Our attention has been drawn to recent reports by one Chidi Nwachukwu in the December 24, 2016 edition of LEADERSHIP Weekend concerning the activities of Eta-Zuma Group West Africa Limited and its subsidiaries, Zuma 828 Coal Limited and Zuma Energy Limited operating in Okobo and Itobe communities in Kogi State.
We categorically state that these reports are untrue, formulated to mislead the public about our activities in the area, and destroy the enviable cordial relationship which exists between the company and its host communities.
Zuma 828 Coal Limited which is barely 15 months into full coal production in Okobo community, supports the efforts of the current Federal Government in tackling the nation’s current economic challenges by job creation, development of local content in extractive industries, and sustainable power generation through its sister company’s Coal-To-Power license.
Our companies’ operations are not carried out in a reckless fashion. Having undergone rigorous processes under extant laws and found worthy of owning coal mining and power generation licenses by the Federal Government of Nigeria, we remain guided in every aspect of our business. We uphold professionalism, global best practices in mining, labour administration, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, environmental and social impact considerations in all our operations. The company has also received positive appraisals from statutory and regulatory institutions. Our company respects the law of our country as well as our host communities.
The company does not use explosives which vibrations cause cracks in peoples’ houses as claimed in the reports. No explosives are being used in its mining operations as there is no need yet for that, and no death of persons or collapse of buildings whatsoever has resulted from our activities in Okobo or elsewhere. Concerns about the sounds of machinery like dumpers and excavators may be real if the mining areas were very close to the community settlements.
But such sounds fade before they reach Okobo residential areas which are well over two kilometers from the mines. The attempt to confuse the sounds of heavy machinery and those of explosives is comical. There is no way the sounds from a few loading trucks that ply the roads across the community could keep the entire community awake at night.
The company receives the claim that hoodlums who attacked the youth leader, Idris Ibrahim, were ‘sent by the company’ with outrage. It is baseless and deliberately calculated to tarnish our corporate image. Portraying the company as engaging in such mafia-style criminality is reprehensible, to say the least, because no eye-witness account or report of law enforcement agencies like the police has corroborated that. The company views this strongly because Idris Ibrahim himself has exonerated the company from the incident.
Land-owners’ compensatory rights are covered by the Mining Acts (2007) which the company has fully and duly complied with, having paid one-off compensation for crops and economic trees using statutorily approved rates and Annual Surface Rent (ASR) for five years (2013-2017) to over 70 land owners in the area in line with the act. The records are available for fact-check, and so the claim that the company denies land owners compensation on land does not arise.
The company has plans of tarring the 12-kilometer road from Emere Junction to the Enjema/Okobo mine areas which it had maintained before now contrary to the reports. The company had earlier conducted Environmental Impact Assessment and Social Impact Assessment in line with its modus operandi within its project areas. Water bodies cannot be lost within the first year of our operations when all these assessments had diligently been carried out and followed through. The area in question ordinarily lacks good source of water because of the seasonal nature of its few streams as well as its soil formation which pollutes underground water.
Thankfully, recently, better underground sources of potable water have been discovered and the company has constructed four boreholes from which potable water will be sustainably provided. Most communities lack medical facilities and this cannot be peculiar to just Okobo. As part of its corporate social responsibility, the company currently supports existing primary healthcare facilities in the area and hopes to do more in future.
The company has consistently given priority attention to the employment of indigenes of Okobo and neighboring communities. For example, out of the over 100 workers at our Okobo mine site today, over 60 (not 14 as claimed in the reports) come from the immediate Okobo/Enjema communities. There are also plans to engage more youth from the area in the nearest future, though employment also is based on need and competence.
Three classroom blocks constructed and furnished with modern toilet systems, classroom furniture, and instructional aids by the company in Okobo have been commissioned. This is only phase 1 of the project. Phase 2 will soon commence. We are also committed to rehabilitating several other primary schools in the immediate community.
While we appreciate the input of rights groups and civil society organizations in ensuring better wellbeing of communities, it must be noted that hard work and sincerity of the company in complementing such efforts and those of governments cannot be brought to disrepute by the desperation of elements which do not have practical solutions to our country’s power challenges.
We are aware that some rights groups both local and international want an end to the use of coal in generating electricity ostensibly for better management of the environment. We have no problem with that. Our position however, is that Nigeria yet has no single coal-fired power plant despite her enormous coal reserves and cannot be pilloried or stigmatized over environmental concerns pertaining to use of fossil fuels while there are several countries, including developed ones, which still generate over 100,OOOMW of coal power. The country’s urgent national power needs to drive development necessitated the Federal Government to assign, in its Power Road Map, 30% to coal-fired power.
We totally support every effort to produce power through renewable energy sources and a better management of the global environment. We also welcome meaningful dialogues with groups that are genuinely committed to these efforts. We acknowledge the huge expectations of our host communities on us, and we will continue to make valued input to the best of our capabilities alongside other development partners, civil society groups, and government at all levels to bring development in all its ramifications to our host communities. That is the only way, going forward.
– Ayalogu, is Executive Director, Corporate Relations, Eta-Zuma Group West Africa Ltd.