By Jaye Gaskia
Let us take a more
critical, and much deeper look at the phenomenon of Oil Theft [Crude &
Refined products]; its impact on the environment of the Niger Delta in
particular, and the Nigerian environment in general; as well as its impact on
the national economy and the livelihoods of ordinary impoverished citizens,
caught up in this unwholesome tangle of death and destruction.
First, a very quick
clarification; I include the fuel subsidy scam as an integral part of the theft
of [imported] refined products!
Over the past 3 to 6
years, in particular since the commencement of the Presidential Amnesty program
for the Niger Delta, the subsequent inducement of a reduction in armed
militancy in the region, and the consequent rise in the incidences of crude oil
theft; we have been told by the highest responsible authorities [NNPC,
Ministers of Finance & Petroleum Resources, CBN Governor etc] that the
country has been losing outrageous quantities of crude oil to oil theft and
pipe line vandalisation.
In 2009 and 2010, the
figures claimed ranged 100,000 barrels per day to 200,000 barrels per day of
crude oil. By 2012 this figure had risen to between 200,000 barrels per day and
300,000 barrels per day of crude oil; and now the figure given for 2013 is
400,000 barrels per day of crude oil lost to oil theft!
There are several
reasons to be worried about this trend:
First, this steep
increase has occurred during a period when an amnesty program to stem militancy
which was impacting adversely on crude oil production and export is in place
and running!
second, this steep rise in crude oil theft and
the consequent oil pipeline vandalism [which is necessary in order to steal
from pipelines], is occurring against the backdrop of at least 5 multibillion
naira & multiyear security and surveillance contracts worth close to N30bn
annually awarded to ex-militant warlord generals and their ‘boys’/troops!
Third, this daily
loss or crude oil theft rate of 400,000 barrels per day is more than the total
daily production of some oil producing countries; and also represent between
20% and 25% of our total daily production capacity of between 2 and 2.5 million
barrels per day of crude oil.
Fourth, this daily
crude oil theft rate of 400,000 barrels per day amounts to an annual revenue
loss about $14bn [about N2.24tn]; that is almost half [50%] of the annual
Federal budget! This is a colossal loss by any standards!
Fifth, given that
this theft requires vandalisation of oil pipelines in order to be able to
siphon the product, it is inevitable that there will be significant levels of
waste/leakage into the surrounding environment. Now if we assume a conservative
waste/leakage/spill rate of 10%; this amounts to a crude oil spill daily spill
rate of 40,000 barrels per day, amounting to a cumulative annual spill volume
of about 14.4 million barrels of crude oil spilt into the Niger Delta
environment as a result of the crude oil theft enterprise annually!
Now given the above
scenario, it is important to put this gory picture in context. There are
several issues that can be raised, and several deductions that we can make from
all of these.
We start by
describing the nature of the crime, for there can be no doubt that this is a
crime of monumental proportion. A theft of this scale and scope, worth about
$14bn annually, requiring the siphoning of 400,000 barrels of crude daily from
oil facilities; can be nothing other than the product of organised and
systematic crime syndicates. What we are dealing with here are well structured,
well connected, and therefore well protected organised crime cartels, similar
to the drug cartels of Latin America.
This protection we
must now assume comes from connections with state institutions and highly
placed personnel in government; otherwise it is inconceivable that a crime on
this scale is being committed and only an insignificant number of minions and
foot soldiers in the crime syndicates have been arrested, let alone prosecuted.
A loss of 400,000
barrels per day of crude oil require heavy investment in heavy, and efficient
equipments including medium to large scale barges and other ocean going/sea
faring vessels; large diameter hoses to siphon the product from the point of
vandalisation to the point of evacuation etc. All of these require huge
resource outlay, as well as top level protection to take place without
detection.
Apart from the
necessary connivance of institutions of the state and its agencies, as well as
state personnel at different levels, for this to happen; it stands to reason that
we query the real intention of the maritime, and oil pipeline security and
surveillance contracts awarded to ex-Militant warlords and their troops. Are
these contracts actually for the security and protection of the oil pipelines
and the maritime waters? Or are they in fact part of an elaborate scheme to
outsource state protection of the Crude Oil theft syndicate business [and the
cartels who run it] to experienced non state actor armed merchants?
Equally significant
are the impact on the environment and livelihoods of the poor of this scale of
continuous daily spill; as well as the impact of this huge colossal loss on the
national economy.
What is the quantum
of the devastation wrought by the scale and intensity of this ceaseless
uninterrupted oil spill to the environment; to soil fertility and the fecundity
of the rivers and ocean in that area? What is the quantum of farmlands, fish
ponds, rivers, etc that have been destroyed and rendered unviable for
agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture? What is the opportunity cost of this
scale of loss to the economy of the Niger Delta and of Nigeria?
How many more
hundreds of thousands of households and families of the Niger Delta have been
impoverished, or have become securely locked into poverty as a result of this
scale of environmental devastation?
And how can oil
pollution and oil related environmental devastation have increased this steeply
under a Niger Deltan Presidency, under the watch of a President, Petroleum and
Finance Ministers of Niger Delta extraction?
This is one more, but
very highly significant indication that these elites, who claim to rule in our
names, do not rule in our interests!
If this treasury
looting, light fingered ruling class is not implicated [directly or indirectly]
in this oil theft; if these bands of pirates are not complicit in this grand
crime; if these inept but gluttonous ruling elites are not direct and indirect
beneficiaries of this epochal theft; is it conceivable that a ruling elite will
sit comfortably over a situation where the nation and economy over which it
presides looses to criminal acts the equivalent of half of the annual budget of
the country each year?
Do we actually
require more reasons before we take our destinies into our own hands, and Take
Back Nigeria? It is Our Country Folks, Let Us Together Take It Back from These
Rampaging Swarm of Locusts!
Organise Now!
Mobilise Now!! Act Now!!! Become Part of the effort to build a popular and
peoples’ alternative to the political parties of the ruling [ruining] elite
class!
#
DPSR; Visit: takebacknigeria.blogspot.com; Follow on Twitter: @jayegaskia &
[DPSR]protesttopower; Engage on Facebook: Jaye Gaskia & Take Back Nigeria
No comments:
Post a Comment