Nation
Pay Debts To Oil Companies, Stakeholders Tell PHCN
Some stakeholders in the oil and gas industry have called on Federal Government to compel the PHCN to pay its debts to the oil companies to guarantee effective power supply.
They made the call in separate interviews with The Tide On Sunday source in Lagos on Friday, saying the PHCN is heavily indebted to some oil companies.
Mr Tokunbo Korodo, the South West Zonal Chairman, NUPENG, said there was need for PHCN to pay its debts to the companies that supplied it gas and boost its electricity generation.
Korodo said failure of the PHCN to pay the debts had affected electricity as the affected companies had refused to supply it with gas.
The PHCN Managing Director, Mr Hussein Labo, had on Tuesday said the company owed Nigeria Agip Oil Company N47 billion, being unpaid bills of gas and electricity supplied.
Labo said that Agip ran a 450-megawatt plant at Okpai in Delta and has been supplying electricity to PHCN from the plant since 2005.
“Nigeria can no longer bear the epileptic power supply in the country despite huge payment of electricity bills distributed by PHCN.
“Government should make power supply efficient and effective so as to save business, lives and properties. Most businesses had closed down due to epileptic power supply,’’ he said.
Mr Adebisi Bada, chairman, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mosinmi Depot, called for involvement of the private sector to ensure sustainable development in the power sector.
“Unless we carry out reform in the power sector, the big picture, the big dream of ensuring that Nigerians in every nook and cranny of this country receive power will just be a dream.
“Let‘s put ourselves toward that path of Vision 20-2020. We need to grow beyond dreaming. We need to be very realistic.
The source reports that the PHCN is owing Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited $3.6millon, being the cost of electricity supplied from the company‘s Afam VI Power Plant.
The Alliance Française Port Harcourt in conjunction with the Embassy of France Nigeria over the weekend joined the globe to campaign against the 2025 gender- based violence (GBV) with the theme: “16 Days of Activism Against Gender- Based Voice”
The event which took place at the event Hall of the Alliance Française Port Harcourt was in collaboration with the Female in Gaming Network, ( FIGN) and partnership with Nexal a body that seeks to promote online safety and responsible digital behaviour.
The Tide reports that the project which was aimed at promoting digital safety and girls inclusion in Gaming, with the initiative tagged ‘Gameover Gender- Base Violence’was part of the global campaign against gender- based Violence.
The activity which experienced a flavour of festivity was full of fun and excitements as participants took part in tournaments on popular digital games such as Mario kart and EAFC 25, with an intent to creating safer and more inclusive digital spaces.
The Director of the Alliance Française Port Harcourt, Mrs Marina Lacal said that these activities were designed to encourage inclusion of girls, team work and fair play on online gaming spaces, saying that the gaming world reflects these inequalities, where female players are often under represented.
According to her the main objectives of the initiative was to provide a supportive environment for girls and female in gaming network.
“GameOverGBV” is a project created to reshape this landscape by offering an innovative inclusiveness of girls on online digital Gaming community and digital environments that provide opportunities for creativity, learning and connection, but also fight against Gender-Based Violence Digital Gaming,”she said
She however, explained that the Digital Game, sport competitions, was launched to strengthen social and digital skills through games, workshops, and raise awareness among all young participants about respect, equality and digital citizenship.
The Tide News reports that in Port Harcourt, the competition brought together 100 young participants from three major universities: University of Port Harcourt, ( UNIPORT),Ignatius Ajuru University of Education(IAUE) and Rivers State University (RSU)as well as students from four selected secondary schools, Oginigba comprehensive Secondary.School, Vine lnternational, Virgo predicanda lnternational, and Excellent Montessori Secondary school.
“This is an approach where girls and boys can learn, play and collaborate in a more respectful and safe space for young women, while ensuring a safe, enjoyable and respectful digital environment. It also expose young women to cyberbullying, exclusion, sexist comments and online hate,” Mrs. Lacal said.
Earlier, a game developer Sophia Nei and her. team had engaged participants in an interactive session with the theme: “Can Video Games Be Safe Spaces For Girls?”
However, Mrs Nei and her team educated the girls on the benefits and violence on online digital gaming and urged them ( participants)to learn to say ‘No’ to Online hate, sexist and cyber bullying, while encouraging them(students) to stand up for themselves by reporting such issues to the appropriate authority.
Highlight of the competition was the awarding of prizes to winners by the Director of Alliance Française, Mrs Marina Lacal.
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