The Ogoni Oil Field Indigenous Association, OGOFIA, in Rivers State has called on the National Assembly to consider “equity, fairness and justice” in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB.
The Chairman, Board of Trustees of OGOFIA, Ambassador George S. Kobani, who made the call in Port Harcourt, the state capital, said oil exploration had brought untold hardship on the Ogoni people.
According to Kobani, the PIB will help in alleviating the suffering of the Ogoni people, who though, have representations at different levels of government, continue to suffer neglect.
He said the passage of the bill would propel development in the country’s oil and gas industry, address poverty and foster good working relationship between oil-bearing communities and operators in the industry.
Kobani appealed to Nigerians to show understanding on the bill.
He said: “We will ask for understanding in this Petroleum Host Communities Fund, PHCF, that Nigerians empathise with host communities on the sufferings and the environmental degradation emanating from these oil and gas activities that are continually putting us in great hazards.”
Commending the National Assembly for giving attention to the bill, Kobani said there was need for the legislature to create a Host Community Trust Fund, HCTF, where funds due to oilbearing communities would be paid instead of the purse of “Littoral States.”
He disclosed that OGOFIA had written to the National Assembly on the PIB, while stressing the need for traditional rulers to play supervisory roles in the management of the fund, which should also have “registered host community organisations of the oil-bearing communities as board of directors”.
Kobani said there should be a board of trustees chairman serving as the chief executive officer of the fund, while selected individuals, women and youth organisations should constitute the central body of the trust fund.
The chairman also said that 10 per cent of the trust fund should be paid into the central account of the fund.
He added: “This 10 per cent equity should be seen as dividends payable to the host communities by the companies, which is not restricted to only the Niger Delta host communities, but to all
Source: National Mirrow
