Hon. Warman Ogoriba represents Yenagoa/Kolokuma/Opokuma federal constituencies of Bayelsa State and chairs the House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta. In this interview with OMOTOLA OLORUNTOBI, he bares his mind on current issues affecting the oil producing areas in the country and says that selfishness is stalling the long-awaited Bill to sanitise the industry.
As chairman of the House Committee on Niger Delta, what has the experience been so far?
It has been a challenging; one, because every Nigerian will appreciate the problems involved in the Niger Delta region. Unfortunately, the issue of fund plays a major role in trying to put these things right. So it has been okay and challenging as a committee in terms of oversight and working closely with the ministry to see that we can bring the dividends of democracy to the people of the area.
?
How will you score the federal government’s amnesty programme?
Definitely, there are grey areas, but the programme has been very successful and there are indicators to that effect. Before the proclamation of the amnesty programme by the late President Umaru Yar’ Adua, we were aware of the dwindling production of crude, and after the proclamation, crude oil revenue production increased tremendously; that is an indicator.
Secondly, there is relative peace in the Niger Delta region today. That doesn’t mean that there are no crisis here and there, but if you look at the post amnesty and the pre-amnesty period, you will find out that there is peace in the Niger Delta region; so that too is an indicator that the programme is very successful.
Recently I watched on television the passing out of some pilots through the amnesty programme in South Africa. If today, ex militants are pilots, does that not tell you that the programme is very successful. As part of the committee’s oversight functions, I have had interactions with the Special Adviser to the president on this programme and I can say that he is also doing very well to see how we can run this programme to a very conclusive end.
?
Despite the amnesty programme, there have been cases of piracy in Nigerian waters; how will you react to that?
The mandate of the amnesty programme does not extend to the issue of piracy.? The mandate of the programme is very clear; which is to bring these boys out of the creeks, train them and reintegrate them into the society. That is where their mandate extends to. For the issue of piracy, we have Joint Task Force (JTF), police, army and rest of them to take care of the issue of piracy.
I think the amnesty programme is not a programme to deal or curb the issue of piracy. No, the amnesty programme is purely for ex-militants that have surrendered their weapons of warfare. It is very clear.
?
Unease continues to trail the Jonathan administration’s decision to cede the control of Nigeria’s strategic waterways to Global West Vessel Specialist Agency, a private company owned by ex militant, Government Ekpemukpolo, a.k.a. Tompolo; is it appr opriate?
Is it because Tompolo is an ex-militant? I don’t see anything wrong in that; after all, other establishments are doing this. You know they normally give it out to establishments, agencies to guard the waterways. So why are they shouting over Tompolo’s contract. Is it because the president is an Ijaw man and Tompolo is also an Ijaw man? The issue is: can Tompolo do this job effectively? If it is yes, then why are we shouting? If they are saying that Tompolo is not qualified or does not have the capacity to do this contract, it is a different thing. But for me, as an individual, I think that there is nothing wrong in Jonathan giving Tompolo the contract to guard?? the waterways. It’s just like giving it to any other person.
?
Many say it is a matter of national security.
It does not matter. Is Tompolo capable? Is it because he is an ex-militant? Don’t forget that he was an ex-militant. As we speak now, Tompolo is a clean man because he has amnesty, so he is a refined man, a new Tompolo. It is like you being? in the world and you get born again, old things have passed away; so Tompolo willingly accepted amnesty because he was convinced that there is no need to continue armed struggle. He is a new Tompolo and I think that there is nothing wrong in giving Tompolo the job.
?
An independent scientific assessment carried out by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on years of oil pollution in Ogoniland revealed extensive environmental contamination and threats to human health; what has been government’s response so far?
Actually, nobody has informed the committee of the report; nobody has approached the committee to see what we can do about it. Yes I have been reading it on the pages of the newspapers, television and the rest of them. I think I discussed once with one organisation on this issue, but I think that if they approach the committee formally, then we can react on that as a committee in the Niger Delta region.
?
What would say about the recent gas leak in Bayelsa State?
Unfortunately, our committee was not mandated to look at those issues; it was the Upstream, Downstream and Environment Committee and I think they are doing very well. They visited the scene quite a number of times and they are yet to give a report to the House. Once a report comes to the House, we will debate it.
?
Chevron is contesting the $3 billion fine by the federal government.
Chevron is a profit-making organisation and they won’t just sit down and fold their arms and allow $3 billion just leave their account. So they have a right to contest it but the issue is whether they are saying the right thing or not. The fact is that Chevron will be wrong if they say the fault is not from their company. It is from their company and, I tell you, the communities around that platform went through hell because that fire was there for quite a while. There was water and air pollution, and I know what the community went through. I expect Chevron to do the honourable thing and sit down to negotiate with them (government) on how to go about this.
?
In terms of safety and environmental standards, why is it difficult for oil multinationals operating in Nigeria to replicate the high standards they keep in other countries, mostly in the west????????
Yes, I agree with you with a simple reason:? our laws are weak and, of course, we don’t implement our laws and because we compromise standards in Nigeria. Those in charge of inspection go there and compromise. These multinationals know that what they are doing is wrong. It is not as if the laws are not there; they are, but are we implementing those laws? Those are the issues. As a committee, the best we can do is to expose some of the ills, and after that point our hands are tied. We don’t have the powers to prosecute, we tell Nigerians that this is what is happening and we expect Nigerians to take up from there or the executives to do the right thing. So I think that you are right when you say that they compromise on standards. The standards are there but the truth is that we compromise those laws and that is why they get out of it easily. In other countries, they don’t do that and its as simple as that.
?
In line with current plans to streamline government Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs), do you think that the Niger Delta Ministry and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) perform parallel functions and should merge?
We could say that they perform parallel function because to an extent they all deal with the development of the region. But as it stands today, I will not be a party to say MDAs should be streamlined. Will you lay off some people from their jobs when you streamline? But coming to NDDC and the ministry, you know the ministry is like any other ministry while the NDDC is an Act of the parliament assented to by the president, so it is a law. To say you want to bring the NDDC under the ministry, that will be until the Act is amended.
?
Are there any plans for such amendment?
Nobody has told us about that, but I know the minister is trying to push for NDDC to come under the supervision of the ministry because they are doing almost the same functions. There are jobs that NDDC will give out that the ministry will also give out. I have no qualms if they want to merge them but the law should be amended in such a way that the NDDC should be able to operate effectively as a department even under the ministry.
?
On the 13 per cent derivation, how will you score the use of these monies accruing to benefiting states in terms of meeting development needs????????
It is justified and I think we even need more. People should be able to appreciate the cost of development in the region. You won’t know until you get to the region. It is not the Yenagoa you see, not Asaba or Warri. Go to the interior and see the kind of place we live, go and see the cost of development. I always say that if you need N1 billion to develop a multi-purpose hall in Yenagoa, Bayelsa, you will need a lot less to develop that in Sokoto or Kano. Because of the terrain in many part of the Niger Delta, the cost of development is high and people should appreciate all these things. It is difficult for me to sit down here and say they are not using the funds judiciously because governance have a lot of variables. There are other things you don’t understand about governance that consumes fund. It is not until you are there that you understand that governance is not an easy thing; it is very expensive so I will not sit here and say they are using the money judiciously or not, but the fact is that, in the region, you need a lot of money to develop the region. And don’t forget that this is where all the money we spend in Nigeria comes from – we should not forget that fact. Also, the production of crude in the region comes with its enviromental problems. The environment has been polluted, there are lands that we cannot even harvest today, which is very sad.
?
Nigeria’s reliance mono oil economy has practically killed other viable economic sectors; how can this be changed????
This issue of single commodity in our economy has caused a lot of discussions, but I think that what we need is for us to be proactive and be sincere to ourselves on the need to diversify our economy. What will it take us to do a paradigm shift a little from oil to other minerals that is lying down in the north, west, south west, south east? This oil thing is becoming a madness. The government should sit down and think of how to diversify our economy, move it from oil to something else. With that there will be peace in most of the regions. People from the region will not say, ‘look, we are the only one producing,’ because other regions are also producing. We know that there is solid mineral in the north; let us begin to explore those solid minerals.
?
In part, the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is supposed to revolutionise how Nigeria does business with oil multinationals and drive local content (participation) in the country’s oil industry. As it stands, the inability of the National Assembly to pass the PIB has hampered that.? What are your reactions?
It is the same Nigerian politics -? that this wound benefit this region. I agree that before you become a Nigerian, you must come from a place, but so long as we don’t see ourselves as Nigerians that belong to one indivisible country, we will not go forward. We should begin to detach ourselves from this issue of South South, South West, North Central and see ourselves as people that belong to an indivisible nation; that want to move this nation forward. People will look at PIB and say that it is going to favour the Niger Delta people, or the South West will not benefit, let’s kill it. Multinationals will say since it will drive local content, let’s kill it. Every Nigerian should be able to look at the PIB as a Nigerian project. That is the only way we will be able to move forward. If you look at advanced countries like the US, they don’t discuss whether you are from New York or Washington -? they are all Americans. Nigeria should be able to develop themselves, re-orientate themselves. We have one indivisible country that we must develop. The issue of the PIB has generated so much controversy. I just saw in the dailies that some senators have also started their own PIB; those are the issues. But I think that the PIB is a fantastic idea in that it is going to drive content, it’s going to give communities that produce oil some sense of belonging; and once we have that sense of belonging there, it will further relax some of these agitations. We are waiting for the executive to forward it to us.?????
?