By
Chinweizu
Soyinka says he has 60 reasons for not voting for Jonathan? Is
this one of them? China Signs $23Billion Oil Deal With Nigeria: http://www.globalresearch.ca/china-signs-23-billion-oil-deal-with-nigeria/19390
Or
is this one of those off-the-radar reasons that it pays not to mention to the
people?
Now,
about my friend and old sparring partner WS. If you want to know what the
Western powers are up to in Nija, you just watch WS. He has been their
boy-in-the-hood ever since one of his lecturers at IU inspired him to set up
his Pyrates as cover for a Nija network branch of British intelligence. And you
think he got his Nobel for his unreadable books? But that’s another story.
Anyway
what has that deal, signed in May 2010, got to do with Wole’s pro-Buhari
position, or with the momentum of the Buhari campaign despite his being prima
facie the Boko Haram candidate?
The
report about that China deal concluded on this note: “Western policy on
Nigeria is driven by the super-profits generated from the extraction of oil and
its processing. While publicly the US and its allies proclaim the need for
democracy and openness, this is window dressing. Anything that impedes their
drive for profits, whether from local opposition or from a rival nation, will
be dealt with ruthlessly when required. The latest moves by China will have
caused consternation in the boardrooms of the big oil companies, and
countermeasures are all but inevitable.”
That’s
the link, I tell you, to events now unfolding in the 2015 elections.
Is
the pro-Buhari campaign momentum part of the countermeasures? An effort at
regime change by orchestrated propaganda? To appreciate that possibility, go watch
the film “A Very British Coup” to see how such is done.
But
what was the deal for? Why did it give offence and cause consternation in the
boardrooms of the western oil giants—Shell, ExxonMobil and the lot?
“China
has signed a $23 billion deal with the new government of Goodluck Jonathan in
Nigeria to build three oil refineries and a petrochemical plant. . . .The three
refineries are to be built in Lagos, in Kebbi state and Bayelsa, . . .The
refineries would have a combined capacity of 900,000 barrels per day (bpd),
double the expected domestic demand of 450,000 bpd by the time they are due to
be completed in five years.” [i.e. in 2015]
That’s
just the foreplay. Now here is the main bedmatics:
“Plans
by the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) to buy up to
six billion barrels of Nigerian reserves became public last year.[i.e. 2009] Yar’Adua, the president at the time, received a
letter from the Chinese state-owned oil company CNOOC expressing an interest in
the 23 prime offshore fields where Shell, Total, Chevron and ExxonMobil
currently operate. If this were to succeed, it would . . . mark a
significant change in policy for the Nigerian government. . . .. The price of the deal is reported to be between $30
billion and $50 billion. . . . The
Chinese deal may well lead to further tensions with the US, . . . He
[GEJ] plans to introduce a sweeping package of reforms that will result in the
privatisation of this state-owned company. While this is in line with US
demands, it will inevitably open up further opportunities for China.”
And
that’s the real offence—opening the gate for China to access Nigeria’s
resources for the benefit of ordinary Nigerians and, above all, displacing the
big boys from their existing oil blocks. How were similar offences dealt with
in the recent past?
“In the Democratic Republic of Congo, China’s attempts to
get an oil deal were thwarted by the countermeasures of the United States and
the International Monetary Fund.”
But
in the more complex situation in Nija, the countermeasures would take time to
orchestrate and implement--and to disguise so as to fool Nija mumus.
Has
that deal been concluded? I don’t know. But even if it hasn’t, the fact that it
was being considered would be cause for retribution by the Western powers.
Nigeria’s opening to China, initiated by these two deals, would be a beginning
of Nigeria’s economic liberation.
Whereas
the case of the DRC was dealt with swiftly by the IMF and the US, the case of
Nigeria would call for more elaborate and convoluted countermeasures. Hence,
they are manifesting five years later.
You
don’t dare jeopardize the super-profits of the oil giants and expect to get
away with it—not unless you are a Vladimir Putin, with control over a big
nuclear arsenal. Which GEJ doesn’t have.
But
who would benefit from this opening to China? Who would benefit from
those refineries and petrochemical plant? Who but the Nija people? Who would
benefit in the long run from better terms from China for Nija oil? Who but
Nigerians? So, this regime change could be like that mounted by the West
against Mugabe for realigning Zimbabwe’s economy towards China and for
recovering land stolen by the white settlers.
Do
Wole’s 60 reasons include (1) why Buhari is not in the dock in De Hague for
threatening post-election violence for 2015?
Do
Wole’s 60 reasons include (2) a convoluted disinformation scam in which the APC
alleged that Jonathan won’t hand over to Buhari, but rather to the military? (APC
worried over plot to scuttle Buhari's victory): http://www.newsexpressngr.com/news/detail.php?news=9172&title=APC-worried-over-plot-to-scuttle-Buhari%27s-victory
Do
Wole’s 60 reasons include (3) the APC spin to lay at GEJ’s door the Pastor
Bakare call for postponing the elections and setting up a transitional
government for two years—despite the fact that Bakare said he is “100%
with Buhari”.
The
point of (3) being to smear GEJ with attempting tenure elongation in the mode
of OBJ’s 3rd term bid, thus discrediting him before Nigerians? And
the point of (2) being to set GEJ up for De Hague if he should challenge rigged
election results that the Carter Center and co are sure to ratify.
*Chinweizu contributed this
article to SCRUPLES
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