BY SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Frontline Niger Delta leader, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, has commended the industrial development of Azikel Refinery in Bayelsa.
Tompolo expressed the commendation during an extensive tour of the refinery facilities, where he praised the vision and achievements of Azikel Group President, Dr Eruani Azibapu, CFR.
He described Eruani as “a leader of the new industrialisation of the Niger Delta, the South-South and Nigeria.”
Tompolo, who was visibly impressed by the scale and complexity of the project, said the refinery represented a major indigenous industrial development.
He commended Eruani for demonstrating that the Niger Delta could move beyond crude oil production to processing resources into higher-value products.
The Azikel Refinery, with a stated capacity of 25,000 barrels per day, represents a significant investment in Nigeria’s domestic refining industry.
Tompolo said the project demonstrated the potential of indigenous entrepreneurship to drive industrialisation, employment creation, wealth generation and value addition in the Niger Delta.
He described the refinery as a new narrative for the region, centred on industrial development and increased indigenous participation in the oil and gas value chain.
According to him, investments of such magnitude could stimulate wider industrial growth across Bayelsa, the South-South and Nigeria.
“I am proud of this industrial development that Dr Eruani Azibapu, CFR, has ignited here in Bayelsa, the Niger Delta, the South-South states and Nigeria,
“This is the kind of development that creates employment, generates wealth and adds value to our crude oil resources,” Tompolo said.
He further commended Eruani’s determination and entrepreneurial vision, describing the refinery as an important contribution to Nigeria’s efforts to strengthen domestic refining capacity.
The visit underscored the growing significance of the Azikel Refinery as an indigenous industrial project with potential to create economic opportunities within the Niger Delta.
The refinery is designed to process condensate and crude oil into products including petrol, diesel, kerosene, aviation fuel, heavy fuel oil and liquefied
petroleum gas.
Jude Ossai (JP) a veteran journalist is a National Diploma holder in Mass Communication from Ogwashi-Uku Polytechnic Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State. He also studied at Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) Enugu and Imo State University, Owerri for his first and second degrees in Mass Communication, respectively.
He writes extensively on politics, crime, corruption, climate change, healthcare, human rights, social justice, among others.
He began his journalism career in The Republic Newspaper, Lagos in 1987 as a Special Correspondent in Benin City, Edo State.
In 1990, he was posted from Lagos to old Anambra State as a State Correspondent in Enugu.
In 1994, he joined the African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) Plc, Ibadan, Oyo State, Publisher of Nigerian Tribune Newspapers where he rose to the rank of Southeast Bureau Chief.
Retiring from the mainstream traditional media in 2019, he began another journey in online newspaper publication.
He was the Overall Best Reporter in 2015, an award bestowed on him by Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Enugu State.
He has attended several workshops/seminars organised by multi-nationals, government institutions, local and international media including BBC.
He is also a unionist and had held top positions as Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists of Enugu Correspondents’ Chapel and State Council of NUJ, respectively. He was also a one-time Enugu State Secretary of Sports Writers’ Association of Nigeria (SWAN).
