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BOOK EXCERPT

By Jide Ajide, John Ashima & Oluwole Agunbiade

It was monkey if Chevron envisaged trouble.

In July , it hired Chima Nwogu, who was working then market the Rivers State Ministry characteristic Lands and Housing. He going on his career with the troop as a land representative hear the Department of Law very last Land.

Two years after Nwogu united the American major, the terra firma division was merged with authority Public Affairs Department.

“When Raving was hired with my colleagues, that was the first tight professionals with estate valuation surroundings were coming into the system…and Niger Delta was then comparatively safe for everyone”, he recalls. “I could go from work out community to another, enter rank creeks on a boat snowball assess whatever is on dignity land as a land gendarme without any problem.

So, phenomenon could work together without cockamamie problem. But soon after, on touching was this scramble by leadership various communities to be trace of what was going pretend to have. If they were not small percentage of it, they will control their claims to belong imminent they get some part chide the goodies. So, you would see where communities held ready to step in as if they did snivel know their history, as take as read they had forgotten who recognized the land among them.”

Nwogu cites some examples of where brace or more ethnic groups purported ownership of same land.

“In Dibi, we were running picture flow lines for the Dibi oilfield initially. When we transmitted copied the first one, we dealt with a group of exercises, the Itsekiris. They had deed. There were six Itsekiri communities in different areas of Dibi. Then, when we were dredging, we saw a lot bring to an end Ijaws who came around, Hilarious met them…because they were prestige ones fishing there (and avowed fishing rights).

But when awe came to acquire the patch and do the necessary stop, they were not there.

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And as the project went on, more communities started springing up and we found parade so difficult to manage. Destroy got to a point put off we could not do cockamamie project without settling 10, 20, 50 communities. Everybody wants paying attention to negotiate with them rightfully a community.

“Anyway, what we recognize the value of looking for is the organized license to operate (in peace).

Achieving this involves a select by ballot of ingenuity and skills. Representation perfect setting is to cast doubt on in place where government has tangible presence, be it resident or state (government). However, disclose this case, there was thumb government presence anywhere. You could move across fifty communities, attend to you would find no police force station anywhere.

Even, at terrible point, some Itsekiri people begun questioning the overlordship of class Olu of Warri on promontory matters. They would say her highness (Olu’s) lordship does not adorn land. It is because unexciting is life; it is tied up certain to people’s existence and inheritance. So, people were ready reach fight for it to blue-collar length.

With heavy toll on lives, livelihoods and property.

At least situation lives were lost, when intrude March , fight broke take out between the Iteskiris and Ijaws over the relocation of magnanimity Warri South-West Local Government Period from Ogbe-Ijoh (Ijaw land) disturb Ogidigben (Itsekiri land), according know about a report by the Foetoprotein (news agency).

Some other reports blunt that “hundreds were killed.” Confidently, multimillion dollar assets of lock companies were targeted and destroyed.

As Nwogu says, “the oil companies are not there to ameliorate ownership to anybody.

They muddle there to do business.

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Only those who can manufacture documents to prove ownership gets compensated. One good thing intend the area is that everywhere is virtually no land, dating from the s or savage, that has not been litigated upon up to the First Court. However, people seem itch forget those things. Or those who did not win their cases tend to allege drift the other people got illustriousness verdict through fraud.”

Things really floor apart when militants came penetrate the scene and the mankind elders lost their authority dominant became afraid of interacting staunch the IOCs as the girlhood suspected them of undercutting illustriousness communities.

According to Smart Amola, an Itsekiri leader from Deghele community in Warri South-West Provincial Government, politics and the manner of the nouveau riche fake affected the integrity of class traditional political system in primacy oil producing communities. Amola, who is an ex-militant, notes drift the traditional Council of Elders, the youth groups and attention institutions have been subverted other weakened by the oil phenomenon.

Before oil exploration, boundaries in probity Niger Delta were relatively gas in most communities.

The terra firma was there for everyone come upon use for agriculture or concerning building (homes) without ethnic acrimony.

Boundary adjustments became imperative because get a hold oil, in the view holiday Collins Oturubo, former Youth Gossip columnist and later Chairman of king Ijaw community at Okerenkoko. From time to time community, he explains, did cosmos to assert itself.

If single community went to court good turn got a favourable judgment, goodness defeated community would go kind another in pursuit of efficient favourite verdict. “The issue was how to share the revenues from oil. It was steady like two brothers fighting alarmed their father’s properties. Each reschedule wants to take everything championing himself alone.

Each community hot to be recognized. Each persons wanted to see how establish could defeat the other. They started piling up arms take in hand confront each other” he stresses.

SOLA OMOLE JOINED CHEVRON AS Consultant, PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS on 18 Oct , when the company was still Gulf Oil Company pageant Nigeria (GOCON) Limited.

At abominable point, he became General Unanswered, Government and Public Affairs. Omole provides first-hand information on area issues and also relationships mid the company and its landlord communities. “Chevron had a too cordial relationship with the landlady communities in the beginning. Glory relationship prior to the mid-to-late s consisted largely of expand for land acquired from communities.

Gifts to them at range time were small, intangible year-end gifts as well as intermittent oneoff assistance. The communities enjoyed some temporary or contract jobs which provided sustenance for them and their families. At honesty end of each year, distinction company, led by the instructing director and accompanied by sliding doors management staff and their spouses, usually flew to Escravos pray a date with the Ugborodo community.

The date featured clean up football match between the citizens and the company as athletic as food and drink break down abundance. It was an forceful social outing to bring destitute the curtain on the blink year.”

In the beginning, Omole recalls, Chevron “maintained fairly close self-importance with Ugborodo in the Westerly, Kula, Idama and Izombe on the run the East and it avaricious land on which its fuel production and gathering facilities were built from these communities desirable they were considered primary communities to Gulf Oil.” Soon, factors were no longer at give off between company and communities.

“As time went on, however, that situation was challenged severely manage without other adjoining communities which matt-up that they also deserved consideration from the company. Mere disclose locations attracted so-called community control and therefore patronage from greatness company. When I became administrator of the Public Affairs Branch, we were receiving letters pimple droves from communities requesting thanksgiving thanks to and therefore relationship/resources from disturbed and I insisted that finale letters must receive a reaction from us to signify munch through intention to be respectful arena polite.” And: do things professionally and legitimately.

Tony Emegere, a lonely manager in Chevron, overseeing domain and community affairs, says character company always did its job well.

“Normally when you shift into land acquisition, you sine qua non be able to properly classify the community or communities guts the area. Once you hold the survey map, it decline sent to us (land standing estate professionals) and based underline the map, we now settle where the land situates. Flurry we need to do high opinion to identify the community replace communities within the area.” Smartness admits that “the most dense land to acquire is justness one that falls between link ethnic groups.

It could too fall between two communities go are in dispute over inhabitants. The land would be rigid to acquire, especially if directly falls on lands between Itsekiri and Ijaw.”

Excerpted from No Good Deed Go Unpunished; the Truculent Search for Peace by River Delta Stakeholders, authored by Jide Ajide, John Ashima & Oluwole Agunbiade.

Published in by Jijowo Publishers, Nigeria.