Every country can count among its citizens – the good, the bad and the ugly. Usually those in the last two categories are a minority. Nigerian Correctional Service figures from 2015 show that there were just over 56,000 prison inmates in the country.
Even if we make a generous provision of one million persons for those who ought to join them behind bars, the bad eggs amongst us would still be a minute fraction of our over 150 million people. On second thought, one million might just be a terribly conservative estimate!
Despite being a tiny sample of the populace, the activities of the ‘ugly Nigerian’ now define us across the globe. This is because boorish behaviour and criminality generate more headlines than civility and honesty.
In most places you travel to in Africa, the stereotype of the loud Nigerian hangs around us like bad body odour. We are perceived as aggressive, dishonest, criminally-inclined, lacking in humility and attention-seeking show offs.
Many of these adjectives don’t describe me, just as I am sure they don’t apply to the vast majority of our people. Unfortunately, there is enough in those words that speaks of what we are becoming as a nation.
The recent episode of xenophobia – or more pointedly Afrophobia – in South Africa has received deserved condemnation. Still, it provides a window of self-examination for us.
If Nigerians are being set upon, we should ask ourselves why we are so hated. Whether in South Africa, Kenya or Ghana, we are not exactly flavour of the month.
I found part of the answer in a comment section of a story about how Nigerian-owned businesses had been burnt in parts of Johannesburg. The commentator, obviously a Kenyan, was far from sympathetic. He talked about how we are everywhere in Nairobi, selling drugs and messing things up.
As for our numbers which we often proudly cite as making us the ‘giant of Africa’, that, he felt, was part of the problem. We are too many and should try birth control!
Truth be told, the gradual collapse of our national economy over the last two decades, has meant that there are not enough opportunities for our teeming millions.
For many of our young people, living in this country is a fate worse than death. That is why despite the well-advertised perils of travelling through the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean to reach Europe, they are willing to take the risk.
In fact, many who were repatriated after horrible experiences in Libya, started talking about returning the moment their plane touched down in Lagos. They extolled the virtues of their hosts while blaming their travails on the excesses of their countrymen.
The very pressures that have sent hundreds of thousands of our citizens fleeing to the four corners of the world, are also prevalent in places like South Africa.
There is massive unemployment and poverty among the black population. Little wonder that the poor are venting their frustration on the equally black and foreign poor, who have come to compete with them for the crumbs their country offers.
It is virtually impossible to stop people from seeking a better life elsewhere. But it is a privilege when any country opens its doors to a foreigner. The problem is we used to be known for our oil exports, today we’re becoming infamous for exporting criminals. No country would accept that.
Nigeria’s Ambassador to Burkina Faso, Ramatu Ahmed, just revealed that over 10,000 underage girls from this country had been forced into prostitution in the country by traffickers who have promised to get them to Europe.
Very reliable government sources say there are over 10,000 Nigerians currently in South African prisons. A couple of weeks ago, the FBI arrested 77 Nigerians accused of participating in a variety of fraud and money laundering schemes. I am trying to recall the last time I read of over 70 citizens of one nation being held – in one fell swoop – for criminal activities in another country.
I am not sure how much of the online crime market we control, but our people have cornered the romance scam – so much so that in many places it is known as the ‘Nigerian love scam.’
In Italy, Nigerian crime gangs have become controllers of the prostitution and human trafficking business in parts of the country. In Sicily, spiritual homeland of the Mafia and other organised crime legends – they are now acknowledged as key players.
A couple of months ago in nearby Ghana, our people were pointedly being accused of causing a spike in kidnapping cases.
As unacceptable as crime is, people can live with it when the perpetrators are locals. But when foreigners set up shop as crime bosses, all hell is let loose. Imagine for a minute that the Chinese or Ghanaians were the ones running the lucrative kidnapping franchises in Nigeria!
When we emigrate many don’t shed some of our less attractive national traits. So we export our penchant for lawlessness and vulgar exhibitionism to places whose people are more restrained and we stick out like thumbs.
Some of the Nigerians arrested by the FBI were filmed at a party spraying dollar bills like confetti. Net even Warren Buffet or Bill Gates does that!
Nigeria blew her God-given opportunities to build a modern, prosperous nation that could sustain the bulk of its people. A succession of leaders chose to plunder the commonwealth and left a mess that people are fleeing from.
It is not too late to start rebuilding a country that poor, desperate South Africans and others would think of emigrating to. Part of that requires urgent action on how to handle our exploding population.
It is a disgrace that we can’t even conduct an acceptable national census without tying ourselves up in ethnic and political knots. We don’t even have a clue how many we are and have to depend on dubious estimates.
If we cannot grow the economy at a pace that it can cater for the majority, then we have to device means of reining in our reproduction rate.
The pressure on what resources we have now is becoming unbearable. The consequences of inaction are unpredictable.
Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal CourtFatou Bensouda has appealed against the shocking acquittal of former Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo over post-electoral violence that killed around 3,000 people.
Gbagbo, the first head of state to stand trial in The Hague, and his deputy, Charles Ble Goude, were both cleared of crimes against humanity in January and released the following month.
“The appeal will demonstrate that the trial chamber committed legal and procedural errors, which led to the acquittals of Gbagbo and Ble Goude on all counts,” Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s office said.
Judges had cleared the pair “without properly articulating and consistently applying a clearly defined standard of proof,” said Bensouda.
Ivory Coast’s former Prime Minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan, who heads Gbagbo’s Ivorian Popular Front party, condemned the appeal.
“These are judicial delaying tactics and political doggedness to keep Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Ble Goude as far away from the country as possible to prevent them from participating in Ivory Coast’s political life,” he told AFP.
Georges Armand Ouegnin, the head of a pro-Gbagbo coalition of political parties and civic groups, echoed him.
“I am deeply disappointed but I’m hopeful,” he said, adding that the pair “are innocent”.
“It’s important that they come back to Ivory Coast for national reconciliation,” he added.
Belgium agreed to host Gbagbo, 73, after he was released in February under conditions including that he would return to court for any prosecution appeal against his acquittal.
Ble Goude is meanwhile living in the Netherlands under similar conditions.
Gbagbo faced charges of crimes against humanity over the 2010-2011 bloodshed following a disputed vote in the West African nation.
Prosecutors said Gbagbo clung to power “by all means” after he was narrowly defeated by his bitter rival – now president – Alassane Ouattara – in elections in the world’s largest cocoa producer.
However, judges dismissed the charges, saying that the prosecution “failed to satisfy the burden of proof to the requisite standard.”
The prosecutor had previously indicated in January that she intended to appeal but had to wait until the court’s full written reasons for the decision came out in July.
Ouattara has refused to comment on the acquittal on crimes against humanity of his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo at the International Criminal Court while insisting investigations would continue.
“No reaction from me, it’s an ongoing trial…” Ouattara said in an interview with Radio France International in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, where he was attending an African Union summit.
But he added: “Someone must be responsible for the 3 000 deaths. I hope that justice will shine a light on that, it is what the victims are asking for.”
A serving Assistant Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, ACP Victor Onugbo, yesterday tendered a document before the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, authenticating the electoral victory of Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike during the March 9, 2019 election.
Onugbo, who serves at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Port Harcourt, appeared before the tribunal based on the court subpoena on the State Commissioner of Police.
Responding to questions from counsel to African Action Congress ( AAC), Henry Bello, ACP Onugbo told the Tribunal that the document he presented was the incident reports of all that occurred during election. He added that the report was sealed by the Rivers State police command.
Onugbo also told the court that the then commissioner of police, CP Usman Belel signed the documents of the results sheets after Declaration of the winner of the March 9 election.
Also responding to questions from Wike, on whether it is a practice in the police that certified copies of the documents are kept in the custody of the command, Onugbo said all the documents are certified and kept in the custody of the Officer in Charge of Legal matters at the command.
Onugbo also told the court that he was an observer during the election. He dismissed evidence that police was indicted in the alleged electoral violence in the state.
Meanwhile, AAC has closed cross examination of its witnesses with appearance of the ACP in court.
The Tribunal adjourned till today for the Independent National Electoral Commission to present it’s witnesses.
However, speaking with reporters outside the courtroom, the AAC counsel, Henry Bello, noted that his client has closed its case with the cross examination of the police officer who tendered evidence documents before the Tribunal.
He said: “It is not the number of witnesses you call that is important but the materiality of the evidence given by the witnesses. I am an advocate for change of a lot of things concerning the conduct of election litigation in Nigeria. Most of the things we do in election are basically documentary.
“It is my considered opinion that AAC as with these vital witnesses demonstrated alot of things before the tribunal. We will await the decision of the tribunal on the points we have made before the tribunal.
“I had 1650 witnesses, I donated some of them to the 1st petitioner and they were able to call 20 out of the 500 we gave the them”.
Woyike Livingstone, counsel to INEC, said: “Today the court has heard evidence from the PW23 in the capacity of the Assistant Inspector General of Police who was subpoenaed to come and give evidence in this regard and he has given evidence to the effect that the report, which he tendered as an exhibit authenticating the victory of the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike.”
Following an allegation by actress Lizzy Anjorin against fellow actress Toyin Abraham, of having a blog which posted a negative story on her, new mother Toyin Abraham has decided to make the case legal.
On Monday, the actress said Abraham posted the notification letter from a law firm; Legal House Solicitors, addressed to Ms Anjorin and sent to her office at Ikota Shopping Complex, Ikoyi, stating that they are representing Toyin Abraham formerly known as Toyin Aimahku, and will be addressing the case.
The heading of the letter is: “Cease and Desist Notice-Defamatory Statement Concerning Toyin Abraham.”
The actress stated that she would no longer address the issue, saying it would be handled by her lawyers.
“Silence is not golden,” she wrote, regarding her post.
“Rather than wrestle with a pig, it might be ideal to let the pig know that it belongs in the pen. No longer speaking on this, my management team and attorneys are taking this up.”
Over the weekend, Toyin Abraham said: “It has come as a rude shock that some upstarts masquerading as Nollywood actors keep dragging my name into unnecessary drama whenever they are trolled online. I’ve had my own share of online trolling but not for once did I drag the names of any actor or celebrities into the fray even when we don’t have cordial relationships.
“Today, an actress directly mentioned my name as the owner or informant of an Instagram blog, and libeled my person and reputation by implying I planted or published some negative news about her. Why she mentioned my name, I can’t say. What she’s trying to achieve, I can’t fathom. Long ago, I bade bye bye to unnecessary drama and petty online/offline squabbles and so I won’t descend to her gutter level.”
Her so-called “evidence” of my involvement was a comment I left on the page of a fan she suspected is behind the story. How I became connected to the story beats me. This level of cluelessness is mind-boggling. For the umpteenth time, stop holding me responsible for the actions or inactions of other people as they concern you. Whether they are my fans or not, I don’t regulate or determine their behaviour or conduct. Nobody holds Beyonce responsible for what her teeming fans, “Beyhives” do.
“Anyways, I have instructed my lawyers to take up this matter and she will be hearing from them by Monday. It’s time to put a stop to online bullying and bad behaviour in line with the rule of law.”
Lagos rolled out the drums to celebrate the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Fola Adeyemi, who turned 60 and was bowing out after decades of service to the state, EVELYN OSAGIE reports.
IT was a double celebration recently for the former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Folarin Anthony Adeyemi, who turrned 60 and was retiring after years of service in Lagos State.
Dignitaries, friends, family members and colleagues thronged the Grandeur Event Centre, Ikeja, Lagos to fete him.
The ceremony featured recollection of his meritorious service; a public lecture by Segun Ayobolu, former Chief Press Secretary to former Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, which led to a panel discussion moderated by former Commissioner for Art and Culture Steve Ayorinde.
“This is, therefore, instructive for all Public Affairs Officers that wherever you find yourself, you need to work your way up there. Every organisation desires someone who could add value to them and not a liability. So, immediately they are sure that you are an asset they cannot but trust and work with you.
“In all MDAs that I have served, I was able to escalate my office to the management level. The whole thing is about how well you package yourself and the office you are occupying.”
These words by Adeyemi laid the groundwork of the day’s event.
It also headlined the presentation of Adeyemi’s book entitled: The Dynamics of Public Information Management: Memoirs of a Veteran Public Affairs Manager. It was chaired by the Commissioner of Water Resources and the Environment, Tunji Bello.
It drew dignitaries from across the state, including three former commissioners for Information and Strategy (Kehinde Bamigetan, Dele Alake and Ayorinde) and the incumbent Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, formerly the editor of The Nation newspaper; members of the state civil service; the media and scholars.
Adeyemi was there with his lovely wife, Jumoke and children, Fola and Gbolade.
From the office of the Deputy Governor to the Ministries of Finance, Education, Works and Infrastructure and the Environment at various times, Adeyemi left “path-breaking and trail-blazing imprints”, it was said
He was extolled for his dedication to duty, his calm-headed nature; dealing with issues and proactive reforms that took place in the Public Affairs Office and Ministry of Information and Strategy in his time. Under his watch, “the social media unit in the Ministry of Information and Strategy was elevated to full-fledged departmental status to reflect the enormous influence that it has come to attain in modern communication”; “the Lagos Television/Eko FM were repositioned and re-equipped”, and “state information officers were redesigned as public affairs officers in line with international best practices” it was stated.
According to the immediate past Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Kehinde Bamigbetan, who anchored the book’s presentation, Adeyemi was launching the book to fund his foundation, which was a way of giving back to the society and journalism profession which has been instrumental to his rise and the successes recorded in his working life.
“Adeyemi is a man with passion for the business of communication. And he has realised due over the course of his work that there is a rare species of the public relation personnel that requires a lot of support from all of us; he has identified them as the women who are involved in public relations and he decided to write a book. He is launching this book so that he can fund a foundation that would empower them,” Bamigbetan said.
While Bello called him, “a good strategist”, former Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Dele Alake, praised Adeyemi intellect and sense of duty. “His attitude to work, managerial ability is very exemplary and impressive. I congratulate him for his successful career. There is nowhere else for you to go but up,” he said.
“I am very happy for my friend. Lagos still needs his service
In his lecture, entitled: “The Dynamics of Public Affairs Management: Information Management, Strategic Communication and the Emergent Greater Lagos”, Ayobolu went out to set agenda for the new administration, Ministry of Information and Strategy and the public affair unit/officers. Citing the administration of Asiwaju Tinubu, he said: “Free flow of information between the government and the media is critical to effective communication of the government with the public. A relationship that stresses a free flow of information between government and the media is necessary from the inception of a public policy.”
The event was held on Sepetember 2.
The trajectory Adeyemi’s performance as Information Officer at the various offices he had been posted to over a period of over two and a half decades, according to Ayobolu, “indicated that he was indeed headed for the very apex of the civil service structure in a system that respects talent and rewards performance”.
The keynote speaker revealed that Adeyemi’s joining the Lagos State Public Service was not by happenstance, stating that applying into the Civil Service was his father’s desire as “he wanted him to use the platform to offer quality service to humanity”.
“It is thus no wonder that Mr Fola Adeyemi had a high sense of self-esteem and attached appropriate value both to his person and his profession as a government policy communicator.
“As Mr Adeyemi puts it in his book evoking strong emotions on me as I read it, ‘You must have an identity before institutions and professionalism will back you to become an authority. If I can come from nowhere and make a mark, then the over 400 Public Affairs Officers in the Lagos State Public Service can do it. I cherish the ‘Can do Spirit a lot’… Mr. Adeyemi retires formally today but he is in no way tired. He still bubbles with physical energy, mental acuteness and moral fervor. It is for this great son of Nigeria certainly morning yet on creation day and the best, for him, is yet to come,” Ayobolu said.
Travel business consultant, Ikechi Uko, organiser of Akwaaba African Travel Market, praised the celebrator for forthrightness, and presented a gift to him.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting to hold on to power, as voters go to the polls in one of its closest election races in years.
He called the snap election after failing to form a governing coalition in the wake of an election in April.
Polls forecast his right-wing Likud party to tie with its main challenger, the centrist Blue and White party led by former military chief Benny Gantz.
Smaller parties could, therefore, have a big say in the final outcome.
Netanyahu lashed out at Facebook (FB.O) yesterday after the social network blocked a “chatbot” from his right-wing Likud party’s account for violating election day rules.
“They took a 100 kg hammer and brought it down on a fly, because it is a Likud fly,” Netanyahu said in a video posted on social media.
“They shut down our means of communication with our voters.”
Israel’s leading YNET news website said the chatbot, a type of automated software that is able to simulate a conversation with a user, had posted results from an election poll yesterday while Israelis were out voting, a contravention of election rules.
The problematic posts were apparently taken down and no longer appeared on Netanyahu’s Facebook page.
Negotiations on the formation of a new coalition are expected to start as soon as voting ends at 22:00 (19:00 GMT) and exit polls are published.
Likud and Blue and White came away with 35 seats each in the 120-seat Knesset.
Netanyahu declared victory and it appeared that he would be able to secure a majority with the backing of smaller right-wing and religious parties. But after several chaotic weeks, the attempted coalition-building collapsed into recriminations.
On the surface was a dispute over Israel’s secular versus its religious character, says the BBC’s Tom Bateman in Jerusalem.
Ten years ago, when the Dean, School of Art, Design and Printing Technology, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, Dr. Kunle Adeyemi, turned 50, he donated art materials worth N50,000 each to five Lagos State secondary school students as part of his birthday celebration. This year, Adeyemi will be contributing a percentage of the total gross sales from his exhibition to Niola Cancer Care Foundation.
Last Saturday, Adeyemi’s touring and retrospective exhibition tagged Quantum Leap opened at the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos, featuring 60 paintings, mixed media and prints. Also on display were souvenirs and post cards size of his art works offered at affordable price. This, he said, is to make the art works available to larger society, especially the low income group. The art teacher is a multidisciplinary visual artist with strong imprints in printmaking, painting and graphic design. “I want ot be in as many homes as possible, and that was my dream growing up,” he said.
Adeyemi’s practical knowledge and thesis have become the basis for many art scholars, theoretical interest on how visual art reflects societal transformation, building a virile society through entrepreneurship and self-reliance.
Expectedly, his collection for the on-going exhibition is a mixed bag of works that address issues ranging from celebration to culture, democracy, governance, security, environment and womanhood, among others. To the artist, the retrospective exhibition is an opportunity to reflect and look back at the journey so far. “Some years ago, I never knew I was doing something of importance to the community. Today, most of those things are actually for the good of the community and I can see that one has moved on to something great,” he said at a preview session. According to him, exhibition is not held primarily for commercial gains but to make statements on issues of concern to the community and the nation at large.
“As at now, artists are reporting the art materially for generations to come,” he added.
Some of the exhibits are Nigeria still a dumping ground, Statement and other matters, The mystery of Sambisa, Women protesting for Chibok girls, Herdsmen invasion-From rod stick to AK 47, Democracy for whom? and Ecstasy of the drumbeat, among other thought provoking at works.
In Democracy for whom, Adeyemi mirrors the irony in the nation’s political system, focusing on the two chambers of legislature – Senate and House of Representatives – which, unfortunately, do not represent the people’s interest. He captures the ruled that are tied by ropes to the apron strings of the rulers who are supposed to be servants of the people. He lavishly splashes red and green colours to depict the corporate colours of both chambers.
As an academic, Adeyemi who also runs an art studio in Mushin area of Lagos, said he wants to leave art better than he met it. Little wonder his studio is open to student artists on internship from arts schools across the country.
The first leg of the exhibition will run till September 2 while he second phase will open at Yusuf Grillo Gallery, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos on September 26 till October 18.
On the choice of two venues for the touring exhibition, Adeyemi said: “The two venues have different audiences. The first is a national museum with a broad clientele base while the second is my immediate constituency where my students and colleagues will have opportunity to appreciate my art works.”
Adeyemi had his education at Yaba College of Technology, University of Benin, and Delta State University, Abraka, where he bagged Ph.D in Studio Art.
He has facilitated many workshops and residencies and visual art retreats in Sweden, US, Liberia and Nigeria.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Belema Oil on Tuesday signed a dispute closure agreement in Abuja yesterday. With this, operations are expected to resume at the Oil Mining Licence (OML) 25 in the next 10 days. ROSEMARY NWISI, who has followed the crisis for over two years, wonders if peace has finally come
SPDC, Belemaoil agree to restore operations in OML25
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, in June, directed all parties in the dispute relating to the Oil Mining Licence (OML) 25 to resolve all issues and reopen the oil facility in seven days. The deadline lapsed with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Belemaoil Limited still at loggerheads. But, if the deal sealed on Tuesday in Abuja is followed through, the end of the crisis is here.
The sleepy oil-bearing communities of Offoin-Ama, Belema and Ngeje in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State have been in the news of late. All thanks to the controversy surrounding the continuous shut down of the OML-25 flow-stations.
The three Kula communities, Offion-Ama, Belema and Ngeje, share hosting rights to the flow station located in a part of the island Kingdom of Rivers State.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), SPDC and Belema Oil signed the dispute closure agreement in Abuja yesterday. Operations at the oil well will take off in the next 10 days.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Chief Timipre Sylva, while signing the agreement, thanked all the parties stressing that the step signified the beginning of a new chapter in the industry.
Sylva said the aim of the ministry was to ensure an oil industry that worked and operated in harmony and in unity.
“When I came into the office, the issue was one of the problems that came on the table; there were so many letters from communities complaining about the problem.
“I just decided to invite Shell to hear its own part of the story but fortunately, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mele Kyari, had intervened in the matter.
“So, I have the honour now to thank him for this great intervention. And also thank Shell and Belema for cooperating to ensure that there is closure to this matter that has bedevilled the industry for so long,” he said.
He said one of the aims of the petroleum industry was to ensure zero loss in the industry and production got to destination.
According to him, zero loss is not loses from pipelines but lost to the country, especially with assets that can produce but for some reasons bug down by leakage issues.
He said that the biggest beneficiaries of the agreement were not the companies but the communities, especially those in Belema who had been suffering since the beginning of the dispute.
The minister commended the NNPC, Shell and the Belema Oil for agreeing to resolve the dispute.
Kyari said the development was a big achievement for the corporation.
The NNPC boss said the dispute around the OML 25 had been on for over two years, adding that the end result was that communities lacked peace with the disruption of property and social lives in the area.
“For us, the most important aspect of the dispute resolution is that, at least, the communities will have their peace restored.
“At the back of it, you are aware that there is a complete stoppage of petroleum operations around the OML 25 and adjoining blocks.
“What this means is shut down of production of over 35,000 barely of oil every day in the last two years and that is an enormous economic loss for all stakeholders, Nigeria and the communities.
“This is why we engaged all stakeholders and we are happy to announce today that the closure has been obtained.
“It means that the communities will have their peace back and also commence operations with the OML 25.
“That means that there is prosperity for the community and also some returns to shareholders of Belema Oil, NNPC and Nigeria at large,” he said.
Kyari commended the Belema Oil for its role and assured full engagement of the communities, adding that all the parties would be taken care of.
The NNPC boss also said that all opportunities found would be shared equitably for overall peace and development of the country.
He commended the minister of petroleum for his support and assured that the operations would soon commence in the area.
Also, the Managing Director of Shell, Osagie Okunbor said that the dispute had been for two years but “we are happy that we concluded on resolving the dispute.
“I want to convey my deep appreciation to the GMD of NNPC for the intervention to bring this issue to a closure.
“When dispute of this nature happens, everyone suffers, especially the immediate family, recipient community not to talk of investors like ourselves.
“We have been in discussion with communities and Belema Oil and sometimes under the auspices of government.
“We are very pleased that we have finally brought this to a conclusion, to work on some agreements with communities to achieve speedy return to operations on that facility,” he said.
He said to meet the plight of the host communities, Shell had paid in the Joint MOU account, over N300 million to restart community efforts it had not done because of some issues.
Okunbor said that under the joint MOU framework money would be paid into communities’ accounts to execute projects to ensure that employment opportunities get to the people.
He noted that SPDC remained the operator of the OML 25 but assured commitment to ensure that all parties would derive from the benefits.
Belema Oil President and Founder Jack Rich-Tein also said the agreement signalled that stakeholders shared common interest and value of lifting the country high and strengthening relationships.
“What has been resolved is that, we have agreed to work together, SPDC and Belema Oil.
“Belema Oil is now going to be able to create a lot of employment opportunities for the communities under operations and maintenance part of the operations.
“SPDC remains the operators because they still have the licence, the communities will be happy because we will employ them and they will be able to work with SPDC.
“The key thing there is getting back to work and creating jobs for the local communities, everybody will be happy.”
He said Belema Oil with 7.7 per cent asset would provide the operation maintenance and employ the community members through that platform.
The founder said Belema Oil Producing Limited would work with shell to ensure that the development needs of the people were met.
“We have agreed that less than 10 days from today, we will visit the communities and appeal to them and then, we go to work,” he said.
The operation in OML 25 stopped since in 2017 when the host communities sent SPDC away from operating in the facility over issues of unemployment and underdevelopment among others.
Host communities’ grouses
The multinational oil giant has operated in the environment for almost 40 years. Despite these long years of operation, the communities said they have become poorer while the oil giant gets richer.
Members of the communities decried alleged gross neglect, marginalisation, impoverishment, enslavement, maltreatment, environmental devastation; failure to comply with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it signed with the host communities, among others necessitated the shutdown of the facility by women and children of the communities.
But the company denied the alleged neglect, insisting that the welfare of their host communities remains paramount to it.
The SPDC is operating the flow station as a consortium with 32.3 per cent stake on behalf of SPDC, Total E&P and Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), in Joint Venture with the NNPC, which controls 60 per cent stake while Belema Oil Producing Limited has 7.7 per cent participating interest in the facility, which it inherited from Chevron Nigeria Limited.
To attract the attention of wider society to the deplorable state of the oil-rich communities, their chiefs and leaders held a news conference at Offoin-Ama and the flow station in July. They also conducted reporters drawn from local and international media round the communities for on-the-spot assessment of the areas and to verify the claims by the oil firm on the developmental state of the communities.
From Offoin-Ama to Belema down to Ngeje communities, the sights and sounds are the same tales of woe, lamentation, impoverishment and high level of poverty among the people. There are no signs of social amenities in the communities visited. There are no hospitals, good schools, no habitable houses and power supply. Houses in the areas are all shanties, made of polythene bags and trampoline. The rich among them built their houses with woods.
Hunger, poverty, hardship and total and criminal neglect of the areas are prominent features of the areas and these are etched on the faces of the residents. There is a complete lack of government’s presence whatsoever in the places visited despite their huge financial contributions to the state and federal government coffers.
They also lamented lack of jobs, business and no artisan workshop anywhere in the area. Apart from a small patent medicine store at Offoin-Ama which apparently serves as health care facility to the people, the other shop in the communities is a beer parlour shop at Belema community.
Analysts put the estimate of revenue so far lost by the governments in the two years the business has been shut down to over $2 billion.
The communities accused Wike of meddlesomeness, stressing that the governor had no business interfering in matters of oil and gas, insisting that he lacked the statutory powers to preside over any meeting on the dispute.
The governor set up a committee led by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr. Tammy Danagogo, and gave him seven days to resolve all disputes, reunite parties and re-open the facility within one week.
The host communities boycotted the meetings convened by the government where a Memorandum of Understanding was purportedly signed to re-open the oil facility.
The Chairman of Kula Supreme Council of Chiefs and the Amanyanabo of Kula Kingdom, His Royal Highness Kroma Eleki was in the meeting and signed the GMoU. But he told the participants that the rightful stakeholders were absent and that his signing the agreement would not guarantee the vacation of the facility by the women.
He said: “I really did attend the meeting by the state government to broker peace between Shell and the host communities of OML25, flow station. As a government recognised monarch, I am supposed to attend such meetings and to advise the government on the way forward.
“I did attend and there was settlement agreement to sign and I did sign, but before I signed, I told the government and the public that the signing of that agreement do not lead to the opening of the OML 25 flow station.
“In any case, Shell has owed us for several years and we needed that money. So, signing the document was for us to access the money and, again, I also did tell them that the people with who they were negotiating at the meeting are not in the position to ensure the opening of OML25 and that the real stakeholders were not in the meeting.
“I advised them to be patient until they meet with the main stakeholders and that there is a need for them to pay a visit to Kula Kingdom and the host communities to see things for themselves before they will be able to broker peace.”
Speaking on his position in OML- 25, he said: “Since Shell began operations in Kula, they have not done any significant thing for the communities. So, I stand with the people of Kula Kingdom, because of the suffering we are going through.
“I will not like Shell to come back to operate OML 25, it should give the right to other operators, if possible, to Belema Oil. He is our son. If on the other hand Shell feels that it has gotten a licence, they want to operate, Belema Oil has a stake in that the partnership he should be given the operatorship of that stake, so that whenever they want to sell, he should have the first option of refusal before they can sell it.”
The spokesperson of Belema Central Women Association occupying the OML 25 flow station, Mrs. Belinda Nokiman relived their ordeal to reporters.
She decried the poor state of the communities, adding that they do not have good drinking water in the area.
At Offoin-Ama, Chief Ibiosiya Nath-Sukubo said: “Offoin-Ama is a co-host to OML-25 and bellies the six and eight inches delivery lines, a myriad of oil wells, the Sego Creek manifold, riser, Eastern Gas Gathering Lines (EGGS I) and NCTL among others. It is a principal oil-producing and pipeline community and a contributor to over 200,000 barrels of oil and over 1.5 million standard cubic feet of gas (mmscf).
“We are prone to serious ecological hazards such as earthquake and Tsunami, among others. The people’s natural source of income which is fishing has continued to diminish.”
Nath-Sukubo reiterated the failure of SPDC to take seriously the welfare of its host communities in the area. He urged them to divest the flow-station to Belema Oil, maintaining that Shell will never be allowed back to the area.
In the heat of the brouhaha, Shell insisted it had high regards for its host communities in the Niger Delta.
“Shell JV’s committed to the welfare of its host communities in the Niger Delta remain unshaken, even as we debunk every allegation that we neglected the development of communities in Kula Kingdom and Belema.,” the company said.
Will the agreement engender peace?
Will the agreement entered into yesterday by the oil firms, NNPC and Sylva be acceptable to the host communities? The outcome of the meeting the operators are supposed to have with them in the next few days will tell.
Widow of Zimbabwe’s former President Robert Mugabe, Grace Mugabe, will keep the fortune accrued by her family during her husband’s 37 years in power, authorities said on Tuesday.
“President Emmerson Mnangagwa has assured the family that they will keep their wealth,” said Obert Mpofu, secretary for administration of the ruling party, Zanu-PF.
The Mugabes are one of the most affluent families in Zimbabwe, owning multiple properties, including a dairy farm, a private school, and a game reserve.
However, Mugabe’s villa, known as the “Blue Roof,” in Harare’s elite suburb of Borrowdale Brooke, and another mansion where their daughter, Bona lives, are in Zanu-PF’s name.
Mnangagwa, whose challenge to Grace Mugabe’s leadership ambitions in part led to her husband’s overthrow by the military in 2017, had on several occasions said the family would be taken care of.
