Sylvester Idowu in Warri
Niger Delta monarchs, under the aegis of the Association of Traditional Rulers of Oil Mineral Producing Communities of Nigeria (TROMPCON), have decried environmental degradation, unemployment and lack of social amenities in oil and gas-producing communities in the region.
The monarchs made their position known during the 27th Conference of the association which held in Asaba, Delta State, with the theme: ‘The Relationship between the Oil Producing Communities and the International Oil Companies operating in Niger Delta Area: What impact has it made on the People?’
At the conference were traditional rulers from six of the nine member-states of the association: Abia, Bayelsa, Delta, Imo, Ondo and the Rivers States while Akwa-Ibom, Cross River and the Edo states.
The conference, in a communiqué issued and signed by the newly-elected national chairman and secretary of TROMPVON, Orodje of Okpe, HRM Maj. Gen. Felix Mujakperuo (Retd) and Dr I.O. Asor, averred that the much-anticipated socio-economic advantages derivable from the natural resources of the Niger Delta people have eluded the region.
The conference, which called for the restoration of constructional roles for traditional rulers, further decried the state of infrastructural development in the Niger Delta, particularly the state of roads, standard schools, healthcare system, as well as the parlous state of the East-West road.
The conference, which threw its weight behind the Southern Governors’ resolutions, called for “legal instruments to institutionalise the relationship between oil and gas prospecting companies and host communities in the Niger Delta.”
It also frowned at the proposed Petroleum Industry Bill 2020, saying the bill “has not made provision for the representation of the oil-producing communities and prescribed traditional institutions as well as “no provision for some form of affirmative action recognising the interest of the prescribed traditional institutions including the host communities.”
According to the monarchs, the proposed Trust Fund in the bill designed for host communities should not be subject to the protection of oil facilities.
“The protection of oil facilities in host communities remain and should be the responsibility of the Federal Government in its constitutional obligation to provide for the security and welfare of the people of the Niger Delta and Nigeria in general,” they stated.
Highlights of the conference was the dissolution of the Executive Council of the association elected in 2017 and the constitution of a new executive headed by the Orodje of Okpe, HRM Maj. Gen Felix Majakperuo (Retd) promised to reposition the association with the aims and objectives of its founding fathers.
Other newly-elected members of the executive were HRM Obafemi Ogbaro, the former National Secretary, as first deputy National Chairman, HRM Eze I. O Asor as National Secretary and Ovie of Ozoro, HRM Ovietobore Anthony Ogbogbo as Publicity Secretary.
