…As Community says JTF forcing us to sign oil spill report***
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has disclosed that the decline in Nigeria’s oil production has slowed the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 1.5 percent in the second quarter of 2018 (Q2’18).
In its latest GDP report released yesterday, NBS stated that the country’s GDP grew by 1.5 percent year-on-year (YoY) in real terms to N16.58 trillion in Q2’18 even as the average daily oil production in Q2’18 dropped by 0.03 million barrel per day (mbpd) to 1.84 mbpd YoY from 1.87 mbpd in Q2’17. The GDP figure for Q2’18 is at 0.45 basis point down from the 1.95 percent recorded in Q1’18, and for the first time since the exit from recession, last year, growth was driven by the non-oil sector that expanded by 2.05 percent. Leading the expansion in real terms were the transportation (21.76 percent), construction (7.66 percent) and electricity (7.59 percent) sectors, while growth in agriculture sector dropped to 1.3 percent from 3 percent. The report stated: “In Q2’18, Nigeria’s GDP grew by 1.5 percent YoY in real terms to N16.58 trillion. Growth in Q2’18 was 0.79 percentage points higher when compared to the second quarter of 2017 which recorded a growth of 0.72 percent, but 0.45 percentage points slower than 1.95 percent recorded in Q1’18. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, real GDP growth was 2.94 percent.
“For better clarity, the Nigerian economy can be classified broadly into the oil and non-oil sectors. Broadly speaking, growth in Q2’18 was driven by developments in the non-oil sector as Services sector recorded its strongest positive growth since 2016.” Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, sees the latest GDP figures as positive saying they indicated that the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, ERGP, his ministry was driving was yielding positive results. Udoma described the 2.05% growth in the non-oil sector as the strongest growth in the non-oil GDP since the fourth quarter of 2015. The Minister, however, regretted that there was a slight drop in real GDP growth rate for the second quarter principally as a result of the contraction in the oil sector. According to him, the contraction in the Crude oil and Gas sectors is attributable to some production issues which are being addressed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. He pointed out, for instance, that the average crude oil production was only 1.84 million barrels a day in Q2 2018 as opposed to an average production of 2 million barrels a day in Q1 2018. But he is optimistic that once the issues are addressed the nation should be able to achieve positive growth in the oil and gas sector. A statement by the Minister’s Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Akpandem James, also said that the slightly weaker growth in the Agriculture sector Q1’18 also posed another concern to the administration. But the development, he noted, was partly attributable to the security challenges mainly in the North East and North Central zones.
Commenting on this development, analysts at Cowry Asset Management Limited, a Lagos based investment house, said: “We note that the slow growth in agricultural sector was due to the incessant clashes between the suspected herdsmen and farmers in the north central of the country.” Global Head of Currency Strategy & Market Research at FXTM, Jameel Ahmad, in a mail to Vanguard stated: “While the headline might be that growth slowed on a quarterly basis from 1.95 percent to 1.5 percent in Q2, the economy expanded on an annualized basis with growth close to 0.8 percent. This is a positive result.’’
In the meantime, community leaders in Aghoro, Ekeremor Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, yesterday accused the Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Delta Safe (ODS), of intimidation.
The leaders said their representatives in the panel investigating an oil spill in their community were being coerced by JTF to sign a report in favour of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).
It was gathered JTF’s alleged meddlesomeness stalled release of the Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) report of the incident, which occurred from the Trans Ramos Pipeline within Shell’s oilfield at Aghoro communities.
The JTF in Niger Delta, and SPDC, however, yesterday denied the allegations.
Chairman, Community Development Committee of Aghoro 1, Mr. Victor Akamu, alleged JTF showed its bias when it resorted to force and intimidation.
Akamu said JTF summoned the community leadership to Yenagoa on August 23 and forced it to sign the JIV report in favour of SPDC.
But he said the community leaders refused despite the harassment. He said the team from Aghoro were labelled vandals and profiled into the database of the security agency.
“We were taken to a room where detailed profiles of us were taken including our finger prints, biometric details and our photographs.
“We were temporarily held down for almost three hours profiling before we were eventually asked to go.
“I wanted to ask; is it part of JTF’s job to force a community to sign a JIV Report?
“Shell should stop using JTF to intimidate our community; for the past 20 years there has been no history of pipeline vandalism; this leak was due to a ruptured pipeline due to corrosion yet they call us vandals; it is unacceptable,” Akamu said. SPDC’s Media Relations Manager Mr. Bamidele Odugbesan denied forcing its host communities to sign the JIV Report.
He said: “Yes, there are issues with the JIV report; the representative of Aghoro 1 community did not agree with a portion of the JIV report but we have not used force; SPDC does not coerce parties to sign JIV reports”.
Also, JTF’s Commander Rear Admiral Apochi Suleiman dismissed allegations of the intimidation, adding that the military intervenedinto the crisis to encourage both parties to adopt dialogue to resolve their differences to avert breach of peace.
“We conduct our duties in compliance to our rules of engagement; we invited the parties to mediate and encourage them to dialogue and use the established channels of resolving conflicts.
“I told them to resolve their differences on the negotiating table so that the operation is not disrupted, our mandate is to safeguard oil facilities and we do not want the disagreement to degenerate further”
Vanguard with additional report from The Nation
