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Tag: SPDC

  • SPDC’s N100m equipment for RSUST

    Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has donated a complete and integrated set of marine hydrodynamic wave simulation equipment valued at over N100m to the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST).

    Performing the groundbreaking to house the equipment at the Nkpolu main campus of the university in Port Harcourt, the firm’s Sustainable Development and Community Relations General Manager, Nedo Osayande, said the donation was part of SPDC’s Corporate Social Responsibility to support teaching, research and learning in the Marine Engineering department.

    He said the equipment is, by design, a multi-experiment facility capable of carrying out various simulations as regards to different offshore operations which include Model Towing Experiments, Self-Propulsion Experiments, Open Water Propeller Experiments, Ship Stability Experiments, Offshore Facility Experiments and Wake Experiments.

    Nedo added that Shell’s donations would help create a synergy between the firm and beneficiaries.

    He said: “Our Shell Professors and other 40 professors and post-graduate students recruited annually on 12-month sabbatical attachment and research internship, are equipped to help resolve some of our Exploration and production challenges.

    “Our goal is always to focus on a single window of entry to optimize impacts and gains while widening our geographical spread across Nigerian universities. Ultimately, as already agreed, the aim is to transform the Department into a Centre of Excellence in Marine Engineering and Offshore Studies and make it a one-stop point in terms of developing industry-ready offshore technical personal in the West Africa region.”

    Nedo recalled that the company has eight endowed Shell Professorial chairs in eight universities adding that Shell Nigeria will continue to support capacity development in the university, particularly through the Centre of Excellency concept that they have solicit for cooperation and support of all.

     

  • Community blames Shell for vandalism

    The Ijaw Chapter of the Delta State Host Communities of Nigeria (HOSTCOM) has accused employees of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of vandalising pipelines.

    A statement by its chairman, Kingsley Ikiere, and Secretary Ozugbo Godwin alleged that SPDC workers were involved in vandalising pipelines to create jobs for their friends and cronies.

    The statement reads: “Shell has started its blackmail of some host communities to deprive them of their entitlements and benefits.

    It said: “Odimodi, Isiyayeigbene, Ogulagha, Okuntu and other host communities have kept their part by providing a peaceful working environment for Shell to operate its facilities.

    “In 2009 and 2013, suspected vandals and pirates handed over to security agencies by Isiyayeigbene and Odimodi communities were released without any punishment because they are working with Shell insiders.

    “We call on Shell to stop the incessant and cheap blackmail being perpetrated to deprive Odimodi, Isiyayegbene, Ogulagha and Okuntun communities of their entitlements.

    “If we are not allowed to partake, then it will be clear that SPDC is aware and supports the dubious activities of its workers at the Forcados terminal.”

  • ‘Talks between Shell, oil communities not deadlocked’

    Talks over compensation between Shell Petroleum Development Corporation (SPDC) and Bodo communities in Gokana Local Government of Rivers State, are yet to achieve the desired results, Chairman of Bodo Council, Sylvester Kogbara, has said.

    Bodo communities in Kogana, are among the five kingdoms in Ogoniland. The community and others in Ogoniland have a long history of environmental pollution, occasioned by exploration activities carried out by Shell and other International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in the Niger Delta region.

    Kogbar, said Bodo and the other communities in Ogoniland have not arrived at a particular compensation fee with Shell.

    He said the communities are still meeting on the issue, adding that they would come out with their own position soon.

    He said: “Neither have we arrived at an agreement over a particular compensation fees nor accepted the proposed $1billion for the cleaning of oil polluted communities in the region. We only agreed that Shell, and other relevant stakeholders should come and clean our land, and not clean up fees.”

    He said the negotiation between Bodo community and Shell has not collapsed as is being reported in some quarters, adding that all hands are on deck to successfully resolve the issue.

    He said: “It is a great shame that the negotiations have not led to a settlement. I had hoped that this week would have seen the end of the litigation and enable us to start the process of rebuilding the community. However, Shell has continued to treat the people of Bodo with the same contempt as they did from the start when they tried in 2009 to buy us off by offering the community the total of £4,000 to settle the claims.

    “We told them in 2009, and we tell them again now, the people of Bodo are a proud and fiercely determined community. Our habitat and income have been destroyed by Shell oil. The claim against Shell will not be resolved until they recognise this and pay us fully and fairly for what they have done.”

    In a related development, a senior partner of the legal firm that represented the Bodo community, Martyn Day, said a post-impact ecological assessment study carried out on the Bodo creek in September 2009 showed severe reduction in the abundance of marine life, with shell fish no longer present and fish numbers dramatically reduced.

    The United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland 2011, had backed up these findings following a survey of the pipelines and visits to all oil spill sites, including the Bodo creek, which showed they had hydrocarbon contamination in water, with some sites to about 1,000 times higher than permitted under Nigerian and international laws.

    Efforts to get Shell’s spokesman, Precious Okolobo, to speak on the issue were unsuccessful as calls made to him were not picked.

  • ‘Multinationals acting against Local Content Law’

    ‘Multinationals acting against Local Content Law’

    THE Niger Delta Indigenous Movement for Radical Change (NDIMRC), said it would  resist attempts by Royal Dutch oil giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and other multinational oil companies to frustrate the Nigerian Local Content Law.

    It implored the Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke to call the oil companies to order.

    In a statementby by its President, Nelly Emma, Secretary, John Sailor and Public Relations Officer, Stanley Mukoro,  NDIMRC claimed that SHELL is still undermining the Nigerian Local Content Law.

    The group said: “We have been drawing the attention of the whole world to the unholy activities of SHELL in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, but the situation remained the same as the company refused to repent.

    “Our indigenous contractors who obtained huge loans from various banks over the years and invested heavily on capacity building, are not getting a better deal from the multinational oil companies and SHELL is a major culprit, hence we are urging the Honourable Minister of Petroleum to call the company to order so as to end the frustration of our local contractors in the hands of SHELL, ExxonMobil, Total, Chevron and Agip,” it stated.

    According to the group, SHELL has been frustrating indigenous contractors by denying them contracts, saying that “We are not going to allow SHELL to get away with this. We want an end to this injustice now.”

    NDIMRC also said that “Our local contractors have shown serious commitment to the development of the oil-rich Niger Delta region; we believe that we have qualified and experienced indigenous contractors in the region, but the management of SHELL in The Hague is not allowing the indigenous contractors to execute projects meant to change the fortunes of the poverty-stricken people of the region.”

    Honourable Petroleum Minister, the group added, “We will not take kindly to a situation where our local contractors that are heavily indebted to banks are allowed to fold up as a result of the conspiracy by SHELL, EXXONMOBIL, TOTAL, CHEVRON and AGIP against them. We want the Honourable Minister to act fast and help our local contractors and by extension the people of the region.”

    The group demanded an investigation into their claims against SAIPEM, “That is always picking the juicy contracts in the region at the detriment of our local contractors. We have accused SAIPEM severally of doing things to frustrate our indigenous contractors, especially whenever it failed to win the bid for projects in the region. We have also exposed SAIPEM to the whole world of always being awarded projects not approved by the Board of the Petroleum Ministry. A searchlight should be beamed on the crime being committed against our local contractors by SAIPEM and SHELL.”

    These multinational oil companies, the group stated, were doing everything to kill the dreams of local contractors and pleaded with the Petroleum Minister to prevail on the management of SHELL in The Hague to change its attitude to local contractors and give them a fair deal as enough is enough.

    “And the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Ernest Nwapa must ensure that SHELL demonstrates strict compliance with the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act. We know that there is a gang-up against Engr. Nwapa in order for him not to succeed in his national assignment. But we want to urge him to put in the needed efforts so as to shame his conspirators,” the group said.

    NDIMRC said that, “Engr. Nwapa should as a matter of urgency invite SHELL to offer some explanations over the Trans Niger Pipeline Loopline Projects (TNPL) expected to give a life line to the people of Niger Delta region and other Nigerians.”

    “Honourable Petroleum Minister, Engr. Nwapa should be made to invite SHELL over the pre-bid and pre-award of the TNPL as our local contractors to be awarded these projects have met all the requirements. But the management of SHELL in The Hague is thinking otherwise.

    The group appealed to the Minister and NCDMB boss to join forces in ensuring that the indigenous contractors that have fully invested in the TNPL were allowed to execute the projects in order to bring succor to the people of Niger Delta region.

    “The gang-up by the multinational oil companies to frustrate the Nigerian Local Content Law must come to an end. The cruel plans of the multinational oil companies against our people are coming from their home offices and even when their Managing Directors in Nigeria are telling their home offices on the need to respect the Nigerian Local Content Law, they do not listen to them and being frustrated as a result of the kick back by SAIPEM and others to their home offices,” it added.

  • Ogoniland…All we are saying: give us new lease of life

    Ogoniland…All we are saying: give us new lease of life

    At a consultative meeting on August 8, the people of Ogoni spoke with one voice, demanding nothing but the full implementation of the UNEP Report, writes Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

    Ogoni is one of the ethnic groups in the Niger Delta. Rich in crude oil and gas. But Ogoni is, ironically, poor. Besides, its environment is degraded.

    Oil exploitation started in Ogoniland, which consists of four Rivers State’s Local Government Areas –Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme– in 1958. Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) is the major operator.

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in October 2006, initiated the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP’s) environmental assessment of Ogoniland, as a result of many years of pollution, neglect, marginalisation and environmental degradation. The initiative was well supported by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, while the 262-page main report was issued on August 4, 2011 and received in Abuja by President Goodluck Jonathan on August 12, 2011.

    MOSOP President Legborsi Saro Pyagbara said: “As a response to the continuing destruction of the Ogoni environment, unparalleled military repression and horrendous human rights abuses in Ogoniland, that attended the prosecution of the non-violent struggle of the Ogoni people, the United Nations responded by creating the position of the Special Rapporteur on Nigeria in 1997 and appointed Mr. Soli Sorabjee to the position. In his report to the 48th session of the then United Nations Commission on Human Rights in March 1998, the Special Rapporteur recommended that the Nigerian government should undertake an independent  environmental study of Ogoniland.

    This was the setting that led to the invitation extended to UNEP in October 2006, within the context of the Ogoni-Shell Reconciliation Process, to carry out the environmental assessment of Ogoniland.  The UNEP released its report on 4th August, 2011. As a response, the government set up HYPREP, which has failed in all ramifications to address the issue of remediation and restoration of the Ogoni environment.”

    On receiving the UNEP report, President Jonathan set up a Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC), headed by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.

    In Ogale-Eleme, Eleme LGA of Ogoniland in Rivers state, the UNEP report reveals that the water contains cancer-causing Benzene, which is 900 times the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) standards for water contamination, thereby requiring urgent attention.

    UNEP also states that the sustainable environmental restoration of Ogoniland will take up to 20 years to achieve and will need coordinated efforts on the part of government agencies at all levels, declaring that effective environmental restoration in Ogoniland cannot be achieved with the current institutional capacity and framework, while recommending that the Federal Government should establish an Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority.

    The UNEP report notes that full environmental resporation of Ogoniland will be a project, which will take 30 years to complete, after the ongoing pollution has been brought to an end, while recommending the creation of an Environmental Restoration Fund for Ogoniland, with initial capital of $1 billion, which it says should be used only for activities dealing specifically with the environmental restoration of Ogoniland, including capacity building, skills’ transfer and conflicts’ resolution, while insisting that the management of the fund should be the responsibility of the Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority.

    The Federal Government, rather than taking steps to implement the far-reaching recommendations contained in the UNEP report, decided on July 20, 2012 to establish HYPREP, which will cover all pollution sites in the Niger Delta and other parts of Nigeria, with an Ogoni, Mrs. Joy Nunieh-Okunnu, appointed as its National Coordinator, which Ogoni people immediately kicked against.

    A former Chairman of the MOSOP Provisional Council, Prof. Ben Naanen, of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), during the 20th Ogoni Day on January 4, 2013 at Bori, declared that SPDC would not be allowed to return to Ogoni for crude oil exploitation.

    According to Naanen, who is also the pioneer General Secretary of MOSOP, the Ogoni people would prefer another International Oil Company (IOC) with environment consciousness and good corporate social responsibility records to the SPDC and that the new oil company would be expected to be sensitive to the needs of the Ogoni people and would be able to honour agreements.

    The SPDC, on July 1, 2014 in Abuja, at the meeting of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Environment, accused the Federal Government of Nigeria of stalling the implementation of the UNEP report.

    Shell had earlier stated that the initial capital of $1 billion for Ogoniland’s environmental restoration was ready, but could not be released without legal framework and structures on the ground for judicious utilisation of the fund, which UNEP said should be used only for activities dealing specifically with the environmental restoration of Ogoniland.

    On August 4, at a seminar in Bori, to mark the three years of the release of the UNEP report, MOSOP accused President Jonathan of aiding environmental terrorism in Ogoniland, in view of his administration’s refusal to implement the recommendations contained in the UNEP report on the environmental assessment of Ogoniland, three years after its release.

    The umbrella organisation of Ogoni people noted that since August 4, 2011, when the UNEP report was released, nothing was done by the Federal Government to ensure the full implementation of the recommendations, while Ogoni people had been dying from pollution and environmental degradation, caused by the activities of Shell.

    Ogoni people also urged President Jonathan, who hails from Otuoke in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta region, to as a matter of urgency, declare a state of emergency on Ogoni environment.

    The President of MOSOP, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, expressed displeasure that the Federal Government recently raised billions of naira to fight terrorism and support the victims of terror, but unconcerned about the plight of the Ogoni people.

    The seminar, which was attended by many eminent Ogoni people and their friends, had as theme: “Ogoni, UNEP Report and the Search for Environmental Justice,” with Prof. Lucky Akaruese as guest speaker, while the UNEP report on the state of Ogoni environment was described as a death sentence, passed on the Ogoni people.

    MOSOP president hinted that the marginalised people had decided to be marking August 4 annually as Ogoni Environment Day, stressing that the peace-loving people would soon march on Abuja, to protest against the non-implementation of the recommendations contained in the UNEP report.

    Pyagbara said: “We have always come together at the community level, at the national level and at the global level to promote awareness and positive action on this (UNEP) report, which had raised concerns about one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our day. The ongoing environmental terrorism being committed against the Ogoni people by a government with a slumbering conscience, a government which has demonstrated in all sense that it cares little about our survival as a people. A government that has vowed to promote a set of negative actions for the continued destruction of our environmental resources to deprive us of its environmental services and use.

    “Today, Ogoni is facing multi-dimensional environmental issues that require integrated and collective action, yet the Federal Government has no plan to deal with the environmental crisis in Ogoniland. Today, while they gather in Abuja to raise funds in the name of national security, the environmental insecurity in Ogoniland and other parts of the Niger Delta, arising from ongoing environmental terrorism merits no intervention for the restoration of the degraded ecosystems and provision of support for the victims.

    “Today, no single recommendation in the UNEP report has been implemented by the Federal Government of Nigeria, as required by the study. The attempts so far have been a diversion from the recommendations. Indeed, its signature HYPREP (Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project) has failed woefully, just as we predicted from the beginning.

    “Today, Shell continues to deceive the world with its so-called clean up of Right of Way, yet the assessment of the so-called clean-up remains its trademark whitewash.  In saner environments, the Ogoni environmental crisis would have forced the government to declare a state of emergency on the Ogoni environment, but here, our lives do not count. These double standard must stop. This discrimination must stop. We will wear them down by our capacity to suffer this injustice. Sooner than later, we are going to march down on Abuja to demonstrate our frustrations with the government of Nigeria. We will not give up.”

    The MOSOP president also described August 4, 2011 as the culmination of the struggles of Ogoni forebears, which he said began in 1990 in the Ogoni villages to the hallowed halls of the United Nations in 1998, when the UN Special Rapporteur called for the environmental study of Ogoniland and continued to the 2000s, especially in 2006, when the administration of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo invited the UNEP team to carry out the study of the Ogoni environment, to August 4, 2011, when UNEP finally released its report.

    Pyagbara said: “This day (August 4) therefore demonstrates the resilience, tenacity, strength and commitment of the Ogoni people to challenge the denigrators of their land and restore its pristine environment.

    “On the negative side, this day clearly demonstrates the failure of the Nigerian government to protect its own citizens from the abuse of corporate power and corporate greed and Shell’s environmental racism in Ogoniland and the Niger Delta as a whole.

    “We want to seize this opportunity to inform the Jonathan–led administration that it is not yet late to take action on the Ogoni matter. We wish to inform him that it is not too late to change his response to the Ogoni environmental crisis.  We therefore call on his administration to declare a state of emergency on the Ogoni environment and design a multi-stakeholder plan of intervention for the clean-up and restoration of Ogoni environment.”

    The MOSOP president also admonished everyone to always think about the Ogoni people and to take inspiration from efforts to claim back their environment and work for a sustainable future, thereby raising their voices for the marginalised people.

    He invited people of goodwill all over the world to continue to contribute to the campaign for the restoration of the Ogoni environment, while urging them to join the movement wherever they may be in the world and raise their voices to encourage action, asking them to take action today to stop environmental terrorism in Ogoniland.

    Pyagbara assured that Ogoni people would continue to demand their rights peacefully and non-violently, while expressing optimism that they would win.

    On August 8, at a consultative meeting on the UNEP report implementation at the Ogoni Peace and Freedom Centre, Bori, Jonathan berated the Federal Government’s Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP), saying it is time for decisive action on the UNEP report.

    Ogoni people, at the well-attended consultative meeting,  requested the full implementation of the recommendations contained in the UNEP report and the establishment of the Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority, recommended by UNEP, to ensure the implementation of the report.

    Jonathan, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Danladi Kifasi, lauded Ogoni people for embracing peace and remaining united.

    MOSOP President, however, described the consultative meeting as belated and declared that if the initiative was political, the Federal Government had failed.

    The consultative meeting was also attended by the representative of the Rivers Southeast Senatorial District, Magnus Ngei Abe; a former Chairman of the MOSOP Provisional Council, Prof. Ben Naanen of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT); Rivers Commissioner for Works, Chief Victor Giadom; the Managing Director of Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited, Eleme, Fred Enjugu; the representative of Gokana constituency in the Rivers House of Assembly, Dr. Innocent Barikor; royal fathers and many eminent personalities.

    Jonathan said at the consultative meeting: “The Federal Government, concerned about the plight of the Ogoni people, commissioned the United Nations to carry out and environmental assessment of Ogoniland. The UN released its report on 4th August, 2011. The assignment was borne out of the Federal Government’s desire to mitigate the suffering of the Ogoni people, occasioned by hydrocarbon pollution.

    “After a thorough consideration of the recommendations of the UNEP report, the Presidential Implementation Committee’s (PIC’s) report, the Petroleum Industry’s Action Plan, based on the provisions of the Petroleum Act CAP 350 LFN 2004, the HYPREP establishment was approved on July 20, 2012.

    “While HYPREP has implemented some of the transitional phase objectives, as recommended in the report (UNEP), government recognises and it is very mindful that the programme (HYPREP) has not achieved its full objectives, as envisioned by this administration.

    “Government is mindful that funds meant for remediation and restoration activities in Ogoniland are used for that purpose. However, HYPREP will consider other Niger Delta areas affected by hydrocarbon pollution, by causing the polluters to clean the areas with their own funds. The time for decisive action is now and we call on all relevant parties to join us to tackle and begin to address the challenges ahead.”

    The Nigerian President also expressed optimism that very soon, the Federal Government would be working with the United Nations, the Ogoni communities and relevant Nigerian agencies to pool the collective knowledge and construct a road map to deliver a comprehensive remediation programme, with a focus on the immediate delivery and restitution, while assuring that his administration would not play politics with the lives of the Ogoni people, but deeply concerned about their plight, their environment and the UNEP report.

    While also speaking at the consultative meeting, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), described the full implementation of the recommendations contained in the UNEP report as a matter of life and death, which could not be toyed with.

    The senator, who is a former Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), maintained that the UNEP report must be implemented the way it is, as promised by the late ex-President Umaru Yar’Adua.

    The UNIPORT Professor (Ben Naanen), said a steering committee on the full implementation of the UNEP report, comprising representatives of the Federal Government and Ogoni people, should immediately be put in place and the Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority established.

    A renowned environmentalist, Celestine AkpoBari, accused President Jonathan and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources of playing politics with Ogoni matters and the peace-loving people, who he said had continued to die on a daily basis, in view of pollution of their environment.

    The Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Rivers state chapter, Oji Ngofa, who is also the Chairman of Eleme LGA of the state, declared that HYPREP failed, because the Federal Government did not take Ogoni people seriously, stating that a time-line to implement the UNEP report must be given by the Federal Government.

    Ex-Rivers Commissioner for Environment, Prof. Roseline Konya, of the UNIPORT, expressed shock that the UNEP team was kicked out of the implementation of the recommendations contained in the far-reaching report, while insisting that UNEP must be involved.

    A former Vice-President of MOSOP, Rev. Abraham Olungwe, declared that if the Federal Government refused to fully implement the UNEP report and treat Ogoni people well, there would be no peace in the four LGAs of Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme, while expressing shock that the consultative meeting took place some months to the 2015 elections, with President Jonathan seeking re-election.

    The President of KAGOTE, the elite Ogoni group, Dr. Peter Medee of UNIPORT, declared that Ogoni people would never embrace HYPREP, but would prefer the full implementation of the UNEP report.

    In a communiqué issued at the end of the consultative meeting, which had in attendance, over five thousand Ogoni people, comprising all sectors of the Ogoni community, including the traditional rulers, farmers, the academia, politicians and the youths, it was resolved that a multi-stakeholder mechanism/steering committee, comprising representatives drawn from the Federal Government, UNEP, Shell and Ogoni people be established.

    The committee, according to the communiqué, would look into the UNEP report and develop a focused engagement and implementation plan, with clearly defined steps.

    The five-point communiqué reads: “That the Federal Government should set up the Ogoni Environmental Restoration Authority, in line with the recommendations of the UNEP Report. More so, with the glaring failure of the HYPREP.

    “That the Ogoni people be included in all stakeholder processes relating to the implementation of the UNEP report, including the proposed multi-stakeholder workshop on the report, which is being planned by the Federal Government.

    “That the Federal Government should commence series of confidence-building measures that will assure the Ogoni people that the Federal Government is sincere and committed to the implementation of the UNEP report and its recommendations.”

    It was also stated in the communiqué that Ogoni people would want the commencement of the implementation of the resolutions of the consultative meeting, within one month.

    Ogoni people are known for non-violent struggle, but they sent SPDC packing from their land since 1993 and they should not be pushed to the wall, especially on the issue of the full implementation of the recommendations contained in the UNEP report, over three years after its release. A stitch in time saves nine.

  • Three years after UNEP Report, Ogoniland mourns inaction

    Three years after UNEP Report, Ogoniland mourns inaction

    Three years after the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released a scientific report detailing decades of devastating oil spill and its subsequent hardship on Ogoni land, environmental monitoring groups have released a report indicating that Shell and the Federal Government have done nothing to clean up Ogoni land, Seun Akioye reports

    The 17-page report gave a damning verdict: No Progress. It was an evaluation of the implementation of a report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on environmental assessment of Ogoniland.

    Three years after the report was released and after the Federal Government and multinational oil company, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) promised to implement the recommendations, the environmental justice groups had just one conclusion for the stakeholders: Failed.

    The groups: Environmental Rights Action (ERA), the Center for the Environment, Human Rights and Development, Friends of the Earth Europe, Platform and Amnesty International were unequivocal in their condemnation of government’s insensitivity to the plight of the Ogoni people.

    Ogoni: The curse from oil

    The Ogoni live on approximately 400 square miles or 1,000 square kilometers of land east and southeast of Port Harcourt in Rivers State.  According to the 2006 census, the Ogoni population is approximately 832,000 people.

    Oil was first discovered in Ogoni land at Bomu in 1958. According to Shell, 634 million barrels of oil valued at US$5.2 billion were taken from Ogoniland from 1958 – 1993 when production was halted following series of protests against the company.

    Although oil has not been produced in Ogoniland since 1993, there are regular oil spills from aging and poorly maintained oil pipelines. Perhaps, nowhere is this more pronounced than Bodo community in Ogoni land.

    In 2008, two massive oil spills from the Trans-Niger pipeline devastated the Bodo coastline destroying every living thing in the river. While the community was still dealing with the spill another from the Trans-Niger pipeline at Koloma-Zommadom road rocked the community, this time shaking the community to its very foundation.

    Bodo is on its kneels. The mangrove, the river and life as it used to be have been turned upside down. A mainly fishing community, the fishing industry has completely collapsed. After the 2009 oil spill, the Bodo people began to cut whatever tree was left of their forest, park them in canoes and sail to other communities to sell. The once proud people were humbled.

    Bodo’s devastation is only a part of the entire catastrophe that befell the Ogoni land, courtesy of decades of oil spill in the region. In a detailed scientific evaluation, the UNEP enumerated how the Ogoni landscaped has been raped by oil spill.

    But the people of Bodo are not taking the rape lying low. After the 2009 oil spill the community  instituted what has been termed the largest environmental trial in history in a United Kingdom court. The community asked for a payment of three hundred million Pounds Sterling as compensation for the twin oil spill, a claim Shell was quick to dismiss as “exaggerated.”

    However, Shell accepted responsibility for the oil spill and offered to pay the sum of $51million as compensation to the community. The Managing Director of Shell, Mutiu Sunmonu said: We want to compensate fairly and quickly those who have been genuinely affected and to clean up all areas where oil has been spilled from our facilities, including the many parts of Bodo which have been severely impacted by oil theft, illegal refining and sabotage activities.  We hope the community will now direct their UK legal representatives to stop wasting even more time pursuing enormously exaggerated claims and consider sensible and fair compensation offers.”

    One report, global outrage

    The final report from the field monitors who for 14 months laboured to evaluate the environmental devastation visited on Ogoniland was not sanguine about its findings. No part of Ogoni land was spared as the devastation took hold on air, land and the sea. The economic impact was devastating, according to reports, almost everyone in Ogoni live below $2 per day. Fishing activities which is the primary occupation in the region has been reduced to the barest and live in Ogoni is hard.

    “It is clear from UNEP’s field observations and scientific investigations that oil contamination in Ogoniland is widespread and severely impacting many components of the environment. The Ogoni people live with this pollution every minute of every day, 365 days a year. Since average life expectancy in Nigeria is less than 50 years, it is a fair assumption that most members of the current Ogoniland community have lived with chronic oil pollution throughout their lives,” the report says.

    The report had only knocks for Shell and the Federal Government for decades of pollution in Ogoniland. It said the cleanup would take 30 years and a bill of $1billion. UNEP Executive Director, said Nigerians had “paid a high price” for the economic growth brought by the oil industry.”

    The report found heavy contamination of land and underground water courses, sometimes more than 40 years after oil was spilled; community drinking water with dangerous concentrations of benzene and other pollutants; soil contamination more than five metres deep in many areas studied.

    The report also indicated that most of the spill sites oil firms claimed to have cleaned still highly contaminated and found evidence of oil firms dumping contaminated soil in unlined pits. In many places water coated with hydrocarbons more than 1,000 times the level allowed by Nigerian drinking water standards and indicted Shell for failing to meet minimum Nigerian or own standards.

    Environmental activists in Nigeria are gearing up for another round of battle after the government and oil company failed to implement any aspect of the report. Recently, during an activity marking the third year of the release of the report, Ogoni indigenes demanded a $100billion restoration and compensation fund for Niger Delta.

    Understandably, there was frustration written all over the people of Ogoni and other environmental activists who had gathered in solidarity with the people. Prominent among this group is the Executive Director, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN),Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo.

    Ojo has been a lifelong environmental activist and for many years a fierce opponent to the activities of the oil companies. Uyi berated the Federal government and the oil company for this failure and lack of transparency in dealing with the Ogoni devastation.

    “Shell would not obey the laws of Nigeria and would not accede to the implementation of the report recommendations. We reiterate our demands, among others, that the Ogonis in collaboration with other Niger Delta communities and civil society approach the United Nations to appoint a Niger Delta Reconciliation and Restoration Commission with autonomy and authority to do so.”

    Ojo then demanded a $100billion cleanup fund for the region:”We are not only demanding $1bn for the Ogoni environment restoration but the sum of $100bn restoration fund for the Niger Delta to address clean-up, restoration and compensation.”

     How the government failed

    The Federal Government was the first to respond to the findings of the United Nations investigative team after a detailed report was forwarded to the presidency. While the government did not respond directly to any of the recommendations, it set up processes designed to take the report forward.

    Following the presentation of the report, the government set up a committee chaired by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Allison Madueke. The primary objective of the committee was to review the UNEP report and make recommendations on the remedial and long-term solution.

    However, the content of the  report of the committee which was submitted to the President in May 2012 has never been published and its result unknown.

    One year after UNEP report and following prompting from civil society organisation, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, established the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) with a

    pledge to fully implement the UNEP report.  The mandate of the body include: To investigate and evaluate all hydrocarbon polluted communities and sites in Nigeria and make recommendations

    to the Federal Government;  to restore all communities and sites established as impacted by hydrocarbon pollution in Nigeria, and any/all matters that the Federal Government may assign to it, finally to implement the actionable recommendations in the UNEP Assessment Report on Ogoniland.

    While HYPREP has been involved in the implementation of some emergency measures, it has been largely criticized for not doing anything meaningful to address the major issues raised in the UNEP report. By the end of July 2014, according to Amnesty Internation, no local organisation working in Ogoni is aware of any meaningful work done by HYPREP.

    Since its publication, Shell has taken the report and the recommendations with a pinch of salt. Over the three year period, it had disputed many of the claims and has done its best to distance itself from the report. The company’s overall response is to note that “the UNEP report was commissioned by and delivered to the Federal Government of Nigeria. Many of the most important UNEP recommendations – such as the creation of an Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority and an Environmental Restoration Fund for Ogoniland – are directed at the government and require the government to take the

    lead to co-ordinate the activities of the many stakeholders involved. Other recommendations concern the Ogoniland community, the oil industry operators and SDPC.”

    In 2011, Shell announced that it has hired a company called the Bureau Veritas to verify the oil spill investigation system. The report of Veritas despite repeated request from Amnesty International has not been made public.

    Shell has also debunked the claim that its operations resulted in oil spill instead blaming oil theft and the issues of sabotage as the main cause of oil pollution in Ogoni. But the report from Amnesty International and its partners debunked the claims.

    “While Shell is quick to point to sabotage as a problem, the company has failed to take appropriate action to prevent it. For example, as noted above, when Shell left Ogoniland it did not properly decommission its facilities, leaving them vulnerable to illegal tapping and sabotage – and leaving communities exposed to the associated risks. This is completely contrary to internationaloil industry standards as well as international standards on business and human rights, both of which require that Shell exercise adequate due diligence in relation to prevention of sabotage and the associated human rights and environmental risks.”

    The report also faulted Shell’s position on UNEP finding saying Shell has the responsibility to clean up the spill even if it is from a third party. “One of the most serious findings of the UNEP repor t is in relation to Shell’s failure to clean up properly. Under Nigerian law the operating company is responsible for cleaning up oil spills from its facilities, even if the spill is the result of third-party action. Therefore, the human and environmental impacts of Shell’s failure to properly clean up pollution cannot be defended by reference to illegal activity that, allegedly, caused the oil spills,” it says.

    But defending the oil company’s position, the Corporate Media Relations Manager of Shell, Mr. Precious Okolobo, in a statement said that neither SPDC nor any other stakeholder is in a position to implement the entirety of UNEP’s recommendations unilaterally.

    Okolobo said three years on from the UNEP report’s publication, the SPDC, operator of a joint venture between the NNPC, SPDC, Total and Nigerian Agip Oil Company, had made progress in addressing all the recommendations directed, to it in that publication.

    Okolobo: “The majority of UNEP’s recommendations require multi-stakeholder efforts coordinated by the federal government. However, it is important to emphasise that neither SPDC nor any other stakeholder is in a position to implement the entirety of UNEP’s recommendations unilaterally.”

    He further stated that SPDC had an activity programme in place, focused on delivering improvements in the environmental and community health situation on the ground.

    “We continue to work with the government, communities and a number of constructive Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and civil society groups in the Niger Delta to accelerate progress,” he added.

    But, as legal battle continues in Nigerian and foreign courts over fight for justice in the Niger Delta, the over 800,000 inhabitants of Ogoni land would wake up  every day to an environment, polluted by oil giants.

  • Rivers cottage hospital… From five to 367 babies

    Rivers cottage hospital… From five to 367 babies

    In four years, the story  of a cottage hospital at Obio community in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State has changed, for good. The community thanks the Rivers State government and Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) for the good turn. Residents and beneficiaries could not hide their ecitement during the fourth  anniversary celebration of the hospital.

    It all began when  in  2011, Obio Primary Health Centre was renamed Obio Cottage Hospital. To date about 45,000 people have benefited from the hospital. Yet, the Health Insurance premium is pegged at N7, 200  per person per year. No wonder the scheme is highly sought.

    Mrs. Ngozi Onyeala, one of the beneficiaries, said she would forever thank SPDC and Rivers State government.

    She said: “My mouth cannot express what this hospital has done to me and my family. Those who establish it have done greatly on the side of the Lord. When I newly registered with this hospital, I had no money to register for antenatal or to take some necessary medications for me and my unborn baby. But coming down here, my problem was over; I did not pay kobo when I delivered my baby.”

    Another beneficiary, Mrs. Rose Nwoka, said: “One thing about Obio Cottage Hospital is that after the initial registration, the hospital will not demand for anything even in a critical condition that required surgery,  which for other hospital could have been N300, 000 and above but the hospital will take care of the situation without asking for  kobo. So, the women of Obio are saying thank you.”

    The Medical officer in-Change of Obio Cottage Hospital, Dr. Umejiego Chigozie, said the major challenge is how to attend to the clients with limited staff.

    He said: “We used to have 20 patients but today the number has tremendously increased. But, we are also working hard to get more doctors. Before now we have only two doctors but today we have eleven doctors; with the help of the community insurance scheme, we are going to have more doctors.”

    On the area of infant mortality, Dr Chigozie said: “In every centre like this, you must have child mortality, but we have done a lot to reduce child mortality rate. Before now, we used to have five deliveries in a month but now we do have 367 deliveries in a month. This has showed how we have grown since 2010.”

    SPDC Acting Regional Community Health Manager, Dr.  Edet –Edet, while addressing reporters, said the need for accessible healthcare informed the idea to partner with Rivers State government for the benefit of the people.

    He said: “The SPDC with JV partners renovated the facility in 2006/2007 and started working with the I.A GMOU cluster Community Development Board (DCB) in designing and implementing a sustainable health care model that could impact health care in their community. The Obio Community Health Insurance scheme was thus born as a pro-poor programme after Shell conducted an actuarial study which placed the community readiness to pay for Health services at 85 per cent. SPDC in partnership with the Rivers State government and the IA cluster of communities introduced the community Health Insurance Scheme with the goal to develop and implement a scheme which will provide community members with access to efficient and effective healthcare services accessible through sustainably operated healthcare facilities within the communities where they reside.

    “We have also moved to Rumuokwurusi,   within the state there are request from other state pleading to have the programme in their state. We have a big health insurance scheme. Recently we have a roundtable discussion with the Commissioner of Bayalsa State who has seen what we are doing decided to have it in their state. The scheme is now financially independent from SPDC and underpinned by a commercial viable business model which ensures the scheme’s long term sustainability.”

    The highpoint of the occasion include a drama presentation, a lecture, dancing and cutting of the 4th anniversary celebration.

  • CEOs pledge action on sustainable devt

    CEOs pledge action on sustainable devt

    About 31 chief executive officers of different leaders of major  businesses have agreed on the establishment of a common platform that will enable them to jointly promote sustainable development initiatives and programmes across the country.

    The chief executives who attended a roundtable in Lagos decided to set up a council for sustainable development, which will be affiliated to the Geneva-based World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). The proposed council will work to arouse the interest of the Nigerian business community towards taking collective action for a sustainable future for society.

    The Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mutiu Sunmonu, hosted the roundtable to introduce the idea to the CEOs.

    He said: “There is no doubt that Nigerian companies support sustainability programmes in their respective areas of influence quite adequately, however, no platform currently exists for businesses across all industries to share experiences, best practices, and advocate for business positions that transform lives and communities from what they are today to the greatness they can be, tomorrow. If there is one area we do not need to compete as businesses, it is in the goodness of our heart to our society and environment.”

    The Managing Director and CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria, Mrs. Bola Adesola, described the idea as innovative and desirable. “It is important that the organised private sector shows interest in the challenging operating business environment,” while the Chairman, Promasidor Nigeria Limited, Chief Keith Richards, said: “We look forward to contributing and devoting our time and energy in actualising the goals of this intervention, which will impact Nigerians positively and sustain business development.”

    The Managing Director, Julius Berger Nigeria, Wolfgang Goetsch, said: “I am looking forward to a business council that works, through proper management and commitment by members.”

    A lecturer at the Lagos Business School, Sir Chris Ogbechie, also made a presentation in which he outlined the justification and modalities for setting up the council.

    The roundtable agreed that there would be a governing council to oversee the organisation, comprising CEOs of member companies and reputable international business figures, which will be committed to driving a positive sustainable future for society and the rapid development of the economy.

    Rabab Fayad, Regional Director of the WBCSD, said: “We are committed to supporting this Nigerian vision, as it is our goal to establish vibrant networks on sustainable development across the globe.”

    Companies in attendance include Accenture, Coca-Cola, Empretec Nigeria Foundation, Etisalat, First Bank, Flourmills of Nigeria, Heirs Holdings, Intel Corporation, Interswitch, Standard Chartered Bank, Unilever, the First Bank CSR Centre, Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, MTN Nigeria, Guinness, Oando Gas and Power, UBA Group, Seplat Petroleum, Chevron, Stanbic IBTC, Afren Nigeria, Access Bank, Nigerian Breweries and BusinessDay newspapers.

  • Shell seeks transparent sale of four oil blocks

    Shell seeks transparent sale of four oil blocks

    Adherence to global Corporate Governance Principles is expected to play a key role in the selection of firms bidding for the four oil blocks put up for sale by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).

    Besides, global institutions, respected for their thorough approach to unearthing sleaze and hard stance on same , are poised to ensure that only persons with transparent business records with no link whatsoever to individuals and bodies believed to have benefitted from proceeds of corruption, are allotted the blocks.

    The four oil wells in which Shell has a 45 per cent stake are OML-18, OML- 29, OML-25 and OML-24. Successful bidders for the four blocks may pay close to $5 billion for the stakes held by Shell in conjunction with two other international oil companies.

    The Nation gathered that global agencies averse to unscrupulous and sharp business practices are working in league with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and foreign governments to probe into sources of funds of the bidding firms.

    A top official of Shell admitted that the oil giant is under pressure to ensure that “ politically exposed persons or those who have corruptly enriched themselves” are not handed the blocks .

    The bidders for the blocks are: Midwestern/Mart/Notore, Sahara Consortium and Dangote/Dansa for OML-18 ; Vertex/ Seplat/Maurel&Prom/VP Global, Glencore/Neconde, Transcorp, Aiteo/Taleveras for OML-29; Lekoil, Crestar, GreenAcres/CCC/Signet Petroleum, NDPR/SAPETRO, and Essar for ML-25 .

    Others in the race are Sahara consortium, PanOcean/Newcross, Shoreline Aiteo/ Taleveras for OML-24.

    Amongst the bidders is the word’s 23rd richest man, business mogul Aliko Dangote, who is behind Dangote/Dansa.

    Midwestern/Notore has Jide Omokore and Wade Chewenko as backers. Tonye Cole, Tope Shonubi and Ade Odunsi are behind Sahara Consortium.

    Aiteo/Taleveras has Benedict Peters and Igho Sanomi as backers, Transcorp has Tony Elumelu. Greenacres is promoted by Funsho Kupolokun and Basil Omiyi. For SAPETRO is General Theophilus Danjuma. Lekoil has Lekan Akinyanmi and some other Nigerians as promoters.

    Global anti-graft bodies and their Nigerian affiliates, it was learnt, are in agreement that firms linked with individuals with tainted records and who are serving jail terms either in or out of the country, or granted reprieve following their conviction should be denied access to any of the blocks.

    It was equally gathered that many of the bidding firms with hazy status are under serious scrutiny and would have their dossiers sent to Shell Nigeria, its parent company in the Netherlands , as well as the Nigerian and foreign governments.

    A Shell official who spoke in confidence because he is not allowed to talk to the media, said: “One area that cannot be overlooked is the sources of funds of interested bidders and the eventual owners of these assets.” The attention of the global community is on Nigeria, with the rapacious inclination of many of its officials to milk the treasury dry, using willing and conscienceless business men and women as fronts, he said.

    He drew attention to the revelations from the ongoing probe of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC’s) crude oil swap, saying: “You see the extent to which some can go in Nigeria to make illicit gains? As a major player in the global business field, Shell cannot afford to be indifferent to the global war on corruption and the drive to enthrone ethical conduct in public office.”

    He said former and serving public officers should never be allowed to corner the nation’s patrimony after corruptly enriching themselves, using proxies.

    The international agencies, including Shell are also considering the antecedents of the bidding firms. They argue that submission of high bids alone should not be enough to win an oil block, but that their track record in oil exploration and their technical knowhow should be equally evaluated, an NNPC official familiar with the process and the concerns of the international community.

    He cautioned against a repeat of the recently concluded sale of the unbundled firms in the power sector where competence and technical knowhow were sacrificed and the attendant worsening of the power situation in the country. Such, he cautioned, should not be allowed in the current sale of Shell’s stake in the four blocks.

    Already, the sale of the blocks is well behind schedule. Billed to be concluded within eight weeks, the process has entered the 12th week, a development that has heightened tension among the bidding firms and also fuelled suspicion.

  • Shell: we generated $44b for govt in four years

    Shell: we generated $44b for govt in four years

    Between 1999 and 2013, oil giant Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) generated $44 billion in revenue for the Federal Government, the firm’s report has said.

    The firm and its sister company, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), paid $4billion in taxes and royalties to the government last year. A breakdown shows SPDC paid $2.6 billion and SNEPCO, $1.4 billion.

    These are contained in the report published by Shell in complaince with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) guidelines, which mandate oil firms to publish payments to the government.

    In its 2013 Sustainability Report , Shell said the disclosures would help in entrenching transparency on how such revenues are disbursed.

    The company said: “Our operations generate revenue through taxes and royalties for governments around the world. These funds can help support a country’s economy and contribute to local development. We believe greater transparency in payments to governments, and how they are used, is important for building trust between businesses such as ours and the communities we work alongside.

    “We work openly with governments on matters of taxes and royalties. We are a founder and board member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). This initiative requires both governments and companies to disclose revenues received from oil and mineral activities.

    “In 2003, Shell was the first company to publish the royalties, taxes and other payments made to the government, with its permission and support. Shell started to voluntarily publish an annual revenue transparency report in 2012.

    “It provides an overview of the revenues we pay to host governments in certain key countries in respect of our activities, where such disclosure is not prohibited by the host government. We took this step to reinforce efforts to increase transparency on revenues to governments ahead of any mandatory requirements taking effect.”

    Shell said to help improve accountability, it supports a global reporting rule for the industry, in line with EITI goals to achieve greater transparency, adding that it is monitoring the implementation of United States’ and European Union’s (EU) regulations and actively engaging with others to find a workable and common global standard.

    “In 2013, Shell paid globally $20.3 billion in corporate taxes, and $4.1 billion in royalties. We collected $80.9 billion in excise duties and sales taxes on our fuel and other products on behalf of governments,” the report added.

    The report also noted other Shell’s contributions to the economy. They include SPDC and SNEPCo contracts awarded to Nigerian companies last year worth $1.5 billion, 4,000 direct employees working at SPDC and SNEPCo, thousands of indirect jobs created, adding that about 95 per cent of employees at SPDC and SNEPCo are Nigerians.

    It also said SPDC and SNEPCo’s contributions to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) last year was $180.6 million while $104.1 million was the contribution from SPDC and SNEPCo to community development projects.