Ekwueme Kelvin Kemas Wrote!

Hon. Chigozia Nwaneri: Oru East is not an Oil Producing Community

My attention has been drawn to a motion moved in the Imo State House of Assembly by one Hon. Chiagozie Nwaneri, a member representing Oru East state constituency at the Imo House of Assembly, that his constituency, Oru East be included in the Imo State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (ISOPADEC) and it is very important that the record is set straight so Imo House of Assembly doesn't waste its legislative time by embarking on fruitless and useless investigative endeavors.

Oil producing communities in Nigeria are not determined by states or state houses of assembly. Oil Producing communities are determined by the federal government through its various agencies including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

To be considered an oil producing community, not only will crude oil or natural gas be discovered in that community in commercial quantity but such oil or natural gas must be economically produced and reflected in the overall oil output production of the country which by implication in the state's output and production quota as reflected in the records of the various federal agencies stated above including the Niger Delta Development Commission ( NDDC) and Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. So far no such reflection has occured in any records of the federal government and such the quota of Imo State has remained the same.

Although oil may have been discovered in other parts of the country in commercial quantities, until such oil deposits are produced, those places are not considered oil producing communities, that's is the reason why states like Lagos, Anambra, Borno and Bauchi are not oil producing states.

Oru East cannot be an oil producing community when there are no oil wellheads connected to strings of pipelines, linked to a flow station and to an oil terminal. Simply put, no oil production exist in Oru East or even West as indicated by complete lack of oil infrastructures in those areas.

However, if in the future Oru East joins the league of oil producing communities by actually producing oil that adds to the overall output and quota of the state, we will welcome them to ISOPADEC after the act establishing the ISOPADEC has been amended to raise the ISOPADEC share of the 13% oil derivation from its current 40% to 60 or 70% to reflect the new increment in the state total output and quota. Don't forget that the current 40% is to cater for the needs of only Ohaji-Egbema-Oguta LGAs who have suffered ecological devastations as a consequence of over sixty years of oil exploitation, exploration and production. Any additional local government to the existing two must result in increase in percentage to the already established 40% for those two local government areas.

Until that happens, Imo State House of Assembly members are advised to spend their time working with the current governor of the state to raise the state's IGR, improve security, build new infrastructures and rehabilitate dilapidated ones, attract foreign direct investments, reduce unemployment, improve our education and health sectors, invest in agriculture etc, rather than embark on a useless and fruitless venture as suggested by the member representing Oru East state constituency.

Greed...1 person,1 group,1 state and 1 region...wan chop everything and na e keep nigeria like dis.

East right. Igbos, fighting themselves over useless things no be today. Oil wey no reach 0.6%