All may not be well between Africa’s foremost gas company, the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), and Bonny Kingdom’s business development vehicle, the Bonny Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (BOCCIMA) over alleged neglect of local businesses by the gas giant.

An indication of this cul-de-sac emerged recently when BOCCIMA availed Kristina Reports a copy of the protest letter it sent to Nigeria LNG, entitled: NLNG’S Constant Neglect of BOCCIMA’s Role In Bonny Kingdom” which was jointly signed by no less persons than its President, Lawrence Jumbo, and Director General, Constance Nwokejiobi.

BOCCIMA noted with strong words that the engagement of Goge Africa, a non-Bonny company, to establish the Bonny Tourism Initiative and handle a Tourism Training Programme for select individuals in the community was the height of the growing trend of neglect of the Chamber.

“We sadly observe that in recent times the NLNG has been neglecting the BOCCIMA in her efforts to attracting businesses into the kingdom. We are concerned about the recent effort to bring Goge Africa without carrying the Chamber along.”

BOCCIMA pointedly accused the Nigeria LNG of neglecting its role in the socio-economic development of Bonny Kingdom, noting that “BOCCIMA represents the voice and interest of the Bonny Kingdom business community”.     

“BOCCIMA has been designated a clearing house for businesses coming into the kingdom and to work with other organizations within the kingdom to ensure economic development of Bonny.

“In this regard we expect that NLNG will partner with us in attracting strategic investors to the island. Tourism is an industry with great potential in Bonny, expressing optimism that with strategic synergy milestones can be achieved in developing the sector in Bonny. If we work together, we can revive our lost festivals in the kingdom, attract a 5 star hotel to establish base in the kingdom.”

As a way of averting a recurrence of the imbroglio, BOCCIMA called for the establishment of an economic sustainability driver, the Bonny Sustainable Economic Committee, comprising the Nigeria LNG and BOCCIMA, insisting that the gas company must register with the Chamber as a demonstration of its forthrightness to synergize with stakeholders and institutions to develop Bonny Kingdom economically.

President of the Chamber, Lawrence Jumbo in a further clarification, told Kristina Reports in Port Harcourt that the committee when set up would define the parameters for economic sustainability and chart the path for its actualization.

“What I have suggested to them is a Bonny Sustainable Economic Committee to drive economic sustainability on the island. The committee should look into it and define what sustainability would be and guide NLNG and the IOCs on how to achieve that sustainability in the island.”

“The Bonny Chamber of Commerce is the coordinating body in Bonny, on the Island. It is known all over the world that chambers of commerce exist to protect the interest of businesses in that community.” 

On her part, Director General of BOCCIMA, Constance Nwokejiobi, called on the Nigeria LNG to “take urgent steps to halt the drift in terms of engagement of businesses within Bonny Kingdom and review your business inclusion policies.”

She noted that this would help the company to avoid a situation where its “strategic objectives aimed at developing their area of operation are met with resentment from the same people they seek to empower due to being excluded in the process of delivering such objectives.”

Nwokejiobi, who is also the Chairman, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Lagos and District Society, described NLNG’s foray into Tourism as a departure from its core business domain which is oil and gas, stressing that the engagement of Goge Africa was aimed at creating confusion and a sense of alienation amongst local businesses in Bonny and an apparent demonstration of its neglect for the 90 member strong Chamber.

“It has therefore become evident that NLNG, whose core business is Oil and Gas, has decided to neglect the role of the Chamber in Bonny Kingdom by bringing in several competing businesses such as Goge Africa into the Kingdom to establish tourism activities within the Island thereby creating a confusion and a sense of alienation amongst the local businesses.”

“Aside other instances, this particular action appears to be a deliberate attempt to undermine or engender a decline in the GDP of the Island given its dangerous potential to create unrest amongst the disenfranchised businesses with the capacity to deliver same objectives.”

“This current action has left us with no choice than to believe that this company has decided to intentionally neglect the Chamber of Commerce as Bonny Kingdom’s business development Institution as introduced to them. I want to believe that widening the gap in terms of business inclusion in Bonny Kingdom has now assumed a corporate template in the NLNG.”

In adding his opinion, Vice President of BOCCIMA, Vincent Furo called on the Nigeria LNG to backtrack on its trajectory of evading engagement with the Chamber, warning that such moves were inimical to the economic development of its host, Bonny Kingdom.

Furo, who is a former President of the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), told Kristina Reports in Port Harcourt during the week that there was the need for synergy between the Chamber and the Nigeria LNG on how to achieve economic sustainability and scale up the capacity of businesses in the island.  

Kristina Reports was yet to confirm this development from the Nigeria LNG as an email enquiry sent to the company’s Media Relations Department was yet to be responded to at the time of this report.