A former Minister of State for Energy and monarch of Nembe Kingdom in Bayelsa State, Edmund Daukoru, has labelled crude oil thieves and pipeline vandals in the Niger-Delta region as unpatriotic elements, saying they are killing the nation’s economy.
Daukoru spoke during the inauguration of the elected national executives of the Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas, (HOSTCOM), who were returned unopposed in Yenagoa, the State capital, at the weekend.
The traditional ruler, however, said that some of the operators of illegal bunkering arrested as suspects were working for people with huge financial muscles, stressing that the boys usually get the least of the proceeds from such acts of economic sabotage.
Daukoru, a former Secretary-General, Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, (OPEC), urged the new leadership of HOSTCOM, led by the national president, Benjamin Tamaraneri, to work hard and consolidate on the progress so far made by the organisation and ensure they take public hearings on oil and gas-related issues seriously.
Also speaking, the Chairman of Bayelsa State Traditional Rulers Council, Bubaraye Dakolo, said the three percent allocated to host communities in the Petroleum Industry Act was too meagre.
Dakolo, who is the monarch of Ekpetiama Kingdom, insisted that host communities were expecting nothing less than 10 or 20 percent, urging the new HOSTCOM leaders to carry all stakeholders along in the scheme of things and work with serious people.
In his remarks, the State Governor, Douye Diri, who was represented by the Commissioner for Mineral Resources, Ebieri Jones, charged multi-nationals in the oil and gas sector to transform flared gas into other sources of energy rather than focusing on remediation and compensation to affected communities after polluting the ecosystem.
The HOSTCOM National President, Benjamin Tamaraneri, said that the group would, among others, continually mount pressure on the Federal Government and the nine States of the Niger-Delta to set up Oil-producing Areas Development Commissions to manage some percentage of the 13 percent derivation, in order to minimise agitations.
Other national executives of HOSTCOM inaugurated were the Deputy President, Ibinabobo Watson; Secretary, Dr. Joshua Okie; Assistant Secretary, Princess Enyekit Itan; Legal Adviser, Prof. Ogugua Ikpeze; Director of Strategic Planning, George Isele; and the Youth Leader, Emma Eyakagbe.
