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Shell Trains 40 Imo Youths For ANOS Gas Project

Leading energy company in Nigeria, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has commenced a one-year professional and vocational training for 40 youths from the SPDC Joint Venture host communities of the Assa North and Ohaji South gas project in Imo State.
“The aim is to ready these youths, not only for opportunities in the operations of the Assa North and Ohaji South gas development project but also in the entire Nigerian gas development value chain,” SPDC’s Country Head, Corporate Relations, Igo Weli, said.
The training is supervised by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), and is taking place at the Mudiame University, Irrua, Edo State.
Weli said, “The training is part of SPDC JV’s contribution to build the capacity of the people of our host communities of Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State and is the outcome of a recommendation by the NCDMB to boost the capacity of communities where oil projects are situated.”
Represented at the induction ceremony by SPDC Manager, Projects and Opportunities, Dr. Adebanji Adekoya, Weli said the trainees were selected from the host community cluster development boards comprising Assa, Ochia, Awarra and Obile in Assa North, and Avu, Obosima, Obuomadike, Umunwaku, Ohoba, Obitti and Umuapu in Ohaji/Egbema in Imo State.
The trainees would specialise in project management, welding, fitting, scaffolding, rigging and lifting, electrical installations, electrical engineering, carpentry, building technology, drafting, ICT, surveys, quality and safety training.
The Assa North-Ohaji South Gas Project is the most advanced of the seven critical gas projects by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The project is at the heart of Nigeria’s National Gas Master Plan aspirations to grow indigenous domestic gas market for additional power and industrial projects.
Speaking at the induction, Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Simbi Wabote, commended the training, and described it as “part of the country’s aspiration to achieve 70 per cent local content retention in the oil and gas sector.”
Wabote, who was represented by the NCDMB Manager, Human Capacity Development, Mrs. Angela Okoro, said, “The agency is passionate about the project and would continue to strengthen human capacity development in the sector.”
The training is one of the opportunities offered by the project to the host communities where 60 per cent of skilled and semi-skilled workers are from the communities and more than 10 per cent of equipment operators are also locals.
Located approximately 25kilometres outside Owerri, the Imo State capital, the Assah North-Ohaji South Gas project, on completion, will deliver 300 standard cubic feet of gas per day to the domestic gas market and sell 20kbpd of condensate to a nearby refinery.
The project scope includes drilling of six wells, construction of a primary treatment facility and gas evacuation pipeline in a unitised field between SPDC JV’s OML 21 and SEPLAT JV’s OML 53.
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I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
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RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
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Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.
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