By Jerome-Mario Chijioke Utomi.

A cursory look at the Oil and Gas host communities in Delta state reveals an area tensed up with a lot of issues, intrigues and hiccups. Their anger in the present moment, going by media reports, is precipitated by the alleged opaque manner the former governor of the state, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, managed the 13% Oil Derivation Fund that accrued to the state.

Correspondingly, It will not be characterized as hasty to conclude that there is presently in Delta state no agency or commission that is troubled as the Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission(DESOPADEC), an agency created by the enabling Act in Delta state, to secure 50% of the 13% Oil Derivation Fund accruing to Delta State government and the received sum used for rehabilitation and development of oil-producing areas of the state as well as carry out other development projects as may be determined from time to time.

Supporting the above assertions is a recent statement by Edwin Clark, convener of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), where he alleged that Ifeanyi Okowa, former governor of Delta, misappropriated the state’s derivation fund amounting to N1.760 trillion. Pa Edwin’s bombshell was followed in quick succession by protest staged in Abuja by representatives of the Delta state Oil and gas host communities, calling on Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), to investigate the immediate past Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, for allegedly misappropriating over N1tn oil derivation fund belonging to the state during his tenure.

While the coastal dwellers in their statement insisted that the former governor unlawfully diverted the aforementioned sum, the former Governor’s men are at work, thwarting every attempt to rubbish the reputation of their former boss. For instance, the immediate-past Commissioner for Information in Delta State, Ehiedu Charles Aniagwu, recently told the world that all the money Okowa’s administration got from Federation Account Allocation Committee, including derivation for the whole period in office amounted to N2.1trn and therefore described as wild goose chase HOSTCOM’s narrative on N1trn.

But in all this, what this piece observed could be safely categorized into three parts; first, Senator Okowa’s led government brought to the oil and gas host communities flashes of streets/internal roads.
Beyond this acknowledgement, there exists also in the state a deeply neglected coastal area which doubles as oil and gas host communities where poverty, disease and illiteracy walked their creeks, rivers and estuaries and as a resultant effect, forced many children out of school not because of their unwillingness to learn, but occasioned by non availability/provision of schools in the area by the government. These are verifiable facts!

A movement by boat from Egbema Kingdom in Warri North Local Government Council to Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South, from Ogulaha Kingdom in Burutu Local Government to Kabowe in Patani Local Government Area, down to Bomadi Local Government Local Councils, among others, reveals a seemingly similar experience. They are all oil and gas bearing kingdoms and communities and play host to major crude oil platforms operated by the International Oil Companies (IOCs), but they have nothing to show for it.

Secondly, without going into critical analysis of claims by the immediate past Governor of Delta State, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, that DESOPADEC got what was due to it according to the law establishing it, this piece believes that such declaration on DESOPADEC receiving a total of N208 billion in the eight years of his administration, as its rightful statutory funds appears inaccurate and, therefore, cannot hold water when faced with embarrassing arguments.

DESOPADEC, as noted in the first paragraph, is to secure 50% of the 13% Oil Derivation Fund accruing to Delta State government. With this in mind; is the former Governor saying that it was only 416 Billion naira that accrued as 13% derivation to the state in the past 8years, which summed DESOPADEC’s statutory 50% to N208 billion? Again, instead of giving a cumulative amount received from the Federation Account Allocation Committee, what stops the former Governor and his supporters from specifying the exact amount received as 13% derivation?

While answer(s) to the above questions raised is awaited, the third and most dramatic point is DESOPADEC-specific. The non satisfactory development of the area within this period under review in my view remains an emblematic sign that the affairs of the coastal areas of the state was handed over to a bunch of politicians masquerading as leaders but lack public leadership acumen and orientation. To use the words of a public affairs commentator, they were people that ‘spend more time with wines than with books’.

Aside from turning the coastal part of the state to an endangered species via wicked human capital neglect and infrastructural abandonment, these ‘leaders’, in turn, neglected community relations and communication. And because of this non-participatory leadership style and engagement, each time communities ask for bread, the agency makes ‘stones’ available and when the communities ask for fish, DESOPADEC provides a ‘snake’.
This piece will highlight two recent separate but related examples to support the above claims.

In October 2022, it was in the news that in the face of grave developmental challenges confronting the coastal dwellers in the state crying for attention, DESOPADEC leadership against all known logic opted for the donation of 50 grass-cutting machines to the people of Okerenkoko community in Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South-Local Government Area of Delta state. Presenting the machines, the DESOPADEC commissioner noted that the donation of grass-cutting machines to the community was statutorily captured in the commission’s 2021 budget; adding that the project was principally influenced by him”.
For those that are not conversant with the Okerenkoko community and may be tempted to believe that the donation was a right step taken in the right direction, they may see nothing wrong with the donation. But for someone that is familiar with the aforementioned community, the decision to donate these machines qualifies as a misguided priority.

In fact, there is everything wrong with the development. For instance, there is evidence which points to the fact that the community was neither consulted nor carried along before the decision was made. The grass-cutting machine donation, in the opinion of this piece, failed the NEEDS assessment stipulations.
The words of the youth leader from the community support this assertion.

Reacting to the development, the youth leader who spoke on behalf of the community among other things, said, “We heard about the skill acquisition that is ongoing. We are appealing to the Commissioner to at least create some avenue for those skill acquisitions for our ladies, for the youth in this community so that they can go out there and learn skills to back themselves, put themselves in order.”

From the above comment, one thing stands out; the fact that if given the opportunity, these knowledge-hungry youths in the community, who will provide the future leadership needs of the country, would have opted for skill acquisition. Instead of grass-cutting machines, the youths in the community would have preferred access to good schools where they will learn and compete with their peers across the globe. They were not just asking for more, rather, they asked for something new, different and more beneficial to their future.

Similarly, in November 2022, barely one month after, It was again reported that DESOPADEC leadership, invited the Local Government Chairmen of Burutu, Bomadi, Patani and Warri South West Local Government Areas of the state, to a shop in Warri city, Delta state, where it handed over relief materials purchased for the victims of the flood that ravaged almost all the communities/villages in the afore mentioned local Government councils.

The items distributed to the affected local governments were bags of garri, bags of rice, and bags of onions, bags of beans, noodles, vegetable oil, palm oil, toiletries, and foams, among others.

While the donation to flood victims is understandable, commendable and appreciated, some questions immediately come to mind as to why DESOPADEC management decided to be compassionate by proxy? What prevented DESOPADEC management from visiting the real victims of the flood to personally empathize with them? Is DESOPADEC management unaware that in the applied sense of the word, the real empathy lies more in the visit and emotional consolation of the flood victims than the so-called relief material sent through proxy? What will it cost DESOPADEC to pay a visit to these villages/communities in creeks?

What is the distance from Warri to Patani, Burutu and Bomadi that DESOPADEC management cannot send delegation? How will DESPODEC management ensure/ascertain that the relief materials got to the targeted beneficiaries without getting lost on transit or misdirected? If DESOPADEC management cannot visit the creeks in this period of crisis, what time will be more/most suitable to visit these people?

Even as this ugly leadership situation ‘blossoms’ in the coastal communities of Delta State, the truth remains that if we look hard enough at the moment, we shall as a people discover that the challenge confronting the region is not too difficult to grasp. Rather, the challenge flourishes because agencies such as DESOPADEC and their administrators have routinely become reputed for taking decisions that breed poverty.

For me, While it is important that DESOPADEC’s new leadership commits to mind the above admonition, this piece holds the opinion that to sustainably solve the problem of the coastal dwellers in the state, a compelling point the state government must not fail to remember is the present call by stakeholders on DESOPADEC management to emulate the Chevron Nigeria Limited template in community engagement. A template that deals directly with the host community and an approach the communities claimed has worked perfectly in the area of infrastructural provision.

On his part, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State should within this period execute for the oil and gas host communities legacy projects that will stand the test of time. In fact, it will not be out of place if a bridge is constructed to link and open these oil bearing communities.

Utomi Jerome-Mario is the Programme Coordinator (Media and Public Policy), Social and Economic Justice Advocacy (SEJA), A Lagos-Based Non Governmental Organization (NGO). Jeromeutomi@yahoo.com/08032725374