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Stakeholders in the Niger Delta region have called on the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL, and the Federal Government to expand the scope of the work of Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited, PINL, beyond the Eastern Corridor to the entire country.
According to the stakeholders, the call became necessary following PINL’s achievement of near-zero infractions on the Trans Niger Pipeline, TNP, crisscrossing 215 communities in the Eastern Corridor.
The stakeholders who spoke at the monthly engagement meeting with stakeholders from pipeline host communities organised by PINL in Bayelsa State at Harold Dappa- Biriye Hall in Yenagoa noted that PINL’s strategy of consistent dialogue with host communities and engagement of community youths for surveillance jobs as strategic gestures that have helped to secure the pipelines and thereby boosted the nation’s revenue.
Chairman of the Southern Ijaw Traditional Rulers Council, HRH, King Darius Job, who led the call at the stakeholders meeting, averred that the entire pipeline communities in the state were satisfied with the operations of the firm in their domain.
He acknowledged that the operations of PINL have helped to reduce cases of pollution and mitigate crises in their communities.
“I want to thank you for what you are doing to protect our pipelines, and I think overall the damage has reduced.
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“With the way you people are going, the whole Bayelsa State is hailing your work and if you continue like this, our prayer is that the whole pipelines in the federation should be handed over to you for proper surveillance work so that our pipelines will be safer and for federal government to earn more money to do developmental projects,” he said.
Also speaking, HRM, King Funpere Gabriel Okah, King of Gbarain Kingdom, while acknowledging that the communities have witnessed changes since the company started operations in their domain, called on the stakeholders to rally behind the surveillance firm.
“I want to encourage you to do more because we have seen changes. In my kingdom, there is no vandalism because we believe that if you do that, you cause more problems for yourself. Let us support companies coming to work for us,” he stated.
On his part, Mr Morris Alagoa, a frontline environmentalist and Deputy Director, Environmental Rights Defenders Network, corroborated the fact that PINL’s operations were yielding results, especially in the area of environmental protection, as he said the incidents Earlier, Dr Akpos Mezeh, General Manager, Community Relations and Stakeholders Engagement of PINL, disclosed that the firm has recorded zero infractions on the TNP in the last one year, ascribing the feat to stakeholders’ collaboration and strategic engagement by the firm.
Dr Mezeh disclosed that the company’s scope of work is now expanding into all national assets, including gas pipelines.
