In order to ensure that directly impacted communities benefit immensely from the Petroleum Industry Act PIA 2021, the Host Communities of Nigeria producing oil and gas HOSTCOM has listed nine priority areas for the federal government. Speaking at the official commissioning of HOSTCOM’s Abuja Liaison Office and end of year community sensitization on the PIA, HOSTCOM president, His Highness, Dr Benjamin Tamaranebi said the communities should be allowed to monitor every project from inception to decommissioning. He charged the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission NUPRC and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority NMDPRA to incorporate HOSTCOM’s budgetary provisions in their budgetary framework.
Other priority areas are; “to partner with the Commission and Authority for environmental intelligence gathering and data collation; to be provided with every project draft Environmental Impact Assessment EIA to ensure the effective implementation of Sustainable Development processes; to be shortlisted in the NUPRC and NMDPRA protocol list; and, to participate and assist in providing environmental field management plan from field to field basis”. Other demands are; “to participate in ensuring building cryogenic plants on build, operate and own basis in order to strategically end gas flaring; to ensure payment of gas flare funds, and its remittance to Host Communities Development Trust Fund on project development and investment basis for Community sustainable development; as an entity to have license to operate modular refinery in the producing states to end illegal refining and crude oil theft; and, to have license to lift petroleum products for fairness and equity”. Tamaranebi noted that the accomplishment of the aforementioned objectives will inevitably be the foundation that would overhaul the legacy mistakes to improved livelihood and socio-political and economic advancement of the Host Communities of Nigeria Producing oil and gas.
According to him, it is “a legacy error and a repulsive danger” to the industry to subjugate the producing and directly impacted Communities. He said HOSTCOM is the missing third leg of the industry, and that closing the gap of interdependent linkages among the process drivers would address the previous anomaly and protect the interest of all. “HOSTCOM has developed a data base of every Community that hosts any critical facility of oil and gas in order to foster harmonious and seamless synergy with the regulators and operators. With HOSTCOM structures at the national level, the State, Local Government Area, cluster and Community level, has become the gate way to efficiently and effectively in the current petroleum legal framework has the capacity and competence to address any burning issues in the producing and directly impacted oil and gas Communities, if given the opportunity to serve in the interest of our national economy. The oil and gas sector has IPMAN, NUPENG and PENGASSAN as the voice of petroleum engineers, while the NLC, TUC all speak for the larger group of their interest; so also is the Host and directly impacted Communities as represented by HOSTCOM as the umbrella body and mouth piece of the grassroots. We leave you to imagine and think about reaching out to more than 3,600 Communities simultaneously for the effective dissemination of information to address cogent issues”, he stated.
Also speaking, a former Minister of Petroleum Resources and Chairman, HOSTCOM’s Board of Trustees BoT, His Eminence, King Edmund Daukoru urged collaborative efforts to ensure effective implementation of the PIA. The Boat chairman who was represented said; “No matter how good a law is, until the implementers come to terms with the spirit and intendment of the law, they will be just working with the letters. “It is important for HOSTCOM and others to collaborate on how to enforce or insist on the implementation of the PIA. There is need to enforce the principles, the law. Until we come together as one to see to the implementation of these principles, what is contained in that document may not see the light of day because as it is, there are forces that are out to sabotage the efforts of government”, he added. On his part, NUPRC chief executive, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, commended HOSTCOM’s drive towards ensuring that host communities are fully involved in the actualisation of the gains of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 while enhancing peaceful and harmonious coexistence between operators and their hosts. He said the commission has continued to prioritise those aspects regarding the integration and well-being of host communities in its operational considerations to ensure fairness and justice.
“Evidence of our commitment to this objective can be seen in the tremendous efforts made by the Commission within the first six months of its inception in generating ideas, formulating proposals, and engaging stakeholders towards formulating a navigational aid for the implementation of the Host Community Development Trust Fund (HCDT), in line with the provisions of section 235 of the PIA, 2021. You will recall that in the seventh month of our stewardship, (June 28, 2022 precisely) the Commission unveiled the Nigeria Upstream Host Communities Development Regulation and Procedure Guide”, said Komolafe. Also speaking, Executive Director, Health, Safety, Environment and Community of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority NMDPRA, Capt. John Tonlagha said ‘Regulations and Guidelines’ have been developed in accordance with the PIA and are in the final stages of approvals. According to him, the Federal Government through the NMDPRA and NUPRC is determined to put a stop to gas flaring practices which will once and for all guarantee environmental sanity in the oil and gas value chain of the country.
