The Commissioner of Police in Ogun State, Bode Ojajuni, has urged the Police Officers’ Wives Association (POWA) to transform its skills acquisition centre in Abeokuta into an industrial hub to promote job creation, entrepreneurship and women’s empowerment.

According to a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Oluseyi B. Babas eyi, on Thursday, Ojajuni made the call on Monday when he led members of the Ogun State Police Command’s Management Team on an inspection visit to the POWA Skills Acquisition Centre at the Command Headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta.

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During the visit, the POWA Acting Chairperson, Bolanle Adeoye, and members of the association’s executive received the commissioner and conducted him around the facility, including its photography and make-up studios.

The centre is designed to equip POWA members and members of the public with practical vocational skills, promote entrepreneurship and create sustainable livelihood opportunities, particularly for women and young people.

Ojajuni charged POWA to leverage partnerships with government agencies, private sector organisations, manufacturers, vocational institutions and development partners to transform the facility into a thriving industrial hub.

He emphasised that the centre’s vision should go beyond skills acquisition to include enterprise development, productive ventures and employment generation.

According to the statement, the commissioner stressed the need for the initiative to create opportunities for beneficiaries to become self-reliant and contribute meaningfully to economic growth.

Ojajuni also highlighted the relationship between economic empowerment and crime prevention, noting that sustainable livelihoods could help address socio-economic factors associated with criminal activity.

He stressed that the centre could contribute to public safety through crime-prevention awareness, constructive community engagement and opportunities that encourage women and young people to pursue legitimate and productive ventures.

Commending Adeoye and the POWA Ogun State executive for their commitment to human capital development, the commissioner pledged the command’s support for the centre.

He reaffirmed the command’s readiness to encourage strategic collaboration and partnerships that would advance the facility’s development, expand its reach and strengthen its contribution to empowerment and community safety.

The Ogun State Police Command reiterated its commitment to supporting initiatives that promote productive engagement, strengthen community resilience and advance public safety across the state.

Thor Explorations Limited, through its Nigerian subsidiary, Segilola Resources Operating Limited (SROL), has provided 10 cassava and oil palm processing plants to host communities in Osun State to boost agricultural businesses, improve local livelihoods and create economic opportunities.

The initiative, which covers Imogbara, Odo-Ijesha and Iperindo communities, combines a 50 per cent equipment subsidy with a hire-purchase arrangement to help local processors acquire modern equipment and expand their businesses.

The project comprises six oil palm processing plants and four cassava processing plants allocated to selected beneficiaries across the three communities.

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Under the allocation, Iperindo received two oil palm plants and two cassava plants, while Imogbara and Odo-Ijesha each received two oil palm plants and one cassava plant.

Thor said the initiative was designed to address the challenges faced by local processors who rely on labour-intensive methods that limit production, increase processing time and reduce potential earnings.

Each oil palm processing plant comprises a vertical palm fruit debuncher and a diesel-powered automatic presser. The debunchers can process between 800 and 1,000 kilogrammes of palm fruit per hour, reducing the manual effort required to separate the fruits from their bunches.

The cassava processing plants are equipped with graters, manual pressers fitted with 32-tonne jacks and fryers for garri production.

Each grater can process up to 500 kilogrammes of cassava per hour, while the pressers remove excess water from grated cassava before further processing.

The company said the equipment would reduce strenuous manual work, improve processing efficiency and consistency, and enable beneficiaries to handle larger volumes of agricultural produce.

The subsidy and hire-purchase arrangement is also intended to make the equipment more affordable while encouraging business ownership, accountability and long-term maintenance.

Thor said agriculture remained an important source of livelihood in its host communities, adding that improved processing capacity would help local entrepreneurs build stronger businesses and participate more effectively in agricultural value chains.

Beyond the direct benefits to processors, the company expects the project to stimulate economic activities in transportation, trading and distribution, while improving product quality and creating opportunities for related local services.

The initiative forms part of Thor’s wider community investment programme implemented through SROL, which also covers women’s enterprise, education and livelihood restoration.

The company said the intervention reflected its commitment to strengthening local economies and creating sustainable livelihood opportunities in communities surrounding its Segilola Gold Mine.

Nigeria’s average daily gas production has risen from about seven billion cubic feet to eight billion cubic feet.

The Special Adviser to the President on Energy (Oil and Gas), Olu Arowolo Verheijen, made the disclosure on Wednesday at the Africa Interviews Sustainability Forum 2026 in Lagos, themed “Energy Security and Africa’s Energy Transition: Defining the Role of Gas”.

She added that Nigeria has recorded four final investment decisions (FIDs) on gas projects in less than two years, which she attributed the development to reforms under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration aimed at removing investment barriers and unlocking the country’s gas resources for industrialisation, electricity generation and economic growth.

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Nigeria holds more than 200 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proven gas reserves, but Verheijen said sustained investment was needed to convert the resource into industrial growth, jobs and higher incomes.

“A country can sit on enormous natural wealth and fail to turn it into energy to power industry, industries that create jobs and jobs that help us grow incomes,” she said.

She disclosed that the four FIDs were recorded within less than two years, including the Ima project in September 2026, while indigenous producers were playing an increasingly significant role in domestic gas supply.

Verheijen said President Tinubu had mandated his administration to identify and address the factors preventing investment from matching Nigeria’s economic potential.

“When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office in 2023, he gave us a very clear mandate. Understand why investment has not moved at the pace of Nigeria’s potential and fix it,” she said.

She described gas as central to the administration’s reform agenda because of its importance to power generation, manufacturing, fertiliser production, transportation and cleaner household cooking.

Verheijen also disclosed that the Federal Government had settled more than N100 billion in longstanding gas debts since January 2026 under the Presidential Power Sector Financial Reforms Programme.

She said the government had also introduced import duty waivers and zero-rated value-added tax measures for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and gas cylinders to encourage cleaner cooking and reduce dependence on firewood.

“A gas-rich nation cannot be comfortable while families remain stuck in the age of firewood,” she said.

On Africa’s energy transition, Verheijen urged countries to prioritise energy security, industrialisation and job creation while pursuing environmental sustainability.

“For Africa, the energy transition must mean transformation, molecules converted into megawatts, fertilizer, petrochemicals, cleaner mobility, manufacturing, jobs and exports,” she said.

She maintained that African countries should determine the pace of their energy transitions in line with their development priorities and economic circumstances, rather than have those decisions imposed by external interests.

Verheijen also called for measures to monitor and reduce methane emissions and ensure that communities hosting gas projects benefit meaningfully from resource development.

She urged stakeholders to sustain investment and reform efforts, stressing that Nigeria’s gas resources must translate into lasting economic and social benefits.

“History will not ask what we possessed, it will ask what we did with it and whether we turned it into lasting prosperity for our people,” she said.