By Davies Iheamnachor, PORT HARCOURT

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, has promised that it would deal with all issues of environmental pollution and social impacts in the Niger Delta region occasioned by oil exploration activities through social intervention programmes.

This was as Total Energies/NNPCL handed over a Women Development and Skills Acquisition Centre built in partnership with South Atlantic Petroleum Limited, CNOOC, Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, and Prime 130 Nigeria Limited in Port Harcourt to the state government for the use of women.

The project which is aimed at providing an avenue for the development of vocational skills for women and the young people of the state is equipped with facilities for fashion designing, catering and computer training.

Speaking at the commissioning of the facility in Port Harcourt, the Chief Upstream Investment Officer, NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services, Mr. Bala Wunti, said the project was part of the companies’ Corporate Social Responsibility to their society.

Wunti, who spoke through Edith Lawson, the EAD, NUIMS, noted that the Total Energies/NNPCL would continue to ensure that the effects of oil activities on the environment and social life of the people are cushioned, adding that NNPCL is a socially responsible business.

He said: “NNPCL is a socially responsible business that is geared towards the economic empowerment of the communities, and the country at large.

“We are sensitive to the needs of the people and our goal is to ensure that Nigerians benefit from Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) interventions based on verifiable and critically assessed needs of the various identified beneficiary states across the country.

“The Petroleum Industry Act’s provisions ensure that communities receive direct social and economic benefits from energy operators.

“In NNPC Limited, our vision for social intervention is to continue to operate in an ethical and sustainable manner and deal with the environmental and social impacts occasioned by our activities.”

He added that the projects were borne out of the need to mitigate the gaps in health care, quality education, water and women and youth empowerment in line with the relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Also, the MD/Chief Executive and Country Chair of Total Energies Upstream Nigeria Limited, Mr. Matthieu Bouyer, said the completion and commissioning of the training facility was in furtherance of the CSR initiative of the firm’s Deepwater Asset Operations.

Bouyer, who was represented by Executive Director, People and Country Services, Evi Ifekwe, said Total had in 2016 commenced deployment of infrastructures across the country, adding that at the moment 64 projects have been completed and commissioned.

He said: “In 2016, Total Energies commenced robust plans to deploy CSR infrastructure development across the country, which resulted in a strategy to deliver 84 physical projects across the six geo-political zones in Nigeria.

“Of these infrastructure projects, 64 have already been completed and commissioned from the earlier phases. In 2023 a total of three projects have been completed. Another 17 are at the advanced stages of completion and are planned to be unveiled before the end of the year.”