Lokpobiri urges Niger Delta host communities to protect oil facilities

Minister of state for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri has urged host communities in the Niger delta region to protect oil assets in their domain. Lokpobiri made the appeal Thursday during KEFFESO Stakeholders Forum with the theme, “Envisioning Sustainable Development in Niger Delta Host Communities: Identifying Challenges and Actualising the PIA Paradigm Shift,” in Yenagoa. The stakeholders were drawn from Koluama, Ezetu, Forupa, Fishtown, Ekeni, Opu-Okumbiri, Okumbiribeleu and Oginibiri communities in Southern Ijaw and Brass Local Governemnt Areas of Bayelsa State. The minister expressed appreciation to the KEFFESO communities for the sustained peace in the area and First Exploration & Petroleum Development Company Limited  continued support to its host  communities. He reminded the stakeholders of the need to maximize the unique opportunity offered by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to ensure that their communities benefit equitably from the resources extracted from their land 
He said “I am here for KEFFESO communities’ engagement to see how they can maximize opportunities from the 3 percent Host Communities Trust Fund (HCDT) that was prescribed by the PIA and essentially to speak to them to say this is the beginning of taking ownership and taking a stake in the oil and gas assets that are located in their communities. Anytime there is any disruption everybody loses, the federal government loses, the company loses and the host communities lose. It is important that they take this message home. The stakeholders, the federal government, the companies and the communities must work together. The stakeholders who have a stake and who have their respective stake in the oil and gas operations in the country must work together to ensure that we maximize the production of crude oil.
“We must not forget that there is a global campaign against the production of fossil fuels. The fossil fuels will not have value unless you bring it from the ground and from the sea to the market.  That is why we need the collaboration of all stakeholders. The Paris Agreement had nothing to do with stopping oil and gas production. It only deals with reducing CO2 emissions; it has to do with carbon emissions in the world. The African continent contributes only 3%. But they are telling you to stop producing oil and gas so that we can remain in darkness. This is the time where communities need to collaborate with other stakeholders, to see how we can produce as much as we can from the ground to the market.”
While recommending the KEFFESO model to all parts of the country where oil and gas is produced, the Minister noted that about N300bn which could have benefited the host communities is lying idle in the bank “ as stakeholders in different host communities are in court making it difficult for communities to benefit from these funds.”