The Special Adviser on Oil & Gas to the Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Franklin Otele, has declared that the introduction of pipeline surveillance by the Federal Government as a strategy to end pipeline vandalism and oil theft has helped boost the economy of state governments in the country, especially Bayelsa and Rivers States.
Speaking recently with newsmen in Port Harcourt, Otele stated that with operations of pipeline surveillance contractors like Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Ltd (PINL), among others, the menace of oil theft and illegal bunkering, which threatened Nigeria’s economy, has drastically reduced while crude oil delivery through pipelines has increased from almost three percent to above 90 per cent.
Otele added that oil pollution and its attendant degradation of the environment has also been reasonably stemmed, thus, boosting fishing and farming which were gravely endangered at the peak of the nefarious activities of pipeline vandals and oil thieves.
He said, “I want to thank the Federal Government for the initiative of engaging pipeline surveillance contractors such as PINL, which is presently in Bayelsa and Rivers states.
“As a government person, I want to talk in respect of the operations in Bayelsa State because we interface with the communities, International Oil Companies (IOCs) and the contractors. Illegal refinery or what we call ‘kpo fire’ is not a strange activity in the Niger Delta. But since the inception of the contractors in Bayelsa, we have started to receive good results.
“Before now, pipeline vandalism was like a daily occurrence. But they came and engaged the communities. They spoke with government and they enlightened the people about the consequences of these activities (pipeline vandalism and oil theft – ‘kpo fire’).”
He listed the consequences, saying “once there is vandalism, there’s shortage of crude oil supply, shortage of production. When there’s shortage like this, first the state government monthly revenue will drop. That’s from the state government aspect. At the community level, there is a lot of consequences for the environment. You know Bayelsa is a predominantly fishing and farming state; and where there is pollutions here and there: one, it will kill all the fish around. Two, it will destroy the farmland, and mangroves. Besides that, recently we have seen some fire outbreaks where lives were lost, especially in Rivers and Imo states.”
He commended the surveillance contractors for their key strategy of community engagement and employment of youths, noting that the contractors had engaged so many of the youths in various communities.
“And recently, they have some programmes such as medical outreach to the communities they are operating. I know that during the last flood in Bayelsa, PINL distributed some items to the communities. So, I commend them.”
Otele also commended the Federal Government for the policy, and called for the extension of the contract as well as widening the scope of the job for the contractors.
He advised the youths to shun violence and pipeline vandalism, saying; “On behalf of the state government, we wish to plead with the youths of Bayelsa State that they should tow the path of government, which are peace and prosperity. They should not be misled by criminals, they should be serious with the government, the government has done its best by providing enabling environment for citizens and people who are coming to do business in the State”.