Love: African Refinery Port Harcourt Limited has commended the newly inaugurated administration for eliminating the petroleum subsidy.
In a statement, the Chief Executive Officer of African Refinery, Mr Omotayo Adebajo, urged Nigerians to exhibit patience during the initial hardships resulting from the subsidy removal.
He emphasised the importance of supporting the President’s strategic decision, which, in his view, should have been implemented earlier, noting that the President’s subsidy removal would ultimately enhance local refinery capacity investment.
The removal would immediately allocate funds for high-impact projects that would benefit a significant majority of Nigerians, he added.
He called on the President to prioritise and continue supporting local refinery projects, building upon the previous government’s investments in African Refinery’s Port Harcourt project and the Dangote Refinery in Lagos.
Adebajo noted that these projects were critical to Nigeria’s drive to stop the importation of fuel and guarantee energy security and can only succeed with the continued support of the Federal Government.
The ARPHL’s chief executive announced that its refinery project, scheduled to be completed during the new administration’s tenure, would greatly boost local production of refined petroleum products.
He said, “This project aims to ensure a competitive market with multiple producers spread across different regions in the country. ARPHL anticipates that this initiative, along with similar projects, would ultimately establish Nigeria as a net exporter of petroleum and petrochemical products and commodities.”
According to the statement, ARPHL had begun ‘Front-End Engineering Design’, a vital step towards making the refinery project a reality.
In June 2023, a team of foreign experts and consultants would arrive in Nigeria for surveys and meetings with partners and industry stakeholders. “The company firmly believes that this courageous move serves as a crucial initial stride towards a brighter and more prosperous future for our nation,” the statement said. [5:54 PM, 6/8/2023] Love: LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME: FIRSTBANK REINFORCES EMPLOYEE CAREER DEVT
First Bank of Nigeria Limited has graduated the second set of successful participants in its Leadership Acceleration Programme (LAP).
The bank in a statement disclosed that the 2023 edition of the programme, which inaugural edition held in 2019 with 71 graduates, was held in Lagos, recently.
According to the bank, the Leadership Acceleration Programme (LAP) is designed to develop and infuse critical leadership and change agents within the middle management staff cadre of the Bank. ‘‘It is an intensive skill development programme structured to enhance core leadership and business competencies of elite staff within the Bank. It consists of three instructor-led modular periods adopting a blend of classroom lectures, experiential activities, flipped learning strategies and peer-to-peer discussions to develop the desired talent pool.
‘‘The selected participants were immersed into a modular six month – (one week a month) of classroom and group learning focused on developing the right leadership skills needed to generate change and innovation,’’ the statement read.
Speaking on the initiative, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan said: “The LAP initiative also serves to further emphasise our Bank’s strong corporate governance by creating a transformative learning experience developed along action learning principles and equipping mid-level managers with the necessary knowledge and skills to navigate and adapt to new complexities in the business landscape.
Advising the graduands, the CEO said: “I commend all of you graduating today for your discipline and tenacity in going through the rigours of the programme and finishing successfully. You certainly deserve a round of applause. Having put in the work and paid the dues, I wish I could assure you that the next phase in your career will be less challenging, but as we learnt in elementary science – the higher you go, the hotter it becomes. So, you can expect very challenging yet highly-interesting and rewarding days ahead.
