Posted by Niger Delta Youth Council
From Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), has expressed delight at the cordial relationship between the Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL) and its communities in Niger Delta region.
This is even as the company has engaged the services of town criers in its commitment to curbing vandalism on Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) corridor.
Head of Field Operations, Eastern Corridor, Project Monitoring Office (PMO, NNPCL), Akponine Omojevwe, while speaking at PINL’s monthly stakeholders’ meeting with host communities in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Friday, said the testimonies from council chairmen, traditional rulers and group were remarkable.
Omojevwe said his company (NNPCL) would like to adopt the model PINL is using in its operations in TNP eastern corridor. He, however, charged the surveillance company and host communities to sustain their cordial relationship, so as to increase oil production.
He expressed: “When I sat down there and I began to listen, I saw the collaboration between the communities and PINL. It’s a very cordial one, which means PINL has developed a model that can be used.
Earlier, the General Manager, Community and Stakeholders Relations, PINL, Dr. Akpos Mezeh, said the company had launched a community-based communication initiative that deploys local town criers to strengthen real time security awareness along the Eastern Corridor of the TNP. He explained that the engagement of two town criers, one male and one female in each community was recommended by stakeholders at the previous meeting and had now been formally adopted.
Mezeh said the town criers would play a central role in disseminating verified information, supporting on-going sensitisation efforts, and enhancing early warning intelligence. He noted the already improving flow of communication across the 215 host communities in Rivers, Bayelsa, Imo, and Abia states, ultimately supporting PINL’s mandate to maintain uninterrupted production on the TNP.
Source: The Sun