By Amos Odeh, Yenagoa
The governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has advised the management of Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited that having acquired the assets of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), it should operate differently from the former owners of the oil firm.
The Bayelsa governor also urged the company to incorporate the interests of host state governments in its operations in order to reduce conflicts in host communities.
Senator Diri stated this on Wednesday when he received the management of Renaissance Africa Energy, including its chairman, Dr. Layi Fatona, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Chief Tony Attah, and other officials at Government House, Yenagoa.
The governor noted that before SPDC divested its assets, host communities were short-changed because the proceeds that accrued to them were grossly inadequate and resulted in agitations by state governments for a better deal.
“When we heard that SPDC had divested, we advised that the new company carries the host states along because part of the issues with the previous operator were that they were seen more like buccaneers. They were like people who came to the communities to collect and in return gave nothing back.
“Of course, the other party that also enjoys the oil arrangement is the federal government. Even out of protests and agitations, what the Niger Delta states get is a paltry 13 per cent.
“There is nothing wrong if states are co-owners with you even if it is a little percentage and that is what l have been pushing for. l think it is not too late now that we have our own people there.
“If we are co-owners, there is even the tendency that we will protect it more just as we are doing with the 13 per cent. See what you can do to include the interest of Bayelsa State.”
Senator Diri, who expressed dissatisfaction with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), noted that, “under the act, the federal government and oil companies cut off the states and local governments and deal directly with the communities. Now we receive a lot of protests from the communities. It is only when trouble comes that they remember that there is a state government and a local government.
“But you have now come in. So please, do not be the buccaneers that people used to know about SPDC, Nigerian Agip Oil Company and all other oil companies that have operated on our land.”
The Bayelsa helmsman commended the management of the oil firm for acquiring SPDC, which had hitherto been dominated by foreigners for decades, saying that it was historical and something to be proud of.
“The good thing is that we have the same people that have been in the oil industry and have understudied and have been exposed to the intricacies. l hope that you are not going to make the same mistakes and that you are going to see the states and communities as part and parcel of your operations,” he said.
Diri assured of the state government’s commitment to partner with the company on energy security, adding that his administration was procuring a 60-megawatt gas turbine for independent power supply to the state.
He also appealed to the company to look in the issues of environmental pollution, stressing that as it had acquired the assets of SPDC, it should equally acquire the liabilities.
In his remarks, the Chairman of Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, Dr. Layi Fatona, said the delegation was in the state to introduce the company and its vision to the government having acquired SPDC’s assets.
He sought the state government’s collaboration in the area of energy security under the administration’s ASSURED Prosperity Agenda to help support Bayelsa’s development.
Also, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Chief Tony Attah, said the company recognised Bayelsa as being supportive to its predecessor (Shell) and commended Governor Diri for his visionary leadership.
Attah noted that the company intends to be Africa’s leader in energy security and facilitate industrialisation using domestic gas for the interest of Nigeria, especially Bayelsa which has huge potential in gas.
