Comrade Sheriff Mulade is the Coordinator, Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ) and the Spokesperson for Jones Creeks Communities, host to the National Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, in the Jones Creek Oil field. In this interview with Francis Sadhere, he bares his mind on the reasons why the communities decided to shut down the flow station, illegal oil bunkering, illegal oil refineries and the new DESOPADEC law. Excerpt;
Please tell us the position of things in Jones Creeks
JONES CREEK oil field is still down as a result of the deceitful manner which NECONDE, the major operators and NPDC came into board However it is not our desire that the flow station should be down because we want the station to still be in operation to help the state and Federal Government to do what they can do. Sometimes why we carry our grievances to the oil companies is because government has failed on its own part to meet the needs of the people in spite of our huge contributions to the Nigerian economy. Our environment has been bastardized, our ecosystem has been destroyed, our means of livelihood had also been destroyed and you know that the environment is our heritage and we are concern about it and our people. What baffles me most is that despite this civil protest and shot down of the flow station, government seems not be bothered because they have not come out to intervene. And to think that it is the government that gets the bulk of the oil that comes from Jones Creek to run the activities of this country, it is amazing that no government officials have not made any official statement concerning what is going on there. May be they want to use the military to attack the people in that community. We are just fortunate that we have a disciplined army in that place. I also, want to use this medium to commend the Commander of the third battalion, Col. Bassey, for his extraordinary intervention. If not for the fact that the military men posted there are aware of what it going on, they would have been at loggerhead with the community.
Though JONES CREEK is down now, it is our desire that whether government intervenes or not we are still going to liaise with the management to see that they get back to work. What we want is that the company should be reasonable to a reasonable extent. The problem we have with the company is just a breach of agreement. They have kept a deaf ear on our demands because they believe that the security agents will stop us from protesting. But the security agents are aware of this breach of agreement because they were there when we made the agreement. I hear that the management of NEST OIL have agreed that they will meet some of our demands but up till this moment they have not done anything. So that is the position of things today. But I believe that within the shortest period of time this problem will be solved so that our youths in the area will be engaged.
The JTF in the Niger Delta have done very well and this is why I am saying that it is now time for community leaders to help the JTF to help curb the menace of illegal oil bunkering. Illegal bunkering has destroyed our environment too. We cannot say it is only the multinational oil companies that are destroying out environment. The locals are destroying their own environment ignorantly. They are field soldiers and ready made tools while the major participants are in Abuja. This illegal bunkering that we are talking about are been carried out by our politicians who work in collaboration with security agents. Take for example, when the security agents arrest a badge with oil, the politician will call them on phone and order them to release it because it belongs to so and so senator. Illegal bunkering cannot be carried out by our local leaders because the amount of money involved is staggering. This is a business in millions and no person in the Niger Delta can do that. It is only few people that have that capacity to do it. It is a very lucrative way of making money and because of the amount of money involved you can apply for security to become your body guard. I keep wondering why former Inspector General of Police that we have been having in this country would assign security operatives to individuals whereas they are supposed to protect lives and property in the country. I find it very amazing and laughable seeing this illegal oil bunkerers parading themselves with security men. I have called for the total withdrawal of security personnel attached to illegal oil bunkerers but with no results. Government is indirectly promoting illegality by given security to business men and individuals.
From all indications, it seems that the oil companies in the Niger Delta region dont listen to their host communities when they protest peacefully. They only listen when there is violent protest. What do you have to say about this?
This is a great challenge not only with oil companies but also with the government. The amount of violence you perpetrate in Nigeria will determine your level of recognition by the government. But those of us who peace ambassadors and who continue to seek peace as an alternative to violence, are not recognized by government at all levels. You can attest to this going by what has been going on in the country. So until government decides to reverse their own position and deal with criminals as criminals that is when they will get it right. It is the same tactics that the oil companies are using too. Today Jones Creek is hosted by six communities. In the 70s and 80s they were just two, Kokodiagbene and Amadino. But in the late 90s the operation of the oil company began to impact on other communities and so these impacted communities automatically became host communities. These oil companies are using divide and rule tactics and this is why they continue to experience violent protests. Another laughable things going in Jones Creek is that former staff from Shell who are now in NICONDE and NPDC, are using the divide and rule pattern exhibited by Shell. What they are doing in Jones Creek is that they are trying to influence those they perceived as agitators and try to give them what I called blanket contracts.
When I came on board the chairman of Kokodiagbene community, I experience a lot of things and I have discovered that all their dealing with the communities have not been documented in black and white. What they do is influence the head of the communities with frivolous contracts and logistics that will make them look the other way. A lot of them were confessing to me. They try to do the same thing to me but I stood my ground because my greatest concern is about my environment and the suffering of my people. I do not want my environment to be bastardized further. Now in Jones Creek, before any activity will be carried out in the creek, Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Statements must be released before moving. These are policies in the oil and gas industries. Environmental best practices must be applied in Jones Creek by NECONDE or any other operator. They are using divide and rule methods but I tell them that they are only delaying the evil days. We have requested that NECONDE as the operator, must have a workable document and a working GMoU with the communities. NECONDE or NPDC entry into JONES Creek is fraudulent because NECONDE or NPDC have no working document to show that they have engaged the communities and to say that this is a document to show for it. There is no GMoU with the communities to show how the Companys Corporate Social Responsibility will be like for the next one or five years. The working document will spell out the level or condition of employment and how they will manage the environment for us. When we know these things, then the community will help to secure the facilities of the oil company and work with security agencies to help stop illegal oil bunkering around the communities. If bunkering is not done and the companies are engaging in best practices, then our environment will be okay. But these companies believed that when they through some money around to some individuals they will continue to operate illegally. But this is the reason why Shell failed. If you look at all the operations, we tend to give Chevron some credit despite the fact that they are not doing too well. We give them credit because of their way and manner of managing their host communities and their facilities which they handed over to their community. It is a well known fact that until you allow someone access to come to your house, he will not succeed. So also unless our youths give access to oil bunkerers to come to our community and vandalize Chevron facilities, nobody has the right to come to our community and vandalize Chevron pipelines because they are being guarded day and night. With this kind of system in place, vandalization of Chevron facilities is rare in our communities. But Shell failed because of the divide and rule tactics they have adopted. It is this same Shell staff that are now in NECONDE and NPDC , so they should be careful in the manner of people they employ. These companies are having problems with their host communities because they do not want to document their agreements with them.
In Nigeria, the law states that all lands in the country belong to the Federal Government. Dont you think it is this law that is making it difficult for oil corporations to recognize their host communities as stakeholders?
That law poses a great challenge to oil bearing communities. Ordinary, in a land where oil is discovered, the land belongs to the family and not even the state or county, and that is why the George bush have their own oil wells. But in Nigeria, the oil does not even belong to the family, community and state, but to the federation. The law is affecting the whole communities. Let us come down to Delta State for example. Take a look at the 13% derivation, the state government refused to release this money to the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC). Instead, they are giving the commission 50% of that money while they hold the other 50% and begin to play politics with it. Nigeria has the best environmental laws but because the law says that all lands belong to the federal government, the oil companies are not paying attention to the oil bearing communities and to remediate the immediate environment. The pay huge amount to government and the government never cares that the Niger Delta region is part of the Nigeria and the owners of the crude. All other regions in the country do not care about what is going on in the Niger Delta region. Until ethnic leadership is erased from the country, we will not get there. Even in small Delta State, until we see ourselves as one, we will not get there.
Some people are clamoring that illegal refineries should be made legal, what is your take on this?
Yes, I support this move because it will help solve the fuel problem that we are facing in this country. If we make them legal there will be a commission or an agency that will regulate this body. As big as this country we only have three refineries that are not even functional. Look at Cote devoir, they have functional refineries. Every state in Nigeria is supposed to have one refinery. In the US, every state has one or two refineries but in Nigeria we have only three. Sometimes it is amazing that the amount of money we used in repairing these refineries is enough to build a new refinery. But because of corruption, these refineries are still crawling like millipedes. If you give them licence and regulate them, then illegal refineries will be reduced because these are ordinary people with extraordinary technology. If you can bring them together and help them develop their technologies, you do not need to go and bring white men to come and help us with our refineries. Sometimes I am amazed when I see diesel, fuel, and kerosene that are generated from these illegal refineries. But if we continue in this manner you are giving room for illegal refineries to strive.
What is your take on the new DESOPADEC law.
My take on that law for now is that we have not seen a hard copy of the bil yetl and so therefore, do not know the nitty-gritty of the bill. For now, I will not make any commentuntil I see the copy of the bill because when we were protesting about the injustice of DESOPADEC, government made us to understand that the original bill has been doctored. But up till this moment we have not seen the origin bill. But be that as it may, the bill has been passed into law. So whether it is good or bad, we cannot confirm that, but what I know is that there is progress. The Okowa government that we voted for, we do not want to regret it. For those of us in Gbaramatu we have the deputy governor and before he became the deputy governor was a member of the DESOPADEC board. I believed he is well informed and that while he is there he will not do something that will not benefit the oil bearing communities. And this is why we keep saying that he been the deputy governor has nothing to do with DESOPADEC. He cannot influence us and he cannot tell us what to do. We will continue to give him all the respect and necessary support, but if the passing of DESOPADEC bill is to the detriment of the host communities we will resist it. Presently there is a lot of lobbying for the vacant positions in DESOPADEC, but my call to the governor is that he should pick credible persons because the commission is meant for a specific purpose. Anybody that is going to be nominated should have the interest of his people at heart. Godfatherism should be abolished in DESOPADEC. We have experience in past where contracts are being hijacked before they get to the community. It happened in my community. DESOPADEC should go down to the community and access the needs of the people before projects are being cited. In the last two dispensations, DESOPADEC did not serve the needs of the oil bearing communities but that of that of the politicians. I can tell you that projects worth over 200 million naira were cited in some obscure communities while the real oil producing communities did not get any meaningful projects. In Kokodiagbene for example, you cannot see a project that is more than 30 million naira. We cannot be host to one of the largest oil well in the country and yet not get anything from DESOPADEC. We are very angry with DESOPADEC structure. What they do is take major contracts to obscure communities where they know that nobody will go to and inspect them. They know that if they bring such projects to the major communities they will be enforced to complete them. There are a lot of DESOPADEC projects in the urban communities where oil is not produced. DESOPADEC was set up for the rural communities that produce oil and not the cities that dont produce oil. Warri, Ughelli, or Asaba does not produce oil. The government has already taken 50 percent of our money so it is expected that they should be used to develop the urban areas. What now happens to the 50 percent they are taking? What are they doing with that money? What are they doing with the revenue they are collecting in the state? Are they saying that if DESOPADEC was not around the state government cannot do anything for the people? The only community that government pay attention to is that community that goes violent with their demands.
I want to use this opportunity to advice governor Okowa that before any project is cited in any community, people should go and verify what the problems of the communities are. There are a lot of projects that have been abandoned in some obscure communities. I know that this administration will live up to its obligations. If the government is saying that they are given DESOPADEC 3 million, let it be 3 million and nothing less. It should not be politicized.
Thank you sir.
