Ijaw national congress (INC) insists that before International Oil Companies divest from the Niger Delta, they must clean up polluted sites in Ijaw land, stating that the Petroleum Industry Act is exacerbating underdevelopment.
This stance was communicated in a communique following a dialogue organized by the Ijaw National Congress, responding to Shell’s announcement of selling its Nigerian onshore oil assets for $2.4 billion.
After more than 60 years in Nigeria, Shell, as indicated in a statement from its London office, revealed that its onshore subsidiary, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, will be taken over by ND Western, Aradel Energy, First E&P, Waltersmith, and Petrolin, a Swiss company.
The completion of this deal is contingent upon approval from the Federal Government of Nigeria, which, according to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources on Thursday, expresses no opposition to Shell’s oil assets sale.
The President of INC, Prof Benjamin Okaba, who read the communique to journalists noted that “very soon, Ijaw territories would become private estates of these local investors with international connections.”
He said, “The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) is anti-Ijaw in all ramifications. The NNPC has been privatised by the Federal Government, and the International Oil Companies (IOCs) are divesting their oil assets around Ijaw land with local consortiums buying up shares.
“However, before the IOCs are allowed to pull out, they should be made to clean up the environmental mess they have created. The new investors should relocate their headquarters to Ijaw territories where they have their oil facilities.
“Despite contributing over 60 per cent to oil and gas production, which is the country’s main source of economic survival, there are no major infrastructures across Ijaw land. For instance, the East-West Road that traverses Ijaw land is still deplorable and impassable, and several Ijaw communities remain inaccessible by road.”
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