To end the destruction of the crucial Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) that serves all onshore production of Shell in the East, Treasure Energy has advocated that stakeholders including the federal and state governments, community leaders, security agencies and the oil companies must come up with measures to contain youth restiveness in Ogoni land.
Part of the measures it noted, should include the creation of an Ogoni-based and led pipeline security management contract, inclusion of the youths in the area in the amnesty programme by the Federal Government and placing them on monthly stipends as palliative. There is also need for the establishment of petrochemical industries that would use oil and gas produced from the area to create jobs and provide regular income for the affected youths.
The Managing Director, Treasure Energy Resources Limited, Eddie Wikina, who spoke with The Nation in Port Harcourt, said there was urgent need to put up strong measures that would provide regular income for the affected youths in the area. This he said would divert their attention from what he described as criminal act of pipeline sabotage and bunkering.
“In addition, the youths in the areas should be given relevant skills development training to enable them work in the industries and provide more meaningful contribution to the economy,” he added.
He said the effect of bunkering and oil pollution had caused irreparable damage to Ogoni land and the entire ecosystem. Besides the damage done to the environment and the impact on livelihood, oil production through the pipelines had been severely affected with the resultant effect of loss of revenue to both the government and Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), he added.
Wikina also explained that Treasure Energy Resources a private public company owned by the Rivers State Government. Its primary business is petroleum exploration and production and downstream activities, and it was established to fully utilise the opportunities that existed in the state as a major stakeholder and repository of petroleum resources.
He called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on the affected oil communities of Ogoni and regretted that in spite of the attention being made to enlighten the public, the unwholesome act of pipeline sabotage, bunkering and poor operations are still on the increase with thousands of barrels of oil spilled into the creeks and farmlands. He said nowhere else in the Niger Delta region had experienced such destruction.
He said: “If the above is done, the youths involved would be able to leave the creeks and the battle against pipeline sabotage and bunkering would be won. The continued destruction of the Ogoni community, health, economy and environment must be put to a stop.”
He confirmed that there is high level of unemployment among the youths including graduates in the area, which he said had led to idleness, insecurity, restiveness and depression with resultant militancy.
He however, added that the Rivers State government had taken a lot of measures to address the issues-one of which is the establishment of the state-owned oil and gas company.
Source: The Nation
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