As the House of Representatives assures it would consult widely in its efforts at resolving the host community rights agitation of Finima Community in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State, stakeholders have been reacting to the development.

At a Public Hearing on Tuesday, July 6, 2021, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Host Communities, Dumnamene Deekor promised that his committee would engage relevant stakeholders on the issue with a view to converging them for a dialogue in order to amicably resolve the contending issues.

“We will do extensive consultations, I can assure you of that. I am a Rivers man and my colleagues here, we will move and look at the books and also look at the issues.”

He equally advised the Finima Community and Nigeria LNG to be positively disposed to dialogue as a way out of the debacle.

“What I will advise is this…for those from Finima you must be ready for dialogue. And the company too, you also have to be ready for dialogue.”

The Finima Capacity Development Committee (FCDC) had petitioned the House of Representatives demanding that Finima be recognized as host community of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG), insisting that the company’s gas liquefaction plant, which is situated on its home soil, has cost the community tremendous losses and affected its economic wellbeing.

According to the spokesman of the FCDC, Dr Bara Kabaka-Brown, after 25 years of relocation from their home for the NLNG plant to be built and go into operations, the community was yet to reap the benefits accruable to it consequent upon giving up its land for the project to be sited, insisting that Finima should be accorded its rightful status as host of the plant.

Our Development Efforts Etched On MOU With Bonny Kingdom, Not Sections – NLNG

Addressing the committee, the Nigeria LNG, through its General Manager, External Affairs and Sustainable Development, Eyono Fatayi-Williams, who was accompanied by the Manager, Community Relations and Sustainable Development, Godson Dienye, said its multifarious development efforts across various communities in Bonny Kingdom, Finima inclusive, were predicated on an agreement reached with Bonny Kingdom, as a whole.

The foremost gas company in Africa clarified that the said agreement, which spelt out a framework for integration of various families in the kingdom, has engendered the interventions it has made over the years such as electricity, water, healthcare, infrastructure, human capital development, and much more.

“That framework is an agreement between Nigeria LNG and Bonny Kingdom, it’s not an agreement with a section of the Kingdom. We can submit that agreement, it’s an agreement with the kingdom and sets out a framework on how you should integrate with the kingdom.”

Desperation of Brown House, Unsavoury – Bonny Diaspora Leader

Reacting to the development, President of Bonny Indigenes in the Diaspora (United States), Stephen Benstowe decried the desperation of the Brown House members, saying they were the ones advancing these agitations without the consent of the other two houses, Tobin and Attoni.

He queried that “if the Brown House people say they own the land in Finima, how did they come about owning it? In their history, they say Kongo, their ancestor met the Iyankpos and Obolos (Andoni) there. Who fought and drove away those people? And why is the King of Bonny referred to as “Amanyanabo” translated in Ibani as “owner of the land”?”

“It’s true that lands belong to families but who created the families and why is Bonny Kingdom represented by the Amanyanabo a consentor in any land transaction involving strangers or corporate entities? We should be able to put the records straight.” 

Tobin House Not Consulted On Agitation – Chairman

Chairman of Tobin House, Dagogo Tobin, however called for calm, urging all aggrieved parties to resort to dialogue with a view to finding lasting solutions to the issues at stake, noting that Tobin House was not part of the agitation, though in Finima, because the house was not consulted in the process of establishing the FCDC.

“You cannot shave my head in my absence, isn’t that what the lawyers say? How can you say you are fighting for me and you didn’t think it was important to come and discuss with me? We have a right to know what any one is agitating for if our name is involved but in this case there was no consultation.”

Host Community Status Or Nothing, Though Dialogue In View – Brown House

Reiterating its stance, an elder of the Brown House, who preferred anonymity as he was not authorized to speak on the matter said that all that the FCDC is asking for is “to recognise Finima as host community and all rights that come with it in line with the provisions of the NOGID Act 2010 and the Community Content Guidelines (CCG) of the Act.

He stated that the FCDC acted on behalf of the Brown House and Finima Community, as a whole, asserting that it was wrong for the Tobin and Attoni Houses to claim they were not part of the struggle, pointing out that “we have representatives from these houses: Hon. Asi Attoni and Hon. Ene Tobin”.

When informed that both chieftaincy houses say these individuals were neither nominated by their respective houses nor were they consulted before the setting up of the FCDC, he interjected that “unfortunately, we don’t need their consent to proceed on a fight of this nature. If they want to join us fine, if not they should stay and watch while we fight and bring for all to share”.

“This was a similar situation when we were fighting for the 60-40 employment thing with Bonny as a whole, today are they not benefiting from it? Land in Finima is the sole preserve of the Brown House. The carrying along of these two chieftaincy houses is by privilege not right. There are court judgements in this regard.”

On the advice by Dum Deekor for dialogue to take precedence, he maintained that “we are always ready for dialogue but any dialogue that would amount to annexing the structures in Finima would not be entertained. Anything worthy that will bring peace is what we are looking forward to. Didn’t we peacefully accept this 60-40 employment sharing thing?”

NLNG Referenced MoU Does Not Exist – Jumbo Major House

On its part, Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of Jumbo Major House of Bonny Kingdom, Jasper Jumbo described the claim of an MoU by NLNG as untrue, saying there was no time the chieftaincy house agreed that Bonny Kingdom would be host community to the company, assuring, however, that the various contending issues about land ownership and hosting rights would soon be sorted out in court.

Judicial Pronouncements Place Exclusive Land Ownership on Families – Attorney

In bearing his mind to the discourse, a United Kingdom based legal practitioner, Clinton Dan-Jumbo said he was not aware of any clause in the referenced MOU where it was expressly stated that all the chieftaincy houses agreed that Bonny Kingdom was the host community to NLNG, adding that the MOU exclusively focused on light, water and road.

He informed that the first meeting between the Bonny Youth Federation (BYF) and NLNG regarding the MOU had the then Construction Manager, Wim Kemper, and Community Relations Manager, Fufenyi Funkakpo, of NLNG, and BYF Leader, Allen Ezekiel-Hart, and General Secretary, Clinton Dan-Jumbo, in attendance.

He urged those beating the drums of war in Bonny Kingdom to be wary of their ways, saying the various families are entitled to their lands and whatever sits on them, asking “what was the High Court’s position in suit number: PHC/494/1998, which ruling was given on Thursday, March 18, 2021?”

As a way out of the quagmire, Dan-Jumbo advised that strategic engagements should be the way to go, warning that forcing the issue may “only result in unnecessary squabbles among brothers,” a situation, he asserted that “we don’t need that now”.

Kristina Reports’ checks indicate that land ownership and the management of the resources on the said lands have become very teething issues in Bonny LGA. Whilst there have been judicial pronouncements declaring exclusive ownership of lands to families, historical antecedents have pointed to communality in the ownership status.

In attempting to resolve the trending situation, the House of Representatives is expected to review conventions on land, judicial pronouncements and extant laws and agreements on land related issues in Bonny LGA.

It is also expected that the lawmakers would juxtapose these with the provisions of the NOGICD Act, especially, its Community Content Guideline (CCG).