Page 42 - Nigeriaone mag 3 edition en

Mr Udengs Eradiri, a former President of Ijaw Youth
Council (IYC), and a current youth leader had
proposed that the modular refineries that the
government intends to set up should absorb the
youths involved in artisanal refining.
According to Mr Eradiri, artisanal refining in the
region is popularly known as ‘kpoo fire’ were actually
resolving a problem of shortage of petroleum
products in the region, as the unavailability and
scarcity of the product in the region resulted in the
artisanal refiners becoming players in the
downstream sector. As their activity in the sector
sort to fill a vacuum that existed.
The activities of the illegal refiners has posed a
serious problem in the region, as Governor Nyesom
Wike of Rivers State has actively waged a war against
illegal refineries in his state, the former IYC
Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, Governor of Rivers State
president acknowledged the problem and suggested
that the war could not be won by the use of force “As part of our Nigerian Content Development
alone. mandate, we are actively involved in skills
Mr Eradiri had advocated for a carrot and stick development programmes at various levels to ensure
approach to be applied to addressing the problem of that technical skills required in the oil and gas
illegal refining in the region and advocated against sector are readily available,” Obah said.
the use of force and security agency to tackle the In verifying the claims of the director, the News
problem. Agency of Nigeria (NAN) checks reveal that the
The youth leader stated that there were serious NCDMB has announced the construction of a
ramifications of forcing the illegal refinery modular refinery on the 3rd of February, 2021 with a
operators out of business without adequate capacity of 2,000 barrels per day (bpd) in Brass,
preparation of an alternative source of livelihood for Bayelsa was under way.
the artisanal refiners. He stated that if the issue was NAN investigation reveals that the modular refinery
not delicately handled, it could result in another is the 4th supported by the NCDMB under the
layer of crisis in the region, adding that the skill set planned initiative of the Federal Government of
acquired by the youth would prove useful – and that Nigeria to use modular refineries as a mechanism
if harnessed would provide the manpower that is and tool to drive the development in the Niger Delta
required for the intended modular refineries. region and also enhance the capacity of local
In his response, a Director at the Nigerian Content refining in Nigeria.
Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr
Patrick Obah mentioned at a recent forum that
government had set up several skill acquisition
initiatives targeted at integrating artisanal refinery
operators with the necessary education and training
necessary to upgrade the skill set of the artisanal
refiners. However, he was quick to point out that the
initiatives are yet to yield the desired and expected
results.
“We at the NCDMB were involved in talks to bring
the local operators together and we have been
working with the Bayelsa Government and not much
has happened in that direction. Rivers State Seal

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