…As FCTA To Partner NOSDRA For Prevention Of Oil , Gas Related Disasters

Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has asked for stringent regulation and monitoring of gas dispensing outlets in the nation’s capital.

This, he claims, will prevent gas dispensing outlets from being too close to residential areas.

He also hinted that the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) will collaborate closely with the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) in order to reduce the risks of oil and gas-related disasters and effectively manage emergency situations in the FCT.

He made this call when a delegation from NOSDRA, led by its Director General, Mr Idris Musa, paid him a courtesy visit in his office, said collaborations between agencies is very essential for the effective prevention and management of disasters in the FCT.

His words , “I think this is one area that we have to be very strict and firm. Even where gas plants would be located, they have to really be under the tightest control and regulations because as you know, the gas station do not require much land like a typical petrol station and there is a tendency, if we are not careful, especially in the Area Councils and Satellite towns, they will just be squeezed into areas of high concentrations of people or within residential areas”.

 
He commended the very vital role that NOSDRA is playing in protecting the FCT environment and other parts of the country from oil spillage arising from activities in the upstream and downstream petroleum sector.

 
The FCT Minister also appreciated the support and cooperation of the agency and thanked the DG for making available the maps detailing the locations of petrol filling stations in the FCT for effective management and response to emergencies.

Earlier in his remarks, Mr Idris Musa, Director General of NOSDRA, noted that the Agency is a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Environment charged with environmental management in the petroleum sector, which includes upstream, midstream, and downstream.

He also praised the FCTA’s Development Control Department and the Abuja Environmental Protection Board for ensuring that petrol filling stations are built in accordance with the Abuja Master Plan and environmental standards.

 
He said NOSDRA has captured all the petrol and gas stations in the FCT and the Area Councils through its ICT and GIS  programmes and has documented them in a map in its database for effective response during emergencies.

 
The DG also disclosed that the agency has successfully introduced world class methods of installing underground petrol storage tanks at filling stations in such a manner that would prevent the seeping of petrol into the water table, saying it is now serving as a guide for existing and future projects

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During the 12th June Democracy Day celebrations and beyond, residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been assured of their protection.

While urging folks to go about their daily lives in a lawful manner.

Following a normal FCT Security Committee meeting held yesterday in Abuja, the Permanent Secretary, FCTA, Mr Olusade Adesola, gave this assurance.

“The residents of the FCT are peace-loving people,” saying, as a result, we are united in our desire for a calm June 12 celebration. Our security agencies are catching on to this determination and have told us that no stone will be left unturned.

“Security agencies have marshalled various strategies that will be deployed during this period. So, one thing I can tell the residents is to be assured of their safety in the city during the period and beyond”.

 
Speaking on the issue of kidnapping in the Territory, the Permanent Secretary stated that the various security agencies’ joint operations will pay off, and that the FCT Administration is assisting the various security agencies by providing more operational vehicles and restoring those that have broken down in order to boost their operations and improve response times.

 
He ,however, revealed that the National Security and Civil Defence Corps reported on the establishment of a Special Task Force to tackle the menace of kidnapping in the Territory.

 
Speaking also on the challenge of street begging which equally constitutes security threats to residents of the FCT, the Permanent Secretary said that a multipronged approach which includes sensitization of residents on the appropriate way to give alms, intervention of our religious institutions and constructive engagements with sponsors where identified would be adopted to bring the menace to the barest minimum.

 
He said that even though it was in the nature of Nigerians to give alms to the needy, they should not do so on the streets as such good gestures could be used to fund purchase of illicit drugs and encourage anti-social vices.

He therefore called on residents to instead go to places of worship, hospitals, orphanages, etc to make such donations.

 
Adesola said; “We also discussed the issue of beggars that infiltrated the city and we have developed a multipronged approach.  For instance, the use of sensitization for people to know that there are better ways to give alms rather  than giving to the so called “poor on the streets” because when you give to the poor on the streets, they could use it for illegal purposes, they could use it to buy drugs”.

 
“But when you give to orphanages, to churches and mosques, you go to community activities, to hospitals to donate there, these are channels that your money, your alms will be used for purposes that are beneficial. We’ll be sensitizing the citizens on this Mr Olusade added.

He also called on religious institutions to sermonize to their congregants that the war on street begging and antisocial behavior should be seen as a collective effort and not one for the government alone.

The Committee also deliberated on the destruction and theft of critical public infrastructure amongst other security matters.

 
In attendance at the meeting were heads of the various military and paramilitary formations and agencies in the Territory, religious and traditional rulers, Area Council Chairmen as well as senior officials of the FCTA.

The Secondary Education Board (SEB) of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has made entrepreneurship education mandatory in all secondary schools in the nation’s capital.

Alhaji Yahaya Musa Mohammed, the Chairman of the Board, stated that entrepreneurship will aid in the reduction of unemployment in the country.

He said this at the FCT-SEB Entrepreneurship Exhibition and Awards on Thursday at the Cyprian Ekwensi Arts and Culture Centre in Area 10, Abuja.

According to him ; “What we are showcasing today is a product of a vision now being put in to practice and it will go a long way in bringing about recurring cases of unemployment and insecurity that we have currently in Nigeria.

“Our target is for a short period from now, our students in FCT should be able to fend for themselves and also, when they get into tertiary institutions, especially those who are from underprivileged homes should be able to fend for themselves and complete their tertiary education; after which they will become employers of labour rather than seeking for white collar jobs,” he said.

While adding that 23 subjects have been approved by the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment under the Trade Test examinations.

Muhammad also said teachers have been employed in the relevant subjects to ensure that students are taught qualitative entrepreneurship skills preparatory to writing and being certificated in Trade Test 1, 2 and 3.

Also speaking at the event, the Director of the SEB, Mrs Nanre Emeje, said the board was determined to breed children that will schools tomorrow and become Chief Executives Officers (CEOs) of companies.

Her words; “As a matter of fact, we already have some of them leave our a school about three or four years ago and are already CEOs of companies, so we want many of them leaving school and going as far they can with their passion in entrepreneur skills.

“One thing we have also done is to push them further not only in learning the skills but we have been able to encourage them to write Trades one, two and three examinations in our schools.

“We have Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity who have come in and accredited some of our schools and now we are writing Trades one, two and three in our schools.

“This is a certificate that is now backing the skills that they have learnt, so this is how far that we have gone and already we have partnership with some of these skills centres like the Industrial Trust Fund (ITF), we have partnership with them and some of the CEOs are also offering that we could bring our students so that they can learn more,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Director, Human Resources Management, Mal. Bashir Muhammad,who represented the Permanent Secretary of FCTA, Mr. Olusade Adesola, said the FCT Administration was giving maximum attention to entrepreneurship education aimed at filling the gap between self-employment and seeking white collar jobs.