By Saminu Ibrahim
The Deputy chairman, House of Representatives committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Hon. Preye Oseke has described the disagreement between some factional head of host communities at the House of Representatives public hearing on Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) as demonstration of anger and frustration.
Specifically, the lawmaker noted that it was the manifestation of anger based on the long time of suffering since oil exploration started.
Oseke, while reacting to the fisticuffs at the public hearing by some group at the event said “we have a situation where people tend to throw up the various interventions that are already existing.
“Issues of 13 percent derivation, 2%, been paid to NDDC, you also have 1 percent going to local content. All the interventions that Nigeria undertake to cushion the effect of the suffering, to a great level is not the situation that is evident there”.
He explained that the host communities have been the victims but nobody seems to recognize the fact that they are suffering.
“It depends on how you look at it. I believe that what happened at the public hearing was the demonstration of anger and frustration as exhibited by the fight you experience there by some factional head of the group called Host Community representation.
Acccording to the lawmaker, the elites have hijacked interventions and are not getting to the targeted communities to assuage their suffering and cushion the impact of the environmental degredation, as a result of oil exploration, juxtaposing it with the people that come to do exploration living in splendour.
“It is more like the manifestation of the anger that the people are expressing based on the long time of suffering. Host communities over the years ever since oil exploration started, they have been the victims but nobody seems to recognize the fact that host communities are suffering.
“What you saw at that public hearing, may be you will say that it doesn’t portray well for the people, but I am saying that the people have suffered for so long, the anger is born out of the fact that the elites have hijacked the opportunities that are supposed to go to the communities.
“Every communities represented there are happy because for the first time govt is looking at getting funds directly to the host Community. That was why you saw them in their teaming numbers. They want money and development to get directly to the communities.
“If the government can find a way to channel already existing interventions to touch the host Community, good and fine the community will accept it. But that is left for the laws of this country to be changed. So that positive development can get to the communities”.
Commenting on the call for the scrap of NDDC by some stakeholders “IOC contribute 3 percent to the operational cost of the NDDC. The question is, has NDDC lived up to the expectation of developing host Community rather than doing their interventions in the capital cities?
“The governors have access to 13 percent derivation that is not going to the host communities. The NDDC’s interventions are used by the elites to develop some projects that are not touching the lives of the people. That is why the communities are saying that what is the essence of NDDC if it is not living up to expectations.
“The 3 percent is intended for the development of the communities that are feeling the negative impact of oil exploration. So the call for scrapping NDDC is one that shows of anger, seeing that no attention is given to their plight” Oseke concluded.
