*Train 7 to further increase gas flaring, environmental pollution in Bonny Kingdom
His pungency of presentation, clarity of elucidation, and resourceful x-ray of issues makes him a voice to listen to and a good read any day. From his emergence as Chairman, Caretaker Committee of Bonny Local Government Area to his current stint at the Rivers State Universal Basic Education Authority (RSUBEB), Cyril Hart has distinguished himself as one cut out for service to his community, nation and time.
He was featured on a Facebook live interview by his kinsman, Redman Awanta Tobin, Convener of Bonny Youth Federation (360), and monitored by Kristina Reports on Sunday, May 24, 2020. We bring you excerpts of this enlightening and enthralling interview. Enjoy:
Bonny Environment, the Challenges
Every sane man should be concerned about what happens in his or her environment. By the way, whatever I say here is my personal opinion. It is not the position of my (political) party. It is not the position of any kingdom committees that I belong to, like the Bonny Kingdom Local Content Monitoring Committee and the Bonny-Bodo Road Project Liaison Committee. So, it is not their position. It is my personal opinion. So, whatever I say should not be linked to my affiliations. It should that Cyril Hart said this.
I have been disturbed in the past few days. I have been very disturbed. And I have made a few calls to really get first hand information of what has been happening recently. I spoke to a few victims that made a few remarks on Facebook and I got first hand information on their experiences. I also called a few doctors that I know on the island and they guaranteed that everything was actually under control, that the NCDC was actually in Bonny. And you know there is this conjecture…I want to use the word conjecture, because we are not sure what it is. Some have linked this thing to gas flare. Some have linked it to COVID-19. We are not ruling out any, I am not ruling out any of these possibilities. But I think it is important we await the result from NCDC to ascertain what it is.
Gas Flaring, the Issues
However, on the issue of gas flaring, I think it actually happened before this outbreak. When I saw some pictures on Facebook of thick smoke from the flare tanks of NLNG. I think that was what happened and few days after we began to hear things like loss of smell and all of that.
I listened to Dr Abarasi when he talked about the chemical composition of natural gas and that he wouldn’t want to link them so that he doesn’t raise alarm. I think I understand what Dr Abarasi was trying to say that there are some components of natural gas that if inhaled in excess quantity may result to things like that. The tendency is obviously there. Now, he also mentioned that we cannot stop gas flaring completely because of some reasons like safety reasons. It is better you flare or you allow the plant to explode. Which do you go for? Definitely, everybody will want to flare than allow the plant to explode. I will like to differ with doctor on the issue of flaring. I have done extensive research on liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants. The last time I traveled, I went to Doha. You see if there is any company that the NLNG is looking forward to becoming it is Qatar Gas. Qatar Gas is doing about 77 metric tonnes per annum. NLNG is doing about 22 metric tonnes per annum. So, Qatar Gas is about three and half the size of Nigeria LNG. So the question is, what I tried to find out is…if you look at the story of NLNG, what informed NLNG in the first place is to reduce flaring. NLNG is a programme, a project to reduce flaring.
Appreciating Role of late Gen. Sani Abacha
Let me say it here that one thing everybody must give to Sani Abacha. You may not like Sani Abacha, but Abacha conceived this NLNG. You may not like him, he saw the sufferings of the Niger Deltans, how we were inhaling these gases and Abacha asked the question, how can we stop this flaring? So that these people can live longer. It is a sad situation that wherever you find an oil well you can still see gas floating on top of the oil well. If you find the gas well, there will still be oil in the gas well. A gas well is that well that has more gas than oil. An oil well is that well that has more oil than gas. Either way gas is found either in the gas well or in the oil well. Before you extract the oil, you must flare the gas. And that is what has been happening until Sani Abacha came and said No, there should be a way forward to addressing this issue. That was what led to the birth of NLNG to stop gas flaring.
Has Nigeria LNG lived up to founding dream?
I am trying to build a background to see if NLNG is living its purpose, especially, in Nigeria. What led to the conception of NLNG? Is NLNG living its purpose? The answer is this…NLNG was designed to stop gas flaring. Now, in fairness to NLNG – listen to this logic – they have reduced national flares to 25%. For you to understand national flares is that you look at all the flares in all the locations around the Niger Delta. Before now, they were flaring in Gbaran-Ubie community in Bayelsa State. Serious flares were going on in Gbaran-Ubie. Shell built some kind of processing plant, a gas gathering programme to gather the gas in those areas that hitherto were flared. Shell gathered all those gases and sent them to NLNG for liquefaction. So, what it now means is that all those gases that were supposed to be flared in Gbaran in Bayelsa State have been reduced because of that project to gather them. But ironically, those gasses are flared in Bonny. A percentage of it is now flared in Bonny. So, whereas NLNG has succeeded in reducing national flares they have also increased flares in Bonny Island. So, Nigeria is celebrating reduction in national flares but Bonny is suffering increase in flares because what they should have flared in Bayelsa they are now flaring it in Bonny.
How Nigeria LNG’s coming increased flaring in Bonny Kingdom
How do I know? I can prove it. Before the advent of NLNG we were only suffering flares from SPDC and Mobil. So, imagine the level of concentration. Before NLNG was established we were only suffering flares from two companies, Shell and Mobil. Now, NLNG was designed to reduce flares but they increased flares in Bonny. So, they have succeeded in reducing national flares but they have increased flares in Bonny. And look at the geographical area of Bonny Kingdom. So, talking to every Bonny person now, whenever you go to any function or seminar and you hear the Federal Government talking about gas flare reduction to 25% remind them that they have increased flaring in Bonny, while Nigeria is celebrating reduction in flares, people in Bonny are suffering because before NLNG came there was no gas flaring from them. You get the logic.
Will Train 7 increase flaring?
So now, Train 7 is coming again, if you look at the scope of Train 7 you will discover again that they are going to construct a flare stack. And each time they are constructing a flare stack it means they are definitely going to flare gas from that flare stack. So, train 7 will increase flaring further because it has the construction of a flare stack in it. So, the more you see those poles standing, that is what they call a flare stack. As long as they are constructing flare stacks in Bonny, flaring will continue to increase in Bonny.
Can Flaring be stopped?
Now, where I said I disagree with Dr (Abarasi Abbey-Hart) is this…there is no law permitting flaring. Flaring has been abolished since 1984. There is no flaring that does not attract penalty because it has been abolished. That is why when you flare you pay a penalty for flaring. So, there is no permissible flaring. But NLNG will tell you that what they are doing is operational flares. What is operational flares? They will tell you that operational flares are waste gas that cannot be further used. This is not me, this is NLNG now, go to their factsheet you will see it there. NLNG said the reason they flare is operational flares. And one, they are flaring because of waste gas that cannot be used further. And two they are flare because of safety purpose, which is what Dr Abarasi was talking about. You know to reduce pressure or something, they flare for that reason. Another reason they are flaring is when they are loading the gas. When they load they also flare. So, these are the three things that must happen when its activities are taking place. And I ask, is that a global practice? The answer is No. I went to Doha, I went for a seminar in Doha and I was privileged to see some parts of Qatar Gas, which is like three times the size of NLNG. I know the experiences I got there, which I have put forward to them in one of our meetings with them at NLNG. I challenged them in that meeting why they are not embarking on jetty boil off gas recovery program? There is a jetty boil off gas recovery program in Qatar. It cost Qatar gas a lot of billions of dollars to set up that program. That program is designed to reduce flaring during loading. NLNG is not doing it. So, in terms of global practice, is NLNG completely clean? They are not clean. I want them to commit that same volume of money that Qatar Gas committed to embark on that program. Rather than do it they are flaring. You see because it is expensive for them to embark on that project.
Independent investigation by Bonny Kingdom
Let me tell you where I think things are not right. He who pays the piper dictates the tune. A situation where a company – this is exclusive to NLNG now. It could Mobil, it could be SPDC, it could be any of those companies – want to site a project on an island and they will be the one to holistically prepare the environmental impact assessment of that project is not acceptable by me. It is not acceptable by me. Communities should be empowered to constitute their own team to also carry out the impact assessment of that project they want to establish in that community. Not just to carry us along in what you are doing. We should be eminently qualified and empowered to do these things independently. So, we come to a round table, like a panel, if you say there are no hazards, I say there are hazards. You say okay prove there are hazards and I experiment that there are hazards. And we now look at the mitigation of those hazards. And by the way, I hear even the ones they have in their documents – their EIA – have not been implemented 100%. So, these are these issues. For me, I agree that communities should their own independently. Like what is going on now, there is the issue of funding. The communities often times – and I don’t think Bonny is poor – should carry out this thing independently. Bonny should not be part of those communities. I know some communities in Oyigbo where I had friends who came up with such ideas but funding became a problem. I contributed money for them to carry out independent investigation on an explosion that happened in Oyigbo. I did not rely on the company or the Federal Ministry of Health and Environment. No, don’t rely on them. Do your own thing independently. They were crying of money, they hadn’t money. So, some few friends they had around had to contribute money for them to carry out that investigation. Look at the issue of Bodo community. Bodo community challenged Shell – not in a court in Nigeria – they challenged Shell in a court in the United Kingdom where you live and they got a judgment sum of about $55 million. About $55 million was paid to Bodo community. Shell paid the money. Nigerian court couldn’t give them judgment. So they went to the UK and challenged Shell and the court in the UK gave them judgment. Even though I was not comfortable with the way the community administered that money but the money was paid by the multinationals. So, that is the new conversation we need to begin. These things are doable.
What went wrong with Bonny Kingdom Development Foundation (BKDF)?
I hope you are not mixing them up. I know that they used to have the BKDC which was charged with some community development. Now the one that has issues which was in court because some persons went to court is the BKDF, the Bonny Kingdom Development Foundation. What I can say for now is that the issues are no longer in court. And I must commend His Majesty for the fatherly role he played to ensure that these matters were resolved seamlessly. So, those issues are no longer in court. That’s what I can say. I think maybe but for this COVID-19 we would have gone to the next stage where we begin to engage with the stakeholders and to see the way forward. There is actually a fantastic master plan for the development of Bonny Kingdom, a fantastic master plan. Why I said you missed is that you missed the opportunity to hear from His Majesty first hand during the tenure of the former youth leader, Barrister Simeon Wilcox, they organized a youth summit. I was privileged to be in that summit and I heard the King first hand discuss the master plan of Bonny Kingdom. The King has it all in his fingertips. The way he was reeling out the programs, the activities; Bonny is in for an Eldorado when that foundation kicks off. That’s what I can tell you. And like I said I commend the King for the way he handled all the issues surrounding the BKDF. Maybe after the COVID-19 they are going to make significant progress. That is all I can say about BKDF.
Upscaling Economic Profile of Bonny Kingdom
But even though the foundation promises greater good for Bonny Kingdom, we still need to harness other opportunities that are coming our way like the train 7 project. We really need to harness and maximizes the benefits of the train 7 project. And that is my greatest concern now. We have been shortchanged in the other trains, from train 1 to train 6. We have been shortchanged. Sometimes I come online and I see Pastor (Sebastian) Benstowe say that Bonny has got no millionaire. And I think it is a call for concern because the pastor may not be far from the truth. Because I have actually carried out a retrospect to ask do we really have millionaires on the island? And I think I tend to agree with the pastor that we do not have millionaires. Now, the question is is it really our fault that we are not millionaires? I don’t think it is completely our fault. And this is the narrative, this is what I want to sink in our head as Bonny people. I have been in some engagements where they try to make it look like Bonny people are lazy. And at times it gets me upset. I don’t like it. Sometimes, we too come on Facebook to say that our youths are lazy. In every community thee are youths who are docile in every part of the world, even where you live in the UK. There are people who just rely on government social welfare. There are people who don’t want to work, they just rely on government social welfare. So, laziness among people is across board, it is not peculiar to Bonny people or Bonny community. So, nobody should give the impression or come out to say that Bonny people are lazy.
Revisiting the CSR question in Bonny Kingdom
Do you know that I was somewhere talking with these multinationals and they were saying, Cyril, if you ask you now to provide 50 scaffolders, can you people provide them? Like they were challenging me that my people were not skilled enough. Cyril, can Bonny people give us 50 welders and 70 scaffolders? Ca you give us if we say we want them now, qualified ones? You know I was taken aback when I was asked that question. I just sat down like Jesus, you know when they asked Jesus if they have to stone that woman. You know Jesus had to process the information, that was why he was writing on the floor. He was processing the information. He was processing the information to get a better answer. Immediately they asked the question, I said Bonny people can provide even twice the number you requested. That was my response to them. They said Cyril leave that thing, you cannot provide it. I now said let us even assume, for purpose of argument, that Bonny people cannot provide or produce the number of welders and scaffolders that you are asking for now, whose fault is it? You have lived with us…Shell, you have lived with us since 1958; Mobil, I don’t remember when; NLNG, for 30 good years you have been with us…that we cannot provide the number of welders and pipefitters you are talking about, is it completely our fault? It means you have not done your own bit to even train us to prepare us for the challenges ahead, which is part of your social responsibility. The Nigerian content law provides that before any company comes to site any project, they must ensure that the local solutions which includes training of the community people to catch up with the opportunities available in that program must be carried out first before the kickoff of that program. What that simply means is that before train 7 starts we should expect trainings from the multinationals sponsored by them 100%. By the way, let me commend my brother, the former BIRC Chairman, Ala (Hart) for what he did. That was completely not his responsibility. But Ala went out of his way with support from some other persons to train those young men and women. It is completely the responsibility of the multinationals. If you want to build a bottled water industry in Bonny, you must first come and train us to equip us on how to participate in the construction of that plant. And they have failed to do it. They didn’t do it in the first train, they didn’t do it in the second train, they did not do it up to the six trains. You know there a lot of things these people do which I call catch-ups. Look at Ibanise Initiative, the Ibanise Initiative is dying, if not dead already. It is dead already, it’s gone moribund. The Ibanise Initiative is an afterthought. The other trains, they now discovered that our people are being impacted by health challenges like HIV/AIDS. So, they now introduced the Ibanise Initiative to give our people awareness on HIV/AIDS and other sicknesses like tuberculosis. That is being reactive and not being proactive. Ibanise Initiative should begin before any train to prepare the people and not when the sickness comes you now set up one fire brigade approach to address those issues. Now, Ibanise Initiative is sleeping. You know before they start train 7, like other trains they came donated sicknesses in Bonny. Now they are bringing train 7 again to donate sickness to our people. Are they not supposed to put in mitigations such as building and construction of health centres? Do you want to construct health centre when train 7 is on?
Who should front this fight?
What we are doing now is the advocacy. I told you the conversation must begin. Let me even commend Bonny youths, even though sometimes, some of them go overboard, like the overzealous ones. I want to commend Bonny youths, they are very active in the social media space. Even though I tend to disagree with their approach but the fact that they are speaking up means that the conversation is on, people are reading, people are listening. So, the conversation must begin. Use every tool at your behest. It thank you and Dr Abarasi, what you guys are doing, and a few other who I wouldn’t want to mention their names. Leadership is not easy. I was once a local government chairman. I saw the poverty of our people in my three months in office. I saw the poverty of our people. It is not easy. Sometimes, I think the most difficult place to lead is the local government council. That’s my opinion. I’ve not been a governor, I’ve bot been a president, but I think it is actually difficult to be a local government chairman.
We are our problems, hatred and jealousy.
Well, thanks Wari Senibo Cyril Hart, for your insight and concern, followed by your suggested solutions for a way forward,
I would pick a point which concerns our developement as individuals, because environmental issue we need to come as one to deal with issues arising due to flaring and health, so i would speak concerning the reward most youths in this island get from the skill they invested into learning and are now practicing as professionals.
I dont know how a millionaire can be made without him being paid properly for jobs and services rendered, if we are not paid properly we cant build house here in Bonny, reason, due to the high cost of living, coupled with the cost of building materials.
Now talking about payment and growth it is only in Bonny, that welders, fitter, mechanical tech, ropes access technicians, etc are paid peanuts.
I would delve into my rope access technicians because thats my trade and am grounded with the issues concerning it on the island.
The Agbami FPSO was built in Lagos, rope access technicians and other personnels where paid peoperly for their service, am talking about Lagos one of the cheapest places when it has to do with labour, then imagine coming to Bonny with the highcost of living, evironmental hazard people are paid peanuts, three (3) times below what workers recieved as payment there, i have prove of this.
Even onne here workers are still paid better compared to the Island.
I wont comment much on what transpired with negotiations that went on, concerning payment for Rope Access Technicians on the Island, i also have details and prove of this, our own brothers in the helm of authority stood on it and it turned into bullshit, when you try to stand against them you here stuffs like, ” if them no want to walk we go give una new people” how long will this continue on this Island.
I find it hard to beleive we are jinxed, but present situation of thing on the Island, leave me in thoughts.
I pray for the day a fight for one would be a fight for all in Bonny Island.
Idatonye C Dan-Jumbo.