Kolmani oil: We’ll not take issue of local content lightly – Emir of Pindiga

Alhaji Muhammad Seyoji Ahmad is the Emir of Pindiga in Gombe State and Chancellor of Adamawa State University (ADSU), Mubi, Adamawa State, in whose emirate crude oil was discovered in commercial quantity at the Kolmani River where President Muhammadu Buhari flagged off drilling recently. In this exclusive, he speaks on what the discovery means to […]

Kolmani oil: We’ll not take issue of local content lightly – Emir of Pindiga

Alhaji Muhammad Seyoji Ahmad is the Emir of Pindiga in Gombe State and Chancellor of Adamawa State University (ADSU), Mubi, Adamawa State, in whose emirate crude oil was discovered in commercial quantity at the Kolmani River where President Muhammadu Buhari flagged off drilling recently. In this exclusive, he speaks on what the discovery means to his people and what the government should do to avoid crises in the area.

The oil discovery has brought your emirate to national limelight, what does it mean to you and your people? 

With gratitude to Almighty Allah, Pindiga Emirate was created in 2000 out of Gombe Emirate. At that time the district head was upgraded to the status of second class emir. In 2018 the status was upgraded to first class.

This emirate has 16 districts and 64 villages. Our ancestors were part of the Kwararrafa Empire. But now we are in the present Gombe State. I was first appointed to help develop the district to an emirate in August, 1984. When Pindiga became an emirate in 2000, I was appointed its first emir.  

Crude oil has been discovered in parts of your emirate, and you were at the flag off of the drilling, what do you feel about the development?

Oil exploration began in our community two years before the creation of Gombe State; that was in 1994. We were then under Bauchi State. We had a visitor at that time, the Managing Director (MD) of Shell. That was when news broke about the large deposits of hydrocarbons in Bauchi State.

Specifically, the Shell MD mentioned Akko LGA (Gombe) and some parts of Alkaleri LGA (Bauchi). In fact, two years later, in 1996 when Gombe State was created, three companies came to make seismic surveys of our localities. Chevron was in Pindiga, Shell was in Alkaleri and ELF was in Bojoude in Northern Gombe. The companies did the initial 2D seismic survey of the whole of the areas.

But in 2000, after the swearing in of the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, the work was abandoned. 

Also, at that time there was no road from Alkaleri to Futuk. It was because of the exploration that the government of Bauchi State hurriedly constructed a rural road to enable vehicles to access Futuk.

Even in Pindiga, there was no road that linked it from the Gombe-Yola highway. So, it was not easy for heavy duty vehicles to ply those roads. But thank God some patriotic indigenes continued to agitate that there is crude oil here. 

So, there was no reason why the government should withdraw abruptly like that. But the agitation continued until the coming of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in 2015.

Work started again based on the instruction and directive of President Buhari. This time a 3D seismic survey was carried out to give the full picture of what is underground. Now some of the wells, like the first Kolmani well which Shell did, they discovered signs of gas deposits, but they did not go deep enough to find the real oil.

But with the 3D seismic survey they went as far as 13,000 feet below and certainly there discovered oil. From Kolmani 1, Kolmani 2 and Kolmani 3. Kolmani 4 followed and now we have Kolmani 5. 

So, there are two oil blocks here, the OPL 809 and OPL 810. 809 begins immediately beside the oil well at Kaltanga Mahmuda up to Garin Galadima; that is on our side. 810 is from Garin Galadima to Pindiga and beyond as far as Tulmi.  

Are you saying that all the oil wells are in Gombe State?

The seismic survey has been conducted already, all the results are now with the companies and they know where all the wells are going to be. The current ones are just initials. So, there is no cause for alarm.

There could be some parts of the discovery up the Gombe boundary; we cannot tell. For the discovery; it is still continuous. 

The controversy is, is it in Gombe or Bauchi? Like I said earlier, the news first came through the old Bauchi State, at that time Gombe State was not created. That is the idea that Bauchi has oil. But it turned out to be something else because it is a gift from God. We have been living peacefully with our brothers and sisters from Bauchi for hundreds of years. So, there is no cause for alarm. 

Even if the whole thing is in Gombe, we will still work together. Some wells will probably fall under Bauchi; that’s okay. But for now, the ones that are potentially productive are in Gombe State and in my emirate.

However, some parts of OPL 809 are in Bauchi around Futuk. There could be some traces of the oil there. It is possible. And with the OPL 810, so far there is no well dug.  

What message do you have to your people and the people of Bauchi State regarding your cordial relationship, especially with the discovery of crude oil which may bring up crises? 

My call is for all and sundry to be calm. To be calm and rest assured that all interests and matters would be taken care of. If there is anything that is due for Bauchi, it will be for Bauchi. If there is anything due for Gombe, it will be for our people. There is no problem. Let everybody feel happy and live in peace with one another like we have been doing all these years. And I am happy the governors are also cooperating.

What are the yearnings and aspirations of your subjects as oil has been discovered beneath them?

We want a true reflection of what the new Petroleum Industry  Act (PIA) says. As far as host communities are concerned, their roles and rights have been specified in the PIA. 

We want strict compliance with what the PIA says as far as the local content issue is concerned; that is our yearning.

And for our localities, we are looking forward to development. We have rural roads that have not been developed, we don’t have potable water. 

There are healthcare challenges. In fact, one of the communities has the issue of guinea worm, though it has subsided a bit. But there is still no water. They have to travel 13 kilometres to Pindiga town to get water from our streams. We need water urgently. Another thing is that we need a secondary school or even a higher institution. We have a hospital but it is yet to be commissioned.

What message do you have to your people to support the exploration?

Our two governors are cooperating as far as this issue is concerned. For the NNPC LTD and the subsidiary company which is coming to join them in the development of this place, we are saying what we need is a justified method of operating. That issue of local content; we are not going to take it simply; If there is something the people of the locality can do, there is no point bringing somebody from Port Harcourt or Lagos to come and do it here. Because that is what our people will benefit from. You may bring gravel from Mambila to this place or bring sand from somewhere. But in Bauchi and Gombe we are all one. I think we are happy and I congratulate the people of the two states, honestly. 

In fact, I understand that from the perspective of the federal government their priority is to make sure that this oil has been found whether it is in whichever state. And that is a very welcome idea, especially in the North. Thank God the reason why the whole thing started is now yielding good results.  

What message do you have to your subjects in sustaining peace?

Now that this discovery has been established, our hopes are rising. We would like to see a reflection in our lifestyle. The people will like to see how the operations of these companies will help them. They want to get out of poverty because they are suffering. They want to get water to drink, schools, clinics and other social amenities. Also, they want employment for their youths; this is very essential.

But should there be any discrepancy on the part of the companies, something may arise. If there is discriminatory or one-sided employment, there will be problems.  

Do you have a message to the company regarding your expectations?

The company is yet to come to our palace to sit down and discuss with us. I understand it is an Indian company that has been incorporated to come and do the work. They are the people who source the fund to come and make this development. If they come we will tell them; I’m not going to work alone. We have a community Board of Trustees (BoT) for Pindiga Emirate. They will sit down with the trustees and see how the community would be developed. As far as our rights are concerned, it has been specified. As far as the 13 per cent derivation for the state government is concerned, it has been specified. What the local government will get has also been specified. 

So, there is no cause for alarm. We are calling on our people to be calm. We are assuring them that we will open up our eyes, we will open up our ears and listen to what is probably going to come up. Our expectations are that whatever is coming should be in the best interest of our people, Nigerians and everybody.

Meanwhile, this emirate has been blessed with so many minerals in addition to crude oil and gas. There is a coal mine here. The coal is what Ashaka Cement Company is using.   

Aside from oil, what is your take on entrenching the role of traditional rulers in the constitution?

As far as that issue is concerned, if traditional rulers’ role is neglected, there may never be peace that the nation needs. As far as security is concerned, if you exempt a traditional ruler, you exempt the district head, you exempt the village head, and the ward heads, how will you know what is happening in the community? But once they have a specific role to play spelt out in the constitution, our desired peace would be achieved. But now emirs are under local government chairmen. That shouldn’t be. Why should they be under the local government chairman? It may be quite okay if it is under a state governor. But for any reason, why chairman of a local government; that is ridiculous.  

Do you have a message to our political leaders, especially the legislators?

The constitution says before any amendment to the constitution at least 24 out of the 36 states of the federation and Abuja have to consent. That is not forthcoming as far as the current situation is concerned. Some of the governors may not feel comfortable to endorse or direct their state assemblies to sign the law, and unless that is done it cannot be achieved. Otherwise the whole constitution has to be reviewed to make sure that a way forward is made for traditional rulers.  

How can the traditional institutions be used to tackle the insecurity challenges in the country?

Before, if there is any strange face in the community, the ward head is alerted, the village head is alerted and so the emirs and other chiefs. As it is today, you have no right to talk to people. But on the whole, the traditional rulers are those that help immensely in making sure that insecurity is curbed to the lowest minimum.