By Paul Williams
Gas company, NLNG, has handed over the last school under the second phase of its School Renovation Project, Community Primary School, Lighthouse Area, Finima, Bonny, to the Rivers State Ministry of Education.
A release signed by Manager, Corporate Communication and Public Affairs, Anne-Marie Palmer-Ikuku, said the School Renovation Project was initiated to upgrade learning environments and strengthen the foundation of education in NLNG’s host communities.
Implemented in collaboration with the state Ministry of Education, the initiative is anchored on NLNG’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) philosophy, built on sustainability, stakeholding, partnership, and shared prosperity.
Under the second phase, five schools across different local government areas benefited from extensive renovation and construction works.
The schools include Community Secondary School, Abalamabie in Bonny; Community Secondary School, Amadi-Ama in Port Harcourt; Community Secondary School, Abarikpo in Ahoada East; Model Boys Secondary School, Omoku in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni; and Community Primary School, Lighthouse Area, Finima, Bonny.
The scope of work included the refurbishment of three existing classroom blocks, and the construction of two new blocks and new block of toilets.
The project also delivered enhanced facilities such as a perimeter fence and gates, a gatehouse, external landscaping, an overhead water tank with a 7.2-metre gantry, water reticulation systems, and an electrical power tie-in.
Speaking at the handover ceremony on Bonny Island on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, NLNG’s General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Sophia Horsfall described the handover as an “expression of NLNG’s evolving partnership ethos, one shaped by shared responsibility, measured progress, and long-term vision.
“At NLNG, we transform natural gas into national value, and part of that value is NLNG’s commitment to improving the standard of education in our host communities and across Nigeria. A school is a nation’s most strategic investment. It is, in many ways, a declaration of faith in the future.
“This project reflects how high NLNG places education; our children and their learning environment matter. Education remains one of the most decisive levers of sustainable development. Our investment in these schools reflects a deliberate choice to strengthen the foundations that allow young people to thrive and communities to advance.
“Each completed project reaffirms our conviction that access to quality learning environments is essential to equity and progress in Rivers State,” she said.
Horsfall noted that the delivery of all five schools under the second phase is a tangible outcome of NLNG’s consistency in advancing education and inclusive growth in the state.
“NLNG remains intentional about creating long-term value that extends beyond the energy sector value that builds capacity, broadens opportunity, and leaves a durable mark on the lives we touch,” she said.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Rivers State Ministry of Education, Dr. Azibaolanari Uzoma-Nwogu, represented by Alua Adiela, Director of Secondary Education, commended NLNG for its steady, hands-on commitment to education in the state.
She noted that NLNG’s consistent interventions are transforming how students perceive their potential, infusing new energy into public education and rebuilding trust in the system.
According to Dr. Uzoma-Nwogu, these efforts demonstrate that education truly thrives when government and the private sector move in the same direction.
“This newly renovated Community Primary School answers that call. Through the partnership of NLNG, the Rivers state Ministry of education, the community’s leadership and the Finima Development Committee, we now have classrooms that inspire, water facilities that dignify, and learning spaces that affirm that education is not a privilege, but a right. NLNG’s investment here reminds us that education infrastructure is a national duty shared by all.”
The release noted that since inception, NLNG has championed educational advancement through scholarships, institutional support, technical skills training, and community partnership initiatives that continue to turn corporate responsibility into tangible, life-changing impact for students, educators, and future leaders.
Nine schools have been commissioned and handed over to the Rivers State Ministry of Education under the project.
On the sidelines of the handover was the commissioning of the newly upgraded Finima Sports Complex, a project aimed at advancing educational access, empowering youth through sports and skills development, and nurturing inclusive community progress.
