Breaking: Niger Delta Congress emerges, Accuses NNPCL of Cronyism in Surveillance Deal
In a thunderous display of regional solidarity that shook the corridors of power, indigenes from the nine oil-rich states of the Niger Delta yesterday, February 25, stormed the nation’s capital to unleash scathing condemnation on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for handing over the multimillion-naira pipeline surveillance contract to what they branded a “family affair,” in brazen defiance of equity, fairness, and the clear provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
Representatives from Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Imo, Ondo, and Abia states packed the venue, their voices rising in unison to decry the federal government’s decision as a naked insult to the very communities that have endured decades of environmental devastation, oil spills, and economic deprivation from crude exploration on their ancestral lands, insisting that the PIA’s explicit directive for host communities to participate in securing oil facilities has been trampled underfoot in favour of outsiders, amounting to nothing less than oppression, a new form of colonial domination, and a criminal betrayal of the Niger Delta people who continue to bear the scars of the nation’s oil wealth.
The charged gathering, alive with fiery speeches, placards waving high, and unbridled calls for justice, reached its crescendo with the birth of a formidable new platform, the United Niger Delta Congress (UNDC), designed to serve as a relentless vanguard for equity, resource control, and an end to the age-old marginalization of the region, vowing to deploy every tool at its disposal, from legal battles in the courts to diplomatic pressure on international bodies and grassroots mobilization across communities, to wrest back the Niger Delta’s rightful share of the oil bonanza that has enriched others while leaving locals in penury.
“Asking another man to come to our communities to protect pipelines in our communities is unacceptable, unjust, and it amounts to oppression,” roared one impassioned speaker, his words igniting the hall like a rallying cry and encapsulating the raw anger that propelled the assembly into a renewed era of militancy against systemic exclusion from the benefits of their God-given endowments.
To lead this powerhouse coalition, the stakeholders wasted no time in electing a diverse executive drawn from every corner of the Niger Delta, signalling an ironclad commitment to unity and broad-based representation: Chief Julius Obi from Delta State steps up as National President; Hon. Dr. Emaluji from Cross River State assumes the role of Secretary; Hon. Moses Obi Emeka of Imo State is the National Vice President; Dr. Kenneth Lawson Osobugha from Bayelsa State takes on National Financial Secretary; Chief Mathias Efe Olowu serves as National Publicity Secretary; Hon. Mrs. Gloria Osagbuwa from Edo State leads as National Woman Leader; and Comrade Paul Ola from Ondo State rounds out the team as National Treasurer.
As the United Niger Delta Congress launches into action with eyes firmly fixed on overhauling the pipeline surveillance contracts and securing broader resource justice, political observers, oil industry stakeholders, and federal authorities will be watching closely to gauge whether this united front can finally force a seismic shift in the unequal sharing of Nigeria’s black gold.
