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INDEPENDENT WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2017
Oduduwa
News
Community Protest Paralyses Pan Ocean’s Operations In Ovade-Oghara
SUNDAY APAH
UGHELLI
The people of
Ovade-Oghara Community
in Ethiope
West Local Government
Area of Delta State
have embarked on an indefinite
protest paralyzing the
operations of Pan Ocean Oil
Corporation (Nigeria) Limited
(PANOCO).
The community stated that
parts of their grievances was
that PANOCO started oil exploration
in the area 45 years ago
and has under-developed the
community. Protesting Ovade
elders, Chiefs, Women including
youths stormed the premises of
Pan Ocean Oil Company at 5:30
am yesterday bearing placards
with inscriptions such as “Pan
Ocean should go”, “Pan Ocean
leave our land for us, Enough
is Enough”, “The marriage between
Pan Ocean Oil Company
and Ovade Community is heading
for a divorce due to Neglect
and suffering of the people over
40 years of oil exploration and
exploitation” , “Fadeyi leave
us alone”and “Re-instate our
sacked youths” among other
inscriptions. They chanted solidarity
songs while they matched
on every available space around,
preventing both human and
vehicular movements from
entering and coming out from
the company’s premises while
their protest continued as at the
time of filing this report.
The Chairman of the Community
Mr. Hitler Igbakpa, the
Secretary Hon. Odeh Oghominene
Festus, Chief Simeon
Ogheneovo Odeh, the Chief
Prince of Oghara Kingdom and
others who addressed journalists
said despite about 45 years
of oil exploration from Ovade
Community by Pan Ocean Oil
Corporation that what they have
in return is the systematic, malicious
and provocative under
development of their community
and people. They maintained
that due to the prolong
oil exploration/exploitation in
their community by PANOCO
that their once arable and fertile
land is currently subjected to severe
environmental (ecological)
degradation.
They explained further that
having suffered from a prolonged
history of persistent and
consistent chain of Institutionalized
oppression, suppression,
victimization, marginalization
and discrimination from Pan
Ocean Oil Corporation in different
realms of development,
particularly in human capital
and socio-economic aspects of
development, that all efforts
made to reverse the status quo
have failed as they could not result
to peaceful settlement
Mr. Igbaka, who spoke on
behalf of the community, noted
that even a peace move that
included the Governor of Delta
State Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, was
dishonoured by the company.
He added that before the ongoing
protest, which they termed
the (mother of all) will be called
off, that Pan Ocean should with
immediate effect, and unconditionally
reinstate one of their
sons, Mr. Tobore Hosanna who
they laid off sometime ago.
They equally gave the condition
of consummating the
drafting, signing and implementation
of the Global memorandum
of understanding
(GMOU) with the Community
and the immediate upgrading,
re-reticulation and extension of
existing moribund water project
in Ovade Community. Included
in their demand also is the immediate
commencement of the
construction of an access (Link)
road between Ovade Community
and Ovade Oghara flow station,
Gas Plant which was the
reasons for their protest.
While appealing to the youths
to remain calm, he urged the
youths to remain calm. He said,
“the youths should ensure that
the protest is peaceful, they
should desist from any act of
lawlessness which is capable of
truncating their original plans,
we must actualize our aim with
the drop of our blood and we
must remain in the premises
of the company both Night and
day until our demands are met.”
A youth leader, Mr. Andrew
Onomroba, who also bared his
mind on the lingering issue,
said the youths have also being
denied employment by the
Company as it has continued to
employ people from other parts
of the country. He noted that
the community is blessed with
all kinds of skilled personnel
that can be employed to work
in the company instead of the
occasional un-skilled labour the
company has been employing
from non-host communities.
However, the urgent intervention
of the Divisional Police
Officer of Oghara station
C.S.P Tomitope Fashugba and
Military men from 19 battalion,
Koko, who arrived the company
as early as 7:30 am to pacify fray
nerves prevented the youths
who were already spoiling for
war to become violent. The
intervention of the police prevented
the original plans of the
elders from being hijacked by
the youths.
Government Evacuates Blocked Water Channels In
Delta Communities To Check Flooding
Amaechi Udemba, Press Secretary on prints to Governor, Delta State (right); Mike Okeme, Special
Adviser to the Governor on Labour and SeviCom (middle), and Patrick Ochei, Vice Chairman, Nigeria
Union of Journalist, Delta State chapter, during the burial of late Lady Gloria Adlie Udemba, mother of
Amaechi, at Issele-Uku, Aniocha North Local Government Area, Delta State at the weekend.
PHOTO: GODDY UMUKORO
SUNDAY APAH
UGHELLI
The Delta State Government
has evacuated blocked water
channels in Sapele, Oghara,
Aghalokpe, Warri, Effurun,
Ughelli, Asaba, and other communities
in the bid to reduce
flooding in the State.
Hon. John Obukohwo Nani
whoh led the team that carried
out the water channel evacuation
exercise defied rain to inspect
the ongoing de-flooding
exercise in the affected areas
and other parts of Delta state
with over 50 swamp buggies
working at the same time.
Nani in an interaction with
the media said, the Delta State
government decided to embark
on the exercise on account
of the heavy down pour which
rendered Deltans across the
state homeless.
He further thanked Deltans
for the support accorded
the Ministry to de-flood their
various areas and advice them
not to block the water ways in
their surroundings.
Nani advised owners of illegal
structures that are noted to
be obstructing the water ways
to remove all in the interest of
the people living in these areas.
Reacting to the state government
effort of de-flooding
the areas, Comrade Prince
Orhomonokpaye, thanked
the state government for his
prompt action in helping to
de-flood the affected areas and
giving a new life to the people
living in the affected areas.
LG Employees In Bayelsa Flay Reappointment Of Caretaker Chairmen
Governor Seriake Dickson of
Bayelsa State has been advised
by the National Union of Local
Government Employees to discard
any plan of reappointing
local government caretaker
chairmen in the state.
The advise was given by
the state Chairman, NULGE,
Mr. Akpos Ekiegha, during a
news conference in Yenagoa,
the state capital, on Saturday.
Ekiegha explained that the
cost of running the caretaker
system, in the face of the
declining federal allocations
was linked to the salary arrears
owed LGA workers in
the state.
He advised the governor
to give Heads of the LGAs to
administer the councils as
Acting Chairmen for a period
of eight months to enable
them clear the arrears
owed workers in the various
councils.
Against the foregoing backdrop,
he said: “If the Heads of
LGAs are allowed to run the
system as Acting Chairmen,
believe you me, there will be
nothing like salary arrears.
He cited Cross River and Delta
states as examples of state
running the same system.
He continued: “If civil
servants are allowed to man
the system, they know their
boundaries, they cannot ask
for a security vote of N20m
but the caretaker chairman
will ask for a security vote of
between N20m and N40m.
He added that “They (caretaker
chairmen) would say
there is security problem in so,
so community. Therefore, they
will say they need N100m to go
and solve the problem, but we,
as civil servants, have a limit.
Our main focus is to pay our
workers’ salaries and if any
money is left, it will be intact.”
He buttressed his advice
by saying that within the
short period that the caretaker
chairmen of the eight
LGAs were relieved of their
appointments, coupled with
little improvement in federal
allocations, that accumulation
of salaries owed council workers
had shrinked to only four
and a half months.
The appealed to Governor
Dickson to keep to his promise
that by September 2017,
the government would take
over the payment of primary
school staff from the local
governments to enable
them to pay regular salaries
of their workers, adding that
the non-payment of the primary
school staff by the state
government was part of the
reasons the LG workers were
currently on strike in the state.
He used the opportunity to
throw light on the speculation
making the rounds that the
state government was interfering
with local government
funds.
He said, “The government
of the state has never interfered
with the allocation of
the councils but has rather
ensured that the allocation of
the councils are freely given to
them for judicious use.”
He further added that it
was at the request of the Joint
Councils of NULGE and Medical
Health Workers Union
during the last days of the
elected LG chairmen that the
Governor directed the withholding
of January to March,
2016 allocations.
He noted that the allocations
were later disbursed to
the councils under the immediate
past caretaker committees
to pay workers’ salary
arrears.
Ekeigha commended Dickson
and the Commissioner for
Local Government, Dr. Agatha
Goma, for the judicious use of
the London-Paris refunds and
the July allocation that had resulted
in the payment of salaries
of workers ranging from
two to three months depending
on the financial strength
of the councils.
He advised all LG workers
to avail themselves of the ongoing
verification exercise in
the various LGAs, particularly
in Ogbia, where he claimed
that massive payroll fraud had
been suspected.