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RSG, SPDC Partner To Reverse Education Fortunes

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The Rivers State Government, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership (DCGEP) have expressed commitment to reversing the falling standard of education with a new page in integrated multimedia education resource application in primary schools in the state.

The $2million (approximately N320million) four-year pilot programme is designed to revolutionise teaching and learning in 20 select primary schools across Rivers State with the introduction of educational video programming in the teaching of various subjects from mathematics, basic science subjects, including physics, chemistry, biology, geography, environmental science, as well as information and communication technology (ICT) application and general social sciences.

The partners project positive impact and new chapter in educational capacity and capability of more than 600 teachers, 12,000 students and 35,000 community members by 2014, while community ownership and sustainability of resource centres are the long-term drive of the programme.

Speaking at the official launch of the SPDC-DCGEP Learning Centre Initiative at Model Primary School, Elekahia, last Thursday, Commissioner for Education, Dame Alice Lawrence-Nemi, said the government’s policy of building 750 world-class primary schools across the 23 local government areas was aimed at bridging the yawning academic imbalance and opportunities between children of the rich and poor while providing a veritable launching pad to reverse the ugly trend in the education sector in the state.

Represented by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr Clifford Ofuru, the commissioner noted that the novel multimedia educational window “has a good fit with the strategy of the Rivers State Government in the education sector, which has involved an ambitious upgrade of primary and secondary school infrastructure”, and expressed happiness that “the programme would complement the efforts of the state government in improving teaching and learning in primary schools.”

While advising teachers and pupils to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the facilities to enhance their academic performances, the government tasked Shell to look beyond the 20 primary schools, and fashion out how to assist in upgrading the effectiveness and efficiency of teaching and learning in the adult and non-formal education centres, just as they consider up-scaling the reach of the project to more primary schools across the state.

Managing Director, SPDC, Mutiu Sunmonu, said “the launching marks the successful start-up of a four-year project to provide, in close collaboration with the Rivers State Ministry of Education, teacher training and support to integrate educational video programming in the classrooms.”

Sunmonu, who is also the Country Chair of Shell Companies in Nigeria, said, “we are pleased to be part of this initiative to boost education at the primary school level…, it takes our support for education, which began in the 1960s, to a new level”, adding that, “the primary school is a good place to begin if we are to help our children to identify and develop their talents.”

He said with the completion of installation of multimedia educational video programming facilities in the 20 schools dotted across some five local government areas of the state, 245 teachers have already been trained, while 7,050 students are applying the tools in learning, just as over 21,150 community members have improved their skills with the facility.

The Shell managing director projected that in the next three years, 49,315 stakeholders would have benefited, including 639 teachers, about 12,169 students and 36,500 community members, adding that the long-term goal of the project is a major reversal of the dwindling fortunes of education so as to enable the state compete favourably with others across the world.

In his remarks, President, Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership, Aric Noboa, said the aim is to use the power of media to transform education and improve lives in under-resourced schools and communities around the world, noting that with the launch of the project, Discovery Channel was now poised more than ever before to train and mentor teachers to improve their versatility, effectiveness, cognitive and language skills, as well as motivation to impart sound academic knowledge in their students as a catalyst for enhancing education in the state.

Represented by the Programme Director, Mashala Kwape, the president said, “we know from evaluations of our work elsewhere in Nigeria and beyond, that the learning centre initiative consistently leads to enhanced teacher effectiveness, student interest in learning and academic performance,” and added that, “we look forward to the same results in Rivers State.”

In their separate testimonies, both teachers and students expressed satisfaction with the level of improvements recorded so far since the deployment of the learning aids in their schools, and promised to make effective use of the facilities to turnaround the glory of education in the state.

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EFCC Arrests 33 Suspected Internet Fraudsters In PH

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Operatives of the Port Harcourt Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested 33 suspected internet fraudsters in Rivers State.
The Spokesperson for the commission, Dele Oyewale, said this in a statement in Abuja, last Wednesday.
Oyewale said they were arrested in their hideouts in Iwofe and Ogbogoro areas of Port Harcourt in a sting operation, based on credible intelligence on their suspected involvement in internet fraud.
“Items recovered from the suspects include various mobile phone devices, laptops, boxes of fake United States Dollar and fake Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) stamps.
“Others are fake Customs stamps, airport clearance stamps, DHL and FedEx stamps and two cars.
“The suspects would be charged to court upon conclusion of investigations,” he said

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UK Plans To Reuse Old Graves, Reopen Full Graveyards

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Old graves could be reused under new recommendations put forward to manage the shortage of burial space in Britain.
Under the proposed changes put forward by the Law Commission, graveyards declared “full’’ during the Victorian era could also be reopened.
The commission has warned the urban areas across England and Wales of fast running out of burial space.
There have been proposed changes to allow any burial ground to reuse graves, but only following public consultation and government approval.
Safeguards would also be in place for each individual grave, with plots only eligible for reuse when the last person was buried at least 75 years ago.
Another separate public consultation is considering the time frames around grave reuse, and what would happen if family members objected.
Prof. Nick Hopkins, commissioner for property, family and trust law, said any change would need to be tackled in consultation with the public.
“Our proposals provide a significant opportunity to reform burial and cremation law and secure burial space for future generations.
“This must be done sensitively and with wider public support,” he said.
Current legislation made it illegal to redevelop a graveyard for any reason other than to grow a place of worship.
Other publicly-run cemeteries can be redeveloped if the owner was granted an Act of Parliament.
Alex Davies-Jones, parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice, said the government was supportive of the Law Commission’s work.
“We await with interest the Law Commission’s recommendations, in due course, on the most appropriate framework to provide modern, consistent regulation for burial and cremation,” she said.
Public consultation on the proposed changes is open until January 2025.

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Crude-For-Loans: NNPCL Votes 8m Barrels Monthly For $8.8bn Debt

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has pledged 272,500 barrels per day of crude oil through a series of crude-for-loan deals totalling $8.86bn.
By pledging 272,500 barrels daily, it means that about 8.17 million barrels of crude will be used for different loan deals by the national oil firm on a monthly basis.
This is according to an analysis of a report by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and the NNPC’s financial statements.
Under these deals, notable projects include Project Panther, Project Bison, Project Eagle Export Funding (Original, Subsequent, and Subsequent 2 Debts), Project Yield, and Project Gazelle.
According to The Tide’s source, NNPC has already fully repaid $2.61bn in loans, representing 29.4 per cent of the total credit facility, while $6.25bn or 70.6 per cent, remains outstanding.
Also, out of the $8.86bn credit facility, only about $6.97bn has been received from seven crude-for-loan deals.
One of the key projects, Project Panther, involves a joint venture between NNPC and Chevron Nigeria Limited, backed by international and local banks.
The project secured a $1.4bn loan facility, with 23,500bpd pledged to service the debt. Repayment is set to commence after a moratorium, with financing terms including an SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate) plus 5.5 per cent margin and a liquidity premium.
Another significant deal is Project Bison, tied to NNPC’s attempt to acquire a 20 per cent equity stake in the Dangote refinery. However, the national oil company only acquired a 7.25 per cent stake.
The project secured a $1.04bn loan from Afrexim Bank, with 35,000 bpd pledged as collateral. NNPC fully repaid this loan in June 2024.
Project Eagle Export Funding comprises three separate loans aimed at meeting various financial obligations.
The original loan, secured in 2020 for $935m, was serviced with 30,000 bpd and was fully repaid by September 2023.
A subsequent loan of $635m was also fully repaid by the same period. The third tranche, known as Project Eagle Export Funding Subsequent 2 Debt, was secured in 2023 for $900m, with 21,000 bpd pledged. Repayment is scheduled to begin in June 2024, and the loan will mature in 2028.
Project Yield, designed to support the Port Harcourt Refining Company, involves a $950m loan, with 67,000 bpd pledged for repayment.
The repayment of the loan, secured in 2022, will begin in December. This seven-year facility is crucial to refurbishing the refinery and enhancing domestic refining capacity.
However, despite this crude-for-loan arrangement, The Tide reports that fuel production at the Port Harcourt refinery has yet to commence, despite multiple postponements as of August. Promises from the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and NNPC have repeatedly fallen through.
More recently, there was the Project Gazelle deal, which aimed to stabilise Nigeria’s foreign exchange market.
In December 2023, NNPC secured a $3bn forward sale agreement, pledging 90,000bpd from Production Sharing Contract assets to cover future tax and royalty obligations.
As of the end of 2023, $2.25bn had been drawn from this facility, with repayments scheduled to begin by mid-2024.
These crude-for-loan deals come at a time when Nigeria is struggling to boost its oil production.
The NEITI 2022-2023 report revealed a significant decline in crude oil output, reaching the lowest levels in a decade. In 2022, the country produced 490.94 million barrels of crude oil, a steep drop from the peak of 798.54 million barrels in 2014.
Although production slightly improved to 537.57 million barrels in 2023, this still represents only 67.16 per cent of the country’s peak production capacity.
One of the major challenges facing the sector is production deferment. In 2023, Nigeria deferred 110.66 million barrels of crude oil, down from 153.44 million barrels in 2022.
The deferment was primarily due to unscheduled maintenance, repair issues, and oil theft.
Despite government efforts to curb these issues, including initiatives to reduce theft and sabotage, operational inefficiencies persist.
NEITI reported that oil theft and sabotage resulted in the loss of 5.25 million barrels in 2023, exacerbating production struggles.
The House of Representatives Special Joint Committee recently directed NNPC to halt further crude-for-loan agreements.
This directive follows reports that the company is planning to borrow an additional $2bn in oil-backed loans amid efforts to settle a $6bn backlog owed to international oil traders, particularly following the removal of fuel subsidy.
The Tide’s source reported that the NNPC was in talks for another oil-backed loan to boost its finances and allow investment in its business, according to the Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC, Mele Kyari.
Kyari said the company wanted the new loan against 30,000-35,000 barrels per day of crude production, though he declined to say how much money it sought.
Nigeria’s government finances rely on oil the NNPC exports, which provides the bulk of crucial foreign exchange reserves. However, pipeline theft and years of underinvestment have sapped oil production in recent years, and the cost of fuel subsidies has further depleted cash reserves.
President Bola Tinubu has been struggling to implement reforms in Africa’s biggest oil exporter – including eliminating fuel subsidies and allowing the naira currency to trade close to market levels – without putting the country’s population at a cost-of-living breaking point.
It explained at the time that the oil company would use the loan to support the Federal Government in stabilising Nigeria’s exchange rate.
The facility, among other things, would help the Federal Government attend to some of its dollar obligations, assist the Central Bank of Nigeria in stabilising the foreign exchange market, and provide funding for NNPC.
Providing details about the deal in the document titled, “Everything you need to know about the NNPC Limited’s $3.3bn loan, also known as Project Gazelle,” NNPC said, “This is a financing agreement secured by NNPC Limited to prepay future royalties and taxes to the Federal Government.”
The company also stated that it adopted a lower price benchmark for the $3.3bn crude-for-cash loan to reduce the risk of default and ensure financial stability.
Giving details on the benchmark oil price, the company said the facility used a conservative crude price of $65/barrel to calculate the allocated crude to be produced and sold.
NNPC also said repayments were strategically planned and tied to future oil sales, with conservative pricing in oil sales contracts mitigating the risks associated with oil price volatility.

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