The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) at the weekend organised a dialogue meeting with the people, particularly youths and women leaders in communities in Ibeju-Lekki axis affected by the Dangote Refinery.
Traditional land owners and inhabitants of the three most affected communities, namely Magbonsegun, Okesegun and Okeiyanta lamented the failure of the refinery to provide basic amenities promised them in line with the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) offers made, to acquire their land.
Representatives from the displaced communities said they are disheartened that despite the euphoria about the huge benefits the refinery holds for the nation, they are rather disillusioned, having not enjoyed electricity since 2013 contrary to what they were promised; whereas the refinery enjoys 24 hours power supply.
They complained also of dilapidated boreholes and bad roads which have made life unbearable for them, while they battle with lack of social amenities and negative impact
on their livelihood in the area of fishing, even as they are being denied job opportunities by the refinery.
According to CAPPA Programme Manager, Olamide Martins, the session which had as theme “Dialogue with Residents of Ibeju Lekki on Rights Agitations, Priority Shaping and Systems Engagement”, followed series of reports from the people on their travails.
Martins said the agitation of the locals was within their rights as the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 mandates oil corporations to vote reasonable sums to provide direct socio-economic benefits for host communities.
The community spokesperson, Arepo Azeez expressed dismay that the locals are being marginalised in relation to employment opportunities in the refinery even as he decried the scholarship scheme put in place by the firm which he described as selective bursary of N50,000 yearly which is only open to JS2 students and had stringent conditions attached to it.
In similar vein, Amusa Kamoru Idowu said the situation in the affected communities can be likened to the Niger Delta in terms of likelihood of environmental impacts, especially the land reclamation exercise which may expose the communities to sea incursion. Wosilatu Apena, a woman leader said: “The land where the refinery is, is our farmland. Now we cannot farm and fish. If men are not willing to agitate, the women will because we have exhausted our patience.”
Earlier, Philip Jakpor, CAPPA Director of Programmes thanked the residents for their maturity in handling the issues of concern, urging them to be united in their quest for social and environmental justice. He explained that the scenario they painted was similar to what is happening in Nigeria’s Niger Delta where the locals are consistently shortchanged despite their resources which produces enormous wealth for Nigeria.
