By Omoniyi Salaudeen
The National Assembly may have to go back to the drawing board to do an amendment of some of the contentious provisions of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) recently passed by the Senate to avoid a change in the balance of fragile peace in the Niger Delta region.
Since the passage of the bill, the lawmakers have been inundated with varying complaints from the stakeholders in the oil-rich region, criticizing it as a dashed hope for the people for the failure to reflect their yearnings for equity, fairness and justice.
Among other issues, they raised objection to the section of the bill which approved allocation of 30 per cent of profits for further frontier oil exploration in the North, while it recommended three per cent compensation for the host communities.
In the original draft of the bill, Section 240 stipulated 2.5 per cent sources of funding for petroleum Host Communities Development Fund, which the lawmakers increased to three per cent. But the Niger Delta leaders are insisting on 10 per cent, warning that the relative peace in the region may no longer be guaranteed, if the necessary adjustments were not made.
Concerns have also been raised on section 104, which dwells on gas flaring penalties, but the passed bill approved payment of fines to the Federal Government at the expense of the people who bear the health hazard of the unwholesome activities of the multinational oil companies.
Further reservation centres on Section 242 of the bill, which, according to the critics, denies the people to be a part of the selection process into the Board of Trustees of management of the host communities.
Reacting to the passed bill, Ijaw national leader, Edwin Clark, in an open letter addressed to the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker, House of Representatives, condemned the provisions, describing the newly passed PIB as “satanic, unjust and embarrassing”.
He, therefore, demanded that the PIB be reversed, reviewed and amended to ensure that the oil-bearing communities receive not less than 10 per cent of operating cost, warning that “if this is not done, the Niger Delta people may be forced to take their destiny into their own hands and all IOCs may find themselves denied access to their oil activities in such communities.”
His statement reads in part: “But you Mr. Senate President, the Right Honourable Speaker and some of your colleagues in the National Assembly have further shown your disdain to the Niger Delta people by redefining host communities to include pipeline-bearing pathway communities, in which case states, where pipelines pass through to aid them with the privilege of cheap supplies of Niger Delta petroleum products, could also be entitled to the ridiculous and unacceptable percentages that the legislators are willing to cede to oil-bearing communities.
“We want to warn seriously, that the people of the Niger Delta have had enough of this colonial and oppressive mentality of our Northern brothers and friends. Today, the North controls the oil sector, even though day-to-day operations are being handled by the International Oil Companies (IOCs) on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
Clarke said that the entire people of the Niger Delta region, for and on behalf of the host communities, vehemently rejected the three per cent and five per cent of operating expenditure granted to the host communities, condemning “the fraudulent and provocative 30 per cent provision for the frontier exploration fund.”
In the same vein, PAN-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), the umbrella body of Niger-Delta people, while also criticising the National Assembly for the passage of the bill, warned that conflicts may continue in the oil-rich region, if host communities were denied their legitimate rights in the oil industry.
Rising from its extraordinary meeting in Abuja, the group cautioned the Federal Government not to ignore the recent threats by militants to resume fresh hostilities in the region over unfulfilled promises by the government.
A communiqué signed by its National Chairman, Edwin Kiagbodo Clark and Deputy National Chairman, Senator Emmanuel Ibok- Essien, stated that: “The PIB falls short of the expectations of the Niger Delta people, who bear the brunt of the consequences of the oil and gas industry operations in their lands.
“PANDEF recalls and reiterates that host communities of the Niger Delta region had demanded 10 per cent equity participation, as against the percentages just passed by the National Assembly. And maintains its long-held logical demand that, unless stakeholders of the oil and gas host communities are given sufficient rights in the management and operation of the industry, conflicts in the oil-rich region may persist.
“Currently, the youth in the Niger Delta have declared a ‘vote of no confidence’ in PANDEF, because it was the leaders of the region that stayed their hand when, in frustration, they had decided to cripple the national economy, in 2016.
“Strongly condemns the unending span of an Interim Management for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to the detriment of the region. Warns that the situation threatens the peace and stability of the region and, therefore, calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute the Board and Management of the NDDC, in line with the Act establishing the Commission, without any further delay.”
Despite the outbursts, the Senate on Thursday passed a harmonised version of the PIB, maintaining its earlier position on three per cent for host communities. This followed the meeting of the two leaders of both chambers.
According to reports, some Niger Delta Senators tried to protest the decision, but the move was rebuffed by the President of the Senate, Lawan. With the adoption of the report, the Bill will be transmitted to the President for assent into law.
In further outrage to the perceived insensitivity of the lawmakers to the plights of the Niger Delta people, the Secretary of the Ijaw Elders Forum (IEF), Pastor Efiye Bribena, described the PIB as a new form of colonialism to perpetuate the exploitation of the oil bearing communities.
Speaking with Sunday Sun in a telephone interview, he fumed: “This bill as it is being touted is a new colonialism that is meant to perpetuate the injustice and oppression that have been taking place in Nigeria, particularly as it concerns the Niger Delta region. And nothing brings that to the fore more than the allocation of three per cent of operational cost as compensation for the oil bearing communities. It is insulting; it is unrealistic and unreasonable. For them to suggest that three per cent compensation for the host communities in spite of all the environmental degradation that has been taking place in the Niger Delta is very insulting.
“They are not even talking about remediating the environment; they are talking about frontier exploration with 30 per cent allocation. What kind of injustice is that? That tells you that the whole essence of the bill is to continue to exploit the people of the Niger Delta.
“The PIB should be focused on how to remediate the environment that has been destroyed over the years. What the Ijaw people want is to be able to owe and manage their resources. So, we are not talking about three per cent, we are talking about 100 per cent ownership of our resources to take care of our problems.
“It is a disgrace that we have lawmakers in the National Assembly who sat and watched through such a process. Though because of the skewed nature of the country; which is why everybody is talking about restructuring, there is very little they can do in terms of voting. But I expected them to express their outrage by publicly shredding that bill the moment it was passed. I expected them to show their outrage even if they cannot garner enough votes to pass the version of the bill that will satisfy the interest and aspiration of the people of the Niger Delta.”
A former leader of the National Union of Petroleum Employees and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG), Frank Kokori, also added his voice, saying: “One unpopular aspect of that bill is the allocation of three per cent to the oil-producing communities.”
He dismissed it as an insult on the sensibility of the people of the Niger Delta. “It is like an insult to the people of the Niger Delta with all they are going through in terms of environmental issues and poverty level. Let us watch them until the final reconciliation is done.
“May be when the two houses meet to sanitise the bill, may be they will lift it to five per cent, even though the Niger Delta people are talking of 10 per cent,” he said.
On the earlier threat of violence issued to the Federal Government by the militants, he added: “Niger Delta has elders. It is not everything militants want to do that they will support. Even the so-called militants cannot be well trusted; some of them have been bought over. So, it is not the question of militants alone, we have our representatives. Let us watch them until they finally reconcile the Senate and House of Representatives’ position. But with the atmosphere I am seeing, they won’t go beyond five per cent.”
Similarly, a human rights activist, Ankio Briggs, while expressing her disappointment at the lawmakers for allocating 30 per cent for frontier exploration at the expense of the host communities, declared the action as an insult to the people of the Niger Delta.
“It is insulting to the people of Niger Delta for them to give three per cent to the host communities who are suffering the effects of oil spillage, environmental devastation, water and air pollution and then assign 30 per cent for oil exploration in the Northern part of Nigeria. It is one type of exploitation that I can’t think of on top of devastation that we have endured for decades. “Some people believe they can continue to do what they have been doing and get away with it because the Niger Delta people allow them to get away with it. They have made that decision and there is little the people can do about it. But it can be resisted. It should be resisted and rejected. As a Niger Delta person, as a victim and as a stakeholder, it is unacceptable. We do not accept it,” she declared.
As the National Assembly remains adamant on the bill, the only window of opportunity left for any possible adjustment is the executive action. Otherwise, the PIB will be another dashed hope for the Niger Delta people who have been clamouring for justice and fairness in the management of their God-given resources.