By Victor Omoregie
This is the concluding part of this report. The second part was published yesterday.
SECONDLY, I would like to see a decent hospital or a full fledged operating and well equipped health centre. What we have now that is called a clinic within the community cannot even match what the average Red Cross unit can offer in terms of services.
Every health issue in the community is an emergency. All cases are referred to Benin. Lastly I would plead with the federal government to prevail on the oil company prospecting in Gelegele to relocate its gas-flaring station. The effect of the gas-flaring is telling on the health of members of the community, not to talk of the damage it does to the roofs of most of the buildings and farm crops.
What role do you want for your women, as I see that they are no visible markets, which is usually the meeting place for most rural women?
I would like to see government at any level empowering our women with loans. We all know that women anywhere are the building blocks of any economy.
Gelegele youths
Building blocks of the economy
Our elders say 'if you provide for a woman, your community will grow'. So government should come to the aid of our women.'
Have you not made your case known to the Edo State government through your representative in the Local Government council?
Like you said, we have a representative at the Local Council and I believe he knows what to do with respect to presenting our problems to the right quarters. However I had expected that Comrade-Governor Adams Oshiomhole should have visited us to see things first hand. The stories and impact of the Oshiomole government on the lives of the people is no longer news.
We want to enjoy part of the largesse called dividends of democracy being dished by Governor Oshiomhole. During the last election, we were solidly behind him and voted accordingly. I think it is time for him to visit Gelegele. We are expecting him.
How would you describe the state of your educational institutions?
Fair. All we want is for more staff to be deployed to our schools. As a community, we are contributing to the provision of infrastructure in the schools. We also need a well-stocked library. A library is the "soul” of any educational institution. You cannot ignite the interest of a human being and then leave him/her like that. There must be a place where the thirst for information and knowledge is quenched, and that place is the library.
There is an oil company in your community. What has been its contribution?
No contribution whatsoever. If not that we are a peace-loving people, we could have attacked the installation and disrupted its operations. I challenge Dubri Oil Company to point to anything tangible that it has done for the community since the inception of its operations in Gelegele.
Can you imagine that the company has no safety officer, in-case of an emergency. All it knows is to siphon away the crude oil without giving back anything to its host community.
Did the federal government not make it mandatory that oil companies should render some form of corporate responsibilities towards their host communities? Whenever there is any form of agitation by the community, for even mundane issues like employment, the company invites the JTF, Navy and other government security agencies, to intimidate and harass members of the community.
However we have said that we shall not be provoked to become violent. That would be the excuse that they are looking for to destroy the community totally.
