Like the gold rush of California in 19th century America, the small settlement of Oloibiri, a district headquarters in Ogbia in the defunct Eastern Region, came into  limelight in second half of the 20th  century when workers of Shell Darcy converged on the  town in search of the black gold. However, the explorers made history in June 1956 when they struck the black gold in  swampy communities  of Otuabagi/Otuogidi in the Oloibiri District of Ogbia, making the latter district  the first in  West Africa where crude oil was discovered in commercial quantity. Providence again ensured that the Ogbia kingdom produced the first minority President in history from the backwater of the Delta in the person of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, an indigene of Otuoke. Interestingly, when the Shell Darcy landed on the shores of Niger Delta prospecting for oil, the local authorities and the natives never took interest in what the multinational was busy working on. This was especially so as  the Northern and Southern Protectorates, which Britain later amalgamated to form the country Nigeria, were only interested in their regional agro resources namely cocoa, coal, groundnut and palm oil business, which were then   the main stay of the Nigerian economy. However, the direction of the nation’s economy  changed for good when the black gold was struck. There was a flurry of activities around the location causing the  sleepy  town to come alive. People from all walks of life trooped to the area in search of greener pasture. The first crude oil well was named Oloibiri Well after Oloibiri community by the prospecting company. While California, 31st  state of the American union, grew from a country side to a modern and well planned city on account of the mad rush for the precious metal, the reverse has been the case for the Oloibiri oil field communities. The discovery of the black gold, instead of accelerating the growth of the host communities, has turned out to be a pain to the people as Oloibiri could best be described as an abandoned fishing port after the anglers had left with their catch. The communities, today, lack the basic necessities of life as the black gold, an exhaustible asset, which then made the area to be called Bioforoama, nicknamed “Eastern Congo”,  due to its booming social life, has since dried up and Shell moved to another location regardless of the dislocation caused to the locals. Sunday Vanguard’s trip to Oloibiri was one of disappointment and shock as the expectation of seeing the benefits of oil wealth on the communities was not to be. The people still face basic development challenges and environmental pollution caused by oil spills. The site of the dried up Oloibiri Well 1 has been overtaken by weeds, just as the proposed research institute sponsored by the Federal Government was still at foundation level. The Federal Government had proposed to build an oil museum at Oloibiri but the project was not actualized. The foundation stone was laid by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2001. The area is a sad commentary of oil and gas in Nigeria. It shows that Bayelsa was the place where oil was first drilled and exported. “This place should have some kind of national museum. We are not happy the way it is now but we understand that there is an institute that is proposed to be located here”, a native said. “In spite of our peaceful disposition that led to uninterrupted oil production for several decades, development has eluded our community even as Shell which struck oil in the area has also abandoned the well”. Myth The natives, it was gathered, received the Shell Group with open arms and never bothered about what they were doing on their land until they came to solicit their assistance when they encountered mystic powers at the well site. A source told Sunday Vanguard: “I am sure they told you when oil was struck here in 1956, at that time Oloibiri was the District Headquarters of the Ogbia area. When the white man came, at the Oloibiri Oil Well 1, they started putting their things but, at the end of the day, all the pipes they had sunk into the ground would come out on their own. “Then they asked for the owners of the land,  as the land needed  appeasement. They consulted with the oracle. “At the end, they said the gods of the land needed libation . They brought drinks, kola, white chalk, alligator pepper, plantain and other things. Yet they still could not get to oil. They will drill and close work for the day, but the following morning, all the pipes and casing that they had sunk in hundreds feet would be outside waiting for them. So, they were wondering how that could happen because no normal human being could have removed those pipes as it was practically impossible. “The natives now brought a soothsayer who said the owners of the land knew what was there. After incantation and sacrifice, the  gods  said  nothing will disturb them again but the situation remained the same. Then the white men asked the elders: `This thing that is happening, what do you want?’ Our people said,  ‘Just bring a carton of JJW Peters’, a kind of whisky in those days, `a goat and other things for sacrifice and merriment’. “The Shell officials were amazed about the demands. They said, ‘ You mean that is all you need?’  Our people replied, ‘ Yes, that is all we need’ . The rest is history.” With the demand of the gods taken care of, he said, work went on smoothly with the creek connecting the area to the Oluasiri axis on the Atlantic fringe witnessing high traffic of passengers and cargo boats conveying men and equipment to the location. The area, it was gathered, transformed into a trading post and became the centre of commerce in the central Niger Delta. Sadly, what is West Africa’s first oil well is today covered with rust several decades after it stopped pumping crude and is marked by weather beaten signboard with the inscription, Oloibiri Well 1, drilled June 1956, 12,008 feet. Journey to the league of petro-dollar states The crude from the Oloibiri fields was conveyed through pipelines constructed to link Emago-Kugbo waterside jetty from where the black gold was exported in the late fifties and 1960s, making the latter the first crude oil loading bay in  West Africa.  It was called the Emogo-Kugbo Loading Bay. It was from the Emago-Kugbo settlement, which though is administratively situated in Abua-Odual local government area of Rivers State, that the first crude oil from Oloibiri was shipped for export  on the 17th day of February 1958. MV Emago, MV Otuabagi, MV Otuogidi, MV Oloibiri, among other vessels, Sunday Vanguard findings revealed, were used to load crude oil from the pipes laid by Shell to the bay. All the settlements share same characteristics of neglect and abandonment by the Nigerian state. There is nothing tangible on ground to showcase Otuabagi/Otuogidi axis land owners of the Oloibiri oil fields as the place where crude was first discovered in  West Africa. Also, there is nothing on ground to show that Emago-Kugbo is the first loading bay which launched Nigeria into the elite club of oil producing countries. Sunday Vanguard’s  trip to the area revealed the inherent contradiction in the nation’s oil industry as  Otuabagi and Otuogidi lack all the basic amenities of life. The area could be mistaken for an abandoned farm settlement. Oloibiri is not better off. Though the community has a ring road and bridge linking it to Ogbia main town, most of the structures in Oloibiri secondary school have been abandoned due to their terrible state. The story was not different at Otuabagi where the road leading to the community was riddled with potholes while Otuogidi is not linked by tarred road. What perhaps could have been the quickest route to the community through the state government owned College of Health Technology was not to be as the latter constructed a gate across the road as part of its complex thereby causing the natives to go through Ogbia. But for the concrete bridge built across the Kolo creek to link the community by Hon Nadu Karibo, as a constituency project when he was a member of  Bayelsa State House of Assembly representing the area, the people would have been cut off from the rest of the world. Two vehicles cannot pass through the road side by side due to its narrow nature, but the bridge had, nonetheless, lightened the pain of the people. The Oloibiri oil field communities could be described as a paradox of a resource-rich enclave remaining so pervasively poor. The situation in the communities and Emago-Kugbo, Nigeria nay West Africa first crude loading bay, should prick  the conscience of the nation. The effects of oil exploration and exploitation are everywhere. Marine life is extinct. Indigenous occupational industries are comatose. Erosion is widespread. Pollution of the very sources of life for the ordinary people manifests in everything from their fishing equipment to the water they drink. The oil company is certainly not helping the situation by its flagrant display of insensitivity. A source told Sunday Vanguard that at the drilling sites then, “all the amenities that make life tick were to be found: electricity, water, high-powdered marine transport vehicles and health facilities. Yet, within a short radius of this drilling haven, there was a stark disparity in living standards.” OTU Ibru: A man of diligence UABAGI:  The situation in Otuabagi  best captures what neglect means. The community lacks portable drinking water. 60 years after, the community still depends on a polluted creek as a source of water. There is nothing to envy about the nondescript settlement. The natives said they have nothing to show for their community historic role in the economy of the country, adding that the relics and pollution associated with oil exploration in the area were still evident. They lamented that the promises made by past administrations to develop the area and give them a sense of belonging have remained a mirage. Lamenting the plight of his people, Lawrence Idumesaro,  Obim V  of Otuabagi, said that in spite of the enormous contribution of his community to the development of the country as the cradle of the nation’s crude oil industry, his community lacked the basic things of life. Politics surrounding first oil well name “The Otuabagi community is the original landlord of the Oloibiri oil fields. At that time, Oloibiri was the district headquarters and  anything that came to the area was always going to the district headquarters. Right from that time, the Oloibiri has been using us and has refused to cooperate with us. Oloibiri did not have a single oil well. The first oil well location was within our community. We have done our best to rectify this distortion of history but not successful”, the monarch said.  NEGLECT “If you are told that this community is where oil was first struck in the whole of West Africa, you will not believe it. In terms of development or infrastructure, we have nothing. We are suffering here. The young men are suffering and roaming about jobless. No electricity, no water, no good roads. In fact, we are living in bondage, while they use our oil to develop other areas, what is our gain? Nothing.  ANGER “We cannot beg the Federal Government to come and develop us; they are the one to beg us. If we have our way, we would want an instant or magical development because we have been suffering for so long and we are tired of endless waiting and vain promises. LIFE THEN AND NOW “Meanwhile, we cannot compare life then with now, but even when Shell was working here with our fathers and grandfathers, they (Shell) did nothing for us. Today, we are struggling on our own because we cannot continue to depend on oil and oil companies.   If we had been dependent on oil, we would be killing each other every now and then. You can attest to the fact that other oil producing areas are volatile but, in terms of peaceful coexistence and hospitality, we are the best. “We conduct ourselves in a peaceful manner. The Federal Government should come and rescue us because there will come a time when we would no longer bear the injustice and I will lead my people on a revolt, the sooner the better for us all.” Also speaking to Sunday Vanguard, the CDC Chairman, James Samuel, said, “We have been suffering for a very long time since 1956 without assistance from anywhere. We are not asking for too much but we should be able to boast of the basic things of life like water, electricity and gainful employment for our youths. “We have about 20 oil locations around our community and we are suffering from pollution. Our environment is polluted, our rivers are polluted, and we no longer fish in our rivers. Our soil is also polluted making farming almost an unfruitful endeavour. Even bush meat hunting has been disrupted due to pollution. Oil exploration has devastated our environment and means of livelihood. “Our youths are idle because they are not engaged. There are no scholarship opportunities and skill acquisition programmes; I am a graduate but unemployed because there are no jobs. We are suffering. We are humbly appealing to government at all levels and Shell to come to our aid. Even though we have no jobs,  we are entitled to live in a comfortable environment.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/60-years-after-nigerias-first-crude-oloibiri-oil-dries-up-natives-wallow-in-abject-poverty/

When the white man came, at the Oloibiri Oil Well 1, they started putting their things but, at the end of the day, all the pipes they had sunk into the ground would come out on their own. [size=18pt] Fable[/size]


“Then they asked for the owners of the land, as the land needed appeasement. They consulted with the oracle. “At the end, they said the gods of the land needed libation . They brought drinks, kola, white chalk, alligator pepper, plantain and other things. Yet they still could not get to oil. They will drill and close work for the day, but the following morning, all the pipes and casing that they had sunk in hundreds feet would be outside waiting for them. So, they were wondering how that could happen because no normal human being could have removed those pipes as it was practically impossible. [size=18pt]More Fable [/size]


“The natives now brought a soothsayer who said the owners of the land knew what was there. After incantation and sacrifice, the gods said nothing will disturb them again but the situation remained the same.


Then the white men asked the elders: `This thing that is happening, what do you want?’

[size=28pt] Our people said, ‘Just bring a carton of JJW Peters’, a kind of whisky in those days, `a goat and other things for sacrifice and merriment’. [/size]“The Shell officials were amazed about the demands. They said, ‘ You mean that is all you need?’ Our people replied, ‘ Yes, that is all we need’ . The rest is history.” With the demand of the gods taken care of, he said, work went on smoothly with the creek connecting the area to the Oluasiri axis on the Atlantic fringe witnessing high traffic of passengers and cargo boats conveying men and equipment to the location. The area, it was gathered, transformed into a trading post and became the centre of commerce in the central Niger Delta.

And they'd say it's hausas and Yorubas taking their oilwells whereas in reality , their forefathers traded riches , happiness and development for Carton of Whisky and Goat for merriment

That is what Nigeria is planning for the whole Niger delta

DaBullIT:




And they'd say it's hausas and Yorubas taking their oilwells whereas in reality , their forefathers traded riches , happiness and development for Carton of Whisky and Goat for merriment

Bro, does Atiku have an oil well?

Chose. B/w niGeria and biafra

La ila

And one uninformed tuale4u is somewhere ranting about our oil in SS,this is the future that awaits us!

The Oloibiri people have been paid with a carton of JJW whiskey, a goat and some kolanuts. If they feel they've been shortchanged let them simply return the whiskey, goat and kolanuts to the white men and unleash their gods back on them.

...

oglalasioux:
The Oloibiri people have been paid with a carton of JJW whiskey, a goat and some kolanuts. If they feel they've been shortchanged let them simply return the whiskey, goat and kolanuts to the white men and unleash their gods back on them.

#fact

This oil has left us visionless in the SS!

Good news

Even when their so called son of the soil was elected president, he couldn't do anything...

FYI: you ruined your own lives!!!

Nice one

There is nothing that doesn't finish.

Only God's blessing.

Nigerians don't learn the easy way...

The community was raped by Nigeria. You need the oil for economic planning but you don't want to develope the people. In saner climes this would not happen. The local content policy bill where is it today? What about the PIB? Yet our senators were discussing about men marrying two wives. The people of the Niger delta are not violent but they only agitate for their fair share. The government of the day cannot provide basic amenities but very quick to deploy soldiers. God is watching Nigeria in 4D.

Thank God grass is growing there, unlike other places where there is/was oil.

The greatest injustice in this country is done to the owners of the oil that service that contraption called Nigeria. We 'sheare' at their expense.

Hmmmm..na wa oo

DaBullIT:




And they'd say it's hausas and Yorubas taking their oilwells whereas in reality , their forefathers traded riches , happiness and development for Carton of Whisky and Goat for merriment

If we (Africans) could sell our own brothers for mirror and whisky, tell me why won't we sell a particular fluid that's killing our crops and animals for goats and whisky?

APCcrimesHD:


Bro, does Atiku have an oil well?

Did Atiku or his fore-fathers make the old eastern region, including the pepper-soup drinking Oloibiri gods, vote in support of one-Nigeria? I am talking about the western region attempt at breaking away in 1957?

oglalasioux:
The Oloibiri people have been paid with a carton of JJW whiskey, a goat and some kolanuts. If they feel they've been shortchanged let them simply return the whiskey, goat and kolanuts to the white men and unleash their gods back on them.

Lol . . . Whisky for oil. That's like trading rubber bag for gold.

DaBullIT:




And they'd say it's hausas and Yorubas taking their oilwells whereas in reality , their forefathers traded riches , happiness and development for Carton of Whisky and Goat for merriment

Their fathers are still trading ........
On oil well ownership, it is a pan Nigeria conversion and diversion of public resources into private hands.

Only God....