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PIA Requires Understanding, Engagement Of Stakeholders For Economic Growth – Oxfam Country Director

Published

4 years ago

December 8, 2021

File copy: Niger Delta map

Our Reporter, Asaba

The recently signed Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, requires the understanding and engagement of all stakeholders for socio-economic and human capital development of the Niger Delta region, country Director, Oxfam, Dr. Vincent Ahonsi, has said.

The country Director who made this position in Asaba, Delta State, at a recently held Stakeholders’ dialogue on the PIA, said even after signing of the Bill into law by President Mohammedu Buhari, many communities are stilling battling with understanding contents of the law hence the sensitisation and awareness.

The Stakeholders’ Dialogue was an effort to recreating more awareness and sensitising
oil producing communities from the Niger Delta region on the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) with a view to discussing section of the law, highlight its importance and listen to community feedbacks.

The Stakeholders’ Dialogue was co-organised by Oxfam from the oil industry, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), and National Orientation Agency (NOA) with a view to engendering ownership of the new law and buy-in of the communities in its implementation.

Speaking further, Ahonsi said that the new law seeks to promote growth and eliminate uncertainties in the legal and regulatory frameworks of the petroleum industry.

“The PIA provides the legal framework for the regulation of all the players in the Nigeria oil and gas sector. The Act has well spelt out provisions for streamlining roles and responsibilities of agencies and regulators with the proposed creation of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission and the Nigerian Midstream and downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority as the main regulators of the downstream, midstream and upstream sectors.

“It also provides for the transition of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation to Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited. The new Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited is anticipated to operate under the guidance of a board as a commercial entity”, said Ahonsi.

The Oxfam boss also said that provisions are also made for the establishment of the Host Community Development Trust Fund to provide funding for the development of oil producing communities and mitigate the risks for conflict and restiveness in the communities.

“This ownership of, and buy-in in the implementation of the PIA will help in no small measure to facilitate a reduction in Nigeria’s debt profile, curb food inflation, reduce inequality and reduce poverty”.

“Oxfam remains committed to working with Nigeria government, the private sector and the civil society towards achieving a sustainable, inclusive and just recovery, post COVID-19 pandemic.

“Oxfam is once again using this opportunity to call on Nigeria government not to listen to IMF’s counsel that West African countries should introduce austerity measures as a way to recovery.

“Austerity measures as being advocated for by the IMF has the potential to further worsen current inequality and poverty; and its effects will be worst felt by the vulnerable and marginalized people, including women, older people, racial and ethnic minorities, informal workers and low-income families”, said Oxfam Country Director.

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42 Killed In Israeli Attacks, Says Gaza’s Civil Defense

Published

11 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Gaza’s civil defence agency reported at least 42 people killed in Israeli attacks on Sunday, as the Israeli army prepared for a new assault on the Palestinian territory’s largest city.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said there had been several air strikes around Gaza City — which the military is gearing up to capture — including one in the Al-Sabra neighbourhood that killed eight people.

Attacks were also reported elsewhere across the territory, he said, with the “total tally currently rising to 42 dead”.

The army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the figure.

“The situation is extremely dangerous… Each day, each minute, there are bombings, martyrs, death and blood — we can’t take it anymore,” Al-Sabra resident Ibrahim Al-Shurafa told AFP, explaining strikes and shelling were ongoing.

“We don’t know where to go. Death follows us everywhere,” he added.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

The October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 62,686 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

AFP

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Venezuela Frees Eight Opposition Leaders

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11 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Venezuelan authorities released eight opposition leaders from jail early Sunday, including a former congressman and two Italian citizens, and granted house arrest to five others, an opposition politician said.

Most of those released had been charged with corruption in opposition-run mayoral offices.

Also set free was Congressman, Amirico de Grazia, detained amid protests that erupted during President Nicolas Maduro’s reelection in 2024.

“Today, several families are once again embracing their loved ones. We know there are many left, and we have not forgotten them; we continue to fight for everyone,” two-time former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said on X.

Opposition leaders Victor Jurado, Simon Vargas, Arelis Ojeda Escalante, Mayra Castro, Diana Berrio, Gorka Carnevalli, as well as Italian nationals Margarita Assenzo and de Grazia were released, Capriles said.

Nabil Maalouf, Valentin Gutierrez Pineda, Rafael Ramirez, Pedro Guanipa, and David Barroso were placed under house arrest.

The Italian government confirmed the release of de Grazia and Assenzo, who must appear in court to clarify the conditions of their release. It also vowed to continue working on securing the release of other detained Italians.

“We have always said, and we maintain it: we will talk to whomever we need to talk to so that there is not a single political prisoner in our Venezuela!” Capriles added.

AFP

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Russia, Ukraine Exchange Prisoners Of War, Civilians

Published

11 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Russia and Ukraine each sent back more prisoners of war on Sunday in the latest in a series of exchanges that have seen hundreds of POWs released this year, the two sides said.

Large-scale prisoner exchanges were the only tangible result of three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul between May and July.

They remain one of the few areas of cooperation between the two countries since Russia’s offensive began in 2022.

“On August 24, 146 Russian servicemen were returned from the territory controlled” by Kyiv, the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram.

“In exchange, 146 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were transferred” to Ukraine, it added. Ukraine did not confirm any figures for the release.

Russia also said that “eight citizens of the Russian Federation—residents of the Kursk region, illegally detained” by Kyiv were also returned.

Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in August last year, seizing hundreds of square kilometres (miles) of territory in a major setback for the Kremlin.

Russia deployed thousands of troops from its ally North Korea as part of a counterattack but did not fully reclaim the region until April.

Among the Ukrainians released on Sunday was journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Khyliuk was kidnapped in the Kyiv region in March 2022. He is finally home in Ukraine,” Zelensky said on social media.

Also freed was former Kherson mayor Volodymyr Mykolayenko, “who spent more than three years in captivity,” Zelensky’s aide Andriy Yermak wrote on X.

“In 2022, he was on the list for return, but Volodymyr voluntarily refused to be exchanged in favour of a seriously ill prisoner with whom he was sharing a cell in a Russian prison,” Yermak said.

AFP