who spoke in an interview with the Golden Pen Newspaper on-line stated that, the burial was highly challenging, but by the grace of God and support by the masses, the burial of the one hundred and one (101) year old mother was successfully done. The Chief who said his mother was born in 1916 and died in 2017 has this to say:
"She was strong enough for the past 10 years. She was running and moving fine, and she used to also dance, because she was involve in most of the cultural clubs. She was strong enough until four days to her death, when she became sick. Nobody moved her, she didn't punish anybody, she died peacefully in her own house...."
Chief Agama noted the uniqueness of his mother's burial and remarked as follows:

"It's a rare event seeing a 101 year old mother nobody assisted, who never used a walking stick to support herself to her last day. When I gave her a walking stick  to support herself some time she refused, saying,  No! She said she will use her feet to move, and she did...", Chief Agama revealed.
Giving a brief account of the centeranian mother, Chief Agama who spoke on behalf of the children said that his mother, the late, Madam Laura Igbogitariye Jonah Okoro gave birth to 15 children, 7 survived and that at the point of her burial the survivors were 5 who gave birth to 120 grand children, who in turn gave birth to 50 great grand children, while to crown it all, she also had 5 great great grand children, which made her the mother of 180 souls, at the point of departure to the great beyond.
CHALLENGES: It was so challenging, just to think of it, Chief Agama said. To bury such a great personality that would attract people from various communities and States across Nigeria, was not considered a 'tea party'. Here him:
"We the children of Madam Laura Igbogitariye Jonah Okoro were so much afraid in the beginning, because this woman is a popular woman, who married from Pegi Group of Chieftaincy Houses to late, His Royal Highness Sunday Stephen Appi, the founder and first king of Sand Sand Ama in Ikensi, in Opu Nembe. Therefore the Chiefs of Pegi Iseminyai Group, Elemah Group, Kalabo Group,  and indeed the whole Nembe Bassambiri as anticipated participated at the historic burial ceremonies."

"...the Ogbari Group, Ikata Group and many other groups of Nembe city, personalities from Brass Local Government area, from Southern/Ijaw Local Government area, Ogbia Local Government and all over, and so we were a little bit afraid of how to contain the team of relations..."
Chief Agama stated that the family did the best for her burial because she deserved it.
According to him, to that end, an uncommon casket wad prepared for her journey, a casket of a fish that is like the Shark called 'Ekwe' in Nembe. That has never been done in the history of burials.
He also spoke on reviving of some of the moribund burial traditions in these words:
"She is the first person, now reviving the culture of traditional 'due alapu' (chief for the dead). That culture has been overtaken by modern days service of songs for even those who never entered the four corners of a Church, they will organize service of songs..  All traditional rites were given to her from the first day.
"In the day of the burial, " Tiripaga segi" dance by women for a diseased person at the burial donations almost abolished, was revived. That made her burial, talk of people at various quarters congratulating the family for a ceremony well done." he explained. Pointing to a dance group he has this to say:
"The club that is dancing is called GOODLUCK of Otatubu-ama, 1946 was when this club was founded. She was the only surviving person. Anybody who died were represented by her daughters, she will be represented by her daughter. "Okara Lady" is another club she was the only surviving foundation member until her death will also come and perform. She was also the leader of Oluasiri Arugu, displayed on Saturday.
APPRECIATION:
Personally, I want to appropriate a number of people who supported the family for the burial. Number one, the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah (Rtd), followed by Chief Ingo, Chief (Senator) Amange, the ultimate Vice Chairman, Chief Eweka of Nembe Chiefs Council, Chief Nengi James Eriworio, Chief Isere, Chief Iruo, Chief Vanman, Chief Duo, I also appropriate Golden Pen Newspape publisher, Chief EvansTubonah, Chief Pegi Chief Elemah, Chief Ogbari, Ikata, Inengite, Ovkiya groups and all of them. Anyone, I failed to mention, let them not take offense.Above all, Chief Agama gave thanks to God for  making the entire exercise a success thus:
"I gave glory to God who made it possible for me to see that everything went successful, and I wish all those who came from far and near... the reward of the Almighty, Chief Agama concluded.