Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)-Agip Joint Venture on Saturday flagged off the construction of a 200 bed capacity infectious diseases hospital for the South-South Zone in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital. Speaking at the event, the Minister of State Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva, said the project was part of the Nigerian Oil Industry Coalition led by the NNPC to support the nation’s efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Sylva said the oil industry was contributing about N21 billion worth of support provided through the internal procurement processes of contributing companies. He said Bayelsa was considered a suitable site for the project given its pioneering role in the history of the state and the contribution of about 40 per cent to onshore crude oil output.
His words, “Before this hospital, the oil industry through the instrumentality of the NCDMB located in Bayelsa has also donated ambulances, to the Bayelsa state government. This action is taken to support national health care delivery facilities and strengthen our collective national resolve in combating this pandemic, and its dreadful impact. The intervention initiative , is in alignment with the ongoing federal government efforts to curb the pandemic through the presidential task-force on covid-19 and it covers three key areas. The total commitment to this initiative, amounts to $58 million which is about N21 billion in the first instance in order to ensure transparency and accountability participating companies will execute the project, and items procurement using their internal companies established processes. All commitments under the initiatives are collected in kind and a clear and transparent governance frame work has been established for collecting and distributing the commitments, across the countries in alignment with the processes and procedures of the presidential task force on coronavirus. On the choice of Bayelsa, he said “Bayelsa State is of strategic importance to the nation. It is the state where the first commercial discovery of crude oil was made, thereby launching the country into the limelight of the petrol state nations also it is the state that also accounts for almost forty percent of the nation’s total offshore oil production indeed, nowhere deserves to be selected as the first state to kick start the most important category of this intervention initiative than the glory of all lands.”
The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr Mele Kyari noted that the Corporation was working with its Joint Venture partners, across the upstream , Midstream and Downstream Sectors to support the health sector. According to him, the NNPC led intervention had allocated the N21 billion worth of support to various International Oil Companies, Indigenous operators with Joint Venture stakes across the oil sector. He explained that the infectious diseases hospital sited on 1586 square meter space would serve as zonal isolation centre for the COVID-19 and would serve as reference hospital for communicable diseases after the COVID-19 pandemic. In his speech, Mr Lorenzo Fiorillo, Managing Director, Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) noted that the outbreak of the corona virus has put a lot of strain globally on health care systems and personnel. Fiorillo who spoke through Mr Macwon Jitubo, Head of Community Relations, NAOC noted that the company remains sympathetic to the threat posed by the corona virus resulting to millions of death worldwide.
“Eni, the parent company of NAOC considers people to be at the core of its culture and fundamental to its business, aware that creation of reciprocal values is possible through the sharing of objectives. we are certain that the Oil and Gas industry as a whole shares in these value. It is for this reason that we are here today at this difficult to perform the ceremony which will engender a valuable medical asset to the South South region of the country,” He said. Earlier, Gov Douye Diri of Bayelsa who lauded Sylva for attracting the project to Bayelsa performed the ground-breaking ceremony alongside other dignitaries. Mr Chukwuemaka Nwajiobi, Minister of State for Education who represented the Chairman of Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and Secretary to Government of Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha at the occasion. The project which is the first of its kind in the entire South South when completed is expected to provide general medical services to the public, disease control centre, In-situ diagnostic lab, 200 capacity bed spaces scalable on both flanks & behind.
