•AG Surveyor General of Ogun State Surv. Ewulo Oladele (middle), Lenuwa of Ode-Omi, Oba Folailu Adekunle Hassan(4th left),7 Surv. Babatunde Olaniyan of NUPRC(2nd right), Surv. Philip Tivary of Office of Surveyor General of the Federation(3rd right), Mr. AbdulHakeem Akanbi of the National Boundary Commission(3rd left) and others during the technical teams working visit to the Palace of the Lenuwa of Ode-Omi.
Ogun State Government has began the process of the determination of Coast line communities along the Gulf of Guinea for the operationalization of the Littoral Host Community Development Trust (HCDT) done in conjunction with the National Boundary Commission, The Daily Crucible learnt.
It was learnt further that the exercise is in pursuance of the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act no.6 of 2021, which stipulates that host communities affected by the Petroleum operations will be entitled to 3% of upstream companies actual annual operating expenditure of the preceding financial year, in deriving direct social and economic benefits from Petroleum operations within their communities.
It is also a fall out of an advocacy visit earlier made by The Director General, National Boundary Commission, Surv. Adamu Adaji to the Office of the Deputy Governor and Chairman of Ogun State Boundary Committee, Engr. Noimot Salako-Oyedele, on the need to sensitize the State on the all-important assignment for adequate representation of the identified communities in the Host Communities Development Trust.
According to source close to the Acting Surveyor General of the State, who led the State team on the exercise he quoted the Surveyor General as informing that the mandate given to the joint field team is to verify and capture the Littoral Communities along the Gulf of Guinea that are within 500metres buffer from the shore line to satisfy the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) for gazette purposes.
The source also quoted the Surveyor General as explaining that the exercise which was carried at Ode-Omi in the Ogun Waterside Local Government area of the State was done by a joint field team comprising members from the Federal Government, National Boundary Commission, Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation, Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission and the Ogun State Boundary Commission.
It was gathered that the concerned communities totalling 60 in all, were excited at the initiative, saying it will being about positive development to them.
The Lenuwa of Ode-Omi, Oba Folailu Adekunle Hassan, it was learnt, appreciated the State and Federal government for the initiative, promising the support of his communities towards the overall success of the exercise.
