PIB and Insecurity: IOC’S to defray damage cost in the N’Delta

Weighing in on the ongoing debates about the petroleum industry bill to regulate operations in the oil and gas industry


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PIB and Insecurity: IOC’S to defray damage cost in the N’Delta


Weighing in on the ongoing debates about the petroleum industry bill to regulate operations in the oil and gas industry.  P.D.O who is a trustee of the ERF is utterly disgusted at the shenanigans of the federal government and or in collaboration with the international oil companies, as well as the marginal field operators to deprive those communities of an Avenue to become sustainable after decades of raping the environment, evading all environmental protection laws, as contained in EGASPIN and sub changing local communities, it is appalling to say the least that the government and the companies can conceive of offering the communities a paltry 2.52 percent. 

 

In the first instance, the 13% derivation due to communities is being routed to state governors, who in turn, use it for security vote and other developments in non oil producing communities.

Secondly, the federal government and the IOC owe billions of dollars to the NDDC by failure to contribute their counterpart funding, thirdly, the interventioning agencies are replete with political corruption. And so whatever the Nigeria state think it has done or is thinking it has done for those communities still amounts to nothing as the money and the developments are used to build mansions across the country as against improving the lives of people in the oil producing areas.

 

The only way the foundation thinks that things will be better for oil producing communities is to have the forms routed directly to the communities and not through intervention agencies of host communities. Whilst we ask that government puts checkmates or routine measures to check mate fraud and corruption, accordingly, the foundation is of the opinion that the 10% being requested by commenters as the equity stake for oil producing communities in any oil project is fair. And it's the only way out to clean up and remediation of all the oil impacted sites in Nigeria.

 

We use this opportunity to sound a warning of ominous days ahead to the entire oil producing communities in Nigeria that recently some of the region, the prime minister of state of petroleum announced gleefully on national TV that oil production will begin in the North East any moment from now, that indicates that if the PIB is not taken into consideration quickly it will be slacked off. The trillions of dollars being owed to the Niger Delta region is not paid and oil exploration and production commences in the Northern part of the country. The Niger Delta stands the risk or stands the chance of being doomed to history of a degraded environment. 

 

This is also a call to the leaders of the region to be resolute as they engage the Federal government through PANDEF, which is the Pan Niger Delta Development Forum and other platforms or other means of engagement. Nonetheless, our take on the PIB itself is 10% or nothing, and then leaders of the region should do the needful. Lastly, we also wish to decry the state of insecurity in the country and we charge the leaders of the south-south part of the country to immediately commence efforts at state policing and take a queue from the South Western part of the country that has gone ahead to create AMOTEKUN for the South-south part of the country, the region is replete with lots of river lords, warlords, and co. And it's a shame that they are all running around Abuja to get contracts in the presidential amnesty program, rather than utilizing their forcefulness to secure the region.

 

 

By: Prince David Omaghomi – Trustee, Eco Restoration Foundation


Copyright: Fresh Angle International (www.freshangleng.com)
ISSN 2354 - 4104


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