The Oil Thieves Of Nigeria By Reuben Abati

The economics, mathematics, cost and politics of oil theft point in one direction: the need for the country to put in place a strong surveillance mechanism. The lead story in This Day newspaper of December 30, 2021 brought the year to a close with a reminder of one of the many ills that bedevil Nigeria, encapsulated in a telling headline: “With Rising Theft, Nigeria Records 193 million barrels of crude oil deficit in 11 months”. This is otherwise translated into an estimated $3.5 billion of revenue lost to crude oil theft in 2021 alone, in other words, about 10% of the country’s foreign reserves. For a country that depends on petroleum products for about 85% of its total exports revenue and has been unable to define a future for itself beyond oil, oil theft is akin to a national calamity, a massive erosion, and an economic sabotage of the highest order. Even if it may not be the only factor that contributes to crude oil deficit, its impact is worth investigating. With regard to oil theft, ThisDay newspaper was not exactly reporting any new trend. Oil theft has been perennial and unceasing and indeed, it gets worse by the year. In its latest audit report, made public in July 2021, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) indicated that in 2019, Nigeria lost 42.25 million barrels of crude oil to oil theft, valued at 2.77 billion dollars. This was actually meant to be an improvement (imagine!) because in 2018, 53.28 million barrels were stolen. And then in 2021, 193 million barrels of crude vanished from Nigeria’s resources. The value of stolen crude in Nigeria is enough to fix many of the country’s problems and reduce the obsession with borrowings. This is the reason why oil theft must be stopped. On the average, Nigeria loses about 200, 000 barrels per day. What is stolen in concrete terms is not just crude oil, but jobs, opportunities, and possibilities. Oil theft is also a veritable example of grand corruption, and this is the point that has been made consistently in NEITI’s audit reports. The opaqueness that dominates the entire oil and gas value chain in Nigeria accounts for oil theft and loss of revenue. The absence of political will to tackle the problem makes it worse. Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron and Total divested from Nigeria in part because of oil theft. In September 2021, the Federal Government decided to set up an Inter-Ministerial Committee on the recovery of crude oil and illegally refined petroleum products in the Niger Delta Region comprising the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), all backed by the security agencies – the Nigerian Army, the Navy, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and others. The committee’s mandate is drawn from the provisions of the Assets Tracing, Recovery and Management Regulations 2019. Yet, by the end of the year, 193 million barrels of crude oil had disappeared and certainly that must be an under-valuation, an estimate. It is well known that there is no proper documentation of anything in Nigeria. We don’t even know how many we are. The National Population Commission (NPC) has no accurate register of births and deaths. Should it therefore be any surprise that there is no mechanism in place for monitoring how many barrels of crude oil Nigeria produces or the exact volume of it that is sold? Three years ago, there was some fancy talk about the introduction of technology to monitor output and activities along Nigeria’s oil pipelines network to detect sabotage, human interference and protect critical infrastructure. Oil was discovered in Nigeria, in Oloibiri, Bayelsa state in 1956. In 2022, Nigeria is still talking about how to protect pipelines through the adoption of technology. Even if technology is deployed through automation, the internet of things, drone technology, and the electronic monitoring that certain commentators recommend would still be an excuse to award contracts and make more money. Whatever works in other countries, Nigeria takes the same ideas and turns them upside down. The people who want to stop oil theft are really not interested in stopping anything, so it seems, for indeed, oil theft is an organized crime, with a network of stakeholders that cuts across many layers of interest. And that includes the same agencies saddled with the responsibility to stop it. Illegal oil bunkering: hot tapping or cold tapping, or the smuggling and diversion of petroleum products is an expensive enterprise, that involves the collusion of both state officials and their agents. It may not be incorrect to argue, in fact, that nothing has been done because those who should take the decision or their agents are themselves involved, or they have been compromised. Crude oil in the international market has a signature imprint that indicates the source, but somehow, stolen crude from Nigeria simply disappears into a sinkhole, without trace. There are also illegal refineries in the Niger Delta. Every Minister of Mines and Steel Development develops a plan for addressing the menace of illegal refineries, but nothing ever gets done. Even Governors complain about illegal refineries. Most recently, on January 1, 2022, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, in his New Year address, devoted some paragraphs to the challenge of the environment in the state. He condemned the pollution of the environment by the operation of illegal refineries. He even knows their location: “illegal crude oil refining sites along Creek Road and adjoining areas of the city…” and he wants them shut down with immediate effect. He added that all local government Chairmen should work with “community leaders to locate and identify those behind illegal bunkering and crude oil refining sites in their localities and report to my office for further action…” It would be a miracle indeed if either Wike or any other Governor in the Niger Delta would be able to put a stop to illegal oil bunkering activities in the entire region. The big-time oil bunkerers are major figures in the communities and key financiers of political processes! Oil theft is further tied to the politics of Nigeria and the ownership of mineral resources. Section 44(3) of the 1999 Constitution, item 39 Schedule II of the Exclusive Legislative List and Section 1 of the Petroleum Act, 1969 vests the ownership and control of natural resources in any part of Nigeria in the Federal Government for the benefit of the people. (Also see Attorney General of the Federation vs. AG Abia State). For decades, the people of the Niger Delta and others have argued that this is a departure from the Federal principle that Nigeria claims to embrace and that as operationalized, the Federal Government’s ascribed ownership of mineral resources amounts to gross injustice more so as the Niger Delta which produces the mainstay of the economy remains dispossessed, marginalized and underdeveloped compared to other parts of the country that contribute less, and yet seek to control what does not belong to them. The battle over what is termed “Resource Control” has taken many dimensions over the years including the agitations that led to the Willinks Commission Inquiry on Minority Rights of 1957/58, the heroism of Isaac Adaka Boro (1966), the Ogoni people’s Struggle for Survival, the Kaiama Declaration, the politics of agitation for resource control, Niger Delta militancy and calls for a complete restructuring of Nigeria. In 2004, Niger Delta Representatives walked out of the National Political Reform Conference when a consensus could not be reached on the subject of resource control and derivation. Niger Delta activists have since taken up this matter by insisting that derivation is inadequate, development initiatives such as the Niger Delta Development Commission and OMPADEC before it, amount to mere tokenisms, and that total resource control is what the people want. This matter reared its head again recently, and apparently will never go away, given the North vs South alignment around it. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had expressed the opinion at a public seminar that Nigeria’s crude oil does not belong to the people of the Niger Delta but to all Nigerians and to say anything to the contrary would be illegal and unconstitutional. President Obasanjo correctly stated the position of the Nigerian Constitution, but in so doing he stirred the hornet’s nest as Niger Delta stakeholders led by Chief E.K. Clark attacked him as “an enemy of the Niger Delta”. Niger Delta activists and many other Nigerians think that the 1999 Constitution is a dubious military decree that should not be quoted as Nigeria’s grund norm. President Obasanjo’s argument must have reminded them of that other argument actively pushed by Northern intellectuals in the 80s and 90s that the oil in the Niger Delta actually came from Northern Nigeria and settled in the Delta, as part of a given process of geological sedimentation. The consensus in the Niger Delta is that this is a thief’s argument and that the real thieves of crude oil are those who exploit other people’s resources and who then turn around to insult the real owners. It is also in this regard that local players in the Niger Delta who are involved in illegal oil bunkering do not consider their activities theft or crime. In a curious good thief vs. bad thief binary at the heart of oil politics in Nigeria, they justify their own oil theft, and openly flaunt their ill-gotten wealth because they believe that they cannot be taken to task for stealing what belongs to them, their grandfathers and generations yet unborn. They find ready allies across Nigeria and the rest of the world, because everyone else is anxious to make a quick buck. Many young persons in the Niger Delta would rather be a militant or an oil thief. Thievery, by the way, is a national pastime, a national creed, in Nigeria. Everybody is looking for something to steal: from gold in Zamfara and Ilesa to bitumen in Ondo, crude oil in the Niger Delta Basin, and the vaults of the Central Bank, if possible. The economics, mathematics, cost and politics of oil theft point in one direction: the need for the country to put in place a strong surveillance mechanism. The country’s pipeline network is decayed, hence making the work of the oil thief easy. There was a recent blow out at AITEO’s OML 29 well-head in Santa Barbara River, Nembe, Bayelsa State. It took nearly a month for NOSDRA to be aware of it, and for any agency of government to take any action at all. It is important to have the necessary infrastructure and technology in place, and to treat oil theft strictly as economic sabotage. The penal structure for the crime should also be strengthened. Given the cost to the nation, the minimum sanction for oil theft should be life or death sentence. The politics of oil ownership or trusteeship cannot be advanced as an excuse for criminality. Until Nigeria decides to address its divisive politics, and public officials stop their hollow sloganeering about national unity, the resort to self-help, in form of oil theft or illegal bunkering, should not replace the rule of law. Crude oil refining has also been a problem. When will Nigeria’s refineries begin to function again at optimal capacity and profitably too? II: Bolaji A. Akinyemi At 80 It would require a whole Festschrift to capture the essence of Professor Bolaji Akinwande Akinyemi, who turns 80, today, Tuesday, January 4, 2022. Academic, author, public policy expert, distinguished Professor, man of letters, senior citizen, Professor Akinyemi is a Nigerian icon, one of the diamonds that continue to shine luminously in the Nigerian landscape and whose engagements with his country and the international community, through his writings, and policy interventions confirm his genius, humanism and excellence. In 1975, he was a 33-year old Political Science lecturer at the University of Ibadan when he was appointed as the Director-General of the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA,) Nigeria’s foreign policy think tank. Akinyemi brought not just youthful energy to the NIIA, he imbued the Institute with his exceptional brain power and intellection and left behind a legacy, upon which his successors, added their own blocks. His reward was his retention in that position, over a period of eight years, by a total of three administrations: Murtala Muhammad, Olusegun Obasanjo and Shehu Shagari and his subsequent appointment as Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs by General Ibrahim Babangida. Akinyemi was a creative thinker coming up, at every turn with original ideas: the Concert of Medium Powers, the Black Bomb, Nigerian exceptionalism, the power school, and although many of his ideas were rigorously debated, he was never found wanting whenever he was dragged into the arena of intellectual pugilism. I recall his exchanges with the polemicist and poet, the inimitable Odia Ofeimun. Akinyemi argued for the authenticity of African identity and ideas, and the continent as a frontier for development. It was during his time as Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs that the Technical Aid Corps, (the TAC)) was conceived and established. He has since through all seasons remained active in the public domain, an affirmation of his top credentials as a public intellectual, and as a symbol of how intellectuals can with the power of ideas forge a necessary link between the world of ideas and the world of action, between theory and praxis. In this regard, Akinyemi is a master of the art of tact, balance and ambidextrous navigation, as he cultivates the persona of an insider who is yet an outsider, a key player within the establishment at various times, and yet an activist for public good in defence of the masses. The former DG NIIA, and former Minister, during Nigeria’s turbulent years of transition from military rule to civilian rule, joined Nigeria’s Democratic Coalition and lent his voice openly to the struggle to save Nigeria. He remains fully engaged in public affairs, both locally and internationally, refusing to slow down. His capacity for work-life balance is also impressive. In those days, he used to show up now and then at the Niteshift Coliseum, a night-club and entertainment centre, a stone-throw away from his Opebi residence, where he mingled with the young, and enjoyed the good life. He later joined us at The Guardian, on special invitation, as a Consultant to The Guardian Editorial Board. It was a pleasure working with him. These days, Professor Akinyemi has also been a major go-to person for us at Arise News TV for commentaries on international affairs. He never disappoints. Close to 50 years in the public arena, Professor Akinyemi has remained prodigious and intellectually formidable. I am tempted to say that they don’t make them like that anymore, but Professor Akinyemi himself would be the first to correct me on that score, because indeed what his generation has done is to inspire, amidst the rot that has enveloped Nigeria, a younger generation in academia and civil society, who continue to raise hopes about Nigeria’s future. I have no doubts that Professor Bolaji Akinyemi is fully aware that there are implications to his attainment of the age of 80. I look forward to seeing him soon in his signature bow-tie and bespoke suit, to toast to his life and times and distinction. Happy Birthday, sir. Many Happy Returns.

‘Let’s go back to competitive, constructive federalism’ By EVELYN OSAGIE

Professor of Political Science and former Minister of Foreign Affairs is 80 today. In this interview with EVELYN OSAGIE, Akinyemi, son of a famous principal of Ilesha Grammar School, the Canon J.A Akinyemi, speaks out on restructuring, true federalism, confab, electoral reforms and more Your illustrious father, Reverend Canon J.A. Akinyemi, was a key figure in Nigerian politics in his days and in the development of education. Could you shed light on his involvement in the formulation and implementation of the Free Education Policy of the Awolowo’s era in the defunct Western Region? Our contribution to life is determined by the time, circumstances, opportunities, what needs to be done and what can be done. In the case of my Dad, Nigeria and Africa were in that stage where little drops of water were making mighty pools. You had leaders who themselves were magnets for talents. They were few and because of that, they attracted people who shared their visions. There were not many of them and that’s why the pollution didn’t take place. And I suppose the vision of Chief Awolowo (Chief Obafemi Awolowo GCFR, a Nigerian nationalist and statesman), through his party, appealed to my Dad who himself was an educationist. And so, he gyrated towards Chief Awolowo’s vision for free education. You must have this belief that you educate a child, you are educating society and the contribution of this child to his environment is way beyond just educating one person. In those days, a village would sell the shirt on the back of every male in that village to contribute to educating one person in scholarship; knowing fully well that when that person becomes a graduate, you have actually pulled up that village. Development has already started. And a lot of them were first-generation graduates; this was their dream and passion. Not like now, nobody thought he/she was being educated in order to come back and exploit the society. No. There was no contradiction in terms that they would be educationists as well public servants in joining political parties because the political parties they joined, they were not being paid. Instead, they were making contributions from their paltry salaries. And when they contested the elections, if they won it was on a part-time basis. Not now, when…let me not talk about now before I get into another trouble. But then, it was on a part-time basis – it was a service. That’s why I called being a member of parliament at that time “Public Service”. It was not as if they were earning salaries as principal of a school and earning salaries as members of parliament. No. They were earning a sitting allowance. And that was what it was at that time. And that is what I would regard as my Dad’s status and contributions. Things have changed. If it is now, would my father and his colleagues have remained that way – who knows? We are all products of our environment. Why did ‘SLA Akintola close down Ilesa Grammar School, Ilesa, where your illustrious father was principal in the 6os? I don’t know the details too well because I wasn’t around. I had gone to the United States by that time. But Yorubaland has split down the middle at that time between those loyal to Chief Awolowo and who remained with him during his travail; and those who were loyal to Chief Akintola (Samuel Ladoke Akintola, Premier of Western Nigeria). There was a division of vision as regards the direction where Western Region should go: its relationship with the Federal government and its relationship with other regions. Chief Awolowo held one point of view; Chief Akintola held a different point of view. And so professionals in the intelligentsia, former friends and colleagues in the action group split. And my Dad went with Chief Awolowo. Chief Akintola and his supporters were in charge of the region. And unfortunately, as people visit the sin of the father on the son, people visit ‘the sin’ of the head of the institution which they followed. But the Yoruba has a saying that God is planning evil (of course, it would be sacrilegious to say that God is planning evil) whereas what He is planning is good. They drove my Dad out of being principal of Ilesa Grammar School only for him to be picked upon to become principal of the defunct St. Andrews College, Oyo, which is now a university. And that was his Alma mater. I think he would be the second alumnus to become principal of that school. The first one being Bishop Seth Irunsewe Kale, who went from being principal of St. Andrews College to the Bishop of Lagos; my father, being the second, was really a promotion. That was where the military picked him to come and be Commissioner of Education in the old Western Region which spread from Oyo all the way to Ondo. At one time he was Chairman, Public Service Commission responsible for the promotion of permanent secretaries in the civil service in the whole of the region. So that was why I said the evil plan actually turned out to be a promotion/ but it was not an easy time from what I was told. I shouldn’t give the impression that it was an easy time for him and for people of his generation. Those were violent times. And people escaped being killed by the scheme of their teeth and that included my father. Again, it was the grace of God and sheer luck that he escaped being killed. Some people still point at that division as the reason why the Southwest has not developed and grown beyond what it is today – both in politics and other facets. What do you say to that? Not only is it absolutely true. But there are two former heads of state who have expressed the view. And they didn’t mean it as a compliment; they meant it as a fact that the division in the Western Region has been the problem of Nigeria, not just the problem of the west itself. If that crack had not taken place, Nigerian development would have taken a totally different trajectory because before then, there was – what I would call – “competitive Federalism”. One region saw the other offering free primary education and before the people of other regions could say, “Premier what’s happening?” Others would copy it. Surprising it was Chief Awolowo, a Christian who first establishes the Muslim Pilgrim Board. He didn’t establish it on a religious basis but saw the need to put into place an institution that would cater for their interest. And other regions copied he set the marketing board, a form of indirect taxation in which when things are very high; they keep some of the money for the farmers. It was a social welfare programme. And when prices start to fall they release money from the excess that was put away to cushion for the effects on farmers so that they don’t fall below the net. And other regions copied good programmes from each other. It was competitive but “cooperative federalism”. All that disappeared when the military took over. It then became whatever he says in Lagos and now whatever he says in Abuja. What did Lord Akin say, “Power corrupts, Absolute power absolutely”. You have a man sitting in Abuja and he knows by snapping his finger Enugu can shake, Ibadan can sweat and so on. The temptation to snap that finger would be there: if for no other reason but to see what happens if the finger is snapped. Because not too many people occupy offices that have that inner development to do good with the power they are holding. I was going to say that we spent a whole week celebrating Archbishop Desmond Tutu (a renowned South African Anglican cleric). No! We spent almost 30 years celebrating Tutu, because he was one remarkable human being who God put in a position where one man was making a whole difference. One tree was making a forest, and he used it for the public good. That is why we were celebrating him. There are others who have found themselves in positions where they could have done things for the public good, but instead, they have done things for their own good. Desmond never fought for the Nobel Peace Prize, he got it. There are those who have spent their lifetime running after the Nobel Peace Prize, including sacrificing the interests of their country. Have they got it today? Why are you laughing, I didn’t mention anybody’s name! But not Tutu. He could have run into exile like most people, such as Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (a South African politician). But he didn’t. I’m not even sure he was even aware of how many times he avoided being killed. It was the grace of God. As I said in my tribute to him on Arise, there was a time when the assassin, officially sanctioned by the government, had raised a gun, focusing on him as he stepped off the plane; but the instruction given was before you pull the trigger, you must wait for the last command. And the last command never came. So lowered the gun and the turbulent Bishop didn’t know what he had just escaped. Again, circumstances created the man but the man seized the circumstances/opportunities. God could create circumstances for you and you walk pass, not recognising what you’ve just passed. Some critics have said that the military has done more bad than good for Nigeria. Would you say differently, given the fact that you served under a military government? Don’t personalize it or particularise it because, tell me, who is who never served under the military. All our heroes served under the military. Because there was a time when “the man on horseback” was the epitome of being a saviour of his country. This concept of the man on horseback was the epitome started in Latin America when they needed people to rescue their society from hooligans and thugs who were in the government houses. And the soldier came along, who was disciplined and had a concept of development. And it then spread to Africa through Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt. Now, unfortunately, a good start if you are not careful, can be exploited for evil.” The man on horseback” was a good syndrome; and then the departing colonial authorities said, “Wow, this would be a good instrument to hold on to these people”. You’d give them nominal Independence. But in any case, we trained their military, and so we would use their military to get rid of people we don’t like, who are too nationalistic for our purpose. So, they started using our military to overthrow African leaders, like the Nkrumahs (Kwame Nkrumah, Ghanaian nationalist leader) of this continent. But there were then the Nzeogwus (Nigerian Major Patrick Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu) and the Afrifas (Ghanaian Lieutenant General Akwasi Amankwaa Afrifa) who sought to escape that entrapment of being instruments in the hands of colonial authorities and did some good. But they were never allowed to fully succeed. So, my judgement on the Nigerian military and its role in development is a mixed one. After all, the coup of 1966 stopped two things. One, it stopped the Tiv rebellion that had been going on ever since the British were here. We tend to forget that the Middle Belt was a bloody mess from even before Independence. And our military was still entrapped in the Middle Belt. Two, the military stopped ‘Operation Wetie’ – the military intervention stopped it in the West. We don’t know how far that thing could have gone. It got Awolowo released from prison in Calabar. Who knows what could have happened to him if the military had not intervened? The military may have meant well, but they are human beings after all. And to borrow the words of Fela (Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti also known as Abami Eda, a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist) “Cloth na uniform; na Tailor dey sew am”, human beings were in that uniform and some of them had less noble motives. And they were then prepared to use the institution for the less noble motives. And in the process, less noble motive clashed with less noble motive, led us into a civil war. And we haven’t gotten over it till today. Does it really occur to you that the first coup took place in 1966? How many years is that? Over 56 years! One of those involved in the coup is your president today. A military man had been the president before him. Hopefully, this would be the end of ’66 Syndrome’ in Nigerian politics, in the sense that nobody who had worn the uniform in that period would step forward to occupy that presidential villa. Not just being ruled by the same people but by people who were conditioned by ’66 – mental condition. Bob Marley (one of the pioneers of reggae) describes it as “Mental Slavery”. Some people would tell you that the black race has still not gotten over slavery even after so many centuries. We often don’t realise what events do to our mental development and what it conditions. And how long it takes – we don’t know! I think the judgement would always be out there. But then that is history and civilisation. We talk about Alexander the Great (a king in Greek’s history); we talk about the Roman Empire (Julius Caesar) and about Napoleon Bonaparte and his effect on French history. We also talk about their effect on European history. 300 years from now, generations after us will be talking about the effect of “the man on horseback” on Nigeria’s development. History then becomes a question of if this had not happened what would have happened? But does it really make sense to indulge in “If”. Do we know? If they haven’t jailed Nelson Mandela (South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and first President), what would have happened in South Africa?

I don’t interfere with judiciary, let Nnamdi Kanu defend himself — Buhari By Johnbosco Agbakwuru, ABUJA

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has ruled out the possibility of releasing the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, saying that he doesn’t interfere with the judiciary. President Buhari in an interview with Channels TV, which was relayed on Wednesday evening, said that the IPOB leader should go to court and defend himself. According to him, “If there is one institution I wouldn’t like to interfere with, it is the judiciary. “But what I wonder is that when Kanu was in Europe abusing this administration and mentioning too many things, I never thought really he wants to voluntarily come to defend himself,” Buhari added. “So we are allowing him to defend himself in our system, not to be abusing us from Europe as if he was not a Nigerian. “Let him come and criticize us here. Nigerians know that I don’t interfere with the judiciary, let him be listened to. “For those who are saying we should release him, no, we cannot release him.” Political solution Asked whether there was the possibility of a political solution, he said it would depend on how Kanu conducted himself. According to the President, “there is a possibility of a political solution. If he behaves himself, all well and good. “But if you go to a foreign country and keep on sending incorrect economic and security problems against your country, thinking that you never have to account for what you have been doing; let him account for what he has been doing.” Vanguard News Nigeria

Buhari to Nigerians: My agenda in 2022 By: Olufunmilola Olukomaiya

President Muhammadu Buhari in his New Year speech said his administration is committed to protecting all Nigerians and diversifying the economy. The president in the speech which he personally signed and issued on Friday 31 Dec 2021 said he is grateful to the Almighty God for yet another Year attained as a country. According to him, the linchpin of his agenda in 2022 will be the ICT sector. “In year 2022 and going forward, our Administration would intentionally leverage ICT platforms to create jobs, while ensuring that the diversification of our economy creates more support to other emerging sectors”, he said. Read his full speech below. 1. We remain grateful to the Almighty God for yet another Year attained as a country, united by a common destiny and resolute in our determination to overcome the several challenges along the path to build the great and prosperous nation of our dream. 2. I salute the courage and resilience of all Nigerians, which was evident in 2021 as this nation, like other countries of the world, faced significant challenges that occurred as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the efforts to restore the global economy and social order. 3. The persistent insecurity in certain parts of the country may have threatened to unravel the incremental gains achieved in the real sectors of the economy and in the administration’s overall objective to position the nation on the irreversible trajectory of sustainable growth and progress, but I assure you that we will remain resolute in our commitments and shall continue to press ahead with our programmes and plans. 4. The path to nationhood is often fraught with unpredictable difficulties and challenges, and most tried and tested nations have often prevailed through dogged determination, resilience, concerted commitment to unity, and the conviction that the whole of the nation, standing together against all odds, is by far greater and would ultimately be more prosperous and viable than the sum of its distinguishable parts. 5. There is no doubt that the issue of Security remains at the front burner of priority areas that this Administration has given utmost attention to. As a follow up to our promise to re-energize and reorganize the security apparatus and personnel of the armed forces and the police, it is on record that this Administration has invested heavily in re-equipping our military in line with upgrading the platforms and firepower required to tackle the current challenges being faced in the country. 6. The net results of these efforts have been the number of insurgents and bandits who have willingly surrendered to our Security Forces and continue to do so through various channels and the Safe Corridor created for that purpose. 7. Government, however, realizes that victory on the battlefield is just one aspect of sustainable victory. We know that to fully win this war, we must also win the peace and real security lies in winning the hearts and minds of the affected citizens. To this end, working with our international partners and neighbouring countries, we would be deploying multi-faceted solutions that will be targeted at addressing human security at the grassroots, before it leads to insecurity. 8. Once again I would like to take a moment to remember and honour the gallant Military, Police Officers, and other security agents who have lost their lives in the cause of protecting the territorial integrity of this Nation against both internal and external aggressors, assuring their families that their sacrifices would not be in vain. 9. We equally remember and commiserate with Nigerians who have lost loved ones as a result of insecurity in different parts of the country. Every life matters and every single death caused by any form of insecurity is a matter of personal concern to me both as a citizen and as the President of this great country. 10. We remain fully committed to upholding the constitutional provisions that protect all Nigerians from any form of internal and external aggression. 11. On the economy, we have shown a high level of resilience to record some significant achievements despite the turbulence that has characterized our economy and indeed the global economy. The lessons we have learned and keep learning from COVID-19 have encouraged us to intensify efforts to mitigate its socio-economic effects on our Nation. 12. The major wins we have recorded can be clearly seen in Nigeria’s most recent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The 4.03% growth recorded in the third quarter of 2021 is indicative of the recovery being recorded in our economy and the confidence that is being shown through the policies that our Administration has put in place after the outbreak of the pandemic. 13. We may also recall that this recent growth is closely followed by the 5.1% (year on year) growth in real terms recorded by Nigeria in Quarter 2 of 2021. This growth was one of the best recorded by any nation across Sub-Saharan Africa. The 5.1% growth at that time was and remains the highest growth recorded by the Nigerian economy since 2014. 14. Despite the challenges we have faced as a Nation, the good news is that we have so far recorded four consecutive quarters of growth after the negative growth rates recorded in Quarter 2 and Quarter 3 of 2020 due to the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. 15. On August 16, 2021, I signed the landmark Petroleum Industry Act into law. The signing of this legacy legislation is a watershed moment in the history of our Nation, considering the massive positive impact the new Act would have on the economy. I would like to sincerely commend the 9th Assembly for the grit they demonstrated, succeeding where others have failed, and the cooperation that led to the completion of this process after almost two decades. 16. Just like I stated during the investment trips and fora that I have attended recently, the legislation is expected to serve as a liberalizing force in the energy industry, and we are optimistic that this law will provide the much-needed legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the development of the energy sector, the host communities, and Nigeria as a Nation. Our objective to increase Liquefied Natural Gas exports and expand our domestic market is still very much at the forefront of some of the policies we would be pushing in the new year. 17. In year 2022 and going forward, our Administration would intentionally leverage ICT platforms to create jobs, while ensuring that the diversification of our economy creates more support to other emerging sectors. I am proud to announce that several foreign investors are taking advantage of our ranking as one of the leading start-up ecosystems in Africa to invest in our digital economy. 18. We have given the utmost priority to fighting corruption and other related offenses which have been a bane to the growth and prosperity of our dear Nation. We have made major strides and breakthroughs through the innovative use of technology and forensics in the investigative and prosecutorial procedures with commendable results to show that the anti-corruption drive of our Administration is succeeding. 19. In the meantime, the accomplishments that have been recorded so far can be traced to the dedication of the Nation’s anti-corruption Agencies who have received the necessary support needed to effectively prosecute their duties. 20. Despite our challenges in 2021, it was also a year in which the Administration executed successfully, key projects, programmes, and initiatives to fulfil the promises made under the Security, Economy Anti-corruption (SEA) agenda. 21. As we welcome 2022, let us, with hope, envision a year of continued progress against our combined challenges arising from security and socio-economic issues. 22. As it is said, the past is but a story told, the future will still be written in gold. Let us be united in our fight to keep our Nation united against all odds and with gratitude, celebrate life in this new epoch. 23. I wish you a very happy and prosperous New Year.

Over 1,500 Nigerian artefacts will be retrieved in 2022 – DG NCMM By Taiye Olayemi

The National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) on Friday said no fewer than 1,500 Nigerian artefacts taken away from the country will be retrieved from across the world in 2022. Prof. Abba Tijani, Director-General, NCMM disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) during a telephone interview. Tijani said that these were part of the over 5,000 artefacts carted away from different locations in Nigeria decades ago. The director-general said that the artefacts would be retrieved from Germany, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and other individual museums across the globe. He noted that agreements had been reached for the return of the Benin bronzes in the British Museum of Anthropology and Archeology at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, as they hold the second largest collection of such artefacts. According to him, the largest number to be retrieved in 2022 will be coming from Germany with 1,030 Nigerian artefacts. He said the Oxford University, England was also willing to return the Benin bronzes in their collection. ” We have not been able to retrieve much because the negotiation and agreement started this year; the artefacts are expected to start coming in from 2022. ” We have written formally to other museums with our artefacts, likewise Australia embassy have organised a zoom meeting, to hold in January where we are going to meet with all the museum directors in Australia to discuss the terms of return. ” Some museums in the United States of America, individual museums in other countries have already contacted us saying that they are ready to return all the Benin bronzes in their collection, so it is left to us to go and collect them,” he said. He said that upon return of the artefacts, the NCMM would organise series of exhibitions where they would be displayed for the general public to have a glimpse of them. The director-general explained that this was neccesssary to correct most Nigerians’ misconception that these artefacts were not genuinely returned. He said that the Federal Government would decide where the retrieved artefacts would be kept after the exhibition. ” For 2021, we have been able to retrieve two artefacts from the United Kingdom, one from Cambridge University and the other from University of Aberdeen Museum. ” Also at the United States Metropolitan Museum of Arts, we retrieved three Benin artefacts and we have agreed for the return of all the Benin bronzes in the whole of the historian museum in the United States of America. “For the artefacts retrieved from Cambridge and Aberdeen, Mr President has authorised that they go back to Benin palace from where it was initially carted away even though the artefacts are not physically here yet, we are still processing the export permit. ” The Oba of Benin is happy about this and that is the reason he is proposing a royal museum; NCMM also has a national museum in Benin which we are planning to expand to be able to accommodate these artefacts when they finally arrive. ” We will ensure wherever the artefacts are kept are of international standard, just like where they are coming from, because they are precious materials that need to be properly preserved,” he said.

After signing, Buhari accuses National Assembly of padding 2022 budget

Flanked by the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, the Speaker of House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila as well and Zainab Ahmed, his Minister of Finance and other top government officials, President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday signed the 2022 Appropriation Bill as well as the enabling 2021 Finance Bill into law. The President said he signed the Bill into law despite his reservations about many of the changes that the National Assembly made to the Executive proposal to enable its implementation to commence on 1st January 2022 as has been the tradition for some years now. “This Administration remains committed to the early presentation of the annual appropriation bill to the National Assembly to ensure its passage before the beginning of the fiscal year,” the President promised as he signed the Budget with aggregate expenditures of N17.127 trillion, an increase of N735.85 billion over the initial Executive Proposal for a total expenditure of N16.391 trillion to law. The President noted that he approved the increase of the budget proposal by N186.53 billion to cover expected expenditure on additional critical expenditures and he consequently authorized the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning to forward the request for the increase to the National Assembly. Aside this, the President noted that the lawmakers mutilated and padded the original 2022 Executive Budget proposal with insertions of new projects, outright removals of others, as well as reductions and/or increases in the amounts allocated to projects. For one, Buhari noted that the lawmakers increased the revenue expected for funding of the budget by N400 billion without indicating where the additional money will come from. Also, the lawmakers reduced the amount allocated to sinking fund for retiring of Bonds that will mature by N22 billion without any explanation The President also said the lawmakers reduced the amount set aside for payment of Non-Regular Allowances of the Police and the Navy by N15 billion and N5 billion respectively, an action he described as worrisome “because personnel cost provisions are based on agencies’ nominal roll and approved salaries/allowances.” The President also noted that the lawmakers unilaterally increased overhead allocations to some ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs of government by N21.72 billion, while the sum of N1.96 billion was cut from the provision for some MDAs without apparent justification. Buhari also noted that while National Assembly increase in the provision for Capital spending (excluding Capital share in Statutory Transfer) by a net amount of N575.63 billion, from N4.89 trillion to N5.47 trillion, it went ahead to reduce allocation for some some critical projects. Some of the critical projects that suffered the perfidy of the lawmakers include the Ministry of Transport’s budget for the ongoing Rail Modernisation with the allocation reduced by N12.6 billion, reduction of N25.8 billion from Power Sector Reform Programme under the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, and reduction of N14.5 billion from several projects of the Ministry of Agriculture, and introducing over 1,500 new projects into the budgets of this Ministry and its agencies. On the contrary, President Buhari noted that members of the National Assembly included new provisions totaling N36.59 billion for National Assembly’s projects in the Service Wide Vote which negates the principles of separation of Powers and financial autonomy of the Legislative arm of government. According to him, the National Assembly reduced allocations for as many as 10,733 projects in the 2022 budget, while 6,576 new projects were introduced into the budget by the National Assembly. The President noted that the lawmakers reduced provisions for many strategic capital projects in favour of their own ‘Empowerment’ projects to the detriment of the nation. “The cuts in the provisions for several of these projects by the National Assembly may render the projects unimplementable or set back their completion, especially some of this Administration’s strategic capital projects. “Most of the projects inserted relate to matters that are basically the responsibilities of State and Local Governments, and do not appear to have been properly conceptualized, designed and costed. “Many more projects have been added to the budgets of some MDAs with no consideration for the institutional capacity to execute the additional projects and/or for the incremental recurrent expenditure that may be required,” the President noted. Buhari also lamented that while the National Assembly increased projected revenue by N609.27 billion, the additional Executive request of N186.53 billion for critical expenditure items could not be accommodated without increasing the deficit, while the sum of N550.59 billion from the projected incremental revenues was allocated at the discretion of National Assembly. Consequently,the President Buhari said while he signed the 2022 Appropriation Bill into law to enable its implementation to commence on 1st January 2022, he will revert to the National Assembly with a request for amendment and/or virement as soon as lawmakers resume from their yuletide break. This, he said he will do to ensure that critical ongoing projects that are cardinal to his administration, and those nearing completion, do not suffer a setback due to reduced funding. By Ayorinde Oluokun

Post-Biafran syndrome By Sam Omatseye

It’s a theatre of the oldies. On one side is a man with a paunchy stature and grey hair and fierce tongue. On the other side is a man with a paunchy stature but without hair but a shifty tongue. One has proclaimed his residency in a departure lounge. On the other side is the fellow who sneers at such a journey because he does not depart from trouble. One is Edwin Clark, the other of course is Olusegun Obasanjo. The first, Chief E.K Clark, is a nonagenarian with a rebel in his blood while OBJ is, as he claims, an octogenarian with mischief in his eyes. These men fought over oil. But OBJ is the culprit here, trying to play mischief with Niger Delta resources. The thing with OBJ is that he can say the truth without being truthful. If the constitution says the oil belongs to Nigeria, he forgets to say that if that is true it is because the oil belongs to Niger delta before it belongs to Nigeria. That is the spirit of a republican society, especially one that thrives in a federal state. But what strikes the essayist is not the debate on hand, which is straightforward. It is the Owu chief’s penchant for war. He is a retired general but he always acts as though he is ducking shrapnel in battlefield trenches. I stated at The Nation’s editorial board last week, even before the Clark battle, that the man has a chip on his shoulders. He did not do well during the civil war, so he is fighting to compensate for his failures and stumbles as a war commander. My comment raised not a few highbrows at the meeting. He is therefore afflicted with what I call a post-Biafran syndrome. Some say the man led the Third Marine Commando, and he received the surrender note from Biafra. That exactly is why the man feels a sort of whoozy feeling of incompetence. He did not know the war was over. The victor was not aware of his victory. He was away, far away from the conduit of action when men like Alani Akinrinade had browbeaten the rebels to paralysis, when Ojukwu had fled and his assistants were now mouse to the federal forces. The brew was ready. OBJ was summed to his victory party. As the leader, he snatched the hour of glory. The real blaze and fury of the war was narrated by eye-witness accounts as well as the best book on the war so far, Alabi Isama’s The Tragedy of Victory. They show that the war had been fought and won, the big bear of Biafra had staggered and was falling under Black Scorpion Colonel Benjamin Adekunle. OBJ came to hear its thud and final fall. He did not even see the humpty go down. Maybe that is why he obliterated the study of history. That is only one of his battles. What is going on in his psyche is a post-Biafran war. Obj war will not end until he joins Clark in the departure lounge and catches that flight. He is not going to receive another formal surrender. So, he keeps shooting and blazing with rage. Since the real war ended, his has launched a series of ambushes. The main weapon in his arsenal is cunning. The great journalist and essayist, Stanley Macebuh, who was his adviser, described him as “crafty, very crafty.” If the war theorist Carl Von Clausewitz announced that “war is a continuation of politics by other means,” ObJ has the genius of turning it around. Politics, for him, is the continuation of war by other means. But we have seen this since he returned from Biafra. Did he not do it to general Olutoye? The man had confided in OBJ about ethnic injustice in the army. He exposed him to his northern fellows. It was swansong for Olutoye as a soldier. OBJ defeated him. OBJ has been in this fight against those who hold no gun. Sometimes when he did it with gun-handed fellows like IBB, it was with cunning. He spoke of SAP without human face. Aikhomu paid him back in his sardonic coin, by saying they would have SAP with human leg and hand, etc. He did same to Buhari before IBB swept him out. That was when he was tarred with PHD, pull him down syndrome. In this Republic, we have a long list of his acts. Simon Kolawole last week became a diarist of his iniquities and inequities. Some of them, though, you cannot hold him legally culpable. That is the enigma of the Teflon man. But was he not the fellow who ate with Okadigbo and danced with his wife and the next day the man was no longer the head of his legislative chamber? Did he not do same to Audu Ogbe as the leader of his party? When he was president and got rejected by his Yoruba kinsmen at the polls, did he not play the same game of cunning? He is not too proud to stoop, so long as he conquers. He has turned upside down the words of novelist Leo Tolstoy in War and Peace: “It is always better to bow too low than not low enough.” Bisi Akande has demonstrated in this in his book, My Participations, and no one has countered him. Forget the nonagenarian bluster and empty fury of Ayo Adebanjo. Akande narrated how the man begged the Southwest governors not to perform local government polls and also not to endanger his second-term nomination. He stooped to Papa Adesanya, and had Adebanjo with him in his subterfuge. The governors tagged along. When he was done, the governors as well as Adesanya had an appointment with him. He stood them up for hours. When he materialised, it was to mock them. He played his earthy character, sat on the floor in his short, and started to mock. He conned them first, then swept them out of office, except Tinubu in Lagos. We cannot forget when he was leaving office as president. He gave the country a president and vice president. One was weak in body, the other weak in mind. He wanted to be the only strong man. He was, however, defeated. He never controlled the so-called weak men. He started panting and ranting in his Ota farm until he made a bonfire of his party card. The Odi and Zaku Biam massacres were evidence of the soldier triumphing over people without arms. When Jesus met a soldier and told him, “Do violence to no man,” he did not refer to the battlefield. He meant civilians, unarmed persons like the Odi and Zaku Biam residents. Jesus himself said, “The kingdom of God suffers violence…” Old testament bleeds with battles and, of course, Armageddon looms. It is army versus army. OBJ has been doing violence to the vulnerable. He did not have a war story, except the fictions in his My Command, whose RIP was enacted in Isama’s book, a man he orchestrated with a court martial without a gazette. OBJ still fights. He is unaware that he is scratching the air, has no electoral value today, but huffs about like a statesman. Only a history that lacks psychic perspective can afford him that perch.