…Recommend three amendments, seek three prayers
The people of Ode Aye community have registered their presence at the National Assembly to make key amendment to the bill seeking to establish the Bitumen Development Commission of Nigeria.
The bill which was initially initiated by the Senator representing Ondo South, Jimoh Ibrahim, sailed through the second reading.
At the Wednesday hearing, the representatives of the community, Chief Henry Olatujoye, HRH Adegbemiro Akinbuwa, Dr Segun Ogunleye and Mr Pius Adewinle, conveyed the unanimous decision of Ode Aye, saying: “Mr. Chairman and distinguished Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, we bring you greetings from His Majesty, Oba Williams Akinlade Akinmusayo, Uyi Oba 1, the Halu of Aye Kingdom of Lapoki/Halu Dynasty.
The Kabiyesi is the paramount ruler of the kingdom with more than two hundred (200) towns and villages among which are: Ode-Aye, Lafe, Agbabu, Ominla, Ladawo, Igorisa, Yegbata, Aduwo Ladan, Abusoro, Likaju, Idebi, Lapeti, Umobi, Umoboro, Epewe, Agbaje and many more.
“First and foremost Mr. Chairman and distinguished Senators, we wish to use this medium to express our appreciation to our distinguished Senator, Senator Dr. Jimoh Ibrahim CFR for his bravery in sponsoring this long-awaited bill and also
to the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for allowing the proposed bill go through the required process of enactment.
“We hope that the bill will sail through and be an established law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Mr. Chairman and other members of this honourable Committee, we the people of Aye kingdom having read through the proposed bill discovered certain areas of the bill that need to be amended for it to capture the generality of Nigerians and especially the people of the host communities that will be directly and indirectly affected by the exploration and exploitation of this God-given mineral resource. Other observations and comments are:
“The proposed bill seeks to limit the application of this bill to Ondo State only, whereas we have on records that bitumen deposits spread through at least four states in Nigeria, they are Ondo, Edo, Ogun and Lagos States.
“We therefore submit that the bill should cover all the states in Nigeria that are blessed with
bitumen deposits.
“Mr. Chairman and distinguished Senators, we also discovered in the proposed bill, that there is no provision for the inclusion of a vital organ of the Federal Government which is the Federal Ministry of Environment. Mr. Chairman, this is a lacuna that needs to be corrected. We believe that it is this Ministry with its technical personnel that would prepare the Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA) report on the exploration and exploitation of bitumen in the host communities. We, therefore, submit most humbly that the Federal Ministry of
Environment is included in the Bitumen Development Commission.
“Mr. Chairman and distinguished Senators, the proposed bill provides that aside from members of the commission to be drawn from the different Federal Ministries, other board members would be appointed from the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Mr. Chairman, we state that this is unfair and against the precedent contained in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Act which provides that members of the commission aside from those drawn from the Federal Ministries be appointed from the indigenes of the host communities of the mineral deposit.
“We, therefore, state that the provision contained in the NDDC Act be replicated in the proposed Bitumen Development Commission bill. Also, the headquarters of the commission is cited in the state with the highest quantity of Bitumen deposits.
“Following from the above, we the people of Aye kingdom are proposing that:-
(i). That the Commission’s Chairman shall be rotated among member states in
the commission in the following orders; Ondo, Ogun, Lagos, and Edo.
“(ii). That the Managing Director and other Executive Directors shall be indigenes of the bitumen deposit areas starting with the member state of the commission with the highest production quantum of bitumen and shall rotate among member states in the order of production.
“Finally, Mr. Chairman, we propose the inclusion in the bill of a Bitumen Derivation Fund which shall be a certain percentage of the revenue derived from the exploration of bitumen and acrueable ONLY to member states and to be shared in the proportion of quantity of the mineral in the states.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to contribute in our little way to the bill that seeks to establish the Bitumen Development Commission.
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