Championing the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) for Niger Deltans

INFLUENCING GOVERNMENT POLICIES & PRACTICES

In our over ten years working in the Niger Delta, we have undertaken interventions that have helped reduce the conflicts within the region, moving it towards more sustainable economic growth. For us, the interests of the host communities needed to be considered in the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). This consideration would ensure the progress achieved in the Niger Delta continued without related conflict.

While the act was under review by the National Assembly, we facilitated the creation of an empowered coalition of civil society organizations (CSOs) to represent the people's interest at the public hearings in January 2021. The coalition included representatives from PIND, and several other NGOs. The key recommendations were on the expansive responsibilities apportioned to the oil & gas companies (described as Settlors in the act), the need to ensure equitable inclusion of host community representatives, and adequate allocation of funds for capacity building.

With the signing of the PIB into law in August 2021, the Act recognized our suggestions in key areas of its Host Community Development Trust (HCDT) aspect. This law enactment showed that we had succeeded in making our voices heard. Nevertheless, the next point of action for us was ensuring a chaos-free adoption of the HCDT by the Settlors (oil & gas companies). We believe that for this to happen, it is important for Settlors to collaborate not just among themselves but with other stakeholders (such as CSOs and development organizations) who have had years of on-ground experience working within the communities in the Niger Delta.

We are already engaged in designing, facilitating, and monitoring sustainable community development actions. These actions are needsdriven, locally owned, and locally implemented. In partnership with New Nigeria Foundation (NNF), we organized a workshop for oil & gas companies in Lagos, Nigeria. At this workshop, we helped Settlors get a clearer picture of the work involved in implementing the Petroleum Industry Act. This work includes understanding the Host Community Development Trust (HCDT) and the need for collaborations.