Marketers blame NLNG for high cost of cooking gas

Chima Ibeneche, MD, NLNGUnless the current trend in the supply chain of Liquified Petroleum Gas otherwise known as cooking gas is reversed, the effort of the Federal Government in ensuring a cheaper price for the product may be jeorpadised as marketers are poised for a showdown with the management of the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas NLNG whom they accused of colluding with its appointed offtakers to derail the noble objectives of the government in the sector.

The NLNG recently appointed six offtakers namely Hyson a subsidiary of NNPC from the public sector, Global Oil and Gas, Hermik Gas and Greenfield International Energy from the private sector.

Unfortunately none of the offtakers appointed by the NLNG has investment in gas marketing but emerging trend according to the Nigerian Tribune investigation showed that the LPG plant owners may soon be at the risk of these offtakers who prefer to sell gas to plant owners through middlemen

And to compound their problem further, Nigerian Tribune checks showed that the NLNG (the main gas supplier in Nigeria) is not favourably dispose to bulk dealing gas plant owners in gas sales. The non challant attitude of the NLNG to the disposition of the dream of the government in making gas cheaper for Nigerians by appointing the offtakers instead of selling directly to gas plant owners according to Nigerian Tribune investigation may lead to high cost, sourcing LPG with the attendant effect in cylinders

Nigerian Tribune gathered that marketters have petitioned the Minister of State for Gas, Mr. Emmanuel Odusina, over the development.

The marketers told the Nigerian Tribune that the Minister has promised to draw the attention of the NLNG to the gas master plan as it relates to domestic use but that up till now nothing has been done in that direction fueling the fear that the cartel of offtakers have succeeded in derailing government's plan of making cooking gas cheaper.

The marketers said their fear was founded on the recent offensive launched by the offtakers alluding the high cost of cooking gas in the country to the logistic problem they are exprien-cing at the Apapa Jetty which is the only recipient point for LPG.

The Public Affairs Manager, Petroleum and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Mr. Raph Ugwu, in a telephone conversation with the Nigerian Tribune over alleged logistic problem at the Apapa Jetty by offtakers said there is no basis for such allegation.

Chevron donates educational materials to schools

Komolafe Rasheed, Lagos - updated: Tuesday 24-06-2008

The Chevron Nigeria Limited, Operator of the NNPC/Chevron Joint Venture, has established Learning Centers in four schools in Lagos State under the pilot phase of its partnership program with Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership and The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation to enhance learning in Nigeria.

The Chevron beneficiary schools under the partnership program according to a statement from the General Manager, Policy Government and Public Affairs of the company, Mr. Femi Odumabo, include Badore Primary School, Ajiran Primary School, Ikota Primary School and SEEDS Educational Center. The schools, all in Eti Osa Local Government Area of the state, are benefitting under the program to extend the power of educational media technology to students and community members and enhance teacher education in Nigeria.

At the event to hand over the Learning Center to Ikota Primary School, Mr. Joe Jakpa, Chevron’s Manager, Policy Government and Public Affairs in Lagos said that the partnership was in line with Chevron’s goal of applying collective resources and expertise in order to achieve greater long-term benefit for communities in Nigeria.

He requested parents and guardians to continue to pay attention to the progress of their wards and to support the program by reporting improvements and changes in the children’s learning abilities. This, he noted, would ensure that a proper monitoring and evaluation score card could be determined.

Dr. Felicia Moh, Country Representative, Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership, praised the turn out of parents, teachers, community leaders and the local government education representatives. “I am particularly happy because we kept the promises we made in February and have delivered in May. This was only possible with the support and collaboration from our partners and the Lagos State Education Board,” she said.

The representative of the Education Secretary of Eti-Osa Local Government Area, Mrs. Ethel Otabo, admonished teachers to be fastidious in keeping data during the execution of the program so as to monitor the progress of the pupils. She advised the teachers to utilise the equipment properly and keep parents informed on their children’s development.

In each school, a 34 inch television set, a power generating set, DVD player, thirty nine educational DVDs that included one hundred and forty programs on different subject areas were donated.

Each school, the statement stated further, will receive regular training, monitoring and support by Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership over the course of three years.

At the end of each project year a monitoring and evaluation team will visit each school to assess the impact of the program on the children, teachers and the community. Under the partnership program with the DCGEP, Chevron and The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation are to deploy materials to four schools each during the pilot phase, and are projected to reach 5,000 students and 15,000 community members.