Unbundle OML 11, Give Us Federal Territory, Eleme People Tell Tinubu

Unbundling of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 11 and declaration of Eleme as a federal territory were among the numerous demands that the people of Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State made when the Ogoni Dialogue Committee held consultations with the people last Saturday.
Other demands were the implementation of a Global Memorandum of Understanding that would streamline the rights and responsibilities of all stakeholders in the oil and gas companies to include provisions for community development, employment quotas, environmental remediation, and conflict resolution to be reviewed every two years.
The Ogoni Dialogue Committee was set up by President Bola Tinubu to hold wide consultations and get feedbacks from the people of Ogoni preparatory to the resumption of oil production in the area.
Dr. Phylle Te-Nwaji, who presented the position of Eleme Oil and Gas-Bearing Communities, said OML 11, a pivotal oil and gas block covering Eleme, Gokana, Khana, and Tai LGAs, should be unbundled and an Eleme Oil and Gas Fields Lease created.
“This restructuring will streamline regulatory oversight and formally recognize Eleme’s five oil and gas-bearing communities as primary stakeholders,” he said.
Dr. Te-Nwaji also advocated, like many other communities and interest groups that presented proposals at the dialogue, that host communities be allotted up to 20 percent equity stakes in oil and gas companies in the area similar to the community shareholding of host communities of Indorama Eleme Chemical and Fertiliser Company Limited.
He said, “The unified position of the oil and gas-bearing communities of Ogale, Agbeta Ebubu, Ejamah Ebubu, Obolo Ebubu, and Ekara Onne is anchored in equity, sustainability, and a collective vision for shared prosperity. By securing direct equity participation, establishing a robust GMoU, restructuring oil and gas licenses, and creating a regional development foundation, these communities seek to ensure that Eleme’s oil and gas wealth is transformed into tangible, long-term benefits for both current and future generations.
“This document is an earnest invitation to oil and gas companies, government entities, and regulatory authorities to engage in a transparent and structured dialogue—one that aligns resource extraction with sustainable community growth and holistic development.”
O’Ela Obor Eleme, the general assembly of Eleme people whose position was presented by the President General, Elder Israel Abbey, demanded that Eleme be made a Federal Territory with the responsibility of providing the infrastructure and amenities taken over by the Federal Government.
Elder Abbey said, “We are asking for Eleme to be a federal territory because Eleme is cosmopolitan in nature because people from all over the world live and work in Eleme.
“And besides that Eleme has more than enough federal government and multinational investments in the community. Two of Nigeria’s four refineries are in Eleme. It has three petrochemicals; the biggest of them all is in Eleme. It has four fertilizer production plants.
“It has the biggest seaports on the West African coast and over 250 oil and gas companies both servicing and prospecting. In the Free Zone Authority, which is in the Nigerian Post Authority, are in Eleme.”
He said that if Eleme is declared a federal territory and the federal government oversees what happens in Eleme directly as it is in Abuja or as it were in Lagos before in the ’60s, it means that it will be upgraded in terms of investment and would become an investors’ destination.
“More investments will come in. Life will be better. Eleme will be able to grow our economy comparative with other communities in the world like the state of Louisiana in America that is as small as having a population below two million.
“I believe that Eleme, if so upgraded or recognized as we are actually requesting or demanding, will create an economy that will take Nigeria far beyond where it is at the moment.”
The O’Ela Obor Eleme President General also demanded that the Federal Government establishes a tertiary institution and a specialist hospital. “We demand for a university for the people of Eleme because the highest institution in Eleme in spite of our contributions and relevance to Nigerian government or Nigerian nation state is secondary school. We need a university granted by the federal government to take care of our deficiencies in manpower and human capital. So we are asking for university.
“A specialist hospital because of the pollution and all the challenges and problems you know within our environment arising from the operations of the companies.”
He also demanded that the Oil Manifold II at Akpajo, which was renamed New Elelenwo-Bomu II during the Ogoni Crisis be reverted to its original name so that the people can earn the royalties from it.
“We ask for a state irrespective of the size, because of our potentials and contributions in terms of oil, which is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy. If it’s not considered as a state, then it should be declared a federal territory.”
Presentations were made by Oneh-Eh Eleme, King Philip Obele, and his council of chiefs who sought reaffirmation of Eleme as a distinct ethnic nationality and be recognised accordingly.
The Coordinator of Mba Okase Eleme Initiative, Dr. Patience Osaroejiji, called for the protection of the farmlands and recognition of women whose livelihoods have been adversely impacted by activities of oil companies and other industries in Eleme.
King Appolus Chu, Egbere Emere Okori also made a presentation where he said the people were willing to support government to increase oil and gas production in the country.
Each of the ten clans of Eleme made presentations through their traditional rulers. There were also presentations by Eleme Graduates Forum, Eleme Farmers Association, Owa Eh Eleme, Madam Evelyn Gokpa, and many other groups.
The Secretary of the Dialogue Committee, Mr. Tom Orage, said the opportunity for people to send in their proposals and suggestions was still open as the committee would keep its emails and websites open.
The Dialogue Committee has been visiting and holding town hall meetings in the local government areas to collate the opinions and positions of the respective people in the Ogoni area to be presented to the President, who had asked for it during a meeting he hosted of Ogoni leaders in Abuja, two months ago.
Oil production was ceased in the area since 1993 at the height of the agitations of the Ogoni people led by the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, when they demanded for greater political autonomy, control of their natural resources and protection of their environment from the pollution by oil companies.
Saro-Wiwa and the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni people, which he led had accused Shell Petroleum Development Company and the Nigerian federal government of destroying the Ogoni environment as they prospected for oil and gas.
Saro-Wiwa and eight other leaders of MOSOP were executed by the Nigerian government after a tribunal tried and convicted them in the murder of four other Ogoni leaders killed in a mob attack in 1994. The killings heightened a systematic repression of Ogoni people, which led to the killing of more than 2,000 Ogoni people and the migration thousands of others.
In the past few years the Nigerian government under pressure to meet its oil production quota has been tinkering with the idea of resuming oil production in Ogoni area. But the people have insisted that no production would be allowed except the government met certain conditions outlined in the Ogoni Bill of Rights. The people have particularly insisted that Shell cannot return to Ogoniland.