By Dakuku Peterside
Oloibiri is Nigeria’s open sore. The pathetic story of this town where oil was first discovered in commercial quantity in October 1956 is well known. For many decades, this long-suffering Niger Delta town in Ogbia Local Government Area in present Bayelsa State bore the brunt of the unbridled activities of multinational oil corporations operating in the region.
Aside the neglect by Shell Petroleum Development Company, the major oil company in the area, Oloibiri has also suffered incalculable abandonment by the Nigerian state. Unlike its peers like the Old Residency in Calabar; Songo Shrine at Ijebu Ode; Petro glyph of Igbaraoke near Akure; Ikogosi Warm Spring in Ekiti State and the relics of the steamer ‘Dayspring’ in Jabba Station which are already national monuments, Oloibiri is yet to attract the attention of the National Council for Museum and Monuments.
This, obviously inspired the motion by 24 members of the House of Representatives, entitled: ‘Need to declare oil well 1, Oloibiri, Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State a national monument and establish a centre of training for petroleum and tourism related activities”.
When oil came pouring out of Texas soil in early 20th century, the lives of the people and the environment changed radically. Instructive too is the fact that oil also drastically affected those Texans who owned the land from which oil wealth came. And with more disposable income, the standard of living improved. In addition, the discoveries of oil fields resulted in the founding and flourishing of many Texas towns and establishment of big companies that are well known today globally. In addition, vast wealth also came in torrents into the hands of both the locals and those involved in exploration and processing.
Nacogdoches County was the site of Texas’ first oil field and pipeline. Fortunately for the inhabitants of Nacogdoches, the oil companies provided the needed environment for growth and this resulted in massive influx of people looking for jobs. So by 1895, Joseph S. Cullinan, the man who founded the Texas Company which later became Texaco was already drilling several oil wells and encouraging growth and development in the region.
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Oil from Texas continues to benefit Texas’ education sector, particularly higher education. Thousands of students continue to draw from oil for their educational advancement. Today, it is common to hear about Permanent School Fund and Permanent University Fund in Texas. And more people still enjoy one form of philanthropy or the other from people and institutions that have made fortunes from oil discovery, processing and production in Texas. Aside individuals and schools, public hospitals, research centres, arts and culture, engineering and technology have all benefitted generously from oil related businesses.
The question then is: why has the ordinary Nigerian not benefitted from these multi-nationals? Why would the same oil companies and individuals who do great things in Texas and other parts of the world do the opposite when they are in Nigeria?
For instance, last year, a major oil spill occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. In a twinkle, Shell quickly cleaned up the affected areas, paid compensations and even sacrificed some of its senior managers for negligence. But our experience in Nigeria is baffling as we are daily confronted with perennial oil spill and nothing significant happens at the end of the day.
Again, one is tempted to ask why things are done differently in Nigeria. This is worrisome because our country has all it takes to ensure that a substantial part of oil revenue returns to the oil producing communities which is the practice in other places. People of Oloibiri and other oil bearing towns also have a right to functional hospitals, research centres, scholarships and special funds for arts and culture like their counterparts in Texas. They should also have efficient infrastructure and the right environment that would engender development.
Like Oloibiri, our icons too suffer similar fate. How often do we remember our nationalists and exemplary politicians, artistes, scholars, inventors, administrators, activists, sports men and women, ex-service men and others who shaped modern Nigeria? For many years, I read with pain and consternation the tragic story of Taiwo Akinwumi, the man who designed Nigeria’s flag. Only last year, I was again confronted with the moving story of Davidson Andeh who won the world title in the lightweight division. Andeh, I understand, now lives like a hermit in Benin-City. Where is Dr. Ezekiel Izuogu, the man who saw vision and wanted to revolutionize the auto industry in Nigeria? How about late Professor Ayodele Awojobi of the autonov 1 fame? Is anything being done to immortalize that prototypical professor of mechanical engineering?