WHO IS PREVENTING THE PASSAGE OF PIB IN TO LAW?

After a tour of some oil producing communities in the Niger-Delta region, coupled also with the unacceptable state of poverty, under-development and environmental degradation witnessed in the zone, I was compelled to join the campaign for the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) currently before the National Assembly in to law. What I saw during the tour was more than what any lawmaker or politician in Abuja or elsewhere can imagine or give as reason for still opposing the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill in to law! It's all about communities whose means of livelihood has either been completely destroyed or is on the verge of outright destruction if nothing is done urgently! For example; in Southern Ijaw, the Largest Local Government Area in Bayelsa State whose means of existence is fishing is beginning to curse the day oil was first discovered in the area. The people of this area who made fishing their main occupation is beginning to face the harsh realities of life as a result of the great destruction done to their occupation by oil spillage and other environmental disasters that heralded the 2012 floods in the country. As at today, there is no single fish or aquatic habitants like mudskipper, Periwinkle and its alleys in any of their waters or along the coast line anymore! Cost of living has gone over the roof while their major source of income has been destroyed by pollution. The irony of life as I witnessed in the area was that, these people are surrounded by waters, but none is good for drinking, cooking or bathing! Some of them are beginning to leave their communities for other places looking for means of survival as well as fending for their respective families.

Similarly, the same thing was witnessed in Ewelesuo, the largest oil producing community in Nembe Local Government and Bayelsa State at large, but there is no development on ground to complement this status! Imagine a community with more than 86 oil wells and three flow stations; yet, there is no development on ground to show that, this is truly the hen that lays the golden egg. This is not to talk of Oloibiri Community in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State; a community that made Nigeria proud in 1956 by launching the nation on the map of oil producing countries of the world! When I went to this community, I shed tears over what I saw! I saw total neglect, poverty, under-development and soil that have been destroyed by oil activities over the years without creating other source of incomes for the people to live on!

But, I heeved a sigh of relief when I downloaded the original copy of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) currently before the National Assembly and studied it in a layman's way. It was then that I discovered that, apart from the Niger-Deltans who will benefit from the bill, “Ibrahim”, my friend from Kaduna State who left school many years ago, but, is still without job will also benefit from it. This is not to mention the conducive business climate it will create for oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria. Expecially now that most International Oil Companies are leaving Nigeria because of the discovery of Shale Oil in the United States of America (USA).

The Petroleum Host Communities Fund (PHCF), a clause contained in the Petroleum Industry Bill is the answer to the long negligence and under-development of communities like Ewelesuo which live on swampy grounds with few sand filled places, but is without social amenities; and cannot keep body and soul together aside fishing activities because there is no land for agricultural activities to strive! But, the Petroleum Industry Bill if passed in to law will ensure that oil companies contribute 10 percent of their profits to the Petroleum Host Communities Fund. This fund will be used to develop the infrastructural needs and the economy of the oil producing communities, while such community would be duty bound to protect the business interest and assets of those companies from attacks. Any community that still allows vandalism to continue in their area will not benefit from this fund. This system will be more beneficial to the oil and gas companies who do sign the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMOU), Surveillance Contract Agreements, plus the huge amount of money they pay to the various youth organizations in the region to protect their pipelines outside other community development services they render all in the name of protecting their economic interest, yet, sophisticated oil bunkering activities known in Nembe language as “Kpo Fire” still persist with some of them breaking pipelines and linking their host to the vandalised pipelines! So, during the crude oil pumping period to the various terminals like the AGIP Terminal in Brass and SPDC Terminal in Bonny, those boys are also getting their own share where they take it to their various camps for local refining, while some communities sometimes gets nothing from it! But, if the Petroleum Industry Bill is passed in to law, oil producing communities would be obliged to protect the business interest of the oil and gas companies in their locality; thereby boosting their production and maximizing their profits.

Also, the Petroleum Industry Bill will promote the use of local content in the three sub-sectors of the oil and gas industry for the benefits of all Nigerians in terms of employment creation and procurement contracts for our local contractors. These three sub-sectors are; the downstream sub-sector, the midstream sub-sector and the upstream sub-sector. The downstream sub-sector deal's with the refining of crude oil, marketing and distribution of products like petro or gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, asphalt, petroleum coke among others. The midstream sub-sector deals with the storage and transportation of crude oil and natural gas. In a layman's word, it is the movement of crude oil and allied natural gas from the production site to the processing plants or refineries. While the upstream sub-sector usually referred to as the searching sub-sector deals with the searching, discovery and production of crude oil and natural gas. In other words, this sub-sector is called the “Exploration and Production” sector (E&P).

So, if the Petroleum Industry Bill currently trapped in the National Assembly is passed in to law, Nigerians of all class; whether educated or not would be gainfully employed as well as secure various procurement contracts from dredging companies, seismic survey companies, depot construction companies, petroleum product haulage and marketing companies, gas development and conversion companies, marine survey companies, rig provision companies among other numerous opportunities the passage of the PIB in to law will bring to Nigerians of all class, creeds and regions. The employment this will provide for all Nigerians will go a long way in reducing the unemployment and crime rates in the country. It will also increase government revenue and services it will render to Nigerians!

However, some of those opposing the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill in to law are hinging their opposition on the taxing aspect where the Hydro Carbon Tax for the upstream sub-sector operators would be 50 percent while the Oil Companies Income Tax would be at 30 percent totaling 80 percent when the two are combined. Before I proceed, I want to categorically state that the PIB is a victim of misrepresentation of facts, because, the extant law governing the oil and gas sector which is the Petroleum Profit Tax Act (PPTA) makes oil companies to pay between 67 percent to 85 percent as tax plus other costs and settlements they have to make, but, here is a bill before the National Assembly that wants to make it simpler for operators, yet, some persons are saying the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill in to law would overtax oil companies.

In conclusion, I think that the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill in to law would be of great advantage to Nigerians because, as the current Amnesty Programme of the Federal Government expires in 2015, some treacherous ex-militants who are threatening hell if the Amnesty programme is stopped next year, would have no reason for going back to the creeks with arms to continue with their arm struggles because oil producing communities would be developed and there would be jobs for Nigerians of all education which will definitely make their treacherous acts unpopular if the PIB is passed in to law. Based on the foregoing, I want to use this medium to call on our honourable and respectable lawmakers in the National Assembly to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) currently before it in to law for the sake of the win-win deals it has to offer all players in the sector!

Comrade Edwin Uhara is an Activist, Media Consultant and Public Affairs Commentator. Contact him on 07065862479 [email protected]. Temporarily writing from Ewelesuo Community in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria.