By Our Correspondent

Star Deepwater Petroleum Limited, (a Chevron company) and its co-venturers in the Agbami field – Famfa Oil Limited, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Petrobras and Statoil and the Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND) have received accolades from Ondo State government for sponsoring 40 youths in the Youth Cassava Project at Ore, Ondo State.

The State Commissioner for Agriculture Hon. Pastor Olusegun Ayerin who represented the State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, gave the commendation during the launch of the Project at the Ore Agro-business City on Thursday October 13, 2016.

He thanked Chevron, the Agbami co-venturers and PIND for the partnership and noted that such effort will go a long way to help improve the employment situation in the state and develop the agricultural sector. He emphasized that the Wealth creation initiative was established to help tackle the scourge of unemployment among the youths in Ondo State through a comprehensive Agricultural development plan.

The Chairperson of the Ondo State West Creation Agency (WECA) informed that the Agency was established in 2009 with the mandate to accelerate the development of the State through initiatives in Agriculture and agro-allied businesses. She stated that the Youth Cassava project was part of the overall program to engage the youths in Agriculture thereby increasing food production in the State for local consumption and export. She also thanked Chevron, the Agbami partners and PIND for the partnership and expressed the confidence that the project will achieve its objectives with the full attention it is receiving from the State government.

The Director, Star Deepwater Petroleum Limited, Mr. Jeffrey Ewing who was represented by the Area Manager, Policy Government and Public Affairs (PGPA), Mr. Esimaje Brikinn noted that the Cassava Project will have a tremendous impact on the youths in Ondo State through employment creation, poverty reduction, skills acquisition, and livelihood improvement, as well as support the development of rural-based cottage industries to ensure the growth of the local economy.

He stated that the Agbami partners’ Agro-based Economic Empowerment Development projects also include the sponsorship of an Oil Palm Processing Project in Imo State, Dry Season Vegetable Farming Project in Katsina State and the Development of Rice Value Chain in Niger State adding that they also have several Projects, either on-going or completed, across the country which are mainly chest clinics, libraries and science laboratories.

Mr. Brikinn also said that the Agbami parties have built and donated 25 fully equipped modern Science Laboratory complexes and also trained laboratory technologists and science teachers to run these facilities across Nigeria, he also mentioned that the co-venturers have instituted specialized educational scholarship programmes in support of health and engineering manpower development in Nigeria through targeted support for medical, nursing, laboratory sciences and engineering students. He said that over 15,000 Nigerians have benefited from the Agbami Medical and Engineering scholarships, with about 1, 930 of the number being indigenes of Ondo State. The representatives of the Agbami parties also made goodwill remarks at the event. The dignitaries later participated in the cultivation of cassava stems at the demonstration farm as part of the flag off of the project.