THE chairman and managing director of the oil giant, Chevron Nigeria/Mid-Africa Business Unit, Mr Jeffery Ewing, has appealed to journalists across the country to always present their reports fairly and accurately.
He made the plea during the visit of the Chevron-sponsored Advanced Writing & Reporting Skills (AWAReS) 2017 set of media practitioners at the School of Media and Communications (SMC), in Pan Atlantic University (PAU), Ibeju-Lekki, to CNL’s head office in Lekki, Lagos.
Mr Ewing, who was represented by the General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs, Mr Esimaje Brikinn, urged the beneficiaries, whose convocation comes up October 28, to exude balance, fairness and accuracy as they tell their stories.
He disclosed that over 80 media practitioners, cutting across various segments, have benefitted from the AWAReS programme since its inception in 2014.
He described the core value of the multinational company as a productive partnership with stakeholders not just to promote business, but to develop human capital and execute projects beneficial to the people as part of its Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) according to their needs.
“One of our core values is partnership. It is our usual practice to partner with relevant stakeholders everywhere we operate, in our efforts to achieve common business and development goals.
“In Nigeria, we have established enduring partnerships with different stakeholders among whom are governments, NGOs, business organizations, communities and of course, the media.
“Chevron takes seriously its role as a member of the community in Nigeria and is actively involved in partnering with our stakeholders to implement various projects promoting health, economic, education and environment,” he noted.
In line with this, the CNL boss disclosed that it has spent about N7.5bn on scholarships and other educational sponsorships.
Mr Brikinn further revealed that in keeping with the participatory social investment policy, the company has, in partnership with PACT, spent $15.3 million on the Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission (PROMOT) in Bayelsa State to reduce its prevalence from 9.1 per cent to 3.8 per cent between 2012 and 2016.
According to him, another 1.3 million dollars was provided for (PROMOT) in Bayelsa in 2016, noting that 620 staff were trained to handle the project, 185,000 people impacted and more than 46,000 women were empowered.
Brikinn, who was accompanied by Communication Manager, Mr Sola Adebanwo and Mr Victor Anyaegbudike among others to welcome the class of AWAReS 17 to the CNL complex, disclosed that the company had built and equipped Chest Clinics, science laboratories and related interventions in many states of the federation.
Highlight of the event was a visit by members of the AWAReS 17 class led by Mr Victor Anyaegbudike to enjoy the serenity of wildlife at the Lekki Conservation Centre (LCC) provided by CNL in partnership with the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) as part of its commitment to conserve the environment.
and then