The disclosure by Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa state that the Buhari presidency pumped a humongous sum of $19bn to overhaul the nation’s four refineries in the last three years is shocking. Sule’s revelation came on the heels of a similar alarm raised by the outgoing House of Representatives that over N11trn was squandered on the plants. He spoke on the Channels Television Sunrise Daily on Thursday.
Governor Sule’s exposé reminds me of Egyptian King Pharaoh’s bizarre dream of seven lean cows swallowing seven fat ones. To the dreamer’s utter amazement, the skinny cows remained lean.
Worried by the strange dream, Pharaoh summoned all the wisemen and oneirocrites in the land to interpret the dream but none of them could crack the code. Then, one Joseph, a dreamer who was also gifted in oneirocrisy, and languishing in jail, was summoned before King Pharaoh to unravel the mystery.
The wisemen must have wondered what a common prisoner could offer where the wise ones had failed. But the young Jew shocked everyone in the palace with the interpretation thus: the seven fat cows represent seven years of abundance, while the seven lean cows represent seven years of famine and hunger. Pharaoh shuddered and asked the interpreter what should be done to avert the impending doom after seven halcyon years. The rest is a familiar story.
There were four refineries built in the 70s with a combined production capacity of 450,000 barrels per day. Rivers state is home to two of them, while Warri in Delta state and Kaduna in Kaduna state are landlords to the other two. When the four of them were operating at full capacity, Nigerians were happy for it, even though at a point, our consumption along with the products smuggled across the borders outstripped the domestic supplies.
What has made the revelation by Governor Sule more disturbing is the correlation with the newly commissioned Dangote’s multi-billion Naira Refinery that cost the same amount ($19bn) or a little less. Dangote’s plant has the capacity to refine 650,000 barrels per day. It took six years to build and it is the biggest in Africa.
Now the question is, who will explain to the befuddled Nigerians what the swallowing up of $19bn by the four refineries in the name of Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) without refining a litre of fuel in the eight years of the Buhari administration mean?
Talking about sinking $19bn into the bottomless pits called refineries reminds me of what the Obasanjo administration did to the power sector, another sick baby suffering from an incurable ailment worse than AIDS. For eight years, Obasanjo allegedly pumped over $16bn into electricity generation but at the end of the day, he bestowed to his fatherland less than 3,000 megawatts while exiting power. That quantum of electricity is what Heathrow Airport alone consumes.
At the time Ghana achieved 24-hour uninterrupted power supply, South Africa which we pushed to the second position in the ranking as the largest economy in Africa was generating 50,000 megawatts to serve its population of 60m. It is, therefore, scandalous and a huge shame that Nigeria which is home to more than 200m folks is struggling with less than 3,000 megawatts. It is the reason our economy has collapsed. In fact, it began to collapse on the head of Obasanjo.
Consequently, many industries vanished from our soil. They fled to neighbouring countries like Ghana where power supply was not afflicted with epilepsy! Electricity is a critical infrastructure no serious government will toy with. It is a sector you ignore at your own peril, as we have experienced in this country over the years. Nigeria prefers to power its economy with generating sets.
I once passed my neighbour three times. In other words, I had three generators in my abode running shifts and categorised as small, medium and big… the small one is commonly referred to as I pass my neighbour. I have been down to one for quite a while now which I regard as an asset. Harbouring three generators at this time when the pump price of PMS has tripled makes passing my neighbour three times a liability rather than an asset.
Nigeria is a strange country where its leaders are not held to account. They do whatever they like and get away with it. Obasanjo allegedly whacked $16bn and the legacy he left behind was eternal darkness. Now the Buhari administration is said to have funneled over $19bn into the four refineries, averaging $5bn per refinery in eight years and the critical facilities remain in a desuetude state.
Now, it is Buhari’s turn. He was conned (or was he under a spell?) to shell more than $19bn over a period of eight years to turn the four refineries around for the better but the plants were turned around for the worse. Those who were responsible for the monumental heist must not go scot free, regardless of their status and connections. This manner of thefts can only subsist in Nigeria where corruption is a demigod worshipped by those in high places.
But there is a new Sheriff in town who has hit the ground sprinting. He has pledged to fix one refinery by the end of the year. We should wish him well and pray that he would not be caught in the dithering web. His immediate predecessor did not only swear to fix all the moribund refineries but also promised to build new ones yearly. Those promises have gone up in smoke!
Postscript: Have you heard the good news? Man of Action, President Tinubu, yesterday signed into law a bill ending the monopoly of power generation, transmission and distribution by the Gencos and Discos. This new law will allow states, corporate organisations and every Tomiwa, Dike and Haruna to venture into the sector… and put an end to the eternal contract successive leaders have been renewing with (agents of) darkness that have held us captive since Independence. Hurrah!
Another new normal
Yes, another new normal has happened on us… coming a couple of years after COVID-19 pandemic drove everyone into their cocoons. For close to a year or more, economic and social activities were reduced to a gathering of a handful of people. Social distancing became the norm and we all had to go behind the masks like common criminals.
Millions were sickened of the killer ailment made in China. Equally, millions of lives were lost across the globe. Government offices, private establishments and commercial activities were also shut down. Worship centres, schools and markets were not spared either. Despair and hunger stalked the land. It was like the end of the world was near; we all lived by the day.
To ensure that the world did not grind to a halt, health experts had to think outside the box while solutions were being worked out to put the pandemic on the backfoot. Then, the idea of working from home sprang up. We all had the ICT or Information and Communication Technology to thank for it. Today, the pandemic has been eliminated but the new normal of doing things refused to die with the disease.
In fact, it has gained ground in most advanced countries where people now work or prefer to work from home. A niece of mine based in the United Kingdom told me that many folks are opting to work from home. I think we should return to the pandemic era of working from home where it is possible.
The government of Kwara state set an example this week by declaring three working days in a week. Other states are borrowing a leaf from the “O to gee” state. For now, it is the only way to go around the astronomical fare hike occasioned by the disappearance of the subsidy on PMS until something positive comes out of the turbulent period.
Everyone is talking about palliatives. Palliatives (I nearly wrote palliathieves) were sent after subsidy removal during Obasanjo’s regime that gave birth to the FG-assisted Mass Transit Buses. The policy failed. The Jonathan regime came up with palliatives that punched a hole twice the amount spent on the subsidy in the government purse. It did not work.
Methinks water will eventually find its level as time wears on. Prices of goods and services must come down when demands for them fall. For now, we should all boycott the boycottables. Cikenan!
