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Ijaw communities urge NNPC to revive moribund floating stations
By Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt
Ijaw communities under the auspices of the Movement for Survival of Izon Ethnic Nationalities (MOSIEND) have appealed to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to revive moribund floating filling stations across the waterways.
MOSIEND President Kennedy Tonjo-West, who made the request when he led a delegation to the NNPC Chief Operating Officer, Upstream, Dr. Adokiye Tombomieye, recalled that the floating stations were the initiatives of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to alleviate the transport hardship faced by riverine communities.
But he lamented that the stations had been left moribund, saying the new management of NNPC would write its name in gold if it made them functional.
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Tonjo-West said: “The initiative of the Obasanjo administration to build floating mega filling stations to service communities within the creeks was a noble one. Today, that initiative is moribund.
“The stakeholders want the GMD to revive it as well as set it on motion as one of his legacy projects. MOSIEND is availing itself to facilitate and support in the operations of these floating NNPC filling stations.”
Tonjo-West, whose speech was made available to reporters in Port Harcourt yesterday, told Adokiye that the recent stakeholders’ meeting in Port Harcourt listed the abandonment of the floating stations as one of the major concerns among Ijaw communities.
Congratulating Adokiye on his appointment, Tonjo-West said they were also concerned about alleged unethical and unwholesome practices by the IOCs and the military that could snowball into crises in the region.
He said: “The IOCs deliberately refused to review and upgrade their Corporate Social Responsibilities and MOU agreements with host communities and this poses huge concern not only to Izon people, but also to the whole oil-bearing communities. It is either the NNPC is aware or turning a blind eye to these thorny issues.”
