Nigeria: Convert Abandoned Shell Airstrip in Oloibiri to Air Force Base – Senate Tells Govt

…Calls on Oil Companies, NDDC to contribute to upgrade of the Airstrip

The Senate has asked the Ministry of Aviation and the Nigeria Airforce to, as a matter of urgency, take over and convert the deserted and uncultivated waste land of the abandoned Shell Airstrip at Oloibiri Oil well one , to a modern Air Force base in Bayelsa State.

The Senate has also urged Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) , the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPCL), other oil companies and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to contribute to the Air Force Project.

Resolutions of the Senate yesterday were sequel to a titled, “Urgent Need for Transformation of the Abandoned Shell Airstrip at Oloibiri Oil Well 1, Otuogidi in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State to an Air Force Base.”

It was sponsored by Senator Agadaga Benson Sunday, PDP Bayelsa East.

In his presentation, Senator Agadaga informed the Senate that the Shell Airstrip, constructed in 1958 following the first discovery of crude oil in 1956 and sitting on over 25 hectares of land situated at Itokopiri bush which is hosting the famous Oloibiri Oil well 1 in Otuogidi Community, has long been abandoned.

According to him, the Airstrip, while in effective operation, was a very valuable asset in the company’s oil exploration and exploitation activities in airlifting of personnel and equipment for that period, adding that during the years of its functionality, heavy duty equipment, Company Workers, Captains of Industry, top Government functionaries and Diplomats resorted to this route for easy access to the Niger Delta region.

He lamented that since the gradual decline of Shell’s operations in the area and final departure from Oloibiri oil field, the Airstrip and the land where it operated have been abandoned and left desolate even as the land itself appears to have been sentenced to perpetual condemnation as no agricultural activity which is the economic mainstay of the local dwellers can be carried out anymore due to the concretized topography of the soil.

The state of the abandoned Airstrip, according to him, poses environmental challenges and serious ecological complications to the Host Community as Shell has left the people in deprivation, squalor and lamentation after decades of operation.

Senator Agadaga said that “The Senate notes that the Shell Airstrip, constructed in 1958 following the first discovery of crude oil in 1956 and sitting on over 25 hectares of land situated at Itokopiri bush which is hosting the famous Oloibiri Oil well 1 in Otuogidi Community, has long been abandoned.

“Also notes that the Airstrip, while in effective operation, was a very valuable asset in the company’s oil exploration and exploitation activities in airlifting of personnel and equipment for that period;

“Observes that during the years of its functionality, heavy duty equipment, Company Workers, Captains of Industry, top Government functionaries and Diplomats resorted to this route for easy access to the Niger Delta region;

“Regrets that since the gradual decline of Shell’s operations in the area and final departure from Oloibiri oil field, the Airstrip and the land where it operated have been abandoned and left desolate.

“The land itself appears to have been sentenced to perpetual condemnation as no agricultural activity which is the economic mainstay of the local dwellers can be carried out anymore due to the concretized topography of the soil;

“Worried that this experience poses environmental challenges and serious ecological complications to the Host Community as Shell has left the people in deprivation, squalor and lamentation after decades of operation;