A Former Rvers State Commissioner for Energy and Natural Resources, Dr Peter Medee, and other experts have called on the Federal Government to include host communities in the Energy Transition Plan.
They spoke at the ‘Spaces For Change’ launching event of the ‘Energy Transition In Nigeria’s Oil-Rich Communities’ report in Lagos on Friday.
According to them, oil-rich communities in Nigeria should be made to benefit from the energy transition plan, so as not to result in higher violent reactions from them as a result of neglect.
During the review of the report, Medee, who is an associate professor, department of economics, University of Port Harcourt, said the current Petroleum Industry Act neglected gas-host communities.
While calling for a review of the Act, he said, “This report got it right by highlighting neglect of the communities. As you can see, the Federal Government gave three per cent to host communities instead of 10 per cent asked for. But even at three per cent, where will the three per cent be derived from and who determines the three per cent? This is still not clear.
“The ropes of the communities should be clear stayed in the PIA, and this should go beyond giving grass-cutting contracts to them. The top-juicy contracts should be allocated to host communities in the plan because of we transit in pain, it will be worse. All mistakes of the past should be avoided.”
E360’s representative, Juliet Alohan, said that decades of neglected, widespread environmental damage, and monumental poverty, had contributed to popularising the environmentally-damaging but money-spinning artisanal refining trade.
“This burgeoning venture is envisaged to become moribund in the new green economis, buy the ETP did not make provision for the development of alternative livelihood for local populations involved in this trade which is potentially a recipe for renewed violence”, she said.
Executive Director, GASIN, and National Coordinator, NACGOND, Dr. Edward Obi, said Nigeria should not fail to let international energy companies to know that their perspective is counter-cultural.
He said, “We should not forget where we come from and how we are we do business with one another. These people don’t understand. Why should the government forget communities who will bare the brunt of the exploration? Our ways are inclusive and not exclusive”, he said.
“With the adoption of gas as transitional fuel, including the long-term energy security proposals that are heavily anchored on the use of natural gas, how much have gas-rich communities contributed to the development of the national transition plan?”, the Executive Director, Spaces for Change, Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri said during the unveiling of the report.
A communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, recommended that; environmental injustices be addressed, dismantling of centralised management of natural resources, prioritising involvement of local communities in green projects, creation and expansion of spaces for healthy engagement regarding the energy transition, create alternative livelihood for communities, inclusion of women, aligning plan and climate-economic realities of the country, diversifying Transition with renewable, as well as providing safety nets to cushion the effect of job losses as a result of the transition.
