Oil & Gas: Community Stakeholders Unveil Exploration Impacts

Okonta Emeka Okelum, Asaba

Recently, community stakeholders drawn from Delta and Akwa Ibom states, shared insights into the impact of oil and gas exploration in their host communities.



At a two days capacity building event implemented by a non government organization, Connected Development (CODE) at Asaba, community stakeholders unveiled positive and negative impacts of exploration activities in their communities.

In the past few months, Connected Development and Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center, had implemented a Conflict and Fragility project, funded and supported by OXFAM.

The project is designed to help improve transparency and accountability in the oil and gas sector by involving and building the capacity of stakeholders within the sector.

The two day capacity building event witnessed active participation of community stakeholders from Mkpanak and Obodo Ugwa Ogume communities of Akwa Ibom and Delta States.

Youth & Women leaders, religious opinion shapers, primary & secondary schools teachers, healthcare workers, Community Development Council executives, members of community elders council, students, community trading and artisan union leaders also participated at the two days event.

One of the remarkable section of the capacity building event was an experience sharing opportunity provided for community stakeholders to share both positive and negative impacts of oil and gas exploration within their communiflaringObodo Ugwa Ogume community participants pointed out that they had entered into and signed a functional memorandum of understanding with the exploration firm in their community, wherein a 3% gross profit of the firm is shared with both host and impacted communities.

Mkpanak community participants also pointed out that some new exploration firms around their communities had in time past offered scholarship opportunities to their children as well as few employment placements.

Both communities shared that there are not enough government presence within their communities, especially in the areas of healthcare and other social economic livelihood enhancing aspects.

Participants lamented the harsh realities of unemployment of community youth population as well as the horrors of oil spillage and gas flaring, its closeness to their homes, farmlands as well as it's adverse effect to agricultural yield and harmful impact on their very source of livelihood, worried participants.

The opinion that government at all levels benefit heavily from oil and gas exploration was sustained but participants pointed out that their communities are yet to be positively impacted by government agencies.

The general opinions of both community stakeholders was that the exploration firms in their communities had positively impacted upon them than their communities had benefited from the government.

SOURCE: ASABA POST NEWS WIRE