By Patrick Titus, Uyo
The Chairman of the Effiat and Mbo Host Communities Development Trust in Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Inam Okon has said that the Trust has sponsored 320 students from the area through scholarship programmes.
Okon, who gave a breakdown while interacting with the delegation of the 2026 Press Week Committee of the Nigeria Union of journalists, Akwa Ibom State Council who paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Uyo on Thursday, said that 160 were from secondary school and another 160 from the university with each university student receiving N500,000 annually.
From the secondary school level, he disclosed over 40 students from the host communities who studied at Top Faith Secondary School were provided full sponsorship from JSS1 to SS3.
The Chairman added that the Trust, being an offshoot of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), has also invested in vocational training, including pipeline welding, where beneficiaries received training and certifications to enhance their capacities for international opportunities.
He added that 33 beneficiaries were currently undergoing training at the Dakkada Skills Acquisition Centre, with accommodation and feeding provided by the Trust.
“Beyond education and skills development, the Trust had conducted free medical surgeries for members of the host communities and was preparing to embark on additional projects, including an ICT hall, school renovations and a feeder bridge.”
The Trust chairman explained that every host community has a representative who participates in discussions on projects and programmes aimed at developing the people.
He expressed concern over lack of potable water and other basic infrastructure in some communities, saying the PIA had created an opportunity for host communities to address some of their longstanding challenges.
Okon who pledge to support NUJ programmes in the state, however, described the Host Community Development Trusts established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) as a game changer for oil-bearing communities.
He said the Trust, initiated with the support of Oriental Energy Resources Limited, had continued to implement programmes in education, skills acquisition, healthcare and economic empowerment across its host communities in Mbo Local Government Area.
According to him, the PIA has given host communities greater participation in determining their development priorities. “With the inauguration of these Trusts, our communities are now in the driver’s seat and determine the pace, with various projects and programmes in respective host communities,” he said.
Earlier, the Chairman of the 2026 Press Week Committee, Comrade Gideon Ekere, said the committee decided to identify with the Trust because of the projects and programmes it had initiated to enhance the lives of people in its host communities.
He said that the committee had followed the activities of the Trust and discovered its interventions in scholarships and meeting the needs of host communities.
“We have been following up your activities and we discovered that you offered scholarships and meet the needs of the host communities,” Ekere said, adding that the Trust’s achievements deserved greater public attention. “Your noble works are being under-reported. That’s why we are here to form a partnership in promoting hope to the hopeless,” he stated.
Ekere said the committee had been receiving positive signals about the stewardship of the Trust and expressed its readiness to partner in promoting its development initiatives.
The 2026 NUJ Akwa Ibom State Council Press Week is scheduled to hold from Sunday, November 29, to Friday, December 4, 2026.
