News

NGO To Recruit 560,000 Youth For Mangrove Planting In Ogoni

Published

9 months ago

August 12, 2025

A Non-Governmental Organisation, ‘Eco-Citizen Ogoni ‘Initiative, has launched an Eco Volunteer Portal to register 560,000 youth volunteers for the takeoff of the planting of 560million Mangrove trees in Ogoniland, Rivers State.

Launching the portal in Port Harcourt on Tuesday as part of activities to mark the International Youth Day, 2025, the Coordinator of ECOI in Ogoni, Nature Dumale, said the youths would be recruited as part of the Global Green Marshalls and would be expected to conclude the project in 2035.

Dumale stated, “The groundbreaking digital platform, the Eco-Volunteers Portal, is designed to mobilise and equip 560,000 Ogoni youth as Global Green Goal Marshalls.

“Aligned with this year’s global theme, ‘Local Youth Action for the SDGs and Beyond,’ the platform is a powerful symbol of youth-led transformation at the grassroots, showcasing how Ogoni youth are not only responding to the climate crisis, but reimagining development through community-based action, digital innovation, and regenerative impact”.

He explained that the portal represented a hub for green innovation, civic engagement, and youth-led systems transformation in Ogoniland and beyond, adding that it would activate a bold new architecture for SDG localisation, turning ecological restoration into real economic opportunity.

Dumale further said the 560,000 trained Eco-Volunteers would be deployed in 56 wards in the four local government areas of Ogoni, and that the initiative would catalyse over 500,000 green-blue economy jobs in sectors like clean energy, regenerative agriculture, aquaculture, sustainable transport, eco-enterprise, and circular economy innovation.

He noted that the portal would deliver climate-smart, community-led development aligned with SDGs 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, and 15.

According to him, “Through real-time dashboards, peer-led learning labs, fellowship placements, mission tracking, and a youth-centred opportunity marketplace, the platform positions Ogoni’s young people as designers and defenders of a just, regenerative future.

“This portal is our response to history and our bridge to the future. It affirms the role of Ogoni youth not just as volunteers, but as visionaries. They are not waiting for opportunity to arrive, they are building it, one mangrove, one enterprise, one mission at a time.”

He said the portal also signalled a new model for planetary cooperation, rooted in the Global South, adding that with linkages to Africa-wide green youth movements and diaspora innovation networks, it would create a digital commons where local stories could scale global impact.

Dumale continued, “The Eco-Volunteers Portal comes at a critical time in Nigeria’s environmental journey, aligning with national climate adaptation goals and the broader vision for a just energy transition.

“It builds on the momentum of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, while charting a youth-driven pathway to sustainable peace, jobs, and justice”.

In her remarks, Senator Ireti Heebah Kingibe, Deputy Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, said: “We must move from remediation to regeneration — and that starts with empowering young people at the frontline.”

“This initiative represents a critical shift from extractive development to ecological stewardship. It is not just Ogoni’s future at stake — it is Nigeria’s promise to its youth and its ecosystems.”

Also speaking, Global Director of the ECO2RUPPERS Africa Initiative, Victor Wilkinson Agih, said, “This is more than a portal. It is a platform for intergenerational equity and distributed leadership.

“From the restoration of degraded ecosystems to the reinvention of livelihoods, this model shows what is possible when youth are not just included, but trusted, trained, and resourced to lead.”

The key features of the platform were listed as digital onboarding of 560,000 Eco-Volunteers; green-blue skills training and micro-credentialing; a project mission dashboard to coordinate SDG action in real time; youth-led enterprise support via funding links and circular marketplaces; and inter-ward and diaspora collaboration tools, including challenge campaigns and fellowships.

News

Edo NLC Crisis: Caretaker Committee Drags Rival Exco, Govt To Court

Published

14 hours ago

May 6, 2026

Editor

The division in the Edo State Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), took a new dimension on Wednesday as Prof. Monday Monday Lewis Igbafen-led caretaker committee approached the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Benin Judicial Division, seeking to affirm its authority and restrain a rival executive from parading itself as the council’s leadership.

Joined in the suit are the Edo State Government, the Commissioner for Labour and Productivity, and the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.

In a suit marked: NICN/BEN/12/2026, and filed before the court in Benin, the claimant, Igbafen, acting for himself and on behalf of the NLC Caretaker Committee in Edo State, is challenging the continued occupation of the union’s secretariat and control of its assets by members of the Bernard Egwakhide-led factional State Executive Council.

The claimants are asking the court to declare that the caretaker committee (Igbafen-led faction), constituted on August 11, 2025, by the NLC national leadership, remains the only lawful authority to administer the affairs of the Edo State Council pending fresh elections.

They further seek a declaration that the continued occupation of the NLC secretariat located at No. 1 Teboga Road, Benin City, as well as the retention of union assets, financial records, and official instruments by the defendants, is illegal and void.

The suit also prays for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from parading themselves as officials of the NLC Edo Council or interfering with the functions of the caretaker committee.

In addition, the claimants are seeking a mandatory order compelling the defendants to immediately hand over the secretariat, vehicles, financial documents, cheque books, and all other properties belonging to the union.

The caretaker committee further urged the court to restrain the state government and its officials from interfering in the internal affairs of the union, alleging undue support for the dissolved executive.

The claimants further demand N50 million as general and exemplary damages against the defendants for alleged unlawful usurpation of office and acts prejudicial to the administration of the council.

According to court documents made available to our correspondent, the crisis followed the dissolution of the Edo State Council by the NLC National Executive Council on February 27, 2025, over allegations of misconduct, anti-union activities, and constitutional violations.

However, the matter has yet to be assigned a hearing date.

News

Transfer: Premier League Clubs Scramble For Dele-Bashiru

Published

19 hours ago

May 6, 2026

Editor

Lazio midfielder, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru is a subject of interest from three Premier League clubs, according to Sky Sports.

Lazio reportedly rejected offers from Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth for the Nigeria international in January.

La Biancolesti are bracing for more interest in Dele-Bashiru ahead of the summer transfer window, according to Sky Sports.

The 24-year-old has two years left on his contract with the Serie A club.

The attacking midfielder joined the Rome-based club from Turkish Super Lig outfit Hatayspor in 2024.

He has been a regular feature for Lazio this season.

News

Xenophobic Attacks: Nigerian Students To Picket MTN, MultiChoice, Other Businesses

Published

20 hours ago

May 6, 2026

Editor

The leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS South-West Zone D, has announced plans to picket South African companies in Nigeria following the ongoing xenophobic attacks in the country.

DAILY POST reports that some Nigerians were recently killed in South Africa over the violent attacks.

A statement issued to newsmen by Comrade Adeyemo Josiah Kayode, Coordinator, NANS South-West, Zone D, said that the association is mobilizing to take decisive and lawful action by organizing peaceful picketing and mass advocacy against South African business interests operating in Nigeria.

“We categorically state that the continued targeting of Nigerians under any guise is unacceptable and must come to an immediate end.

“This will include major corporations such as MTN Group and MultiChoice Group. It is morally indefensible for businesses to thrive in an environment where the lives of Nigerians are protected, while Nigerians are subjected to fear and violence elsewhere.

“This contradiction will no longer be tolerated,” the statement said.