It appears Niger Delta host communities are beginning to reject the entire Petroleum Industry Bill(PIB), not necessarily the 3℅ but are asking that the Solid Mineral Act and the PIB should be merged as a single Act to be known as Extractive Resources Community Development Bill.
It all began when a summit called by the Coalition of Rivers Oil and Gas Host Communities at Landmark hotel, Port Harcourt, on Monday with the theme:” Creating A Practical Template Towards Managing the Challenges in Oil and Gas Host Communities”.
At the summit, many of the host communities echoed about the 3℅ given to them and called for the rejection.
However, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Host Communities, Rt. Hon. Dumnamene Dekor, appealed to them not to reject the PIB entirely, pleading that let the bill be, promising that over time it could be amended to meet the expectations of the communities.
After that, the whole proceedings changed dramatically when Ledum Mitee, the former leader of Movement for Survival of Ogoni People(MOSOP), presented a paper which was read on his behalf by the Chairman of Coalition of Rivers Oil and Gas Host Communities, Engr. Barituka Loanyie, where he lambasted the 3℅ given to the host communities, querying what the 3℅ was and raised questions.
” 3℅ of what? If it is (as provided by the PIB) 3℅ of the operating expenditure of the oil company concerned, how can that be correctly ascertained, say for a community that hosts, say, 1 kilometer of pipeline etc? Given the thousands of communities that ordinarily qualify as oil and gas host communities( not to talk of the extended political definition in the PIB) how would the 3℅ be shared? Would the 3℅ be the expenditure cost of the entire oilfield or would it be prorated on the expenditure cost of the facility within each oil and gas host community? Can the actual expenditure cost be ascertained for the purpose of calculation of the 3℅ especially noting that the respective settlers( i.e. the Oil Companies) are the ones that have the responsibilities of setting up and indeed managing their respective Host Communities Trusts?
He pointed out that there were two laws, one meant for the Niger Delta region called PIB with a lot of shortcomings for the communities and another, Minerals and Mining Act 2007 made for the North with good community provisions.
Mitee said this has always been with the contraption Nigeria where injustice reigns supreme.
He, therefore, called on the Niger Delta people to root for a new bill entirely where the Solid Mineral Act will be merged with the PIB to be called Single Extractive Resources Community Development Bill.
This, he said will merge the community provisions and that of the PIB into a single bill, pointing out that the new bill will address environmental, developmental and ownership concerns of host communities in a non-discriminatory manner, stressing that if done, it will remove the injustice meted to the Niger Delta region.
As soon as the paper was presented, the views of participants changed as they no longer support the PIB at all.
Basking on the mood, the head of Operations Overseeing the Office of Project Coordination, Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation project (HYPREP), Prof. Philip Shekwolo, called on the Niger Delta people to buy the thought of Mitee as it will serve their best interest.
” Ledum Mitee made a very objective analysis of the PIB. Why not merge them together if truly it will cause more problems”, he suggested.
Expressing their own views, the Chairman of the Association of Traditional Rulers of Oil Minerals Producing Communities of Nigeria (TROMPCON), Rivers state chapter, His Royal Majesty, King Dr. Samuel Ndiwe Amaechi, Ksc, J.P, Onye- Ishi Agwuru, (Anwirinwu), Igbo Kingdom, Etche and the Eze Idu of Ogbaland in Ogba, Egbema, Ndoni local government area, His Royal Majesty Eze Sunny Umenwa Ugorji 1,stated that no amount of compensation can equate the death threat and enormity of the hazards that oil activities pose to the people in the host communities.
HRM Ugorji said, “Most of the legislators basking in the luxury produced by oil exploitation do not care! That is why I believe that the 3℅ proposed is because of their crass ignorance of the enormity of the hazards that oil activities pose to the people living and doing business in the host communities. It is grossly inadequate when one considers those risks to our Peoples” daily lives. I am of the view that even the 5℅ we are clamouring for is not enough”.
On his part, HRM Amaechi reiterated that” with respect to the 3℅ PIB bill recommended by the National Assembly and awaiting Mr. President’s assent, the position of TROMPCON is 5℅ in line with the Southern Governors Forum, and will urge Mr. President to do the needful assenting to the bill”.
Earlier on in his welcome address,the Chairman of the Coalition, Engr.Loanyie, said the programme was put together to draft a feasible template for the multidimensional challenges facing the host communities in the Niger Delta region particularly, Rivers state.
“Our efforts is geared towards ensuring that host communities in Rivers state organize,close rank and forge a united front in demanding their rights”.
“This programme is in line with our dream for oil-producing communities to come together and draft a feasible template for their multidimensional challenges”.
The event was attended by youths and women groups, academics and community leaders.
