Total Nigeria, a major oil company with operations in the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil industry, has said that it supported the fight against the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria with N1.2bn.
Managing Director, Deep Water, Total Upstream Companies in Nigeria, Ahmadu-Kida Musa, disclosed this at the Process Safety Reliability Group – Richardson Health, Safety, Security and Environmental virtual forum.
In his speech at the forum, which was made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday, Musa said Total with its partners, led by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, contributed to a donation of N21bn in support of the Federal Government’s COVID-19 efforts.
“Total’s contribution was $3.2m (N1.2bn). We have also supported the Lagos State Government with critical supplies and medical equipment.”
He stated that in Rivers State, the firm reached out to stakeholders by providing medical supplies, while its downstream company, Total Nigeria Plc, donated N50m as part of a combined contribution from the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria.
On the development of local capacities, Musa said Total would continue to work with stakeholders, especially the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board to ensure the sustainable economic development of Nigeria.
He said the company makes an annual expenditure of over $40m on Corporate Social Responsibility in Nigeria with investments in capacity development, employability, health, education as well as infrastructure.
He said one of such investments include the Institute of Petroleum Studies, Port Harcourt, which was established in 2003.
“It offers education on industry-oriented training, continuing education, applied research, capacity building and community service to meet technological advances in the oil and gas industry,” Musa stated.
He said MIT-Empowering the Teacher programme enables outstanding young Nigerian lecturers in the area of science and engineering to collaborate with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in developing new curriculum and teaching methods.
He said these methods adopt MIT’s emphasis on problem-solving and developing entrepreneurial attitudes among students.
