EMMANUEL NLEWEDUM, Port Harcourt
Oil producing communities and Stakeholders in Rivers, Abia and Imo States, hosting the Trans Niger Pipeline, TNP, on Monday praised Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited, PINL, the surveillance company responsible for securing the TNP, for the services they have been rendering since they were contracted by the Federal Government.
The pipeline surveillance firm, PINL, and it’s management were also applauded for their commitment and milestone achievements in securing the Trans Niger Pipeline in their domain.
The Host communities made the commendation during an enlarged stakeholders’ meeting comprising critical state actors and community leaders which include; Paramount Rulers, Community Development Committees, CDCs, youths and women leaders, among others, from the three Niger Delta States, organised by the PINL at the Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt in Rivers State.
The stakeholders while acknowledging the efforts and commitment of PINL in maintaining a harmonious Community Relations Services, noted that since the takeover of protection of the pipelines by PINL, the TNP trunk line has witnessed improved production running into billions of dollars for the country as the line has recorded zero infractions except for the recent past weeks.
Speaking at the meeting, Paramount Ruler of Eleme Kingdom His Majesty, Dr. Philip Osaro Obele, added that beyond pipeline surveillance, the PINL has been carrying out corporate social responsibility programmes and creating employment for their people, especially the youths.
The traditional ruler, who also lamented that most oil companies operating in the areas didn’t emulate PINL in engaging their youths, which, he according to him, most times led to pipeline vandalism and illegal oil-bunkering, stressed the need for the communities to get fair treatment from the Federal Government.
He called for increased opportunities for the host communities, the provision of social amenities and skills to better the lives of the host communities.
Also speaking, Paramount Ruler of Tai Kingdom, King Samuel Nnee, also commended PINL for the engagement and noted that his domain has recorded zero infractions in the pipelines because of continuous engagement between them and the youths of the area.
He, however, stressed the need for more participation of the party locals in oil exploration.
“I want to say that Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited has done well as it regards to pipeline surveillance and protection.
“But the time has come when locals should control the oils in their communities and that is the position of Ogoni people. So we are asking that the Federal Government should give us our lines, let us run it, let us exploit the oils and pay benefits to our people.
“It is our oil so let’s be part of it, let it be participatory, let us deal in it directly, let our children grow in the industry and we pay our royalties to the Federal Government,” Nnee said.
In his speech, President of the Movement For the Survival of Izon Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta, MOSIEND, Kennedy West said PINL has saved the country billions of dollars by virtue of their surveillance activities.
He commended the company for their continuous engagement with host communities.
He however, called on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL, to come out plain on their plans for host communities in the region for their years of support and cooperation.
“We have a credible company like PINL who have laboured, they are people-friendly, they know how to go about securing pipelines.
“PINL is doing a credible job. I want to thank the management. You have saved billions of naira for the Federal Government but I want to say, how is it reflecting on the communities from the angle of the NNPCL?
West challenged communities to continue putting in more efforts in ensuring the pipelines are safe while urging the Federal Government to to fair to host communities.
“We have been cooperative, we have been very supportive, in terms of ensuring the Federal Government seamlessly carries out oil production. We want to use this privilege to urge the Federal Government to ensure that they make host communities understand what’s in there for them,” he added.
On her part, Chief Patricia Ogbonaya, the Ada Ekpeye-Logbo in Council joined in praising the company for giving host communities the opportunity to sue their views concerning the operations of PINL.
She however, said the suggestions at the forum should not be thrown under the carpet to ensure sustained harmonious relationship with the communities.
Other stakeholders and host community representatives at the event called for increased stake in the activities of the oil multinationals, better healthcare system, more jobs, provision of social amenities amongst others.
Earlier in his, the Community Relations Consultant of PINL, Dr Akpos Mezeh, said the essence of the stakeholders’ engagement was for the host communities and the company to review how they have faired on the security of the pipeline and seek ways of improvement.
He noted that the job of the company depends largely on intelligence from the host communities, hence they were critical stakeholders in the company’s business.
Mezeh further commended the communities for the harmonious relationship they had enjoyed from them since they started operations.
“The communities are critical stakeholders in our business. We all know that pipeline surveillance is intelligence driven and how do we get reliable intelligence? It’s from the communities and so far the support of the communities have been wonderful and we think that there is no better way to appreciate the effort of the communities than organizing a forum like this where we can collectively review how far we have gone for purposes of continuous improvement because we believe that we have not gotten to where we ought to. That’s the essence of today’s meeting,” he stated.
He emphasized that the success of the company’s operations is stakeholders engagement, stressing that the company has reached out to all all relevant stakeholders, including non-state actors, chiefs, youths, women leaders, local government chairmen, to ensure inclusivity in the pipeline surveillance job.
He used the medium to disclose that the company has engaged in several corporate social responsibility programmes to ease the burden of the economy on its host communities including interventions in areas of health and infrastructure.
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