Firms alert on militants' ultimatum
From Madu Onuorah, Oghogho Obayuwana, John-Abba Ogbodo, Mohammed Abubakar (Abuja), Taiwo Hassan and Gbenga Salau (Lagos)
OIL companies have raised the alarm over a February 14, 2009 ultimatum given to them by militants to leave the Niger Delta or expect disaster. The threat has engendered uncertainty in their operations, The Guardian has learnt.
Oil workers had also raised an alarm over insecurity in the region and threatened to shut down production nationwide from yesterday if the situation did not improve.
However, the House of Representatives has intervened in the plan by the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) to embark on an indefinite strike over attacks on and killing of their members by the militants, summoning the ministers of Petroleum and Labour, Rilwan Lukman and Kayode Adetokunbo for a meeting next week.
The intervention of the House through its Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) prompted both unions to defer the planned strike by three weeks to give the lawmakers a chance to dialogue with the Federal Government and other stakeholders with a view to addressing the issues raised by the workers.
But Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday called on the international community, especially members of the G-8 industrialised nations, to sanction their nationals who engage or patronize in stolen crude oil.
He told an Italian delegation led by the country's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Franco Frattini, on Tuesday night that "a greater percentage of the restiveness in the Niger Delta can be attributed to the continued patronage of stolen crude."
The Vice President condemned such illegal acts, noting that "criminal elements cash in on such situations to create an environment of insecurity in the region as they make pipeline patrol very difficult as well as carry out other criminal activities."
Meanwhile, Nigeria and Italy are to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on defence cooperation to cover the areas of training, peacekeeping and arms supply.
Defence Minister, Shettima Mustafa and Frattini both spoke of the importance of the MOU saying that work on it would be expedited for the mutual benefit of both nations.
Dr. Mustafa, who spoke when Frattini visited him, noted that Abuja and Rome have had a very proactive relationship over the years especially in the development of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF).
He, therefore, lauded Italy for its role in the refurbishment and repair of NAF aircraft and training of its personnel.
And, yesterday, Frattini pledged that his country would present the Niger Delta agenda at the G-8 meeting. Franttini made the promise in Abuja when he visited the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Chief Ufot Ekaette.
He said that the decision to table the Niger Delta issue at the G-8 meeting was aimed at finding a lasting solution to the crisis in the area.
The international oil companies operating in the Niger Delta have been accused by the militants of aiding the Nigerian military to carry out attacks on their camps.
Frattini, at his meeting with Ekaette, said: ``We are interested in the security of the Niger Delta; we are particularly concerned about the uncontrolled influx of small arms into the area which had given rise to militancy.
"The issue of oil bunkering as it affects the environment is also of utmost concern to us because it has a negative impact on the people's lives.''
Franttini said the Italian government was also willing to provide the region with a patrol team that would ensure security of the facilities.
He added: "There will also be training of policemen who would be posted to trouble areas. We are also looking at other areas of investment in agriculture and new security technology.''
Responding, Ekaette stressed the need for AGIP and other oil companies to focus more attention on the development of the Niger Delta.
He said: ``It will be of benefit to Nigeria and the Niger Delta, in particular, if issues of the region are presented at the global forum to attract further partnerships from other countries. We are also appealing to your government to evolve a new way of relating with the people of the region for better co-operation."
Ekaette stressed that the ministry needed assistance to revive the ecosystem, adding that fishing, the people's major occupation in the Niger Delta, had been affected due to the damage done to it by oil exploration.
It also emerged yesterday at Frantini's parley with Foreign Affairs Minister Ojo Maduekwe in Abuja that Italy would collaborate with the federal government to give respite to the many Nigerians in the European country who are facing eviction threats.
Both countries have now stepped up efforts to have an "innovative approach" to the problem of irregular migration which may see the Italian government granting general amnesty to Nigerians leaving and working in that country without any criminal record but with incomplete regulatory papers or none.
Besides pledging to enhance Nigeria's capacity and provide requisite leadership for its continental peace keeping role, the visiting Italian foreign minister noted yesterday that his home government is also eager to engage Nigeria in the desire to redress the current trade imbalance between the two countries. But he lamented that Nigeria was still a transit point for international drug trafficking.
Italy will assume the presidency of the Group of Eight most industrialised county (G8) in July this year. There are currently about 67,000 Nigerians in Italy. According to the consular briefs made available yesterday, 40,000 of these are legally resident while 25,000 are classified as illegal immigrants.
Frattini said: "It is time to strengthen the bilateral relations between Nigeria and Italy. It is the right time to do it. Nigeria is the hub of Africa and African issues will be in the front burner when the presidency of the G8 comes to Italy this year."
He said that Italy would convene a special session on Africa during its tenure at the G8 reminiscent of that at Kannaaskis, Canada in 2002.
Apart from the current agreement on consular matters and irregular migration, Nigeria and Italy have a subsisting MOU on women and child trafficking since 2004.
Addressing a joint media briefing, the Italian minister, who was flanked by his country's ambassador to Nigeria, Massimo Baistrocchi, and members of his delegation who are on an African tour, said: "After 20 years since the last visit, this is the right time to deepen our engagement with Nigeria. It is a strategic point for greater relations given the global financial crisis. It will be a mistake if Africa is forgotten. We look at Africa as a continent of opportunities. We have come to strengthen this agreement (immigration). As I have discussed with Nigerian officials, we have agreed to strengthen and enhance Nigeria's capacity to do peacekeeping in the sub-region and in parts of Africa. We want Nigeria to continue this leadership role also."
Thanking the Italian government for the cooperation so far received on the idea of granting a general amnesty to Nigerians who reside in Italy without requisite stay papers, Maduekwe said: "We are full of hope that the general amnesty that Nigeria has pushed for will come to fruition... Africa is not just about hungry stomachs. Africa is about hands, about eyes and brains. This is the new engagement we are seeking with Italy. It is now going to be a more adult relationship."
Nigeria is Italy's second largest trading partner in Africa. Major imports into Italy from Nigeria include hides and skin, timber, rubber, cocoa and crude oil while she exports into Nigeria agricultural, motor, electrical and aircraft spare parts, telecommunications, chemical and pharmaceutical products, foot wear, as well as processed (edible and non edible) goods.
In 2003, the volume of trade between both countries stood at 1.115 billion euros. In 2004 Italy's export to Nigeria amounted to 486.3 million euros while imports stood at 337.8 million euros. The resumed talks is expected to address the trade imbalance in the long run.
However, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has condemned the donation of two attack boats to the Nigerian military by the Italian government, saying it shows the level of Rome's insensitivity to the quest for peace in the area.
MEND's spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, in a statement, said: "The Italian government, through its Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, has made an unsolicited offer of two attacks boats to the Nigerian military who is waging an unjust war against the people of the Niger Delta rejoin.
"At a time when groups like the Country Cathedral and others are working towards the path of dialogue, peace and reconciliation, Italy, like the British government believes that the best way to keep the blood oil flowing from the Niger Delta is by supporting an undisciplined army to oppress a people long marginalised".
Also, activist lawyer, Femi Falana, has called on the Federal Government to direct the Minister of Health to ensure that Henry Okah, who is being detained by the Federal Government for treason, was taken abroad for medical treatment as a result of a disease which he contracted in prison as it cannot be treated in Nigeria.
Falana said: "Following the order of the trial court that our client be given urgent medical treatment he was diagnosed by a Specialist Urological Surgeon at the Jos University Teaching Hospital. When the Specialist examined him on October 11, 2008, his renal function showed evidence of serious impairment caused by 'a left extra renal pelvis with a full pelvis probably from a left pelviureteric junction obstruction.' It was therefore recommended that out client be subjected to a "a diuresis renography preferably using technetium labeled meracaphtoacetyltriglycine (TC-MAG2)".
Also, yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a resolution mandating the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the House committee on Petroleum (Upstream) to investigate the berthing of some vessels containing some inflammable contents, including petrol at Warri port.
The motion was moved by Bassey Otu who expressed concern that explosion of the content might cause a catastrophe in the oil communities in the Niger Delta.
