From IKECHUKWU NNADI, Nsukka
Eha Ndiagu is a sleepy town in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State. An otherwise oil-producing community, it is sleepy because, incredulously, 57 years after crude oil and gas were discovered in commercial quantities in the town, the black gold deposits have remained unexploited.
The story of Eha Ndiagu oil is a fairly well known one. But it remains ever fresh whenever it is retold, because it always speaks to the indefinability of Nigeria’s socio-economic and political policies, unceasingly raising the question: why would a country spend billions of its currency searching for oil deposits even in the most unlikely places in some parts of the country but appears loathe to simply exploit already confirmed deposits in another part of the same country?
Daily Query Correspondent revisited Eha Ndiagu and retells its story. 57 years ago – in 1967, shortly before the outbreak of the civil war, to be precise –natural oil and gas deposits were found in Eha Ndiagu in commercial quantities. An oil well was dug but apparently because hostilities had begun, the well was capped (see photo).
The vast oil and gas field was first discovered by a company called CGG, a Paris-based company that was once a leader in geophysics.
Now called Viridien by virtue of a name change approved by shareholders in May this year, CGG was founded in France in 1931 and was once the world’s largest geophysical company. The company was a leader in geophysics outside of the wellbore in Africa, according to Google AI.
CGG discovered the Eha Ndiagu oil/gas deposits said to be large enough to last for at least 50 years.
Understandably, CGG, after boring the well between 1966 and 1967 could not continue with the development of the oil field because of the outbreak of the civil war. The question, however, is, 57 years later, why has the field remain undeveloped even though Nigeria keeps searching for and exploiting new oil finds?
Daily Query reports that along the line, an indigenous company oil company called Seven Energy, a Nigerian oil and gas exploration, development, production and distribution group, acquired the site for exploitation but abandoned it for what insiders described as “political interference”.
Seven Energy, which once described itself as the leading integrated gas company in the South-East, has since 2017 been acquired by London-based Savannah Petroleum.
Whatever the “political interference”, the point is that Seven Energy left and Eha Ndiagu remains unexploited.
Of course, Eha Ndiagu is the location of the well-head but the deposits straddle other communities and council areas in the Old Nsukka Division of Enugu State, including Obollo Eke and Ezebinagu in Udenu LGA and Isi-Uzo now in Enugu East LGA. The deposits consist of an estimated 30% crude oil and 70% natural gas.
The residents of the oil rich communities have expressed worry over the inability of the indigenous company, Seven Energy to exploit the deposits since the federal government reportedly awarded it in 2013.
Sources told Daily Query that Seven Energy had carried out a seismic operation they termed environmental impact assessment in February 2014 at the abandoned oil zone. Since then, the result was neither made public nor was the site cleared or prepared for further oil exploitation activities. And as already reported, Seven Energy has since 2017 ceased to exist as an independent corporate entity.
Daily Query also reports that earlier in 2008, long before Seven Energy came into the picture in 2013, the huge natural gas deposit had attracted Geokinetic Gas and Oil Plc for further exploration of the site but nothing came out of it.
A community leader, James Nweze recalled that “prior to the Nigerian civil war in 1966, the oil and gas deposits had
attracted CGG company which carried out the first seismic
exploration but couldn’t continue as a result of the severity of the civil war.”
What seems obvious from the above scenarios is that all attempts to exploit the deposits had been half-hearted at best and the periodic abandonment of the project by companies purportedly detailed to develop the field deliberate at worst.
Nweze expressed dissatisfaction at the abandonment of the oil-rich zone, describing it as a waste of both human and material resources.
“This type of thing should not be joked with. Look at such an endowment being overlooked, something that would have been a source of employment opportunities for jobless Nigerian youths is overgrown with grass. When this company first came here, our youth were employed as labourers and some worked in other lucrative positions, but look at how dilapidated the place has become now, such a national treasure,” Nweze lamented.
“They told us that they would test the natural gas which they did and carried a half tanker of the crude gas for testing, but we have not heard from them again.”
Daily Query could not reach NNPCL spokesman, Olufemi Soneye for comments. But an NNPCL source, an indigene of the area, told our correspondent that “as far as I know, Eha Ndiagu is not within NNPCL’s development radar for now.”
“And don’t ask why, because you know the answer: the economic advantage onshore oil production in the heart of South East confers on the zone may well not be within the contemplation of the ‘owners of Nigeria’ for now. Otherwise, explain to me the rationale behind the hypocritical and half-hearted moves to exploit the vast oil and gas deposits in the afore-mentioned communities, found, capped and abandoned for all of these past 50 years plus” our source, an engineer, remonstrated.
According to Mr. Jonathan Ugwuanyi, besides the natural oil/gas
deposits found in the area, there are other untapped mineral resources like gold and coal, among others, in Eha Ndiagu and environs.
But all hopes are not lost yet, it seems. The traditional ruler of Ezebinagu /Ehandiagu communities, Igwe Daniel Ugwuanyi is optimistic that exploitation of the communities’ oil/gas deposits may begin soon.
“If this oil/gas deposits are exploited, it will create job opportunities for the people as well as a source of revenue for the Federal and State governments,” Igwe Ugwuanyi enthused, hoping that the development of the field would eventually lead to the construction of “the much neglected Nsukka-Ehalumona-Ehandiagu-Mbu-Ikem road.”
He, therefore, appealed to the State and Federal governments to take steps to develop the abandoned huge oil/gas deposits in Ezebinagu/ Ehandiagu communities.
TEN YEARS after, residents mount pressure for
exploitation of Ehandiagu, Ogurugu oil deposits
Indeed, Julius Ugwueze, a bricklayer and resident of Ehandiagu, had hoped that the revitalization of the age-long dilapidated road in his community, will attract more customers both from within and outside the community.
Ugwueze’s hope was not unconnected with the state government’s
continuous promise that the road would be reconstructed, especially because it would create easy access to the site of the oil/gas deposits in his community, located a few metres away from his house.
Sadly, all this hope seemed to have become a mirage as the state government is said to have abandoned the road project as much as the federal government is not thinking towards uncapping the Ehandiagu oil
rig.
In a chat with our reporter, Mr. Ugwueze said: “Today, this
community is practically living in total isolation while petroleum
resources which were discovered in this community are still uncapped.”
“With the current high cost of fuel in this country, one wonders why the Ehandiagu oil rig is still capped. What is the rationale behind such a decision? When is the oil well going to uncapped? When is oil exploitation going to take place in Ehandiagu? We are tired of all these delays because we know very well that if these oil and gas deposits are developed, it will go a long way in developing this community.”
Mr. Ugwueze’s dilemma raises another question about this whole Eha Ndiagu oil saga: exactly what is Enugu State’s position on the matter?
With an oil and gas tycoon as Governor, why is Enugu not taking or seen to be taking steps to get the huge oil deposits in its domain exploited? From Jim Nwodo, to Okwesileze Nwodo to Chimaroke Nnamani to Sullivan Chime to Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and now to Governor Peter Mbah, why has Enugu kept quiet about Eha Ndiagu oil deposits all these years?
“The answer lies in the intricate web of dirty politics, petty zonal jealousies and dread of the consequences of crossing the federal that define the exertions of political leaders in Enugu and elsewhere in Igbo land,” a former political office holder in Enugu told Daily Query. “And that should be a story for another day, my brother.
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