COMMUNIQUE ON THE CONFERENCE ON OIL THEFT AND ILLEGAL BUNKERING IN THE NIGER DELTA HELD AT EKO HOTELS & SUITES, LAGOS, THURSDAY 15th AUGUST 2013. The conference was held against the backdrop of incessant theft and illegal bunkering of crude in the Niger Delta. The socio-economic impact of the menace includes: • Environmental degradation • Loss of economic activities for the communities • Loss of revenue to the government resulting in inadequate funding for development activities • Increased criminality in the region • Lack of security due to illegal activities • Infiltration of the national collaborators and • Bad image for the country. In his message to the conference, the special adviser to the president on Niger Delta; Hon Kingsley Kuku, reiterated the commitment of President Goodluck Jonathan to defeat oil theft and restore sanity in the sector. He further re-emphasized the commitment of his office to partner with other stakeholders in the sector to achieve Mr. President’s commitment. According to Hon. Kuku, only zero tolerance is good enough. No effort is too little and none too big to be spared in this regard. Conference acknowledged the efforts of the Nigerian Navy, the Joint Task Force, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the oil-producing communities and various government agencies which have so far worked hard to address the problem. Conference identified some critical issues including: • Inadequate community participation in management of resources in their communities • Pollution of the environment dear to the economic activities in the communities • Increased criminality and insecurity of the coast lines and • Dearth of reliable data to access and understand development in the sector. Conference strongly condemned oil theft and illegal bunkering. After exchanging views on the prevailing situation in the oil sector particularly as regards oil theft and illegal bunkering, the conference resolved to compliment and reinforce the efforts of stakeholders as follows; 1. Role of the communities. • Report illegal activities within our communities • Identify characters involved in illegal oil bunkering • Take part in the process of decision making in all aspects of resource management • Be part of a comprehensive mechanism to defeat oil theft 2. Role of oil companies, multi-nationals and NNPC. • Install metres at the point of production that will ensure the quantity of oil produced • Improve corporate social responsibility anchored on human capacity development • Move the headquarters of the oil companies to the Niger Delta • Make petroleum products available to the people in the Niger Delta at the right price • Institute a transparent oil loading regime and stop forth with the loading of plus 5% • Provide first line of protection for their facilities • Expand the keep clear pipeline Right of Way (ROW) • Encase pipeline with the minimum depth to protect against vandalism • Establish joint mini-refineries to absorb illegal refineries in the local communities • Fund the immediate clean-up of the Niger Delta. 3. Role of security agencies. • Enhance security sector collaboration with community participation • Enhance intelligence gathering system with advancement on public and community input • Stop the unsystematic destruction of illegal oil theft facilities which compound the environmental damage. 4. Role of the international community. • Commit oil fingerprinting to curtail stolen good from the demand site • Increase collaboration with the federal government in combating oil theft and illegal oil bunkering in the Niger Delta and the gulf of guinea. 5. The Government. • Increase funding and equipment of the Navy, the Joint Task Force, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and other operatives working in the region to defeat oil theft. • Facilitate the socio-economic development of the Niger Delta to curtail criminality in the oil sector • Immediately mandate and fund the clean-up of the Niger Delta • Immediately introduce community monitoring of oil pipelines • Carry out intensive and constructed campaign to curtail oil theft • As a matter of urgency, immediately pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law • Strengthen the law against illegal oil bunkering and economic sabotage with fast-track prosecution and long jail terms. Conclusion • Conference thanked all stakeholders for attending the conference and commended the recommendations of the conference to the federal government and other stakeholders. • Conference organizers to establish a task team to work with the office of the special adviser to the president on Niger-Delta to collaborate with other stakeholders in implementing recommendations of this conference. • Conference expressed support for President Goodluck Jonathan and called on all Nigerians to support him in this task of defeating oil theft and developing this country.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Aug 2013 23:54:40 +0000
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