Nigerian Numbers

Nigeria has started 2012 on an awful note. The occupy Nigeria movement that start in 2011 to fight socio-economic inequalities has found its way to Nigeria. Mass protest follows the removal of the fuel subsidy, the only thing that the masses can truly say they benefit as Nigerians. If you look at the history Nigeria, at no point in time will the masses state categorically that they gain anything from the country except this subsidy. Jonathan has the nerve to abolish it on the grounds of cutting cost! Several numbers have been flying about since December 2011, immediately the senate started to investigate the digits, I smelt doom. But I also thought that as a President, Jonathan will use both his head and heart. I was wrong! This man used neither. He just started the year with what several people have referred to as the Greek Gift!

The black gold that has been a blessing to countries such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Kuwait etc has turned out to be a curse on Nigeria. Multinational oil companies come to Nigeria to take everyone and everything for a ride! Some of the nasty things they do in Nigeria can never be done in the home country, yet we all keep quiet and watch. Our silence has brought us to this stage. The general strike startes on Monday 9 January 2012, I hope Nigerians won’t come up with the same excuse that they have for the last 50 years. I have to feed my family! The Government and labor will sort it out! They all the same, we are the one ‘suffering! If we do this again, we will continue to suffer. The mass protest should continue. Occupy Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, and Port-Harcourt! Occupy the whole place and let them understand finally that we have a voice! The only reason they act like this is because our votes never counted! They got into power by their machineries but claim we voted for them. This pattern has gone on for many years. I hope we will vote in 2015 and demand that our votes count, ask question from office holders, occupy the streets if we find them wanting in any area of government. We must stand up and unite, against these thieves and their terrorist group called Boko Haram!

When Bill Clinton said years ago, while Obasanjo was canvassing for our debt cancellation, that Nigeria has no business being poor, not with all that oil! A lot of people did not like that statement. In fairness, he only said the truth, we are the 10 largest oil producing nation in the world, yet we export crude oil and import it’s by products. It does not make any economic sense. We have done this shameless act for close to 14 years now and several multinational oil companies partake in this crime against humanity and no one could say anything. These same companies go back to their bases to talk about ethics in business and social responsibility. These cheating, pretentious organizations have worked with the politicians to milk us dry for years. They have ruined our land, exploited Nigeria and we do not even know the numbers. Nigeria produces 2,221,000 barrels of oil per day, ahead of the UK, Algeria, Angola, Libya, and Qatar, yet these nations fair better than us in every area. Why is the Nigerian story always different? Can’t these politicians see public funds and not steal it? Everything that we own has gone to the dogs; excess crude oil account that boasted of 23 Billion US$ in 2007 has developed wings and the account scraped! A foreign reserve account that was 80 Billion US$ in 2007 now has 30 Billion US$; where did it all go? We cannot see anything in the form of social infrastructure! Except flashy cars owned by these same pot bellied thieves! The numbers are large and staggering to the ear and eyes! If Greece, Italy or Ireland has what we have the euro zone financial crisis could have been averted. What we have is in private pockets; taken with force as if it’s their right to do so!

If the thieving politicians had built the refineries we would never have wasted 8 Billion US$ per year on subsiding fuel. The math clearly shows that the money goes back to the politicians anyway, if it’s not in the way of 10%, it comes to their crony companies and the bogus multinational organizations. The IMF will never suggest what will benefit the people; it is Jonathan’s duty to restore the country by building the refinery and then abolishing the fuel subsidy. But he can’t, he won’t, no politician will. The business of fuel importation is so lucrative now that it will never go away! This trade will continue forever. What baffles me most is how some rich people have become richer just sitting down on their pot belly. Over the years they have amassed so much that they have enough to give to Boko Haram to cause mayhem. No wonder the country is in such turmoil fermented by our own people. The numbers below are shocking, according to the senate committee, Nigeria has spent since – N3.655 trillion, since 2006. Some of the people catering away this money are: 

1. Oando Nigeria Plc – N228.508 Billion
2. Obat – N85 Billion
3. Enak Oil & Gas – N19.684 Billion
4. Folawiyo Oil -  N113.3 Billion
5. IPMAN Investment Limited – N10.9 Billion
6. ACON -  N24.1 Billion
7. Atoi Oil – N64 Billion
8. Capital Oil – 22.4 Billion
9. AZ Oil  - N18.613 Billion
10. Dozil Oil  - N3.375 Billion
11. Fort Oil – N8.582 Billion
12. Bovas & Co Nigeria Limited – N5.685 Billion
13. MRS – N224.818 Billion
14. Emac Oil – N19.2 Billion
15. D. Jones Oil – N14.8 Billion

The committee also named several construction companies that also benefited from this windfall; one begins to wonder a few things here: 1) none of the amounts were in Millions, just the astonishing Billions of Naira. and for what, if I might ask? 2) What has a construction company got to do with oil refining and importation? 3) Couldn't we have built a refinery with this money or what we had in the excess crude oil account? Well, Nigeria we Hail thee! The masses, its your turn to fight for justice, for yourselves and the future of your children! Occupy Nigeria!!!!!!!!!!!!!