ANGER IN DELTA AS SHELL WINDS DOWN OPERATION

DESOLATE: SHELL MAIN OFFICE

DELTA STATE GOVT SLAMS ANGLO DUTCH COMPANY

With three offices – Main office in Ogunu road, Industrial and Residential Areas (IA and RA) in Ogunu and Edjeba area – Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and its subsidiaries provided thousands of direct and contract employment as well as contracts in oil services, well servicing, logistics, catering and others.

That was in the good days. Today, Shell is dead in the Oil City and it is being buried with the fortunes of over half a million people and an entire state. Financial experts say Shell’s closure may cost the state government as much as N25 billion annually from lost taxes and royalties.

The death knell for the company was sounded nearly a decade ago at the heat of the Warri crisis, when militants and criminals indiscriminately attacked and despoiled the company’s facilities in the creeks. They stole and are still stealing mind-boggling volume of crude oil daily.

Shortly after the end of the crisis the company began downsizing under the so-called Securing Our Future (SoFu) programme. It was the beginning of the end for most staff, including those in defunct Western Division headquarters, Warri..

Our findings revealed that over 80% of those sacked are currently without job years after their misfortunes. It is against this bleak background that the recent closure and further sack of hundreds of more staff occurred.

Investigations by our reporter revealed that the takeover of the facilities by the Nigerian Petrleum Development Company (NPDC) has neither improved the lot of workers nor raised hope about their prospects.

Some sacked contract staff were transferred to the services of the new operators. But at the time of this report on Sunday, it was gathered that they are owed salaries since January.

“We joined them (NPDC) in December 2012; but we were only paid December and January salaries. Since them we have not been paid. After working for five months without salaries we decided to stop work in June,” one of the affected workers told our reporter on condition of anonymity.

It is not only the fates of former workers who have taken a downturn with the exit of Shell. Our findings revealed that multibillion naira facilities in Ogunu, Edjeba and Warri main offices of the company are rotting away.

At the Edjeba area, which was mainly used as residential are, our checks revealed that the hitherto well-manicured lawns are giving way to weeds. The posh air around the expansive estate is dissipating and bowing to filth from blocked drains.

The Main Office, which was the heart and nerve of the administration of the division is not insulated from the decay. Eight massive administrative buildings marked blocks ‘A’ – ‘G’ are almost empty. The story is same for structures like the GXD, which houses the famous ‘Shell Restaurant’ and others home to banks and projects offices.

Reports that a major religious leaders in the area was in negotiation to acquire the massive administrative complex for a proposed university could not be immediately confirmed. Some top politicians are also said to be engaged in a extreme scramble to acquire the company’s estates.

At the Vendors’ Section, with entrance at the Ugbuwangue end of Warri, weeds and cobwebs have replaced hundreds of smartly dressed men and women who attended to contractors.

Rows of business premises that sprung up when the vendor gate was set up are forlorn and deserted, their fates inextricably tied to those of contractors who have lost their means of livelihood.

The Industrial Area (IA) in Ogunu area of the city fares just insignificantly better. The verdure grass at the Ogunu Club golf turf is still well manicured and a handful of expatriates still swing clubs and putter every morning. Local caddies tag along even though they know that their future and the aesthetic beauty of the scene remains is as assured as the life span of the blossoming flowers around the turf.

Vendors' gate under lock and key

Grasses are steadily creeping into the multi-hectare housing facilities, which Shell has also abandoned at the IA. Office buildings have also been evacuated with workers now moved to the block referred to as ‘Aso Rock’ on the tip of the river. It is from here that skeletal operations at now carried out.

The air operation at Ogunu is still operation with Caverton Helicopter, a private firm handling the air shuttle services of Shell. But sources in ‘Aso Rock’ told our reporter that Shell is set to close down its air base in Warri.

“Workers, who still have their families in Warri have been advised to relocate them to Port Harcourt because of the plan closure of air operation. With the new plan, all flights will now be from Forcados to either Lagos or Port Harcourt,” our source, who asked not to be named, added.

Social services provided from the Ogunu base to neighbouring communities and the city at large are also receding. The fire department, arguably the best equipped and maintained in the city, like Shell Clinic and Police services are awaiting their dates with the hang man.

When our reporter visited the Kosini end of the Edjeba Estate earlier in the week, dozens of residents of the city were seen fetching water from taps connected to Shell treatment plant in the estate. Mr. Royal Eruagbere said the water is the safest for drinking in the city. This may not be for long.

Meanwhile, the fates of all those affected by the closure has led to anger by residents and stakeholders in the state who accused the government of not doing enough to stop the total closure of Shell from the state.

Uduaghan - Angry with Shell

Chief Bobson Gbinije, a public commentator, described the development as “a great indictment on Governor Uduaghan and the Delta State leadership”.

“The Delta State leadership is inexcusably guilty for this brazen administrative socio- economic solecism and hara-kiri,” he added.

Mr. Zik Gbemre, a local activist and contractor said the company should not be allowed to operate facilities in the state from outside it.

“You cannot cook food in Delta State and take it to Lagos to serve whereas people in Delta State are hungry. When there is an oil spill, it is the people of Delta State (farmlands, fish ponds, bush animals, air) that suffer it; just as the people suffer the immediate negative effects of gas flaring. Therefore, the same people should also be the immediate beneficiaries of the offices of Oil & Gas companies by way of getting employment as engineers, technicians, operators, cleaners, drivers, security personnel plus award of contracts.”

Chief Favour Ogbeyirine Izoukumor, a contractor and former President of the Izon-Ebe Oil Producing Communities Forum (IOPCF), said there was little the government could have done.

Izoukumor, who is CEO of Lurine Nigeria Ltd, said it was wrong for the company to close down its entire operations in the area when it only divested from some onshore facilities. “This means that Shell will be operating facilities in Delta State and paying tax to other state. That is just wrong.

“Shell only divested from the land operations; there are other facilities that it is still operating like the Ogulagha and Escravos fields. These are in Delta State. Based on these, I think I would want to submit that on the finally analysis whatever the state government did or did not do was not enough, because Shell has left,” he added.

In his reaction to alleged inaction of Governor Uduaghan, the Communication Manager to the governor, Mr. Paul Odili explained that the government was at a disadvantaged position because it is not a partner in the Joint Venture between the NNPC and oil multinationals.

Besides, he said the effect of the divestment would only be temporal, noting, “Beyond providing employment for cleaners and cooks Shell has never done the state any good. The governor is completely dissatisfied with Shell’s operation and he has expressed it severally. The company declares billions of dollars in profit every year, yet its host communities do not feel its impact.”

Odili said the conduct of oil multinationals like SPDC makes the Petroleum Industry Bill important for the survival of oil producing communities.

He said the operation of Shell divested facilities would only be temporary, stressing that there is the need for companies that will take them over to sit down and enter into negotiations that give the state more leverage and capture the interests of host communities.

Shell's spokesperson, Mr. Precious Okolobo was yet to respond to our request for the company's reaction, nearly one month after we sent him a questionnaire, which he requested.