The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

Oil spill: Itsekiri community in Edo tackles Npdc over incessant spills

Over 18 months after oil spills from the facilities of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and fire outbreak ravaged Ikara in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State, the people of the Itsekiri community are still waiting for succour, writes SHOLA O’NEIL

Over 18 months after several crude oil spills from the facilities of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and fire outbreak ravaged Ikara, Ajatiton and Kolokolo communities in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State, the people of Ikara, an Itsekiri community, are still waiting for the management of the national oil firm and the National Oil Spill Detection and Remediation Agency (NOSDRA) to act on the spill.

It was learnt that the management of NPDC, a subsidiary of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is resolute that it would neither negotiate with nor pay compensation to the communities, due to an extant policy of not paying for spills caused by “3rd Party Interference”.

•Area impacted by spills in 2014

The people of Ikara, one of the affected communities told Niger Delta Report that the spills, which occurred from late 2013 through January and February of 2014, wreaked untold havoc on the environment and ecology of their land. They said resulting fire from the spills later ravaged the forests, fish ponds and farmlands around the area, leaving in its wake gale of destruction, hunger and poverty.

It was learnt that a Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) carried out by NOSDRA and other stakeholders on January 6, 2014, over one month after the first incident, recommended the immediate repair of the pipeline, environmental assessment, clean up and post-clean-up investigation of the impacted areas.

Our findings, collaborated by documents from NOSDRA and other agencies, revealed that the repair of the damaged pipeline was not properly done. One of the independent valuers said, “It was the clamps placed to contain the initial damage that ruptured and led to at least two other spills in the proceeding months.”

Just one month after, on February 18, 2014, there was another report of spillage from the NPDC’s Oziengbe/Oredo 6″ Export pipeline at Ikara swamps. Equipment failure and failed clamp was indicated as the cause of the spill.

The JIV which led to the revelation was carried out on March 13, nearly one month after, contrary to the NOSDRA regulation, which recommended that such investigation should be done within 72 hours (three days) after the spill is reported.

The investigation nonetheless identified oil stains on vegetation, fishing nets, dead floating fishes and withering vegetation as the nature of impact of the spill. Properties affected were listed as crops, fish farm and ponds and fishing nets, among others.

The document signed on behalf of the agency by Adanu Charles and I A Jonathan, remarked that the spill was caused by a previously clamped section of the pipeline, which was leaking and recommended that immediate repair of the facilities be effected. “NPDC should intensify surveillance.”

Two weeks after the visit, a fire outbreak occurred on 27/03/14 at the same facility and around the same area. The impacted areas were delineated as within and outside the company’s ROW (Right of Way). A JIV, three days later remarked that “The cause of the fire incident is not known”. The report though conceded that “crude oil was all over the area before the incident, which was not cleaned-up.”

NPDC was asked to “Commence immediate cleanup and remediation of the impacted area”, by NOSDRA’s Olawumi Oladapo, who led the team along with NPDC and community representatives.

Just a month later, on 23/04/14, there was yet another spill from a “failed clamp” on the 6″ pipeline. The remark on the JIV report, which was obtained by NDR read: “As at the time of visit, the crude oil was seeping out of the failed clamp.”

Although it noted that the spill was still within the confines of the firm’s ROW, the JIV report advised that “NPDC should respond to the spill immediately to prevent the oil from moving out of the ROW”. It also urged the company to do “immediate clean-up of the impacted area”.

One of the community leaders, Chief John Eyejamuro, told our reporter in a telephone chat that the company’s perceived “irresponsibility has led to suffering and hardship in the community”. He accused the company of neglecting the impacted community and shirking its responsibilities to them.

But NPDC source said the community members were responsible for the spill through sabotage of the company’s facilities because they wanted to be compensated.

An environmental consulting and engineering services firm engaged by the communities, Fredorosa Casolini Limited, petitioned the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Abuja, urging for urgent intervention of the House to save the people of Ikara and other impacted areas.

The petition, dated 9th May, 2014 was signed by Eyimofe Brown-Dibofun. It decried “The consequences of the unwholesome environmental practices by the NPDC”, which he said resulted in “continuous pollution of surface and underground water which is the source of drinking water for the people; the unending pollution and degradation of rivers and creeks, mangrove and vegetation leading to a depletion of its flora and fauna.

The consultant also lamented the non-completion of Post-Spill Impact Assessment (PSIA), which usually ends in the damage assessment of resources and properties. “We are to mention that we are also disturbed that the mandatory PSIA, which must come before cleanup and remediation has not been done and yet the polluter (NPDC) is eager to clean-up the polluted sites and the waterways in order to obliterate scientific and visual evidence required for this matter.”

The petition demanded that NPDC proceed to Ikara and other communities with stakeholders for the PSIA and Post-fire Impact Assessment of forest and resources as well as the cleanup and remediation work in the impacted area.

“NPDC must supply adequate relief materials (foodstuffs, water and medication) to be determined by NOSDRA to assuage the sufferings of the people occas0ioned by the oil spill.”

Several months after the 2013 spill, NPDC engaged the service of Mytec Links International Limited for the cleanup, remediation and restoration of the impacted areas. The company mobilized to sight in August 2014.

Apparently unimpressed with the processes leading to the planned cleanup, FREDOROSA, on December 30, 2014, wrote to NOSDRA’s Director General, Sir Peter Idabor, reminding the agency of the legal imperative to ensure the PSIA and Post Impact Assessment for Ikara” are done.

The letter stated that “It is a legal imperative that NOSDRA, as an Agency of the Federal Ministry of Environment, must ensure the assessments.” A further reminder was sent to the agency on January 22, 2015.

The letters, our findings revealed, was the culmination of distrust between Ikara leaders, NOSDRA and NPDC. Before the petition to the NASS, the communities had also raised concern over purported attempted by the NPDC to “destroy JIV evidence”. They claimed that the oil firm tried to mutilate the JIV forms signed by the stakeholders “with a view to destroy evidence against them on their unwholesome environmental practices.”

Speaking with our reporter on Monday, Brown-Dibofun insisted that the ploy to destroy the evidence of the JIV was hatched in connivance with some official of NOSDRA who went for the JIV. “When we noticed this, we protested to the then Zonal Director in Warri, Mr Bunmi Akindele, who later queried some of the officials deployed for the JIV.”

The FREDOROSA boss’ claim could not be independently confirmed because Akindele was no longer the Zonal Director at the agency’s Warri office at the time of this report. The result of the ‘query’ was also unknown.

Nevertheless, Eyimofe-Brown insisted that the NPDC spill management process was not transparent. He said, “Over 80percent of spills are wrongly listed by the company as 3rd party intervention in order to escaped liability.

“It is not only in the cause that they plan pranks; they also under report the quantity of crude oil spill. There was a case when the company said just 40 barrels of crude was spilled but when it awarded the contract for the recovery, the contractor was asked to recovered hundreds of barrels; where did the extra came from?”

Our problem with Ikara, others – Npdc

Our reporter’s effort to reach the Managing Director of the NPDC, Mr. Anthony Ugonna Muoneke and other staff competent to speak for the company was abortive.

However, a very reliable and high ranking officer of NPDC, who spoke on condition that his name would not be mention in this report, explained the company’s position on oil spills and other issues in the area. The source said some inhabitants of the areas were notorious for attacks on oil installations, stressing that it got so bad that the company reached out to prominent leaders in Itsekiri nation to help curb the attack on NPDC’s pipelines.

“When we notice incessant cases of vandalisation of our pipelines in the area – sometimes they put fire on the pipeline – we became concerned. We approached one Chief Johnson and asked him to take up a contract to guard our pipeline. Immediately they started writing petition that they want the contract broken into pieces. We said not because we want to be able to hold somebody responsible. We were sure that he could do it and he has helped us arrest a lot of suspect. “

Speaking on the process of cleanup and remediation of the spill site, the source debunked allegation that a JIV report was tampered, stressing that it was a desperate ploy to malign the company. It noted that the community leaders knew the channel of dealing with the issues .

“The truth is that in any oil spill, we invite DPR (Department of Petroleum Resources), NOSDRA, community for a JIV and they look at to find out if its equipment failure or vandalism. It is DPR that issue report about the JIV it is the report of DPR that determines what happens. If we have done JIV and DPR decides its sabotage, then that is what it is. The DPR is an independent government organ saddled with the responsibility.

“The problem of the community is that they are not willing to accept the report of DPR. Communities are using the press to blackmail and forcing us to do what is not right. They should have reported us to the Ministry of Environment and the NOSDRA; why go to the press? The Ministry of Environment asks questions when there is disagreement and we respond with documents.

“The law is that if it is vandalism which we have been experiencing, no relief materials, no compensation and nothing will be provided. If after vandalizing our equipment, making us lose production, shutdown and spend money on repair they still expect us to give them relief material?”

May 1, 2015
Navy takes medical rhapsody to Bayelsa community

Health is wealth”. The Central Naval Command (CNC) was on point in choosing the globally accepted maxim as the theme of its recently concluded medical rhapsody in Bayelsa State.

The command, whose Areas of Responsibility (AoR) apart from Bayelsa comprises Delta, Kogi and Anambra, took its medical mission to Ogboloma community in Yenagoa Local Government Area where its headquarters is located.

•One of the oldest community members receiving medical attention from the navy

Ogboloma, the benefitting community, was very receptive. They were happy that free medical help came their way. Little wonder everybody came out to be part of the naval magnanimity. Children, youths, the aged and community leaders were not left out. Some clutched their ill ones to the chosen centre while others used motorcycles and other means of transportation to convey the sick to the area.

At the last count, over 3000 persons turned up for the medical mission. The naval medical crew emptied their drugs. In fact, they were inundated with many health complaints. They carried out eye examination on persons with optical problems; conducted dental checks, laboratory investigations and health talks.

The Acting Commander, Warri, Captain C.A Opara, who was the special guest and leader of the Naval medical team, said the mission is part of the naval community outreach programmes.

“The Medical Rhapsody in the Navy started about 2006 when the Navy decided that apart from being seen as one of the arms of the armed forces, that is the Army and the Airforce, there is the need to also reach out to the civilians, to provide a cordial civil-military relationship,” she said.

Realising the importance of friendly civil-military relationship, she said that the navy decided that its medical department should have a Medical Rhapsody. She described the rhapsody as a kind of medical outreach designed for host communities and environs.

Before commencing any medical mission, she said the medical team prepares itself to handle any health problems.

She said: “In this instance, what we do is to give them health talks and medical checks. We find out that when this is done, often times we get to discover illnesses that even the individuals within the community are not aware of and we tend to start early treatment.

“We are aiming at making sure we reduce the mortality rate of individuals within the society and if there are instances of ailments or illnesses that can be spread communally, you teach them so that they can be aware of it.

“So preventive measures are therefore made. At the end of the day everyone of us come from a community and you will go back to that community on retirement.”

On the response of people to the gesture, she said: “It’s been wonderful. When I was in Calabar, we had it in three ocassions. We visited different places and we found out that people are positive about it. We get to see a large number of people and we have to control the crowd.

“Come May/June,we are going to have the Navy week. The Navy as a whole will have different Medical Rhapsody in each command in different hospitals.Since we are still within the community, they come to our hospital for more medical information.”

The captain encouraged the people to go for regular medical examinations. She said the medical education offered by the navy would help the people to identify and deal with health problems.

Addressing the people, she said: “We are here to educate you and this education will help the community to be aware of health problems .What we are going to do is to have different medical checks for the eyes, blood and we shall take the complaints of everybody here present.

“At the end of the day, there are sicknesses you have that you don’t know, it is only through this test that you will discover it and treatment starts immediately. Let’s not forget that prevention is better than cure”.

Indeed, the Paramount Ruler of the community, His Highness, Chief F.K Tebepena, was excited. He appreciated the effort of the Nigerian Navy in his community and Nigeria as a whole.

“What I am seeing here today is just like a dream,which is not. It is real. I welcome the Nigerian Navy to my town. Thank you for coming to our community to help us with this medical assignment. This is a welcome development and a very unique opportunity. We are thankful to God for this”, he said.

Shortly after the monarch’s speech, the health talks started. The first health talk was on the prevention of HIV/AIDS. A guest speaker identified simply as Mr. James, enlightened the people on transmission and prevention of HIV.

He emphasized that it could be transmitted through unprotected sex and the use of sharp objects. He pleaded with the participants to make themselves available for free HIV tests conducted by the medical team.

The second health talk on hypertension was anchored by the Principal Medical Officer of the Nigerian Naval Hospital, Warri, Dr. E. Ikwuagwu. He described hypertension as a silent killer and advised people He advised people who were above 40 years to always go for regular medical checks. He also advised that persons diagnosed of High Blood Pressure (HBP) should always take their drugs.

“Don’t be too busy for your health. Check your blood pressure at least once a month and take your medicine. No amount of money you pursue is equivalent to your health”, he appealed.

• A child receiving an injection

Children were not left out in the health talks. A Navy Warrant Officer identified as Akpan spoke on how child mortality could be prevented and the various types of vaccination given to children at different stages.

“Vaccinations are given to prevent various diseases. Mothers should help their children to live a healthy lifestyle. When your children are healthy, you save a lot of money and you are happy as a mother”, he said.

Based on the spirits of the talk, the medical team isolated children above two years and gave them vaccines.

One of the beneficiaries and mother of two who identified herself as Mrs. Clement, poured encomiums on the navy.

She said: “I am happy about what the Navy is doing. I came with my son and daughter for free medical treatments and I also complained to the doctor concerning a pain on my left leg and I was given some drugs. May God bless them.

Also, a woman in her 60s who preferred to be called Mama Grace, spoke of her experience in pidgin. She said: “I come tell the doctors say my waist and legs dey pain me. Dem do test for me come give me drugs wey I go dey use and all na free. Dem try for us o.”

May 1, 2015
Rivers and Akwa Ibom

Lateef Fagbemi and Wole Olanipekun are two Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) who have the reputation of always winning cases they handle at the election tribunals. They are brilliant, no doubt. But, I am told the secret of their success also lies in the fact that they look at cases critically before accepting. Once there is no merit in a case, they avoid it.

Fagbemi is leading the All Progressives Congress (APC) team of lawyers to seek the voiding of the declaration of Chief Nyesom Wike as Rivers Governor-elect. Olanipekun is leading the APC team in Akwa Ibom to challenge Udom Emmanuel’s ‘election’.

The elections in these two states remain the most controversial. Observers, local and international, have described the polls as sham. Violence, rigging and outright writing of results are some of the issues observers have raised about the polls in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has challenged the observers, insisting the elections were free, fair and credible. The tribunals are where to defend the credibility of the polls.

Will Fagbemi and Olanipekun repeat their previous magic? These two cases will be interesting to follow.

May 1, 2015
Who really betrayed the Niger Delta cause?

Since the results of the Presidential election were announced with the emergence of the General Muhammadu Buhari, many people have voiced one form of concern or another. In particular, the results took many people by surprise, especially in the South-South and South-East. Although many of them knew that the incumbent President was unpopular, they were expecting that some last minute rigging and manipulative magic could happen that would turn the tide in favour of the ruling party. For me, I knew it long ago that such a thing would be difficult to pull off. Many of us had publicly supported the need for Nigerians to experience a change in government this time around, and told anyone who cared to listen that the re-election of President Jonathan was mathematically impossible. As someone from the Niger Delta region (whether you say oil producing state or NDDC state), I was called all sorts of names being called including, unpatriotic, betrayer, sell-out, traitor and others. Even some of the prominent leaders who promoted other political parties were described the same way. I remained and still remain unmoved. However, as I have done in the past, I am once again forced to ask – what, exactly, is the true Niger-Delta cause? How did we contribute to betray it?

I cannot claim to be an authority on the underlying problems in the region. However, anyone who attempts to reduce the Niger-Delta struggle or cause (whatever that means) to the Jonathan presidency is at best being simplistic and at worst being unfair to the people of the region. With a flashback, I remember the early days of the agitation for resource control which initially crystallised into the symbolic Ogoni Bill of Rights sometime in 1990, and the centrality of environmental concerns to the people of our region in that document. One will not forget the sacrificial role of many persons, including the late Ogoni political activist Ken Saro Wiwa, who brought international attention to the issues at that time.

Then almost eight years later in 1998, representatives of communities of Ijaw extraction met, re-echoed and amplified the same issues of neglect, environmental devastation and resource control raised earlier and agreed to the Kaiama Declaration. The Declaration called for increased infrastructural attention to the people and ecological rehabilitation of the region. Those were the two issues uppermost on the agenda at that time. In between these years, many of leaders were actively involved and made important contributions to keep the issue on the front burner, both locally and internationally. Others paid with their lives in many peaceful protests and non-violent struggles against the military and the high-handedness of multinational corporations.

Put together, the period of the Ogoni Bill of Rights and the Kaiama Declaration still represents the most intellectual and non-violent phase of the struggle. This was before the ‘struggle’ was hijacked by miscreants, criminals and conflict entrepreneurs in the name of armed struggle and militancy. Given the descent into nearly absolute anarchy, which grossly affected, in the negative, on the economies of the various producing states witnessed under this era, it remains debatable whether this phase of the struggle was really worth the while. Many observers agree that this era of the struggle, despite its “nuisance value” of further escalating the message about the plight of the Niger-Delta people, remains the darkest days of the struggle. This era is characterised by increased oil theft, rape and kidnapping-for-ransom (in many cases of the same Niger-Delta people whose interests the militants claim to be protecting or furthering), and by disruption of oil installation and production.

One must admit that the Obasanjo administration gave some attention to the people of the region by establishing the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Subsequently, the late Yar Adua extended an amnesty to the militants, which led to the cessation of the escalating conflict and hostilities.

What about our own son? With the emergence of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. First as Vice President and later as President, the Niger-Delta people heaved a sigh of relief. While the outgoing President could be said to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the struggle, he could not do much. Many people who took it for granted that the issues of the region would be given priority attention under him, are now completely disappointed. After almost six years of the Jonathan Presidency, the same issues contained in the Ogoni Bill of Rights and the Kaiama Declaration still persist. During his campaigns a few weeks ago, he claimed that he deliberately did not give attention to the region until he is re-elected. Is that a sufficient explanation for the neglect? Now that he has lost the election, what are the options open to the Niger-Delta people?

As I write, the most important road in the region, the East-West Road is yet to be completed. The coastal road project is still a pipe dream. No concrete effort has been made to clean up the heavily polluted communities in Ogoniland or elsewhere in the Niger-Delta. Even with the effort of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), which published a comprehensive report with clear recommendations. The proposed clean-up programme mas marred by selfish politics, and the US$1 billion counterpart fund reportedly provided by Shell and other partners has not been utilised. The reluctant establishment of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) was staffed with incompetent people and starved of operational funds. The consequence is that no clean-up activity has taken place to date. Not in Ogoniland and not anywhere else.

It is sad to recall that there were sons and daughters of the Niger-Delta like Chief Edwin Clarke, Mr Kingsley Kuku and even Ken Wiwa Jnr. that became cheerleaders for the President, but hardly pointed him in the right direction. I remember that Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State once raised alarm about the danger in continuous neglect of the East-West road. He was later confronted by the then Minister of the Niger-Delta, Elder Godsday Orubebe who quickly branded the governor a betrayer of the Niger-Delta cause. Now, which cause was Orubebe referring to? The one that has brought public resources into the pockets of the few to the detriment of many?

Now that the Jonathan administration is coming to an end, it is safe for observers try to find out who are the real betrayers of the Niger Delta struggle. Is it President Jonathan, the chief beneficiary of the struggle, who neglected the region for almost six years? Or is it people like Edwin Clark, Godsday Orubebe, and Government Ekpumepulo aka Tompolo, Ateke Tom, Asari Dokubo, Ann Kio Briggs, and others, that benefitted from the neglect? Or is it Mrs. Patience Jonathan who made NDDC a personal farmland (or is it fishing port or Bori-Kiri) rather than an interventionist agency operating in the general interest of the people in line with its mandate? Or Governor Godswill Akpabio who knew where the President was headed yet kept cheering him? Or others like Governor Amaechi and Senator Magnus Abe who kept raising concerns about the issues of non-development of the Niger-Delta and warned about the unpleasant consequences? Or is it a few of us citizens that believe in change and managed to vote for General Buhari and his All Progressives Congress amidst intimidation?

Having lost the Presidency from the region, we know that our problems may likely persist, because we no longer have the morality to complain about marginalisation and neglect to other Nigerians. Everyone assumed that President Jonathan had all the time in the world to attend to our teething problems, but he refused, failed, and/or neglected to do so, preferring instead to pursue and advance his personal ambitions.

Many argue that if the outgoing president had spent half the energy and zeal that he exerted in the pursuit of his re-election bid in the pursuit of the Niger Delta cause, the Niger Delta would have been an El Dorado. Here we are with gaseous and often carcinogenic hydrocarbons still being flared all over the region, with the Petroleum Industry Bill still pending, our ecosystem still heavily polluted, and our people inexplicably impoverished.

So back to the question – who are the real betrayers of the Niger Delta people? We must take an excursion into history and set the records straight for our children and the coming generations. We must answer that question for the sake of posterity. In so doing, we must be truthful to ourselves. We have been, thus far, untruthful and hypocritical to ourselves. We elevated sycophancy to the next level and, in the process, missed yet another opportunity to move our region forward. It will be self-destructive to turn around now to continue to blame others for our misfortunes, for the heavens help only those who help themselves.

•Igwe wrote from the Department of Politics at the University of Sussex.

May 1, 2015
UNIDO, Armani partner Delta govt

Delta State government is set to kick-start a manufacturing and skills acquisition project in Issele-Uku, headquarters of Aniocha North Local Government Area.

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, who spoke on Wednesday, said many foreign investors had indicated interest in the multibillion naira factory in Issele-Uku. He assured that the state’s drive for industrialisation was on course.

Uduaghan, who led members of the State Executive Council to inspect the progress of work in the factory, said: “You have seen a lot of machines that will be used in the production of leather works and akwu-ocha, these will be used for both training and production of leather works, our products will be used both locally and internationally as a lot of local and foreign investors have indicated interest in the products from this factory/centre.”

The governor revealed that reputable English footwear manufacturer, Clark of England, international fashion designer Giorgio Armani, FIIRO, M.I.T, Massachusetts, Cambridge University were among some of those who want to use the products and partner with the state government on the project.

Uduaghan disclosed that the Delta State government provided the funds for the project while UNIDO is providing the technical expertise, including the construction.

He described the project as one of the gains of the ‘Delta Beyond Oil’ initiative, which he added would enable some of the beneficiaries of the state Micro Credit Scheme to become small and medium entrepreneurs.

The governor endorsed the production of agro products like garri as part of the factory, stressing that it would solve some of the challenges faced by farmers in the state. “The centre will bridge the gap between the farmer and the end-users as it will take care of the excess supply, encourage price stability and more production to take care of the factory export needs”.

He said: “This training institution is part of the achievements in the area of Delta Beyond Oil, a lot of entrepreneurs will be trained here and we call on the youths to always protect projects in their areas.”

Allaying fear about the sustainability of the project, he assured Deltans that “there is an agency backed by law which is overseeing the programme to ensure its sustainability and if anything, the incoming administration of Dr Okowa (Governor-elect) will improve on it.

May 1, 2015
Leader’s murder: Delta community treads on familiar path

Even by its unenviable high level of violence and history of brutal kilings, the murder of the Financial Secretary-elect of the Ekpan Community Trust, Ekpan, Delta State, Mr Olomu Abraham Siesiri, was callousness taken a notch higher. The Monday evening bloodletting sent shivers down the spines of residents of the area and neighboring Effurun, headquarters of Uvwie Local Government area of Delta State.

Various eyewitness accounts indicated that the victim was shot at least five times at pointblank range during a minor fracas. The scene was around the Joceco Petrol Station area of the Urhobo community and the victim was driving in the company of three friends when he met his unfortunate end.

Ironically, his death came just hours before he was to be inaugurated along with others into the very influential ECT. One account of his horrific murder indicated that he was on his way to the inauguration ceremony into the trust when he met his untimely end.

It was learnt that trouble broke out between him and his killer when the latter crashed a car into Esiesiri’s car along the recently dualised Housing Complex/Refinery Link.

“When the other car bashed his car, AB came down and a hot exchange ensued between him and the two persons in the other car. In the heat of the shouting match, Siesiri slapped the driver of the other car. The young man just rushed back to his car, opened the booth, brought out a rifle and opened fire on him. All this took barely one minute.”

When the gunman and his accomplice fled the scene, their victim was lying helplessly in a fast flowing river of his own blood. His friends who rushed him to a private hospital in the area knew they were fighting a lost cause. He was pronounced dead on arrival.

Medical report later indicated that the deceased youth leader was shot five times across his body. The circumstances and brutality of his death led to concern that the accident was merely a cover for what was possibly an assassination.

Leadership tussle in Ekpan, like other oil-rich communities in the Niger Delta region, are often a matter of life and death. The community is host to several oil facilities, including Chevron/Texaco Nigeria Limited, the Warri Refining and Petroleum Company (WRPC), Pipeline Products and Marketing Company as well as other oil services companies. Those who lead the various communities enjoy substantial patronages from the companies and politicians in the area.

As a result, the struggle to assume the leadership of the community and of being a part of any juicy committee is taken by key players as a do-or-die affair. Sometimes overambitious members who cannot wait for the next round of elections, usually resolve to bloody coups in which the extant leaders are either killed or forced to flee the community.

It was against this background that the death of the youth leader led to panic in Ekpan and neighbouring suburbs of the council on Monday. The fears of reprisal killings of his real and perceived enemies have also gripped the community.

“The hard way is the only way. On a bad day, a good man died,” read a tribute posted on Esiesiri’s FaceBook page by a ‘friend and brother’.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Delta Command, DSP Celestina Kalu, who confirmed the report to reporters shortly after the killing, vowed that the police would track down the killers and bring them to book.

She said: “The killers escaped before Police arrived; expended shell of ammunition were recovered. Our crack team is on their trail to unravel the killers”, she said.

Interestingly, our investigation showed that the scene of the killing was a few meters away from the Ekpan Police Station. Similarly, a few meters down road at the Ekpan Junction, there is an army checkpoint. The military post was one of the measures taken several years ago by the state government and security agencies to curb the youths’ lust for blood and incessant killings occasioned by similar tussle.

Uneasy calm reigns in the community. The days ahead will determine if it is a calm before the storm.

May 1, 2015
Goodluck is not enough

Some 28 days from today, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan will be addressed as former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. By then, he would have been president for six years. Two of the six years were inherited from his late principal, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua who died in office. He went on to win the 2011 elections. His attempt to have a second term and emerge Nigeria’s longest serving leader ended on March 28 when he was crushed by Hurricane Buhari.

Though he lost, Jonathan has no cause to mourn. God has been kind to him. And for the rest of his life, God deserves nothing from him but praise.

Some 57 years ago, Jonathan was born in Otuoke, a backwater community, not far from Yenagoa, now the capital of Bayelsa State. At the time of his birth, Otuoke was rusty. Life was not good and to make matters worse, his parents were not well-heeled. Eking out a living was a Herculean task. Luxury did not exist in the Jonathans’ dictionary. Or, it existed only in their imagination.

Shoes were prized possessions for Goodluck and his siblings. For years he had no shoes to wear to school and when he eventually had a pair, he cherished the footwear as though they were from an Italian factory.

Through thick and thin, Goodluck went to school. Lucky him, he had primary, secondary and tertiary education. His immediate environment did not limit him. He did not stop at just first degree. He earned second and third degrees.

He was contented working with the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) as a director. Then 1999 came and that marked the beginning of a journey he obviously was not aware of. The military exited from power after the death of Gen Sani Abacha, who had wanted to transform to a civilian leader until death liquidated him. Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, who took over, hurried a transition programme.

In Bayelsa, a state carved out of Rivers State and occupied only by the Ijaw, needed a governor. A giant by the name of Diepriye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha was the clear favourite to clinch the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket. He needed a running mate and he chose Jonathan. They won the election and were sworn in as governor and deputy governor.

Alamieyeseigha was not a quiet governor. He was ubiquitous. He soon became known as governor-general of the Ijaw nation. He was not satisfied being just Bayelsa governor. So, he self-styled himself the governor of all Ijaw in the country. At the beginning, it appeared there was no stopping him from ruling the state for eight years. Jonathan obviously did not think of becoming governor so early. But Alams, as he later became known, soon ran into trouble with the then president, Olusegun Obasanjo. He was impeached and a reluctant Jonathan became governor.

He completed Alams’ term and won the PDP ticket to fly its flag after shrugging off challenge from the likes of Timi Alaibe, who was Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). It did not take time before his name came to play again. Luck smiled on him and Obasanjo, who made him governor after ensuring Alams’ impeachment, nominated him as Yar’Adua’s running mate. He became Vice-president without struggling.

As Vice-President, he was largely anonymous. The first year rolled by and the second was soon here. The thought of becoming the first minority to lead Nigeria never crossed his mind. But again, luck smiled on him. Yar’Adua fell ill. After months of games, he became acting President. It did not take long before Yar’Adua kicked the bucket. And Goodluck became Nigeria’s president. It was a meteoric rise that could have been queried as unrealistic if it had appeared in a work of fiction.

His ascension to the Presidency proper was to show to Nigerians and that his wife, Patience, loves power and she threw her weight along until Hurricane Buhari stopped her. She insulted everybody possible while trying to secure a second term for her husband. She described the North in unsavoury terms and said Buhari was brain-dead. Many agree that Nigeria has never had it so bad and it appears her husband could not tame her.

As president, he did not forget his former boss, Alams. He ensured he got a presidential pardon, which clears him of the corruption baggage. He even tried to run for the Senate to prove he was not a free man until he was stopped.

One thing must be pointed out and it is the fact that no Nigerian has had the sort of luck Goodluck has had. Though I am reluctant to praise him for doing the right thing by conceding defeat, this feat has also made him some hero and it is bound to occupy a major slot in his resume. The international community will most likely also give him some respect for not playing Gbagbo.

My final take: I am not sure of what future awaits him. But his experience in the ‘cage’ in the last 16 years was the sort he never dreamt of. If he compares the last 16 years with the years of beginning in Otuoke, praise and worship songs should eternally come out of his mouth. If he chooses to stay in Otuoke, Port Harcourt or Abuja, it matters not. What matters is that he should find a way to be closer to God and worship him with all of his heart. He should truly accept Christ as his lord and saviour and not worship God and Mammon.

If anyone still wonders what is in a name, then the Goodluck story exemplifies it. It, however, also shows that good luck is not always enough. There is a limit it can take you. It has taken Jonathan to heights he never expected. Now, is the time to live for God and humanity. Perhaps a GEJ Foundation dedicated to positively affecting lives in tangible ways won’t be a bad idea.

Mr. President, I wish you good luck.

May 1, 2015
Oil exploration in Ogoniland: Firm signs agreement with communities

Indigenes of Kegbara Dere (K-Dere) communities of Gokana local Government area of Rivers state have entered into agreement with with Belema Oil and Gas Producing Company to take over oil exploration business in their land.

The agreement which was brokered in a brief ceremony in Port Harcourt, the state capital yesterday clearly spelt out terms of business between the two parties.

In their separate speeches shortly after the signing, the Chief Executive Officer, Managing Director (CEO/MD), Belema oil, Tien Jack-Rich and the Paramount Ruler of K-Dere Communities, HRH. Chief Donald K.Gberesuu respectively expressed satisfaction on the outcome of the signing event and assured each party’s readiness to respect the term of the agreement.

Jack-Rich also used the event to meet and hand over the 300 bags of fertilizer and N10 million cheque to peasant farmers, youths and indigent members of the community, to support their farming projects for the year among other needs.

Jack-Rich said, “We’ve just signed agreement to assure K-Dere communities that they will have 10 per cent dividend from the profits we will make from oil exploration in their communities annually.

“This is the first time they are receiving such offer and they are excited about it.

“K-Dere communities have the largest bulk of oil produced in OgoniLand, spanning over 60 per cent of Ogoni oil. The agreement talks about the relationship between Belema oil and our host communities, it stated their acceptance of the company to come and take-over oil exploration in in OML 11 formerly owned by SHELL.

“We have agreed to give the Ogonis 10 per cent of whatever we produce from their land, (Profit after tax) while we take eight per cent of it. The People are very eager and happy to sign this agreement with our company to ascertain their partnership relationship with Belema Oil, with the view of securing the future of their generation, because they will not just going to be dividend sharing partners but will also benefit from the technical and non-technical services of the business.

“Apart from oil and gas companies, wherein we are looking at setting up refinery, gas processing unit and Petro-chemical platform, we are also going to bring in local community type auto-mobile in Ogoni Land.

“Our plan is to transform Ogoni Land into an industrial hub which would translate into the creation of employments that will open up, develop the area.

“ This will in turn empower every indigene of the area and wipe out criminality because everybody will have what to do to get going in life.”

According to him, his plan of transforming OgoniLand is not particular to K-Dere communities but the entire Ogoni, stressing that every part of the area paid the ultimate price for the mineral deposit in the area.

Clearing the issue of initial resistance in some quarters of the area said it has been addressed.

He explained that those who mounted the resistance thought that exploration would begin as soon as he(Belema) takes-over, but maintained that there would be no exploration until the impacted areas and other legacy issues that must be addressed first.

“My focus is not just K-Dere communities, but because they have the highest quantity of oil, they are heavily impacted by the mess that must be cleaned before any further production can begin.

“The resistance has been taken care of. There was a misunderstanding that production will start the moment the licence was issued, but not all. Taking over does not mean starting production immediately, there are legacy issues, clean-up and UNEP report issues that must be addressed before any other thing can be done in the area.” he explained.

Also speaking Chief Gberesuu expressed the hope that the agreement signed has ushered his community and their members into good fortune and urged the people to pray for sustained peace in their land to enjoy the good things to come.

May 1, 2015
Delta’s keke riders who won’t quit for white-collar jobs

Many of them used to be ‘okada’ riders. Thirty months ago when Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan decided to ban commercial motorcycling, they shouted blue murder. Now, they have converted to riding tricycle better known as ‘keke’ and many are making so much fortune that they say they will not swap the business for some category of white-collar jobs, writes Shola O’Neil, Warri

The Delta State government’s ban on the use of motorcycle as a means of public transport in September 2012 sent a shockwave through the length and breadth of the state because of the number of able-bodied men who find ‘gainful employments’ ferrying passengers from one of part of any city to the other. There were concerns that the plan could further worsen the unemployment crisis.

Although the number of persons who earned their living out of the precarious trade was hard to determine because of the lack of data, it was estimated that more than 10,000 youths and elderly persons were engaged riding motorcycle.

In the early hours of every day, hundreds of young men perched atop their ‘okada’ could be seen rushing from suburbs to the major cities to begin the day’s job. From Ughelli, Sapele, Agbarho, Udu and others, they scramble to Warri as early as 5am and in the evening time they commence an exodus back to their homes. Some work till the wee hours of the day, especially on weekends, and merely grab few hours of sleep atop their motorcycles at busy spots, like the Enerhen junction, before commencing the next hustle.

Some of the bikers were graduates who were forced into the undignified trade because of their inability to get their dream jobs. Despite the condensation they feel at doing it, most are grateful for the opportunity to leave their homes in the morning and return back in the evening with money in their pockets.

•Commercial motorcycles at a park in Warri.

It was the fear of the okada riders that would be thrown into the employment market that led to the widespread condemnation of the government’s plan in 2012. Some of the opponents of the plan accused Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of wickedness, saying they planned to throw the operators into further hardship without providing alternative employments for them to cater for their families.

Even Uduaghan’s prediction that those condemning the ban would turn around to praise him in the years ahead failed to sway his traducers. The inauguration of 1,250 tricycles (popularly called keke NAPEP or keke for short) shortly before the ban was to take effect on the 30th of September of that year also failed to assuage the anger of the operators and antagonists of the government’s plan.

On September 26, 2012, hordes of okada rider stormed the Effurun High Court premises where a suit challenging the ban was being heard by Justice Roseline Ukuejubola of Court I. The suit was institute by Mr Omes Ogedegbe and Umokoro Martins, two human right lawyers on behalf of the operators.

Among those who opposed the ban and joined in the protest were Mr Omusu Aghator and Monday Etanikor, who have within the past 30 months evolved to keke riders. Their mood towards the governor had changed along with their mode of business.

Looking back, Aghator told our reporter that if he knew that riding keke would be much more profitable and safer, he would have put the time spent protesting against the ban to better use.

He told our reporter that riding keke, which protects the drivers and passengers from the sun and other elements have made life better for him. “My skin is now smoother because I don’t have to work under the harsh sun. I now look more of the man I want to be than the time I was riding okada. I feel sorry to be among those who cursed (insulted) the governor because now I know that he meant well.

“We make a lot of money. I easily make up to 6,000 daily (roughly N180,000 monthly) and I am able to save for the rainy days because of the contributions that I am now doing. I save N9,000 weekly (N36,000 per month) on the thrift contributions that I do.”

Asked if he would be willing to swap his keke business for a N100,000 per month job in an air-conditioned office, he smiled and shook his head sideways for several minutes. “Will I take the AC home to my family? Even that money cannot run my home not to talk of saving. Keke gives me more money and time for myself.

“No serious keke man would accept that offer; the only ones who would consider it are the lazy type who spend half of the day at ogogoro joint (local bar) or those who loiter around vendor stands gossiping and swapping stories. If you know what you are doing with this job, your life would be better,” Aghator added.

Our findings show that the development has also benefited smart businessmen who acquire the tricycle at the prevailing price of N450,000 and lease out to drivers at an exorbitant fee. It was learnt that politicians who got the subsidized allocations from the state government turned them into profit making business.

An operator, who simply identified himself as Aneto, said he coughed out N800,000 in the hire-purchase deal through which he acquire his first keke in 2012. But the Edo-born man said he was grateful to his benefactor, adding that through her he now owns a fleet of five.

“That is how it is done, even in the time of okada; some bought and gave it to you at about double the price. You worked hard to pay it off and if you were smart, through that method you too could start leasing to others as I am now doing.”

For Monday Etanikor, another former okada rider, the improvement goes beyond more money in the pocket of keke operators. The transformation is also in their safety and those of their passengers.

“Since they removed okada from Warri we have been enjoying the new system, everything has changed. For example I also used to be an okada man before, but since they removed okada there has been no problem, accidents have reduced and we dey (are) okay with keke. Now we make more money with keke than when we were running okada, this is by far a better system,” he said.

Niger Delta Report’s checks at the Warri and Ekpan general hospitals as well as private hospitals and dispensaries in Warri South and Effurun local government areas of the state indicated that emergence cases resulting from transport accidents, particularly motorcycles had reduced by over 90per cent.

A health official at the Warri Central Hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that “orthopedic cases and other accident related injuries have gone down drastically these past two years.”

In spite of the progress made nearly three years since keke became the preferred means of transport in Delta cities, operators like Aghator believe that the government and operators still have a lot to do to make life easier for the operators and their passengers.

“We want government to reduce the price to make it easier for the common man to afford. Also, in terms of safety, we believe that a lot can be done to reduce the few accidents that are still being recorded.

“We have many passengers who complain that we drive rough and about riders who are not clean. Some of them still have the spirit of okada in them. I tell them that such people bring bad name to the other keke riders. The government and NGOs can do orientation programmes and training for operators to learn about safety and defensive operations.

“I also want to advise passengers not to put unnecessary pressure on drivers to move faster and maneuver in traffic because keke on their own like to be quicker, you make it more difficult when you allow them to drive anyhow because this is what leads to accident. We must be patient and sensible because my people say ‘only the sensible animal lives longer in the forest.’”

Also on the downside, our finding revealed that tricycles are now easy target for petty thieves, who lure the operators to a quite part of the cities and rob them.

April 24, 2015
Oronto Douglas

This was my prayer April last year: “I don’t care what illness he is battling. There are speculations around which I won’t profess. But what I will profess today is that God Almighty, in His infinite mercy, will visit Douglas and restore him to good health. His father did not die young. Oronto, in Jesus’ name, will not die young. Amen.

“Oronto, the man whose identity I have acquired without his permission, will be one of those miraculous recoveries that the world has ever seen and it will be good in our eyes and we will rejoice in it. It has been difficult for me to forget the meeting and each time I remember it, I pray for the miraculous.

“You will live Oronto and not leave by His grace!”

My prayer on Oronto Douglas, a very powerful aide of President Goodluck Jonathan, was not answered. For reasons best known to God, Oronto, as he was popularly addressed, has left instead of still living like many of his peers. He died of cancer some days back. His death came not long after his boss, to whom he was loyal till the last moment, made history as the first incumbent president in Nigeria to lose re-election bid.

I said this prayer April last year after a meeting with Oronto at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport. He was the last person I was expecting to see. I could have also missed him. But the grey hair called attention to him. I checked the face and a step ahead of me was a man of influence.

Our first meeting was at the office of the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoeN) in Ogba, Lagos. Oronto and two or three friends founded ERA many years ago. This first meeting was in 2008. Then I had just ‘ported’ to this newspaper after working for some nine years in two different news magazines. The meeting was brief and as later meetings showed he could not remember that meeting again or even remember me. A big brother and friend of mine had arranged the meeting. He came across to me as a humble human being despite his exploits in the NGO world and his past position as Commissioner for Information in oil-rich Bayelsa. We sat face-to-face and he told me he would need some media mention for a project he was working on then. We parted and only had indirect contacts after that.

Early last year, I saw him at the Eko Signature on Victoria Island, Lagos. He clearly had no memory of ever meeting me before and I did not bother to introduce myself. He was presenting a book on behalf of the Presidency. But what struck me and many others that day was that he had emaciated and grew grey. He looked older than his age. His eyes were bulging as if ready to come out of the sockets. Some of us suggested he should sit while making his presentation. He refused on the excuse that he had been sitting all day.

As loud as his voice could go, he enumerated Jonathan’s achievements and said politics apart; the president had changed a lot of things. He said politicking in the country had blinded the people to the progress being made by the President and his team, adding that a lot of transformation was on-going.

He said: “When it is time for politics, we should play politics. But there is no need to play politics with development. It is wrong for anybody to say this administration has done nothing. In this publication, you will see evidence that this administration has performed more than any other in record time. Pictures can’t lie and pictures tell stories better than a thousand words.

“I challenge us to go and verify the facts in this publication and then report back to the public. What this administration has done is unprecedented. We must give credit when due and not allow politics to cover facts about development.”

He added that Jonathan would not play politics with the Transformation Agenda.

“This administration is serious about development and will not play politics with development,” he said.

After the presentation, he answered questions, accepted blames where he should and debunked myths when he sensed them.

We left the meeting with someone like me praying for him to regain his health and be able to withstand the rigour of his office. I did not know that I was going to see him soon again. On Monday, March 31, last year, I was about boarding a late-night flight from Lagos through London to New York with my wife when I saw him at my back spotting a brown check suit and a pair of black trousers. He had in his hand a black bag. His hair was almost all grey. His gait frail. My heart was broken. The air-conditioning system in the remodelled Murtala Muhammed International Airport was messing up and we could not but sweat. He too was sweating. At some points, he fanned himself with his boarding pass.

Since he could not recognise me, I did not introduce myself. I told my wife who he was and she suggested I introduce myself or even help him carry his bag given his state of health. I told her there was no need and that from the little I knew about him, he would not fancy being pitied to the extent of being helped to carry his hand luggage. He had really emaciated. Gone was the bubbling Oronto who co-founded ERA. Gone was the agile Oronto who served Bayelsa as Commissioner for Information. Gone was the alert Oronto who first joined the Presidency when Jonathan was Vice-President. Gone was the Douglas who sat with me in ERA’s office some years ago on our first meeting. And gone was the promising Oronto who qualified as a lawyer many years back.

That night, which has now turned out to be the last time I saw him alive, he struggled his way into the plane and we never saw again. I suspected he was going to keep an appointment with his doctors. My friends, who were close to him, such as The Nation‘s multiple award-winning journalist Seun Akioye and award-winning This Day Features Editor Adeola Akinremi and Mr Bode Oluwafemi, who made my path crossed with Oronto’s, had cause to talk about him from time to time and wished he would bounce back. But, secretly we nursed the fear that the end might soon come.

And now, the hammer has fallen on our dear Oronto. The curtain has indeed fallen and it is the end of the stage drama that life truly is.

Oronto, whose name I had borrowed on two occasions on this platform when I needed to speak as an Ijaw, was meticulous with his job as Special Adviser to President Jonathan on Research, Documentation and Strategy.

I pray that God gives his family the fortitude to bear the loss. But this is my final take: Life is a stage. A very big one at that, with many actors and actresses. We are all playing our parts in a script written for us by the heavenly one. If your part is that of a governor, govern well. If it is your lot to be the president, preside well. And if what life bestows on you is to be a sweeper, sweep so well that when you are gone, it will be written on your grave: ‘here lived a great sweeper’.

Oronto, as attested to by many who met him despite not being a saint or a super human-being, played his part well so much that we can engrave on his grave: ‘here lived a good man’.

April 24, 2015