A traditional ruler in Bayelsa State, HRH David Oseni of Elebele community, has warned youths against oil pipeline vandalism, saying the resulting environmental damage threatens farming, fishing and other sources of livelihood in host communities.
Oseni’s warning came as stakeholders from oil and gas host communities, including the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, called on the Federal Government to strengthen engagement with communities to improve pipeline security and sustain oil production.
The stakeholders spoke on Monday at a bi-monthly forum organised by Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL), where they urged the Federal Government to adopt the company’s model of regular engagement with host communities.
The Second National Deputy President of the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, Famous Daunemigha, said PINL’s continued engagement with communities along the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) had contributed to improved security of the infrastructure.
He said host communities were critical stakeholders in the oil and gas value chain and should be involved in protecting the facilities.
Daunemigha said: “PINL has done well; they have been relating with all the critical stakeholders for over a period now.
“We can see there is ownership of the process. We all own it. We are now like partners in progress.
“The Nigerian government have also seen that when the people that own the pipeline, own the resources, are part of the process of securing it, it’s easier for them to achieve peace. You can put 1,000 soldiers on the pipeline; you will not achieve it.
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“But when the people are okay and happy with you, with the way PINL is doing, the people will be part of it; they will own it, leading to steady oil production.”
The Ijaw youth leader said the state had recorded zero infractions on the pipeline lines, attributing the achievement to the communities’ sense of ownership, supported by PINL’s regular engagement.
He urged the Federal Government to apply the same approach in its dealings with host communities to promote security and reliable oil revenue.
Daunemigha added: “There is no infraction. It means that the people that owned the resources are ready to protect it.
“This is feedback to the Federal Government that; look at the model that are being used by PINL by engaging the host communities as the owners of the resources and their subsidiaries.
“They can use that model and apply to their own dealings with us as well. By so doing, Nigeria will have a steady revenue which will trickle down to all of us.”
Oseni also acknowledged PINL’s role in protecting oil infrastructure and promoting relative peace through engagement with traditional rulers and community leaders.
The monarch warned that pipeline vandalism and oil spills directly affect the people living in host communities, particularly through damage to crops, food sources and aquatic life.
Oseni said: “Oil spill is doing more damage to the environment. Our food, our crops, our aquaculture, the negative impact is coming back to us, not the Federal Government, not these multinationals, but to us.
“If we destroy the pipes today and the negative impact comes to the environment, your family, your mother, your parents, everybody will suffer. So please, it’s a take-home message.
“Since PINL have decided to integrate the traditional rulers and the leaders of various communities, there is a relative peace, and we must learn how to sustain it and build on it.”
The lawmaker representing Ekeremor Constituency II, Hon. Living Meeting, said PINL’s pipeline protection efforts benefited host communities as well as the Federal Government by reducing the risks associated with oil spills and infrastructure sabotage.
He said: “What the PINL is doing is seemingly primarily benefiting the Federal Government, but of a truth, our communities tend to benefit more. At one point, our oil infrastructure was suffering a lot of sabotage, and the impact of the sabotage was always creating havoc on our communities.
“When the pipeline is tampered with and oil leaks into the rivers, it becomes a problem for our local fishermen to survive.
“Our environment cannot thrive without its natural habitat.
“So, what the PINL has done has also benefited us by way of protecting the infrastructure so that the devastation that comes with the equipment failure and everything can be contained.”
Meeting commended PINL’s operational strategy and called on stakeholders in host communities to sustain their support for the company’s activities.
Earlier, PINL’s General Manager, Community and Government Relations, Dr Akpos Mezeh, said the state had recorded an extended period of zero infractions on the Trans Niger Pipeline, particularly since August.
Mezeh reminded stakeholders that host communities had an important role to play in helping the Federal Government meet its oil and gas production targets for 2027 and 2030.
He said: “NNPC Limited has set ambitious production targets of 2 million barrels per day by 2027 and 3 million barrels per day by 2030, alongside a target of 12 billion standard cubic feet of natural gas production per day by 2030.
“For these ambitions to become sustainable realities, the security and integrity of pipelines and other critical infrastructure will be fundamental. This is where the role of host communities becomes particularly important.
“The communities through which these assets pass are not passive observers. They are partners in protecting the infrastructure that supports our national economy.
“Every pipeline protected is an asset preserved. Every incident prevented is production protected. Every timely piece of intelligence shared can help prevent disruption.”
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