Eruemukohwarien: Broken promises in
Delta’s first oil community
By Francis Onoiribholo
Special
Correspondent, Ughelli
The
name Eruemukohwarien may be jaw-breaking, but this community seating deep
inside Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State shares similarity
with Oloibiri in Bayelsa State in many respects. While the latter holds the
record of being the first community in Nigeria where Shell D’Arcy, the
precursor of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), first struck oil in
commercial quantity in 1956, the former is where the same company first struck
the black gold in present-day Delta State in 1958. And like Oloibiri,
Eruemukohwarien lost its innocence the moment the explorationists landed their
helicopter on the community’s primary school field and poured out its
human cargo of white men.
On
Daily Independent’s visit last week,
nobody could however tell exactly when seismic surveys through which oil was
found in the community was conducted, but the realisation that oil was in the
underbelly of the village was enough to send the indigenes into frenzied
jubilation that lasted several weeks, especially as they expected that there
would be tremendous improvement in their material well being and in physical
infrastructure. But curiously, this high expectation has remained a mirage
after more than 40 years of oil exploration.
For
Eruemukohwarien, literally translated: One good turn deserves another, it has
been a tale of unfulfilled promises. When the rickety narrow bridges leading to
the community were expanded to accommodate trailers that brought in
construction materials and equipment to the project site, hope was high that
physical structural development was to follow and to extend to the host
community. Instead, after four decades, it has been frustration, exasperation
and failed dreams. While some indigenes have shed tears over their plight, the
more resilient have continued to gnash their teeth in helplessness, preferring
to hand their case over to God.
The
Eruemukohwarien community was indeed very generous in providing land, the
sustaining factor of production, in hundreds of hectares for the exploration
project that brought many foreigners, both skilled and unskilled to their
village. Actual activity soon commenced and a flurry of promises ensued, which
ranged from employment of indigenes, sponsorship of their children through
school, and physically improving their lot through the provision of amenities.
Concomitantly,
the negative impact of exploration activities did not take long before
manifesting. According to Chief George Etinagbedia, the senior spokesman of the
community, “gas flaring has weakened our houses, leading to the collapse
of many buildings, and corroded roofing sheet as a result of the intense heat.
Our complaints and petitions to government yielded only a half-hearted team of
inspectors who came, saw and never conquered. The result or the recommendation
to government arising from their inspection was never communicated to the
community. The story is one of total neglect and criminal discountenance.”
Etinagbedia,
however, stated that only SPDC, as an establishment, showed little concern for
the community, and “this manifested in the building of one primary school
and rehabilitation of the existing road leading from ECN to Ekiugbo. These are
recent events after several protests by our community.”
But
this road is now in a deplorable state and yearning for a fresh tar. Farming,
fishing and palm produce business that hitherto was the main occupation of the
whole area has been relegated to the background due to poor yield arising from
the effect of oil exploration on soil infertility. The few farmers, who have
stubbornly stuck to the occupation despite the overwhelming unfavorable
conditions, including the hiring of lands from neighbouring communities, can
only harvest for their household consumption, leaving the majority of
inhabitants at the mercy of far-flung markets for their daily purchase of
needed food.
Water
also became a problem in the community, as the only available river source was
polluted and people resorted to drinking from dug out wells, which content was
far from being potable. This situation persisted until the defunct Oil Mineral
Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) came on stream. The then new
Federal Government agency awarded a borehole contract to a daughter from the
community. As with others, the water project was commissioned with water pumped
into the overhead tank from a water tanker after which the water stopped
flowing when water in the overhead tank got exhausted.
That
was the situation until SPDC again came to the rescue of the community with
water provided at a particular spot, where inhabitants have to trek several
metres to fetch. We however gathered that Shell has almost concluded
arrangements to extend the water project to all the quarters in the community.
A
retired teacher, 89-year-old Chief Timothy Ogbevire Igben, who saw it all from
inception, told our correspondent that the community never wished to depend
solely on government, hence several community projects have been executed
through self-help. He, however, queried: “Should this community continue
to wallow in abject poverty, devoid of hospitals, secondary schools save for
one built by the community, good roads and potable water?”
According
to him, “past administrations in the state promised the only secondary
school in the community science equipment that never came until the indigenes
contributed money with which one of our sons, Chief Josiah Owumi, purchased the
science equipment in Lagos and sent to the school. These equipment were used
until recently when Shell deemed it fit to provide the ones now being used by
the school.”
Chief
Igben’s lamentation included the promise of scholarship for their
children, although he admitted that a few enjoyed it up to secondary school
level. “But none ever got scholarship to university until recently, and
that was after several protests and petitions. The few secondary school and
university scholarship for the community given by the oil company didn’t
just come because we are an oil-producing community. Our children were made to
undergo rigorous examinations with other communities before securing the
scholarships,” he added.
“All
these in a community where since 1958 one oil well after another was sunk until
the present 18 wells located here, including the gas, which made the Nigerian
government to build the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) Power Station,
which was christened Delta IV. Besides, the largest gas station is also located
in this community,” the retired teacher informed amid lamentations.
Another
retired teacher, Chief (Evangelist) Macaulay Amrabure, who said he was 26 years
old in 1958, narrated how an airstrip and a housing unit were promised the
community. “In our usual enthusiasm to attract development projects, we
willingly and generously provided land. This enthusiasm was short-lived, as
another community in Urhoboland out-manoeuvred us and at the end took the
airstrip from us, while the government built the housing unit and health care
centre in a sister community.
“However,
as a peace-loving community and because we do not want youth restiveness to
take over mature process and avenues for communication, we are calling on the
federal and state government to critically review the conditions of our
existence, and institute programmes and projects to ameliorate our suffering.
“Even
the promised skills acquisition centre could not be actualised, which lends credence
to the fear that nothing good can ever be done for this community by those
exploiting our goodwill and favourable environment,” the septuagenarian
fumed.
While
Eruemukohwarien, like other oil-bearing communities in the Niger Delta, depicts
the proverbial washing of hands with spittle despite being surrounded by water,
the question indigenes still await an answer is: When will the several promises
be fulfilled?
