PANDEF To Meet On Niger Delta, Youth Devt

ksmar October 25, 2017 Headlines, News Leave a comment 845 Views

 

By Joel Anekwe, Port Harcourt

 

The Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) says it would hold a conference in Port Harcourt on issues relating to the development of the Niger Delta region, its youths and maritime university, amongst others.

A former Minister of Aviation and Labour, who is also one of the leaders of the forum, Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas, at a press briefing on Monday, said that they are engaging the Federal Government on the development of the region and called on the youths in the oil rich region to be patient with the forum.

He said that the Niger Delta was changing from its violent agitation to constructive engagement with the Federal Government and other stakeholders in order to achieve the goal of returning the region to its former position of an investors’ haven.

Graham-Douglas added that PANDEF- the current voice of the region can resolve the region’s challenges with such constructive engagement, and explained that the forum had recorded a lot within the past one year, including halting attacks on oil installations.

“Many times, because the blood of the youths is hot, they run into problem,” he said adding that “through the maturity and instrumentality of PANDEF, the cases of attacks on oil installations to reduce production has been brought to a halt.”

Graham-Douglas stated further; “We want to be peaceful, but the government of the day must listen to our cries. We are backward in terms of development. We are changing the narrative from violent agitation to constructive engagement with government and other stakeholders for sustainable development.

The aim is also to return the Niger Delta region to its former position of being an investors’ haven,” Graham-Douglas, who is also the chairman of the organising committee of the forthcoming PANDEF conference”.

He maintained that the youths should not be in a haste, adding that with the pattern PANDEF was following, it would not be long before the challenges of the region would be resolved.

On the seeming docile nature of the forum, he countered; “We have been proactive. Apart from the vice president going round the region, a number of committees have been set up, including the one to review the 16-point agenda.

“We (PANDEF) were involved in ensuring that the maritime university, which was earlier cancelled, was reinstated. We said 16-point agenda and magnanimously, they (Federal Government) said 24-point agenda.”

Graham-Douglas, a state leader of PANDEF in Rivers State, pointed out that the forum would meet with relevant agencies to know why they had not been able to contribute their quota to the development of the region.

Others, who spoke on PANDEF’s activities and the forthcoming conference, which is slated for Thursday October 26, 2017, are a frontline Niger Delta leader and member of the forum, Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe; and the national secretary of Urhobo Youth Leaders’ Association, Chief Vincent Oyibode.

Share Post on

Check Also

Make Methane Reduction a Business Priority, NLNG’s Falade urges Gas Industry

... Says Monetisation Initiative Cut Nigeria’s Gas Flaring from 65% to 20%  By Paul Williams   NLNG has urged the global gas industry to make methane reduction a business priority, adding that every tonne of methane released into the atmosphere represents lost revenue and gas that could otherwise reach the market.  The company said its experience shows that investment in reducing these losses can pay for itself while cutting emissions and improving plant efficiency.  Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NLNG, Mr Adeleye Falade, made the call at Gastech 2026 Exhibition and Conference in Bangkok during a panel titled “Capturing the Lost Opportunity: Driving Global Alignment on Methane Abatement Across Natural Gas Supply Chains.”  He said the NLNG approach starts with measuring methane losses and using the findings to guide investment in leak prevention and gas recovery, with independent verification to ensure credible reporting.  Falade said the industry needed to shift the conversation from the cost of methane reduction to the value it creates, recognising that preventing gas losses serves both commercial and environmental objectives.  “Every tonne emitted is lost product, lost revenue and lost energy; gas we could have sold. Every molecule of methane avoided is both an emissions reduction and a recovered energy resource,” he said.  He cited NLNG’s new boil-off gas compressor and start-up gas recovery project as examples of investments that support this approach. Each project targets methane reductions of approximately 10–15 per cent, and both have positive projected net present values, meaning their anticipated financial benefits exceed their costs over the life of the projects.  Falade said, “The most compelling business case is the simplest one: the projects that cut our methane also pay for themselves. The same discipline that reduces methane also improves asset reliability and plant efficiency. The returns show up in more places than the emissions ledger.”  He explained that credible measurement underpins NLNG’s investment decisions, which allows the company to identify methane losses, direct resources to the right interventions and assess the results.  He noted that NLNG’s experience demonstrates that gas producers in developing economies can establish globally trusted emissions-reporting systems by investing in monitoring infrastructure, building reporting capabilities and submitting their data to independent scrutiny.  Falade highlighted NLNG’s Gold Standard recognition under the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0 and said the company was the first in Africa to achieve Level 5 methane emissions reporting.  He added that its measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) system is independently assured by DNV in accordance with ISO 14064.  NLNG’s approach includes site-wide optical gas imaging, a structured Leak Detection and Repair programme, and the phased deployment of continuous monitoring and real-time dashboards across its plant and vessels.  …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Powered & Designed by SuccessTrend Web
© Copyright 2017 - 2026 PhMundial, All Rights Reserved