The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has asked the National Assembly to set aside 10 per cent for the host communities in the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB.
Governor Wike said this when he hosted members of the House of Representatives Committee on PIB at Government House, Port Harcourt, capital city of the state.
The governor said that the 10 per cent should be attached to specific projects in order to stimulate development. Governor Wike stated that oil-bearing communities had suffered the loss of their livelihood, good drinking water and their socio-cultural life disrupted because of the insensitivity of the International Oil companies (IOCs).
Governor Wike said: “It is unfortunate that people produce oil but they live in poverty. I believe that this Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) committee will make recommendation of how certain per cent must be given to the host oil communities.
“There are issues of education and health. Don’t just say 10 per cent to the oil host communities. It must be tied to specific projects so that whoever is in charge will know it so that he or she does not have the prerogative to initiate, like during Christmas, to buy and give 20 thousand bags of rice and tag it as a project.
“Let it also not be that host community people will have this money, and you begin to see assassinations among themselves.
“I have found out that part of the problem we have in communities is that they allow these oil companies to divide them. They cause crisis among them; divide and rule. That is the pattern of IOCs, particularly Shell,” he alleged.
According to the governor, the mistakes found with the act establishing the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) should be avoided because it did not specify what projects the Commission should embark on in the Niger Delta.
“This same thing that has happened to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) should not happen to the issues of host communities in PIB.
“If in the NDDC act, they were able to tie the money that will be coming to specific projects, it would have developed the people of Niger Delta. And you won’t be having people fainting at the National Assembly.
“NDDC will leave their job and begin to buy vehicles for police, army, and asphalting barracks. Is it what NDDC is meant to do? That is where we have lost it,” he said.
Speaking further, the governor emphasised the need for the bill when passed, to be signed and not go the way of the Electoral bill that the president refused to assent it.
He continued: “I hope this bill will also not be like the Electoral Act, after you pass it, they’ll keep it for months. Later they’ll say they can’t assent to it. Then the Presidency will throw it back to you and you will keep quiet. That will then show that what you’re doing is only for the interest of your party and not the interest of Nigeria.
“Otherwise, you’ll insist that it is signed. I hope you’ll have the courage to do what is right and this is the time that Nigerians require you to be strong, firm and do what will move this country forward,” he concluded.
In his speech during the visit, the Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly Committee who led the delegation, Mr. Victor Nwokolo Onyemaechi, said the committee was in Rivers State to have a town hall meetings with stakeholders to resolve issues of what should be allocated to host communities in the PIB.
According to Nwokolo, “A lot of people have been misinformed about the issue of host communities. Some have said that host communities are related to the hostility of the producing communities. But what they have seen today and in the last four days, have shown to be negative. It has proved negative in the sense that we walked around over 800 meters about three days ago and they saw that even in dry season, we have to use wood as a bridge to get to where Shell is exploring and making all their money.
“They also saw the impact of Shell petroleum operation to people’s means of livelihood where their farmlands were burnt and palm trees were burnt to ashes. They can feel it and they can see it.
Nwokolo said: “Today is not a different story. What we saw today is that a community that is known for fishing, as their means of livelihood, has been brought to a standstill. The boats were there, over 40-50 boats lying idle because their water has been fully polluted. He also commended Governor Wike for the rapid infrastructural transformation ongoing in Rivers State.