COMMENTARY BY DR. OKPO OJAH – MEDIA COMMUNICATION CONSULTANT PHONE: 08055955016/08037351057 Topic: Checking the growing rate of crude oil theft in the interest of the Nigerian economy. Anchor: In today’s Commentary, Dr. Okpo Ojah, a Media Consultant, writes on the need to check the growing rate of crude oil theft in the best interest of the Nigerian economy. There is no doubt that crude oil theft in various parts of the country, especially in the Niger Delta, has risen to a disturbing dimension on daily basis. Accordingly, recent statistics on the ugly phenomenon indicate a staggering loss of revenue to oil thieves who have become a veritable threat to the nation’s economy. For example, the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SDPC) recently raised an alert on Nigeria’s annual loss of 6.1 billion dollars about (965 billion naira) to such unwholesome activities, particularly in terms of pipeline vandalization , oil theft and illegal refineries. In the same vein, the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala disclosed that Nigeria, loses over 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day, an unwarranted situation which accounts for a drop one billion dollars, about 160 billion naira per month. In the same context, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) recently revealed that the nation lost about one point two three billion dollars (about 190 billion naira) to oil theft in the first quarter of this year alone. And it has confirmed statistically that between 200,000 and 350,000 barrels of crude oil, an equivalent of Gabon’s oil production, amounting to well over 120 million dollars in believed stolen daily. Such an ugly development prompted the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to vow a clamp down on oil thieves wherever they may be found in the country. In the words of the President, it is extremely embarrassing that it is only in Nigeria that crude oil, is stolen; it is bad news, and I believe that Nigerians and foreigners who indulge in that act need to throw their heads under the pillow adding, we are not the only oil-producing country; why is it that it is only in Nigeria that people steal oil. We will be decisive in putting an end to this malaise. This must stop. Similarly, the vexed issue of unbridled crude oil theft equally prompted the Senate President, David Mark, to recommend death penalty for all oil thieves. The Senate President, indeed, anchored his rational suggestion on the unarguable premise that the daily oil theft if not checked was bound to devastate the country’s economy. And in a bid to salvage the oil and gas industry and the country’s economy from total collapse due to the deepening crude oil theft, workers under the aegis of the Petroleum and National Gas Senior Staff Association and Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers have issued a 60-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to promptly and effectively check the nefarious activities of oil thieves in the country or risk the closure of all oil installations in the country. In international dimension, a group based in the United Kingdom, Stop The Theft Campaign has challenged world leaders, especially G. 8, to put an end to the international business cartel behind crude oil theft especially in Niger Delta region. Undoubtedly, the preceding statistics and reactions are quite worrisome, especially considering the incontrovertible fact that crude oil theft has been increasing by leaps and bounds in recent years. And it is worse today than ever, and the amount of money lost to such unsolicited nefarious activities in mind-boggling. Yet it is amazing to observe that for years, crude oil in Nigeria is stolen with rampaging impunity, fueling suspicion of a major collaboration between the oil thieves and highly placed unscrupulous officials in the country, and beyond. In this regard, one must commend the Joint military operation in the Niger Delta in conjunction with the determination by the present administration which has continued to demonstrate seriousness to eliminate the menace of oil theft in the country. This is even as the Joint Military Operation last year arrested two ships loaded with stolen crude oil while 15 others were interrogated, coupled with a 5.6 billion naira pipeline security contract awarded by the Federal Government to some ex-militants in the Niger Delta. But inspite of such serious overt proactive measures, soaring crude oil theft by very audacious thieves made up of unscrupulous Nigerians and their foreign collaborators has continued unabated. Even satellite images show several unidentifiable ships dotting Nigeria’s offshore in the illegality of unbridled oil theft in the country. Indeed, theft of Nigeria’s oil is a crisis of immense proportion, in short, an economic sabotage evident in the high sophistication and connection of the thieves who reportedly have their own network of pipelines through which crude is siphoned on daily basis into waiting ships. It is a complex operation perpetrated by a well-organized mafia, which government up to now has not mustered the will to stop. Clearly, the security contracts are not serving any useful purpose just as the military deployment in the area has made no difference. Even Nuhu Ribadu-led committee’s report that 10 per cent of the country’s oil is stolen daily is a mere confirmation of an oil syndicate, thriving in the face of the country’s Army, Navy, Air Force and other military capability. Government, no doubt, should seize the momentum of public interest, partly generated by its own sponsored reports, to act decisively against oil thieves whose activities are telling on the prospects of the oil companies and exploration. In pursuing the responsible option of ending the theft, the Federal Government should enlist the support of countries and international agencies to explore the possibility of tracking the oil stolen from Nigeria through finger-printing of the oil to identify its origin. Government must be willing to act decisively and to curry the cooperation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the oil companies and if necessary, their foreign partners. In that regard, it is interesting to note that the United States (US) and the United Kingdom have indicated interest to assist Nigeria to curb the crude oil theft. The Federal Government must demonstrate its political with such countries to stop the oil theft. That Commentary on the imperative to check the growing rate of crude oil theft in the interest of the nation’s economy was written by Dr. Okpo Ojah, a Media Consultant.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Jul 2013 11:57:56 +0000
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