The Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta, regulators, oil and gas companies, Host Community Development Trusts and civil society organisations have called for sustained efforts to strengthen host-community governance and improve implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act.
The call was made at PIND’s Bridges Project HCDT Impact Summit, held in Port Harcourt in collaboration with the Ford Foundation under the theme, “From Evidence to Sustainability: Consolidating HCDT Gains and Advancing Effective PIA Implementation.”
A statement issued by PIND on Sunday said the summit brought together key stakeholders to review lessons from the Bridges Project, assess progress made by HCDTs and agree on practical steps for sustaining reforms beyond the project cycle.
Rather than focusing solely on the project’s close-out, participants examined what had changed, lessons learned and how successful practices could be sustained.
Discussions drew on outcome harvesting, the HCDT Impact Evidence Report, case studies and other project knowledge products.
Speaking at the event, PIND Programs Director, Effiong Essien, said the success of the project would ultimately depend on whether its gains continued beyond the project period.
“The progress made by HCDTs must translate into stronger institutions, better community participation and more accountable development,” Essien said.
He added that sustainability would require stakeholders to take ownership of the tools, relationships and practices developed through the project.
“Sustainability now depends on stakeholders taking ownership of the tools, relationships and practices that have been built, and committing the resources and leadership required to keep them working,” he said.
Through awareness-raising, capacity strengthening and Multi-Stakeholder Platforms, the Bridges Project has supported HCDT operationalisation, participatory planning, improved governance and collaboration among communities, regulators, settlors and civil society organisations.
At the summit, selected HCDTs shared evidence of changes recorded at the community level, while also highlighting challenges that continue to affect effective implementation.
Chairman of Emuoha HCDT, Smart Okpara, said the project had improved the Trust’s capacity for planning, stakeholder engagement and accountability.
“Bridges has given us practical tools to improve our governance, involve our communities in decision-making and track the results of our development investments,” Okpara said.
He said the responsibility now rested with HCDTs to maintain the systems and practices introduced through the project.
“Our responsibility now is to keep using these systems and ensure that the progress continues beyond the project,” he said.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, settlors and civil society organisations also shared lessons and priorities for strengthening implementation of the PIA.
Speaking on the regulatory implications of the summit, NUPRC Deputy Director, Kingsley Ehiaguina, who represented the Commission, said the evidence generated by the project could help improve HCDT performance and compliance.
“Effective implementation of the PIA requires HCDTs that are transparent, accountable and responsive to their host communities,” Ehiaguina said.
According to him, the lessons from the Bridges Project provide a basis for improving practice and strengthening collaboration among stakeholders.
“The lessons emerging from the Bridges Project provide a useful basis for improving practice, strengthening stakeholder coordination and sustaining compliance,” he said.
The summit produced a Sustainability Framework outlining proposed responsibilities for continued governance strengthening, monitoring and evaluation, peer learning, knowledge management, capacity development and stakeholder coordination.
Participants also validated a communiqué containing priority recommendations, commitments, responsible actors and next steps.
PIND is expected to consolidate the commitments into an action tracker, circulate the final communiqué and summit report, and share the project’s evidence and knowledge products with participating institutions.