The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General LEO Irabor, says the abysmally low oil production in Nigeria is adversely affecting the economies of the oil producing states and the nation.
The CDS who stated this in Abuja at a meeting with Governors of oil and gas producing states, heads of security agencies, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited as well as CEOs of the Upstream and Downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry, solicited sustainable collaboration among all stakeholders in the value chain of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.
The meeting, mandated by President Muhammadu Buhari, was to consider a framework for reversing dwindling oil production occasioned by oil theft, illegal oil bunkering and pipeline vandalism, amongst other economic crimes.
General Irabor said that environmental degradation and health challenges thrown up by pipeline vandalism, illegal oil bunkering and refining, also impinged on the wellbeing of the communities, due to pollution of the waters, land and air, thereby giving rise to a cycle of poverty and diseases.
The CDS, said he decided to lead heads of the security and intelligence agencies as well as CEOs of the oil and gas regulatory bodies to engage with Governors of the concerned states as the issues demand quick action as mandated by the President.
The resultant framework from the engagement, according to him, would involve the whole society and that, it would be a win-win situation for all stakeholders, including the host communities stressing that the Governors ‘as critical stakeholders, to addressing the current challenges, will be playing a crucial part’ in the industry-wide security of the hydro-carbon infrastructure and overall oil production capacity of the country.
The Defence Chief, pointed out that the responsibility of the Armed Forces and security agencies was to provide security across the space, including the oil and gas sector but the collaboration of the Governors and host communities was however, pivotal to the successful accomplishment of the constitutional roles of the Armed Forces and other security agencies.
The Executive Governor of Delta State, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, while speaking on behalf of the governors, thanked the President for mandating the engagement saying that Governors of the oil producing states were equally worried about the level of economic sabotage in the oil and gas industry, which had caused reduced revenues as well as environmental and health challenges for the states.
He hoped that, at the end of the meeting, a framework for collaboration amongst all stakeholders would be crafted for the benefit of all.
Dr Okowa expressed the commitment of his colleagues to contributing meaningfully towards a collaborative framework that would guarantee greater prosperity for the nation, the states and host communities.