Hails President Tinubu for his special interest in ND
A call has been made for communities affected by gas flaring occasioned by exploration activities in the Niger Delta region to show more patience and trust the current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as it intensifies efforts to bring lasting solutions to the issue of gas flaring in Nigeria.
The plea was made over the weekend by a Non Executive Director on the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Dr. Eunice Thomas, when Ala-Uchi Women Development Initiative met with her in Ibeno, Akwa Ibom State, on an advocacy visit. Ibeno is host community to ExxonMobil Nigeria Unlimited.
Addressing their concerns, Dr. Eunice Thomas who is in the Sustainability Sub-Committee of the NNPC described the President as gender-friendly and gender-sensitive, and assured them of his deep interest in the communities where exploration activities are being done. She recalled that the President was clear about it when he inaugurated the NNPC Board of Directors on the need for adequate attention to be accorded these communities.
According to her, God brought President Tinubu at a time like this and for the sake of the people in communities affected by gas flaring. She referred to the Presidential CNG Initiative (Pi-CNG) as one of the key initiatives of the President that strengthens conviction that he means well for Nigerians. The Pi-CNG is a component of the palliative intervention the President Bola Tinubu administration directed at providing succour to the masses occasioned by the transitive hardships of fuel subsidy removal.
She also disclosed that the NNPC, through its Gas and New Energy Department is doing so much to ensure that flared gases are being compressed into CNG and reticulated for home use.
Acknowledging the impacts of IOC’s activities in communities and homes, she further pleaded with the women to continue to speak to their husbands, brothers and sons for more understanding. She assured them that eventually, they will testify about the leadership of President Tinubu.
Using the occasion to remind them of the need for constant self-development and personal capacity-building to match opportunity when it comes, Dr. Eunice applauded the leaderships of the Senate and House of Representatives for its collaborative efforts at deepening women participation in legislative governance and representation at the National Assembly and sub national levels. Recently, a bill to create additional 74 seats for women had passed a second reading.
Earlier, the women group led by its president, Pastor Glory Thomas and Secretary/Programme Director, Mrs. Cecilia Samuel had registered their advocacy for flared gas in the community which it said is causing so much damage to their health and environment to be ‘trapped’ into cooking gas. It also requested for the provision of pipe borne water as borehole water which is the main source of domestic use in Ibeno communities, according to them, has been contaminated by crude oil.
The group, advocating for “clean environment, women rights, good governance, women inclusion in governance, clean and affordable drinking water for all,” also requested that a probe be directed at oil companies that are divesting from Ibeno as they are leaving behind underwater pollution, oil spill and failed oil infrastructures. Furthermore, it wants all divestments plans to be halted for the environment to be totally cleaned and remediated for human health and safety.
They also solicited for support for some of its members to attend the COP 29 in Baku which will hold in November this year.
