Eric Eweke, Niger Delta Bureau Chief
Stakeholders from oil and gas host communities in Bayelsa State, including the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, have called for continuous engagement between the federal government and communities to ensure maximum security of pipelines infrastructures, and increased production output for the country.
The stakeholders stated this in yenagoa, the capital, at the bi-monthly stakeholders meeting with host communities organized by Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL), and urged the federal government to copy the PINL model of regular engagement with host communities.
The company’s General Manager, Community and Government Relations of PINL, Dr. Akpos Mezeh, in his address , informed stakeholders that the state has recorded two months of zero-infractions on the TNP, and attributed the achievement to host communities , other critical stakeholders and industry operators.
He reminded the stakeholders of their critical role in helping the federal government to achieve its 2027-2030 benchmark for oil and gas production.
According to him “NNPC Limited has set ambitious production targets of 2 million barrels per day by 2027 and 3 million barrels per day by 2030, alongside a target of 12 billion standard cubic feet of natural gas production per day by 2030.
He said, for these ambitions to become sustainable realities, the security and integrity of pipelines and other critical infrastructures are fundamental. This is where the role of host communities becomes particularly important.
He noted that, the communities through which these assets pass through are not passive observers. They are partners in protecting the infrastructures that supports our national economy. Every pipeline protected is an asset preserved. Every incident prevented is production protected. Every timely piece of intelligence shared can help prevent disruption”, he stressed.
Comrade Famous Daunemigha, former second National Deputy President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, told journalists that, since PINL started operations along the eastern corridor of the TNP, it has maintained regular meetings with host communities , which he said has contributed greatly to the successes they have recorded in securing the pipelines.
He noted that, host communities are critical stakeholders and as such could not be ignored in the oil and gas value chain.
“PINL has done well, they are relating with all the critical stakeholders for over a period now. We can see there is ownership of the process. We all own it. We are now like partners in progress.
“The Nigerian government has also seen that when the people that own the pipeline, own the resources are part of the process of securing it, it’s easier for them to achieve peace. You can put 1,000 soldiers on the pipeline, you will not achieve it. But when the people are carried along and happy with you, with the way PINL is doing, the people will be part of it, they will own it, leading to steady oil production, ” he said.
The former Ijaw youth council leader noted that, the state is recording zero-infractions on the pipelines because they have owned the process courtesy of PINL’s regular engagement with the host communities.
“There is no infraction. It means that the people that owned the resources are ready to protect it. This is a feedback to the federal government and look at the model being used by PINL, by engaging the host communities as the owners of the resources and their subsidiaries. They can use the model and apply to their own dealings with us as well. By so doing, Nigeria will have a steady revenue which will trickle down to all of us”, he added.
A community leader, HRH, David Oseni Oseni , Ogbodo XI, of Elebele Community, acknowledged the company’s role in safeguarding their environment.
He also warned the youths against tampering with oil and gas pipelines facilities in their areas because of the negative impacts on the communities and environment.
The monarch said, PINL’s engagement with host communities has become a game-changer in its surveillance activities.
“Oil spill is doing more damage to the environment. Our crops and aquacultures, and the negative impact is coming back to us, not the federal government, nor multinational oil companies, but to us.
“If we destroy the pipes today and the negative impact come to the environment, your family, your mother, your parents, everybody will suffer. So please, it’s a take home message.
Since PINL have decided to integrate the traditional rulers and the leaders of various communities, there is a relative peace, and we must learn how to sustain it and improve on it, ”
In his remarks, Hon. Living Meeting, lawmaker representing Ekeremor Constituency 2, in the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, said,
“What the PINL is doing is seemingly primarily benefitting the federal government, but of a truth, our communities tend to benefit more.
According to him, at a point, our oil infrastructures were suffering from sabotage, and the impact of the sabotage was always creating havoc to our communities.
“When the pipelines are tampered and oil leaks to the rivers, it becomes a problem for our local fishermen to survive. Our environment cannot thrive without its natural habitat. So, what the PINL has done has also benefited us by way of protecting the infrastructures so that the devastation that comes with the equipment failure and everything can be contained,” he said.
The lawmaker while commending the operational strategy of the company, called on stakeholders of the host communities to sustain their support for the company.
Also speaking, the Chairman, Bayelsa state Traditional Rulers Council, King Bubaraye Dakolo,Agada, 1V, urged oil company and gas operators to address the issues of environmental degradation associated with old pipelines, abandoned wellheads and gas flaring in the region.
