Bt Baron Ike
Ogoni people and President Muhammadu Buhari are heading for a collision over Buhari’s directive that the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 11 located in the oil rich Rivers State be taken over by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Buhari, through a memo signed by his chief of staff, Abba Kyiari to the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Maikanti Baru on March 1, 2019, directed that operatorship of the OML 11 in custody of Shell Petroleum Development Company be taken over.
Buhari gave NNPC April 20 within which to act and to report progress made on or before May 2.
The SPDC holds 30 oil wells in the area.
But we gathered on Thursday that Ogoni people may not cave in to the Buhari directive because they are insisting that the clean up exercise in Ogoniland has not produced the expected result.
According to an industry source, thw failure of government to clean up Ogoniland from environmental degredation caused by oil mining waa the reason a similar directive giwv to NNPC by late President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2009 could not stand.
Armadanews.com learnt that the joint venture operations in Ogoniland haa always faced the challenge of dealing with the clean up exercise anything the issue of reclaiming some some oil wells come up.
When Yar’Adua gave his own directive there was excitement in the country until the reality of clean up starred everyone in the face.
Another source said NNPC may still fi d reasons to justify its failure to take over operatorship of the oil well in question due to the usual threat by militants.
A source in the industry advised that Buhari should take seriously the government plan to clean Ogoniland up if he wants the people to cooperate with NNPC and SPDC on the OML 11.