My Tortuous Journey To Anambra Oil Wealth Through Ogbaru Mangrove Forest— Awogu
Awogu is the House of Representatives candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Ogbaru Federal Constituency.
Awogu was a Senior Special Assistant to the former Governor Willie Obiano on Political Matters and a former Chairman of Ogbaru Local Government Council.
In this piece, he gives a vivid account of the herculean journey to Anambra oil wealth and his involvement in the oil wealth Anambra is enjoying today.
It was indeed a journey of sacrifice, courage, altruism, common good and service.
Anambra State currently earns an estimated average of about N1.8 billion to N2.7 billion per month from oil derivation.
This income comes from the state’s 13 percent share of mineral derivation funds allocated by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
There is a likelihood that this amount will go higher and higher as production level increases, and as more oil wells are discovered.
“In 2016, I was appointed Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Political Matters by former Gov. Willie Obiano and I also engaged in some special duties for the governor.
And I took it upon myself to find out details about the oil exploration going on deep inside Ogbaru which started in 2013 which nobody in Ogbaru and Anambra State was willing to talk about, as it were, only discussed in hushed tones.
Partly because of lack of accurate information about the exploration and partly because the location where the oil company started from was considered far off.
It was at the time a subject of litigation between a kindred in Oguta, Imo State, called Umuonwuka of Oleke village and Umunzarabia kindred in Umungasi village, Ogwu-Aniocha, Anambra State.
History has it that the forebears of Umuonwuka were received as tenants by Umunzarabia into the land called Ani-Ufu, but Umuonwuka were granted some measure of liberty and were later made caretakers of the land by Umunzarabia before Umunzarabia migrated to their present location.
However, there was an understanding between Umuonwuka and Umunzarabia that Umuonwuka would be paying rent and bringing proceeds from economic trees, most especially, palm fruits to Umunzarabia as the owners of the land.
When the oil company that was expanding its exploration from Oguta got to Ani-Ufu land, they met Umuonwuka who were there as caretakers but rather than take the oil company to Umunzarabia, the owners of the land, Umuonwuka decided to transact with the oil company.
That led to a fight between Umuonwuka and Umunzarabia and later snowballed into a protracted legal tussle that lasted for years and got up to Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, as the figh and legal tussle between Umuonwuka and Umunzarabia raged, the oil company continued its exploration in the area while recognising Umuonwuka from Oleke village in Oguta as owners of the land.
In March, 2016, I undertook to go into the mangrove swamp forest on what could best be described as a dangerous expedition in an area geographically described as Osomari forest reserve.
I was advised not to go because nobody goes there, but I insisted that I must risk it.
I took off with 11 motorbikes from where our vehicles could manage to get to, at Otuakanta in Ogwu-Aniocha.
We were 21 in number and of the 11 motorbikes we advanced into the mangrove forest with, only five made it to the oilfield because of the thorny and soggy nature of the pathway.
At some point we would have to drag the motorbikes by hand.
When we eventually got to the oilfield after about three hours in the forest, I saw about 35 caravans; saw where the oil company built a helipad, where they land their helicopters.
I saw drilling machines, I saw their rig, I saw pipes lined up towards Oguta and I saw military men providing security there and it was a very busy place covering about five football fields put together with expatriates and other staff fully at work.
You could hardly believe that such a big deal was going on deep inside Ogbaru.
Of course, the oil company never acknowledged that they were operating on Anambra soil.
They delineated the two Ogbaru communities involved into two, they carved Ogwu-Aniocha into Imo State and put Ogwu-Ikpele in Delta State.
The Head of Personnel Management (HPM) of the oil company, an Indian national, said to me that I was the first person coming from the Anambra state government to lay claims on their location.
I made a strong argument as to Anambra State being the owner of where they were operating as the land belongs to Umunzarabia kindred which is in Umungasi village in Ogwu-Aniocha community and Ogwu-Aniocha community is in Ogbaru Local Government Area and Ogbaru Local Government Area is in Anambra State.
I made my case and I left with my team armed with the details of my findings.
It is important to note that this effort started two years before I became Ogbaru Local Government Chairman, my becoming the Council Chairman two years later merely complimented the effort already in motion and the moves were fully documented.
I reported to the then governor, Dr Willie Obiano all my findings and made strong case for full government attention as that was the quickest way of Anambra State joining the league of oil producing states since the oil company was already mining oil in the area with OML143 as against what Orient Petroleum was doing with OPL in Aguleri-Otu.
As part of my recommendations, a legal team was set up by the governor to provide improved legal support to Umunzarabia kindred whose matter with Umuonwuka was at the time, at the Court of Appeal, Enugu.
I also attended some of the Appeal Court sittings in Enugu. I met severally with late Dr Emma Egbogah at the instance of the governor who wanted the option presented by the discovery in Ogbaru to be fast-tracked and we began to escalate the matter to all authorities.
The Oil company who was deliberate in the exclusion of Anambra State in its operations despite having an oil mining lease license (OML143) that straddled three states; Imo, Delta and Anambra States, invited me to their office in Owerri, Imo State, on personal note to discuss interest.
All manner of enticements were placed before me in order to halt the push.
It was in that Owerri meeting that they acknowledged that they have been trucking out crude oil from Ameshi 1,2,3,4 oil fields in Ogwu-Aniocha since 2013, but that there is how they accommodate the interest of people like me who have become critical stakeholders in the course of their operations.
But from the onset, it was crystal clear to me that getting Anambra State on the sheet of oil producing states would fetch us as Ogbaru people and Anambra State more benefits than the droplets the oil company was willing to put forward.
Achieving oil bearing status comes 13 percent derivation as we are seeing now; achieving oil bearing status comes from NDDC in Ogbaru and Anambra.
NDDC will build roads for our people, build schools, build hospitals, build jetties along our waterways, build and remodel our schools and local markets; scholarships will be made available to our school children and bursaries will return to our schools.
And the oil company will in turn carry out CSR-Corporate Social Responsibility in our communities, and there will be electricity, piped water, there will be comfort and improved living conditions for our people; I mean, the benefits far outweighed any gratification from the oil company.
All we were asking for was for the oil company to simply accept and acknowledge the fact that they were operating on Anambra soil, and that was all.
So for six years, 2016 to 2022, we resisted their material and monetary inducements, insisting on regularising their oil operations in our land.
And all we needed was for the oil company to accept that they were operating on our soil.
Imo and Delta States that they were crediting their oil mining in Anambra to were already oil producing states, so it was we, Anambra State, that needed their acknowledgement.
OML operating in your state is a prerequisite to being recognized as an oil producing state, it means that oil is being mined already as against OPL which is at the level of still searching for oil.
We took risks, we endured pains, we showed courage, we showed resilience, we demonstrated integrity, we proved true and unfettered representation and our stance for the people and our dear state, Anambra.
Our strong disdain for bribery and compromises have finally paid off and today Anambra State is the winner with 40 producing oil wells from Ogbaru alone in the kitty pumping out no fewer than 3,000 barrels of crude oil everyday which was hitherto credited to Imo and Delta States.
However, credit must go to former Gov. Willie Obiano for his strong commitment to realising the Ogbaru-leg of the project and also the late traditional ruler of Ogwu-Aniocha, HRH, Igwe Oliver Chike Nnaji. Igwe Oliver Chike Nnaji was murdered in the process and his body yet to be seen till date, he was a man of integrity, an unassailable character.
I make bold to say that Igwe Oliver Chike Nnaji is the hero of the oil status we are beginning to enjoy today, for he laid his life for it and he deserves to be remembered and the young family he left behind.
The effort at making Anambra State an oil producing state was not without fatalities as some precious lives were lost in the process.
The true fatalities can only be accurately revealed by only two persons; myself and Gov. Willie Obiano.
Equally of note for their very remarkable and professional roles in the realisation of oil bearing status for Anambra State are the following individuals with whom we all served in the now defunct Anambra State Oil and Gas Development Committee (ASOGDC) which was set up by former Gov. Willie Obiano.
They include Dr Frank Edozie,Chairman, Prof. Charles Ofoegbu, now Commissioner for Petroleum and Mineral Resources; Prof. Solo Chukwulobelu, former Secretary to Anambra State Government (SSG); Dr Emman Ude Akpeh, former Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Secretary to the Anambra State Government; Prof. Theresa Nkechi Obiekezie, former Commissioner for Youth Empowerment and Creative Economy.
Others were Dr Paul Nwosu, former Commissioner for Information; Barr. Patricia Igwebuike, former Commissioner for Transport and Dr. Nwabufo Nwankwo, currently, the permanent Secretary in the Office of the Secretary to Anambra State Government.
As of today, there are more than 114 oil wells in Ogbaru Local Government Area. A total of 93 capped well heads was discovered by a Chinese Oil and Gas Company, the China Petroleum & Chemical Company referred to as SINOPEC.
SINOPEC in 2010 crossed the River Niger into Ogwu-Aniocha and Ogwu-Ikpele from Okpai in Ndokwa East Local Government Area of Delta State for oil exploration in Ogbaru discovered wells that were capped by Shell BP in the 1950s.
Out of the 93 oil wells, 25 are within Umunzalabia Kindred’s land and 27 are located within Umuezeosai Kindred’s land, while the other 41 are located at Ofia-Ogwu (Okporodum, Utu-alo, Ogbundam, Odidi lake etc).
Ogbaru no doubt has become a beautiful bride and soon, will be visited with infrastructure developments commensurate with her contribution to the national economy.
The state’s oil revenue is expected to experience a significant boost moving forward, as officials confirmed Anambra successfully reclaimed 10 additional oil wells from neighbouring Delta State following a verification exercise by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).
“True representation implies that those entrusted with responsibilities should prioritise the common good over personal gains, building a system of accountability where policies directly serve the people.
“This requires leaders to be present, collaborate, and act on a clear mandate rather than pursuing self-interest.
“For me, true representation is all about the people, and any representation that is not geared towards the ultimate good of the people should not exist.
“Though Ogbaru, under the present administration in the state has not felt the impact of the 13 percent oil derivation but there is hope that before long an administration that will remember Ogbaru people will be berthed.
It is hoped that there will be a visible turn around in the living conditions of Ogwu-Aniocha, Ogwu-Ikpele and some other communities in Ogbaru Federal Constituency.
Indeed, the process of making Anambra State an oil producing state was truly a journey.
