The recently signed Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) could achieve a more positive impact on the industry and the host communities if the implementers focused on the nature and structure of grievance mechanisms and community sustainability.
In the article "The Responsibilities of the Commission Under Chapter Three of the PIA," which was published in the respected BusinessDay newspaper, Assistant Professor in the AUN School of Law, Dr. Obinna Dike, discusses some of the more important provisions of the Act and offers clear perspectives on how stakeholders and the Nigerian Oil and Gas sector can achieve the broadest objectives set out in the Act.
An expert on host community development governance and international energy issues, Professor Dike argued that, "In deciding on the nature and structure of any grievance mechanism, regards must be had to the nature of disputes between settlers and host communities, the need to eliminate recourse to self-help, equality of parties, the exigencies of petroleum activities, the need for a timely resolution without compromising substantial justice as may be constituted in individual cases."
He recommended the Australian Native Title Tribunal (NTT) model, which he said, "…was developed in part, to deal with similar disputes between the petroleum and mining operators, and their host communities."
Professor Dike concludes his treatise by advocating a bottom-up approach for "a community sustainability blueprint" for individual communities, encouraging them to identify programs or projects germane to their specific needs.
You can access the complete article from this link: https://businessday.ng/opinion/article/the-responsibilities-of-the-commission-under-chapter-three-of-the-pia/