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Tag: Niger Deltans

  • Dokubo urges Niger Deltans to back Amnesty programme

    Rather than indulging in unnecessary criticism, the people of Niger Delta have been enjoined to get involved and fully support Presidential Amnesty Programme.

    Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator, Amnesty Programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo, stated this at a meeting with the Niger Delta Amnesty Vendors Association yesterday, in Abuja.

    Dokubo also reiterated his determination to ensure that the Amnesty Programme funds are prudently managed for the purpose it was set up, in spite of pressure from individuals and groups seeking parochial interests.

    He said he was unperturbed by the desperation of some persons who use the media to harass and blackmail him for his refusal to disburse funds meant for genuine beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme to people not captured in the programme.

    “If you are not on this programme, forget about getting N65, 000.00k monthly. You must be captured by this programme to be entitled to payment of monthly stipend.  Nobody from the Niger Delta has come to me that I didn’t give a listening ear. For me, right from the beginning, I have said I’m not going to use Amnesty money for myself; I’m in this Office to serve. I don’t need to steal money. Amnesty money is for empowerment of Niger Delta people. As long as I’m in this office, I’ll do the right thing. If you stand aside and watch, that is your business. Amnesty Programme is here for you. It is for all of you; to empower the Niger Delta people”. 

    President of the Niger Delta Amnesty Vendors Association, Mr. Tari Okosi, warned youths and elders of Niger Delta against frivolous and malicious petitions that could turn back to haunt the region if the Amnesty Programme failed.

    He commended Prof. Dokubo for his transparency in the award of contracts and establishing a Job Placement Unit that has created more jobs to people of the region.

  • 2019 is a referendum for Niger Deltans, says IYC

    IJAW youths of Niger Delta,  under auspices of Ijaw Youth Congress (IYC),  have said voters will blacklist any aspirant with no genuine plan or interest to restructure Nigeria.

    National President Oweilaemi Rowland said this at a restructuring forum in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital.

    Rowland noted that politicians were using the “all important” issue to score cheap points at the election without the intention to pursue the course.

    He maintained that unless genuine concern on restucturing was shown by aspirants, they would be denied votes from the region.

    “As a matter of fact,  Niger Delta indigines have uninanimously resolved that for us the 2019 general election must be a referendum; we will take time to identify those politicians that are genuine about restructuring of the country and align with them.”

    Explaining reasons for the decision, he said: “There are so many politicians who are playing politics with restructuring; we know them,  but we have agreed that identifying the politician with genuine intentions on the subject matter will be the criteria to get Niger Delta votes.

    “The need to restructure Nigeria now cannot be stressed enough, owing to the obvious versed spread of the country, which has made proper security of the country cumbersome.

    “The responsibilities in the centre cannot be handled by just one person. If the country is restructured, powers will devolve to regions, states or local governments. This will make governance easier and development to be equitably distributed.

    “So, restructuring to allow Niger Delta control the resources in its land is a must. Allowing generating units to control the resources in their areas and pay tax to the centre is what we stand for.

    “To us, restructuring equally means that we must sit down and discuss Nigeria. It is an error that people who produce a nation’s resources is not partaking in resources they produce.

    “Niger Delta people own and produce oil, but we do not have oil blocks;  the oil blocks in our lands, behind our ancestral lands,  homes are owned by persons that are neither from the area, live in the area,  nor have any trace of oil in their native place,” he lamented.

    Speaking on modular refineries, he said it was initiated to end oil theft in the region, but regretted that the plan has been hijacked by those who own the oil wells.

  • Ex-agitator to Niger Deltans: don’t blackmail NDDC board

    The President of Niger Delta Ex-agitators’ Forum, Prince Amaibi Hornby (aka Busta Ryme), has called on Niger Delta indigenes to throw their weights behind the Board and mamagement of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    The board is led by Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba.

    Hornby, in a statement  in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital by his media aide, Kelvin George,  said the board members of the NDDC should not be blackmailed by the people of the region in that they have shown commendable sense of responsibility and non-bias by their visit recently on the Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike.

    The youth, who expressed no surprise on the decision of the Board members to embark on the visit despite their political affiliation, said the action is a demonstration that current NDDC board is made up of a group of men with wealth of experience in public office administration, and hence deserve the support of all stakeholders to develop the region.

    He argued further that the members have already put structures in place to stop all forms of corrupt practices in the commission to facilitate the development of the region.

    “I want to call on the people of Niger Delta to give their full supports to the new NDDC Board led by Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba. Since these are men who have held public offices in the past without question, and have put structures in place to check corruption in NDDC, they should be supported and nit blackmailed.

    “I am particularly happy that the new Board has put politics and tribalism apart in doing their work by the visit of the management to His Excellency Chief Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike, Governor of Rivers state.” He stated.

    Hornby also tasked national lawmakers of Niger Delta origin to sponsor a bill to give the proposed modular refineries legal backing for effective and sustainable operations when it kicks off.

    He called on the Federal Government to ensure full involvement of Niger Delta indigenes in the ownership rights for the facility, expressing concern on the information making the rounds on the approval of the facilities and suggested that mini refineries would fare better for than Modular refineries for equitable distribution.

    “National Assembly members from the states of the region should immediately come up with a bill to give modular refineries legal backing. This facilitate  the tireless efforts of the Hon. minister for Petroleum Affairs Dr. Ibe Kachukwu I’m ensuring that  the Niger Delta issues are resolved as soon as possible.

    “I however warned that the way the issue of modular refineries are happening now is dangerous. It is when the people of the Niger Delta region are fully involved in the ownership of these refineries that we can guarantee peace.

    “I am however of the view that mini refineries will be better than the modular refineries, this is because it will be easier for the people of the region to raise money to key into it that than that for Modular refineries.

    “Also I am of the view that approving mini refineries will create more jobs than the other, considering that involvement of the people of the region in the business of the resources from their area and creation of massive employment fir the youths of the region to reduce unemployment and destruction of oil pipeline are the main reasons for the planned modular refineries.” He stated.

  • Ex-militants protest non-payment of allowances, school fees

    Ex-militants protest non-payment of allowances, school fees

    The ex-Niger Delta militants studying in Benson Idahosa University (BIU) under the federal government amnesty programme has protested against the non-payment of their tuition fees, areas and monthly stipends for the last seven months.

    The students, who gave the federal government 72-hour ultimatum to address the issue converged Monday at the Edo state secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to express their grievances.

    One of the protesters, Destiny Pereware who lamented the students suffering as a result of the non-payment of the allowances called on President Muhammed Buhari to come to their aid and increase fund for the programme.

    “We have been suffering, starving and being in hunger for the past seven months. We have come to tell the world that the amnesty students of the Benson Idahosa University have not been paid for seven months. That our monthly allowances and tuition fees should be paid. We don’t want to go back to our old ways. We have renounced crimes, we have renounced hostilities, we are peace-loving Niger Deltans, and we are non-violent advocates.

    “So we want you to tell the world that we are suffering and President Muhammed Buhari should ensure that the amnesty programme is well funded and our money should be paid to us.  That is why we have come to the NUJ to pass this message across to the world”, he said.

    Another protester, Igboga Izaic 400-level Department of Mass communication, Benson Idahosa University demanded for a reason for the delay of the payments.

    He said: “Initially when we heard students from other schools had been paid, we called the Special Assistant to the President on Amnesty, and he told us to disregard the information that it is not true, but we later found out that the information is true because they have paid ex-militants in other schools while the ex-militants at Benson Idahosa university are not paid.

    “So we want them to give us the reason why we have not been paid if other schools have been paid. If we don’t get this issue addressed within 72 hours, we don’t want to go back to our old ways, and when we say old ways, they understand what we mean by that.”

     

  • Dialogue Way Out Of Niger Delta Crises- Ex-Deputy Gov

    Dialogue Way Out Of Niger Delta Crises- Ex-Deputy Gov

    Worried by the resumption of bombings of oil pipelines by militants in the Niger Delta, former Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Dr. Chris Ekpenyong, has warned against using strong-arms tactic to quell the problem.

    Militants’ groups in the region have resorted to blowing up oil and gas infrastructure in the region since former President Goodluck Jonathan lost the 2015 Presidential poll in a protest that has cut oil output from 2.2 million barrel per day to a staggering 1.5 million.

    The agitators, who are demanding for greater share of resources from the zone, have warned oil companies operating in the region to leave or be killed in a renewed campaign to draw Federal Government’s attention to series of environmental disasters plaguing the region.

    But Ekpenyong, though described the agitation as legitimate, has faulted the militants approach, warning that: “there is no amount of militancy that will help the Niger Delta.”

    Speaking in an interview in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, the former Deputy Governor traced the history of arms struggle in the region to the 60s when the late Adaka Boro was at the forefront, noting that such confrontational postures only worked antithetically to undermine the development of the Niger Delta.

    While urging the militants to sheathe their swords, Ekpenyong advised President Muhammadu Buhari to convoke a parley where genuine stakeholders of the region will interface with the Federal Government team to resolve the problem.

    He noted that as the Buhari-led administration has set the tone towards the implementation of UNEP report on Ogoni clean up, it was unnecessary for the militants to further degrade by polluting farmlands and waters that would add to the problems of the long-suffering people of Niger Delta.

    He charged the Federal Government to work towards addressing the genuine concerns of minorities in the polity, recalling that the Willink Constitution of 1958 had provided for the minorities to be given a sense of belonging in the Federation.

    “Niger Delta should be given a fair share of what it is producing”, Ekpenyong stressed, lamenting that the management of oil resources in region must be equitably distributed and Niger Deltans allowed greater participation for greater benefits to the region.

    Besides, Ekpeneyong, who has joined the growing calls for the restructuring of the Federation, advocated for each States to have greater control of their resources, noting that the Federal Government’s overbearing influence on components States was partly responsible for the ongoing geopolitical wars in the country.

    According to him, dousing the current tension in the region through genuine dialogue would detract the President from his pre-election promises to Nigerians and also force public opinion against him -if he wishes to re-contest in 2019.

    He charged the Federal Government to work towards a new paradigm shift by diversifying the economy from oil to agriculture and solid minerals, pointing that such change in focus would reduce attraction from oil, while creating jobs and wealth for the people in other sectors of the economy.

  • Before guns boom again in Niger Delta

    Before guns boom again in Niger Delta

    The creeks are calm now. Chirping of birds could be heard from the mangroves of the Niger Delta. No more reckless booming of guns. The warriors are out of their notorious camps where they commanded guerrilla fighters.

    From the trenches, they have become millionaires. The ex-militant commanders own mansions, drive exotic cars and have damsels at their beck and call. They appear to have forgotten resource control, development, equity and fairness which they claimed were the reasons they took up arms against the Federal Government.

    But it is not yet uhuru in the Niger Delta. Apart from widespread and intractable menace of economic sabotage such as pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft, violence looms. The amnesty granted the creek warriors by former President Umaru Yar’Adua has only succeeded in making a few millionaires to the detriment of the region.

     

    he region has remained largely underdeveloped. There is rising frustration among the teeming population of unemployed youths. Their anger is like a keg of gunpowder waiting to explode. Their unhappiness is worsened by their inability to derive tangible benefits from the Presidency which is occupied by their kinsman, President Goodluck Jonathan.

    In 2011, Jonathan and chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) traversed their poverty-stricken communities and promised them development, job opportunities and empowerment. They spoke of modular refineries, coastal roads, East-West roads, training programmes and other juicy dividends of democracy.

    The Association of Non-Violence in Niger Delta (ANVND) implored the government to address all issues of empowerment and development of the region before 2015. The Coordinator of the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Mr. Kennedy Tonyo-West observed high level of unemployment in the system.

    He noted that many factories and industries had gone moribund in the region and asked the government to intensify efforts in reviving them. He asked both state and federal governments to look for and recover underutilized opportunities.

    For a violent-free 2015 general elections, he asked the PDP-led government to explore all sectors in the Niger Delta region so as to create needed opportunities for the youths.

    Specifically, he called on interventionist agencies in the region, such as the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Ministry of the Niger Delta Affairs and the SURE-P Programme to build 100 sports centres in 100 communities in the region.

    Describing the youths in the region as skillful and talented, Tonyo-West said it was regrettable that facilities were not in the region to enable the youths hone their skills. He said Olympians and award winners in sports would emerge from the region if facilities to develop such skills were built.

    “The skills are dormant because the facilities are not there. If Samuel Peter had remained in the Niger Delta region, he wouldn’t have been a good boxer. But he found himself in an environment with facilities he needed to become an excellent boxer”, he said.

    Apart from sports facilities, he called for commencement of work on the Bonny and Brass Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) projects. If completed he said the projects would offer many job opportunities to the unemployed especially ex-militants who had undergone technical training. He said the two projects, when completed, would serve as a “positive distraction” for the youths of the Niger Delta.

    Tonyo-West insisted that the government must muster required political will to assist the youths. For instance, he said the federal government should turn the technical school in Bonny to an oil and gas university. This, he said, would provide needed empowerment for the youths to become employable in the oil and gas sector.

    He said: “We also want the Federal Government to urgently rehabilitate Bonny Technical College in Rivers State and upgrade it to Oil and Gas University.

    “The facilities the students can learn from are already there. We are pleading with President Goodluck Jonathan to upgrade the BTC as a matter of urgency.”

    Besides, he called the attention of the Bayelsa State Government to the moribund Hyndai project which was initially conceived by the past administration of Governor Timipre Sylva to attract investors and create over 2000 jobs.

    “This project is designed to mop up unemployment. The government should look into the matter and address the issues. He implored the Senate to immediately pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law.

    He said the Niger Delta region would base its voting decision in 2015 on the passage of the PIB.

    He said the the bill was essential for the growth and development of the country’s petroleum sector.

    He said: “We call on the Senate President to make a firm decision on PIB still lying in the Senate without being passed. We do not want to believe that members of the upper legislative chamber have been induced to withhold passage of the bill into law.

    MAY we, therefore, call on the Senate to give express passage of the PIB into law for the benefit of the country and the citizens. We are against all the delays that have characterized the passage of the PIB.”

    Tonjo-West also called on Jonathan and the National Assembly to pass the Nigeria Merchant Navy Security and Safety Corps (NMNSSC). He said NMNSSC would no doubt contribute to the reduction of pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta.

    “The Nigeria Merchant Navy Security and Safety Corps will create safety on our waterways. Besides, it will be a good outlet for employment creation as well as securing lives of seafarers,” he said.

    He commended the establishment of Youth Development Centre (YDC) in Bayelsa State. He, however, appealed to Governor Seriake Dickson, to appropriate funds needed for the centre to take off.

    The NGO was not happy that most of the programmes and projects formulated in the past to benefit the youths were abandoned on the way by the government. For instance, he observed that two expensive trawlers acquired for commercial fishing in Bayelsa State had been abandoned to rot at Ogbia waterside.

    The trawlers, MV Patience Jonathan and MV Margret Alameiseigha, were acquired under the agricultural programme of Sylva. They only went fishing in the sea once. Since then they were anchored and forgotten at the Ogbia waterside. But Tonyo-West appealed to the government to revive and put them to use.panies like Okomu and others.

  • Niger Deltans’s agenda for National Conference

    Niger Deltans’s agenda for National Conference

    Niger Deltans have articulated an agenda for the National Conference. It was at the Pan Niger Delta Conference organised by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Social Action.

    The conference with the theme: “Niger Delta and the National Conference” was held at the Atlantic Hall, Presidential Hotel Port Harcourt. It attracted representation from the states of the region, human rights activists, community leaders, women groups and youth organisations.

    Rights activist Ms Annkio Briggs, who was one of the speakers at the event, said the national conference must be based on ethnic representation instead of regional representation.

    She said: “Despite our enormous resources the Niger Delta, problems have remained unattended; the region is lacking access to basic necessities; that is why we must represent the aspiration of the people of Niger Delta. The Niger Delta must defend their right by ensuring that we have the right to serve for second term like other region and nobody should intimidate us for that. We have problem as people but the national conference offers us that opportunity to address those problems.”

    Prof. Kimse Okoko, a former President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC) and lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt, said some persons were exploiting Nigerians on the pretence of representing the people. He said the time had come when the people should make input on the issues that concern them.

    He said having President Goodluck Jonathan as President of this country is not enough for the region.

    “The issue of national conference should not politicise the people should be represented through various ethnic group to have a people constitution and not geo-political group. We need structures to facilitate the attainment of the best possible quality of life for the peoples of Nigeria. We seek a Nigerian state to be a community where individuals and groups would achieve their best potentials,” he said.

    The Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, a mouthpiece of the Itsekiri people, led to the event by Edward Ekpoko, a lawyer, said for Jonathan to succeed he needs the support of every ethnic nationality in the Niger Delta, urging that he must not be seen as a tribal president.

    “In this regard, the President should not be seen and taken to be an Ijaw man, or for anyone to see the Niger Delta, as synonymous with the Ijaw. The situation where political appointments and patronages in the South-South zone have become the prerogative of the Ijaws is not in the interest of Unity of the region. Handshake across the Niger Delta is gradually becoming a fisticuff.

    “We challenge our Ijaw brothers to have an attitudinal change; they should rather build more bridges than fences. We need one another for the sake of our brother President Good luck Jonathan. The federalism and resource control being agitated for the Niger Delta will be difficult to achieve and even more meaningless in the absence of unity which can only borne out of peace and justice.”

    Leader of Social Action, Dr. Isaac Osuoka, said he resisted politicians sponsorship and participation at the conference. He said the conference was sponsored by Social Action and other non-governmental organisations who share the same belief because they did not want politicians to hijack the conference.

    Osuoka said: “Some of the participants of today’s conference, including some of our eminent leaders know that the idea of the Pan Niger Delta Conference dates back to the 1990s, especially during the late Abacha military junta. Following the genocide in Umuechem (Etche), Ogoniland and parts of Ijawland, organisations like the Chikoko Movement, Southern Minorities Movement (SMM), Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Rivers Coalition, Environmental Rights Action (ERA) Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) started discussing the framework for a process of joint analysis and collaborative intervention in mobilising our peoples to promote the demands of self-determination within the Nigerian State, as guarantee for environmental and economic justice.”

    He lamented that the efforts and sacrifices of Niger Deltans to end military have mostly been unappreciated.

    “In the 1990’s, our people, through their representative organisations, were unanimous in demanding for a restructuring of the Nigerian federation as a precondition for a democracy in Nigeria. Rather than merely conducting elections with frameworks set up by the military dictators, we all asked for a sovereign National Conference (SNC) and a representative Government of national Unity (GNU) to supervise participatory constitution making before elections.

    “Within this idea, the National Conference would serve as platform on which the different nationalities and social groups in Nigeria would democratically decide on such crucial issues as power-sharing between the various equitable structures for the Nigerian Federation, the control of resources, including land and minerals, the religious question, alternative economic recovery package, a fair electoral system and other such decisions which border on the destiny of the Nigerian state and its peoples.”

    Speakers at the event include, Prof. Ebiegberi Alagoa, Prof. Ben Naanen, Rev. Nnimmo Bassey, Ledum Mitee, Prof. Andrew Efemini, and Dr. M. Akobo.

  • When will Reps’ probes change the fortunes of Niger Deltans?

    When will Reps’ probes change the fortunes of Niger Deltans?

    The House of Representatives has conducted many a probe on issues affecting the people of the Niger Delta. But, these probes have had little or no effect on the people.

    They do not have good tales to tell. Even though it will be two years next month since the incident, Lucky Tema and Ayeomane Ayela still remember the oil spill in the Bonga field on December 21, 2011 with sadness. Both men are fishermen. The spill made them unable to fish. The thick slick of crude oil, which took over the river, sent the fishes packing.

    Shortly after the incident, Tema said: “I have been in this fishing camp in Odioama for about 12 years. I am an Ilaje man and fishing is my main occupation; that’s what I do here. As you can see I am just returning from the ocean. If you go into the ocean you will find the thick slick of crude oil floating, tossed here and there by the waves. It is spreading according to the direction of the current. That is what we are seeing even right here at the waterside on St. Nicholas.

    “As a fisherman, one of the things I know about this crude oil is that, apart from killing aquatic life, it chases away the fishes that used to be around. If our nets get in contact with the crude oil it will stain the nets and, because of the smell and colour, fish will notice and avoid such nets in the water. You can see the little catch that I returned with. This is not how it used to be. Our efforts are yielding far below expectation these days.”

    Ayela’s tale is not different. He said at the time: “Actually, we started noticing this crude oil on the Atlantic a week ago. But it came ashore about two days ago. Oil spills affect our fishing and, this one is not an exception. We used to catch enough fish before but it is difficult now. I go into the ocean almost every day and, since we began experiencing this spill we have been unhappy. If you had come when we had full tide, you would have noticed the crude oil slick all around the waterside. Now the water has ebbed, though you can still see signs of crude oil at the waterfront. We are not happy because it takes extra effort to avoid the slick from contaminating our fishing nets. Once your net has stains of crude oil fishes will run away from the net because they will see it. As you can see we are powerless; we cannot order the government on what to do.”

    He added: “But I think a responsible government should be able to appreciate our plight and assist us. Because of this kind of situation we are becoming debtors as we hardly even meet up the payment of the fuel we use for our ocean-going boats. We want Shell to clean up the spill and compensate us for loss of livelihood. Our business has been impacted. Bonga fish that used to come to the surface are no more. The company should not deny us of our Bonga with their Bonga Facility.”

    The Environmental Rights Action (ERA), in a report issued after monitoring the

    spill site, said the spill affected 923 squre kilometres.

    The report reads: “Following an alert from fisherfolk in Odioma community on the discovery of oil slick suspected to be from Shell’s Bonga Field, ERA/FoEN monitors visited the Atlantic shoreline in the company of some of the fishermen where spreading spill was sighted.

    “Odioama, a Nembe-speaking Ijaw community is on the fringes of the Atlantic Ocean in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State and its people have a large number of fisherfolk who derive their livelihood from Atlantic Ocean. Areas visited by ERA/FoEN monitors in the company of three community folk – Elder James Sampson aka Ovie Kokori, Danyo Ogoniba and Ayeomane Ayela, included Fish Camp 2 opposite the Varnish Island and St. Nicholas. In the course of the visit, spreading slick was observed close to the coastline of Odioama and along St. Nicholas. More quantity was observed spread out at the Varnish Island.

    “Shell had, on Wednesday, December 21 announced that some 40,000 barrels of crude had leaked into the Atlantic Ocean from the 200,000 barrels per day Bonga Deep Offshore Oil Fields which it operates on behalf of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) under a production sharing contract. The field, 120 kilometres southwest of the Niger Delta, was discovered in 1996, with government’s approval for its development given in 2002 and first production in November 2005. The field is run in partnership with Esso (20 per cent),

    Nigeria Agip (12.5 per cent) and Elf Petroleum Nigeria Limited (12.5 per cent) and was built at a cost of $3.6 billion.

    “The December 21 spill at the Bonga facility is said to have occurred while a vessel was being loaded with crude oil. The River Ramos near Warri is reported to have also been affected by the Bonga spill, while local fishermen in Forcados on Monday (December 26) also raised the alarm about an unreported oil spill that has been on for about two weeks at Otumara in Escravos, Ugborodo area of Delta State.

    “On Wednesday, December 21, SkyTruth obtained a radar satellite image showing a major oil spill on the waters off the coast of Nigeria. The image, taken at approximately 9:30am local time on December 21, 2011 by the ASAR instrument aboard the Envisat satellite operated by the European Space Agency, reveals a slick covering 923 square kilometres (356 square miles). The image may be viewed and downloaded from the SkyTruth blog.

    “In the course of the field visit, ERA/FoEN noticed that the spread of the spill continued into Fish Camp 2, behind the community and by the entrance of St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas joins the Atlantic ocean from this point. However, even before visiting Fish Camp 2, the surface of the river showed signs of the slick sheen everywhere. Apart from what was observed in the Ocean, crude oil slick was noticed coming into St. Nicholas.”

    The group said the Federal Government should make the oil giant properly account for the spill. It said: “The Nigerian government should compel Shell to state the actual amount of oil spewed from its facility.

    “We demand that Shell also reveal the names and types of chemical dispersants used in fighting the spill.

    “More importantly, the Nigerian government, in addition to carrying out an independent investigation of Shell’s claims that only 40,000 barrels of crude was spewed, should make the company pay adequately for the damage done to Odioma Community folk and other affected communities along the Atlantic coast of the Niger Delta.

    “An independent verification and cleaning up of existing mess (all over the Niger Delta) onshore and offshore should be the focus of NOSDRA and other regulatory agencies. The international community, especially environmental and rights related groups should join in this just cause to defend the environment and livelihood of the people.”

    The House of Representatives said it was touched by the spill. But, it was not until over a year later that it began investigating it. The investigation of the Bonga oil spill began in the House on July 14, 2013 as the Committee on Environment headed by Uche Ekwunife summoned SNEPCO, its parent company, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and the Nigerian Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA).

    The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) were also invited to explain their roles in the spill alleged to have destroyed the means of livelihood of 83 communities along the Warri South West and Warri North Local Government Areas of Delta State. The investigation is still ongoing.

    But, going by the past probes on such issues in the past, not many expect anything good from the probe. Even recent examples prove pessimists right. Reps decided to investigate the Rivers State security situation July 3, having expressed concerns over the degenerating security situation in the State as a result of the face-off between Governor Rotimi Amaechi and the Commissioner of Police Mbu Joseph Mbu.

    The adoption of a point of order on July 9 on a matter of urgent public importance by Andrew Uchendu (PDP, Rivers) had the lawmakers resolving to probe attack on Rivers State House of Assembly. Uchendu posited that democracy is under threat as ex-militants attacked members of the State House of Assembly a day previously.

    Consequently, the House directed the Deputy Leader of the House, Leo Ogor (PDP,Delta) and the Majority Whip, Ishaku Bawa (PDP, Taraba) to liaise with the ad-hoc Committee that was constituted earlier to look into the crisis between Governor Rotimi Amaechi and the Police Commissioner, Joseph Mbu. The investigation has been concluded.

    Not long after this, the House named a 14-man ad hoc Committee to investigate oil theft in the country and also to look into the propriety of contracting the protection of our water ways and oil pipelines to private firms.

    The Ad-Hoc Committee was also mandated to investigate the allegation made by the Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Patrick Akpobolekemi, of the involvement of influential people in oil theft and the fact that his organisation has seized ships belonging to the oil thieves and report back to the House within two weeks.

    In addition, the Ad-Hoc Committee is to ensure compliance on the issue of putting automated metering system on oil wells, flow heads and export terminals, so as to have accurate data on all processes, and report back to the House by end of January 2014.

    Last year, there were also probes and investigations by the House. These include the resolution of July 17, last year, which was stimulated by a tanker tragedy on July 12, which led to the death of no fewer than one hundred and fifty persons.

    The House subsequently resolved to investigate the dualisation of the East-West road project. According to them, the condition of the road was a major contributory factor to the accident. It remains to be seen what the outcome of this will be. But, what is clear is that only a few take the Reps serious.