By: Felix Ikpotor
Host communities in the Niger Delta are being systematically excluded from the governance of oil resources extracted from their land, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide has warned, calling on state governors and regional stakeholders to take direct action by bidding for oil blocs and marginal fields before more assets are allocated to outsiders.
Maobuye Nangi-Obu, Secretary-General of the IYC Worldwide, made the call at a stakeholders meeting organised by Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL) in Port Harcourt, attended by host community representatives from Rivers, Abia and Imo States.
At the heart of his address was the recent slating of approximately 25 marginal oil fields for allocation — fields located within Niger Delta host communities but reportedly being assigned to individuals and entities from outside the region. Marginal fields are oil deposits that have been adjudged uneconomical by major operators but are often viable for smaller, indigenous companies. Their allocation has historically been a flashpoint in the region’s long-running grievances over resource control.
”I expect it is time for the Rivers State government to form oil companies that can bid for the marginal fields within Rivers State,” Nangi-Obu said. “They sit in Abuja and decide what happens in our region, and we are not part of the oil governance of our region.”
He warned that host communities faced an additional, less visible threat in the form of directional drilling — a technique that allows operators to extract oil from beneath one location while drilling from a distant site. “There could be oil wells here, and somebody can be somewhere in Yenagoa drilling the oil without you knowing,” he cautioned.
Nangi-Obu also criticised the continued practice of gas flaring across the region by both international oil companies and indigenous operators, citing the absence of adequate gas processing infrastructure in host communities as an unresolved injustice.
Despite the pointed critique of the broader industry, he singled out PINL for praise, describing its stakeholder engagement model as an example others should follow. “Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited is doing the right thing to engage stakeholders from the region. We are not here to cast aspersions against other companies, but not all of them are doing what PINL is doing,” he said.
The meeting also heard from traditional rulers who struck a more optimistic tone. Eze Ekpeye-Logbo, King Kevin Anugwo, represented by Dr. Patricia Ogbonnaya, said PINL’s operations had brought measurable environmental recovery to his community, with fish species that had vanished during the peak years of oil pollution and bunkering now returning to local waters. He called on the Federal Government to increase its support for the company.
Chief Batom Mitee, Chairman of the K-Dere Council of Chiefs, said PINL had restored peace in his community and pledged his council’s continued commitment to pipeline security — but added a firm expectation: that rising oil output must translate into tangible benefits for the communities bearing the burden of production.
