The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) has donated $1million (N160 million) towards relief efforts in support of flood displaced persons in 24 states across the country.
SPDC’s Managing Director and Country Chair for Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu, said in a statement at the weekend that the cash donation was part of the company’s collaboration and support programme to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, in conjunction with the Nigerian Red Cross Society, towards effective post flood disaster relief operations in the country.
He said the support would be enhanced by funds collected through an on-going employee donation programme, in which the company would match contributions by its staff.
“We are deeply touched by the stories and images of the hardship the floods have brought upon our brothers and sisters in many parts of the country and our thoughts and prayers are with all affected persons at this most difficult time. I am also happy that members of staff are voluntarily contributing to the employee donation programme we launched for the flood victims,” he said.
The planned support operations with the Red Cross will cover areas including relief management, camp coordination and management, water, sanitation and hygiene promotion, healthcare (especially maternal and child health), emergency shelter, livelihood support and early recovery, family reunification, psychosocial support and risk reduction.
These will form part of the immediate and medium term activities to be embarked upon in order to ease the hardship suffered by the flood affected persons and manage their return to normal life.
Commenting on the support from SPDC, the Secretary-General of the Nigerian Red Cross, Mr. Bello Hamman Diram, said the Nigerian Red Cross Society welcomes the response and cooperation from Shell to its plan of action for the 2012 floods operation.
“It will certainly go a long way towards helping us meet our obligations to affected persons, volunteers and our staff, as well as to respond quickly and adequately to this emergency. We enjoin other well-meaning individuals and corporate bodies to do likewise,” he said.
Prior to the Red Cross support initiative, SPDC had complemented the work of the authorities by providing helicopter flights, geomatics expertise, satellite imagery and maps of affected areas to aid proper relief operations planning and execution.
The flooding that ravaged some parts of Nigeria, especially the oil-producing communities, was said to have slashed the country’s daily crude oil production for the third quarter of 2012 by 500,000 barrels.
Director, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mr. Osten Olorunsola, said in a recent quarterly briefing of journalists on the activities of the agency that the production shut-down was caused by the ravaging floods in some parts of the country.
“Flooding in quarter three led to a total shut down of 0.5 million bpd,” he said.
He listed Total Exploration and Production; Nigerian Agip Oil Company and a marginal field operator, Sterling Energy, as some of the oil companies worst hit by the flooding.
Source: Thisdaylive
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