The Deputy Governor of Delta State, Kingsley Otuaro,
has said no amount of force or deployment of Nigerian
military would best secure oil and gas installations in
the Niger Delta region other than the direct involvement
of host communities where such facilities are located.
Otuaro, who doubled as the Chairman of the Advocacy
Committee Against Vandalism of Oil and Gas Facilities,
stated this in a communiqué issued at the end of a
two-day conference on securing oil and gas
installations in the state.
He stated that it would be more enduring when
communities where such facilities are located were
directly consulted to secure them rather than leaving
them to security operatives who may not be conversant
with the terrain.
He said, “The conference is of the firm belief that no
amount of force and deployment of Nigeria’s
instruments of coercion can, for example, fully secure
oil and gas facilities as much as host communities
would do. In this connection, therefore, the conference
is of the belief that oil companies should involve host
communities in securing the pipelines and other
installations in their territories.
“Emphasis is on working together to overcome a
problem. Government should also ensure that oil
companies comply with the best practices, both in their
relationship with communities and in the technical
standards of their operations.
“The conference is of the firm view that oil and gas
facilities will be better secured when communities are
treated as partners in the oil industry, so that they can
see their individuals and collective destinies as being
tied to the overall success of oil industry, which they
must protect vigorously.”
The committee also called for the abrogation of all
obnoxious oil and gas laws which confer total
monopoly of ownership of oil and gas on the Federal
Government to the exclusion of host communities
where the oil is being extracted.
Otuaro, in the communiqué, observed that the laws, had
over the years, created strain between oil companies
and their hosts, stressing that such laws completely
alienated host communities from being part owners of
the commodities discovered in their land.
It particularly frowned on oil and gas laws, including
Oil Pipeline Act of 1959, Oil Terminal Dues Act of 1965,
Petroleum Act of 1963, Land Use Act 1978, Associated
Gas Reinjection Act 1979 and the Land (Title Vesting)
Act of 1993, among others.
