Gagarabami is one of the five oil producing communities under Pindiga Emirate, Akko Local Government Area of Gombe. The people in this piece by CHIMA AZUBUIKE, sought for Mosques, Access roads, Electricity, Schools, Hospitals, Church as exploration gets underway.
55-year-old Chiroma Sale-Yarima, is village head of Gagarabami, one of the localities where exploration is set to commence. He decried the neglect of his community, adding that their requests although small have been overlooked by relevant authorities.
According to Sale-Yarima, the level of illiteracy in the area could be likened to the unavailability of nearby basic schools for children, stressing that they are interested in being educated.
Village Head, Saleh Chiroma
He said, “We want the government to build schools, dig boreholes, provide us electricity.
“From here to Pindiga is 21 kilometers, we have been staying here with out schools, most of us here are illiterates, the hospital is yet be opened.”
Commenting about the relationship between the community and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC, the Village Head lamented the failure of the corporation to inaugurate its health centre months after completion, revealing that aside distribution of food items during Christmas and Sallah periods to just traditional rulers no other form of Corporate Social Responsibility is witnessed by his people.
“During sallah NNPC gives out rice, oil, ram and money to the traditional rulers every sallah. N50,000 cash during sallah and 30,000 during Christmas,”Sale-Yarima added.
Gagarabami, is one of the five oil producing communities the others include; Dumbe, Kantaga Gezimawa/Tangale, and Kantaga-malam-gambo,Tai villages closely interconnected, not only by proximity but with huge crude oil and gas deposits. The Communities are peasant in nature, the people there are predominantly farmers with huge interest in Maize, Sorghum, Bambara nut, Beans etc. Electricity is a far cry as there is no presence of poles not to mention hope of connection. Residents depend on batteries to power their transistor radio, torchlight, generator owners are few as many prefer to patronise those operating charge points in kiosks.
PERISCOPE NIGERIA reports that Gagarabami, has an estimated population of over 5,000 people with visible hunger and neglect in infrastructural development even as Kolmani five is said to be situated there. It has an initial access from Pindiga Emirate, with over 21 km away from civilisation. This is because it lacks basic amenities ranging from road network to Pipe borne water, Electricity, Schools, functional medical facility. Obviously, lacking Goal four under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), on inclusive and equitable quality education and promotion of life-long learning opportunities for all focuses on eliminating gender disparities.
The stress of movement
The major source of transportation to the area due to the sandy nature is motorcycle or pick up vans. The vans are used for conveying both human beings, animals, and goods. Our Correspondent had to cope with the choice of an open van for over an hour the van transversed from Pindiga junction, Sabon Kaura, Garin Galadima, Gagarabami. Failure to hold the iron you may fall off the moving van as the driver battles the sandy ground.
After Gagarabami, is a check point five leading into Dumbe community, it has military presence popularly known as stop and search. At the check point motorcycle riders commonly referred to as Achaba, who have passengers would come down to walk pass, while the riders would push the bikes till after the point before passengers climb to continue their trip. Upon sighting the truck despite the crowd of passengers going to Koimawa, a Wednesday market that hosts both traders and sellers from Gombe and Bauchi states. Upon sighting passengers the army officers noticed that our Correspondent was strikingly different and asked that he jumps down from the van to identify himself.
However, after the journalist had properly introduced himself spent about two hours before he was asked to return back to Gombe. However, after trekking some metres away from the check point a junior officer was mandated to call him for further questioning on the orders of Chief Security Officer identified as Adamu. According to the CSO, “even the governor of Gombe State requires a permit to pass to the site.”
Oil Discovery
The Kolmani oil find was inaugurated about 66 years after crude oil discovery in Oloibiri, Bayelsa State. However, with toothing problems which include underdevelopment, bunkering, spillages, militancy evolving into kidnapping and so on.
Based on findings on National Petroleum Investment Management services website, there are 500 fields in the Niger Delta. Over 55 per cent of these are onshore, while the remaining are in the shallow waters (less than 500 metres). Of these fields, 193 are currently producing while 23 have either been closed-down or abandoned.
Kolmani in North-East Nigeria, also boasts of oil in commercial quantity especially with the recent Oil Prospecting Licences (OPL) 809 and 810, cutting across Kolmani One, Two, Three, Four, Five. Gombe State was created in 1996 by then regime of Sani Abacha, from old Bauchi.
The President Maj.Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), at the inauguration ceremony disclosed that One billion barrels of crude oil reserves and 500 billion standard cubic feet of gas exists in Kolmani River Oil and Gas fields.
According to Buhari, “This discovery had emanated from our charge to the NNPC to re-strategise and expands its oil and gas exploration footprints to the frontier basins of Anambra, Dahomey, Sokoto, Benue trough, Chad and Bida Basins. Similar activities across the other basins are currently actively on-going.”
Buhari disclosed that the project has attracted over $3 billion investments so far.
“We are pleased with the current discovery of over 1 billion barrels of oil reserves and 500 billion Cubic Feet of Gas within the Kolmani area and the huge potentials for more deposits as we intensify exploration efforts.
“It is therefore to the credit of this administration that at a time when there is near zero appetite for investment in fossil energy, coupled with the location challenges, we are able attract investment of over USD 3 billion to this project,” he added.
On utilising the Komani field, Buhari said, “As a fully integrated on-site development project comprising upstream production, oil refining, power generation and fertiliser, the project promises many benefits for the nation. This includes but not limited to Energy security, Financial Security, Food security as well as overall socio-economic development for the country.”
Yet to be inaugurated medical facility
Residents draw long list of demands
However, opposite the route leading to Kantaga-Malam-Gambo, just before Check point five along Dumbe village there is a healthcare facility yet to be inaugurated about six months after completion residents can’t access the hospital as they are left to the one in town which is over 15km away from community members.
Marsya Japheth, is a 37-year-old mother of three. According to her, life has been unbearable with challenges, stressing that cost of living has become increasingly high.
Japheth enumerated the challenges of dwelling in the oil rich community to include lack of accessible roads, high cost of transportation, explaining that they would be happy if NNPC intervenes.
She said, “I’m a full house wife. I do petty business I sell groundnut oil, maggi, salt etc.
“I want a school in my community, borehole, building of church/mosque, electricity and road. To a large extent life will be made easier, I spend alot to leave and return home. So, when it is not important I don’t leave I just stay at home.”
Audu Waziri
60-year-old, Audu Waziri, while corroborating the pains of Japheth commended NNPC for the only visible project in their community the yet to be commissioned health facility, adding that aside making it functional they would want other amenities to be constructed to make life easier for them.
“NNPC built hospital for us but it is not operational. I also want them to construct road, boreholes, provide electricity, places of worship especially mosques for villagers,”Waziri said.
Ishaya Joseph, is a 45-year-old farmer. He decried what he termed inadequate provision of amenities by authorities.
Joseph lamented that for many years the community has not been connected to enjoy electricity.
He said, “I am a farmer, the only thing that we have is the hospital building NNPC built but it not open yet.”
Lamenting the challenges faced by his community Joseph said, “We want the government to build secondary and primary schools for our children, construct road, electricity.”
Ibrahim Isah
Isah ibrahim, a 55-year-old, farmer lamented the high cost of transportation and the safety of regularly plying motorcycles as the vans have specific times that they operate.
“NNPC built a new hospital for us but I don’t know what is been done to get it open.
“I want the government to build schools, construct roads and mosques,” he said.
While decrying the high cost of transportation in the community, Ibrahim added, “From here to pindiga is 500 naira to and fro is N1000 and not everyone can afford it due to the level of poverty in the community. We need government and NNPC to intervene in making life easier for us.”
Also speaking, Barr. Abdullahi Inuwa, an indigene of Pindiga, urged NNPC to be just in distribution of amenities to the community, stressing that its one way situations in the area would not degenerate.
Inuwa revealed that his people have shown willingness for dialogue towards even distribution of resources.
He said, “We have heard about the challenges in the Niger Delta but sadly in this case it is government through NNPC selfish interest that is trying to create problem, and disharmony. Some of us we have our parents who came from the order side, Bauchi side, we go to their market, they come to our market. We inter marry, we are one. NNPC senior officers should remember the oath of allegiance, they first from Nigeria before considering themselves as indigenes of Bauchi.
“I don’t think it will escalate to the Niger Delta extent, from the onset if someone like Maikanti, he engaged both communities from the side of the boundary, it wouldn’t have escalated. Our doors are not closed for dialogue, I believe our leaders will resolve it amicably, we are not known with clashes resulting from boundaries especially in that area.”
Desmond Majekodunmi
Expert warns about exploration of crude, says concentration should be on gas
Desmond Majekodunmi, an Environmental Activist, urged government and relevant agencies to explore only Gas, leaving the crude oil.
Majekodunmi, advised that concerted effort should be made in jettisoning harmful practices, which include Gas flaring, “Gas flaring is causing a lot of damage to wherever we are extracting it. I don’t know if they are extracting it a bit differently or they are extracting it the way it been extracted in the Niger Delta, it will cause a lot of harm to the environment,” Majekodunmi said.
The Environmental Activist, added, “On top of that, the amount of investment required to extract this product is alot and the demand for oil and gas is high now but it going to drop very rapidly very much, very soon it will drop ass the world transit to renewal energy. Is the investment really worth it, because the world is really going to transit away from fuel. It causing too much problem for the environment.”
While warning authorities about making similar mistakes of as done in the Niger Delta, “They (Exploration companies and government) should be very careful and just concentrate on the gas and just leave the oil under the soil. Even the gas is not too good for the environment but it is not as a bad as the oil and certainly they shouldn’t flare the gas.”
On what the Communities should do differently renowned Environmental Activist said, “let’s have some kind of control, we are in a democracy. Oil is under the Federal Government, the community is going to be sidelined as usual, may be this time they won’t be but they should try their best to have some sort of control over the revenue that woo come from the resource.”
Majekodunmi added, “The recent statement by the Secretary General of the United Nations was that we are moving down the road with our leg still on the accelerator. This is a serious statement, he made another one, that man is waging war against nature, this is suicidal because nature always fights back. So, giving the fact that United Nations is a very credible organisation, I think we should listen to what the head of that organisation has to say.”
NNPC to focus on CSR after determining ownerships – Official
Head Public Affairs Division of NNPC Garba-deen Muhammad, when contacted on phone last December, said plans around Corporate Social Responsibility would be unveiled by 2023, after the Corporation had determined owners of the fields.
Muhammad said, “I think early next year, there will be a plan that will be unfolded. I can’t give you anything off the curve at the moment, because you know so many variables have to be taken to account, including which community owns what. It will be sometimes next year (2023) before we can have a clear picture of what Corporate Social Responsibility plans we have.”
Responding to reasons why the clinic built by NNPC is yet to be opened despite the urgent demands, Muhammad just asked where the facility was seen, “where did you see the clinic? it all around the Kolmani area,” he added.
Government reacts
On his part Special Adviser to Gombe State Governor on Information Management and Strategy Ahmed Shuaibu Gara-Gombe, said the administration of Muhammadu Yahaya has input machineries in place to assess likely environmental impact as exploration begins.
Gara-Gombe said, “The government has put machineries in place to assess what are the likely environmental impact that the oil exploration is going to cause to the community. The right of the community must respected.”
“Our people whose land were dubiously taken for in the name of access road and were paid between N64,000 to N117,000 as compensation by NNPC must be paid appropriately.
“NNPC must go to Gombe side and also construct a road like they did on Bauchi side besides Pindiga (Gombe) to Kolmani is shorter and friendly terrain that From Bauchi which is longer and unfriendly terrain,” Gara-Gombe added.
