ORO NATION TO GET OIL PRODUCING STATUS BENEFITS SOON

…AS FG DIRECTS AKSG, OTHER AGENCIES TO IMPLEMENT HOUSE RESOLUTIONS

The delay in recognizing the five local government areas of  Oro nation as Oil and Gas producing communities may be causing palpable reactions amongst the people of the area since the public hearing was staged by the Joint House Committees of the House of Reps on Saturday November 26,  2011 and Resolutions passed by the same arm of the National Assembly since Thursday May 17,  2012.

Despite the efforts of Hon. Robinson Uwak, member representing  Oron Federal Constituency in the House of Reps to push through the issue at the National Assembly since last year; and the directive of the Federal Government through the office of the Secretary to the Federal Government, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim that Akwa Ibom State Government, the NDDC and the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs should adhere to the resolutions of the National Assembly, it is not clear whether such directive has been taken serious.

Hon Robinson Uwak, Rep. Oron Fed. Constituency in the 

House of Reps.

The Federal Government of Nigeria had on July 9,  2012 wrote through the Office of the Secretary to the government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, in a letter reference SGF./15/T/693, addressed to the Clerk of  National Assembly, informing that arm of government that governor Godswill Akpabio and other agencies of the federal government were directed to adhere to the resolutions of the National Assembly on the recognition of Oro nation as Oil and Gas bearing communities.

The letter which read in part said, “I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of  your letter with Ref: No. NASS/CNA/105/VOL.17/116  of 23^rd May, 2012 on the above subject and to inform you that a copy each of the letter conveying the Resolutions of the House Committees has been forwarded to His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State, the Honorable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and the Managing Director of  the NDDC for their necessary action”.

The letter believed to have been received by the office of the Clerk to the National Assembly on July 10, 2012 was captioned, “Re: Report of the Committees of  the Niger Delta Ministry, Special Duties, Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC), Petroleum Resources(Upstream) Environment, On the Non-inclusion and Recognition of  Oro Communities of Akwa Ibom State as Oil and Gas Producing Communities and Catchment Areas”.

The letter signed by the Permanent Secretary in charge of General Services Office, Femi Olayiaode(mni) for the SGF had since been received by Akwa Ibom State Government and directed to the Ministry of Environment for necessary action. 

Meanwhile, this Paper sought to know from the Environment Commissioner, Prince Enobong Uwah the extent the State Government has gone with the letter as regards complying with the Resolutions of  the National Assembly on the recognition of Oro nation as Oil and Gas bearing  Communities, but he was silent on the matter as the text message sent to his phone since September 28, 2012 at about 10.40am was never replied as at the time of going to press.

The Waves  also learnt that the House of Representatives passed resolutions at plenary on Thursday May 17, 2012 urging the Federal as well as Akwa Ibom State governments to duly recognize the five local government areas of Oro nation as Oil and Gas Producing/Catchment Areas.  The local government areas so deemed to be recognized are; Mbo, Udung Uko, Okobo, Oron and Urue Offong/Oruko.

The House had posited that for proper partnership with the people of the Oil bearing communities, any Oil/Gas companies operating in Oro communities should put in place an Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) and Memorandum of Understanding(MoU), fulfill their Corporate Social Responsibility as well as abide by the Nigerian Local Content Law.

It also urged the Federal government that in appointment of persons into the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC) Board and the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, that the five LGAs in Oro nation be considered, being Oil and Gas Producing/Catchment Areas, just as it recommended that Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) be carried out on the five  (5) LGAs of Oro communities.

This Paper found out that in furtherance of its position on the matter the House also recommended that the National Boundary Commission and the Ministry of Lands and Survey of Akwa Ibom State be urged to look into the boundary issues between Mbo and Ibeno LGAs, with a view to coming up with an acceptable boundary.

It was also a Resolution of the House of Reps  that the Ministry of Environment should direct its relevant agencies to visit the five local government areas concerned in order to establish the extent of pollution, ensure immediate clean up of the polluted areas and the restoration of the affected areas, as well as ensure payments of adequate compensation within six months.

The House further directed that the Shell Petroleum Development Company should visit all the capped Oil wells in Esuk Iwang in Okobo LGA,  Oduo in Mbo LGA and Udung Uwe in Urue Offong/Oruko LGA, clean up the environmental pollution and repair them for the safety of the communities.

The House Committee on Environment was mandated to monitor the compliance with the resolutions of the House and report back in six weeks.  It was not known whether the House Committee on Environment has monitored the implementation of the Resolution of the House down to Akwa Ibom State.

Many of those spoken to in the area who did not want their name in print uphold that government was not putting required effort to implement the resolutions of the National Assembly which they said was delaying their God-given entitlements.

Efforts were made to find out from the Hon Commissioner for Environment whether all the Oil and Gas firms operating in Oro Communities had done the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with local communities, fulfilled their Corporate Social Responsibility and abided by the Nigerian Local Content Law was not successful. 

Information was also sought on whether his Ministry visited the local government areas of Oro nation which were affected by pollution and whether compensation was paid to them as was directed by the House of Reps in their resolutions, but the Commissioner never responded to the text messages sent to him on Saturday October 6, 2012.

It was not also clear as at press time whether Shell Petroleum Development Commission had visited the capped Oil wells in Esuk Iwang in Okobo LGA, Oduo in Mbo LGA and Udung Uwe in Urue Offong/Oruko LGA, clean up the environmental pollution and repair them for safety of the communities. 

Attempts made to find out whether the National Boundary Commission and the Ministry of Lands & Survey of Akwa Ibom State had looked into the boundary issues between Mbo and Ibeno local government areas as demanded by the House of Reps in its resolution since May 2012 was not feasible as the Commissioner in charge of the Ministry could not be reached.