…flays FG over unfulfilled promises

By Tare Youdeowei

The Chairman, Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas, HOSTCOM, Ijaw Ethnic Nationality, Delta State, Mr. Kingsley Ikiere, has  appealed to the Niger Delta Avengers to “hold the fire” and maintain the peace rather than resume hostilities in the region, just as he condemned the Federal Government for not fulfilling its promises to the people of  the oil-rich Niger Delta.

Speaking in Warri, Delta State, while reacting to the planned resumption of hostilities, Ikiere pleaded with the Avengers to “hold the fire” and embrace dialogue.

Commending the militant group for the ceasefire declared some months ago, Ikiere pleaded that it should be sustained, saying that there is no sacrifice too much to make for peace to reign.

“I appeal to the Niger Delta Avengers to give peace a chance and adopt dialogue. I know that the people of the region are tired of the failed promises of the Federal Government, but dialogue remains the best option and that is why I am pleading with the militant group not to strike again at oil facilities. We have enjoyed relative peace since the declaration of ceasefire by the Niger Delta Avengers. Oil production has picked up since the militant group pulled out of the creeks. I want to appeal that the prevailing peace should be sustained, no matter the vexed issues in the region begging for the attention of the Federal Government,” the HOSTCOM chairman said.

Berating the Federal Government for not fulfilling its promises to the people of the Niger Delta, he urged the government to act fast on its promises, saying that the people were running out of patience.

According to him;”The Federal Government should stop reneging on its promises to the people of the region. Now that the government is making so much money again as a result of the peace embraced by militants in the Region, there is the need for the government to reciprocate the gesture by doing the needful for the poverty-stricken people of the region because the people are running out of patience by the day”.

“An hungry man is an angry man. I want to implore the Federal Government to keep its own side of the bargain while we call on the militants to still maintain the peace because peace is golden”, he added.

File HOSTCOM

Shell empowers 30 Bayelsa youths with N12m start-up capital

By Samuel Oyadongha

Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, yesterday, presented a business support grant of N12 million to 30 Bayelsa youths under its LiveWire entrepreneurship scheme.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony in Yenagoa, Mr Igo Weli, General Manager, External Relations, SPDC, said the company has so far empowered 6,580 Niger Delta youths between the ages of 18 and 35 through the scheme..

Represented by Mr Kiri Obomanu, Head of GMoU Maturation Unit of SPDC, Weli said the beneficiaries have undergone training in essential business and entrepreneurship management.

According to him, 150 young entrepreneurs participated in the 2017 edition of the Shell Live-wire programme in the Niger Delta region.

The scheme, he added, assisted young people to start their own businesses and create employment rather than seeking for elusive employment opportunities.

Mr Collins Cocodia, Bayelsa Commissioner for Youths Development urged SPDC to strengthen its collaboration with the state government on youth’s empowerment. He thanked the oil firm for the initiative and urged the beneficiaries to maximise the opportunity by taking their peers off the employment market.

Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Miss Bertha Erekosima, who specialised in bags and shoes production commended SPDC for the scheme and pledged to keep the objectives of the programme.

Also, Mr Sapele Lawrence, who specialises in fish farming, said that he would deploy the grant to expand his existing farm, saying: “I am also looking at producing fingerlings because here in Bayelsa, we don’t have anyone involved in breeding and fish farmers travel to Delta to get fingerings, so I will further deploy the grant into these areas.”