ON PASSED PIB – WE JOIN VOICES TO REJECT THE PROPOSED 3% SHARE OF OIL REVENUE TO HOST COMMUNITIES, AND OTHERS. BUT WE PUT THE ENTIRE BLAME ON THE SOUTH-SOUTH LAWMAKERS AT THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY- THERE IS ALSO NEED FOR A CHANGE OF ATTITUDE BY THE SOUTH-SOUTH COMMUNITY/STATE LEADERS/ELDERS IN ACCOUNTNG FOR OIL REVENUE/BENEFITS THAT COME TO THEM
July 13, 2021 | News
It is no news that the Nigerian Senate had recently passed the almighty Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which seeks to provide for the governance, regulatory reforms and institutional framework for the petroleum industry.
-By Zik Gbemre
ON PASSED PIB – WE JOIN VOICES TO REJECT THE PROPOSED 3% SHARE OF OIL REVENUE TO HOST COMMUNITIES, AND OTHERS. BUT WE PUT THE ENTIRE BLAME ON THE SOUTH-SOUTH LAWMAKERS AT THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY- THERE IS ALSO NEED FOR A CHANGE OF ATTITUDE BY THE SOUTH-SOUTH COMMUNITY/STATE LEADERS/ELDERS IN ACCOUNTNG FOR OIL REVENUE/BENEFITS THAT COME TO THEM
We join voices with the Southern Governors and relevant stakeholders to reject the 3% share of oil revenue to host Communities being proposed in the recently passed PIB, the 30% being proposed for oil exploration in the northern parts of the country through the “Frontier Basins”, and the ownership structure of the proposed Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited…
We blame the South-South lawmakers for not doing enough to stop this cheating of their people they are meant to represent…
Aside from the fact that even the said 5% share of oil revenue to host Communities, is short of the 10% proposed in the initial draft of the PIB, there is need for the Federal Government, the members of the National Assembly and relevant stakeholders in the oil industry to be reminded that the host Communities’ locals are the ones bearing the brunt of the extractive industry for over five decades now and counting…
There is also the need for the rot, insatiable greed and corrupt tendencies within the local communities in the oil/gas producing communities to be addressed by people of the South-South in their quest for a better PIB…
Most importantly, Bills passed and signed into law, without the WILL to IMPLEMENT them, are practically useless, and the reason Nigeria has not developed as it should…
It is no news that the Nigerian Senate had recently passed the almighty Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which seeks to provide for the governance, regulatory reforms and institutional framework for the petroleum industry. But then again, the passed bill is already raising dust which clearly shows that all is not well with what the lawmakers had done.
While there are a lot of issues that we discuss and look at concerning the PIB, the one that I feel should be reconsidered, is the proposed 3% share of oil revenue to host Communities of the Niger Delta that bears the brunt of the extractive industry, which the south south people reject as inappropriate and unfair to the oil and gas host Communities’ locals. What will be the criteria that will be used for the Sharing of oil revenue to the host Communities?
Governors of Southern Nigeria had already vehemently rejected the proposed 3% and supported the 5% share of the oil revenue to the host community as recommended by the House of Representatives. The forum also rejected the proposed 30% share of profit for the exploration of oil and gas in the basins in northern Nigeria, as well as the ownership structure of the proposed Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited. The Forum disagrees that the company be vested in the Federal Ministry of Finance, but should be held in trust by Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, since all tiers of Government have stakes in that vehicle.
For the basins, the Forum rejected the 30% being proposed in the PIB for oil exploration in the northern parts of the country through the “Frontier Basins”. The 30 per cent from profit generated by the proposed Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited will be allocated for exploration in the “Frontier Basins”. The passed PIB identified “Frontier Basins to include Chad Basin, Gongola Basin, Sokoto Basin, Dahomey Basin, Bida Basin and Benue Though in the Southern part of the country, the governors made their rejection known in a communiqué issued recently after its meeting in Lagos. The meeting was attended by governors of Ondo, Delta, Rivers, Lagos, Ekiti, Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Abia, Uyo, and others from the 17 southern states in the region.
We therefore join the Southern Governors to reject the areas of the PIB highlighted, particularly in the 3% share of oil revenue to host Communities of the Niger Delta area.
Aside from the fact that even the said 5% share of oil revenue to host Communities, is short of the 10% proposed in the initial draft of the PIB, there is need for the Federal Government, the members of the National Assembly and relevant stakeholders in the oil industry to be reminded that: All our farmlands, rivers and creeks have been rendered ‘unprofitable’ and ‘environmentally hazardous’ due to the over five decades of oil and gas exploration and production in the Niger Delta region. By reducing the Host Community Development Fund from 10% to 3%, are they saying that the host communities’ locals in the region do not deserve the percentage that was proposed in PIB initially, or the 5%? Are they saying that the locals do not need to be atoned and compensated for their sufferings from the extractive industry all these years? As those who daily bear the brunt from the oil, gas and condensate exploration and production in the region, what exactly do they have to hold on to as compensation?
To me, this proposed 3% should be rejected and condemned by all and sundry for it does not make practical sense. This sort of unfair treatment is not what is obtainable in other countries where oil and gas exploration and production is their mainstay. Host Communities’ locals of the Niger Deltan region deserve a better treatment. I had severally called on members of the National Assembly to, as a matter of urgency, return and retain the said 10% Host Community Development Fund in their so-called New Version of the PIB, which I believe has suffered all manners of ‘political interest maneuvers’ since 2008.
In 2016, while also speaking in this light in a reported interview of Dr. Emmanuel Egbogah, who has various experiences and had earned a reputation as ‘Mr. Fix’ in the global oil and gas industry, for his pioneering work in Venezuela, Brazil and Canada; Egbogha, who was co-opted by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to draft the foremost version of the PIB together with former minister for petroleum resources, late Dr. Rilwan Lukman, noted that: “One of the most important things in the PIB, which is not going well and I want changed because I pioneered the whole concept, is the issue of giving something back to communities where oil is produced. This was the basis of the Amnesty, which President Yar’Adua granted to the communities in October 28, 2008. Yar’adua, at the time, said his adviser was a genius, who came up with the concept of sharing the nation’s resources with host communities. What I recommended was that 10 per cent share of revenue should go to host communities. And since they were partners with government, they would protect what is theirs. With that, there cannot be cases of pipeline vandalism and other things that halted oil production. Because benefits get to these communities, if there are acts of vandalism or anything that will make oil to stop flowing, they will lose for that year. Therefore, they will now have to protect rather than vandalise pipelines. Yar’Adua said he wondered why we did not do this before. It is clear that they would not burst their own pipelines. He said it was a genius concept and that was the basis for granting the Amnesty. That has been bastardized in the PIB, which I must redo to restore its integrity.”
Egbogha concluded by noting that he believes we need to get the Bill out and re-write it. In fact in his words: “I will not say get it out, because it does not exist; every Bill dies with the Parliament, so it does not exist. We will need to re-write it and re-submit. And if we are able to lobby the House properly, that is, explain the essence of everything to them, the Bill can be passed in no time at all. But because they have not been able to understand it at all and with so many things happening, bribery included. In fact, while we are fighting to have it passed; the oil industry is against it. Nigerians do not understand the opportunities the PIB presents to this country. If they do, they will leave their personal desires of little things. What the bill can do for the nation is bigger than what the individuals gain from it. I would not re-draft the entire PIB, but make changes to what the former Minister (Mrs. Deizani Alison-Madueke) bastardized. It is not a big task, just small changes needed. If I were happy with the present Bill, I would not be making this plea to the government. I have given the notice to the President on what should happen and I am prepared to step in to do it.”
Sadly today, what we have as the PIB, has still not been able to address these pressing issues that ought to be a priority. I read that the 318 clauses in the bill were passed in less than 20 minutes. One begins to wonder why the sudden hurry to pass a bill without allowing the lawmakers that may have some objections with some clauses, the opportunity to do so? Again, the bill passage was not without drama, as the deputy speaker, Idris Wase (APC, Plateau), did not recognize members trying to raise points of order. At a point, the deputy speaker jumped from clause 189 to 200, according to reports. So, we can see those selfish interests and politics, might render the PIB useless at the end of the day because it will only be made to benefit some political interests, while to the detriment of the locals of the Niger Delta areas.
Regardless, The South-South lawmakers in National Assembly are to be blamed for accepting these changes in the PIB. If they opposed and not in support of it, they would have staged a walk out, raised their voices and spoken out to draw public attention for these areas to be reversed.
To me, as I noted in a published comment on Saturday Vanguard recently, "the lawmakers are all a bunch of failures. There is nothing satisfactory about their efforts. There is no defence or justification they want to advance for failing to lobby enough. Even if they had lobbied and fronted the demands of their constituents through the long debate and delay on the bill, did they assert themselves and shout about it? If they meant well, the people of the region would have heard or read about South-South lawmakers calling for a fight, insisting of constituent demands or staging a walk out..."
In fact, shame on the South-South lawmakers at the National Assembly for allowing this to fly. Will I say they are a bunch of bench warmers who practice political insanity and idiotic act. These South-South lawmakers have betrayed those who supposedly elected them. The local host communities' leaders/Executives in the South-South are evil as well, for deliberately cheating on their local communities with the Oil Company GMoU funds meant for development of the local host communities, which they constantly squander with highly inflated contracts in connivance with some NPDC staff in OML 34 in Delta State for instance. I know what I am talking about here, and I challenge any person to come forward to counter me on this because I live in one of the local host communities in OML 34, which is my home town of Iwhrekan in Ughelli South LGA.
So, even with the said 3%, there is yet another round of problem, which is the rot, insatiable greed and corrupt tendencies within the local communities in the oil/gas producing communities. This is quite a big problem, and may useless whatever little good the 10% or 5%, or 3% may bring to the locals, that is, if the lawmakers decide to still go ahead with the latter. The stated community GMoU funds for oil and gas producing communities in the South-South is a good example of this, which are yearly stolen by few community executives of these host communities, without giving back to the locals this was meant for in the first place. I see the rot in the host communities first hand.
Here is a statement from a friend of mine, Mr. Andrew (an Urhobo) who lives in the USA, on this issue. I quote: "I admire your courage and it reminds me of my involvement in the pro-democracy movement in the US. I learn of a factor that was missing in our struggle. We did not consider the readiness of our local communities from where we elect our leaders. They are all corrupt and how does one expect to get good leaders from such a midst? I feel I am being hypocritical when I blame leaders at the local government, state and federal levels. My argument is this: until we clean our communities up our filthy communities, we are not going to have good leaders, let alone win in the struggle for a better society. My recommendation: let our communities be the first step in our struggle for fairness and justice."
That being said, another issue of importance is that of IMPLEMENTATION. What should be the most important is the fact that Bills, especially those that bother on improving the lives of Nigerians, are usually passed by our lawmakers. But the IMPLEMENTATION of such bills, have always been the major problem. It is one thing to pass a bill and even sign it into law, but it is an entirely different thing for the content of such a bill to be implemented.
Bills passed and signed into law, without the WILL to implement them, are practically useless in my opinion. Which sector in Nigeria is working today as it ought to? None! If all Bills ever passed and signed into law were being implemented, Nigeria would have been the Dubai of Africa.
Zik Gbemre.
July 13, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
-By Zik Gbemre
ON PASSED PIB – WE JOIN VOICES TO REJECT THE PROPOSED 3% SHARE OF OIL REVENUE TO HOST COMMUNITIES, AND OTHERS. BUT WE PUT THE ENTIRE BLAME ON THE SOUTH-SOUTH LAWMAKERS AT THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY- THERE IS ALSO NEED FOR A CHANGE OF ATTITUDE BY THE SOUTH-SOUTH COMMUNITY/STATE LEADERS/ELDERS IN ACCOUNTNG FOR OIL REVENUE/BENEFITS THAT COME TO THEM
We join voices with the Southern Governors and relevant stakeholders to reject the 3% share of oil revenue to host Communities being proposed in the recently passed PIB, the 30% being proposed for oil exploration in the northern parts of the country through the “Frontier Basins”, and the ownership structure of the proposed Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited…
We blame the South-South lawmakers for not doing enough to stop this cheating of their people they are meant to represent…
Aside from the fact that even the said 5% share of oil revenue to host Communities, is short of the 10% proposed in the initial draft of the PIB, there is need for the Federal Government, the members of the National Assembly and relevant stakeholders in the oil industry to be reminded that the host Communities’ locals are the ones bearing the brunt of the extractive industry for over five decades now and counting…
There is also the need for the rot, insatiable greed and corrupt tendencies within the local communities in the oil/gas producing communities to be addressed by people of the South-South in their quest for a better PIB…
Most importantly, Bills passed and signed into law, without the WILL to IMPLEMENT them, are practically useless, and the reason Nigeria has not developed as it should…
It is no news that the Nigerian Senate had recently passed the almighty Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which seeks to provide for the governance, regulatory reforms and institutional framework for the petroleum industry. But then again, the passed bill is already raising dust which clearly shows that all is not well with what the lawmakers had done.
While there are a lot of issues that we discuss and look at concerning the PIB, the one that I feel should be reconsidered, is the proposed 3% share of oil revenue to host Communities of the Niger Delta that bears the brunt of the extractive industry, which the south south people reject as inappropriate and unfair to the oil and gas host Communities’ locals. What will be the criteria that will be used for the Sharing of oil revenue to the host Communities?
Governors of Southern Nigeria had already vehemently rejected the proposed 3% and supported the 5% share of the oil revenue to the host community as recommended by the House of Representatives. The forum also rejected the proposed 30% share of profit for the exploration of oil and gas in the basins in northern Nigeria, as well as the ownership structure of the proposed Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited. The Forum disagrees that the company be vested in the Federal Ministry of Finance, but should be held in trust by Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, since all tiers of Government have stakes in that vehicle.
For the basins, the Forum rejected the 30% being proposed in the PIB for oil exploration in the northern parts of the country through the “Frontier Basins”. The 30 per cent from profit generated by the proposed Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited will be allocated for exploration in the “Frontier Basins”. The passed PIB identified “Frontier Basins to include Chad Basin, Gongola Basin, Sokoto Basin, Dahomey Basin, Bida Basin and Benue Though in the Southern part of the country, the governors made their rejection known in a communiqué issued recently after its meeting in Lagos. The meeting was attended by governors of Ondo, Delta, Rivers, Lagos, Ekiti, Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Abia, Uyo, and others from the 17 southern states in the region.
We therefore join the Southern Governors to reject the areas of the PIB highlighted, particularly in the 3% share of oil revenue to host Communities of the Niger Delta area.
Aside from the fact that even the said 5% share of oil revenue to host Communities, is short of the 10% proposed in the initial draft of the PIB, there is need for the Federal Government, the members of the National Assembly and relevant stakeholders in the oil industry to be reminded that: All our farmlands, rivers and creeks have been rendered ‘unprofitable’ and ‘environmentally hazardous’ due to the over five decades of oil and gas exploration and production in the Niger Delta region. By reducing the Host Community Development Fund from 10% to 3%, are they saying that the host communities’ locals in the region do not deserve the percentage that was proposed in PIB initially, or the 5%? Are they saying that the locals do not need to be atoned and compensated for their sufferings from the extractive industry all these years? As those who daily bear the brunt from the oil, gas and condensate exploration and production in the region, what exactly do they have to hold on to as compensation?
To me, this proposed 3% should be rejected and condemned by all and sundry for it does not make practical sense. This sort of unfair treatment is not what is obtainable in other countries where oil and gas exploration and production is their mainstay. Host Communities’ locals of the Niger Deltan region deserve a better treatment. I had severally called on members of the National Assembly to, as a matter of urgency, return and retain the said 10% Host Community Development Fund in their so-called New Version of the PIB, which I believe has suffered all manners of ‘political interest maneuvers’ since 2008.
In 2016, while also speaking in this light in a reported interview of Dr. Emmanuel Egbogah, who has various experiences and had earned a reputation as ‘Mr. Fix’ in the global oil and gas industry, for his pioneering work in Venezuela, Brazil and Canada; Egbogha, who was co-opted by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to draft the foremost version of the PIB together with former minister for petroleum resources, late Dr. Rilwan Lukman, noted that: “One of the most important things in the PIB, which is not going well and I want changed because I pioneered the whole concept, is the issue of giving something back to communities where oil is produced. This was the basis of the Amnesty, which President Yar’Adua granted to the communities in October 28, 2008. Yar’adua, at the time, said his adviser was a genius, who came up with the concept of sharing the nation’s resources with host communities. What I recommended was that 10 per cent share of revenue should go to host communities. And since they were partners with government, they would protect what is theirs. With that, there cannot be cases of pipeline vandalism and other things that halted oil production. Because benefits get to these communities, if there are acts of vandalism or anything that will make oil to stop flowing, they will lose for that year. Therefore, they will now have to protect rather than vandalise pipelines. Yar’Adua said he wondered why we did not do this before. It is clear that they would not burst their own pipelines. He said it was a genius concept and that was the basis for granting the Amnesty. That has been bastardized in the PIB, which I must redo to restore its integrity.”
Egbogha concluded by noting that he believes we need to get the Bill out and re-write it. In fact in his words: “I will not say get it out, because it does not exist; every Bill dies with the Parliament, so it does not exist. We will need to re-write it and re-submit. And if we are able to lobby the House properly, that is, explain the essence of everything to them, the Bill can be passed in no time at all. But because they have not been able to understand it at all and with so many things happening, bribery included. In fact, while we are fighting to have it passed; the oil industry is against it. Nigerians do not understand the opportunities the PIB presents to this country. If they do, they will leave their personal desires of little things. What the bill can do for the nation is bigger than what the individuals gain from it. I would not re-draft the entire PIB, but make changes to what the former Minister (Mrs. Deizani Alison-Madueke) bastardized. It is not a big task, just small changes needed. If I were happy with the present Bill, I would not be making this plea to the government. I have given the notice to the President on what should happen and I am prepared to step in to do it.”
Sadly today, what we have as the PIB, has still not been able to address these pressing issues that ought to be a priority. I read that the 318 clauses in the bill were passed in less than 20 minutes. One begins to wonder why the sudden hurry to pass a bill without allowing the lawmakers that may have some objections with some clauses, the opportunity to do so? Again, the bill passage was not without drama, as the deputy speaker, Idris Wase (APC, Plateau), did not recognize members trying to raise points of order. At a point, the deputy speaker jumped from clause 189 to 200, according to reports. So, we can see those selfish interests and politics, might render the PIB useless at the end of the day because it will only be made to benefit some political interests, while to the detriment of the locals of the Niger Delta areas.
Regardless, The South-South lawmakers in National Assembly are to be blamed for accepting these changes in the PIB. If they opposed and not in support of it, they would have staged a walk out, raised their voices and spoken out to draw public attention for these areas to be reversed.
To me, as I noted in a published comment on Saturday Vanguard recently, "the lawmakers are all a bunch of failures. There is nothing satisfactory about their efforts. There is no defence or justification they want to advance for failing to lobby enough. Even if they had lobbied and fronted the demands of their constituents through the long debate and delay on the bill, did they assert themselves and shout about it? If they meant well, the people of the region would have heard or read about South-South lawmakers calling for a fight, insisting of constituent demands or staging a walk out..."
In fact, shame on the South-South lawmakers at the National Assembly for allowing this to fly. Will I say they are a bunch of bench warmers who practice political insanity and idiotic act. These South-South lawmakers have betrayed those who supposedly elected them. The local host communities' leaders/Executives in the South-South are evil as well, for deliberately cheating on their local communities with the Oil Company GMoU funds meant for development of the local host communities, which they constantly squander with highly inflated contracts in connivance with some NPDC staff in OML 34 in Delta State for instance. I know what I am talking about here, and I challenge any person to come forward to counter me on this because I live in one of the local host communities in OML 34, which is my home town of Iwhrekan in Ughelli South LGA.
So, even with the said 3%, there is yet another round of problem, which is the rot, insatiable greed and corrupt tendencies within the local communities in the oil/gas producing communities. This is quite a big problem, and may useless whatever little good the 10% or 5%, or 3% may bring to the locals, that is, if the lawmakers decide to still go ahead with the latter. The stated community GMoU funds for oil and gas producing communities in the South-South is a good example of this, which are yearly stolen by few community executives of these host communities, without giving back to the locals this was meant for in the first place. I see the rot in the host communities first hand.
Here is a statement from a friend of mine, Mr. Andrew (an Urhobo) who lives in the USA, on this issue. I quote: "I admire your courage and it reminds me of my involvement in the pro-democracy movement in the US. I learn of a factor that was missing in our struggle. We did not consider the readiness of our local communities from where we elect our leaders. They are all corrupt and how does one expect to get good leaders from such a midst? I feel I am being hypocritical when I blame leaders at the local government, state and federal levels. My argument is this: until we clean our communities up our filthy communities, we are not going to have good leaders, let alone win in the struggle for a better society. My recommendation: let our communities be the first step in our struggle for fairness and justice."
That being said, another issue of importance is that of IMPLEMENTATION. What should be the most important is the fact that Bills, especially those that bother on improving the lives of Nigerians, are usually passed by our lawmakers. But the IMPLEMENTATION of such bills, have always been the major problem. It is one thing to pass a bill and even sign it into law, but it is an entirely different thing for the content of such a bill to be implemented.
Bills passed and signed into law, without the WILL to implement them, are practically useless in my opinion. Which sector in Nigeria is working today as it ought to? None! If all Bills ever passed and signed into law were being implemented, Nigeria would have been the Dubai of Africa.
Zik Gbemre.
July 13, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes