Feature/OPED
Niger Delta Region; Still a Body without Soul
By Jerome-Mario Chijioke Utomi
Despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent signing into law of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) on Monday, August 16, 2021, after years of back-and-forth movement, an Act which provides legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian petroleum industry and development of host communities, my recent ‘sojourn’ in the creeks of Niger Delta region, South-South geo-political zone, Nigeria, in the past one month or thereabout has strengthened my belief that nothing has changed.
Aside from raising consciousness that the poor level of infrastructural and socio-economic development in the region is an indication of sustained poor management of revenue accruing to the region, my documented experience firmly explains that this poor management is traceable to a combination of factors ranging from poor governance to outright embezzlement by the region’s leadership.
I have also come to a sudden but painful conclusion that the region will remain a body without a soul until the government and other Nigerians begin to see the problem of the Niger Delta as a national one and not restricted to the region.
A telling example of the above assertion is the deplorable state of some communities visited in Warri Southwest Local Government Areas of Delta state. These communities include but are not limited to Azuzu, Bennett, BATAN, Aweregbene, Egwa, Ekpogbene, Okerenkoko, Pepeama, Kurutie, Ubafan, Kunukunu mkma, Inikorogha and Azama. Others are Opuama, Polobubo, Ogbudugbudu, and Ogbinbiri communities of Egbema kingdom, Warri North Local Government Area.
From the above communities, evidence indicates that when one juxtaposes the level of development with the amount of funds that have been disbursed through the federal allocation and 13% derivation received by crude oil-bearing states, it shows a lack of concerted development efforts on the part of federal, state, local governments and other interventionist agencies/commissions.
The situation in the region is made worse by the destruction of agricultural prospects in rural communities through irresponsible oil operations, which of course, is an indirect violation of the right to life and the right to a safe environment and also a negation of the policy of economic diversification.
According to a report, “the relationship between agriculture and oil production is like a clash of two sectors. The use of land for oil exploration and production has implied the destruction of agriculture and the rural economy. This is a war of opposites. As much as the government derives more revenue from oil than agriculture, its reluctance to protect land resources for agricultural purposes increases.”
Without a doubt, the region, in my view, is faced with interminable socio-economic and environmental challenges, which prove to have no single answer, but one thing is sure. Niger Delta is troubled but not despondent-a situation that makes it easy for them to be managed and contained.
To develop the region, there is an urgent need to find solutions to the challenges created by the ability of the Niger Delta Development Commissions (NDDC), and that of the Presidential Amnesty handlers to live up to their statutory responsibilities.
To explain this point, the coastal dwellers have in recent times perceived and referred to NDDC as ‘a city boy’ that has nothing to do with coastal regions, a challenge that goes beyond the non-appointment/constitution of the NDDC board. The Amnesty Programme, on its part, appears to have completely deviated from its primary objective.
Even the new Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Major-General Barry Ndiomu (rtd), recently acknowledged this fact during a courtesy visit to the Pere of Gbaramatu Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Oboro Gbaraun II, Aketekpe, Agadagba, at his palace in Oporoza town, Delta State, where he lamented that the scheme has been “hijacked” by “a few criminals”, who have “short-changed” lots of youths in the Niger-Delta.
He said: “As I speak to you, there are many people who are not even Niger Deltans that have been awarded scholarships. There are instances where people who are not Niger Deltans bribed their way with N750,000 to N1 million to get PAP’s scholarships. If the scheme is working as was intended by the government, a lot of the complaints by the youths will not be so as the resources which the government has directed to the scheme will get to them.”
While wrestling with this major concern, the Ogoni land cleanup is another thorny challenge that the Federal Government must tackle with sincerity. The truth, as it presently stands, is that to the watching world, the clean-up really holds the success key of this administration. The reason is simple. Apart from failed promises in this direction by the current administration, any effort by the Federal Government to re-engineer prosperity in the region without first cleaning the Ogoni Oil spill will amount to an attempt in futility because of the international attention that particular degradation has elicited.
For example, the African Commission’s decision on a communication submitted by the Social and Economic Rights Action Centre (SERAC) in close collaboration with the New York-based Centre for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) found the Nigerian government culpable of glaring environmental injustice mated to the people of Ogoni land and other Niger Delta communities.
Titled Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERAC) Vs Nigeria) with suit Number 155/96 before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights against the then Federal Military Government of Nigeria, the communication asserted that the wild spread contamination of soil, water and air, the destruction of homes and the climate of terror visited upon the Ogoni communities constituted a violation of their rights to health, a healthy environment, housing, and food.
As a response to the communication, the Commission, in October 2001, gave a well-considered rule finding the Federal Republic of Nigeria in violations of 2, 4, 14, 16, 18(1), 21 and 24 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), and therefore recommended a total clean-up of the polluted Ogoni and other adjourning communities in addition to taking preventive remedial and compensatory measures to improve economic and social outcomes for the Ogoni community. But close to two decades after that judgment, the Ogoni and other communities are still waiting for the FG to implement the directive from the same commission that they are a signatory to, a development that is considered bad for morals.
The Ogonis must be saved from these excruciating pains. This should be done not merely for political consideration but from the views of national development and the sustenance of our democracy. Using the minimum components of the right to a healthy environment-Ogoni community as a baseline, the environmental condition of the coastal communities in the Niger Delta region can best be described as not only deplorable but graced with non-development, poverty and extreme lack of government presence. This particular revelation calls for action.
Another key point that may guarantee a fast-tracked development of the region is the immediate relocation of the headquarters of (both private and government-owned) organizations to the region. It will not only add to a new relationship but soaks up the existing tension.
Specifically, Nigerians have, in different times and places, argued that government agencies such as the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), and its subsidiaries have no business being in Abuja since the chunk of its responsibility is in the Niger Delta region.
The federal and state governments should take practical steps to empower communities to protect their environment through policies and legislations that obligate oil companies to apply best practices and grant communities the right to determine how and when oil operations are compatible with human conditions in the communities.
Most importantly, the Federal Government must desist from the current non-participatory approach to development in the region and rather embrace a broad-based consultative approach that will give the people of the Niger Delta some sense of ownership over their issues.
Utomi Jerome-Mario is the Programme Coordinator (Media and Public Policy), Social and Economic Justice Advocacy (SEJA), a Lagos-based Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). He can be reached via [email protected]/08032725374
By Isah Kamisu Madachi
As of April 30, 2026, the crude price is said to have reached $125 in the global market. The all-time high price per barrel was recorded in 2008, when it surged to $147. It is obvious that the price is heading in that direction or even towards what experts have predicted — crude reaching a new all-time high of $150 in the near future if crude passages remain closed in the Middle East, which would ultimately come with several disproportionate challenges for businesses and households.
In Nigeria, what began as a mild adjustment in the price of gasoline and other refined crude products has not stopped anywhere until it reached N1,400 per litre of petrol at filling stations. When the price was surging, experts in energy, economics, marketing, business and other relevant fields tried to come up with explanations for how Nigeria, despite housing the largest petrochemicals refinery in Africa and being one of the largest oil-exporting countries on the continent, would continue to absorb this shock.
Despite our advantages, Nigeria recorded the world’s second-highest surge in petrol prices following the escalating geopolitical tension in the Middle East. In Africa, Nigeria has the highest spike, with many sources citing it at 39.5% and above. Even non-oil-producing countries in Africa, and countries that do not refine a drop of oil, did not experience this surge. Also, African countries like South Africa at 1%, Morocco at 2.1%, and Tanzania at 2.7% experienced far smaller increases that are nowhere near Nigeria’s.
To put it in context, South Korea, Japan, and China are among the foremost dependents on the Strait of Hormuz, whose closure escalated the crude price, but none of these countries has recorded even a 20% increase in their petrol prices. Nigeria does not import its crude through the Strait of Hormuz. Yet, as an oil-exporting nation, we have suffered some of the sharpest petrol price increases in Africa.
What went wrong in Nigeria to warrant this surge is not the primary focus of this piece. What lies ahead is. As a result of the increase in petrol prices, Nigerians have been disproportionately affected. Life has become unbearably difficult, with sharp increases in transportation costs, rising food prices, and higher costs of goods and services. Even charging points that used to collect N150 for charging a phone or battery now charge N300 or more.
As it stands, the gap between the current crude price and the predicted new all-time high is about $25. This means that if the passages continue to remain closed, we are not far from another historic price peak. It is even said that reopening the passages may not immediately stabilise prices, as crude tankers would still take time to reach their destinations.
What this means for Nigeria is another sharp increase in refined petroleum product prices, which could trigger another wave of stagflation. Already struggling, Nigerians do not deserve this. They are only just adapting to the post-subsidy era, yet are being hit again by another round of global geopolitical tensions. Many are already in deep energy poverty, with businesses struggling due to unstable electricity supply.
Therefore, as crude oil prices hover above $125 per barrel and threaten to reach the predicted $150 if disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz persist, Nigeria must act decisively to shield its citizens. The Dangote Refinery exists. Nigeria refines oil. What the federal government owes Nigerians at this point is a deliberate policy decision to make that the refinery serve domestic needs first, with pricing that does not mirror whatever is happening in the global market. That is not complicated; other oil-producing countries do exactly this.
The NMDPRA has the authority to act on this. The question is whether there is a political will to act before another price wave hits and Nigerians are once again left to absorb what their counterparts elsewhere never have to.
Sub-national governments also have something to do. Commercial motorcyclists and small business owners are the people who feel every petrol price increase the hardest and the fastest. Pushing CNG and LPG adoption among this group beyond the FCT and Lagos, with genuine support, would cushion a significant part of the next shock. Expanding solar access in underserved communities would do the same. A shop owner running on solar is not at the mercy of the next diesel price spike.
These solutions are quite feasible. Nigeria has attempted versions of them before. Where we often seem to get it wrong is in execution, and Nigeria has to treat this with the same urgency and seriousness as given to elections, for the well-being of its citizens. The only thing that has never matched the problem is the seriousness of the response.
Isah Kamisu Madachi is a policy analyst and development practitioner. He writes via [email protected]
By Gbolahan Oluyemi
In 2025, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) directed all Licensed Pension Fund Operators (LPFOs) to demand a Pension Clearance Certificate (PCC) from service providers before engaging their services. This new policy typically affects various types of entities, including small and medium-scale enterprises, most of which are not usually compliance-driven. Following this directive, the PCC has become an essential compliance document for both large, medium and small-scale firms. This article provides a guide on what a PCC is, why it matters, and how it can be obtained.
What is a Pension Clearance Certificate (PCC)?
A Pension Clearance Certificate (PCC) is an official document issued by PenCom confirming that an organisation has complied with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act. It is an annual document that must be renewed every year at no cost. The yearly renewal is intended to ensure that organisations treat compliance as a continuous activity rather than a one-off act.
Why is a PCC Important?
The PCC is important because it demonstrates that an organisation is compliant with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act, especially as it relates to employee pension contributions under Section 4 (1) of the Pension Reform Act and subscription to group life insurance under Section 4 (5) of the Pension Reform Act. It is also required for certain transactions, such as government contracts and engagements with compliance-sensitive partners. In essence, a PCC assures investors, partners, and clients that your business is properly structured and compliant with regulatory requirements.
Who Needs a Pension Clearance Certificate?
Under Nigerian law, companies with three or more employees are required to participate in the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS). If your organisation employs at least three staff members and provides or intends to provide services to Licensed Pension Fund Operators (LPFOs) or other regulated entities, you are expected to obtain a PCC annually.
How Do I Obtain a PCC?
PenCom issues the PCC electronically and at no cost through its web portal: https://pcc.pencom.gov.ng/. Please note that Applicants who are just beginning compliance and remitting employees’ pensions are required to first obtain an employer code from a Pension Fund Administrator (PFA). This code is necessary to initiate the PCC application on the PenCom portal.
Upon logging into the portal, you will be required to complete your company profile by providing your date of incorporation, contact details, and website (if applicable), as well as uploading your CAC documents.
Next, you will upload an Excel schedule (using the template provided on the website) containing your employee list. After this, you will be required to upload Excel sheets detailing pension contributions. You will also need to upload your organisation’s group life insurance documentation and payment instrument.
Finally, you will review your application and submit it for further processing by PenCom. Before commencing an application, ensure you have the following:
- Certificate of Incorporation (CAC documents)
- Group Life Insurance Policy for employees
- Evidence of Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) registration for employees
- Three years’ proof of monthly pension remittances, including penalties for any defaults (where applicable). For companies less than three years old, provide proof of remittances from the date of incorporation
- A valid Tax Identification Number (TIN)
- An employee schedule showing staff details and contributions (usually in Excel format) Templates are available on the PenCom portal
Also note that for the portal to accept employee details and remittance records, employees must have completed their data capture with their respective Pension Fund Administrator and updated their records to reflect their current employer.
Conclusion
Obtaining a Pension Clearance Certificate in Nigeria may seem technical at first, but once proper processes are established, it becomes routine. The key is consistency in remittance, maintenance of accurate records and prioritisation of compliance in overall operations.
For many Nigerian businesses, the PCC is more than a regulatory requirement; it is a mark of credibility. In a competitive environment, that credibility can make all the difference.
Gbolahan Oluyemi is a Legal Practitioner and currently leads Olives and Candles – Legal Practitioners. For further information, enquiries, or clarification, please contact Gbolahan via: [email protected] or [email protected]
By Blaise Udunze
Milestones often invite reflection. Birthdays, especially, offer a pause to measure time not merely in years lived, but in lives shaped and systems influenced. This is especially true for David Ogbueli, who is celebrating his birthday. But instead of focusing on how old he is getting, it is more interesting to think about the impact he has had, not just building visible success, but the quiet, persistent architecture of transformation that his ministry has helped construct across continents.
Come to think of it, that in an era obsessed with visibility, metrics, and viral impact, Ogbueli’s work represents something different and distinguishing, slower, deeper, and far more enduring. Yes, multitude within and outside the country who know him either closely or from a distance definitely can attest that it is common with him, as this happens to be the kind of influence that rarely trends but steadily alters the trajectory of individuals, institutions, and nations.
To understand the global footprint of his work, one must first confront a fundamental shift he embodies, which emphatically is the redefinition of ministry itself. Through Dominion City International, founded from humble beginnings as a campus fellowship in 1991 at the University of Nigeria and later formalised in 1995 in Enugu, Ogbueli has built what is now a vast global movement. With over 2,000 chapters spanning Africa, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas, alongside regional offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Nigeria, Dominion City has evolved into far more than a church network, into a leadership engine with an ambitious ongoing vision across Nigeria and beyond.
What distinguishes this expansion is not just its scale, but its philosophy. Beyond running a church, Dominion City was never designed merely to gather people; it was built to raise leaders who transform society. One emerging fact today is that the philosophy has shaped a generation of professionals, entrepreneurs, public servants, and ministers who carry its influence into boardrooms, government institutions, and grassroots communities across the world.
At the heart of this ecosystem is a deliberate investment in human capital development. Verifiably, through platforms like the Dominion Leadership Institute, which has produced over 30,000 graduates globally, Ogbueli has undeniably and consistently built a leadership pipeline that addresses one of Africa’s most persistent challenges. These prevailing challenges are the deficit of capable, values-driven leadership. At this point, this narrative definitely contradicts societal beliefs that his curriculum must be confined to spiritual formation; rather, it will interest society to know that his agenda integrates systems thinking, governance, productivity, and ethical leadership, equipping participants to function effectively in complex environments.
This emphasis on leadership extends into a broader scope and platforms. One of them is the Global Leadership Forum, and it would be of interest that it is not just designed for spiritual pursuit, but it is a mentorship and training hub designed to enhance performance and productivity across sectors, including business, politics, ministry, and enterprise. It reflects Ogbueli’s conviction that transformation must be holistic, that transcendence and cutting across every sphere of human endeavour.
Yet leadership, in his framework, is incomplete without economic empowerment. Across his ministry network, initiatives have been structured to move individuals from dependency to productivity. This is evident in large-scale interventions such as a N1 billion entrepreneurship support fund introduced to equip participants with the resources, skills, and networks required to succeed in business and career pursuits. At leadership retreats and empowerment programs, thousands are trained in areas ranging from agriculture and food security to innovation, healthcare, and global enterprise.
Beyond structured programs, his personal actions reinforce this philosophy. has sparked widespread reactions following a remarkable act of generosity during a recent church service
From distributing financial support to individuals in need during church services to empowering teams within the ministry with significant financial gifts, as one recent such act sparked widespread reactions following a remarkable benevolence, gifting about 35 choristers N1 million each during a recent church service. With several other instances of generosity in the past, Ogbueli consistently underscores a critical principle that reveals that while immediate relief matters, sustainable change comes from enabling people to create value. In the course of one such intervention, which captures this ethos succinctly, he said that giving alone is not enough; people must be equipped to build.
With the right mindset, this approach aligns with a broader development truth that clearly states nations do not rise on charity, but on the strength of productive citizens. By embedding this mindset within a faith-based structure, Ogbueli is redefining how development can be pursued at scale.
Equally significant is his ability to mobilise faith as a development asset. It is an irony that in many parts of Africa and the global South, religious institutions remain among the most trusted social structures. Yet, their potential as vehicles for development often remains underutilised. Ogbueli’s model challenges that limitation by positioning the church as a hub for leadership incubation, economic activation, and social accountability.
Through initiatives like the Golden Heart Foundation, he has extended this vision into the nonprofit space. One of the good feats is that the foundation’s flagship program, the National Youth Summit, attracts over 50,000 participants annually from across Africa, focusing on leadership education, value reorientation and entrepreneurial development. These interventions target young people, especially a demographic that represents both Africa’s greatest asset and its most urgent responsibility.
His influence also extends into collaborative networks such as the Global Missions Network, which usher in developmental change, thereby bringing together leaders with a shared mandate of expanding the reach of the Gospel while driving national transformation. One important aspect of Ogbueli’s strategic drive for change is that through such alliances, his ideas are not confined to a single organisation but are disseminated across a broader ecosystem of leaders and institutions.
Beyond ministry and nonprofit initiatives, Ogbueli’s engagement with development takes on an institutional and structural dimension. This is driven through ventures like Huram Development, which is involved in large-scale projects including auditoriums, estates, and universities. Noteworthy also is that he is contributing to physical infrastructure that supports long-term growth. Similarly, Priesthood Institute is equipping ministry professionals with the competence and capacity required for modern-day leadership, while Shalom World ensures the distribution of knowledge resources through books and media.
Also, one significant dimension of Ogbueli’s influence lies in his intellectual contributions, which portray him as a prolific author with nearly a hundred published titles spanning leadership, personal development, spirituality, and nation-building. His more recent works include Pillars of King Solomon’s Wisdom & Wealth, Jewish Secrets, and The Laws of Proper Speech. Meanwhile, this reflects his continued effort to distil timeless principles into practical frameworks for contemporary living and reinforce his broader mission of transforming minds as a pathway to transforming societies.
Ogbueli is the host of the TV and Radio Program Expand Your World, which runs on TV and radio stations across Nigeria, extending his influence to seven continents, reinforcing his role not just as a pastor but as a global thought leader in transformation and leadership.
Importantly, Ogbueli’s credibility is not confined to religious circles only. Being a management and public policy consultant, an alumnus of institutions such as the Harvard Business School, Lagos Business School, and National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, he operates at the intersection of spirituality and strategy. It must be established that his engagements with governments, corporate organisations, and policy platforms reflect a rare ability to translate faith-based principles into actionable frameworks for development.
Unbeknownst to many, perhaps the most enduring feature of his model is its emphasis on multiplication. Rather than building a personality-driven movement, Ogbueli has focused on raising leaders who can replicate systems independently. This distributed approach ensures that his influence is not limited by geography or personal presence. It also guarantees continuity, a critical factor in sustainable development.
Of course, the challenge of measuring such an impact remains. Unlike infrastructure projects or economic indices, which are factors on which the government’s progress is reliant, the outcomes of leadership development and mindset transformation are not immediately quantifiable but have a greater impact. They unfold over time, often expressed in stories rather than statistics used for evaluation, a thriving business birthed from a training program, a principled leader emerging in public service, a community mobilised for collective progress.
Yes, in most cases, these outcomes may be difficult to measure, but they are foundational to nation-building and transformation beyond boundaries.
One important aspect the world must clearly know is that Pastor David Ogbueli’s contribution lies not merely in what he has built, but in what he has set in motion, which is transgenerational. This tells that his work challenges conventional development paradigms by emphasising that lasting change begins with people, their values, their thinking and their capacity to build systems that endure.
One of Ogbueli’s outstanding influences, beneath the surface, even in a world grappling with complex challenges, from economic instability to leadership crises, is such that his model offers a compelling reminder that transformation is not only engineered through policies and capital but through the deliberate cultivation of human potential.
His legacy is rapidly unfolding. But already, it is evident that the structures he has built, across ministry, leadership development, youth empowerment, and enterprise, are quietly shaping a future that extends far beyond the pulpit.
And perhaps that is the most powerful kind of transformation, the kind that is not always seen, but is deeply felt, widely spread, and ultimately, enduring.
Blaise, a journalist and PR professional, writes from Lagos and can be reached via: [email protected]
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