I choose not to believe the rumour renting the air that the OKLNG project has been tagged for abandonment.Barely 5 months to the April 2011 polls,precisely on November 12, 2010 President Goodluck Jonathan during a visit to the OKLNG project site in Olokola said,"if Nigeria is to realize her ambition of being one of the biggest economies by 2020, the OKLNG Project MUST BE a part of the dream." This assertion was greeted with thunderous applauds as many oil and gas professionals shared the view.
The rumour is increasingly getting louder that Brass LNG would be substituted with Olokola OKLNG,the primary reason is that ex-militant leaders like Alhaji Mujahid Asari Dokubo who declared under the aegis of the Joint Revolutionary Council comprising of Niger Delta People Volunteer Force ( NDPVF ), Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta ( MEND ) and the Martyr Brigade that ,"if the LNG will be built in Olokola,then let them get their gas from Olokola and its environment.Any pipeline from any of our communities would be destroyed,site workers found aiding and abetting will be taken hostage or taken out.Every shipment with facilities for Olokola project will be destroyed."
Alhaji Dokubo needs to be reminded that the Ilaje nation is the primary reason why Ondo is classified as an Oil-producing State,hence it absolutely deserves oil and gas facilities in its territory.It must also be said that over 90% of the oil and gas production in Ondo State is used as feedstock in Chevron oil and gas facilities in another neighbouring Delta State.Ilaje deserves to be host players not just to be taken as on-looker in the league of Niger Delta States.
Several Niger Delta States shelter one oil and gas facility or the other,for example Warri in Delta State is the location of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited,WRPC,Chevron-operated Escravos Gas-to-Liquid EGTL,Total Oil Plc Blending \Plant in Koko ,and not forgetting the recently proposed Petrochemical Plant also in Koko,etc.
Rivers State is the location of two NNPC- operated refineries ,Nigeria LNG at Bonny Island,Finima.The on-going gas gathering facilities at Obiafu North of Port Harcourt, Notore Chemical Industries Ltd, the proposed relocation of Nigeria LNG Headquarters to Port Harcourt,etc.
At Akwa Ibom the Federal Government has joined hands with Governor Akpabio to build a deep seaport.The Governor has also proposed the Ibom Industrial City and claimed it would be an industrial mix of oil and gas support facilities,dockyard and watercraft repair facilities,fertilizer plant,oil refineries,Gas-to-Liquid projects,petrochemical companies,etc.
Other Niger Delta States are known to also have various oil and gas facilities in their respective territories.In the United States,Gulf States like Texas ,Louisiana,Oklahoma,California,Florida etc. all have a fair share of oil and gas facilities in their respective territories.
As a matter of fact,the first and foremost developmental program of the Colonial Government in Nigeria was Land Reclamation in the Niger Delta when the popular John Beecroft was at the helm of affairs.Rather than leave it as it was the colonial government planned for its reclamation because of the imperial benefits to be derived.In order to pave way for its development, the then Niger Delta Development Board NNDB ,was set up in the independence era to meet the peculiar needs of the Niger Delta people of which Ilaje is a bonafide member.
Without mincing words ,the Ilaje nation is the least developed in the oil-rich Niger Delta despite its vast contribution to the gross earnings of our dear country Nigeria.Due to the scarcity of land some Ilajes live permanently on water while most of them go to the markets to buy and sell in their canoes.No spacious schools to host Inter House sports events,fishing which is their major source of livelihood is no longer profitable since environmental conditions have continuously taking its toll.Despite facing the challenges of land scarcity erosion remains a constant threat ; washing away our lands year after year.
In order to foster co-operation with the Federal Government on the OKLNG Project,colossal amount of oil derivation funds through the interventionist agency OSOPADEC is being commited since the ground breaking ceremony in 2007.The erstwhile Governor of Ondo State Dr. Olusegun Agagu awarded road contracts worth over N50 Billion naira.some of such roads are Igbokoda-Ayetoro ,Makun-Atijere and the 41-kilometre Aboto-Olokola roads.Also the incumbent Governor Dr. Olusegun Mimiko has also invested huge chunks of funds of the OSOPADEC commission for continuous construction.

Understandably the road networks according to the State Government and other to-be LNG operators will help to boom the LNG business activities and would ultimately put appreciable pressure on the unemployment scare in Ilaje and Nigeria as a whole.It would only amount to gross injustice if the rumour of the OKLNG abandonment is confirmed to be true.The singular act is capable of jeopardizing the fresh air of peace in the oil-rich Niger Delta.

If both Nigeria LNG (Bonny) and Brass LNG,only some kilometres apart are both located on Ijaw-speaking territories why then should some quarters be tagging an LNG project partly owned by Ondo State for abandonment.Interestingly, setting up OKLNG would be far cheaper than that of Brass LNG according to commercial gas experts but am not an advocate of elimination by substitution.

The LNG business is a very peculiar one unlike oil,it is highly recommended that LNG producing countries must have stable political atmosphere before production can commence and so it did not take until the democratic government restoration in 1999 before Nigeria started the construction of its first LNG facilities in Bonny,Rivers State.Arguably the biggest players in the Nigeria oil and gas industry are Shell and Chevron (coincidentally joint operators of OKLNG ), should the project be abandoned, it will be sending negative signals to the world especially at this period when Nigeria seriously craves for foreign investors.

Contrary to the believe that oil is forever, people must remember that petroleum is a non-renewable form of energy and would get depleted someday.In the event of such unavoidable misadventure what becomes of the Ilaje nation? What becomes of the ex-militants?

Am of the opinion that President Goodluck Jonathan would not go back on his words that OKLNG must be part of the dream if Nigeria is to realize her ambition of becoming of the 20 biggest economies by 2020.

ENGR. LEPE OMOSANMI ENGR. OLUWOLE JOHNSON

PRESIDENT. SECRETARY GENERAL
CONCERNED ILAJE TECHNOCRATS ASSOCIATION.

http://www.coastalnews.com/component/content/article/120-nigeria-news/2085-oklng-project-olokola-not-only-justifiable-but-a-great-economic-boost-for-nigeria-as-a-real-gas-province.html

Mimiko should fight to save what's righfully Ondos?This is one of the reasons why i think Acn in Ondo will be a good thing,having a party with a pro-Sw outlook may ensure that what rightfully belongs to Ondo state or other oil producing communities in the Sw are not chucked out.I believe the Ilajes need to become more vocal in this period of oil nationalism.
Olokola would create another mini_lagos between Ondo and Ogun state.this is a project that we shouldnt allow anyone to joke with,seriously,this is the only thing SW can point to that they gained from Obj and its not undue.