By Isaac Asabor
If there is any headline that can be said to aptly suits a story that reports how a company was in a short space of time attacked in quick succession for the fifth time, the foregoing headline unarguably can be considered to be apropos, particularly as not few people are bereft of idea about what the attackers are set to achieve. It is against the foregoing backdrop not few Nigerians are smelling a rat as they continue to ask whether the attackers are hoodlums or saboteurs.
For the sake of clarity, it is expedient to say that “A hoodlum is a criminal, especially one who is a member of a group. In a similar vein” while “A saboteur is a person who deliberately damages or destroys things such as machines, railroad lines, and bridges in order to weaken an enemy or to make a protest”.
The foregoing suspicion, and which formed the basis of the coinage of this contextual headline cannot be said to be misplaced, particularly as the most recent attack was carried out on February 28, 2022 amidst the visits of the leadership of Ijaw Youths Council (IYC).
It would be recalled that the leadership of the Western zone of the IYC led by Oluderimon Omaghomi had on Monday paid a condolence/solidarity visit to the Okomu Oil Palm company plc. During the visit the IYC leadership commiserated with the company on the killing of a worker and the setting ablaze of a portion of the company’s plantation and pledged to support the company to bring to an end the occurrence of further attacks on the company personnel, equipment and Plantation.
During the visit, the leadership of the IYC also pledged to organise at grassroots level the representative of the communities and also help in enlightening/training the communities’ executives on their roles in proper representation of their communities in their engagement with the company.
According to the Communication Officer of the company, Mr. Fidelis Oliseh, “The need to organise larger stakeholder engagement within the communities were also explored. Furthermore, the idea of the company partnering with the Presidential Amnesty Programme for the training of the youths in the communities were examined.
It is pertinent to note that barely twenty hours after the solidarity visit of the Ijaw Youth Council in their attempts to bring to an end the repeated attacks on the Company’s plantation that another group of armed men attacked the company in continuation of the theft of the company’s wet rubber lumps.
During this latest attack, a head person was seriously beaten and forced him and other rubber tappers to carry out of the plantation, the wet rubber lumps that have been collected by the tapper.
The gangsters practically took over a portion of the rubber plantation and are now tapping the rubber trees themselves.
Oliseh said, “The police and army sent to apprehend the thieves were reported to be reticent. Either to shoot at them or apprehend them, even when the gangsters brandished guns and this very act or limitation of the security forces have helped in no small measures to embolden the gangsters”.
He added, “It is unbelievable that gangsters can continually raid a corporate organisation and yet the security organisations cannot intervene to apprehend the gangsters and bring them to justice
At this juncture, it is expedient to ask, “Why would anyone, hoodlum or saboteur want to ruin Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc which, despite the COVID-19 pandemic posted profit after tax (PAT) of N7, 780,519 for the year ended December 31, 2020 of which the figure was 40 per cent better than the N5, 049,637 tally of 2019?”
In fact, on account of the impressive scorecard amid the CCOVID-19 pandemic, the board of directors approved a N7 dividend for every 50k ordinary share payable from May 26, 2021 to shareholders whose names appear on the register of members at the close of business on Thursday, May 13, 2021.
According to the audited financial report, the firm’s equity and liabilities (assets) rose from N43, 595,792 in 2019 to N55, 011,848 during the year under review.
A further breakdown showed profit before tax (PBT) of N8, 845,550 and tax charge of N1, 065,031 for 2020 as against the N7, 523,187 PBT and N2, 473,550 taxation recorded in the preceding the year.
It would be recalled that the Chairman of the company, Gbenga Oyebode, while addressing Stakeholders, particularly shareholders at the company’s 41st yearly general meeting (AGM) in Lagos, admitted that the novel coronavirus impacted on businesses and the global economy adversely, but was happy that the organization was able to pull through and still attain sound results.
In fact, why would anyone resort to attacking a company that has unarguably formed partnership with its neighboring communities, and on that note has been striving to enhance their level of affluence and livelihoods through project development, bursaries, and skills acquisition programs?
Against the foregoing backdrop, it is expedient to say that Okomu has always preferred a partnership based on mutual respect and transparency that enables long-term development of the whole region. The collaboration, which has been forged and maintained for over a decade, has shown that the synergy created is beneficial to all parties concerned. So, to ensure its ongoing success, Okomu has developed a stakeholder engagement plan, which helps to identify the various stakeholders and their role with the Company, thereby helping to create a commitment strategy and communication channel between the Company and its stakeholders.
