By Adefolarin A.Olamilekan
“Watin we no go yie for Niaja sef. Wich wan bi oil ye thief thief”. As humurous as the above may sound,it represent the out burst of millions of Nigerians. Resonating with what Fela Anikulapo Kuti refers to “as government magic”
Curiously, the prevailing state of the Nigerian oil and gas environment and management is considered to be shrudded in official corruption, environmental degradation, human right abuses and violent enterprise.
If one may ask what is oil theft or what is oil thieves all about?
According to some scholars oil theft is considered to be the “illegal appropriation of crude or refined oil products from the pipelines of multinational oil companies” .
Interesting in the case of Nigeria, stakeholders in the oil and gas sector view this development as a “facilitated and pragmatic co-operation between security forces, militia organizations, the local population, and oil company employees. Who use a variety of methods to steal oil from the multinational oil corporations that are stationed within the country” .
For a country like ours that 90% of government revenue income depends on petroleum products. Oil theives alongside their colloborators has escalates challenges of the country. Especially as the nation still sleep over her progression from non oil export economy as against petro dollar export.
Sadly, Oil theft development is getting worse on daily basis, with no solution on sight.Worse of it oil thefting often served some criminaly minded individuals as means of surviving and relevant.
The recent alarm by Federal Government over the rising rate of crude oil theft in the Niger Delta. Is indeed worrisome,as it disclosed that about ” $3.27 billion worth of oil has been lost to vandalism in the past 14 months”.
This kind of news is not new to Nigerians, especially if we considered how successive government have all failed to tame the menace.
Conversely,with hindsight from the 2021 Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) audit report that indicated that in 2018, 53.28 million barrels were stolen by oil thieves. Similarly in 2019 alone Nigeria lost 42.25 million barrels of crude oil to oil theft, valued at $2.77 billion.
In the same vein at the end of 2021, 193 million barrels of crude worth $3.5 billion diaappeared without a trace
from Nigeria.
Regreattably, all stolen crude values in millions of dollars. In the minds of managers of the country did shake them or arouse, a rethinking on security governance of that sectors.
All we heards was the FG has identified a 3-element solution to ending oil theft in Nigeria as reported in the media recently. In the words of Minister of State for Petroleum Timipre Sylva, “there are 3 elements to the solution of the problem. The communities must be involved, the security agencies as law enforcement agents of the government must be involved, and the operating companies must also be involved.”
We can’t agree less with the minister on the involvement of this three critical stakeholders.The questions that beg for answer is. Are the three element ready let go,this gold mine venture that is milking the nation dry and enriching some unscrupulous individuals and groups?
The prevailing situation is pathetic and the NEITI Report exposed the rots, estimated value of stolen crude running into billions of naira and with an average loses of about 200,000 barrels per day.
Given,the NEITI audit reports fundamentally point out. The official lack of federal oversight and a large network of corruption fuel oil theft over the years. And this comes as primarily with frequent collaboration between a variety of random criminal players depending on the level of oil theft being committed.
Either community people,security personnel and oil companies workers as well as consultants. Each of them play specific role in the oil theft trade in Nigeria.
Instructively, stolen crude oil is wealth that is been created illegally. Consequently, it further compound our environment degredation through crude refining process popularly refers to as illegal refinery.
The striking thing is to remind the government about the inter-ministerial committee on the recovery of crude oil and illegally refined petroleum products
task force its set up in 2021. After identifying the oil field terminals most crude oil losses occured that includes Bonny Terminal Network, Forcados Terminal Network and Brass Terminal Network.
Interestingly, members of the inter-ministerial committee on the recovery of crude oil and illegally refined petroleum products in the Niger Delta region.
Comprises the security agencies that includes the Nigerian Army, the Navy, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and others as backup to, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA).
Yet still oil theives made away with over193 million barrels of crude oil deficit in 14 months estimated at $3.5 billion.
Nevertheless, we cannot rule out undercurret factors aiding oil theft activities as: the worsening economic challenges, inadequate security surveillance, neglects of host communities and engagements, dilipadated oil facilities and stakeholder sabotages..
What need to be done,how do we eliminate or at least reduce the menace of oil theives.
First, government must drop the opaqueness that characterise the Nigeria state.Because nobody trust the goverment on any issues talkless of convincing the people about oil theives or oil theft. And this require both political will and been economically truthful to tackle the problem headlong.
Secondly, a proper documentation mechanism to monitor and evaluate the figures of barrels of crude oil Nigeria explore and volume sold as export or locally refined.
Thirdly, due to decayed in the country’s pipeline network. The introduction of technology such as Robotic Al, digital satelite,drone technology, and other electronic monitoring gadget would help a lots. Such initiatives although suggested in the past was jetison on the excuse to award pipelines security contracts to repentant militants must not be entertain.Moreso as technology would mitigate pipeline vandals and deter sabotages against critical oil infrastructures.
Fourthly, the government official saddle with the resposibility of catching oil theives.For us must be people with integrity that are not ready to compromise. And for this to work,they must be subject to integrity test,sign up to code of conduct and as well as go through EFCC,NSA and DSS scrutiny.
Lastly, the problem in the International oil market also compound the woes of crude oil theft. Arguably, how much of advocacy is been done to stop crude oil theft is very crucial. Hence, it is trus that the reason Nigeria cannot meet its crude oil production quota and benefit from high oil prices is due to theft. And for us we believe that the Nigerian state has a responsibility to lead this campaign going forward.
Nonetheless, as the title of this polemic stresss it very difficuit to convince Nigerians that truely oil thieves exist. Although,it could be a mythology and mythic equally. Poignantly, the sector bleed.
