Day: April 9, 2023

The Nigerian Independent Petroleum Company (NIPCO), says it has intensified investment in gas infrastructure to aid diversification and Nigeria’s energy transition.

Mr Suresh Kumar, Managing Director, NIPCO Plc, who said this during a facility tour of the company on Sunday in Lagos, added that it would also reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.

Kumar said that the organisation had deepened gas usage and market penetration in the country through massive investment in the sector.

He said that as the Federal Government plans to put an end to fuel subsidy, natural gas by Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Auto CNG were bound to be a preferred “fuel of choice”.

According to him, the benefits of the natural gas is that it is safe, environmental friendly, economical, among others.

Kumar said that the company had invested massively in gas infrastructure, in line with Federal Government declaration of 2021 to 2030 as “Nigeria’s Decade of Gas“.

He noted that the declaration is a period the government aspired to accelerate domestic and export gas production and utilisation.

He said that NIPCO was intensifing investment in gas infrastructure to bolster the gas agenda of the Federal Government, which was getting a booster.

According to him, already, the company has established Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) facilities across the country to make cars run on gas.

He also said that NIPCO had been expanding its scope on supply of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and constructing new pipeline infrastructure to strategic locations in the country.

Kumar, said the company had invested over 50 million dollars in developing Nigeria’s natural gas over the years, while more projects were still in the offing.

He said: “We have spent more than 50 million dollars on natural gas infrastructure over the years. We believe that there are lots of potential in Nigeria that can be explored for gas utilisation, and this will further boost our economy.

“By using indigenous gas, we can reduce subsidy burden on the Federal Government.

“We can also reduce the importation burden and that will directly or indirectly reduce capital flight and create more employment opportunities for Nigerians.

“We are the pioneers. We always dream for the future. So, we dreamt for natural gas utilisation in Nigeria right from 2008 and we started investing.

“We introduced this model to the government. Nigeria is a country that has abundant natural gas and instead of wasting subsidy on petrol, we should be looking at a blueprint that can change the petrol market to CNG market,” he said.

According to him, NIPCO is an integrated company that supplies Nigerian market with petrol, diesel and gas.

Kamar said the company currently has about 19,500 metric tonnes combined storage capacity for LPG with 10 loading bays, which could truck-out over 4,000 tons per day.

Also speaking, Mr Nagendra Verma, Managing Director, NIPCO Gas, said the company currently has 14 CNG filling stations in various states across Nigeria and another six CNG stations, currently under construction.

He said over 7,000 vehicles were currently running on CNG, adding that over 350 truck fleet belonging to NIPCO were all on gas.

“We have workshops which are fully efficient and fully capable to convert PMS vehicles to gas, we have the expertise and we are ready to convert more vehicles to run on gas, he said.

Verma said: “So, we intend to have CNG stations in almost all the states of Nigeria, wherever the pipeline is available.

“Presently, we are laying LNG pipeline for 80 Kilometer pipeline from Shagamu interchange to Ibadan.

“The pipeline work is going on. We expect to commission first phase by the end of December 2023.

“And the entire pipeline is expected to be completed by next year.”

According to him, the company is also developing gas pipeline infrastructure in Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos, which is currently nearing completion.

He said the company is currently constructing a propane tank of 500 metric tonnes capacity, the biggest in Nigeria, in a bid to meet up with the federal government requirements of mixing certain quantity of propane with butane for domestic gas.

Verma said that the propane tank would be completed in the next three months.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Hong Kong, based Capo Daniel, said he tendered his resignation letter to the leader of one, of the frontline groups fighting for the independence of the former Southern Cameroons, now North West and South West regions.

In a video shared on Easter Sunday, the now-former Spokesperson and Deputy Defense Chief of the armed wing said he resigned due to divergence with the organization.

“I think makes it impossible for me to continue serving our Liberation Movement in those capacities. I thank Dr. Cho Ayaba for his trust during my time in the organization and will continue working for our liberation movement selflessly.”

Mr. Ngong Daniel had been a frequent user of the group’s Facebook page, with his podcasts on the state of their struggle.

He told CNA newsroom on Sunday that the divergence concerns, “differences regarding the internal functioning of the organization. It’s confidential but those are differences that have made it difficult for me to carry out my functions”

Asked if he is tired of the war and wants some time to rest, he said,

“I did not resign from the war. I resigned from the positions I hold in the Ambazonian Governing Council. I still believe in the movement and will continue my advocacy for the rights of self-determination for the territory and support the arm resistance. I will transform my media platform into a non-communal organisation for the advocacy of Ambazonian independence

In a Youtube video, he said, ” The subjects of these issues do not serve any public interest. But all the cycles of AGOVC are very much aware of these issues…I want to thank Dr. Cho Ayaba for the trust he had in me, for allowing me to serve”

On Saturday, April 8, 2023, the leader of the Ambazonia Governing Council, Dr. Choo Ayaba, acknowledged the resignation of Capoi Daniel, wishing him well in his future endeavours, “Myself, the Ambazonia Governing Council (AGovC), Ambazonia Defence Forces, and the Ambazonian people wish to thank comrade Capo Daniel for his great services and contribution to the organization, our people and our liberation. He stood up for Ambazonia, defended Ambazonia, and took a firm stance against blackmailers, scavengers, disrupters, and Cameroun the butchers of our people. We received and accepted his letter of resignation. He served the organization and our people well when very few could speak for Ambazonia. We wish him luck in his new activism endeavours. We have reached a critical point of divergence and l am obliged to accept his resignation”

Capo Daniel said he will go solo by creating a pressure group to keep his activism alive.

Since 2016, the North West and South West regions, have been hit by a conflict between government forces and separatists. After a ferocious government crackdown, the teachers’ and lawyers’ strike action was transformed into a civil society protest, leading to a failed dialogue on January 13, 2017. This led to the arrest of frontline leaders on January 17, 2017, leading to handing over of power to the diaspora.

The Diasporans demanded outright independence of the regions, creating armed groups that have been fighting for the past seven years.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The Community Aid for Rural Deve lopment (CARD)-Ghana, has called on males to lead the campaign for female leadership in their communities as females have the potential to contribute meaningfully to community and national development.

It said some girls and young women shunned leadership roles both in institutions and in the communities due to some social and cultural norms and values that discouraged female leadership.

Miss Leenat Abdul-Rahaman, the Executive Director of CARD-Ghana, made the call during a training workshop for She-Leads Male Champions in Wa organised by CARD-Ghana as part of the She-Leads project implementation.

She-Leads is a five-year project (2021-2025) that seeks to increase the sustained influence of girls young women on decision-making and the transformation of gender norms in formal and informal institutions that hinders female leadership.

The project is being implemented in the Upper West Region by CARD-Ghana in partnership with Plan International Ghana to advocate for increased acceptance of girls and young women leadership and their inclusion in decision-making processes at all levels.

Miss Abdul-Rahaman said as part of efforts to encourage girls and young women to take up leadership roles, CARD-Ghana was supporting instrumental females who had expressed interest in taking up leadership positions in both mainstream and students’ politics saying, ‘that does not mean we are supporting any political party.’

She urged participants to share the knowledge gained at the workshop with other members of the team in their communities to help ensure the success of the project.

Participants were educated on the provisions of some legal frameworks that protected the rights of women and girls.

They were the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), and the Children’s Act of Ghana.

In her presentation on the legal frameworks, Madam Charity Batuure, the Upper West Regional Director of the Department of Gender, noted that it was against the law for any woman or girl to be taken through any form of degrading treatment and discrimination.

She urged parents to take interest in the welfare of their children and to listen to their concerns saying, ‘if you don’t listen to them, they will do things in their own ways and the results will not be good.’

She stressed the need for issues of concern to children’s development to be included in policy formulations adding that, ‘the healthy development of the child is crucial to the future well-being of every society.’

On her part, Pognaa Amaamata, Mumuni, the Queen Mother of Duori, a suburb of Wa, who made a presentation on gender, urged the participants to put in conscious efforts to ensure women stood par with their men counterparts.

She said this could be achieved through ensuring women’s accessed resources such as land, and involvement in decision-making among others since the absence of that led to discrimination against women and widened inequalities between men and women.

The participants expressed commitment to ensure that barriers against women leadership at the community level were removed.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Reverend Johnnie Titus Kwame Kuzagbe, the lead Pastor of Rhema Basilica Assemblies of God at Mataheko-Redrow Estate, has reminded Christians that Christ did not come to save the righteous, but to deliver sinners from their bondage.

He said the scriptures had explicitly indicated in Romans 3:23 that ‘for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,’ but it was the blood of Jesus Christ that cleansed all inequities, making all righteous before him.

Rev. Kuzagbe, who was delivering his Easter message, said Jesus Christ came to save the world but not to condemn it, hence his death brought deliverance to the oppressed.

He encouraged Christians to pray for the ability to discern between good and evil, stressing that although human beings had limitations, that should not prevent them from seeking Jesus Christ.

Rev. Kuzagbe used the occasion to clarify the misconception that the Christian community hated LGBTQ+, saying ‘we have a stand as believers, we don’t hate them, but the sins they are committing is what we are condemning’.

He said the practice was hated by God because he created male and female to co-habit by the stand of the Holy Bible, and not what was currently projected by these practitioners.

However, he said, Christ loved them and encouraged Christians to reach out to them.

Mr Tweneboa-Koduah Kusi, the President of Assemblies of God Campus Ministry, also encouraged students now on vacation to limit their funfair during the festive season and join other Christians to evangelise to persons, who were yet to come to the saving knowledge of Christ in their respective communities, to save their souls from eternal damnation.

He advised the youth to use their strength to evangelise to the world, warning that a time would come, that they would no longer be able to actively do that due to their failed strength.

Source: Ghana News Agency