Give oil blocs to states!
The petroleum sector is the most opaque area of the Nigerian economy. The more you look, the less you see. A code of non-disclosure governs relationships in this cash cow of Africa’s largest nation, much like the Omerta of the Sicilian mafia. What belongs to all is shared by a few members of the secret cult while the rest are reduced to beggary.
The military started it all during their unsung years in power. In a hurry to create spheres of influence and also establish trusted third party conduits for siphoning liquid gold proceeds that would otherwise have accrued to the state, they treated the national patrimony like private property to be gifted out at will. Kickbacks are in millions of dollars, so the bureaucracy and technical experts are happy to cooperate.
Nigeria is one of those countries where the president can make an instant billionaire of anyone that catches his fancy. With an oil bloc, you don’t need to lift a finger; there are oil companies begging for collaboration. You don’t have to ever work in your life again. You become an oasis of plenty in a desert of mass penury.
In a classical case of the devil finding work for idle hands, the emergency billionaire sometimes catches the flu of political ambition and influence hawking. Being insanely wealthy comes with its own diseases. The craving for the trappings of power are so overpowering that the oil magnate commits a slice of his loot to that cause. The combination of economic and political power in the hands of any human being is more than temptation; it is an alchemy that breeds tyrants, delusional fixers and ‘godlets’.
During the military era, government, to a large extent, had the monopoly of the instruments of violence. Now, violence is a thriving industry in which government is only one of the players. Some oil bloc owners are richer than their states many of which are unable to meet their monthly wage bills. These emergency billionaires have the capacity to threaten the security of the nation itself. In a democracy, that is a nightmare.
A 2013 report revealed that Nigeria had a total of 388 oil blocs out of which about 173 had been awarded to individuals and corporations, while 215 blocs were yet to be awarded. Out of the 173 awarded, foreigners owned 83 blocs while Nigerians owned 90. According to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) at the time, the 83 awarded to foreign oil companies accounted for 94 per cent - 2.35 million barrels per day of the total output. Nigerian players took the balance. That state of affairs hasn’t changed much today.
On the surface, those figures don’t look alarming. But considering the billions of dollars involved, the patronage system of treating oil blocs as birthday gifts to those in whom the tenants of power are well pleased is nothing but iniquitous. It cannot be justified in any law or convention devised by man.
Forget all the lies about bidding and the ruse that oil blocks are allocated to the highest bidder in a free and fair contest. Oily deals are oily, no less. Added to the estimated $400 billion allegedly stolen from Nigeria’s coffers by the political elite from 1960 to date, we don’t need the Bretton Woods stargazers to tell us why Nigeria is a rich country populated by poor people.
There is a way out of all this nonsense: In the spirit of the ongoing anti-corruption crusade, the federal government ought to stop allocating oil blocs to individuals forthwith. Let the states bid for the blocs. With more revenue, the states would be able to meet their statutory responsibilities to their people. Isn’t it clear that oil money would do infinitely more good in the coffers of states than in private vaults?
About 47 oil licences will be due for renewal next year. Rather than do the habitual thing - dispensing them as political patronage, President Buhari should initiate moves to bring the states into the loop. If individual bidders can afford the statutory application fee of $10,000 per bloc, bid processing fee of $10,000, data prying fee of $5,000 and evaluation charge of $50,000 and other sundry expenses - why can’t the states?
If businessmen without tertiary education, retired generals without any industry experience and politicians of indeterminate pedigree can own oil blocs, I don’t see why state governments cannot do same.
We have seen over the years that even where a president decides to hold the petroleum portfolio in order to directly supervise the sector, the mazes that confront him could be confounding. That explains why Obasanjo’s doubling as petroleum minister and Buhari’s decision to do the same, has not neutralised the petroleum cult that impoverishes the country while enriching a few.
President Buhari should not renew any oil licence hitherto held by individuals. Let’s allocate one oil bloc per state so that state governments can use the proceeds directly to benefit their people. All those in favour, say aye!
Against political blindness
Pastor Tope Popoola asks: “Who did this to us? EFCC arrests Fayose over security funds but Obanikoro, whose ministry and shadow company are alleged to have funnelled the funds to Fayose is walking free…. PDP said it was okay for the dancing senator to become governor with an F9 result in WASCE but a retired major-general in the army cannot contest election in the opposition? Our lives should be bigger than APC/PDP for heaven’s sake!”