Mrs. Tsaye Edeyibo Mene, Convener Warri Reclamation Thrust Advocates Decentralisation of Pipeline Security Surveillance in Port Harcourt

The Convener of Warri Reclamation Thrust, Mrs. Tsaye Edeyibo Mene, joined other prominent Niger Delta stakeholders in Port Harcourt for a strategic town hall meeting on the decentralisation of pipeline security surveillance across the region.

Speaking passionately during the engagement, Mrs. Mene emphasized that decentralisation has historically brought significant progress and empowerment to the people of the Niger Delta. She recalled how policies such as the 13 percent derivation principle and the Amnesty Programme helped reduce tension, create opportunities, and restore a level of peace and economic participation within oil-producing communities.

According to her, the same approach should now be extended to pipeline security surveillance, stressing that indigenous communities possess better knowledge of their environment, waterways, and oil facilities than outsiders. She maintained that involving local ethnic nationalities directly in the protection of pipelines would not only improve security but also create employment opportunities and strengthen trust between the government and host communities.

Mrs. Mene further noted that the Itsekiri people, alongside other ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta, deserve the right to safeguard the resources located within their ancestral territories. She argued that the people who bear the environmental and economic consequences of oil exploration should naturally play a leading role in securing critical national assets in their communities.

She called on the Federal Government and relevant stakeholders to adopt an inclusive framework that gives every ethnic nationality within the Niger Delta fair participation in pipeline surveillance operations, adding that sustainable peace can only be achieved through justice, inclusion, and grassroots participation.

The town hall meeting brought together community leaders, youth representatives, activists, and stakeholders from across the Niger Delta region to deliberate on strategies aimed at improving security, reducing vandalism, and promoting community-driven solutions in the oil-rich region.