In my office, one of my “ogas” will always say, “Who is the cause.” When there is a problem with the production of the newspaper, only one man takes the responsibility for any error in the paper.
The editor often ensures that he sees what goes into the paper at any point in time and if any mistake finds its way into the paper, we already know who they will call and it is then left for the editor to find out where the problem emanated from in the line of duty.
When an instruction is issued out by a superior officer, that instruction is expected to be executed to the letter, irrespective of the reason behind it, even if it is unreasonable. We are no doubt living in abnormal times when so much is happening and we cannot give reasonable explanations for them.
However, there are some situations that we can control but we disgustingly allow them to go on because they are favorable to those at the helm of authority. Take for instance, the situation in the Niger Delta region where God has endowed with so much wealth.
The goose that lay the golden egg, yet suffering from abject poverty and squalor in the midst of so much wealth. The natives in the riverine communities have been impoverished by the ineptitude of government all these years since crude oil was discovered in Oloibiri in rivers state.
The vast swamp land and creeks where oil exploitation has been carried out by multinational oil companies are no more the same. The farming and fishing communities have been left desolate. Their rivers are polluted and vegetation destroyed and nothing good can come out of the area.
We are witnesses to the emergence of vibrant young men as militants agitating for resource control. But they were later pacified by the government after being settled. This did not however change the plight of the natives whose conditions still remain pathetic.
Those who could not get government attention as well as those who have the potential to use the situation for their own good may have resorted to setting up illegal refineries, using the crude from vandalized pipelines in the region.
For over two decades now, the discoveries of illegal refineries in the oil producing communities have been on the increase which is an indication that for as long as the nations refineries can not be fully operational, such illegal outfits will continue to thrive.
It is very sad that even when we boast of being an oil producing nation, we still have to depend on imported refined oil products for local consumption. Then something must really be wrong somewhere that we are yet to know the cause.
We are often told that the nation’s refineries are not operating in full capacity despite the several billions of the nations resources sunk into turn-around maintenance.
It is time we ask ourselves, what is the problem or who is the cause of our failure to have refineries functioning in full capacity? Why do we still have to import refined products when we can conveniently refine our God gifted crude.
In fact, who do we hold responsible for the predicament Nigerians are passing through today.
These questions have become necessary following the fact that we have seen that illegal refineries are in business in the creeks while the legal multibillion refineries in Kaduna, Porthacout and Warri are yet to run at full capacity to put an end to the lingering scarcity and apologetic stories we are getting from that sector.
Investigations have revealed that the illegal refineries are being successfully managed and they are thriving well even though their methods may be crude. If the illegal refineries are not doing very well our soldiers will not be busy searching for them and destroying their operations on a frequent basis. It is the view of some concerned persons that rather than destroying such illegal refineries, the military high command should instruct the field commanders to arrest the perpetrators and their operations confiscated by government.
Then, the government should be able to convert the illegal refineries to legal one because it does not make economic sense when such illegal refineries are destroyed. We quite understand that these set of people apprehended are economic saboteurs to the nation but they are still useful if they can successfully operate a refinery while the nation is struggling with the once they built.
It is the expectation of Nigerians that the problem the country is now experiencing in the oil industry should give our leaders serious cause for concern. President Muhammadu Buhari, who is the minister for petroleum, should take a critical look at the mandate of the Operation Safe Delta to protect oil and gas facilities in the Niger Delta region and therefore allow such illegal refineries that are discovered to continue their operations under a legal management to end the madness in the oil sector.
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Eubaldus Enahoro is Assistant Editor with the Nigerian Observer
