The United Niger Delta Forum has lamented what it described as the injustice meted out to the people of the region.
According to the association, Nigeria runs on oil produced in the Niger Delta, yet the majority of ethnic nationalities that produce this wealth are increasingly excluded from the protection, management, and economic benefits of that very resource.
At a press conference in Abuja on Friday, the group noted that this situation is unjust, dangerous, unacceptable, and unsustainable.
“Nigeria cannot continue to depend on the Niger Delta’s resources while ignoring the voices of the ethnic nations that produce them,” the group said in a statement read out by Julius Mallam-Obi, National President, and Fejiro Oliver, convener of the pan-Niger Delta group.
It said that the government must act immediately and correct a system which, according to them, has become monopolized, opaque, and fundamentally inconsistent with the Petroleum Industry Act.
“For several years, the Federal Government has spent enormous public funds, running into trillions of naira, on pipeline surveillance contracts designed to protect Nigeria’s most critical economic asset: crude oil infrastructure. These contracts were meant to protect pipelines, prevent crude oil theft, and increase national oil production.
“Yet despite this massive expenditure, Nigeria’s oil production has remained stagnant at approximately 1.4–1.5 million barrels per day, far below the nation’s potential production capacity of over 2 million barrels per day.
“How can Nigeria be spending billions on pipeline security while oil production continues to underperform?
Where exactly is all the money going? Something is clearly wrong with the system.
“According to them, when the same individuals responsible for protecting pipelines operate within a system lacking transparency, oversight, and accountability, the implications are grave.
“If those entrusted with protecting pipelines are also positioned, directly or indirectly, to benefit from crude oil diversion, then Nigeria is not merely facing corruption. Nigeria would be confronting economic sabotage on a national scale.
“Another disturbing development is the concentration of pipeline surveillance contracts in the hands of a very small group connected largely to one ethnic bloc within the Niger Delta.
“The Niger Delta is not a one-ethnic region. It is home to numerous oil-producing ethnic nationalities, including Isoko, Ijaw, Urhobo, Itsekiri, Ndokwa, Ogoni, Ibibio, Efik, and others.
“Yet the present structure of pipeline surveillance contracts reflects an unhealthy concentration of opportunity and influence, leaving many oil-producing ethnic nations with little or no meaningful participation. This imbalance is dangerous.
“It breeds resentment, fuels division, and undermines the unity necessary to protect national assets. It also creates the perception that national security responsibilities have been effectively privatized and monopolized.
“The Niger Delta must not become a region where a few individuals accumulate vast wealth and become oligarchs while entire ethnic nations remain excluded.
“The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) envisioned a fundamentally different system. Section 257 of the Act recognizes the role of host communities in protecting petroleum infrastructure located within their territories.
“The law also provides that when acts of sabotage or vandalism occur, the Host Community Trust Fund may be used to repair the damage.
“Our demand is simple, lawful, and reasonable. We call on the Federal Government to decentralize pipeline surveillance contracts across all oil-bearing ethnic nationalities and host communities of the Niger Delta, in full compliance with the Petroleum Industry Act.”
