Community Protests Agip’s Neglect

The people of Ogoda community of the Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State have blasted the management of Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) over alleged neglect, abandonment, marginalisation and divide and rule tactics promoted in the community over the last 50 years of its operation in the area.
The people vented their anger, following a failed meeting between the company’s management and the community representatives at the office of the Rivers State Commissioner for Chieftaincy and Community Affairs, in Port Harcourt, recently.
The meeting, which was to be presided over by the Commissioner for Chieftaincy and Community Affairs, Dr John Bazia, was said to have been called off following the refusal, for the umpteenth time, of Agip officials to honour the parley called on December 1, at the instance of the company.
The Tide learnt that dozens of youth and elders of Ogoda community, had arrived Port Harcourt in chartered buses but became furious and disconcerted when they were informed that the meeting could no longer hold.
The villagers, who expressed dismay over the refusal of the company to honour the negotiation session without any prior information, warned Agip not to take the people of the host community for granted because of their peaceful disposition.
They also threatened to halt all activities of the company in their community if the management of Agip fails to address their grievances.
Speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt, Chairman, Coordinating Committee of Ogoda Community, Geoffrey Okpara, explained that his people were angry because NAOC had earlier failed to turn up in the same office without any cogent reason, thus prompting the rescheduling of the meeting.
Okpara, however, regretted that it was after the elders and youth of the community had arrived and waited for hours that they were notified that the company will not be able to keep the appointment, a development he said reflected how the company had always taken the community for granted over the years.
Explaining the massive operational impact of Agip on the community, Okpara emphasised that despite the huge asset base, the company’s presence has not been felt by the people.
“The Nigerian Agip Oil Company cannot point at a member of the community who had benefited from its scholarships, as well as its skills acquisition and economic empowerment programmes, and no indigene of Ogoda works in the company,” Okpara lamented.
Arguing that the meeting with Agip officials was important to the people of Ogoda, Okpara insisted that the people were determined to see the list of community members who have benefited from the company’s presence in the area for over 50 years.
“We want Agip to conclude abandoned projects in Ogoda community, and also enter into a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with us as the last one which was poorly executed has long expired”, the community leader added.
It would be recalled that the first meeting between Ogoda and NAOC about two months ago was sequel to a petition by the community to the managing director of the Italian oil and gas giant, NAOC in Lagos, complaining over poor implementation of the 2009 MoU, which expired in 2012, and demanding for a new one that will meet the needs and aspirations of the people of the community.
The Tide learnt that following the failure of the meeting to hold December 1, another session was plotted to hold immediately after the rescheduled December 10, 2016 Legislative re-run elections in Rivers State.
However, The Tide could not immediately confirm the new date, but inside sources, have expressed concern that any attempt to delay the peace parley could lead to a breakdown of law and order in the community.
All attempts to reach Agip’s Public Affairs for confirmation of the company’s position on the meeting were unsuccessful.

Susan Serekara-Nwikhana