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Empowerment: Belemaoil Splashes N30m On Niger Delta Indigenes

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In keeping with its avowed commitment to wealth creation and changing the narrative of the Niger Delta, a leading indigenous oil company in the region, Belemaoil Producing Limitedd has empowered ten persons with N30 million funds to set up and grow their businesses.
The beneficiaries most of whom are drawn from different parts of Rivers and Bayelsa States received cheques ranging between N1,000,000.00 (one million naira) and N6,000,000.00 (six million naira) under the 2019 NNPC/Belemaoil JV Economic Empowerment Programme to support and grow Small and Medium Scale Enterprises. The beneficiaries cut across different enterprises including fish farming, music, hospitality, beauty and fashion, digital production, among others.
Speaking during the official presentation of cheques to the beneficiaries at the company corporate headquarters in Port Harcourt, the Director, Production and Engineering of Belemaoil Producing Ltd., Engr Mufaa Welsh said the essence of the scheme is to support efforts by all tiers of government to reduce the rate of unemployment and crime in the Niger Delta and Nigeria at large.
The Director said: “It is actually to assist the government in reducing the unemployment rate in Nigeria so that we will have a crime-free society for all of us to live in. We are committed 100% in ensuring that we reduce our unemployment rate in Nigeria. Our charge to the beneficiaries is that they judiciously use the funds that have been provided for them and to make sure that they create more employment for others who are not yet employed.”
Also, the Manage,r External Relations of Belemaoil Producing Ltd., Barr Samuel Abel-Jumbo called on the beneficiaries to ensure judicious use of the funds to encourage the company to do more.
He said: “This is a Joint Venture Programme and we are the operators of that JV so everything we do here the NNPC is part of it. NNPC is supporting you, Belemaoil is supporting you. This is not a loan this is a gift from us to you. If you do what you said you are going to do with the funds it makes us happy, it gives opportunity for the next people to also benefit. But if you don’t do what you said you are going to do with the funds and we are not seeing progress we can’t continue. We are going to monitor you to the letter.”
Some of the beneficiaries who spoke, thanked Belemaoil and promised to put the funds in good use. One of the beneficiaries, a fish farmer, Mr. Bethel Oko-Jaja said, “Today Belemaoil has shown that commitment in ensuring that the people of Niger Delta and Nigerians are properly empowered for national development. This kind gesture will not go unappreciated if not by man, by God Almighty. Let me thank Belemaoil for this kind gesture and to say we shall reciprocate by judiciously utilize these funds provided today.
Another beneficiary, Gloria Ekaro, a Beauty Salon owner said: “I thank Belemaoil for this gesture. I am not from the Host Community local government area, I am from Ahoada East and if they do this for somebody from Ahoada East, I don’t know, it’s really amazing. I feel elated right now.”
Meanwhile, the National President of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), who is one of the facilitators of the empowerment scheme, thanked the Founder and President of Belemaoil Producing Ltd., Engr. Jack-Rich Tein Jr. for the gesture.
Sukubo said: “The beneficiaries are from Niger Delta and Nigeria at large. None of them expected that their request will come to reality. But this is just the beginning. The only thing I will say Rivers people, Nigerians and the Niger Delta, this is just the beginning because God has sent the President and Founder of Belemaoil Producing Ltd, Engr Jack-Rich Tein Jr., to Rivers people, to the Niger Delta people and to Nigeria at large. I thank God and pray that God will bless him and give him more opportunity to reach out to his people.”

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FG Ends Passport Production At Multiple Centres After 62 Years

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The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.

Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.

He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.

“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.

He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.

“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.

 “We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.

“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.

He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.

Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.

He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.

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FAAC Disburses N2.225trn For August, Highest In Nigeria

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The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.

This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.

The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.

Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.

The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.

From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.

From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.

Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.

From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.

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KenPoly Governing Council Decries Inadequate Power Supply, Poor Infrastructure On Campus

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The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.

The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.

The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the  Polytechnic, recently.

Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.

He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.

This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly,  Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.

The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.

Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.

He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.

The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.

Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.

 

Chinedu Wosu

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