Illegal refinery

• 10 Reach Advanced Stage

By Ademola Adegbamigbe

As part of the peace making efforts of the Federal Government, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, in February, visited the Niger Delta where militants blew up pipelines with not as much efforts as cutting twigs. This development crippled Nigeria’s oil output and further put the country’s economy on a tailspin.

Part of the peace deals he had with Niger Delta citizens was the decision to work with illegal oil refiners, instead of destroying them. In fact, he told his hosts in Rivers State: “Our approach to that is that we must engage them (illegal refiners) by establishing modular refineries so that they can participate in legal refineries. We have recognised that young men must be properly engaged.”

After one of the meetings, the Pan Niger Delta Elders Forum (PANDEF) leader, Chief Edwin Clark, said:
“The meeting was excellent. We met with Mr. Acting President. He was very forthright, truthful. We were very satisfied. There is no ultimatum. We agreed on many things and we came in with our own address, presented it; the ministers presented their cases.

“Mr. Acting President rounded it off and we saw in him the genuineness, truthfulness and forthrightness. He’s a gentleman and we support him. We are satisfied. We did not use the word ultimatum. We only said we would withdraw. But we have agreed to work together. The message is that everybody should maintain peace.

“We have agreed to work together. MEND is here. MEND was in the meeting. Jomo Gbomo does not exist as a human being. That’s a ghost name. MEND was here. Other organisations were here. I’m the leader of Niger Delta and every leader you can think of from Cross River to Edo State was here.”

Part of the ironies of the Niger Delta is that though it produces oil, the environment is devastated, development there is stunted and, most disastrously, refined petroleum products are as scarce as snow in the Sahara or Kalahari! The last situation made the residents to turn their ingenuity into make-shift refineries which the authorities called “illegal”. If the Niger Deltans had the expertise, why not tap this into general advantage? That was exactly what the Federal Government did. With that peace deal, blowing of pipes fizzled out.

Though Osinbajo did not give details of how the FG wanted to achieve that objective that February, they have now continued to emerge. The illegal refineries have metamorphosed into modular refineries. This is contained in a press statement signed by ‘Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President

The Buhari administration, according to the statement, is committed to promoting the establishment of privately financed modular refineries so as to increase local refining capacity, create jobs, ensure peace and stability in the Niger delta region, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

The initiative which featured prominently in recent talks between the Federal Government and the oil-producing areas, as represented by PANDEF will, according to Akande, also reposition the petroleum industry and ensure self-sufficiency of petroleum products, while serving as a disincentive for illegal refineries and oil pollution.

At an end-of-the-year review meeting of the Niger Delta Inter-Ministerial Committee at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, before the holidays, Prof. Osinbajo, as the report indicated, noted that the Federal Government, in line with its Niger Delta New Vision, is targeting measurable objectives in its efforts towards implementing development projects in the region.

It continued: “The December 22 meeting received a report that 38 licensed privately financed greenfield and mini-modular refineries investors have so far indicated interests in the establishment of refineries in the region, and at least ten (10) of the licensed refineries investors are at an advanced stage of development.

“The advanced stage of development means that these projects have passed the Licence to Establish (LTE) stage, while some have the Authority to Construct (ATC) licence or close to having it because they have met some critical requirements in the Licensed stage. So far, 10 modular refineries are located in five out of the nine states in the Niger Delta region; namely Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Imo states.

“Also, two out of these 10 – Amakpe Refinery meant to be located in Akwa Ibom, and OPAC Refinery to be based in Delta State – have their mini-refineries modules already fabricated, assembled and containerized overseas, ready for shipment to Nigeria for installation. The total proposed refining capacities of the 10 licensed refineries stands at 300,000 barrels.

“Noting the issue of funding as a major challenge to most of the investors, and the primary reason holding further progress of the refinery projects, the Vice President directed that the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources keep providing the necessary support and creating the enabling environment for positive investments in modular refineries by engaging key government agencies.

“The agencies include the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Nigerian Content Development & Monitoring Board, NCDMB, and financial institutions, including the International Finance Corporation, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, Bank of Industry, amongst others.

“The Vice President stressed the importance of ensuring that the oil communities have a stake in the modular refineries and directed that an appropriate model be developed to achieve that.

“Other issues addressed at the end of the year meeting include the Maritime University, Ogoni Clean-up, and other related issues such as increasing support for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the region.

“On the Maritime University take-off, the Vice President noted that further support would be given by the Federal Government to ensure the training of staff to give the best to the incoming students of the institution.

“On the Ogoni clean-up, the Project Coordinator for the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, (HYPREP), Dr. Marvin Dekil briefed the meeting that progress has been made in several areas of the clean-up.

“He listed the evaluation of existing water facilities in the four local government areas in Ogoni land in the process of providing clean drinking water, demonstration of remediation technologies at sites in some of the impacted communities; hiring of and the technical training of Ogoni scientists. The Coordinator added that health impact assessment would be conducted in some communities in the coming weeks.

“At the meeting were the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Unguru Usani; Minister of Education, Alhaji Adamu Adamu; Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu and the Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Usman Jubril.

“Others include the Director-General of Nigeria Maritime Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside; Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Corporation, Mr. Nsima Ekere; and the Special Adviser to the President on the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brig-General Paul Boroh (rtd).”