• This Day (Nigeria) aagm: Political Economy of Sustainable Democracy in Nigeria (2)

Grant Fund will support projects that include tangible, performance-based environmental and health outcomes -- and that can serve as measurement and results-oriented models for implementation across the nation.
Compliance and Environmental Stewardship
The FY 2006 President`s Budget requests $761 million to implement national programs to promote and enforce compliance with our environmental laws, and to foster pollution prevention and tribal stewardship. The Agency will employ a mixture of effective inspection, enforcement and compliance assistance strategies. Also within this goal, EPA will protect human health and the environment by encouraging innovation and providing incentives for governments, businesses, and the public to promote environmental stewardship. In addition, EPA will assist Federally recognized Tribes in assessing environmental conditions in Indian Country, and will help build their capacity to implement environmental programs.
The Agency`s enforcement program works with states, tribes, local governments and other federal agencies to identify the most significant risks to human health and the environment, address patterns of non-compliance and work to ensure communities or neighborhoods are not disproportionately exposed to pollutants. This flexible, strategic use of EPA`s and our state and tribal partners` resources brought over 1 billion pounds of pollution reduction in FY 2004, and helps to ensure consistent and fair enforcement.
EPA also strives to foster a culture of creative environmental problem-solving, not only with our state, tribal and federal partners but also with industry, universities and others. The result is a high capacity for implementing collaborative results- driven innovations and the organizational systems to support them. The President`s Budget supports pollution prevention and other efforts to improve environmental performance, looking at the full range of possible interventions that would reduce waste created, reduce highly toxic materials in use, and reduce the energy or water resources used. These changes also make good business sense, often improving ``the bottom line`` for participating companies.
Agency resources for tribal programs support their environmental stewardship through a variety of means in every major program: air, water, land and others. In the Compliance and Environmental Stewardship goal, General Assistance Grants develop tribal capacity to implement environmental programs in Indian Country in line with local priorities. In FY 2006, EPA will support approximately 510 federally recognized tribes through these grants.
Effective Management
Throughout its operations, EPA is working to maximize effectiveness and efficiency, implementing new information technology solutions and streamlining operations. The research and development areas, for example, will see changes geared toward maximizing the effectiveness and relevance of applied research throughout the Agency. Continuing to improve internal controls and accountability is another priority. FY 2006 marks the next phase in our financial systems replacement which will enhance our internal systems. For our work with external partners, the Exchange Network and the Integrated Portal will provide the foundation for states, Tribes, the public, regulated community and EPA to increase data availability, collect better data and enhance the security of sensitive data.
Finally, EPA is making our grant programs work better. We are using new tools to help us achieve our goals: increasing competition for discretionary grant awards, making grants more outcome-oriented to meet Agency performance goals, strengthening oversight and accountability and providing more transparency to promote an open process.
Document CGT0000020050524e15j0000d
This Day (Nigeria) - AAGM: Niger-Delta: Floating Mega Stations to the Rescue.
Onwuka Nzeshi

1,951 words

19 May 2005

This Day (Nigeria)

AIWTHD

English

The Financial Times Limited. Asia Africa Intelligence Wire. All material subject to copyright. This Day (Nigeria) (c) 2005 All rights reserved
Owing to the peculiar terrain of the Niger Delta, it is always difficult to get fuel to the reverine areas. The conventional filling stations cannot be of much help in redressing the situation. In realisation of this, the authorities have come out with an initiative to build six mobile filling stations that will float on water.
In the last few years, the Niger Delta region of Nigeria has been on the front burner of national discourse. Years of neglect by successive governments combined with environmental degradation resulting from oil exploration activities engendered youth restiveness unprecedented in the history of Nigeria.
The multinational oil companies did not help matters as they carried out their activities with very scant regard for their host communities.
The youth took up arms against the government and the oil companies. Even local leaders that were suspected to be collaborators were not spared.
But as has been noted several times, poverty is at the root of the crisis in the Niger Delta. If a people suffer deprivation or perceive that they have been deprived of what rightly belongs to them, they have no option than to take steps to redress the situation as they see fit.
However, since coming to power in 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo has taken steps to ameliorate living conditions in the Niger Delta.
In a report submitted to the Urhobo Historical Society, Dr Emmanuel Ojameruaye of the
International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH), Arizona, USA, noted that: "The Niger Delta region covers an area of about 70,000 sq. km. In strict sense (as was in the past), the Niger Delta is limited to the geo-political area occupied by minorities of Southern Nigeria (South-South zone) currently comprising the six states of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Rivers. In recent years, however, especially since the establishment of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Niger Delta region seems to have been redefined and enlarged to include the contiguous oil producing states of Abia, Imo and Ondo. About 13 million people currently live in the "original" Niger Delta region in a few large cities and over 3,000 small and often remote communities/villages in the mangrove, swamp and lowland rain forests. However, not all the communities in the Niger Delta are oil producing or are sufficiently close to oil producing wells or facilities. While the upland areas of the Niger Delta are densely populated, the swamps have scattered settlements that take advantage of higher ground. Farming and fishing are the main economic activities in the communities while commerce and oil-industry related activities dominate the urban areas. The terrain is extremely difficult and a substantial portion of the region falls under the 'world's fragile ecosystem'.
"Many communities live along creeks and are accessible only by boats. The riverine communities are particularly vulnerable to climatic changes and man-made disasters (floods, sea encroachment, oil pollution, piracy, hostage taking, communal conflicts, etc). The region is faced with a lot of developmental and environmental challenges including high level of poverty, decline in agricultural production, low level of industrial activities, environmental degradation and social conflicts."
He said Nigeria has much to learn from the Chadian model, especially in the following areas:
- Application of the principles of institutional transparency and accountability in the management of oil revenue.
-Use of a substantial portion of the oil revenue to improve the quality of life of the poor through investment in health, education, water and sanitation, rural development, local capacity-building, enterprise development, micro-finance and environmental management.
-Setting up a fund for the use future generations.
-Giving special attention to the oil-producing region.
Recent developments in the Nigerian oil industry show that the issues raised by Ojameruaye have largely been addressed especially since the tenure of the present Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Corporation (NNPC), Engr. Funsho Kupolokun.
Kupolokun's leadership has impacted positively on the situation in the Niger Delta.
The latest in the effort to alleviate poverty in the region is building of floating mega stations in the Niger Delta. By the project comes on stream it will solve one paradox of the Nigerian petroleum industry, the paradox of the area that produces oil not having enough of it. It is not easy to carry fuel into the hinterland of the Niger Delta through the creeks.
In order to step the tide of fuel scarcity in the country; the Federal Government had asked NNPC to build mega filling stations in all the 36 states of the federation. While it is easy to build mega filling stations in other parts of the country without any demographic bottleneck, it is not so easy in the Niger Delta. Many states already have mega stations, which are competing favourably with other filling stations in the areas where they are located.
In an interview with journalists recently, Kupolokun said the idea of floating mega station came from President Olusegun Obasanjo. According to him, when the president visited Bayelsa State, he discovered that it was difficult to make fuel available to the people due to the terrain of the area. He then asked the NNPC to explore the possibility of establishing mobile mega stations that would float on water and can be moved from one location or the other.
The NNPC boss said boats would be used to take fuel from the mega station to the areas of need while the station could be moved from one point to another any time it becomes necessary to do so.
He said it is in Europe that floating stations fuel stations exist at the moment so the proposed projects for the Niger Delta will be the first in Africa.
The NNPC boss said the president has given the corporation a marching order to get the project on stream within the shortest time possible.
He said contract for the project has been awarded to Julius Berger Plc and that NNPC will open discussion with state governments in the region on the modalities for facilitating the execution of the project within one year from the date of contract award. As part of the package mini refineries will be established from where the floating mega stations will be fed.
During his state visit to Delta State in April, President Obasanjo has said that the Federal Government would soon build a mini refinery at the Escravos, Delta State.
When the refinery comes on stream according to him, it would have a capacity of refining 30 million barrels of crude oil per day. He stressed that when operational; the mini refinery would be producing 50,000 litres of petrol daily, as well as 20,000 of jet fuel per day.
Explaining further, he said when the crude oil is refined, it would be channelled to the floating mega-filling station to be built in the reverine areas.
The floating mega station project is only an aspect of a cocktail of oil projects designed to alleviate poverty in the Niger Delta and create jobs in the region. The other aspect is the $4.76 billion Escravos Gas to Liquids project (EGTL) expected to produce 34,000 barrels per day of gas to liquids (GTL) products. NNPC and its joint venture partner, Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) have awarded a contract for its execution.
The contract for the engineering, procurement and construction of the Escravos gas to Liquids plant, which is valued at $1.7 billion, was awarded to Team JKS, a consortium of Kellogg, Brown and Root, Snamprogetti and JGC of Japan.
The gas plant to be located at CNL's facility at Escravos, Delta State will produce gas to liquid products, which include high-demand low sulphur GTL diesel (22,100 bbl per day), GTL naphtha (10,330 bbl per day and an unspecified amount of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).
The EGTL plant will use the slurry Phase Distillate (SPD) process, a registered and trade marked technology package owned by Sasol of South Africa, which is also providing risk-based finance for the project.
Kupolokun said the investment would bring a cutting edge energy technology to Nigeria and make it one of the leading countries in the fast-growing global GTL industry. He added that EGTL's use of gas to produce high performance energy products with lower environmental impacts will "help in creating a cleaner environment whilst at the same time, delivering huge gas resource".
Construction and technical commissioning of EGTL is expected to be completed by late 2008 with the plant becoming fully operational soon after, he said.
Speaking on the benefits of the project, Kupolokun said it is in line with the priority goal of the Federal Government for putting a stop to routine gas flaring in the country within the next few years.
The execution of the EGTL project, he sad, will provide clean energy to ready buyers in the international market, particularly those in the West African sub-region are going to receive supplies through the West African Gas Pipeline Project (WAGPP).
He noted that apart from its environmental benefits, the new gas project will provide more than 2,000 jobs and training for Nigerians in new skills and technologies.
Kupolokun said the project to construct and install a mini refinery at the Escravos under a joint partnership with Chevron has received the approval of the Federal Government. It would be executed on a counterpart funding basis of 60 - 40 with NNPC providing 60 per cent of the capital while Chevron pays the remaining 40 per cent.
He said the actual project cost of the mini refinery would soon be made public after the conclusion of tenders. Products from the refinery are to be used in fueling boats, helicopters, fixed-winged crafts and others, he said. The mini refinery, which according to him is being planned as a purely commercial venture would on completion, be able to deliver 525,000 litres of PMS and 795,000 diesel per day as well as other products.
Under Kupolokun, the Nigerian oil industry has undergone a major transformation. Because of his leadership style, he has gained the respect and confidence of the oil majors. This has made it possible for Nigeria to push through major reforms in the oil industry.
For instance, Chinese firms are also becoming increasingly involved in the Nigerian oil sector. In November 2004, NNPC and Kupolokum announced an agreement to develop two blocks in the Chad Basin, constructing a refinery and several pipelines. In December 2004, Sinopec (China) and NNPC signed an agreement to develop the Niger Delta's OML 64 and 66, with production expected to commence in late 2005.
Also, in August 2004, Nigeria announced that it would require crude oil producers to refine at least 50 per cent of their production in country at existing refineries by 2006. The plan is expected to save NNPC the $2 billion per year that it currently spends on oil imports and guarantee supply to Nigeria's four state-owned refineries. Nigeria's refining capacity is currently insufficient to meet domestic demand, and the country is reliant on imported petroleum products. At the end of 2004, because all four refineries were in operation, the government enacted a 20 percent reduction in refined imports in 2005.
The new initiative to construct mini refineries and floating filling stations in the Niger Delta will help address the problem of youth restiveness in the region, besides making fuel available at official prices. This is because of the jobs that will be created directly and indirectly on completion of the project.
Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media. (allafrica.com)
FTDL42464323
Document AIWTHD0020050520e15j0005m

Chinese company to build communications satellite for Nigeria
269 words

19 May 2005

02:06 PM

BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

BBCAPP

English

(c) 2005 The British Broadcasting Corporation. All Rights Reserved. No material may be reproduced except with the express permission of The British Broadcasting Corporation.
Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency)
Lagos, 19 May: The Nigerian government has commissioned a Chinese company to build a communication satellite for Nigeria, an official said here Thursday [19 May]. Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Ernest Ndukwe said here that "a Chinese consortium has already been awarded the contract to design, build and launch the satellite," but did not mention the cost of the project.
Ndukwe said the satellite, having C, Ku, Ka and L band transponders would have excess capacity that could be leased to neighbouring countries in the west African sub-region. He said the facility, the gateway of which would be located in the Lugbe area of Abuja, had the potential of making Nigeria a major traffic hub in the west and central African region.
He said that Nigeria had made huge investments in the Regional African Satellite Communication System (RASCOM), a project he described as reaching advanced stage of execution. "This satellite will add more to the international bandwidth accessible to Nigeria, which can be harnessed to provide connectivity between Nigeria, west Africa and other parts of the continent," he said.
Ndukwe said that the NCC was favourably disposed to issue direct liberalizing international access to telecommunications operators in the country. "They will be given the necessary incentives to expand their switching facilities to be able to handle international traffic for both Nigeria and neighbouring countries," the NCC vice-chairman said.
Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 1635 gmt 19 May 05
Document BBCAPP0020050519e15j005sd
Nigeria commissions Chinese company to build communication satellite
241 words

19 May 2005

Xinhua News Agency

XNEWS

English

(c) Copyright 2005 Xinhua News Agency
LAGOS, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government has commissioned a Chinese company to build a communication satellite for Nigeria, an official said here Thursday.
Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Ernest Ndukwe said here that "a Chinese consortium has already been awarded the contract to design, build and launch the satellite," but did not mention the cost of the project.
Ndukwe said the satellite, having C, Ku, Ka and L band transponders would have excess capacity that could be leased to neighboring countries in the west African sub-region.
He said the facility, the gateway of which would be located in the Lugbe area of Abuja, had the potential of making Nigeria a major traffic hub in the west and central African region.
He said that Nigeria had made huge investments in the Regional African Satellite Communication System (RASCOM), a project he described as reaching advanced stage of execution.
"This satellite will add more to the international bandwidth accessible to Nigeria, which can be harnessed to provide connectivity between Nigeria, west Africa and other parts of the continent," he said.
Ndukwe said that the NCC was favorably disposed to issue direct liberalizing international access to telecommunications operators in the country.
"They will be given the necessary incentives to expand their switching facilities to be able to handle international traffic for both Nigeria and neighboring countries," the NCC vice-chairman said.
Document XNEWS00020050519e15j0073m

China partners Nigeria to begin rural telephony project
310 words

17 May 2005

02:06 PM

BBC Monitoring Africa

BBCAP

English

(c) 2005 The British Broadcasting Corporation. All Rights Reserved. No material may be reproduced except with the express permission of The British Broadcasting Corporation.
Excerpt from report by Radio Nigeria from Abuja on 17 May
[Presenter] A rural telephony project is to begin in Nigeria by the end of this year. The project, which is partnership with the People's Republic of China, will cover 320 local government areas. Vice-President Atiku Abubakar gave the indication in Abuja today at the commencement of activities marking this year's World Telecommunications Day. Telecommunication editor, Joe Aneka, was at the ceremony.
[Reporter] The vice-president said the present administration is to have a digital device between Nigeria and [words indistinct].Vice-President Atiku Abubakar noted that the Obasanjo administration had already demystified the telephone saying that it was no longer the exclusive preserve of the rich.
[Atiku] You remember during the military regime one of the ministers of communications who said the telephone was not for the poor man. He is still alive and we have seen that the telephone is now for the poor.
[Reporter] The vice-president said that the rural population must be provided with access to telecommunication facilities in line with the dictates of the International Telecommunications Union, ICU.
Addressing the gathering, the minister of communications Chief Cornelius Adebayo, elaborated on efforts being made to actualize the rural telephony project.
[Adebayo] Forty-two engineers and technical staff of my ministry are undergoing different kinds of training in China to teach them to operate the facilities. And the federal government has paid the 20 per cent obligation for this project which is financed by loan from the Chinese government.
[Reporter] Delivering the paper on the future of telecommunication in Nigeria, the executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communication Commission, NCC, Dr Ernest Indukwe, notified service providers to be ready to share facilities. [Passage omitted]
Source: Radio Nigeria-Abuja in English 1500 gmt 17 May 05
Document BBCAP00020050517e15h002p9