Bonny Island is regarded as the richest Island of its kind in the country and sub-Sahara Africa on account of being host to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Mobil Producing Unlimited. But the Island’s needs, which are beyond the companies’ reach, must be attended to so that it does not pose future threats, writes OLUKOREDE YISHAU
Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) was the first to see the light in Bonny Island. Mobil Producing Unlimited saw it later. Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited did not see it until some two decades ago when work started on Africa’s largest LNG plant. They all liked the place and its potentials. The Federal Government, which has interest in all of these ventures, also knows what the country stands to gain from Bonny Island, which hosts the country’s only port of origin.
The people were happy that the companies came. They had good times at the peak of the construction of the companies. The skilled and the unskilled were employed to get the companies ready.
When work on the NLNG seventh train reaches its peak, thousands will be employed too.
On November 5, 1998, the Island signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the three major companies there. This has seen the Island benefiting in the form of roads, water and free electricity.
But Bonny Island still needs help. Plenty of it. That was why at the weekend, its traditional ruler, the Amayanabo of Grand Bonny Kingdom, King Edward Dappa Pepple 111, spearheaded a pan-Bonny Sustainable Development Conference. An area the Island must be helped so that its youths do not become threats to the companies and the elite is education.
A World Bank consultant, Dr. Rosemary Nwangwu, spoke of the sorry human capital state of the community.
Dr. Nwangwu said: “The number of teachers in Bonny primary schools is inadequate. There are no teachers even in the core subject areas: English Language, Mathematics and the Sciences. There are 21 public primary schools in Bonny Local Government Area. These 21 schools have a total of 5,949 pupils (male, 3010, female, 2939) taught by 139 teachers. This gives a teacher-pupil ratio of 1:44 as against the policy stipulated ratio of 1:35.
“The secondary schools are no better staffed. There are four public junior and four public senior secondary schools in the Island…The junior secondary schools have 1,949 students… and are taught by 27 teachers. The senior secondary schools have 1,896 students and are taught by 71 teachers. Also at this level, there are no Mathematics, English Language or Science teachers.”
The result of these, she said, was poor performance in terminal examinations.
Dr. Nwangwu said in the last 10 years, the oldest school in the Island has recorded only 12 per cent pass with five credits in WAEC.
She said: “These young people have been processed into nothingness and are not equipped to do anything. A more dangerous reality for the community is that the young people who are unable to make the pass mark are unable still to get into any other system that can enable them acquire skills. They are lost in the education system and lost to their families in terms of income generation and survival skills. These persons who dropped out from the system cannot help themselves or the system.”
King Pepple said things have to change. He said there was still a long road to travel. He said the time had come to attract more partners to drive its development other than the NLNG, Shell and Mobil.
According to him, the Island must be steered to the shores of development and prosperity for the sake of the future generation.
He said: “We raise our voices to governments, the private sector, all international development agencies, all friendly corporate organisations that Bonny is open for business and to work with all well-meaning people to grow a project that we can all be proud of as partners.”
The Executive Director of the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA), Mr Nobel Pepple, said the people must look beyond oil and gas for the development of the community. He said alternative livelihood could be found in fishing and agriculture.
This position was also canvassed by the Netherlands Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Bert Ronhaar, who said with the sea in the Island, it can supply fishes to the rest of the world and make money.
NLNG Managing Director Babs Omotowa, who represented the three oil and gas firms operating in the community at the conference, said a lot of work still needs to be done. He said the NLNG, Shell and Mobil would support the community’s drive for sustainable development.
He said: “There seems to be the absence of a new direction for development after the exhaustion of the MoU items signed by the community with Joint Investing Companies (JIC). There are also issues of community ownership and programme/project sustainability as well as the need to broaden the support base of development in a holistic manner for the greater involvement, empowerment and enjoyment of the community as a whole. There we hope this conference will address and possibly encapsulate a workable plan for the future.
“Finally, there is also a need for mid to long term outlook by the community in conceiving and initiating development programmes against the current short term yield expectations. The community needs to leverage on its latent and available resources to drive development from within.
“On its part, JIC will support this transition and, in partnership with other external agencies, also support the development of this new way of thinking- and working. This will engender self- regulating development, communal confidence, and encourage external investors and international organisations to contribute to the socio-economic development of the island.”
A communique at the end of the conference said the community must seek new partners to work with existing ones for its development in the areas of human capital and so on. It also agreed to set up an Economic and Social Development Fund to finance an updated Master Plan, service infrastructural and social development.
The need to look beyond oil and gas for sustainable development of the community, said observers, is strengthened by the changing global oil needs.
A day before the conference, it emerged that the country’s oil exports will remain well below last year’s average in July. The country plans to export 1.92 million barrels a day of oil in July, according to details of crude shipments provided last Friday to Dow Jones Newswires by traders in the market. Next month, the country will export 1.76 million barrels a day, which is below the country’s average export volume of 2.24 million barrels a day last year.
In the past, the drop in supply would have pushed up price. But not anymore.
This is attributed to the booming production in the U.S. shale oil fields.
Managing Director, Swiss consultancy Petromatrix Olivier Jakob said:
“It used to be that supply disruptions were a problem. Now (Nigerian supply cuts) are welcome to balance the market, and that says something about the structural change.”
In April, Shell was unable to fulfil contractual deliveries of Bonny Light crude oil named after the Island, where it is sourced, after a high number of thefts forced it to close the Nembe Creek pipeline for repairs. Shell said around 150,000 barrels a day of production was deferred because of the shutdown. This did not affect price.
Torbjorn Kjus, an analyst, said: “It’s not only the supply now, but it’s also the demand from all of the key sources. The U.S. is kind of slipping away.”
Speaking at a conference in Oxford, United Kingdom, Minister of Petroleum Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke said: “Shale oil has been identified as one of the most serious threats for African producers.”
