BREAKING NEWS, Featured, Oil & Gas
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Shell Nigeria takes its grassroots campaign against crude oil theft and illegal refining to the Ogoniland
| By Anayo Ezugwu | Jul 20, 2015 @ 01:00 GMT |
THE Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, SPDC, has kicked off the second phase of its grassroots campaign against crude oil theft and illegal oil refining activities in Ogoni land, Rivers State. Osagie Okunbor, managing director of SPDC and country chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, said the 2015 campaign was targeted at Ogoni youths as they have designed some alternative empowerment programmes such as the ‘Ogoni LIVEwire’ which in January trained 105 Ogoni youths in different skills and offered them start-up funds and support.
Okunbor said the initiative was in collaboration with the state government and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA. “We are therefore focusing on raising awareness among the youths on the environmental, socio-economic and health risks associated with crude oil theft and sabotage of pipelines.”
During the campaign in Biara community, Charles George, director, inspectorate and enforcement in the state ministry of environment, commended the people for their efforts towards reducing pipeline vandalism. He reiterated that meaningful development could only take place in Ogoni land if crude oil theft activities end, and assured the people that government was working with relevant stakeholders to implement the recommendations of the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, report. “Crude oil theft and artisanal refining are criminal acts that are not only against the law but capable of mortgaging the future of the community,” he said.
King Barnabas B. Paago Bagia, an Ogoni monarch, said the campaign had the blessings of the council of elders in the area. He said the elders were doing all they could to educate the youths against crude oil theft activities that were causing the communities untold hardship.
Augustine Igbuku, manager SPDC Ogoni restoration project, said the campaign was a key pillar of the implementation of the UNEP report which recommended, among others, that Ogoni communities take actions that would stop further environmental pollution resulting from crude oil theft and illegal oil refining. He said: “The response to the first phase last year has been very encouraging. We hope that the people will seize the opportunity to join the crusade against crude oil theft and artisanal refining in Ogoni land.”
The campaign against crude oil theft in Ogoni land will run for six months and will be delivered in 12 open-air sessions by Ogoni professionals and government agencies to reach a wide range of community stakeholders.
The messages are aimed at motivating the communities to take a more active stand against individuals who break into pipelines to steal crude oil. Creating more awareness would also foster an enabling environment in which the government and other stakeholders can effectively play their roles in the environmental restoration and socio-economic development of Ogoni land. The first phase of the campaign in 2014 reached more than 7,000 community people from Eleme, Gokana, Khana, and Tai Local Government Areas.
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Tags: Augustine Igbuku Barnabas B. Paago Bagia campaign Charles George crude oil theft environmental Health illegal oil refining National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency NOSDRA Ogoni LIVEwire Ogoniland Osagie Okunbor risks sabotage of pipelines Shell Nigeria Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited socio-economic SPDC UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
