Niger Delta

• LAGOS, Nigeria, Aug. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Eunisell, a prominent player in the oil and gas industry, has introduced a groundbreaking solution to reshape the Niger Delta's oil and gas sector - the Early Production Facilities (EPFs).
• Strategically positioned in challenging onshore and remote swamp locales, these facilities are poised to expedite oil and gas production on new or marginal field developments, propelling rapid revenue and early cash flow.
• The oil and gas industry in the Niger Delta has long grappled with logistical intricacies, regulatory hurdles, and remote locations hampering timely oil and gas production.
• Eunisell's trailblazing Early Production Facilities have not only revolutionized the industry but also established a blueprint for others to emulate.

• This was no less true in Africa, where some countries have, over the last decade, turned to the Wagner group for security support.
• This includes violent extremism, terrorism, insurgency, banditry, communal clashes, sea piracy, separatist violence, kidnapping and oil theft.
• The aborted Wagner rebellion offers distinct lessons for African countries that have invited mercenary troops onto their soil.
• This must include repositioning their military and law enforcement agencies to respond effectively to internal and external security challenges.

Non-state actors

African countries have come to depend on non-state actors like Wagner for security in three ways:
• In 2015 the Nigerian government awarded a multi-million naira contract to Oodua Peoples Congress, an ethnic militia, to secure oil pipelines.
• Seven years later the Nigerian Senate lent legislative support to the N48 billion pipeline surveillance contract awarded to Global West Vessel Specialist Limited.
• He was the former commander of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, popularly known as Tompolo.
• They were an affront to the Nigerian constitution, which empowers the law enforcement and security agencies as ultimate providers of security.
• In 2019 Wagner fighters were deployed to Mozambique to help contain Islamist militants operating in the northern Cabo Delgado province.

Implications

• The Wagner rebellion in Russia has three possible implications for African countries.
• Rebellion: States in which the Wagner group is operating could witness armed rebellion.
• In some, the military and police have already ceded critical security operations to the group.
• In addition, non-state armed groups could draw their cue from the Wagner group and become unaccountable to the military.

What’s next?

African countries that have invited the mercenary troops in should review their security architecture. This must begin with a decoupling of their security policies and operations from mercenaries and non-state security service providers.

• With the theme of Sustaining Solutions That Work, Nigerian nonprofit and non-governmental organization (NGO) Foundation for Partnerships Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND) has issued their PIND 2021 Annual Report .
• The NGO has accomplished this through robust programs focused on community-driven, research-backed needs: prosperity and peace through economic growth and peacebuilding.
• The PIND 2021 Annual Reports vivid 2021 Landscape (see page 7) showcases the economic, political, security, and social factors in consideration in the reporting yearmany still applicable today.
• Regionally, the Niger Delta is preparing for possible conflicts as Nigerias 2023 General Elections approach (at state and national levels) and the limitations of a changing funding environment.

• LAGOS, Nigeria, May 25, 2022/APO Group/ - A consortium of Falcon Corporation, ND Western Midstream Limited & FHN Gas Limited, has been selected to build exclusively, own, and operate a Natural Gas distribution infrastructure network within the Lagos Free Zone (LFZ) ( https://LagosFreeZone.com ).
• To actualize this opportunity, the Consortium shall incorporate a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV): Optimera Energy LFZ Enterprise (Optimera Energy) within the Lagos Free Zone (LFZ).
• The consortium parties signed a Gas Infrastructure Development Agreement with the Lagos Free Zone to formalize this engagement.
• Under this arrangement, the Consortium, through their special purpose vehicle, Optimera Energy, would deliver uninterrupted piped gas by early 2024 to all the enterprises within the Lagos Free Zone.