Lawrence Nwimo, Awka
Anambra State Government has called for an increased cooperation among stakeholders and host communities to foster prosperity in the oil and gas producing areas of the state.
Commissioner for Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Anthony Ifeanya, a lawyer, made the call on Thursday during a town hall meeting on Implementing Host Communities Provisions in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
The two-day workshop which was organized by the African Centre for Leadership Strategy and Development (Centre LSD) in collaboration with International Peace and Civic Responsibility Centre (IPCRC), was to foster peace and enhance collaboration between the government, oil and gas-producing communities and other stakeholders.
Speaking at the event, the Commissioner cautioned host communities against acts capable of instigating violence or crisis in their area, urging them to embrace peace to enjoy benefits of the resources.
He said: “There is need for peace between the oil exploration companies and the host communities so that the benefits of the God-given natural resources to the communities can work to their advantage.
“When there is a fight, there is a problem both for the company and the community. But in the atmosphere of peace, there is progress and benefits.
“By this engagement, we want the oil companies to know what is expected of them to do for the host communities while they are doing their business and for the host communities to know what to expect from the oil companies for peaceful coexistence.
“Before now, we facilitated and made sure that host communities signed the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) with the oil companies. But now, we have passed that stage.
“The GMoU is no longer applicable. It has been overtaken by the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Acts, which has now made it a law that the oil companies must establish a development trust fund for host communities, where they should be paying in three percent of their annual operational cost for the year.”
He tasked oil companies to always give an open account of their annual operational cost, as well as give host communities their entitlements for peace to thrive.
Ifeanya who appreciated Centre LSD for their presence in the state, expressed optimism that the intervention would go a long way to preventing repeat of ugly experiences in the Niger Delta.
For Monday Osasah, the Executive Director of Centre LSD, the meeting marked a significant step towards ensuring that petroleum resources benefit the host communities.
Osasah added that, “Petroleum should be a blessing to us, not a curse.”
Dr Orji O. Orji, the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), in his presentation, discussed the expectations from host communities and the roles of Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
He highlighted the agency’s commitment to promoting transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s extractive industries, as conveyed by Dr. Dieter Bassi, the Director of Policy Planning and Strategy.
Earlier, Prince Chris Azor, the President of IPCRC, noted that the purpose of the meeting was to address the effective implementation of Host Communities’ Provisions in the PIA.
He said improved understanding of the PIA and Host Communities’ Provisions, enhanced stakeholder engagement, identification of priority areas, and the development of an action plan are the expected outcomes.
