BusinessDay 23 Mar 2018

Friday 23 March 2018
BUSINESS DAY
13
CITYFile
Charles Aigbe, divisional head,
brand and communications,
Fidelity Bank plc, lecturing
students of Government Day
Secondary School Adankolo,
Lokoja, Kogi State on “Money
matters matter” during the
Financial Literacy Day.
Why communities must join fight
against pipeline vandalism – FG
JOSHUA BASSEY
The Federal Government says the
involvement of local communities
in its Disaster Risk Reduction
(DRR) project is required
to successfully tackle pipeline
vandalism and its socio-economic consequences.
Pipeline vandalism, a willful act of
damaging petroleum pipelines mostly
with the motive to steal crude oil and associated
petroleum products, is a regular
occurrence in Nigeria.
Pipeline vandalism with associated oil
spillage is seen as one of the major contributors
to pollution and environmental
degradation in oil rich Niger Delta areas of
the country. The illegal practice has over
the years destroyed arable land for agriculture
and caused huge economic losses in
terms of revenue to the government
Peter Idabor, the director-general of
National Oil Spill Detection and Response
Agency (NOSDRA), at a public sentisation
campaign on dangers of pipeline vandalism,
which held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State,
recently, said there was the need for an
effective collaboration between oil bearing
communities and government to check
the negative effects of pipeline vandalism.
Idabor, represented by Simon Ugbe, a director
at NOSDRA, said that the agency planned
Police nab 4 suspected rustlers, recover 176 cows
The police have arrested four suspected
rustlers, recovered 176 cows
and 64 sheep at Bakoro village in
Nasarawa local government area of
Nasarawa State.
Kennedy Idirisu, police public relations officer,
in Nasarawa, disclosed this to newsmen,
Wednesday in Lafia, the state capital. Idirisu
said the arrest followed a joint operation by
the counter-terrorism unit of the police with
the federal and state anti-robbery squad.
According to him, the operation was
necessitated by increased reports of cattle
rustling and armed robbery along Nasarawa-
Toto axis of the state. Investigations, he said,
revealed that most of the cows recovered
to expand the scope of the DRR project to all
communities in the Niger Delta region.
According to him, the pilot scheme of
the DRR plan, which was carried out in
Rivers and Bayelsa between 2014 and 2015
by NOSDRA, recorded a huge success.
Idabor said government was ready to
sustain the sensitisation, engagement and
empowerment of all stakeholders in the efforts
to curb vandalism. He called on stakeholders
in oil-producing communities to
see oil pipelines in their communities as
their project and be willing to protect such
facilities and the environment.
“The agency is dedicated to expanding
the scope of the DRR project to all the communities
of the Niger Delta and driving it
through a strategy, which is the continuous
sensitisation, engagement and empowerment
of all stakeholders.
“I, therefore, urge you to cooperate
with the government to make this project
more successful and memorable. It must
be stressed that the mitigation of disasters
by promoting collaboration with our local
communities will enhance sustainable
development and reduce level of poverty
in the Niger Delta region,” he said.
He emphasised that the DRR would
be a community-driven, communityimplemented,
community-monitored and
community-evaluated project.
According to him, the DRR plan was
from the suspects were rustled from Zamfara,
Sokoto and Niger.
The spokesperson said that the leader
of the gang, Sani Tawani, had confessed to
the crime, saying that he usually stopped
at major towns after each operation to sell
some of the animals at cheap prices.
“Sani confessed that majority of the cattle
were stolen from Zamfara through Birningwari
and down to his camp in Bakoro village
in Nasarawa.”
He said the police was investigating to
ascertain the level of involvement of the
suspects in other cases of rustling in parts
of Niger and Zamfara. He also said that the
police was on the trail of other suspects,
developed by NOSDRA to create and
sustain an interface with stakeholders in
efforts to curb pipeline vandalism across
the country.
“While it is true that crude oil is spilled
into the environment due to equipment
failure or pipeline vandalism by unscrupulous
elements; it also contributes largely to
the menace that results in adverse socioeconomic,
health and environmental
conditions.”
Iniobong Essien, commissioner for
environment and mineral resources, Akwa
Ibom, said that environmental pollution
and ecosystem damage by oil spills should
be discouraged by communities.
Essien noted that the communitybased
disaster risk management approach
would strengthen stakeholders’ engagement
and facilitate peaceful co-existence
between the host communities and oilproducing
companies.
The DRR project, he said, was a departure
from the past where communities affected
by oil spills were not allowed to participate
in the remediation programmes.
Essien called on the communities to
embrace the DRR plan, adding that the
plan would help to unite the communities
in understanding the risks as well as
engender their input in preparedness,
instigation and preventive actions against
pipeline vandalism.
who escaped with bullet wounds during
the operation.
“The suspects engaged the police during
the operation, but due to superior fire power,
the police was able to subdue them and
arrest four. We also recovered some empty
shell of 7.62mm ammunition purely meant
for AK 47 and AK 49 riffles,” Idirisu added.
The police spokesman said that a locally
made gun and seven motorcycles were also
recovered from the suspects.
Audu Balingo, owner of some of the cows,
who is from Zamfara, said he could only
identify five among those recovered. He said
that 50 of his cows were stolen from his base
in December 2017.
Buhari to chair 10th Bola
Tinubu colloquium
JOSHUA BASSEY
President Muhammadu Buhari is
expected to other Nigerians to Lagos
next Thursday as chairman of the 10th
Bola Tinubu colloquium to commemorate
the 66th birthday of the former governor of
Lagos.
According a statement signed by Tunji
Bello, secretary to the Lagos State government,
this year’s event, with the theme: “investing
in people” holds at the Eko Convention
Centre, Victoria Island, and is expected
to bring together stakeholders including
policy makers, academics and members of
the civil society groups.
It is expected that the gathering at which
Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode
would be the chief host would provide a talk
shop for attendees to tell the unique Nigerian
story of what it means for the government
to act as a social investor in the affairs of its
people.
According to the state, the colloquium
will ascertain whether the quest for the
government to act as a social investor can be
regarded as campaign slogan or a mere ideology
with no incremental/socio-economic
benefits.
The gathering will also debate whether
such decision by government should be
regarded as a necessary policy action which
the nation must embrace if she must witness
any real development.
The yearly event has become a veritable
ground for sharing knowledge, experiences
and information around socio- economic
issues and addressing the common governance
challenges confronting Nigeria.
Last year, the topic was “make it in Nigeria”
and it provided avenue to examine critically
how Nigerians can look inwards and
use what they produce while also ensuring
that they produce what they use.
At the 8th edition which took place in
Abuja in 2016, the theme was “agriculture:
action, work, revolution while in 2015 at
the seventh edition, the organisers chose
change: how it will work”.
Ready-Set-Work: Lagos begins
training of 25,000 undergraduates
Lagos government has begun the sensitisation
of 25,000 undergraduates
selected for its graduate employment
training scheme tagged ‘Ready-Set-Work.
The state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode,
at the commencement of the sensitisation
programme held at Lagos State University
(LASU), Ojo campus, said that his administration
decided to upscale the scheme to
accommodate 25, 000 students, higher than
12, 000 trained in 2017.
Represented by Obafela Bank-Olemoh,
his special adviser on education, Ambode
said that the expansion of the programme
was a reflection of his administration’s allinclusive
policy and aimed at preparing the
undergraduates for the world of work.
“You can change your own life because
the Ready-Set-Work scheme offers you a lot
of opportunity. There is case of visually impaired
who participated in the programme.
Today, she has been employed. This programme
is a demonstration of government’s
commitment to ensure that our graduates
meet the need of the labour market.
“I can assure you your life will never
remain the same after the 13 weeks of the
training. During the training, attendance is
a must and you must be seated by 8:45am.
At least you must attend the class for a
minimum of 11 Weeks otherwise you can’t
proceed with your colleagues. All these are
to prepare you for the challenges of labour
market,” the governor said.