[dropcap]Y[/dropcap]outh from Eket, Esit Eket, Onna and Ibeno Local Government Areas of Akwa Ibom State took to the streets in protest of the oil spill from Mobil Producing Nigeria which has affected their communities.
The youths, during the protest, carried placards with various inscriptions, and marched on major streets in Eket, asking the federal government to come to their rescue.
Some of the inscriptions on the placards read: “Oil spill is killing our aquatics life; federal government should come to our rescue; Mobil is killing us; enough of this oil spillage.”
The protesters tabled two demands before the oil giant: that a cleanup of the affected areas should be done without delay and compensation paid.
Speaking with one of the volunteers of the #RelocateExxonMobilHQ, one of the protesters said in an interview that the spills had devastated aquatic life and destroyed fishing equipment, and blamed the oil giant for being nonchalant with its host communities.
He said that the oil company denied the spills. “What Mobil should have done for public relations sake, was to approach the community and their leaders and find ways to looking into the matter. Instead, they made a very wrong impression by the telling the community that the spill was not from them.
“They (Mobil) vastly went and sprayed solvents to dissolve the spills into the water. Unfortunately, the spills could not dissolve, washing the aquatic animals from the ocean to the shore dead as the result of the spill and the chemical they used.
“Mobil cannot deny the spill otherwise something is wrong with them. They must be a very crafty company to deny the spill. It is Mobil that is operating in the community and not any other company.
“What they should do is liaise with the community and clean up the spills to reduce the effect on marine organisms which could be useful to the community. Their manner of approach to the community is very bad.”
The protesting youths urged the oil giant to begin the process of clean up of the environment without delay.
Also, some of the youths threatened to disrupt the activities of the oil giant if their demands are not met.
There have been series of petitions and campaigns from every Akwa Ibom sons and daughters for the relocation of the operational headquarters of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, to the state with the hash tag #RelocateExxonMobilHQ.
Reason for the agitation for the oil firm to relocate their headquarters to host states is that the firms owe their hosts the corporate-social responsibility of contributing to their development and ensuring or, at least, contributing to their welfare, especially where it concerns the immediate communities where the acts of exploration are done.
The advocacy is neither strange nor new, and we can prove this with a short drive down historical lane, as indigenes of Akwa Ibom State of both male and female genders had structured a convergence somewhere with some others, likeminded and indigent outside the state, to chart a course that may most likely change a narrative, and make a historical mark that will sure transcend generations yet to come.
By Umoh-Obong Kingsley is a Volunteer for #RelocateExxonMobilHQ and Publishes for 9jaecho.com.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
