By Francis Sadhere, Warri
Star Deepwater Petroleum Limited, a Chevron Company and the operator of the Agbami field, together with the parties in the Agbami field – Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Famfa Oil Limited, Equinor Nigeria Energy Company Limited, and Prime 127 Nigeria Limited, have donated a model block of classrooms to Government College, Ughelli, Delta State on Thursday, March 18, 2021.
The Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, represented by his Chief of Staff, Dr Otive Igbuzor applauded the Agbami Parties for the donation.
“We commend the Agbami Parties for this CSR project and are particularly happy on the focus of this project on infrastructure and education which, according to development theories, are two of the key areas critical for the development of a nation,” Omo-Agege said
At the Virtual event to handover the project, Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, who was represented by the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. Patrick Ukah, commended the Agbami Parties for an outstanding donation.
Okowa said, “I am most delighted and happy because this project stands out. What you have done is actually a whole school project because it has all the attributes a school should have. The lab and everything you have put in that school are modern and state of the art.”
According to Robert Hulett, Director, DW and Production Sharing Contract (DW & PSC) Star Deepwater Petroleum Limited, the multi-floor Model classroom comprises: Thirteen (13) classrooms with three hundred (300) sets of furniture, plus twelve (12) sets of teachers’ chairs and tables; an ICT center and computer room, including a set of main servers with a broad bandwidth subscription and all hybrid equipment required for the ICT center to function effectively; a library with book shelves, tables and benches; a fine art room; a sick bay with mini beds; a 40KVA power generator and other functional rooms.
He noted that the Agbami parties have also implemented other projects in the past in Delta state, which include three science laboratory complexes with fully furnished and equipped Physics, Chemistry, Biology laboratories built and donated to Zik’s Senior Secondary School Sapele, Alaka Grammar School, Ozoro and Unity School Agbarho respectively.
The others include a Chest Clinic built and donated to the Tuberculosis and Leprosy Referral Center, Eku, two hybrid libraries built and donated to Uwheru Secondary School, Uwheru and Ubeji Secondary School, Ubeji. “In addition, a Mother and Childcare Center at Sapele Central Hospital, and a model classroom block project at Essi College Warri are nearing completion and will soon be commissioned”, he informed.
Mr. Modupe Alakija, Chairman/CEO, Famfa Oil Nigeria Limited, who was represented by Dapo Okewole, Chief Financial Officer, reiterated his Company’s delight with the Social Investments of the Agbami Parties. “We are happy that this block of classrooms is one of several other projects donated by the Agbami Parties, to various educational and health institutions across Nigeria, including 28 chest clinics and 39 science laboratories complexes, for the development of the health and education sectors.”
Similarly, Mr. Bala Wunti, Group General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), represented by Group General Manager Services, Yunusa Yahaya, explained that the NNPC together with the Agbami parties have executed several Social Investment projects in Delta State which included two thousand seven hundred and forty-seven (2,747) special scholarships.
“We applaud the Agbami Parties for their continued partnership and collaboration with the NNPC in our drive to deliver impactful social investments interventions to our people” he added.
In the same vein, Ms Christel Kvalvik, Managing Director, Equinor Nigeria Energy Company Limited, one of the Agbami Parties, expressed her delight with the project.
“Equinor is happy to work with other Parties in the Agbami Field to ensure Nigerians have access to technical skills, quality education and employment opportunities through the execution of projects in various parts of the country,” she reiterated.
Esimaje Brikinn, General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs, Chevron Nigeria Mid-Africa Business Unit appreciated NNPC for its support for the Agbami Parties. “We thank NNPC for partnering with the Agbami Parties on Social Investments in the areas of Education, Health and Economic Development.” “We are also proud that this project was built, one hundred percent, by Local Community Contractors.”
Esimaje also thanked the Delta state Government for the continued support of the operation of Chevron Companies in Delta State while appreciating the presence of top Government officials like the Secretary to the Delta State Government, Mr. Chiedu Ebie; Member Representing Ughelli North/South/Udu Federal Constituency – House of Representatives Hon. Rev. Ejiroghene Waive; Commissioner for Oil & Gas Ministry Hon. Emma Amgbadugba, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education – Comrade Sam Dietake and others, at the virtual event.
The Agbami field is operated by Star Deepwater Petroleum Limited, a Chevron Company. Other participants in the Agbami field are the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Famfa Oil Limited, Equinor Nigeria Energy Company Limited, and Prime 127 Nigeria Limited.
The Agbami field is located 70 miles (112 km) off the coast of Nigeria and the structure spans an area of 45,000 acres (18,200 hectares) from Block OML 127 into Block OML 128 in approximately 48,000 feet (1460 M) water off the central Niger Delta.
