OIL IN ANAMBRA.................

As Anambra joins oil producing states

ON Thursday August 30, the Federal Government declared Anambra State the 10th oil bearing state in the country. President Goodluck Jonathan made the announcement while inaugurating Orient Petroleum’s Anambra River Production Facility in Aguleri-Otu, Anambra East Local Government Area and the decision has catapulted Anambra into the league of oil-producing states like Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers, Bayelsa, Abia, Imo, Ondo, Delta and Edo.
With the development, the state will start getting extra revenue from the 13 per cent derivation fund as soon as oil produced from the state starts contributing to the federation account.
However, before Anambra earns a kobo from oil, it has started facing challenges from many quarters. Reason: Kogi and Enugu states are also laying claims to the oil. A host of Kogi groups and leaders are spoiling for war, claiming that the Anambra Well (1), which currently feeds the Orient refinery in Anambra, is on Odeke land in Ibaji local government area of Kogi State. A similar claim is also coming from Enugu State.
The Anambra basin, where the oil is being explored encompasses communities in Anambra, Kogi, Enugu and Delta states. Since 1927, tension has always brewed among the communities around the borders following the boundary demarcation between Northern and Eastern regions. There was a serious bloodbath between the people of Aguleri in Anambra and those of Ibaji (Kogi) in 1994. There was also a protracted war between the Aguleri and Umuleri people of Anambra in the late 90s.
Four of the wells, according to Orient Petroleum, are said to be currently at exploration stage in the area. While Orient said the bulk of the deposit are in Anambra State, Committee on Oil and Gas Exploration in Ibaji land contended that the area the company was referring to as part of Anambra, was indeed in Kogi State.
Orient Petroleum Chairman, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, admitted that the basin cuts across the various states. However, he said the controversy over ownership of the oil deposits had been resolved and that the ‘bulk’ of the deposits were within Anambra territory, a statement the aggrieved Kogi groups dispute.
There is need to resolve the emerging disputes amicably to avert needless inter-state bickering, that may degenerate to another skirmishes and loss of human lives as was witnessed in April 1994 during the Obale/Aguleri crisis.
All the affected states should be brought to a round table to iron out the issues. Agencies of government charged with the responsibility of delineating boundaries such as the National Boundary Commission and the Surveyor-General of the Federation, must step in as a matter of urgency, to resolve the matter.

Currently, there is an avalanche of unresolved issues in the oil sector. They include the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, the onshore/offshore dichotomy and lingering face-off between Cross River and Akwa Ibom states over the former’s loss of 76 oil wells to the latter. The nation can ill afford to add oil blood bath in Anambra basin to these challenges.

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