The 2-day conference, Host Communities & the PIB: Opportunities, Challenges and the Way Forward held at Aldgate Hotel, Sani Abacha Road, Port Harcourt, Rivers State on April 23 – 24, 2013 was an outstanding conference bringing together 55 participants from various states in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region, advocates and stakeholders in the oil and gas industry plus 12 speakers and panelists over the two days.
As the central point of oil production, the Niger Delta region is most gravely affected by oil prospecting and exploration activities in which the traditional means of subsistence, farming and fishing in the creeks, streams and mangroves are adversely affected by constant oil spills, gas flares, blow-outs and leaks, with spiraling effects on health, soil productivity, aquatic life and the environment. The conference therefore aimed to campaign for the improved governance of the environment and to strengthen the structure for community participation in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), Nigeria’s latest legal regime for reforming its oil sector.
