IBOM PEOPLES CONGRESS RESPONDS TO MOBIL'S PROPAGANDA
TE...@aol.com
IBOM PEOPLES CONGRESS (IPC), USA
P. O. BOX 1231, RIVERSIDE, CA 92502, USA
Fax: (909) 357-1197, E-mail: te...@aol.com
IBOM PEOPLES CONGRESS RESPONDS TO MOBIL'S MEDIA PROPAGANDA
Food for thought: "Only when lions write their stories would lion hunters
cease to be heroes".
Our attention has been drawn to the recent media blitz and propaganda carried
out by Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN) a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, on what it
calls "Setting the Record Straight". We in Ibom Peoples Congress wish to
respond to this nefarious tactics before this falsehood takes over the minds
of Nigerians. We will make a concerted attempt to unwrap this bundle of lies
and falsehood spread by MPN.
First and foremost we want to mention that Akwa Ibom State is the home to the
fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria and the home to the largest crude oil
and gas production in Nigeria. MPN started operation in Akwa Ibom State
during the Biafran civil war in 1967. Its production had since risen to the
present 780,000 barrels of hydrocarbon per day. This amount is comprised of
crude oil 605,000 barrels per day, condensate 110,000 barrels per day and
associated natural gas 65 barrels per day. At a conservative selling price of
$30 per barrel in NYSE, MPN reaps an unprecedented amount of profit from our
oil (nearly $20,000,000 per day. Note that a barrel is 42 gallons or 159
liters).
The environmental effects of producing nearly 800,000 barrels on a daily
basis can better be imagined than experienced by living in this on daily
basis. Statistics from the Department of Petroleum Resources indicate that
between 1976 and 1996, a total of 4,835 separate oil spills that resulted in
the spillage of about 2,446,322 barrels occurred in the region of Niger Delta
which includes Akwa Ibom State. On January 12, 1998, MPN announced to the
horrified Akwa Ibomites, and indeed the world, the rupture of its pipeline
spilling nearly 50,000 barrels of crude oil. This happened to be the second
biggest spill in Nigeria. The largest spill was the Texaco's offshore
blowout in January 1980 which 400,000 barrels spewed into the sea and onto
the adjoining communities. Like Texaco's, the MPN slick drifted far and wide
and was sighted five miles to the shore of Lagos. The devastating effects of
this mammoth spill that destroyed wildlife, plant life, marine animals,
farmlands and beaches in Akwa Ibom was beyond comprehension and its effect
still lingers. In a typical fashion, MPN chose to pay compensation to all the
littoral states west of Akwa Ibom State to as far away state as Lagos and not
a single person or community in Akwa Ibom was compensated in spite of the
heavy environmental destruction suffered by the people.
Oil spills are not the only environmental disaster Akwa Ibom people have to
deal with. Gas flares have burnt 24 hours a day for the past 34 years since
MPN started production. Due to the incessant flares, these communities can be
described as "the land of the midnight sun". It is estimated that MPN flares
75 percent of its associated gas. This is the gas produced in the process of
crude oil extraction from the reservoir. The communities have to live with
constant noise of the flare, and the areas are covered in thick soot, which
contaminate water supplies when it rains. Air pollution from the flares
results in poisoned air and water due to acid rain which corrodes metal
roofs, residents are left half-deaf and prone to respiratory diseases.
According to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development,
the nearly four decades of oil exploitation in the Niger Delta, home to
coastal rain forest and mangrove habitat, has left it the most endangered
environment in the world. Fishing which is the major occupation in the area
has suffered irreparable damage due to incessant fish-kill by oil polluted
water.
In trying to defend the indefensible, MPN in desperate attempt to cover its
undoing alleges that out of 1,536 Nigerian regular employees in MPN, 666
employees representing over 40 percent and that the percentages of MPN
employees from Akwa Ibom State far exceed the percentages of employees from
other states in Nigeria. MPN failed to breakdown further its spurious figures
by not telling Nigerians and indeed the world how many of the so called 666
are security, temporary labor, and indirect slave labor through contract
labor on minimum or slave wage laboring for the contractors, most of whom are
from one or two ethnic groups.
To mislead the nation by suggesting that about 45 percent or 547 out of 1207
Senior Staff are indigenes of Akwa Ibom State and that MPN exceeds the
Federal Government's requirement that companies employ at least 60 per cent
of their workforce in the junior staff category from their catchment area is
a tragedy that the Akwa Ibom people can never continue to live with. Can MPN
explain to Nigerians why one or two ethnic groups should make up nearly 80
per cent of its management Board. Following MPN's logic of Akwa Ibom being 3
per cent of Nigerian population, do these groups make up 80 percent of the
Nigeria population? If MPN is refuting these facts can it release the names
of those in its management Board and Board of Directors and their ethnic
background? By the way which census result does MPN base its figures on? Is
it that of 1962, 1963, 1973, or 1991 with all the doctored figures meant to
promote the dominance of one or two ethnic groups?
Why is it that almost all the major contractors are from one ethnic group?
Does MPN know that all of its oil comes from Akwa Ibom lands and waters and
that no other ethnic group should arrogate to itself the birthright of
controlling the operation of any oil company in our state? When groundnut or
cocoa used to be the products of the day, how many Nigerians from other
ethnic groups were employed to work in the Groundnut or Cocoa Board?
Virtually none.
It is ironic that Exxon-Mobil allows its subsidiary, MPN, to be turned into
an ethnic organization where ethnic politics is allowed to flourish at
reckless abandon. According to Honorable Speaker of Akwa Ibom State House of
Assembly, the fact that MPN is "a political party that has abandoned all
ethics of business and very busy playing politics with our people and their
future", is well known the world over. Certainly, MPN is not supposed to be
an ethnic company, but that's exactly what it is in Nigeria.
The MPN should have also mentioned to the world that it reintroduced
apartheid system in Akwa Ibom State. A practice in South Africa where whites
kept away blacks from white areas, where whites got the most lucrative
positions, and their children attended the best schools. This was done on the
basis of skin pigmentation. In replicating the apartheid system in Akwa Ibom
State, MPN not only garnered the best jobs for one ethnic group, it even
barred Akwa Ibomites, regardless of their class or status, from living in the
MPN quarters at Eket. No Nigerian should have been subjected to the kind of
inhumane treatment Akwa Ibomites are being subjected to by the MPN. No
Nigerian should be barred from living in any place of his choice on the basis
of his ethnicity.
The desire to maintain a firm control over MPN operation thereby denying Akwa
Ibom State indigenes employment opportunities and the state its duly
deserved tax on the exploitation of its resources is the major reason why
MPN's administrative headquarters is kept in Lagos by a clique masking as
MPN. The flimsy excuse that Lagos location is essential for the purpose of
facilitating relations with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC) and the Department of Petroleum Resources is far from the truth. In
today's world, businesses such as banking, international or domestic air
travel, telecommunication, etc. are done even with the click of a computer
mouse. For these to be used as reasons for locating the administrative
headquarters in Lagos is ludicrous at best. MPN has an air-strip at Eket
where its planes from Lagos take off and land on daily basis for reasons that
could have been accomplished in Akwa Ibom State. There are banks of all
status in Akwa Ibom. Telecommunication in Akwa Ibom is just as good as in
most places in Lagos. Most businesses today avail themselves of what modern
technology can offer, such as tele-conferencing, video or internet
conferencing, etc. MPN is not lagging behind when it comes to the
utilization of modern technological hardware and software.
Akwa Ibom deserves to have MPN headquarters in its soil in order to also
booster its development. MPN is the only company in Akwa Ibom that maintains
more than 300 workers on its payroll. MPN has 100 percent of its production
in Akwa Ibom State. These other companies, Shell, Chevron, Agip, Elf, Texaco
cited by MPN as maintaining their administrative headquarters in Lagos each
produces in more than two different states in Nigeria. Hence, they can choose
to remain at any of the states. But for any oil company to choose to maintain
headquarters at Lagos under any disguise is totally unacceptable. This is one
of the reasons Hon. Temi Harriman, a Representative of Delta State on May 9,
2001 sponsored a bill that would have compelled oil companies to relocate
their administrative headquarters to the operational bases.
The argument that MPN must remain in Lagos to optimize operational
efficiencies due to many services being shared among the ExxonMobil
subsidiaries in Nigeria at a central administration misses the mark. This
logic amounts to having all the state governors in Nigeria reside in Abuja in
order to share infra-structures. It may even include the governors sharing
ride from their homes to work in the imaginary central office to achieve
optimization! This is absurd!
Talking about optimization, ExxonMobil Corporation conducts business in more
than 200 countries around the world. This includes exploration and production
of oil and gas, manufacturing and marketing of fuels, etc. Its corporate
headquarters is located in Irving (a suburb of an oil city of Dallas), Texas.
Its global upstream and chemical companies and its coal and minerals company
are headquartered in Houston, Texas (operational base). Its global downstream
business is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, not in New York City or
Washington DC. If "optimization" is the goal as MPN wants Nigerians to
believe, why is it not implemented in the United States' locations? The truth
is that among the benefits, employment is conducted in Lagos, firing of the
"wrong" ethnic groups is carried out in Lagos, major contracts are being
awarded in Lagos beyond the reach of Akwa Ibomites and one or two ethnic
groups in Nigeria that benefit from all of this, want to keep it that way.
It was mentioned that MPN has invested over $2billion US dollars in Akwa Ibom
State within the last 10 years. If it is so, these are the investments that
MPN embarked for its benefit. MPN should have mentioned that it invests a
lot more in Lagos and the surrounding states than any other part of Nigeria.
For a company that makes a whopping profit with its nearly $20,000,000 daily
production to tell the world how it spends a few thousands on infrastructure
and scholarships when it is an open secret that the bulk of the money spent
in Nigeria goes to benefit one or two ethnic groups, is rather pathetic. Most
importantly, MPN is paying value added tax (VAT) to Lagos State. According to
Governor Attah, MPN is not only denying Akwa Ibomites the opportunity of
getting contracts to improve their lives, but it also denies the state the
taxes that should have ordinarily accrued to the her.
According to the MPN statement, its staff met with members of Akwa Ibom State
Government to review the basis for selecting a candidate for the position of
General Counsel that had become vacant. The statement alleged that out of
fifty lawyers that applied for the position, eleven candidates were
short-listed and that following a series of interviews in Lagos and abroad,
the most qualified candidate was eventually appointed. Can MPN release the
names and ethnic background of the fifty candidates? The statement went on to
say that "…candidates from Akwa Ibom State were preferentially considered,"
but "MPN's objective and responsibility has always been to identify and
engage the most qualified and suitable candidate of any position." And that
"…a highly qualified and experienced lawyer from Akwa Ibom State was
identified and hired to fill a senior legal position in our Operational
Headquarters in QIT".
What a bundle of contradictions! It is sad that a group of people bent on
ethnic domination would go to any extent and using all sorts of tactics and
flimsy excuses to deny other ethnic groups employment opportunity. When
seeking employment in MPN, the excuse has always been, "You do not have
qualified people", now a familiar phrase used by MPN. The answer that
Nigerians want to know is, Why was it necessary for MPN officials to go and
meet the Akwa Ibom State lawmakers in the Assembly? What was it that they
agreed on? Was MPN in the State House to inform the lawmakers that MPN would
invite 50 lawyers who would be short-listed to eleven that would be flown
abroad for further interviews? Or was the meeting to inform the lawmakers
that the qualified candidate would be another General Counsel from another
oil company who might have to come from another ethnic group? Or how did MPN
manage to hire a qualified lawyer from Akwa Ibom to fill a position in the
Qua Iboe Terminal (QIT), the operational base, and yet this same person was
not considered qualified enough to serve in Lagos office? Is this the same
Akwa Ibom that never have "qualified" people? May be MPN would have scored a
point by saying that those hired to work in QIT are not as intelligent as
those they hire to work at Lagos. Somehow, MPN has forgotten that no one can
fool all the people, all the time. We want MPN to note that we have been
pushed to the wall with no escape route.
The double standard orchestrated by MPN is mind boggling. In an attempt to
promote minority participation in the United States, Mobil made Paul L.
Caldwell, Jr., an African-American, the Chairman/Managing Director of Mobil
Producing in Nigeria. But MPN's hiring policy in Nigeria, having been
immersed in Nigeria's ethnic intrigues is, tragically, a complete reverse.
According to Akwa Ibom State Governor, His Excellency Obong Victor Attah, it
is not true that any lawyer from Akwa Ibom State was invited for the
interview. The governor added that at the end of the meeting between the MPN
expatriate and Akwa Ibom lawmakers, in the interest of justice and fairness,
an agreement was reached that the position of the General Counsel would be
filled by an Akwa Ibomite. But the MPN management had its own game plan, to
deny Akwa Ibomites such opportunity.
The Governor lamented saying: "Since Mobil began operation about 30 years
ago, no Akwa Ibomite has been considered for employment as a Board member and
when the opportunity for the General Counsel came, a non-indigene was given
the position without consideration for fairness to the people of the state".
Showing documents to substantiate his claims, Obong Attah said the most
painful was the failure of MPN to employ one Mrs. Grace Akpan, who was
already serving in that office, as the company's General Counsel in spite of
her qualifications and wealth of experience.
Will MPN tell Nigerians that the likes of Chief Donald Etiebet, former
governor of the old Cross River State, General Philip Effiong, former deputy
Head of State of Biafra, Chief Ndayo Uttah, former Speaker of the old Cross
River State House of assembly, Hon. Nduese Essien, leader of the South South
caucus in the National Assembly, Senator Akaninyene Ukpanah, Senator Etang
Umoyo, Dr. Emmanuel Akpanobong, secretary of Ibibio Elders Forum, Akparawa
Godwin Udoh, President of Mboho Mkparawa Ibibio, Evan Isaiah Abia, President
of Afigh Iwaad Eket, all members of the State House of Assembly led by Hon.
Barrister Bassey Essien, Speaker of the House, among others who were at the
rally at Eket, do not know what is good or bad for the country or for that
matter, the MPN? These men of honor have lived and seen their people being
oppressed for nearly half a century, a situation now worsened by the MPN.
Interestingly, one Dele Shobowale believed to be a reporter with ethnic
affiliation with those who dominate MPN management, reporting on Sunday
Vanguard of May 27, 2001 and purported to be an expert in Akwa Ibom State
affairs was quick to come to MPN's defense. He even filled in on what MPN
left out in its defense statements. Shobowale wrote, "The employment of
senior staff has traditionally been handled by Andersen Consulting for Mobil
worldwide and there is no reason why Nigeria should be an exception." Which
Mobil was this reporter referring to? May be Mr. Shobowale should inform
Andersen Consulting that Nigeria is not made up of one ethnic group and that
there are more than 250 ethnic groups in Nigeria with qualified or better
qualified individuals.
There is reason why mushroom shapes like an umbrella, its environment is
either wet or rainy. For now we want to take these events as unfortunate
coincidence. Perhaps it may be noteworthy to mention the strings of these
"coincidence" as they continue to unfold month after month. In 1969, it was
Chief Obafemi Awolowo who as a Finance Minister and a Head of General Gowon's
military government, ironically abolished the derivative sharing formula
which he fought so hard in 1953 to introduce. He engineered the
onshore-offshore dichotomy that stripped Akwa Ibom of its oil benefits. In
1978, the then General Obasanjo, the present Nigerian president signed the
Land Use Decree into law. Its intent was to surreptitiously take away oil
benefits from its owners, since who owns the land owns the resources.
Although, the 1969 onshore-offshore Decree was abrogated in 1992, in January
2000, Chief Rotimi Williams formed a group called the Patriots. The Patriot's
primary objective was to urge President Obasanjo to reintroduce the abolished
onshore-offshore dichotomy. And on February 7, 2001, Bola Ige, Attorney
General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (or Injustice) in collusion
with MPN took the oil producing states to the Supreme Court with the hope
that the court will take away the offshore oil from Akwa Ibom people.
Incidentally, the same Rotimi Williams is leading the government lawyers who
will make sure that this dream of theirs is realized! Fellow Nigerians, we
still want to believe that these are unfortunate coincident.
MPN's actions to a large extent, are indicative of the nature of
transnational corporations. Its action denote a hypocritical approach to the
value of human life. ExxonMobil is an American company and one of the Fortune
500. It cannot fake ignorance of the severity of the environmental
destruction it has caused and the attendant human misery. MPN cannot fake
ignorance of racial discrimination that used to polarize America in the
1960s. It cannot fake or feign ignorance of Affirmation Action, a program put
in place to address years of racial injustice meted to people of color in
America. It was Affirmative Action that led to the nomination of the first
black man - Thurgood Marshall - to the US Supreme Court. Following his death
in 1990, President George Bush (Sr.) again nominated Clarence Thomas, another
black man, to replace Justice Marshall. All this was done in the interest of
fairness and justice, since America is made up of black and white!
Discrimination in any shape or form is discrimination. While in America it
was on skin pigmentation, in Nigeria, it is on ethnic background. ExxonMobil
cannot therefore feign ignorance of this when it is well versed with the
politics of Nigeria which is always based on ethnicity. ExxonMobil cannot
feign ignorance of the level of ethnic discrimination that is going on in its
subsidiary, MPN. All available information has shown that ExxonMobil is well
aware and has actively supported and encouraged ethnic discrimination in MPN.
· We, therefore, call on ExxonMobil to, as a matter of urgency, take
appropriate steps to end ethnic and job discrimination in MPN, its
subsidiary.
· We call on MPN to immediately move its administrative headquarters from
Lagos to Akwa Ibom State, its operational base.
· In concert with the Federal government policy, MPN must recruit 60 percent
of its management staff from Akwa Ibom State.
· MPN must have Akwa Ibom Indigenes on its Board of Director.
· MPN must stop gas flaring and take adequate measures to minimize
environmental degradation.
· MPN must pay compensation to individuals and communities affected by any
spill including the devastating spill of January 1998.
· Ibom Peoples Congress calls on ExxonMobil to resolve all pending issues
with the leaders of Akwa Ibom State. Failure to comply with this directive
within a reasonable period, IPC in all parts of the world shall take
appropriate legal steps to seek justice for the Akwa Ibom people on all the
issues addressed in this memo.
Signed:
Mark Etukudo/Chairman Tom Mbeke-Ekanem/General Secretary
cc.
His Excellency, President Olusegun Obasanjo, Head of State Federal Government
of Nigeria
Honorable Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, The President, Federal House of Senate,
Abuja
Honorable Alhaji Ghali Umah Na-Abba, The Speaker, Federal House of
Representatives, Abuja
His Excellency, Obong Victor Attah, The Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom
State, Uyo
Honorable Chief Nduese Essien, Chairman South South Caucus, Abuja, Nigeria
Honorable Chief Bassey Essien, The Speaker of Akwa Ibom State House of
Assembly, Uyo
Honorable Members of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Uyo
Mr. Lee R. Raymond, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, ExxonMobil Corporation,
Irving, Texas
Chairman/Managing Director, MPN Unlimited, Lagos, Nigeria
Mboho Mkparawa Ibibio, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria
Afid Iwaad Eket, Eket, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria
Mobolaji E. Aluko
Dear IPC:
Despite the many excellent points of this letter, it is just a little more
than a thinly veiled anti-Yoruba propaganda piece in itself. I kept
wondering the identity of the unidentified "ethnic group" which
purportedly dominates (and probably does) the Board of MPN, until that
cover was blown by the reference to Dele Shobowale, an unelected Yoruba
journalist, who, WRITING HIS OWN VIEW, suddenly was made out to be a voice
of the Yoruba.
One would be forgiven to think that the Yoruba people had a nocturnal
meeting somewhere, maybe at Ijebu-Igbo, went up to the privately-held MPN
and said, "Here are our sons and daughters; you must have them on your
board or else..."
That is ludicrous. To make so many fine points in this your letter and
then soil it with such biased ethnocentrism is really a sad issue to me
personally. It is another indication as to why many Nigerian issues that
are SO CLEARLY worthy lose consensus so quickly.
I will always condemn MPN's environmental and local insensitivities, and
similar oil companies but I also hereby condemn IPC's biased
ethnocentrism. I support local resource control and substantial input in
governing peoples' lives, but not these particular jockeyings for special
paid positions for certain favored sons and daughters (General Manager
here, Personnel Manager there, General Counsel there) and certainly not
ethnic stigmatization.
Best wishes.
Bolaji Aluko
> in Nigeria goes to benefit one or two ethnic groups, is rather pathetic Most
> importantly, MPN is paying value added tax (VAT) to Lagos State. According to
> Governor Attah, MPN is not only denying Akwa Ibomites the opportunity of
> getting contracts to improve their lives, but it also denies the state the
> taxes that should have ordinarily accrued to the her.
>
> According to the MPN statement, its staff met with members of Akwa Ibom State
> Government to review the basis for selecting a candidate for the position of
> General Counsel that had become vacant. The statement alleged that out of
> fifty lawyers that applied for the position, eleven candidates were
> short-listed and that following a series of interviews in Lagos and abroad,
> the most qualified candidate was eventually appointed. Can MPN release the
> names and ethnic background of the fifty candidates? The statement went on to
> say that "…candidates from Akwa Ibom State were preferentially considered,"
> but "MPN's objective and responsibility has always been to identify and
> engage the most qualified and suitable candidate of any position." And that
> "…a highly qualified and experienced lawyer from Akwa Ibom State was
> · We, therefore, call on ExxonMobil to, as a matter of urgency, take
> appropriate steps to end ethnic and job discrimination in MPN, its
> subsidiary.
> · We call on MPN to immediately move its administrative headquarters from
> Lagos to Akwa Ibom State, its operational base.
> · In concert with the Federal government policy, MPN must recruit 60 percent
> of its management staff from Akwa Ibom State.
> · MPN must have Akwa Ibom Indigenes on its Board of Director.
> · MPN must stop gas flaring and take adequate measures to minimize
> environmental degradation.
> · MPN must pay compensation to individuals and communities affected by any
> spill including the devastating spill of January 1998.
> · Ibom Peoples Congress calls on ExxonMobil to resolve all pending issues
otasco otanda
singled out for crucification by the ibom group.
Presumably this is not the same ibom group that
tearfully asked us all just yesterday to stand up in
patriotism against the persecution of ibomites by the
american immigration service. To all of you who have
nailed Otasco, I say may the mother of all shame grip
you all from now to eternity.
-K.O.
is rather pathetic. Most
Conclusion:
Signed:
__________________________________________________
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vekpuk
OLU BAMGBOSE
Festus Ademorijimi wrote:
Mr.Otasco,It takes more than just being a reactionary to rise above ethnic coloration. Whether one group is tribalistic or not is beside the point; even if they are part of the group we are called to support. This is where we identify the principled, whose clarity of thinking is hinged upon values considered germane in civilized societies. Interestingly, how you perceive the Ibomites' letter may, or may not be right. The beautiful part is that it does not matter. We stand up for the oppressed no matter what. Our society is not a perfect one Mr. Otasco, neither do we delude ourselves that it is egalitarian. But, the onus rests on us who are informed and enlightened to raise the bar as we strive to make it better. This is what is meant by being part of the solution. Finally, can you perhaps show some class in your responses and refrain from cursing?. I am sure we can all drive home our points with better choice of adjectives and phrases!
Festus Bola Ademorijimi.
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
EkongGra...@aol.com
I wish to appeal to everyone to drop their swords and word-slanging matches
on the internet and turn them into positive, and creative use. Let us not
abuse this beautiful invention of the e-mail to vent our anger against one
another. It is sickening to read the kind of stuff that has been flying
around for the past two weeks. This is unbecoming of us as educated and
civilised people.
We are all Nigerians and God's creation. We all have the best intentions for
our country Nigeria and for fellow Nigerians. Let us channel all our efforts
and energies to challenging and dethroning all forms of corruption,
injustice, tribalism and racism.
I plead with you all in the name of the Almighty God to drop these abuses,
accusations and counter-accusations. They do not help us but divide us.
United we stand; divided we fall. Please let us all take this counsel and put
an end to all this bile and vitriol.
May God bless you all.
Yours in Christ,
Rev. Edemekong S. Ekong
President
Mboho Akwa Ibom State (UK & Ireland)
canice onuoha
<TE...@aol.com> wrote in message news:f4.b9ecd6...@aol.com...