Jumbo Major House Decries Noninclusion in NLNG Project

Benneth Oghifo

The Jumbo Major House of Grand Bonny in Rivers State has petitioned the Federal Government over alleged non-inclusion of the community in the on-going Train 7 NLNG Project located on “part of their ancestral land”. In the petition signed by eight members of the family and addressed to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and copied to the Rivers State Governor, Ministers of Justice, Niger Delta Affairs, Petroleum Resources and the National Security Adviser as well as Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited NLNG and others, the family complained that they were denied of their natural herediments while their people keep wallowing in penury.

They asked if they must resort to militant agitations, breach of public peace, organized national sabotage or vandalization of installed national facilities “before they are included in what they part own”.

Jumbo Major House stated that by virtue of the provisions of Section 3 of the 1958 TenancyAgreement which the Jumbo Major House executed with SPDC, all accruable rents/compensation due to the real land owners (Jumbo and Brown Major Houses) and the consenters to thatAgreement, the entire Bonny Community represented by the Bonny Chiefs’ Council would be shared in the ratio of 30:30:40 respectively, and that such compensation should be routed through the two landlords.

They questioned the execution of the Global Memorandum of Understanding by both the MD of NLNG and the GMD of SPDC through which N3 billion was meant to be paid annually to the consenters without the input or involvement of the Jumbo Family as this denied them, with 21 communities and fishing ports the benefits of their entitlements.

Jumbo Major House further complained that they were completely excluded from Trains 1- 6 NLNG Project and also from the list of the Bonny Chiefs 7 man committee on the Trains 7 & 8 NLNG which they should as of right be actively involved. The community advised the Federal Government to ensure that peace prevails in the area by directing their participation and inclusion as well as statutory beneficence, and to consider their caretaker committee under the leadership of Prof. Jasper Jumbo on all activities in the project. The House gave the Federal Government 42 days to take action on their demands or they would be forced to institute appropriate legal processes in Nigeria and abroad “even if it entails going to the International Court of Justice at the Hague.”