Yemisi Izuora
Deepwater Petroleum Limited, a Chevron Company and its Co-venturers in the Agbami field have boosted healthcare services in 3 key states in the north east where government is battling to rehabilitate hundreds of thousands of people devasted by Boko Haram insurgency.
At the ceremony where ambulances were handed over by the company, director deepwater and production sharing contracts of Star Deepwater Petroleum Limited, Jeffrey Ewing commended government efforts in returning peace and rebuilding the affected areas in the states most affected by the insurgency in the North East.
Represented by Senator Aluko, Director, Government Affairs, Ewing noted that the company’s
intervention was a demonstration of its commitment to support the efforts of government in providing adequate and accessible healthcare in the benefiting states and the nation at large.
He noted that the importance and usefulness of ambulance service in any structured health system cannot be overemphasized, adding, “It is in recognition of this reality that Star Deepwater Petroleum Limited, a Chevron Company and our Co-venturers – Famfa Oil Limited, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Statoil Nigeria Limited and Petroleo Brasileiro Nigeria Limited – in the Agbami field; have undertaken this project aimed at preserving lives. The ambulances we are providing today are fully equipped with modern equipment that will enhance the effective delivery of emergency relief”.
He said that at Star Deepwater, a Chevron Company and its Coventurers, they share the belief that the most rewarding investment is the investment in lives, because the greatest assets of a nation are its people.
This is the underlying philosophy behind our social investment in the areas of health, education and economic empowerment, we believe in the principle of adding value and enriching lives in any society we operate in, Ewing noted.
According to Ewing, Although the Agbami Field is located approximately 70 miles (113 kilometers) offshore Nigeria, and in line with the Deep Offshore Community Affairs Group (DOCAG) engagement principles, Co-venturers view the entire country of Nigeria as Agbami community.
We have invested in the provision of chest clinics, surgical clinics and laboratories in different states of the nation running into billions of naira.
Star Deepwater, in collaboration with our Co-venturers in the Agbami field have also built 25 well-equipped chest clinics, 16 hybrid libraries and 32 science laboratories in states all over Nigeria. One of the Science Laboratories is sited at Government Secondary School, Fufore, while there is a Hybrid Library donated by a Chevron Company and its partners in Aliyu Mustapha College Yola, both in Adamawa State.
In addition, the Agbami Co-venturers also has an Agbami Medical and Engineering Scholarships (AMEPS) scholarships targeted at building capacity in Medical Sciences and Engineering across the nation. Over 15,000 scholars have enjoyed the scholarship, with 8000 currently benefiting from the scheme.
“I am happy to say that 42 students from Yobe, 85 students from Borno and 70 students from Adamawa respectively are presently enjoying the Scholarship. We are also visible in the area of economic empowerment as we provide entrepreneurs with the necessary support in diverse areas in their entrepreneurial drive.
All our successes would not have been possible without partnership with the Government as well as organisations with diverse competencies. Let me therefore, thank our partners and every stakeholder that has contributed to the seamless delivery of our past programmes and today’s event.
More importantly, we are grateful to the governments of Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states for their utmost support; and we are confident in your ability to put these ambulances into good use for the benefit of the citizenry” he said.
In his remarks, the managing director, Petrobras who was represented by Meg Irozuru, Government Relation & Nigeria Content Development Manager said the intervention was another testament to the commitment of the Agbami Co-venturers to support the continued development of Nigeria in all spheres.
“We are proud of our interventions in areas of health, education and economic development. Our intervention footprints are visible in every part of this country and continue to add value to the standard of living of Nigerians.
As earlier established, access to good health is key to the socio-economic development of a country. And as a result of the insurgency in the North east and the attendant concerns, access to basic health has become even more paramount. This further emphasizes the essence of an effective ambulance system that will be able to penetrate even remotest communities. Our intervention today is in response to this” he said.
Also, Folorunso Modupe Alakija,managing director of FAMFA who was represented at the occassion by Olawole Oladapo, Senior Joint Venture Accountant, said, “I am deeply honoured to be here today. FAMFA Oil Limited is one of the parties in the Agbami Field and together with our Co-venturers we have consistently undertaken initiatives that contribute to the empowerment and development of Nigerians in every part of the country”.
Alakija continued, “We do this as a way of delivering on our corporate social responsibility. Today we are donating ambulances to facilitate improved healthcare; however, our interventions are not limited to health. Our corporate social responsibility initiatives cut across health, education and economic empowerment.
Just recently, we commissioned a cassava programme in Ondo state to empower young entrepreneurs in the agric business.
The “agropreneurs”, as we called them, were empowered in different areas such as skill acquisition and provision of enabling tools.
Our expectation is to see them contribute immensely to the vision of the government to make agriculture the mainstay of our economy.
The donation of ambulances is our way of supporting the efforts of the government in providing good healthcare to our fellow citizens in the benefitting states, especially communities that have been worst hit by insurgency.
We believe that access to good health is a necessity, more importantly for women and children in these communities. And I am confident that our intervention today will go a long in supporting the Government efforts to provide accessible healthcare for our people in the benefiting states”.