From Tony John, Port Harcourt
Niger Delta leaders have called on the Federal Government to review some provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to address the lingering needs of the region.
They made the call during the Second Niger Delta Alternative Convergence (NDAC) with support from Oil Watch Africa and Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday.
Executive Director of HOMEF, Nnimmo Bassey, emphasised the need for quick review of the PIA, saying it currently does not favour the host communities in Niger Delta.
Bassey said it was good that there is a document on operations of companies in the region, but the PIA was defective and needs quick review.
He said: “The PIA we have is defective in some areas. How could we at this age give oil companies the authority to determine who is the host community? How can oil companies who are foreigners know more about our communities.
“How could we allow oil companies determine who will be on the board that will determine how the money for the host communities are utilised.
“How can we in all conscience allow a law that criminalises the local people, that assumes that when there is pipeline vandalism it is caused by the community?
“We know that oil theft is not done by the local people or poor people, but by the rich people. We have gathered that Nigeria has lost huge revenue recently not by oil theft but by faulty metering. There is no proper metering.”
He said the need for the review is urgent, adding that oil companies should not also assume a regulatory function of its dealings with its hosts.
Bassey said: “There is need for a quick review of the PIA. The section that talks about the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) going to search for crude oil. “Oil companies cannot tell us who we are. They should not have the right of telling us who the host communities are. They shouldn’t be the ones that nominate the executive members of the board that handle the funding of host communities.
“Host communities should not be criminalised if there is any infringement on facilities of the oil companies because they are not the police, Navy or the Civil Defence Corps.”
“Rather than raising revenue from gas flaring to invest, there should be a definite deadline to stop gas flaring.”
He said the conference gives opportunity for the people of the Niger Delta to chat a way forward in their quest for peace and development, regretting that government has not shown through responsibility.
Bassey said: “We here today to agree on steps going forward. The problems of Nigeria have refused to disappear principally because for 65 years, there is no definite step taken by governing structures at the federal or state levels to hold polluters accountable.
“We have only seen a bit of this in Ogoni situation where the polluters were made to pay for the environmental assessment as well as the commencement of the clean up.”
However, Ken Robinson, national publicity secretary of Pan-Niger Delta Forum, frowned at lack of preparedness of governments for the 2023 flooding, saying government has failed to budget for the natural deserter.
He said: “On the issues of flooding, that of this year is costal flooding because of the surge of the sea level. No provision has been made in the budget for the flooding for this year
“This meeting should amplify it, and for the people to be vigilant and for the government to be proactive. We need to put our government at alert to ensure measures are put in place for the people.”