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Tag: Oloibiri

  • Pay more to flare less? Calculating the costs of flaring gas in the oil and gas sector

    It’s been 60 years since Nigeria joined the World Oil Producers and reaped riches from its oil production. It made its first oil discovery at Oloibiri, Bayelsa in 1956. In 1958, its first oil field came on stream, producing 5,100 barrels per day. By the late sixties and early seventies, Nigeria had attained a production level of over 2 million barrels of crude oil a day.  In 2016, the country could boast of 37 billion barrels oil and gas reserve as reported by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the State’s oil company. Today, Nigeria’s crude oil production is at 2.2 million barrels per day.

    Since 1956, a good number of oil and gas companies (foreign and local) have set up shop in Nigeria. Shell Petroleum Development Company (formerly known as Shell BP) was the first oil and gas company in the country. It drilled 12,008 feet at Olobirin Well No.1 (now dried up). Today, Chevron Nigeria Ltd, ExxonMobil, Nigeria Total, Nigerian Agip Oil Company are some of the other key players in the Nigerian oil market.

    What we got from oil and gas in 15 years

    Data from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) shows that companies in the oil and gas sector in Nigeria paid about $347 trillion revenue from 1999 to 2014. This amount was paid to government agencies through a variety of revenue streams such as extraordinary taxes on income, profits, and capital gains, royalties, bonuses, emission and pollution taxes, and general tax on goods and services etc.

    While extraordinary taxes on income, profits, and capital gains are paid for the sale of assets like land and properties, general taxes on goods and services are indirect taxes paid on consumption of goods and services by private individuals. Royalties, on the other hand, are paid for the exploitation of natural resources connected with land and minerals. In the oil and gas industry, royalties are pay for oil produced from a concession. he rates are set based on the location of the field. Therefore, the deeper the concession area is, the lower the applicable rate.

    Bonuses in the oil and gas industry are paid at a specific time within a project timeline. A very important one is the signature bonus. A signature bonus is paid by a concessionaire at the time an oil prospecting licence or oil mining lease is granted. Finally, emission and pollution taxes are paid for the emission of toxic particles that are devastating to our environment and harmful to health.  Oil and gas companies pay a certain amount for gas flared and oil spilled.

    In this article, because of their direct impact on host communities and the environment, we focus on the latter: emission and pollution taxes.

     

    The charts above help to identify the sources of gas flaring in Nigeria. If the assumption that the more gas an organization flares, the more emission and pollution taxes it pays is correct, the first set of companies to hold responsible for air pollution and environmental degradation in Nigeria would, of course, be Shell Petroleum Development Company and Chevron Nigeria Limited. These companies paid the highest taxes ($44,787,000 and $44,570,000) in 15 years. Addax Petroleum Development Nigeria Ltd (ADDAX/APDNL), Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), and Mobil Producing Nigeria Limited (MPNU) follow. How much volume of gas have these top emission and pollution taxpayers flared in 15 years? Let’s dig into data. A little arithmetic might also be needed.

    Charts E-I shows the top emission taxpayers, the amount paid in dollars and the exchange rates applicable in years covered by the data. Chart J shows the naira equivalent of the sum total of each company’s payments in those years. From the charts, it can be seen that Chevron appears to pay a little higher than Shell in naira while the converse is the case in dollars. It might therefore seem that one of these companies flares the most gas in Nigeria. However, a little more insight is required to draw any useful conclusions.

    In Nigeria, there are regulations governing gas flaring. Over time, there have been different penalty rates per 1,000 Standard Cubic Foot (scf). For example, N10 per 1,000scf was applicable in 1998-2008 while in 2009 – 2017, the government set $3.5 for every 1,000scf gas flared (although, a report by NEITI states that, up until now, the penalty hasn’t been enforced and adhered to). Going by the N10 per 1,000scf rate which was paid until 2018 when the rate was reviewed and set at $2 for 1,000scf, Shell Petroleum Development Company paid about N5.2 billion between 1999-2014. At N10 per 1,000scf rate, the company had flared a total of 520,392,266,400 scf gas. Using the same calculation model, Chevron Nigeria Limited flared 550,007,562,600 scf gas, Addax Petroleum Development Nigeria Ltd flared 317,890,191,000 scf gas, Nigerian Agip Oil Company 261,554,792,800 scf and Mobil Producing Nigeria Limited flared 249,794,641,300 scf gas.

    For those not familiar with SCF, the oil equivalent of the volume of gas flared might be easier to follow: If gas were to be oil, it simply means the five top companies had spilled more than 92 million, 97 million, 56 million, 46 million, and 44 million barrels of oil from 1999 – 2014 respectively. The chart below presents a clearer picture of this data.

    Making Amends

    The facts have not gone unnoticed. In 2015, the NNPC and Chevron Nigeria Limited (NNPC/CNL) Joint Venture revealed its plan to reduce gas flaring by 98 percent and it announced the completion and load-out of the topside module of the SONAM Non-Associated Gas, NAG, Wellhead Platform project in 2016. Unfortunately, the positive effect of this has not really been felt nor seen.

    It was also reported that the Federal Government’s plan to end gas flaring by 2020. It also planned to introduce the “National Gas Flaring Commercialisation Programme”, an initiative that would generate about 36,000 direct jobs, 200,000 indirect jobs in the Niger Delta and ensure the redirection of the utility of gas for cooking, electricity and other industrial purposes.

    In the meantime, Nigerians continue to suffer from the health hazards of gas flaring. The ordeal and agony of residents of Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Imo, Akwa Ibom and Rivers states, (especially the host and neighboring communities of the oil and gas companies) are better imagined. Media reports have it that satellite images provided by the tracker located 222 of gas flaring incidents happening around 65 onshore oil wells these states.

    Respiratory problems, cardiac diseases, bronchitis (inflammation of the lungs), silicosis (lung disease contracted by inhaling impure air) skin rashes, insomnia (sleeplessness), and eye irritations are some of the frequent ailments in such communities. The residents are exposed to all kinds of airborne diseases.  Egbema and Mgbede  and many more cases were reported in the media.

    With the new law of $2 for 1000 scf gas flared, the oil companies are likely to flare less. The new penalty is aimed at discouraging gas flaring, to encourage the redirection of gas flared from waste to wealth and preserve the environment and the lives of the residents in such environments. The government might also call back the debt of companies who defaulted when the rate was at N10 and make them pay at the current rate. If this is done, the organisations involved would be made to pay heavily and as such, gas flaring would not be considered an alternative anymore.

     

  • How Oloibiri got its groove back

    How Oloibiri got its groove back

    The first Nigerian commercial oil well in Oloibiri, a community in Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, was once likened to a proverbial old and feeble woman abandoned by her ungrateful children.

    During her illustrious period, she was a rallying point for her children. In her kitchen, they ate to their full. They sucked her protruding breasts for nutrients passing it along from one mouth to another. She was indeed, a source and foundation of life, joy and prosperity for the children. Suddenly, at her old age, she was deserted, abandoned and despised by those persons she clothed, sheltered and fed.

    So, was Oloibiri Oil Well 1. Tucked into development-deficient Otuabagi community, the oil well gave Nigeria a global appeal. It was the reason the country gained her oil-producing status in 1956 when the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) found crude oil in commercial quantity there and erected the Christmas Tree.

    But like the proverbial woman, the oil well was abandoned after it was sucked dry by the government. Like a thoroughly-sucked sachet water, the well was thrown away. The Christmas tree was overtaken by shrubs, weeds and vegetation. Oloibiri, the host community of the oil well 1, was left to lick its wounds.

    The Nigerian Army has, however, changed the narrative. The army remembered Oloibbiri recently. Thanks to the Operation Crocodile Smile II. As part of the civil-military relations built into the exercise, officers and troops of the army renovated the site of the Christmas tree and gave it its pride of place as a tourist haven.

    The 16th Brigade of the army with headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, worked on the site. The surroundings was landscaped, designed with interlocking stones and carved with caves to create beautiful sight.

    The Christmas tree is now covered with an attractive roof. In fact, the environment, which was hitherto an eyesore, has been transformed into a centre of attraction. Oloibiri Oil Well 1 has become a real monument, deserving of tourism.

    Indeed, residents of Oloibiri community were excited over the development. Thy poured encomiums on the army for remembering them. They never knew that the Operation Crocodile Smile II could have permanent positive effect on their community.

    The army opened the oil well to tourists the day it rounded off its military operation. It was a day the Oloibiri would not forget in a hurry. For the first time after many years, convoy of exotic cars drove to their community. The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai and the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Rear Admiral John Jonah (retd) and traditional rulers were among the dignitaries that found their way to Oloibiri.

    The elated Commander, 16th Brigade, Brig.-Gen. Kelvin Aligbe, in his welcome address  said the army brought its civil-military exercise to Oloibiri to highlight the significance of the oil well. He said the army took permission from the Ministry of Tourism before renovating and cleaning the site.

    He said: “What we are doing today, therefore, is just to add a bit of tourist value to this iconic monument. We have come to savour the beautiful environment that we have found ourselves.

    “We believe that whatever we are doing here today would have sufficiently agitated the minds of the tourism enthusiasts across the country to come to this place, explore the unique potential of this place and make it a place for global recognition”.

    Buratai in is remarks, described the gesture as one of the advantages of a military operation. He said the operation Crocodile Smile II was launched to be conducted across the Niger Delta and Southwest from October 7 to 28.

    The Army chief, who was represented by the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 6 Division, Nigerian Army, Maj.-Gen. Enobong Udoh. He highlighted the easing for military operations across the country.

    He said:  “The Nigerian Army in consonance with the vision of the current chief of army staff to have a professionally responsive Nigerian army in the discharge of its constitutional roles continue to conduct operations and training exercises in order to position itself to be able to respond professionally to the threats that we have across the country.

    “As we know the threats are so many, kidnapping, cultism and militancy. Here in the Niger Delta we have other ones like illegal oil bunkering, pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft and the rest. So Nigerian army continues to conduct this operation.

    “Already we have had operations  in the Northwest; we have had the popular Operation Egwueke, Python Dance and then operation crocodile smile II.

    “As I said all these operation are conducted to position the Nigerian army to be able to combat the threats that face our nation so that we can have a conducive environment for business activities to take place and for law-abiding citizens to go about their duties without hindrances”.

    Buratai explained that during such operations, the army tried to have closer relationships with the people. He said the army usually identified with the people through medical and education outreaches as well as environmental sanitation arrangements.

    He said: “The 16 Brigade decided to rehabilitate the Oloibiri Oil Well 1 as part of their civic activities so that it can be positioned to regain its status as a tourist attraction which it is.

    “I want to ask the Commander 16 Brigade to continue to dominate this place in terms of patrol, security so that the bad boys and criminals can be kept away from here and this place can further be developed to assume its status as a foremost iconic tourist attraction in the nation”.

    On his part, the deputy governor, a retired naval officer, said military operations and civic obligations formed part of his lectures at the military staff college. He expressed delight that the theories were being translated into practical realities.

    He, however, lamented that people were misinterpreting the roles of he military. He insisted that the military had not been given adequate attention it deserved and called on the people to support their army. Jonah called on the Ogbia council authority to preserve the oil well and upgrade it periodically.

    Giving a brief history of the oil well, the representative of the Tourism Ministry, Mr. Solomon Diepriye, said: “Oloibiri oil well is sitting here in otuabagi community in ogbia local government of Bayelsa state. It is called oloibiri oil well because as at the time in 1956, otuabagi was under the oloibiri district hence the name oloibiri oil well1.

    “The history of oloibiri oil well cannot be complete without a brief history of Shell. Shell as we know it today SPDC was then called Shell De Archy and they were given the first license to explore oil in Nigeria on the 4th November1938.

    “There had been other companies searching for oil in Nigeria but the

  • Brigade renovates Oloibiri Oil Well 1 as tourist site

    The 16 Brigade, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, has renovated and opened to tourists the Oloibiri Oil Well No. 1, where commercial oil production commenced in 1958.

    Captain Jonah Danjuma, assistant director, Army Public Relations and spokesman of the Brigade, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday that the Army would provide free bus rides for tourists to Oloibiri from its base in Yenagoa for three days.

    Danjuma explained that the gesture is a community-relations and confidence-building component of the training operation to build combat readiness of troops.

    “In line with the ongoing Operation Crocodile  Smile II, 16 Brigade has undertaken a renovation of the iconic Oloibiri Oil Well.

    “This is part of the Brigade’s community relations activities aimed at enhancing effective civil-military relations in its Area of Responsibility.

    “The oil well is located at Otuabagi in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa, which has set the trajectory for oil economy in Nigeria, hence the brigade is signposting the tourist value of this iconic oil well to the public.

    “The historical site will be opened to the public from October 25 to October 28 , 2017. The public is enjoined to visit and appreciate the historical value this oil well has ushered to Nigeria.

    “The public may wish to visit on their own or take advantage of the buses provided at the brigade headquarters to transport potential tourists to the site.

    “The expected time of departure from the brigade headquarters to Oloibiri is 10 am. daily,” he said.

    Chief of Army Staff Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai launched the operation, which involved intensive patrols, movement of troops with heavy military hardware in the Niger Delta, on October 13.

    The brigade donated medical equipment to the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa, and carried out sanitation in Yenagoa as part of the exercise, which lasts one month.

  • Oloibiri wins big at Homevida 2016

    Oloibiri wins big at Homevida 2016

    Nollywood flick, ‘Oloibiri’, last Saturday, emerged winner of the Feature Film category of the Nigeria Integrity Film Awards, carting home a prize of one million naira.
    The 7th edition of the annual awards, popularly known as HomeVida, was held at Oriental Hotel, V.I Lagos.
    The well attended event had Timi Dakolo and Waje who trilled the guests. The ceremony also had in attendance, representatives of the diplomatic community, Nollywood industry stakeholder as well as public and private sector players.
    There were three categories and five prizes. In the short script/film category, Mr. Dipo Awelenje-writer of ‘In Apathy’ won the ‘Transparency, Accountability and Good Governance’ award which is sponsored by USAID/SACE Project, while Mrs. Jennifer Agunloye, writer of the script, ‘Beautiful Mistake’ and Ajayi Olusegun, writer of ‘Due Negligence’ won the ‘Promoting the Growth in the Digital Economy’ category which is supported by Google.
    ‘Nowhere to Run’ won the documentary category, also taking home the one million naira prize. Both prizes were endowed by USAID/SACE Project.
    Presenting the award to the winners in the Transparency, Accountability and Good Governance category, the United State Government representative, Mr. Peter Hansen commended the Nollywood industry on their using the film medium to promote issues relating to human rights, abuse, and governance. He encouraged them to continue using film to promote issues that relates to human development.
    The event ended with a performance by Timi Dakolo.

  • Oloibiri

    Oloibiri

    I was in Oloibiri, Bayelsa State some days back. I saw deaths. I saw blood. I saw arsons. I saw a people whose rivers are no longer homes to fishes. I saw a people whose rivers have practically turned to crude oil. If you drink the water, you have taken crude oil. I also saw an educated man who left his well-paying job with an oil giant to fight against its evils against his people. I also saw a white man who made it clear that it takes two to screw or get screwed. I saw an old man who was bold enough to look a militant leader in the face and tell him that his philosophy of violence would only help to aggravate the troubles of Oloibiri and, by extension, the Niger Delta.

    Let me confess here before you begin to wonder if all these happen in today’s Oloibiri. Well, I was not in Oloibiri physically. I was in Oloibiri via a film of the same title which features RMD, Olu Jacobs, Taiwo Ajayi-Lycet and Daniel K. Daniel.

    The film is a reminder of the mess the Niger Delta is which began in Oloibiri in 1956. The people were happy thinking their town would soon become London. Any voice of dissent  was shut down. And years down the line, they felt they had listened.

    The Oloibiri story resonates all over the Niger Delta, which extends to over 70,000 square kilometres and constitutes about 7.5 per cent of Nigeria’s land mass. The densely populated area comprises Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo; Akwa Ibom and Rivers states. It also extends to parts of Ondo, Imo and Abia states.

    This troubled region is home to over 31 million people and is the oil and gas-producing belt. Since the discovery of oil in commercial quantity in Oloibiri, the region has been embroiled in controversies, agitation and protests over the attendant oil spills, devastating pollution of fishing zones and sources of potable water and ecological degradation.

    Over the years, the people have lived in conditions that are intolerable. From time to time, gross neglect and under-development snowball into pockets of protests and agitation for resource control because successive administrations at the centre and in some states glossed over sustainable development of the region.

    While other regions were being developed in infrastructure and human capital, the reverse was the case in the Niger Delta. No wonder there has been a debate on whether oil exploration is a curse or a blessing to the region.

    Bottled resentment as a result of the status quo has been blamed for instances of vandalism of oil and gas pipelines and series of kidnappings for ransom. As can be seen in the film Oloibiri, the youth thought violence could help and before they knew it, they became killers, spilling blood here and there.

    It must be stated that the enactment of the Mineral Ordinance by Nigeria’s first Governor-General Sir Frederick Luggard in 1914 signalled the exploration and exploitation of the country’s mineral resources, especially oil and gas.

    In 1937, the British colonial government gave the exclusive rights of exploration and exploitation to Shell D’Arcy, which could not actualise this mandate because of the Second World War. In 1938, Shell entered into collaboration with British Petroleum (formerly Anglo-Persian Oil Company) for oil prospection in Nigeria.

    Their early efforts yielded 450 barrels of crude oil in Akata I Well, in 1951. Further successes were made in Oloibiri in 1956 and Bomu Oil Field in 1958 when oil was struck in commercial quantity.

    Many major players in the global oil sector were later granted prospecting licences. Such players included Socony Vacuum (now Mobil) in 1955, Tennessee (later Tennenco) in 1960, Gulf Oil (now named Chevron) in 1961, American Overseas (later Amoseas) in 1961, Agip Oil in 1962 and Safrap (now ELF, Phillips in 1965 and Esso in 1965.

    Shell, Mobil, Chevron, ELF, Agip and Texaco were major players in the oil sector. Others, such as Ashland, Deminex, Pan Ocean, British Gas, Sun Oil, Conoco, Statoil, BP and Chemical Oil Company (now Conoil) played minimal roles.

    In collaboration with Shell, the Federal Government set up the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) with a plant at Finima, Bonny Island to enable it to maximise its revenue from oil prospecting and to also reduce gas flaring. The country has earned several millions of dollars in revenue from the NLNG.

    In spite of these efforts to increase the extraction of both oil and gas from wells and fields located in the region and consequently shore up gross revenue earnings, the peoples of the Niger Delta have tales of deprivation and neglect to tell.

    A large proportion of the country’s poor lives in the Niger Delta where the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas has created sorry sites and sights of oil spills and distorted bio-diversity.

    The situation has often given rise to non-violent and violent protestations. These include the initial 12-Day Revolution in the Creeks in 1967, which was championed by the trio of Isaac Adaka Boro, Samuel Owonaru and Nothingham Dick, in a failed bid to secede from Nigeria.

    There were other protests and agitations by groups, such as the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), led by the late Ken Saro-Wiwa who was killed by the Gen. Sani Abacha Administration and activities of groups such as the Ogba Solidarity, the Urhobo Progressive Union, the Niger Delta Environmental Forum, the Chikoko Movement, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, the Ijaw National Congress, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force led by Mujahid Asari Dokubo.

    As a result of the recommendations of the Henry Willink Commission of Inquiry set up by the British colonial government on September 26, 1957 that the Niger Delta people were “poor, backward and neglected” and should be on the concurrent list as a “special area” needing special attention, the government established the Niger Delta Development Board (NDDB).

    The board was assigned the responsibility of managing the challenges and the socio-economic development of the new special areas of Yenagoa Province, Degema Province, Ogoni Division of Port Harcourt Province and the Western Ijaw Division of Delta Province.

    It existed for seven years between 1960 and 1967 until it was replaced by a Presidential Task Force Committee that was set up by the then President Shehu Shagari in 1980.

    Another major attempt to address the issues challenging the development of the Niger Delta was the constitution of the Oil Mineral-Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) in 1992 by the Gen. Ibrahim Babangida Administration.

    Other interventions came in forms of panels, until December 21, 2000 when the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was set up by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo to “offer a lasting solution to the socio-economic difficulties of the Niger Delta” and further facilitate the “rapid, even and sustainable development of the Niger Delta that is economically prosperous, socially stable, economically regenerative and politically peaceful.”

    So far, the interventionist agency has made some strides in the areas of infrastructure development and human capital development. But, at many points, its affairs have been dogged by internal feuds and opposing blocs of influence over control of its operation. Many of those who are statutorily meant to give it money to lessen the region’s burden are failing in their responsibility.

    My final take: The Niger Delta question remains unanswered and until it is answered, Oloibiri, Ogoni, Gelegele and other relics of oil exploration will remain a stain on our conscience as a nation. And as noted in Oloibiri the movie, the people and their leaders must ensure that they are no longer screwed. After all, it takes the absence of unity of purpose to be screwed.

  • Yakubu Gowon, Diete-Spiff, Emeka Anyaoku give kudos to Oloibiri

    Yakubu Gowon, Diete-Spiff, Emeka Anyaoku give kudos to Oloibiri

    Oloibiri, a movie produced in commemoration of 60 years of commercial oil exploration in Nigeria, was premiered before government officials, industry players and society’s bigwigs last Thursday at MUSON Centre, Lagos.

    Addressing guests at the event, former head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (Rtd) said that the place of Oloibiri community in the economic history of Nigeria cannot be simply wished away. Oloibiri, he said, occupies a significant position in our national development but only from the 70s.

    “However, it is a fact that it represents the very essence of our first economic lead that laid the foundation for subsequent progression as an oil producing country. And since 1956, the seed that was planted in Oloibiri has spread to other parts of the country.

    “Watching the movie, one cannot but feel the plight of Oloibiri and all other oil producing communities and the people in the land. I quite agree that the movie, Oloibiri mirrors a clear manifestation of the collective negligence and failure of leadership in successive governments of our country,” he said.

    The movie, he added, will help the nation look back at her past and awaken to people’s conscience to take into serious consideration the need for urgent steps to rectify the degradation of the Niger Delta by the oil companies as well as the militants.

    Also speaking at the premiere, former Military Governor and the chairman of the Bayelsa State Council of Traditional Rulers, Alfred Diete-Spiff, stated that the premiere is coming at no better time than when we are faced with real problems that might seem like minor oversights.

    “There are real omissions which I would like to use this opportunity to mention. Nigeria has 36 states. Every state, by the constitution should have at least 10 Local Governments. Bayelsa Stare has eight.

    “It’s been overlooked. It has just been treated as though it is not important. Oloibiri is now dry. How long would it take before the others get dry? That is the fear that has been agitating the minds of the youths in Niger Delta. Oloibiri can be made to come back to life in these days of creation of states,” he said.

    Chaired by the former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Emeka Anyaoku, the premiere was witnessed by casts of the movie, including Nollywood veterans Olu Jacobs, Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, Richard Mofe-Damijo.

  • Producers hold VIP screening for ‘Oloibiri’

    PRODUCERS of the anticipated movie, Oloibiri, last Sunday, brought guests and the media together for a VIP screening at Silverbird Galleria, Victoria Island.

    Welcoming guests to the premiere, which featured a viewing of snippets of the movie, its producer cum director, Rogers Ofime, said that the story of Oloibiri is one that needs to be told.

    Oloibiri is where oil was first found in 1956. And if you go there, the people still don’t have good water, they don’t have health care, they don’t have roads. So I said to myself, that community that contributed so much wealth to the nation still doesn’t have those things? We had to tell their story.

    “I think basically because we had cast and crew from about four countries, coordinating was a bit difficult. We had to shoot between Nigeria and Canada. We had a very wonderful experience. In fact, the community where we shot were part of our crew. We spent one year doing preproduction so they already knew our intentions. They knew we were not coming to exploit them,” Ofime said.

    Also speaking, lead character, Richard Mofe Damijo, said that Oloibiri is a movie which describes the true situation the people of that region have to face.

    “You have to understand that I’m from the Niger Delta. I understand the level of degradation that is there. I was in charge of culture and tourism what I did mostly was to grab most young people away into the arts as against going into the trenches,” he said.

    Among guests who attended the premiere were Mrs. Taiwo Ajai-Lycett (Ebiere in the movie), Mr. Olu Jacob (Temipre Dobra) and Mr. Mofe-Damijo (Gunpowder); Mr. Emeka Osai and his wife, Mr. Mahmood Ali-Balogun, Kingsley Omoefe, President, Directors Guild of Nigeria (DGN), Mr. Fred Amata, comedian, Mr. Ali Baba, Joke Silva, Mr. Segun Arinze, Mr. Steve Onu (Yaw) and many others.

  • ‘How to turn Oloibiri’s fortunes around’

    A movie producing company, Right Angle Productions, on Tuesday in Abuja, called on the Federal Government to design a ‘Marshal Plan’ for the reconstruction of Oloibiri community in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa.

    The organisation’s Executive Officer, Mrs Oge Neliaku, made the call when she led a delegation on a courtesy call on the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Bayo Onanuga.

    Oloibiri Oilfield was named after Oloibiri, a small, remote creek community, where oil was first discovered in commercial quantity in January 1956.

    The movie company recently went to the town for production partly featuring the plight of the township and its community.

    Neliaku said the Oloibiri community had been battling with acute shortage of clean water, lack of health and education facilities with bad road networks.

    She said that the people of the village are living in a very sorry situation.

    Neliaku, therefore, appealed to all stakeholders involved in oil exploration in Niger Delta to ensure holistic approach to addressing environmental pollution and infrastructure deficit in the region.

    She said that as part of its social corporate responsibility, the organisation would launch a movie in commemoration of 60 years of commercial oil exploration in Nigeria on Oct. 20, 2016, titled “Oloibiri’’.

    Neliaku said that the aim of the movie was to tell the story of Oloibiri community in order to draw the attention of all stakeholders to understand the hardship and bitterness people are going through in the area.

    “The reason for choosing the Oloibiri in our first series is because it was a community where oil was first discovered in 1956.

    “This community brought Nigeria to the limelight in the world due to oil explorations.

    “For us, it is a way of preserving history. If you notice, many of the young people do not like to read; the reading culture is going down, they prefer to watch movies.

    “We feel that we need to capture some issues in our nation and preserve them through movies for the youths that are coming to be able to have understanding,’’ Neliaku said.

    She said that there was no group that was genuinely fighting for the true cause of the Niger Delta people, saying “we don’t believe in violence but we believe in dialogue and negotiations.

    “The people of Oloibiri community are peace loving people: they don’t carry arms, and they are very shy, in fact some of them have never seen hospitals in their lives’’.

    Neliaku said she visited NAN to solicit the support of the agency in the area of publicity and ensure that the message contained in the movie reaches the target audience.

    Responding, Onanuga, represented by Malam Lawal Ado, Editor-in-Chief, NAN, commended the organisation for choosing to produce a movie that would promote the teaching of history and preserve national heritage.

    He said that the agency has the capacity to reach the nooks and crannies of the country which no other medium possessed, assuring the delegation that NAN will assist in publicising the movie and its mission.

  • Shell remembers Oloibiri in Centenary celebration

    Oloibiri came alive in an event organised in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, by the Shell Producing Development Company (SPDC). Who will forget Oloibiri in a hurry? It has always been said that the history of Nigeria will be incomplete without devoting copious chapters to Oloibiri.

    Though tucked away into the creeks of Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, the community is a symbol of the Nigerian economy. It is the community where crude oil was first discovered in commercial quantity in the country in 1956.

    Oloibiri Oilfield was discovered on Sunday 15, January 1956 by Shell Darcy. It became the first completed commercial crude oil well in Nigeria which exported crude in February 1958.

    Despite occupying a central place in the country’s nervous system, Oloibiri appears forgotten. Only a relic of dry and abandoned oil well reminds visitors and residents in the area that the community gave Nigeria her oil-producing status. In fact, the discovery of oil in Oloibiri ended 50 years of unsuccessful oil exploration in the country by various companies and launched Nigeria into the limelight of petro-state.

    But Shell has remembered Oloibiri in the Centenary celebration of Nigeria. For Shell, celebrating 100 years of the country’s existence will not be complete without undertaking people-oriented programme and projects for Oloibiri and its environs.

    The company in a special intervention for Oloibiri is focusing on providing affordable and quality health service delivery tagged, Oloibiri Field Health Intervention Project (O-HIP). Shell through the project will build four primary health centres and one general hospital.

    But the recent event was designed to start the project by selecting a logo to drive the initiative. The company decided to draft pupils in various secondary schools in Ogbia to participate in a competition designed to select a befitting logo. Shell is of the opinion that involving pupils will enhance artistic skills, promote intellectual development among students and further enhance community ownership of the project.

    So, pupils selected from 10 secondary schools, out of 152 entries received for the exercise, marched to Yenagoa to participate in the logo competition.

    The schools which took part in the competition are Oloibiri Grammar School; Federal Government Girls’ College, Imiringi; Government Secondary School,Ogbia Town; Community Secondary School,Emakalaka.

    Others are Community Secondary School,Oruma; Community Secondary School,Otuoke; Community Comprehensive Secondary School,Elebele; Community Secondary School,Otuokpoti; Anyama Ogbia Secondary School and Community Secondary School, Otakeme.

    The students were led to the venue of the competition by their art teachers and other representatives of their schools. Two students from each school displayed their works for the perusal of judges selected from the Ministry of Education. The students explained the symbols in their piece of art while the judges took time to scrutinize the works using the rules of simplicity, design, harmony, layout, pattern and presentation to give their verdicts.

    At the end, Micah Oboaviojake,a JSS2 student of Community Secondary School, Elebele, emerged the overall winner. Micah was very vocal in his presentation and demonstrated knowledge of his work which captured all the elements of the project in a simple form.

    Also, Chiamaka Ezeigwe an SS2 student of Federal Government Girls’ College, Imiringi, came second. The third position went to Ekeke Jenji, a student of Community Secondary School Oruma. Wilcox ThankGod of Community Secondary School Ogbia Town,came fourth and finally, the fifth position was given to Apreala Mildred,an SS2 students of Federal Government Girls’ College Imiringi.

    Each of the winners went home with an Ipad 2, android phones and other gift items. In fact, everybody who partook in the exercise received gift items and certificates of participation. The winners were described as youth ambassadors of the Oloibiri health project. They are expected to be at the forefront of telling the health project story as students and community members.

    In his remarks, the acting Regional Community Health Manager, SPDC, Dr. Akin Fajola, referred to the strudels as the ages of change. He thanked the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Ayibatonye Owei, for honouring the company, describing him as the brains behind the health project.

    Referring to the commissioner, he said: “He is a humble man who has the healthcare of Bayelsa at heart. We saw the passion he displayed in this project and in the health sector.”

    He said the health project was designed for three years adding that the company would involve more people and groups. He said that Shell its committed to the health care of its host communities.

    He said: “Oloibbiri is key to the centenary celebration and healthcare is central to any form of development. We want to do something different. It is going to be a healthcare pilot programme that others will copy. It is a project that will address the primary and secondary levels of healthcare and also look at the social determinant of health.”

    He reiterated that winners of the logo would be the youth ambassadors of the project. He asked the ambassadors to use their camera phones to take health-related pictures and upload them in a website dedicated to the project. He said the project would include establishing school health clubs, donating first aid boxes, books on HIV/AIDS, school bags and insecticide-treated nets to schools.

    On his part, Owei said the centenary project is an important milestone in Bayelsa and Nigeria. “Everybody knows the significance of Oloibiri. A movie is coming out on Oloibiri. Shell decided to champion the centenary project which focuses on healthcare”.

    He said the company should be commended for selecting students to participate in the project through the logo competition. He said the government through his kkinsugry has keyed into the health project.

    “The logo is significant because it is giving us an umbrella in which to operate. It is also significant because SPDC wants young students to compete. Education is very important in human development,” he said.

  • Oloibiri: Olu Jacob, RMD, Ajai-Lycett give militancy a human face

    IN a new action thriller that mirrors fear and exploitation of a people by their government and expertrates, a cast of veteran actors like Olu Jacob, Richard Mofe-Damijo and Taiwo Ajai-Lycett bring the verve of thematic film to bear.

    Titled Oloibiri, the film, which is revisiting the subject of militancy in Niger Delta Nigeria, explores the pitiable condition of a people whose natural resources constitutes an irony.

    Although the movie is centered on a government’s pacification of a long-abused people, it addresses this theme through three subject matters: the tragic journey of Oloibiri into developmental retrogression, the socio-cultural under-runs that birth militancy and the governmental intervention to compensate a land, which arguably has been raped of its resources.

    It will be recalled that the Easter weekend was abuzz with a teaser, an online campaign tagged #GuessTheHand, which was conceptualised by the team at Rightangle Productions Ltd to herald the movie. The campaign requested participants online and onsite Silverbird Galleria and Ozone Cinema in Lagos, as well as Silverbird and Ceddi Plaza in Abuja to guess the hand of a male Nigerian sticking out of an oil well.

    Interestingly, the campaign got noticeable attention as the clues led some participants to guess correctly – that the hand belongs to Richard Mofe Damijo, who was a supporting actor in the movie.

    The movie which also stars William R. Moses(CSI, Touched by an Angel), Ivie Okujaye(AMVCA winner) and Ifeanyi Williams, prides itself with a crew that includes, Rogers Ofime; Canadian-based producer/director (Mnet Tinsel, Africa Magic Original films) as the producer, Samantha Iwowo (Bristol, UK) as the scriptwriter and Curtis Graham(GreyHouse Films,USA) as the director. Producers say Oloibiri will première across Nigerian and international cinemas from May 2015.

    Interestingly, they are also planning to screen the movie at this year’s edition of Cannes Film Festival on the 19th, 21st and 22nd of May.