The President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Bobboi Bala Kaigama, and his counterpart in Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Francis Olabode Johnson, have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to take advantage of the “open cheque” handed him by the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, to seek bilateral cooperation with the G-7 Nations in the fight against illegal oil bunkering.
Philip Hammond, British Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, had shortly after the president’s inauguration on May 29, 2015, said the British PM had requested the President to come with a “wish list” to the meeting, scheduled to start today to June 9 in Berlin, Germany.
In separate interviews with BD SUNDAY, the two labour leaders said the offer of a ‘wish list’ was ample opportunity for the President to present the ugliness of the age-long illegal oil bunkering that is bleeding the country to death before the G-7 Nations.
“The President should liaise with the G-7 Nations to see how the stealing of Nigeria’s oil can be reduced to the minimum. That way, we will have the synergy where every ship leaving Nigeria’s shore is given a security check pass that the goods it is carrying is legally loaded. Otherwise, we will continue to have this issue of oil theft,” said Bobboi Bala Kaigama.
According to the TUC president, it will be wise for President Buhari to request for a bilateral security agreement in technical issues that Nigeria, by way of challenges it is facing, whether deep sea security, monitoring or underground monitoring of events within the international sea boundaries and that by so doing (going into collaboration with the G-7 Nations), the country will be assisted technically to monitor the movement around sea borders.
“It will really go a long way to assist Nigeria in the fight against oil theft. The President also needs to do the same with African countries that shares water border with Nigeria. By and large, the President must seek technical support and training of our personnel from the G-7 Nations in this regards,” he said.
He said the President also needs to overhaul the country’s entire security network, particularly of those saddled with the responsibility of guarding the nation’s pipelines, oil installations and its territorial waters.
“The President should immediately withdraw the contracts given to some of the ex-militants to monitor oil theft because they are involved too. Security men and women in the Niger Delta must be immediately transferred from the region and replaced by fresh hands because they are also part of the theft. The Niger Delta is an investment ground for security agents in the country; they are jostling to be posted to the region these days because of the huge money they make there. Every security man and woman in Niger Delta is already a millionaire. They are hugely paid to monitor oil thieves,” he said.
For Francis Olabode Johnson, PENGASSAN president, whatever will be the reactions of the G-7 Nations if President Buhari is courageous enough to make the request will immediately reveal the sincerity of these industrialised nations to help Nigeria put an end to illegal oil bunkering since the major buyers of the country’s stolen oil are Europeans and Americans.
“If there are no ready buyers, nobody would think of stealing Nigeria’s oil. People are in illegal oil bunkering because buyers are soliciting for illegal oil to buy on top of international waters. Cooperation of the G-7 Nations in the fight against the stealing of Nigeria’s oil should top the ‘wish list’ of President Buhari as he prepares for the summit. If there is no market for it, there will not be illegal oil bunkering,” he said.
He also said the President should not allow importation of refined petroleum products into the country, saying that he should insist on oil marketers building their own refineries.
“We keep importing. Look at the telecommunications sector, they have different service providers, and they have many promos’ they offer to keep their customers, the same should be for oil and gas sector. If our refineries are working well, you can then cut off subsidy; always importing is not the best for us,” he said.
In 2010 alone, the JTF said it impounded vessels carrying 724 metric tonnes of stolen crude and that it destroyed about 6,000 illegal refineries across Niger Delta; and 150 suspects allegedly involved in illegal bunkering were said to have been arrested.
It was also alleged that most of the stolen crude was pumped straight from the pipelines into barges which then transferred the valuable load to ships waiting offshore; these ships then head to refineries around the world.
Balarabe Musa, a former governor of the old Kaduna State, had alleged in an interview with BD SUNDAY that citizens of the G-7 Nations were aiding and abating oil thefts, spanning over three decades in the country, saying he was worried over the invitation these nations extended to Buhari.
The G-7 was formed in 1975 and initially comprised six nations – France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United States of America and United Kingdom. Canada was invited to join the group in 1976.
NATHANIEL AKHIGBE & MABEL DIMMA
