The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL)/ Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) Joint Venture (JV) has inaugurated the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Ugboland in Ondo State.
The Board was inaugurated on Monday in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) initiative of the Federal Government.
In his address of welcome, Mr Esimaje Brikinn, the General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs of the CNL said that the PIA would further galvanize development in the host communities.
Represented by Mr Rilwanu Momodu, Chevron’s Area Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs (PGPA), Brikinn urged members of the BoT to collaborate with the CNL as partners to ensure it’s operations benefit all the stakeholders.
He said that the oil multinational
had worked over the decades to deliver energy that had improved lives while striving to meet social and environmental goals.
Brikinn said that Chevron in 2005 floated the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU), a community-led participatory partnership model for community development adding that the model had since served as a developmental template in the industry.
The general manager noted that through the GMoU model, the company had been able to improve the quality of life in over 400 communities in it’s social investment interventions in the areas of health, education, and economic empowerment.
“I convey to you the appreciation of the management of CNL, the NUPRC and NUIMS on this occasion.
“Today’s event is a fulfilment of that requirement and serves to assure that communities around where we operate continue to enjoy the benefits of social and economic development.
“Partnership is one of our core values as a company and we are very proud of the mutually beneficial relationship that we have with our host communities.
“We work to deliver energy that improves lives while striving to meet social and environmental goals.
“Through decades of experience, we have learned that our business success in providing affordable, reliable, ever-cleaner energy is directly tied to the progress and prosperity of the people we work with and the communities where we operates.
“It was on this premise that we pioneered a GMoU in 2005. With the enactment of the PIA, CNL has, therefore, transited from the era of GMoU/OMoU to the PIA.
“As mandated by the Act, the vehicle of engagement between settlor and host communities is the HCDT.
“With the enactment of the PIA, a regulatory framework through the HCDT provisions of the Act is now provided to enable the development of our host communities,” he said.
Brikinn said that Chevron was in support of the PIA and other industry improvement initiatives by the federal government.
He said that the multinational was committed to fulfilling all it’s
regulatory obligations as it operationalized the HCDTs to sustain the existing cordial relationship between it and the host communities.
“As we start this new journey together, we request the continued support of all our stakeholders to ensure that the aims and objectives of the PIA are achieved and the communities around us become more prosperous.
“With this, we hope to see a new operating environment where partnership triumphs and industry challenges such as oil theft, work disruptions, asset vandalism and insecurity are finally eliminated,” Brikinn said.
