The Dodo River Communities Development Association in Ekeremor Local Area of Bayelsa State at its eighth annual general meeting in Yenagoa on Thursday said it generated an income of N93.93 million in 2019.
Out of the amount which is higher than the N82.56 million it got in 2018 from Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) under the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) arrangement, Francis Amamogiran, chairman of the association, said N77.87 million was spent on community development.
Amamogiran disclosed that N35.19 million was spent in direct project expenditure, N12.27 million was general and administrative costs, N23.34 million was expended on scholarships while N7.06 million went for Community Engagement Management Board (CEMB) 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 to have the desired trust of our people in our dealings as we carry out our stewardship function,” Amamogiran said.
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“We will not stop to call on governments 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,” he said.
Speaking at the event, Esimaje Brikinn, general manager in charge of public affairs at CNL, applauded the association for the successful management of the development process and achieving community empowerment and sustainable development.
Brikinn, who was represented by Elijah Bikikoro, team lead at CNL, 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,” Brikinn said.
“It is also heartwarming to note 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.
Mark Christmas, secretary of the association, applauded members of the host communities for their peaceful disposition and use of dialogue which resulted in the award of peace bonus by CNL.
