Emma Ovuakporie
25 November 2011, Sweetcrude, ABUJA– Members of Nigeria’s House of Representatives have moved to declare Oloibiri oil well, the first in the country that had crude oil in commercial quantity, a national monument.
Oloibiri oil well, located in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, was the first oil well where crude oil was first discovered in large commercial quantity in 1956.
Mr. Karibo Nadu, who led five others in a motion on the need to declare the now decommissioned oil well a national monument, regretted that the community was abandoned after commercial exploitation of the oil well and its surrounding communities.
He said the exploitation involved millions of barrels of oil worth billions of dollars spanning a period of over 20 years.
Nadu said: “Oloibiri oil well has assumed a position of utmost significance in the history and economy of the country.
“It is common knowledge that the National Council for Museum and Monument had declared the old Residency in Calabar a national monument.”
Others, according to him, include the Sango Shrine at Ijebu Ode, Petroglyph of Igbaraoke near Akure, King Jaja Statue in River State, Ikogosi Warm Spring in Ekiti State and the relics of the steamer ‘dayspring’ in Jebba station, among others.
He implored the House to urge the National Council for Museum and Monuments to forthwith declare Oloibiri Well 1 a national monument.
He urged the Federal Executive Council and Shell Petroleum Development Company to build and develop Oloibiri Oil Well 1 site into a centre of training for petroleum and tourism-related activities.
