By Mordi chukwunonso Esther
The Dodo River Communities Development Association in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State has said that it received N93.9million from Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL in 2019, slightly higher than the N82.56 million it got in 2018.
The association, which manages the Global Memorandum of Understanding, GMoU, funds from Chevron on corporate social responsibility for CNL host communities in the area, said it spent a total of N77.87 million on community development in the 2019 fiscal year.
at the 8th annual general meeting of the group, Chairman of the association, Francis Amamogiran, said the fund came from Chevron Nigeria Limited as development obligation under a GMoU.
Amamogiran explained that N35.19 million was direct project expenditure while N12.27 million was spent on general and administrative costs. N23.34 million was spent on scholarships while N7.06 million went into Community Engagement Management Board administrative expenditures.
“This annual general meeting is a means of demonstrating one of the GMoU objectives which is transparency and accountability. This will enable us have the desired trust of our people in our dealings as we carry out our stewardship function.
“We will not stop to call on government at various levels, the local government in particular, to be fully involved to encourage, guide, monitor and provide necessary support in community development planning and implementation,”Amamogiran said.
Also speaking, Chevron’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr Esimaje Brikinn, lauded the association for successful management of the development process and achieving community empowerment and sustainable development.
Brikinn, represented by the Team Lead, CNL, Mr Benikio Elisha, assured that despite the harsh global environment for the energy sector, the oil firm remained committed to meeting its social obligations to its host communities.
“We are glad that Dodo River Community Development Association, has executed and commissioned several development projects, including concrete walkways, potable water, town halls, electricity power project and others.
“It is also heartwarming to note that that the association has trained hundreds of persons in diverse vocational skills in addition to a special economic empowerment as well as adult education programme for women and scholarship for students from the communities,” he said.
