The National Coordinator of the Center for Peace and Environmental Justice, CEPEJ, Chief Sheriff Mulade, has tasked host communities of OML 38 and its operator, Platform Petroluem Limited (PPL), to key into the needs assessment document and community development plan (CDP) facilitated by CEPEJ as part of the PIA implementation process, for their overall development and peaceful coexistent.

Chief Mulade made the appeal on Tuesday, August 8, 2023, at the Iyemere Civic Center in Obiaruku during the handover ceremony of the PIA Needs Assessment and CDP to PPL and the host communities of Umutu, Akoku-Uno, Ogbe-Uzu Adonishaka, and Umuosele (Obi-Iloh) / Umueziogoli, all in Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta State.

According to Chief Mulade, the PIA, which was signed into law on August 21, 2021, "is one of the boldest attempts to overhaul the petroleum sector in Nigeria" and that if it “is diligently implemented, it will help facilitate the development of host communities and the economy of Nigeria by attracting and creating investment opportunities for local and foreign investors.”

Chief Mulade, who is the Ibe Serimowei of Gbaramatu Kingdom, emphasized that the needs assessment and CDP, which was "conducted between June and July, 2023, for the benefit of all stakeholders" and "prepared with competence, transparency and acceptability, devoid of any manipulation, interference and influence by any stakeholder," was “in line with the provisions of the PIA, taking into consideration the social, environmental and economic perspectives of each community.”

The CEPEJ Boss added that the needs assessment and CDP "will serve as the bedrock and infrastructural template for the Host Community Development Trust, HCDT, BOT and other organs of the Trust" as well as "enable the PPL implement the PIA for effective community development in its operational areas in Delta State" as stated in PIA Section 251 (1-4).

The peace and environmental advocate therefore tasked the BoT, Management and Advisory Committees to see the document "as a template for the implementation of the PIA for development" and as such the “PPL should embrace the contents of the needs assessment and the community development plan towards building a sustainable and harmonious working relationship with the host communities in their operational areas in Delta State.”

Highlight of the ceremony was the presentation of the Needs Assessment and the CDP by CEPEJ's National Coordinator to PPL and was received by its Base Manager, Barr. Eka-Iloma Anioye, on behalf of the Managing Director, Mr. John Anim.

Barr. Anioye, as part of his remark, noted that the desire of PPL to abide by the PIA and to ensure transparency necessitated it to not only engage CEPEJ for the needs assessment exercise and a five-year development plan, but also applied to NUPRC for approval for the establishment of the Egbaoma Marginal Field Host Communities Development Trust, with a fully funded Zenith Bank account in Abraka.

The Base Manager therefore appealed to all stakeholders especially members of the BoT, Management and Advisory Committee to work in unison for the collective achievement of the objectives of the PIA stressing that "The interest of the communities should be paramount" in the  journey "to accelerate the development" of the host communities. 

Among personalities in attendance are Mr. Onowakpoma Monday, who represented the Council Chairman of Ukwuani LG, Hon. Solomon Ajede, and who also presented the documents on behalf of PPL to the chairman, Board of Trustee and other members of BoT, Egbaoma HCDT, among others. Also in attendance are CSP Florence Echikwi, DPO Obiaruku as well as other security officials; and representatives from the state government, NUPRC, CEPEJ, among others.

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