Rivers State Youth Leaders Assembly (RSYLA) have called on companies involved with the Train 7 project of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited to ensure they comply with Nigeria’s local content laws.

They also called on the companies to adhere to the country’s Host Community Local Content Policy, stressing that this would engender a peaceful atmosphere for the overall success of the project and promote cordial relations between the companies and their host communities

The Speaker of the RSYLA, Rt. Hon. Prince Tonye Jeminimiema made this call during the conferment of a Meritorious Award of Excellence on the General Manager of the Rivers State Broadcasting Corporation (RSBC), owners of Radio Rivers 99.1FM, Port Harcourt, Sampson Fiberesima in Port Harcourt.

Presenting the award to him, the Rt. Hon. Jeminimiema announced that the award was “in the light of his peaceful disposition and numerous contributions to society, especially, in the areas of youth development”.

He also used the occasion to state that “a peaceful atmosphere was critical for the overall success of the said project in Bonny LGA of Rivers State,” pointing out that the location of the project was his Immediate constituency and would surely be closely monitored by him and the assembly, as a whole.

The Nigeria LNG on September 11, 2019, during the Signing of the Letter of Intent for the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for its Train 7 project, announced the SCD Group, a consortium comprising Saipem, Daewoo and Chiyoda, as the preferred bidder to handle the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) project for the $10 billion NLNG Train 7 project.

NLNG’s Managing Director, Tony Attah further disclosed that the Final Investment Decision (FID) for the project would be signed this month. The signing of the FID is expected to be herald the commencement of the project, which is located at NLNG’s liquefied natural gas plant in Bonny Island, Rivers State.

Reading Sampson Fiberesima’s citation, the Clerk of the Assembly, Hon. Edward Odum extolled the exemplary virtues of the awardee, stating that he has distinguished himself as a professional media practitioner, both in the private and public sectors, expressing the hope that the award was intended to spur him to do more”.

In acceptance speech, the RSBC boss, Sampson Fiberesima thanked the RSYLA for finding him a worthy recipient of the award, stating that, although, there were several people out there who could induce the Assembly with their stupendous resources to get an award, he was selected without any monetary inducement.

He advised the Assembly to keep up the good work of advocating for peace, stressing that “government will keep changing but the youth bank will remain”.

He described the RSYLA as “a symbol of peace in the State, and urged “the Rivers State Government under the leadership of His Excellency, Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, to support the Assembly to bring about lasting peace in the State”.

In appreciation of the sterling strides of the RSYLA in peace advocacy, youth mobilization, and focused agitation on good governance, Fiberesima promised to give the Assembly publicity leverage in his media organization to promote the programmes and activities of the Rivers State Youth Leaders Assembly.

Giving a vote of thanks, the Deputy Clerk of the House, Hon. Matthias Tamunoimi thanked the awardee for what he described as “the best offer given to the Assembly by him,” encouraging him to do more in his office as head of the foremost media organization since the creation of Rivers State despite the conspicuous challenges the RSBC has been facing.