Oil & Energy

Ogoniland Still An Ecological Disaster – Stakeholders

Published

5 years ago

October 12, 2020

Stakeholders and environmental experts who attended the 79th posthumous birth day of late Ogoni activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, in Port Harcourt, at the weekend, have lamented that Ogoniland is still an ecological disaster 25 years after the death of the activist.
Speaking at the event which was organised by the Ogoni Civil Society Stakeholders Forum (OSISOF) at the Atrium Event Centre in Port Harcourt, the guest speaker, Nnimoh Bassey, said it was regrettable that nothing substantial has been done to restore the battered environment of Ogoni despite the efforts of Saro Wiwa towards environmental justice in Nigeria.
The guest speaker, who was represented by an environmental activist, Comrade Celestine Akpobari, at the event said, the state of environmental pollution in Ogoni as a result of oil exploration had deteriorated beyond how it was before the UNEP investigation and recommendations.
He said, “before UNEP, the pollution level was five metres deep into the soil, but presently, it has worsened to 10 metres deep.”
The guest speaker, who described Ogoni as the metaphor of ecocide in Nigeria, called for environmental justice in Ogoni and by extension, the Niger Delta.
Also speaking, the special guest of honour, Engineer Olu Andah Wai-Ogosu, expressed deep concern about the increasing blight and destruction of the Ogoni environment which he said, is their “ultimate heritage.”
He called on the Federal Government to address the issues of environmental and economic justice raised by the late Ogoni hero on the Ogoni Bill of Rights (OBR) presented to the Federal Government on November 1990.
Wai-Ogosu, who is the former National President of the Nigeria Environmental Society (NES), urged the Ogonis to be united against the tendencies of external infiltrations so as to achieve the objectives of the Ogoni struggle which Saro Wiwa and other Ogoni leaders lived and died for.
In her remark, another environmental rights activist, Dr Patience Osarojiji, called on the Federal Government to compel the Shell Petroleum Company to own up their ecological damage in Ogoni as a result of decades of oil exploratory activities in the area.
She said Ogonis had lost their means of livelihood to oil pollution and should be rehabilitated save them from denigrating poverty.
Earlier, the Chairman of the event, Prof Barineme Fakae, had commended the organisers for organising the memorial lecture to honour the late Ogoni activist.
Fakae called on the Federal Government to address the issues of minority and environmental rights in Nigeria in the interest of justice and equity.
In his remark, the organiser of the event and chairman of the Ogoni Civil Society Stakeholders Forum, Comrade Christian Lekia, said the event which was organised under the theme: ‘The Ken Saro Wiwa Leadership Legacies; What Lesson in Today’s Democratic Nigeria’ was to celebrate the legacies of Saro Wiwa.
He urged the Federal Government to exonerate Saro Wiwa and his slain colleagues of accusations levelled against them before their “ judicial murder.”

Taneh Beemene

Oil & Energy

No Subsidy In Oil, Gas Sector — NMDPRA

Published

6 days ago

September 8, 2025

The Tide

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has said there are no subsidies in the oil and gas sector as Nigeria operates a completely deregulated market.

The Director, Public Affairs Department, NMDPRA, George Ene-Italy, made this known in an interview with newsmen, in Abuja, at the Weekend.

Reacting to the recent reports that the Federal Government has removed subsidies or increased the price of Compressed Natural Gas (CBG), Ene-Italy said, “What we have is a baseline price for our gas resources, including CNG as dictated by the Petroleum Industry Act”.

He insisted that as long as the prevailing CNG market price conforms to the baseline, then the pricing is legitimate.

Furthermore, the Presidential – Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (P-CNGI) had said that no directive or policy had been issued by the Federal Government to alter CNG pump prices.

The P-CNGI boss, Michael Oluwagbemi, emphasised that the recent pump price adjustments announced by certain operators were purely private-sector decisions and not the outcome of any government directive or policy.

For absolute clarity, it said that while pricing matters fell under the purview of the appropriate regulatory agencies, no directive or policy had been issued by the Federal Government to alter CNG pump prices.

The P-CNGI said its mandate, as directed by President Bola Tinubu, was to catalyse the development of the CNG mobility market and ensure the adoption of a cheaper, cleaner, and more sustainable alternative fuel and diesel nationwide.

Oil & Energy

‘Nigeria’s GDP’ll Hit $357bn, If Power Supply Gets To 8,000MW’

Published

6 days ago

September 8, 2025

The Tide

The Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company Limited (FDC), Bismarck Rewane, has said that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could rise to $357b if electricity supply would increase from the present 4.500MW to 8,000MW.

Rewane also noted that Nigeria has spent not less than $30 billion in the power sector in 26 years only to increase the country’s power generation by mere 500MW, from 4,500 MW in 1999 to 5,000MW in 2025 though the sector has installed capacity to generate 13,000 MW.

In his presentation at the Lagos Business School (LBS) Executive Breakfast Session, titled “Nigeria Bailout or Lights Out: The Power Sector in a Free Fall”, Rewane insisted that the way out for the power sector that has N4.3 trillion indebtedness to banks would be either a bailout or lights out for Nigeria with its attendant consequences.

He said, “According to the World Bank, a 1.0 per cent increase in electricity consumption is associated with a 0.5 to 0.6 per cent rise in GDP.

“If power supply rises to 8000MW, from current 4500MW, the bailout shifts money from government into investment, raising consumption and productivity. And, due to multiplier effects, GDP could rise to $357 billion.”

The FDC’s Chief Executive said “in the last 30 years, Nigeria has invested not less than $30 billon to solve an intractable power supply problem.

“The initiatives, which started in 1999 when the power generated from the grid was as low as 4,500MW, have proved to be a failure at best.

“Twenty-six years later, and after five presidential administrations, the country is still generating 5,000MW. Nigeria is ranked as being in the lowest percentile of electricity per capita in the world.

“The way out is a bailout, or it is lights out for Nigeria”, he warned.

He traced the origin of the huge debts of the power sector to its privatisation under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, when many of the investors thought they had hit a jackpot, only to find out to their consternation that they had bought a poisoned chalice.

Rewane, who defined a bailout as “injection of money into a business or institution that would otherwise face an imminent collapse”, noted that the bailout may be injected as loans, subsidies, guarantees or equity for the purpose of stabilising markets, protect jobs and restore confidence.

He said, “The President has promised to consider a financial bailout for the Gencos and Discos. With a total indebtedness of N4.3 trillion to the banking system, the debt has shackled growth in the sector.”

Rewane warned that without implementing the bailouts for the power sector, the GENCOs and DISCOs would shut down at the risk of nationwide blackout.

Rewane, however, noted that implementing a bailout for the power sector could have a positive effect on the country’s economy if Nigeria’s actual power generation could rise from today’s 4,500 MW to around 8,000 and 10,000 MW.

The immediate gains, according to him, would include improved power generation and distribution capacity, more reliable electricity supply to homes and businesses as well as cost reflective tariffs.

Oil & Energy

NEITI Blames Oil, Gas Sector Theft On Mass Layoff

Published

6 days ago

September 8, 2025

The Tide

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has blamed the increasing crude oil theft across the nation on the persistent layoff of skilled workers in the oil and gas sector.

The Executive Secretary, NEITI, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, stated this during an interview with newsmen in Abuja.

Orji said from investigations, many of the retrenched workers, who possess rare technical skills in pipeline management and welding, often turn to illicit networks that steal crude from pipelines and offshore facilities.

In his words, “You can’t steal oil without skill. The pipelines are sometimes deep underwater. Nigerians trained in welding and pipeline management get laid off, and when they are jobless, they become available to those who want to steal crude”.

He explained that oil theft requires extraordinary expertise and is not the work of “ordinary people in the creeks”, stressing that most of those involved were once trained by the same industry they now undermine.

According to him, many retrenched workers have formed consortia and offer their services to oil thieves, further complicating efforts to secure production facilities.

“This is why we told the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to take this seriously. The laying off of skilled labour in oil and gas must stop”, he added.

While noting that oil theft has reduced in recent times due to tighter security coordination, Orji warned, however, that the failure to address its root causes, including unemployment among technically trained oil workers would continue to expose the country to losses.

According to him, between 2021 and 2023, Nigeria lost 687.65 million barrels of crude to theft, according to NEITI’s latest report. Orji said though theft dropped by 73 per cent in 2023, with 7.6 million barrels stolen compared to 36.6 million barrels in 2022, the figure still translates to billions of dollars in lost revenues.

Orji emphasised that beyond revenue, crude oil theft also undermines national security, as proceeds are used to finance terrorism and money laundering.

“It’s more expensive to keep losing crude than to build the kind of monitoring infrastructure Saudi Arabia has. Nigeria has what it takes to do the same”, he stated.