A legacy worth bequeathing - Vanguard News

Excerpts From "A legacy worth bequeathing - Vanguard News:" By Mr. Muyiwa Adetiba

"I had read about gas flares. I had seen some from the air on my way to Port Harcourt or where ever. But I had never felt so close to one. This was an experience my mind has refused to erase. When I complained about the gas flares the following day and the effect of a permanent light on my sleeping pattern, someone took me to a dark, ‘heavy’ body of water to show me what pollution had done to their vegetation and way of life."

"Not too long after this experience, I had to travel to Abuja to see a retired military governor who had just moved to Asokoro. This area was still in its early stages of development, but the signs of an elitist, up market settlement were there as architectural master pieces were in different stages of completion. You didn’t need anybody to tell you the injustice that was being perpetuated because the money that was developing this place came from the bowels of a ruined, neglected region. It is the kind of injustice that has kept us down as a nation because it negates our attempts at forging unity."

"Around this time—remember it was about 30 years ago— I tried to seek answers to some uncomfortable questions. How could we look away when the ecology and a way of life of a people were being destroyed? How could we allow the oil companies to get away with pre-meditated and sustained annihilation of a people? How could we be so callous— or stupid— as to neglect the goose that was laying such beautiful eggs? And the conscience—or lack of it— that makes us to fill our dinner tables with generous portions of these eggs. Why could we not develop these areas like other oil producing countries had done?"

"They were questions that led to some uncomfortable truths. I learnt how some local elites in the affected areas lined their pockets and looked away; how people used the region to get good education and threw away the ladder; how they were more interested in using the oil spills as instruments of blackmail than in seeking genuine redress. Many of these people I heard, were on retainership with oil companies, feeding fat on the ruination of their communities. Then the national elites took their cues from the local ones— why should they be holier than the Pope? The civilian and military leaders lined their pockets and diverted funds to develop private estates."

"So it was easy to empathise with Ken Saro-Wiwa when he started to sensitise the world about the injustice of it all. Or the militants when they took up arms until they criminalised the whole thing and lost people’s respect."

"On the other hand, it was also easy to understand why the local elites did not take umbrage when Ibori and Alamieyesiegha exemplified the many civilian and military governors who had developed and enriched everywhere else except their states. These are leaders who care more for money and power than the genuine interests of their people."

"So when E.K Clark and the many South-South leaders advocate the return of Jonathan irrespective of his performance, irrespective of the state of the nation in almost all critical areas of governance, you can see why. It is more for their continued access to power and the accoutrements of power than a genuine love for their people.  Unfortunately, these leaders are so blinded by easy money that they cannot recognise that a once in a life time opportunity is passing them by."

"And if the President is thinking about the legacy to bequeath to his people, he will have to go beyond shelling money to a few of his praise singers. He has the clout for the moment, to push for national and international awareness on the environmental situation of the region. He has the power, if only he recognises it, to clean up the place. He is in a position, if only he can see, to advance the cause of derivation. And if he wills it, he can make the oil system more transparent and thus generate more money for his region."

"He has had five years to make his region an investor’s haven. Five years to encourage and strengthen a true federal system that will liberate his people and stop the feudal system of doles and patronages. Five years to bequeath a true legacy to his people. He is running out of time and a life time opportunity for the minorities is slipping away." By Muyiwa Adetiba: Vanguard, March 15, 2014

See Moving Forward and other issues, culled From "Bonga Oil Spillage: Niger Delta, and Sustainable Development", posted January 02, 2012 by Alex Aidaghese

Moving Forward

"Indeed, President Goodluck Jonathan’s election as President of Nigeria is important symbolically, but they cannot overcome 50 years of abuse of federal character, quota system, environmental degradations, and the indiscriminate destructions of the aquatic resources that the people of Niger Delta overwhelmingly depend on for their survival by the multi-national oil companies."

"They survived 50 years of neglect and deprivations. That is a fact."

"They were fisher-men, they were into rubber and they were into timber. They were industrious, self-secured and self-sufficient. They were loyal landlords, until the uninvited quests confiscated their land, took away the riches of their earth, and imperiled their means of survival."

"And yes, they produced and drank ogogoro (local gin), but there was no drunkard and no insane delusional or hopeless mind rummaging the swampy landscape scavenging for a piece of the black gold simmering from crevices along the pipelines. IOCs and the Federal Government of Nigeria took their humility for granted and left them economically pulverized."

"There was no burning, and there was no looting. There was no kidnapping of white men and not so white men for ransom. And there was no lamentation of force majeure by Shell, or BP, or by Chevron. These companies cleaned up their mess in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere in the developed and developing World; they must be made to clean up their mess in the Niger Delta."

"That is not too much of a demand."  

"Suffice it to say at this juncture, that, just as Abuja (the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria) was a national priority during its construction, the reconstruction and development of infrastructural facilities in the Niger Delta should be a national priority. NDDC must be managed directly from Aso Rock. "

A Fundamental Framework

"God gave us the Niger Delta, with all its natural riches for our use, development, and enjoyment.  Be that as it may, it is expected of us to explore, exploit, and utilize the natural riches for the use and benefit of present generations, while making reservations for the needs and use of the unborn generations who would have no other land, except the Niger Delta and Nigeria, to call their own.  It is called sustainable development of natural resources."

"What is required therefore, is a fundamental framework, developed with a view to ensuring sustainable development of the natural resources by the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on behalf of Nigerians and specifically, on behalf of the occupiers land and water - the local communities in and around the Niger Delta."

"This fundamental framework involves the integration of human rights and human resources development clauses within the body of every international investment agreements negotiated between Nigeria Government and International Oil Companies (IOCs). It also extends to agreements negotiated between the National Government and Local Oil Companies (LOCs).  It requires balancing the investment interests of IOCs and LOCs, with those of the host nation, Nigeria, without undermining the human rights and sustainable development of the host communities in the Niger Delta. That is the current trends in the development of mineral resources around the World. Nigeria should not be an exception."

"It requires the establishment of a Land Reclamation Funds or Water Restoration Funds as the case may be, created at the inception of the exploration agreement to be funded by the Federal Government, IOCs and LOCs with certain percentage of estimated yearly earnings agreed upon by the parties. [See 'The Host Community Funds' under the new Petroleum Industry Bill before the National Assembly]. The contracting parties must deposit the reserve funds in an escrow account during each calendar year, specifically to offset environmental clean-up, oil spillage as presently the case in Bonga Field. It also involves land reclamation, and decommissioning costs whenever the need arises or whenever the investors cease operations (Shell). The land reclamation funds, the escrow account, as well as water restorations obligations are essential and mandatory components of the integrated contract."

"It recognizes the importance of local contents and training and education of the indigenes of the surrounding communities. Cash incentives only provide temporary relief and should be discontinued where possible; instead, effort should be made to expand Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun, with the capacity to absorb and provide basic machining, technical and mechanical training for candidates within the amnesty pools (former  members of MEND), with a view to preparing them for entry level positions in the energy sector."

"It requires honest and transparent negotiations between the government, IOCs, and the local communities where natural resources are located. IOCs should endeavor to engage and interact socially and economically with the local people on regular basis by buying local produce, attending community activities, and cultural festivals. It is called social license, and it is more important than any PSA [Production Sharing agreement] with the federal government. In addition, the divide and rule system - setting up one community against another or one interest group against another as was the case in the trial and execution of Ken Saro-wiwa, is counterproductive and should be avoided by all means."

Domestication and Rehabilitation of Militants

"In Nigeria, militancy business is a big business. It benefits the sponsors of the activities more than the perpetrators  (the militants) of the activities in financial terms. Therefore, the perpetrators need redemption, while those involved in planning and sponsorship should be prosecuted where possible."

"First, government and IOCs should start with establishment of Schools of Basic Studies or Extramural Classes, where those who dropped out of Grammar Schools and those who do not have the mandatory five or six credits required for admission to higher institutions,  as well as those who cannot afford to pay to retake the exams over and over again as it is the case in Nigeria, should be able to register and retake the exams, without the temptation of joining militant activities. These are the dislocated Nigerians – no certificate, no jobs, and no future - who are the gullible, vulnerable and easy target for recruitment as militants."

'In spite of every thing, these affected youths should be proactive and look beyond immediate gains accruing from militants activities, and instead, dwell on how to secure sustainable income, with a view to ensuring a better standard of living and a brighter future for their children. The reasonable step right now, is to eschew militancy activities and  take advantage of the amnesty programs and everything that it offers. That is one sure creditable avenue to earning a sustainable income and a happy living.' 

Analysis 

Integrating Human Rights and Community Expectations into Investment Agreements with IOC:

"The demand for the integration of human rights, human development and sustainable development within the framework of every investment agreements in the extractive sector, is not just an in intellectual exercise. It is real and achievable, if diligently pursued. Investment Treaties and Stabilization Clauses do not provide the kind of stability that developing some forms of relationship (social license) with the community provides."

"The earlier nation-states and foreign investors embrace and acknowledge the interests and concerns of indigenous people and inculcate those concerns into their final investment agreements, the closer we are to peace and sustainable development in the mineral producing areas of the World. Nothing enriches shareholders value more than sustainable income and conducive investment climate."

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"Finally, it is our firm belief that any IOC that values life, liberty, freedom, and fundamental human rights of others, especially people living in and around mines and rigs; any IOC with genuinely concern for living things, creatures, and the environment in and around its facilities; any IOC that values peaceful investment climate and cordial business relationship with local communities, should not prevaricate on these issues and the solutions proffered."

"Therefore, we strongly hold that the number one problem facing multinationals in the extractive sector, especially in developing countries, Niger Delta in particular, is a failure of corporate responsibility."

"In addition, host nations should hold IOCs liable for any financial setback following declaration of force majeure that are unconnected with natural disaster, or unforeseeable catastrophic occurrences. Also, we firmly believe that the health and environmental hazards prevalent in the oil producing areas and Niger Delta in particular, are preventable, and the economic deprivations and financial losses inherent in oil spillage and pollution are compensable. Host nations as well as host communities, working through the legal channel, should demand for punitive damages where catastrophic occurrences are foreseeable, egregious, and preventable."

" Finally, the United Nations has over the years, developed numerous papers and articles on this very issue of integration of human rights and investors’ interests in natural resources agreements with host nations for the purpose of ensuring sustainable development. And the one that I find most revealing and enlivening, is the Rio Declaration of 1992. Four of the articles are reproduced below."

“Human beings are at the center of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature...The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations…In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall constitute an integral part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it…Indigenous people and their communities and other local communities have a vital role in environmental management and development because of their knowledge and traditional practices. States should recognize and duly support their identity, culture and interests and enable their effective participation in the achievement of sustainable development.” UN RIO DECLARATION: Principles 1, 3, 4, & 24

December, 2011

Culled from "Bonga Oil Spillage: Niger Delta, and Sustainable Development", posted January 02, 2012.