The Federal Government has urged Host Community Development Trusts (HCDTs) in the Niger Delta to maximize the three per cent funds to ensure that communities reap the benefits of such funds.

The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 mandates oil firms to set aside three per cent of its operational expenses for development of its host communities.

The Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), Sen.

Heineken Lokpobiri, gave the charge during the KEFFESO Stakeholders Forum in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa capital.

NAN reports that the theme for the event is “Envisioning Sustainable Community Development in Niger Delta Host Communities: Identifying Challenges and Actualizing The PIA Paradigm Shift.

According to Lokpobiri, in a bid to bring stability to the oil sector and to address the agitations occasioned by lack of development in host communities, the federal government enacted the PIA and set aside three per cent operational expenses by oil and gas firms for host communities development.

The Minister pointed out that infighting amongst stakeholders in host communities has made it difficult for oil bearing communities to access the funds accruing to the HCDTs.

He called on host communities to collaborate with the federal government and operating companies to ensure that oil production services are not disrupted, stating that host communities will be the eventual losers if oil production are disrupted.

“This KEFFESO Stakeholders Forum is to see how host communities can maximize the benefits from the Host Communities Trust Funds as prescribed by the PIA.

“I came to speak to them about taking ownership of oil and gas facilities that are located in different parts of the country.

“Any time there is disruption in oil production everybody loses, the federal government, oil production companies and the host communities.

“That is why I said it is important they take this message home, let them work with all stakeholders, the federal government, oil companies and host communities should work together.

“As stakeholders who have their respective stakes in oil and gas operations in the country, we should work together to ensure that we maximize the benefits of oil and gas.

“Don’t forget there is a global campaign against the continuation of production of fossil fuel.

“Fossils fuel will never go away. Fossil fuel will not have any value unless you bring it out of the ground or from the sea to the market that is why we need this collaboration,” he said.

According to him: “I want to recommend this KEFFESO model to all parts of the country that are into oil and gas that when you have sustained peace you will benefit.

In his remarks, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, Engr. Omotsola Ogbe reiterated the commitment of the Board to leverage on the provision of the NOCGIiC Act.

He equally said that the NCDMB’s Community Content Guidelines aim to ensure sustained community engagement and play the part vested on the Board and ensure that the community content is respected and recognized in the entire oil and gas value chain.

Represented by the Director Legal Services of the Board, Mr Naboth Onyesoh, commended the KEFFESO Host Community Development Trust.

First E & P and the Minister of State Petroleum Resources Oil towards the support government to the KEFFESO trust fund.

On his part, the MD/CEO of First E & P, Mr Ademola Adeyemi-Bero said the KEFFESO Stakeholders Forum is a veritable platform to discuss and strategize for a meaningful and sustainable future for host communities.

He noted that the forum marks a pivotal commitment of the company’s journey towards tackling the present challenges faced by the marginalized communities in the Niger Delta. (NAN)

The police in Jigawa has said its operatives have begun investigation into the circumstances around the headless corpse of a teenager found on the side of the road in Jikas-Dabaja village of Gwaram local government area of the state.

SP Lawan Shiisu, the command’s spokesperson, made this known in a statement in Dutse .

Shiisu said that the teenager’s corpse was found at the scene of the incident at about 9 p.

m., on Wednesday.

“On Wednesday at about 2200hrs, the Divisional Police Headquarters Gwaram informed us about a corpse in Jikas-Dabaja village, Gwaram LGA.

“A team of policemen rushed to the scene and on arrival, they discovered a headless corpse.

The corpse also had his private parts removed.

“The corpse was later identified as that of a 14-year-old Almajiri, who went missing two earlier,” Shiisu said.

He explained that the victim’s relatives were contacted after being certified dead by medical doctor on call.

”The remains was released to them for burial.

”Investigations are ongoing with a view to apprehending the perpetrators,” he said.

In another development, Shiisu said that the police was also investigating the death of 22-year-old bride in Hadejia local government area.

Shiisu said the deceased, identified as Zainab Ibrahim, died from throat cuts five weeks after her marriage

He added that the victim was rushed to the General Hospital in Hadejia where a medical doctor on call pronounced her dead.

The spokesman said investigation has since began and efforts were being stepped up to apprehend the perpetrators of the heinous act. (NAN)

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), on Thursday, inaugurated the reconstructed Ndioro-Ntalakwu and its adjoining road networks, measuring 18.

25 kilometers, in Ikwuano Local Government Area (LGA) of Abia.

The commission also inaugurated another reconstructed 5.

5-km road, linking Umudike with Olokoro in Umuahia South LGA.

In a speech at the ceremony held at the Ikwueke Central School, Umuigu, the Minister for Regional Development, Mr Abubakar Momoh, expressed delight that NDDC was delivering on its mandate of regional transformation.

Momoh advised state governments and the regional interventionist commissions recently inaugurated by the Federal Government to enter into strong partnership with NDDC to fasttrack the development of their respective states and the region in general.

He said that the present management of the commission, led by Dr Samuel Ogbuku, was poised to establish a culture of delivering the commission’s projects so that successive managements would key in toward ensuring that NDDC projects would no longer be abandoned.

The minister directed the commission to undertake the immediate renovation of the school, venue of the event, said to be built in the 1950s and presently in a sorry state of dilapidation.

In his remark, Gov. Alex Otti of Abia thanked the commission for the number of projects it had executed in the state, which had contributed to the expansion of infrastructural projects in the state and enhancement of the people wellbeing.

Otti, representated by his Chief of Staff, Caleb Ajagba, expressed the readiness of the State Government to collaborate with the commission and other interventionist agencies for the rapid transformation of the state.

He also expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu and NDDC “for their unwavering commitment to the transformation of the Niger Delta region”.

He said that the reconstructed roads would help to boost the transportation of people and agricultural produce from the rural communities to the cities as part of the measures to check food shortage.

The governor charged the benefitting communities to take ownership of the roads in order to ensure that they served their purpose.

The NDDC boss said that the commission was committed to fostering healthy partnership with the states to drive the process of infrastructure development of the region.

According to him, the NDDC projects were merely complementing the efforts of the State Governments in tackling the infrastructure deficits in the region.

He gave credit for the numerous projects executed by the present management and board of the commission to the president and his Renewed Hope Agenda.

“The president’s Renewed Hope Agenda is practical and that is why you are witnessing practical outcomes that are beneficial to the citizenry,” Ogbuku said.

He promised that more projects would be initiated by the commission to ensure that the three senatorial districts of Abia benefitted from its numerous transformational projects.

The Chairman of the board, Mr Chiedu Ebie, affirmed the commission’s commitment to discharging its mandate, geared towards making life more meaningful for the people of the region.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on NDDC, Sen. Achibong Ekpenyong, said that the National Assembly would continue to give the commission the necessary legislative support to ensure that it delivered on its mandate to the region and its people.

Ekpenyong, who led other members of the committee to the event, said that more people-oriented projects were underway for the region, in line with the objective of the president’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Sen. Austin Akobundu and Rep. Obi Aguocha, representing Abia Central Senatorial District and Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South Federal Constituency of Abia, respectively, commended NDDC for the good job it was doing in the state.

They, however, requested for more intervention in other critical areas of both physical infrastructure and human capital development.

Earlier in an address of welcome, the Abia Representative in the Board of the commission, Chief Dimgba Eruba, said that NDDC had executed meaningful projects that had made life more meaningful for the people.

Eruba said that the reconstructed roads would help to improve transportation and enhance commerce and socio-economic development of the area.

He thanked the president for giving the commission the enablement and leverage to deliver the dividend of democracy to the people and pleaded for more projects to be cited in Abia.

In a speech, the Executive Director, Projects, Mr Victor Antai, said that the road, covering 18.25-km, was awarded in 2019 and commended a former House of Representatives member, Chief Emeka Atuma, who hails from the area, for attracting and ensuring the project completion.

Antai also said that the second phase of the road project in the area, linking Oboro and Olokoro in Umuahia South LGA, covers 5.5 kilometres.

He said that the completion of the two roads and other adjoining roads would help to boost agriculture and commerce in the area.

He further said that the long stretch of the solar-powered streetlight on the Ndioro-Ntalakwu Road, being part of the contract, would enhance illumination and security of lives and property in the area.

“With these projects, NDDC is making a statement that it is making a difference in the region,” Antai said.

The Teaditional Ruler of Oboro, Eze Larry Agwu, said that the reconstruction of the roads would help the benefitting agrarian communities to transport their produce to the urban towns for sale.

Agwu appealed to the commission and Federal Government to also intervene in other roads and school infrastructures that were begging for attention, in order to make life more meaningful for the people.

Report says that other prominent people from the South-East at the ceremony, included Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe and Sen. Victor Umeh, representing Abia South and Anambra Central, respectively, and traditional rulers from the two LGAs, amongst others. (NAN)