Business News
Opay supports Lagos State #MaskupLagos initiative with donation of facemasks
Nigerian financial service technology company Opay has joined the Government in rolling out a series of anti-pandemic and relief efforts.
Nigerian financial service technology company OPay has joined Nigerians and the Government in rolling out a series of anti-pandemic and relief efforts. The latest is its support of the Lagos State Government’s recently launched initiative #MaskUpLagos, to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
As part of its #DoMore initiative, OPay made a donation of 40,000 medical facemasks to the Lagos State Government, with a commitment to donate another 200,000 facemasks to needed entities in the coming weeks.
The presentation of the facemasks was made on Wednesday, April 29, 2019, at the Lagos State Warehouse facility in Lekki, Lagos. The Honourable Commissioner of Transport, Dr Fedrick Oladehinde, received the facemasks on behalf of the Lagos State Government.
“On behalf of the Lagos State Governor Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, we’d like to thank OPay for their donation. It is coming at the right time – we are about to open up Lagos and the facemask is very vital in protecting people from COVID-19’, Dr Oladehinde remarked.
Dr Oladehinde added, “By working together, we can do great things. I’m glad the private sector is joining forces with Lagos State to fight the pandemic and together we will win”.
(READ MORE: OPay raises fresh $120 million from Chinese investors )
Director of Partnerships at OPay, Oladipo Omogbenigun says “The fight against the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria should be a collective effort. That is why OPay is proudly supporting the Lagos State Government’s initiatives. We hope to continue in a similar fashion”.
OPay Nigeria’s Country Manager, Iniabasi Akpan, says “OPay is firmly committed to Nigeria, and we are conscious of the fact that our growth and success is intertwined with that of Nigerians. As a leading mobile money platform in Nigeria, we will mobilize our resources to help in overcoming the COVID-19 virus in Nigeria and the threat it poses to the health and economic wellbeing of Nigerians who are well known as a resilient people.”
The donation is just one of OPay’s list of Corporate Social Responsibility efforts happening in the coming weeks. OPay will utilize its international network, its finance, and its digital and agent platforms, to contribute to the anti-pandemic efforts.
In other efforts to support the fight against the spread of COVID-19, OPay has dedicated a section of their app to deliver facts, safety and prevention tips to its 5 million-plus registered app users in addition to real-time updates.
(READ MORE: OPay management denies payment issue as ORide riders protest against NURTW)
About OPay
OPay is leading mobile money (MMO) and financial technology platform in Nigeria. Currently, it has a network of 300,000 agents, 5 million registered app users, and an ever-increasing range of financial and related services for Nigerians. It has one of the strongest supports from international investors among Nigerian financial technology companies.
OPay launched its mobile payment service in August 2018, creating an infrastructure on which the company is now also adding new services. The agent-centric mobile payment operation focuses on reaching the massive unbanked population of Nigeria. OPay’s vision is to rapidly support the realization of Nigeria’s vision for financial inclusion for everyone, through the use of global-leading technology.
Energy
Agip shut oil facility in Bayelsa due to oil spillage, environmental pollution reported
Agip on Wednesday confirmed an oil leak, resulting in a shutdown.
The Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) has confirmed the shutdown of its Idu oilfields at Egbebiri settlement within Biseni in Yenagoa Local Government Area in Bayelsa, due to an oil spillage.
A Joint Investigative Visit (JIV) report on the incident said that the leakage at the facility could be traced to equipment failure due to a rupture at the wellhead.
According to a report from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Eni, the parent company of NAOC, in a response statement, said the facility was shut down to prevent further damage to the environment.
READ: Shell wants oil spillage case tried in Nigeria, but victims say no
What Eni is saying
An Eni spokesperson on behalf of the Italian Energy firm, in a statement, said, “As soon as the incident was reported, we activated our oil spill response, shut in the well, and notified government regulatory agencies.
“The Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) was carried out on 09/05/2021, with the participation of community representatives and the government regulatory agencies.
“The event occurred within the Company’s wellhead location which is paved and walled round. There is no significant third-party impact,” Eni stated.
READ: UK court ruling affects acquisition of Shell’s oil block by Governor Wike
Environmental Rights Group reports environmental degradation
An environmental rights group, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), however, said that the incident which discharged crude and associated gas had severely polluted the environment.
The Non-Governmental Organisation said that a visit to the spill site showed pictorial evidence of the crude spreading beyond NAOC’s right of way as nearby vegetation were affected as a result of the crude impact.
The Head of Field Operations at ERA/FoEN, Mr Alagoa Morris, in a field report on the spill said the Idu fields was notorious for frequent spills caused by equipment failure.
He said, “The people of Egbebiri in Biseni kingdom have experienced several oil spills over the years. And all the oil spill incidents documented by the Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) in this community environment have occurred as a result of equipment failure and on Wellheads.
“ERA/FoEN has had cause to visit the environment of Idu Well 5 and 11 located within the same place in the past and it has always been Idu Well 11 spewing crude oil into the environment.
“Available records from ERA/FoEN indicate that there have been previous oil spills from this particular Idu Well 11 operated by Agip. Before concluding this Field Report, ERA/FoEN confirmed that Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) was carried out on Sunday, 9th May 2021.
“This is why the official Spill Reference No 2021/LAR/028/058 is indicated in this report; sourced from the JIV report. Cause of spill was attributed to equipment failure,” ERA/FoEN stated.
The report quoted a resident of the community simply identified as Georgie as saying that the spill incident of May 7 spilled oil from around 10 p.m till about 8 a.m the next day before the leak was stopped adding that the level of damage was enormous.
What you should know
It can be recalled that in a similar circumstance, Shell Petroleum Development Company reported an oil pipeline spillage at its Okordia-Rumekpe 14-inch crude truck line, discharging about 213 barrels of crude oil into the Ikarama community in Bayelsa State and polluting about 1.34 hectares of land.
This new leakage is the latest in a series of oil spillages by the multinational oil exploration and production companies, which has put them in conflict with the host communities.
Energy
Nigeria records system collapse during holidays
Nigeria’s national electricity grid collapsed on Wednesday morning.
