He noted that Shell cannot go free after the destruction of the Niger Delta environment and abuse of stakeholders for over 70 years of its oil and gas exploration in the region.
Edwin Clark, the convener of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), has said that the ‘big people’ from other parts of the country who feel Nigeria belongs to them want to colonise ‘Ijaw Nation’ in Niger Delta and feed fat on its vast oil reserves.
The elder statesman and former Federal Commissioner for Information, made this known on Thursday when some Ijaw youths visited him, in Abuja to register their grievances against the proposed move by Shell to sell its onshore subsidiary in Nigeria.
He noted that Shell cannot go free after the destruction of the Niger Delta environment and abuse of stakeholders for over 70 years of its oil and gas exploration in the region.
He said, “People came to me to report, I agreed with them that we will follow the case in a legal way, I have a list that people sent to me containing 147 cases taken Shell and more of them are coming, enough is enough. We can no longer tolerate it. If you go Gbagada today Chevron has an estate there, they are workers who work in Niger Delta, but do not pay their tax to Niger Delta because they live in Lagos.
“Could you imagine a situation whereby NNPC which was established in 1977 to look after the oil industry, one would have expected that the capital could be in the Niger Delta, hopefully in Port Harcourt, no those who feel that they own this country put it wherever they want.
“Out of 11 members appointed by Mr. President to supervise oil in the region, the chairman is from Akoko in Ondo state, five of the 11 members are from the north, the only two executive directors are also from the north, South East has one. The President of the Senate gave one to a lady who was commissioner in his government in those days, people who are well qualified from Ogoni, who could be there.
“At the moment, Delta is the leading oil-producing state, not a single person from Delta, Bayelsa State, another major oil-producing state, not a single person, people who have nothing to do with the oil industry are the ones supervising, maintaining and treating us as strangers in our own home.”
"This cannot continue, the situation whereby the almighty God gave the people of Niger Delta since you are living in a very difficult terrain, we give you this oil to compensate you. But the big men in Nigeria who believe Nigeria belongs to them, when the white man left, they want to colonise us. It’s unfair, oppressive, unjust and unacceptable,” he added.
The Renaissance Africa Energy had reached an agreement with Shell to acquire its entire shareholding in SPDC.
Renaissance is a consortium consisting of ND Western Limited, Aradel Holdings Plc, the Petrolin Group, FIRST Exploration and Petroleum Development Company Limited, and the Waltersmith Group.
Shell shared a post confirming the acquisition which is subject to approval by the Nigerian authorities.
Confirming the withdrawal from oil exploration in Nigeria, in a post shared on its verified X (formerly known as Twitter) account, Shell said the sale was contingent upon obtaining approvals from the Federal Government, in addition to meeting other conditions stipulated by governmental and market regulators.
According to the company, it said it would sell its Nigerian subsidiary, SPDC for a consideration of $1.3 billion, with buyers making an additional payment of up to $1.1 billion relating to prior receivables at completion.
The umbrella body of Ijaw youths worldwide, the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), warned of renewed hostilities in Niger Delta if the purported sale of SPDC onshore assets fails to follow requisite laws in line with the Local Content Act.