Chief Mofe Pirah is Delta State Commissioner for Oil and Gas. He is the former chairman of Itsekiri Regional Development Council. In a recent interview, he spoke on the importance of Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) to oil-producing communities in Niger Delta. Excerpts:

As the Commissioner for Oil and Gas in Delta State, what would you say are your achievements so far?:

My achievements are so enormous since I assumed the position as the Commissioner for Oil and Gas. There is peace in our environment. The cardinal point of my ministry is to liaise with oil companies in our state and the communities to ensure a conducive environment for their operations to go on. There is wrong perception about the people in Delta State.

Some believe that Niger Delta people are hostile and there are lots of insecurity activities in the Niger Delta. But, this is not true. Our people are friendly and accommodating. Chevron has been in Delta State for years and I think they are among the multi-national oil companies surviving the environment because, they understand the people and tried as much as possible to carry them along in their operations.

Relatively, there are over 18 oil companies operating in Delta State. We have the International Oil Companies (IOCs), Marginal Field operators and oil servicing companies. So, on a daily basis there is need to interface between the oil companies and the environment.  It is not much of a challenge judging from the background I am coming from.

I was chairman, Itsekiri General Development Council for close to six years.  For me to have left that office and the government deemed me fit to manage the oil and gas sector, I have good experience of the environment and that has been helping me so much.  We have had the opportunity of enjoying capacity development sponsored by Chevron on how to manage public funds and how to relate to people on daily basis and that has really helped us in doing what we are doing right now.

It is on record that a lot of things that we hear outside in respect to the security situation in Delta State are not correct. One, specifically, was Shell Development Petroleum Company’s divested assets from Warri and that the reason for their action was that the community was hostile.  In the process, SPDC divested one of its assets to Seplat.

When Seplat took over that asset, it was producing 18,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), but as at today, the asset is producing close to 80,000 of oil bpd. Since, Seplat took over the asset, the communities are still there and the company is not having any problem with the communities. In Delta State, we have developed a model to make the communities become an integral part of the businesses of oil companies.

What would you say was the reason behind Shell’s exit from Warri?

The reasons they gave to the public was that the communities were hostile, their workers were been kidnapped and that their businesses were being threatened. But, Seplat, which took over the SPDC assets, has not reported any case of kidnapping of its workers. So, we should look at the issue critically.   They are trying to paint the communities bad, but the question they should be ready to answer is that, are the communities part of their business?

Is the GMoU not working well?  The complaint from the communities is that Shell brings people from outside the communities to work in its facilities.  The communities are not happy that they are not being considered.  Once we can get that done, we will be on the right part.

In 2005, Chevron Nigeria Limited pioneered a social performance strategy – Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) to support socio-economic development of the Niger Delta communities.   Give us details of the GMoU?:

Yes, Chevron Nigeria Limited signed a GMoU with our host communities. Delta State Government was part of the programme. They had to come up with the scheme when some of their facilities were vandalised.  The purpose was to make the communities beneficiary in their operation. Before the GMoU, Chevron was dealing with individual communities, but this scheme has made it easy for the company to deal with the host communities collectively.

The programme is working very well because it has been able to ensure that the communities actually receive funds made available to them by the companies operating in their environment. It has eliminated the era of the few community leaders embezzling the fund, which is supposed to be used for community development.  The GMoU model has been able to introduce a new era where there is accountability and transparency.

With this model, the communities are engaged in their projects, they review and prioritise their projects and they also know how much they have and how much they have spent. Although, they are not signatory to the account where the fund is kept, but they are involved with the day to day running of the programme.  If there is any project to be done, the contractor from the host communities are engaged to execute the projects and enjoy the profit.

I was the chairman of the Itsekiri Regional Development Council for six years and I know Chevron has given Itsekiri communities about N3 billion for development of the area because on yearly basis, the funding continue to increase. I think they started with about N300 million per year and the funding has increased to about N500 million yearly.

A special account was opened for the GMoU, which is being managed by Chevron, government and the host communities.  The GMoU has helped to reduce disharmony and disunity among communities, which would have arisen due to alleged embezzlement of community fund.  Before this GMoU was introduced, there was an issue between the Ijaws and the Itsekiris, which resulted to the destruction of some communities.

Through Chevron’s GMoU, those communities have been reconstructed. In fact, about three communities have been rebuilt.  It is something worth emulating.  At any given opportunity, we have always encouraged other oil companies to emulate what Chevron is doing.  The truth is that it may not be 100 per cent perfect at the beginning, but it will surely have positive impact on the communities.

Can you specifically give us some of the projects that have been executed through the GMoU model in Delta State?:

There is a hospital project that is ongoing right now in Itsekiri.  A lot of things have slowed down since I left as the regional chairman of Itsekiri development council. There is a cottage hospital in two of our communities, which is under construction through the Chevron GMoU model. Also, through the model, some funds were given to banks to lend to women of the communities as micro credit.

Specifically, there has also been construction of town halls, housing units and training centres for the Itsekiri communities.  When we did an assessment, we discovered that housing units were more important for the communities and we have built not less than 140 housing units or more.

Would you say that the GMoU model has actually added value to the Itsekiri communities?:

I managed the Itsekiri district for more than five years and I was living in the village. So, the issue is that the people said that they needed shelter. In our council, we had 89 members and we know how many families in a particular community and the houses were shared based on the numbers of families in a community.  Houses have been provided, micro credit has been given and the young men were also given jobs under the GMoU model.  We were able to touch everyone in the community.  Everyone in the communities have benefited from the scheme from the aged to the young people in the community.

What are your achievements so far?

First, we came up with Sustainable Livelihood Assessment of the communities to determine their needs. Through this, we were able to identify housing as one of the most important needs of the communities. The youths have gotten employment. We have achieved a lot of success as regards employment.  Some youths have been provided jobs and some others have had the opportunity of getting training in Nigeria and South Africa under this GMoU.  Some are presently undergoing training in Ogere and after the training; Chevron may employ them as technicians after one year.

We have been able to achieve transparency and we have been able to ensure that funds are actually directed to solve community challenges. We have been able to ensure that accountability of the funds is made available for community projects. We have been able to reduce corruption. The Federal Government introduced the Local Content Policy, which is supposed to give preference for local contractors.  Are the oil producing communities in Delta State benefi
ting from this policy in respect to the award of contracts?

Chevron is one of the companies, which practise local content in Delta State.  Before now, everything that has to do with logistics was being handled by host community contractors. But because there is regulatory framework, there were kind of changes. Chevron has also done well in respect to capacity building, which is an integral part of the local content policy.

Capacity has been built and Chevron supported the training of about 230 welders in different rudiment of welding.  Some welders were taken recently to Abu Dhabi to be taught welding.  What I am still saying is that Chevron needs to do more.  The fund Chevron is putting into the programme is minimal. We need more funds to reclaim the communities, which are being submerged.  We also need jobs for the people in the communities. We want Chevron and other oil companies to provide jobs to people in the community.

How much has Ugborodo community benefited from the GMoU?

Chevron contributed funds five years ago in rebuilding new Ugborodo. The fund is still there for Ugborodo people for community development. There is a turbine, which provides electricity for the community.  There is also a scholarship scheme on ground for the communities. When we were growing up, Chevron provided water for us and till today, it has made drinking water available to a lot of people.  Chevron spent millions of naira to provide water for the communities under the GMoU.

Some of the oil companies have on several occasions accused the communities of vandalising pipelines and coercing them to award indigenes the contract for the repair or get it vandalised again immediately after repair. What is your take on this?:

These things happen in that environment because the oil companies have failed to provide jobs for the people in the community. So, they could be tempted to vandalise the pipelines to enable them get jobs to do.  The only way out is to domicile contract of surveillance of pipelines to contractors within the communities.  If you domicile the contract, the pipelines will be protected.

When we talk about oil theft, they normally accused the communities. But the truth is that what the community is stealing at the creek is not up to what the high profile crude of thieves are stealing in the high sea.  So, if you want to stop pipeline vandalism within the communities, they should be engaged in the surveillance of the pipelines. What you need to do is to organise a town hall meeting and engage the communities in some operations.  Chevron does not experience pipeline vandalisation like Shell and NNPC. Government, communities, and the oil companies have roles to play in dealing with the issue of unrest in the Niger Delta.