THE Chairman of Conoil, Mr. Mike Adenuga, has donated the sum of N400 million to the Akassa development foundation endowment project fund.
The fund is to be used for the construction of a community secondary school, which is an integrated part of the Akassa master plan for the next ten years.
Adenuga who was represented by Mr. Harcourt Aduke, explained that the donation was in recognition of the fact that the community has since 1998 taken important strides in awareness creation, poverty alleviation, women empowerment, environmental conservation, capacity building and strengthening local educational institutions.
He noted that though funding has remained a major constraint to the foundation, this gesture from his company, which operates in the area, would go along way to actualising the dream and aspiration of the Akassa people.
Adenuga who said he was committed to the education of youths in Akassa, urged other communities in the Niger Delta to emulate the Akassa development foundation model as a means to poverty reduction.
He urged the people to shun all acts of violence, which is capable to driving potential investors away from the area.
The programme co-ordinator, Mr. Friday Idogiye Amain, explained that developing local capacity to solve and manage development problems has been the overall goal of the foundation since its inception.
He noted that constraining community development in a majority of rural communities in the Niger Delta is the lack of individuals, associations and institutions that are accountable, capable, committed, democratic, equitable and responsible enough to plan, implement and own development programmes in a sustainable way.
He explained that the foundation which has already designed a ten year master plan, has addressed these problems head on, facilitated by Pro-Natura Nigeria, the people of Akassa Kingdom are now able to effectively mage and realise their own development goals.
Prior to the establishment of the foundation barely ten years ago, the community had no access to public services – pipe-borne water, sewage disposal, electricity, telecommunications, transport systems or schools. The medical services that were available were largely those of traditional healers. The remoteness of the Akassa people is said to have been exacerbated by the fact that the influence of local government had hardly been felt since colonial times.
He explained that under the auspices of Statoil which at the time was determined to establish a reputation as a good corporate citizen from the very beginning and to avoid the unrest that had occurred in other areas of the Niger Delta, where deprived communities had taken to kidnapping workers and sabotaging installations, opted to assist the community establish the foundation.
He said the community had raised funds for developing the system from their own savings, chose their own leaders for the system and made their own rules and regulations. The success of the project has led to its being identified as a possible UNDP and Bayelsa State.