Jobs/Appointments
Group Calls for Alternative Employment to Curb Artisinal Refining
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC) has charged the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) to provide alternative employment for youths engaged in artisanal refining activities in Ogoniland.
This is call is coming as the world celebrates Environment Day which is celebrated on June 5 all around the globe
The Executive Director of YEAC-Nigeria, Mr Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, said the call was imperative in order to forestall the re-pollution of Ogoniland so that the ongoing Ogoni clean-up project will not be an exercise in futility.
Mr Fyneface said out of the reported $366 million already received by HYPREP from the Joint Venture partners, the sum of $10 million should be budgeted solely for alternative livelihoods for youths such as scholarships, training and skills development for modular refineries, clean-up processes as well as for employment in multinational companies.
He called on youths in Rivers State, Niger Delta and the country at large, who are involved in artisanal refining activities to stop, embrace modular refineries, renewable energy, and other alternative livelihood opportunities and channel their energy towards environmental sustainability actions.
“HYPREP should use the $10 million budgeted in the UNEP Report on Ogoni (2011) as stated on Table 53, page 227 and serial number 10 of the Report which is currently in HYPREP coffer by virtue of the $360 million communicated as so far received from Joint Venture partners to prepare and provide Alternative Employment to those in Artisanal Refining to prevent re-pollution during and after the cleanup.
“Some of the ways of providing the alternatives would include youth training for skilled participation in the Cleanup project and processes; preparing artisanal refiners in Ogoni communities for Modular Refineries; skills development and acquisition for employability in the NLNG Train-7 Project and educational scholarships within and outside the country among others.
“The Environmentalist also called on HYPREP contractors handling the Ogoni cleanup exercise and water projects to speed up the processes and ensure that the best technology, global best practices and standards are adopted in performing their statutory duties in the area.”
This he said, “would fast-track the restoration of the Ogoni environment in a timely manner for the traditional livelihoods of the people including farming and fishing activities destroyed by decades of crude oil pollution to thrive again.”
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, has been appointed as the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu.
Mr Gbajabiamila won his re-election into the lower chamber of the National Assembly on February 25, 2023, but with this appointment, he will have to lose his seat in the parliament to coordinate the activities of his new boss.
Also, Mr Tinubu has picked the former Governor of Benue State, Mr George Akume, as the new Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF).
He is take over from the former occupier of the position, Mr Boss Mustapha, who served under the administration of the immediate past President, Mr Muhammadu Buhari.
Similarly, the former Deputy Governor of Jigawa State, Mr Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, has been chosen by Mr Tinubu as his Deputy Chief of Staff.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Mr Roshan Dharia has been appointed as the interim chief executive of Paxful, a leading global peer-to-peer Bitcoin platform.
In a statement issued by the company’s press team, it was disclosed that the appointment of Mr Dharia became effective on Wednesday, May 31, 2023.
Recall that Paxful returned to business some weeks ago after it shut down its operations due to internal issues.
Mr Dharia would be expected to reposition the firm “with the objectives of strengthening operations and exploring strategic alternatives.”
He was most recently a senior executive at TrustToken (now known as Archblock) where he led the DeFi institutional lending business, successfully deploying over $1.5 billion in stablecoin loans to crypto-native companies.
Prior to TrustToken, Roshan founded and built the investment platform PTHL Affiliates, which specialized in the acquisition and turnaround of distressed private companies across multiple industries.
As a seasoned executive, he has held various positions as an investor and investment banker with transactional experience totalling over $30 billion across mergers and acquisitions, financial restructurings, and financings.
The interim CEO, who is highly adept in navigating special situations with complex risk profiles and significant intrinsic value, said he was greatly honoured “to become CEO of Paxful.”
“Over the last eight years, Paxful has been a pioneer in establishing the real use cases of Bitcoin and helping millions of people in the process.
“I look forward to hitting the ground running and building on the innovative technology developed by the Paxful team,” he added.
The Custodian of Paxful, Srinivas Raju, while commenting on the appointment, said, “I’m delighted that Roshan has joined Paxful and will take over day-to-day management of the company. I’m confident under his leadership; the business will keep building a financial system that truly serves the 100 per cent.”
Since its inception in 2015, Paxful has grown to a community of over 12 million users around the world, with billions of dollars traded on the platform over the last eight years.
By Dipo Olowookere
An Executive Director of Unilever Nigeria Plc, Mrs Abidemi Ademola, has resigned from the board of the conglomerate.
In a notice to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday, it was disclosed that she would officially exit the board of the organisation on May 31, 2023.
In the statement signed by the Senior Legal Counsel and Company Secretary of Unilever Nigeria, Mrs Afolasade Olowe, the board thanked Mrs Ademola for her service to the firm, wishing her well in her future endeavours.
“This is to notify Nigerian Exchange Limited and the investing public that the Board of Directors of Unilever Nigeria Plc has considered and approved the resignation of Mrs Abidemi Ademola as an Executive Director with effect from May 31, 2023.
The Board of Directors wishes Mrs Ademola all the very best in her future career and would like to express their sincere gratitude to her for the many valuable contributions and legal expertise she brought to the company over a distinguished 27-year career at Unilever.
“Mrs Ademola’s replacement on the Board of Directors of Unilever Nigeria will be announced in due course,” the disclosure said.
