PIB: Protect Host Communities, and the Environment - Ogoni Chiefs

It is no news that oil producing communities bear the brunt of oil exploration and production. Decades of unregulated oil operations have left communities devastated and in many cases, totally stripped of their sources of livelihood, coupled with the destruction of their environment.  Among several pioneering provisions, the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) introduced initiatives aimed at increasing the participation of oil producing communities in the oil and gas sector, as well as promoting environmental sustainability in the areas where oil exploration and production take place. It recognizes that oil operations (including seismic operations, mining, oil spill resulting from equipment failure, human error, corrosion etc) can cause damage to private property rights such as lands, buildings, economic trees, crops, fishing rights and equipment, water sources and venerated objects. 

PHOTOSPEAK: PIB CONSULTATIVE MEETING IN PORT HARCOURT

Host Communities Should Co-Sign FG-Oil Company Joint Venture Agreements - Ledum Mittee

Host communities should become parties to joint venture agreements between the federal government and oil companies. This view was expressed by one of the participants at Spaces for Change (S4C) Consultative Meeting on the PIB held in Port Harcourt yesterday, Monday, February 25, 2013. The meeting aimed to generate critical reflection and input from a wide spectrum of citizens and professionals, the civil society, industry experts on provisions of the Petroleum Industry Bill relating to the environment and community participation in the oil and gas industry.

LEADERSHIP TRAINING: Relationship Intelligence & Workplace Productivity

“Increasingly, the best of breed lead not by virtue of power alone, but by excelling in the art of relationship.” – Daniel Goleman, PhD- Leadership Expert, Author

First introduced by Bernard G. Guerney in the 1960s, Relationship Enhancement (RE)  has for over forty years, proven to be an effective productivity booster  in the workplace and in the home. RE is a skills- based training model that focuses on empowering the individual to excel in their personal and professional relationships.

  

On March 27, 2013, Spaces for Change will be convene an RE training and coaching class targeted at young professionals and entrepreneurs, unemployed graduates, including young school leavers to bolster their employability skills, leadership capabilities and productivity in the workplace. Recognizing that today’s youth can be at the forefront of social change, this training is specifically designed to empower young people to learn new approaches to high performance, sustain corporate and personal relationships, build social capital and become catalysts for change.

Here Comes Another Slap-on-the-wrist Judgment!

By Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri 

Last Wednesday, a self-acclaimed pension fund thief, Mr. Yakubu Yusuf was grandly ushered into the infamous Country Club of Corruption. This time around, a Nigerian court was the usher!  In a bizarre judgment totally bereft of shame, logic and good conscience, a man who pleaded guilty to stealing a whopping N23 Billion Naira ($203 million) was given a two year prison sentence, with an option to pay a N750,000 ( $1,500) fine in lieu of the sentence. So brazenly, Justice Talba Abubakar Mahmud of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja spewed out a shiny incentive to loot, and loot, and loot according to one’s power and official might.  So cruelly disgorged into the nation’s judicial annals is a precedent legitimizing the rape of public treasury provided the lootee is willing to pay a tiny tithe offering – called “fine” – to evade punishment!