Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — French multinational, Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, TEPNG/NNPC JV has donated relief materials to flood victims in OML58 host communities, as part of its corporate social responsibility.
Items donated include, bags of rice, bags of beans, salt, kegs of palm oil, vegetable oil, bags of garri, yam tubers, beverages, toiletries, blankets, mattresses, among others.
Handing over the items to the King of Egiland for onward distribution to impacted persons, Total Deputy Managing Director, Port Harcourt District, Engr. Guillaume Dulout, said the gesture was out of the goodwill and support which the company enjoys from the community.
Dulout represented by the Deputy General Manager, Community Affairs, Engr. Okechukwu Obara, urged Egi leaders to ensure the items donated are judiciously distributed to impacted persons, who are in dire need of the items.
“We are here to commiserate with Egi people and Ogba people. It is unfortunate what you are passing through right now. Egi has been there for Total, that is why Total can never turn its back when Egi needed help.
“Instances abound when the Niger Delta region was a theatre of war, particularly against oil installation, but within that period, nothing happened to our operations in Egi, because of the relationship between Egi and Total.
“The company is aware that things like these will happen from time to time, and expectations will be high. So as soon as we got signals from NIMET about flood, estacodes were raised and committees were formed.
“So we are here to reach out to those people impacted by flood, particularly the vulnerable, the widows, children and women to alleviate their sufferings.
“We are not saying we will solve all the problems, but to say we understand you are in this difficulty and please accept this little we can give to you.”
Receiving the items, the King of Egiland, HRM Prof. Anele Nwokoma, commended Total for the gesture and for identifying with Egi to ameliorate the hardship of communities impacted by flood.
“I am for Total as much as for Egi, because if anything happens to Total operations, Egi will suffer and vice versa.
“The flood has not even receded, it took just few days for Total to respond to our plight and I think that is because an Egi son is sitting as a Deputy General Manager in Total.”
Also speaking, the Chairman of Egi Clan Oil and Gas Landlords Producing Families and Communities, Hopeson Dike, commended the management of TEPNG for sharing in their pains.
Dike also cautioned community leaders to be accountable with the relief materials to ensure it gets to the impacted persons.
Photo: Some of the items donated by TEPNG to flood impacted communities in Egi, OML58
