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Lassa Fever: Total Takes Sensitisation Campaign To Communities

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10 years ago

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Passionate about the
healthy well-being of its host communities, a multinational oil giant, Total E&P Nigeria Limited (TEPNG), has carried Lassa Fever awareness campaign to communities in Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State.
At the event which held Friday at Alapu Council Hall, Nkoro town and under the TEPNG/Opobo and Nkoro Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the Deputy General Manager, Community Affairs, Mr Iduoku I. Izu, said the aim is to enable the natives learn the signs and habit changes needed to avoid infection and possible outbreak of the dreadful disease in the communities.
Izu said, “Lassa fever sensitisation programme was planned for our host communities, as a response to the findings and recommendations of the proactive baseline survey we commissioned in 2015 to establish disease trends and conditions prevalent within our host communities.
“However, today, Lassa fever has assumed an endemic proportion in the state, thus making this campaign all the more important.”
Izu , who was represented at the event by the Community Affairs Services Manager of the firm, Mr Okechukwu Obara, said healthcare as a core ingredient of the company’s HSE culture and in furtherance of this culture, the joint venture is committed to supporting the delivery of critical public health needs of its host communities as part of efforts to partner government in the promotion of her preventive and curative healthcare delivery policies and programmes.
He noted that early identification of the symptoms and signs of  Lassa fever will help the people to seek medical help before it becomes too late for effective treatment.
“It is our hope, therefore, that members of the community within this catchment zone will avail themselves of this great opportunity to benefit from the services.”
The DGM urged the participants made up of traditional rulers, women, elders and youths to help in spreading the message learnt to those who could not be at the campaign programme.
Leader of the medical team that delivered the health lecture, Dr Douglas Pepple, narrated to the people the origin and characteristics of Lassa fever and the possible ways to avoid contracting or aiding spread of the disease.
Pepple, who is a consultant with Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital (BMSH) said the disease has special resident in a rat with 24 breasts that could shed the virus in its excreta or urine.
“It does not stay in the house, but in the bush. As the bush is burnt, it gets closer to the house from where it transmits to the house rat and to human beings in the house”, he said, adding that Lassa fever can affect any age bracket or sex.
The medical expert said that the disease is more prevalent between January and February and advised them to maintain good personal hygiene, as approach to check the infection.
The secretary of Opobo/Nkoro Traditional Rulers Council, Chief Rogers Ibibo Oroni, lauded TEPNG for what he described as the firm’s wonderful concern in the development of the people of the area and urged the company not to relent.
Oroni also charged those who benefited from the campaign to take seriously the advise and knowledge acquired

 

Chris Oluoh

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Oil & Energy

No Subsidy In Oil, Gas Sector — NMDPRA

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2 weeks ago

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September 8, 2025

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The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has said there are no subsidies in the oil and gas sector as Nigeria operates a completely deregulated market.
The Director, Public Affairs Department, NMDPRA, George Ene-Italy, made this known in an interview with newsmen, in Abuja, at the Weekend.
Reacting to the recent reports that the Federal Government has removed subsidies or increased the price of Compressed Natural Gas (CBG), Ene-Italy said, “What we have is a baseline price for our gas resources, including CNG as dictated by the Petroleum Industry Act”.
He insisted that as long as the prevailing CNG market price conforms to the baseline, then the pricing is legitimate.
 Furthermore, the Presidential –  Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (P-CNGI) had said that no directive or policy had been issued by the Federal Government to alter CNG pump prices.
The P-CNGI boss, Michael Oluwagbemi, emphasised that the recent pump price adjustments announced by certain operators were purely private-sector decisions and not the outcome of any government directive or policy.
For absolute clarity, it said that while pricing matters fell under the purview of the appropriate regulatory agencies, no directive or policy had been issued by the Federal Government to alter CNG pump prices.
The P-CNGI said its mandate, as directed by President Bola Tinubu, was to catalyse the development of the CNG mobility market and ensure the adoption of a cheaper, cleaner, and more sustainable alternative fuel and diesel nationwide.
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Oil & Energy

‘Nigeria’s GDP’ll Hit $357bn, If Power Supply Gets To 8,000MW’

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2 weeks ago

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September 8, 2025

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The Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company Limited (FDC),  Bismarck Rewane, has said that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could rise to $357b  if electricity supply would increase from the present 4.500MW to 8,000MW.
Rewane also noted that Nigeria has spent not less than $30 billion in the power sector in 26 years only to increase the country’s power generation by mere 500MW, from 4,500 MW in 1999 to 5,000MW in 2025 though the sector has installed capacity to generate 13,000 MW.
In his presentation at the Lagos Business School (LBS) Executive Breakfast Session, titled “Nigeria Bailout or Lights Out: The Power Sector in a Free Fall”, Rewane insisted that the way out for the power sector that has N4.3 trillion indebtedness to banks would be either a bailout or lights out for Nigeria with its attendant consequences.
He said, “According to the World Bank, a 1.0 per cent increase in electricity consumption is associated with a 0.5 to 0.6 per cent rise in GDP.
“If power supply rises to 8000MW, from current 4500MW, the bailout shifts money from government into investment, raising consumption and productivity. And, due to multiplier effects, GDP could rise to $357 billion.”
The FDC’s Chief Executive said “in the last 30 years, Nigeria has invested not less than $30 billon to solve an intractable power supply problem.
“The initiatives, which started in 1999 when the power generated from the grid was as low as 4,500MW, have proved to be a failure at best.
“Twenty-six years later, and after five presidential administrations, the country is still generating 5,000MW. Nigeria is ranked as being in the lowest percentile of electricity per capita in the world.
“The way out is a bailout, or it is lights out for Nigeria”, he warned.
He traced the origin of the huge debts of the power sector to its privatisation under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, when many of the investors thought they had hit a jackpot, only to find out to their consternation that they had bought a poisoned chalice.
Rewane, who defined a bailout as “injection of money into a business or institution that would otherwise face an imminent collapse”, noted that the bailout may be injected as loans, subsidies, guarantees or equity for the purpose of stabilising markets, protect jobs and restore confidence.
He said, “The President has promised to consider a financial bailout for the Gencos and Discos. With a total indebtedness of N4.3 trillion to the banking system, the debt has shackled growth in the sector.”
Rewane warned that without implementing the bailouts for the power sector, the GENCOs and DISCOs would shut down at the risk of nationwide blackout.
Rewane, however, noted that implementing a bailout for the power sector could have a positive effect on the country’s economy if Nigeria’s actual power generation could rise from today’s 4,500 MW to around 8,000 and 10,000 MW.
The immediate gains, according to him, would include improved power generation and distribution capacity, more reliable electricity supply to homes and businesses as well as cost reflective tariffs.
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Oil & Energy

NEITI Blames Oil, Gas Sector Theft On Mass Layoff 

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2 weeks ago

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September 8, 2025

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The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has blamed the increasing crude oil theft across the nation on the persistent layoff of skilled workers in the oil and gas sector.
The Executive Secretary, NEITI, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, stated this during an interview with newsmen in Abuja.
Orji said from investigations, many of the retrenched workers, who possess rare technical skills in pipeline management and welding, often turn to illicit networks that steal crude from pipelines and offshore facilities.
In his words, “You can’t steal oil without skill. The pipelines are sometimes deep underwater. Nigerians trained in welding and pipeline management get laid off, and when they are jobless, they become available to those who want to steal crude”.
He explained that oil theft requires extraordinary expertise and is not the work of “ordinary people in the creeks”, stressing that most of those involved were once trained by the same industry they now undermine.
According to him, many retrenched workers have formed consortia and offer their services to oil thieves, further complicating efforts to secure production facilities.
“This is why we told the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to take this seriously. The laying off of skilled labour in oil and gas must stop”, he added.
While noting that oil theft has reduced in recent times due to tighter security coordination, Orji warned, however, that the failure to address its root causes, including unemployment among technically trained oil workers would continue to expose the country to losses.
According to him, between 2021 and 2023, Nigeria lost 687.65 million barrels of crude to theft, according to NEITI’s latest report. Orji said though theft dropped by 73 per cent in 2023, with 7.6 million barrels stolen compared to 36.6 million barrels in 2022, the figure still translates to billions of dollars in lost revenues.
Orji emphasised that beyond revenue, crude oil theft also undermines national security, as proceeds are used to finance terrorism and money laundering.
“It’s more expensive to keep losing crude than to build the kind of monitoring infrastructure Saudi Arabia has. Nigeria has what it takes to do the same”, he stated.
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