In the heat of kidnapping in Rivers State, an environment advocate went shooting photos of a spill site. Next, youths emerged from the bushes, surrounded him, and took him to their enclave.
After they had done to him what they do to kidnap victims, they took him to their leader on his request. He showed the leader bigger gains possible if they would allow him to open their eyes.
This was how Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, tutored the kidnappers and militants to turn to entrepreneurs instead of oil thieves and pipeline breakers.
Dumnamene is the executive director of Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria). That is how he began the journey that culminated in the commissioning of a solar mini-grid electricity facility at a community in Delta State last weekend. It is the offshoot of a YEAC Community Energy and Development project at Umuolu Solar facility in Ndokwa East LGA of the state which attracted women, youths, monarchs, experts from home and abroad.
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Driving hunger:
Dumnamene showed how the commissioning was more than a solar project but the turning of death to prosperity. He also said it is a testament to what people can achieve when they come together with a shared vision.
In his speech, the executive director said he was determined to show how the government can end pipeline vandalism through a discovery he made in captivity. It was to support the government to mitigate pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, artisanal refineries, and associated environmental pollution in the Niger Delta by offering alternative livelihood opportunities powered by renewable energy and thereby reinforcing positive behaviour for environmental protection and sustainability. This is a message he has been preaching for a long time from Muhammadu Buhari now to Bola Ahmed Tinubu, all with near-success outcomes. He says he can show the idea of contributing to Nigeria’s oil theft mitigation mechanism through community energy for households.
“Its productive use also posited that with households powered, people would no longer use illegally refined petroleum products, particularly DPK and PMS, to energise their homes. This would shrink the market for illegal refiners and reduce incidents of pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, artisanal refineries, and environmental pollution, as their supply chain and demand would drastically drop in communities with clean, renewable, and sustainable solar electricity.
The abduction: Mission to trouble:
He told the story of how he came to realise the opportunity of using solar electricity as a tool to fight organised crime of pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, artisanal refineries, and pollution in the Niger Delta region.
On Monday, November 25, 2019, in a community in Ogoniland, Rivers State, I was taken hostage by some youths, later identified as artisanal refiners displaced from their activities by Operation Crocodile Smile IV stationed on the nearby river. I stopped, parked my car, and was taking photographs of an inferno burning near a pipeline right of way when some youths came out of the bush, grabbed me, and whistled me away. The community youth president later freed me and apologised, requesting that I do everything in my power to secure jobs for the youths in his community, as the youths have been jobless and roaming around since their dislodgement from artisanal refineries, which has led to their presence in the bush where I was held captive.
In response, I developed the idea that if I could power the community with solar electricity and mobilise funds for the youths to use the electricity productively to power SMSEs, it would not only raise community priorities but also contribute to youth empowerment, mitigate crude oil theft, reduce environmental pollution, soot, and climate change, keep the youths busy away from kidnapping, pirate activities, and militancy, and make the Niger Delta safer for not just its people but also for foreigners, tourists, journalists, investors
Twists and turns:
He said the Advocacy Centre couldn’t move forward with the Solar Mini-Grid Electricity Facility Project, among others in the community, because of persistent audience rejections by the leadership despite writing over four letters and continuous unprovoked violent attacks by the youths.
“The last straw that broke the Carmel’s back, leading to our final withdrawal from the community even after I initiated a reconciliatory process so that the facility could remain, was a phone call to me from the political leader of the community, ordering me to leave and take the project, which included a proposed modular refinery site, elsewhere.”
Rivers loss, Delta’s gain:
At this point, he said, he advertised the projects for willing communities elsewhere to grab. He said over 50 applications were received from communities across the Niger Delta, including Umuolu, which was submitted by an engineer, Ike Onyenokwe of the Onyah community.
He went on: “Soon after, Ken Saro-Wiwa’s daughter, Noo, introduced me to Helena Farstad, a Norwegian living in the UK. In the process of working on areas of collaboration, I introduced this idea, and we started working on it together. In 2022, we established the YEAC-UK as a fundraising platform for the activities of the YEAC-Nigeria, among others. Since then, we have been working together, and the UK team, among others in Nigeria, is raising the funds needed to achieve this.
Project can power businesses, 262 households:
“Technically, the design of this mini-grid allows for a full capacity of 90 kwp, which can connect at least 262 houses, including businesses in Umuolu, with potential for expansion based on observed increased energy consumption levels. However, as of today, we have installed 29.12 kwp with 153 households and businesses, including the Umuolu general hospital and secondary school, to ensure effective health service delivery and improved quality of education in the community while we are positioned to improve the grid capacity after observing increased energy consumption levels by the community. After this commissioning, we are increasing the grid to 50 kwp and then to 90 kwp thereafter.
More coming:
He went on: Generally across the Niger Delta, including Umuolu, and in line with our government-approved mandate “to campaign against oil theft, artisanal refineries, and pollution,” we have earmarked ten (10) solar mini-grids for installation in different communities without electricity (CWE) in the next couple of years to effectively strengthen our contributions to the fight against pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, artisanal refineries, and environmental pollution through alternative livelihood opportunities powered by clean and renewable energy for artisanal refiners and youths.
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“With the successfully installation, operation and inauguration of Umuolu solar mini-grid today, YEAC-Nigeria has increased the list of its initiatives aimed at oil theft mitigation mechanisms for Nigeria which include our proposed Presidential Artisanal Crude Oil Refining Development Initiative (PACORDI) that recommends the innovation and legalization of artisanal refineries, Network on Organised Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea (NOCINAG) which has been modified by President Bola Tinubu, GCFR for establishment as ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF), initiation of National Conference on organized Crime in Nigerian and the Gulf (NOCACINAG) as a platform for annual deliberations on ways to tackle organised crime in Nigeria and the West African Sub-region.
“Others include the Nigeria Coast and Border Guards (NCBG), which proposes dissolving all private and paramilitary security groups fighting crude oil theft into a standby security group similar to the U.S. Coast Guards.”
He said a publication has detailed these.
Bombing alone cannot win the war against oil theft:
His cry is that Nigeria cannot win the war against crude oil theft with bombings, which further degrade the environment and scatter the oil thieves who regroup in the creeks to continue their illicit activities when the youths are hungry. Alternative livelihood opportunities and youth empowerment are among the solutions in the Niger Delta, he insisted.
He paid glowing tributes to partners and other helpers.
Challenges:
He said the challenges he faced require ongoing commitment and further support. Thus, we call upon all our stakeholders, both present and future, locally and internationally, to support and continue investing in this transformative initiative to enable us to extend it to other communities in the Niger Delta.
More can come:
“With additional funding, YEAC-CEAD can also expand its efforts to assist Umuolu youths in establishing and growing small and medium-scale enterprises powered by this mini-grid. This will not only provide them with sustainable livelihoods but also help dissuade them from engaging in illegal artisanal refineries, which have devastating impacts on our environment, health, and the livelihoods of our fishermen and farmers.
He is sure with support, “We can create a future where renewable energy powers our community, empowers our youth to engage in meaningful economic activities, and protects our environment for future generations.
He profusely thanked the Umuolu community and the UK partners.
Community happy:
It is not yet clear how life is today in the community that drove the project away, but the community that is now to enjoy the project sees this as a miracle. The president-general of Umuolu Development Union, an engineer, Isicheri Stanley Tabowei, said the community which is over 700 years old has never experienced electricity other than from generators.
He lauded the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre, their partners and contractor, NXT Grid Nigeria and the Netherlands, for their support and collaboration in making the project a reality.
Tabowei said: “The commissioning of the solar-powered mini-grid marks a new era of energy independence and environmental stewardship. This electrification project will provide numerous benefits to our community. It will power homes, businesses, schools, churches, the hospital, fostering economic growth and improving the standard of living for our people. This project is not just about electricity; it is about creating opportunities, transforming lives and taking our children away from societal ills.
“Furthermore, this initiative sets a powerful example for future projects like telecommunication, road construction and others. It demonstrates that with innovation, determination and collaboration, we can overcome the challenges of our time and build brighter future for all.
