Photo caption: Donation of the Mother and Child referral centres to Yobe State government officials by the NNPCL/CNL Joint Venture
By Emeka Ugwuanyi
Chevron entities in Nigeria including Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), operator of the joint venture between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and CNL (NNPCL/CNL JV), Star Deep Water Petroleum Limited (a Chevron company) and its parties in the Agbami field have donated health facilities and equipment to hospitals in Rivers and Yobe States as part of the company’s strategic support to improve education and healthcare delivery in the country.
Also, Star Ultra Deep Petroleum Limited (a Chevron company) and its co-venturers in the Oil Prospecting Mining Lease (OPL) 140 donated educational equipment to schools in Oyo State and organized computer training programme for teachers.
In Rivers State, Star Deep Water Petroleum Limited and the Agbami parties including NNPC Limited, FAMFA Oil Limited, Equinor Nigeria Energy Company Limited, and Prime 127 Nigeria Limited handed over a fully built and equipped chest clinic to the General Hospital, Eleme as a demonstration of its continued pursuit of quality healthcare delivery in line with the expectation of being socially responsible to the people and communities around and beyond their areas of operations. Star Deep Water Petroleum Limited and the Agbami parties have built and commissioned twenty-eight (28) chest clinics with state-of-the-art equipment in different parts of the country.
The Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, represented by Dr. Chidinma Oreh, Rivers State Commissioner for Health, thanked Star Deep Water Petroleum Limited and the Agbami parties for helping to expand the frontiers of healthcare delivery in the State. She stated that “The conceptualization of this chest clinic shows the commitment of the Agbami parties to supporting the government’s fight against diseases as this facility is built to allow for testing of presumptive tuberculosis cases amongst others in support of the government’s mandate to eradicate TB before 2035.”
Earlier, the NNPCL/CNL Joint Venture donated newly constructed and fully equipped Mother and Child Referral Centers to General Hospital Yunusari, General Hospital Fika, Yusufari Comprehensive Health Center, and Yobe State University Teaching Hospital Damaturu. The Yobe State Governor, Mallam Mai Mala Buni (CON), represented by the deputy governor, Hon. Idi Barde Gubana described the donation of the referral centers as a timely intervention that would help in delivering quality healthcare to the people. “We thank the NNPCL/CNL Joint Venture for this and other previous interventions in Yobe State. These have helped to facilitate the implementation of many reforms and capacity building of health workers as well as programmes such as Maternal, Newborn and Child Health; support to pregnant women and children under the age of five and accident victims.”
In Oyo State, Star Ultra Deep Petroleum Limited and its co-venturers in OPL 140 comprising Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL); Oil and Gas Nigeria Limited; and Lukoil Company Nigeria Limited donated and handed over 100 Computers, projectors, printers, Science laboratory equipment and School textbooks to five schools in the State. The schools include Christ Apostolic Grammar School, Aperin Oniyere, Ibadan; Queen of Apostle Secondary School Agugu, Oluyoro, Ibadan; Anglican Grammar School, Ogbomosho; Ogbomosho Grammar School and Ibadan Grammar School. Star Ultra Deep Petroleum Limited and the OPL 140 partners also organized a training programme for 50 teachers focused on computer appreciation, use of basic Microsoft Office programmes like MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
The Executive Governor of Oyo State, Engr. Seyi Makinde who was represented by Mr. Olusanjo Joel Adeniyi, Permanent Secretary, Oyo State Ministry of Education, commended Star Ultra Deep Petroleum Limited and the OPL 140 co-venturers for their support towards improving the quality teaching and learning in the State.
Bala Wunti, Chief Upstream Investment Officer, NNPCL Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS) who was represented at the various events stated that NUIMS is committed to working with its partners in undertaking community development projects like the donation of health facilities and equipment that help to improve the quality of life of the people.
Esimaje Brikinn, CNL’s General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs, said the donations are part of the company’s intervention projects in support of improved access to quality healthcare in Nigeria. “These efforts fit into our overall strategy of supporting government’s efforts in improving the nation’s health system, which we view as critical to the social and economic development of the country,” he said.
