Editorial
Ordeal of ‘Olori’ Naomi: A metaphor for Tinubu’s failed state
Nothing speaks more to the irony of fate and contradiction! Since the first stampede in Ibadan on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, Nigeria has been in a set of unusual frenzy – one that underscores everything the country has turned out in recent years – a country were the wicked reigns – a country where the victims are confined to applauding their oppressors or suffer for not doing so.
Silekunola Moronke Naomi, the ex-wife of the Ooni of Ife showcases the symbol of this uncanny situation. She is currently an inmate at the Agodi Correctional Centre in Oyo State. Her offence was organising the event that led to the deadly Oyo stampede on that fateful day where 35 children reportedly lost their lives.
How did she get there? Kindness! Her good heart led her there. The narrative was that she had earlier sent out an invitation to help 5,000 indigent children of the state to come for some freebies in the spirit of the Yuletide. But she simply got more than she bargained for. Many say, this was not her first time. But how was she to know that these were not normal times. She never envisaged the level to which the country had generated. That was the anti-climax.
Now, she has become the victim. Slammed with a four-count charge of “conspiracy and murder” before the Chief Magistrate Court in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, she is ostensibly being made to carry the can of the entire frustrations from the obvious failures that have beset the country over the years – outcomes of not only an insipid and clueless leadership, but one led by a political party that has served the citizenry with nothing outside one thing – PAIN!
They insist that she must pay for her “crimes.” Their footsoldiers are all and about, boasting that she must be used to set examples against those others who commit similar mortal sins or are intent on doing so. The police – now a willing tool – more as an agent of repression and oppression, have suddenly found a new gusto. They now want to do their duty and enforce the law.
Even the President, upped this ante when he told his visitors, at his first media chat in Lagos: “I’ve been giving out foodstuff and commodities, including envelopes in Bourdillon, for the last 25 years, and I’ve never experienced this kind of incident because we are organised and disciplined. If you know you won’t have enough to give, don’t attempt to give or publicise it.”
That Tinubu, chose to toe this line of blaming others outside himself, remains the major tragedy. But you know what? All the frenzies are tailored for one thing – a distraction. They are meant to deviate from the main issue – hunger in the land. The ground for that calamity was watered by the callousness and mindlessness, if not the bestiality of the past 18 months since the government of President Bola Tinubu took charge.
We submit that no government, past or present, has plunged Nigeria into the level of bottomless pit of hopelessness witnessed during this period. Not even the government of Muhammadu Buhari, his predecessor. Yes, under that locust-ravaged eight years, the performance of Nigeria became so abysmal that it became the poorest country in the world. Yes, Nigeria struggled with other countries in the world for the top position in the misery index. Yes, Nigerians became so despondent that many incidents of frustrated citizens practically jumping into lagoons or drinking poison to end it all, became rampant.
Yet, things were never this bad. In fact, whatever the country witnessed in that era, have increased in multiples under Tinubu’s nose. If indeed the ex-queen committed any crime, it was not in her kindness to save these Nigerians from imminent sure death by hunger, it was in not capturing the level of hunger and despondency in the land.
For those calling for her head, including the analysts making noise in the media, what plans could she have put in place to wedge those scores of empty bellies? What magic could she have performed to contain that hungry crowd with fire in their eyes? Did these critics not hear that mothers, practically threw their children over the fence, so that they would not miss the opportunity of grabbing something, if only to assuage the hunger of that day? What magic could have sufficed outside abandoning the project totally.
Indeed, witnesses have come out to testify that the December 18th event was not the first time the same Olori organised the event. Yet, she never had such a sad outing. Where then did she err to the level of being served such a sad fate, all because she wanted to feed the poor? This is the question many of her traducers must answer. When has kindness become a crime?
Okay, the police that are now harrying and haunting her with murder charges, where were they before the incident? Did they need to be invited before they would act in public interest? How many times were they invited to hound Nigerians into detention or even liquidating others during demonstrations? Who invited them during the August 1-10 hunger protests?
Yet, the same institution, which was quick to corral scores of underage children into their gaol and charge them for treason simply because they protested against the biting hunger in the land, could not find and employ the same enthusiasm in protecting hungry citizens from plunging to their early death in the same manner. They now needed to be invited.
Ostensibly, the similar calamities that occurred in Abuja and Okija in Anambra State, on Saturday, December 21, just some few hours after have since shown where the problem lies – the empty stomachs of Nigerians – their hopelessness – their misery – no more, no less. They also indicate that the solution does not lie in rounding up the Good Samaritans like the Olori, but in tackling the crisis from the root – filling those empty stomachs. Nothing else would work.
Mathew Hassan Kukah, could not have made a better point in this regard, when he said in his Christmas message that: “The tragedies that occurred in Okija, Ibadan, and Abuja where innocent people lost their lives in stampedes at food distribution points are a metaphor for the situation of desperation that citizens have been thrown into. The failures of government to respond concretely toward ending the horrible crisis of hunger and desperation has created the conditions for these avoidable tragedies.
“Citizens are lapsing into despair. The Catholic Church is not new to providing succour for the needy and vulnerable. Government needs to work more closely with institutions that help to promote the common good of our society.”
Before him, Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), in the 2023 presidential election, had pointed to the danger in the current clampdown on the Olori and others, saying: “While still in mourning mood over the precious lives lost due to tragic incidents stemming from the distribution of palliatives, I am deeply pained that such occurrences are a reflection of the severe hunger and poverty currently ravaging our nation.
“I want to make a heartfelt appeal to the government to reconsider this action. Acts of goodwill, even when they unintentionally result in unfortunate outcomes, should not be criminalised. This particular initiative was intended to alleviate suffering and bring relief to the people.
“If accountability is to be sought, it should begin with the leaders and policymakers whose cumulative actions—or inactions—have inflicted the widespread hardship and suffering we see today. It is the systemic failure of governance, not the efforts of well-meaning individuals, that should be scrutinized. As a nation, we must collectively retrace our steps and prioritise policies and actions that uplift the lives of our people. Let us redirect our focus toward creating a system where no citizen is left desperate for necessities.”
Because we are on all fours with the above views and also insist that the main culprits are Tinubu and his government for wantonly battering the Nigerian economy by unleashing such mindless, heartless and outright wickedness on the citizenry through his obviously impulsive policies, Olori Silekunola Moronke Naomi and all those similarly arrested must be released immediately. Let the wicked pay for their sins, not the benevolent and kindhearted.
A few days before the announcement of President Bola Tinubu as THISDAY Man of the Year (MoTY) for 2024, the crew hosting The Morning Show, a breakfast programme on Arise News network, had informed their viewers that a joint project was in the works between the two sister organisations towards making a credible choice. Do not forget that both organisations are owned by the versatile media mogul, Prince Nduka Obaigbena.
When Tinubu was eventually named, on January 31, 2024, Reuben Abati, the alter ego of the Arise News branch in that joint team, made a job of work of it, with a clear attempt to exonerate the television network from the decision. Instead of the previous announcement that it was a collaborative project with a sister body, he sent an unequivocal message – this is the handiwork of THISDAY Board of Editors.
To the discerning, this explanation, seemed to have underscored the level of debate which might have gone down between the two tendencies in the THISDAY-Arise house to warrant the latter pulling out. Mind you, this ubiquitous THISDAY Board of Editors, a body supposedly embodying the intelligentsia arm within the leadership of The Nigerian Newspaper of Record, arguably one of the most authoritative Nigerian publications for decades, is not new to controversy. Rather, it has since established an uncanny reputation for taking positions on national issues, which many consider totally at variance with the reality on ground if not outrightly insensitive.
Recall that notorious stance of the same team on the likely outcome of the 2023 presidential election, which eventually turned out embarrassingly vacuous in the end, despite the load of work and research the team claimed to have invested in reaching to its conclusion.
That the Arise News team, quickly beat a retreat by taking the Pontus Pilate option of washing its hand of the choice of Tinubu, is not only quite revealing, but instructive. Only very few would fail to notice its implication either.
The reverberating echoes trailing the announcement, from a groundswell of the Nigerian public, tells the rest of the story. That the fire ignited by that singular outing, has refused to dim, not to talk of extinguishing, attests to the criticality of its impact to the polity.
Like many Nigerians, we find this outing quite nauseating, to say the least. Yes! The idea of MoTY, is global as it is common knowledge. We agree that it is usually not an endorsement of right or wrong and that the recognition is given to a man or woman that has made the greatest impact to the society within the year in question.
But in this regard, THISDAY was clear and unequivocal on how it got to the choice. We therefore base our total aversion to the choice of Tinubu from its own mouth. Unfortunately we declare that not a single submission, argument or reasoning for reaching this strange conclusion is agreeable in anyway, because they do not reflect the realities on ground.
We neither agree with the direction Tinubu is headed nor his ideas of salvaging the ruins Nigeria has become over the years could be achieved by further leading the country into the dark alley filled with gloom or doom or plunging it into the bottomless pit of hopelessness where abject poverty and sustained hunger has become a daily singsong before his own idea of of Eldorado comes to pass.
What is more? It would have made more sense if the President is also embarking on the same journey with the ordinary Nigerians. Unfortunately, he is not. Rather, everything suggests that he is living his best life, having achieved his life-time ambition of grabbing, snatching and running away with the nation’s number one job. Like millions of other Nigerians, we are not blind to witness the sheer opulence surrounding him and the lavish lifestyle he leads alongside his acolytes within and outside the Aso Rock precinct.
Yet, no leader, military or civilian has driven Nigeria into the level of poverty, misery and hopelessness as the country is currently undergoing under the President. He has struck Nigeria with the deadliest blows and the hardest times in its six-decade history.
So, how could such a man be mentioned even in passing, let alone being conferred with such a rewarding recognition using the superlative terms the THISDAY Editors, employed to arrive at their decision – terms like courage, daring, doggedness or resilience? Of course, these terms, if used in the negative sense, would have made more proper meaning in today’s Nigerian reality. Out of all these accolades, the term courage, seems most disconcerting if not outrightly annoying.
Pray! What is the courage in punishing your country deliberately, simply because you possess the powers to do so? Is it courage or indiscretion that a surgeon would deliberately refuse to apply anesthesia before putting his patient under the knives knowing the sure outcome? What manner of a surgeon would that be?
Tinubu is wont to remind Nigerians that the pain in the country is like a woman undergoing childbirth and the joy would come after successful delivery. But which woman would survive a Cesarian Section delivery with the doctors cutting her up without first sedating her to kill the pain?
That is exactly what Tinubu has done with his subsidy removal and floating of the Naira, the two major policies that are central to his much-trumpeted reforms idea, which has left the remaining citizens yet to die in near-death pains and the same economy he claims to be salvaging gasping for breath out of asphyxiation.
It is even more tragic that the President has continued pushing on despite the excruciating agony in the country. Is it too difficult for Tinubu or those egging him on to see the number of people dying as a result?
No! Far from it! It is not courage for a man to beat up his wife or any woman for that matter because he has the powers to do so. It is rather an act of weakness, if not cowardice. It is also not courage to beat up a man in a wheelchair or be flogging a sick horse or even a lion with broken legs. These are akin to what Tinubu is doing to Nigerians.
In fact, the All Progressives Congress (APC), government of the past 10 years or so, has so dealt with Nigerians through the systematic bastardisation of every segment of the polity that there is hardly any breath left in them for any fight. They are now like a sick horse lying prostrate on its stomach – an easy pick for any prey.
It began with Muhammadu Buhari, who practically disembowelled the entire polity and left the citizenry decapitated, dishevelled and disoriented. From being dubbed the biggest in Africa and one of the best investment destinations of the world with most alluring climate for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), the fortunes of Nigeria under him plummeted to the unenviable position of the poorest country in the world.
That was the country Tinubu met and now preying on. So, what is the courage in further plunging the same people into more poverty and worsening their misfortune, knowing that they neither possess the energy nor the resources to fight back? What is daring about it? Do you dare a hungry man who has not eaten for months and is lying helplessly on his belly to a fight?
That he has gotten away with the two deadly policies is not a function of any sort of courage, nerve or bravery, more than it is a testament of the vanishing tigritude in the Nigerian tiger from the continuous pummelling it has been getting daily over the years. That is why Tinubu can afford to prance about with cavalier abandon. It is therefore neither an acceptance or endorsement of those policies. Nigerians are simply bemoaning their fate silently, waiting to be saved somehow or accept their sure death someday. Simple!
Besides, what is left of their fighting spirit, has been taken away by the instrumentality of the almost completely weakened national institutions, which are now clearly turned against them. Citizens’ dissent, a veritable tool of holding government accountable has not only been outlawed but defiance is met with brute force.
In a situation where the police, the army and other security forces are there to put down any form of demonstration and where public protests have become so risky that demonstrators are lucky to get home with their lives and limbs intact, what else is left?
With what happened in the 10-day #Hardshipprotest, of August 1-10, 2024, where many of the partakers barely escaped the brutality of the security operatives unleashed on them in the streets while scores of others spent months in detention dungeons, including children on charges of treason – a hitherto heavy, scarce crime – which has now become an everyday mantra for even the mildest disputes found in civil cases like Dele Farotimi’s defamation trial, no one is left in doubt as to where Nigeria is headed today.
Perhaps, the eggheads at THISDAY, were confusing recklessness and heartlessness, undue obstinacy needless stiff-neckedness for courage. That is the only other plausible explanation for their strange choice. We do not want to join in imputing other motives
Otherwise, leadership courage, as a phenomenon is not difficult to discern. Many other leaders before him, had shown clear examples. From Keneth Kaunda, Nelson Mandela, to Robert Mugabe, Africa has a surfeit of great men and women who went into the trenches to liberate their countries and others who took definite stands in various forms that became demonstrable evidences of courage.
Indeed, courage could only come by confronting greater obstacles like David challenging Goliath and not vice versa. The Goliaths of Nigeria are there for all to see. They are the vested interests that have led Nigeria to its prostrate state. They are the powerful and the mighty, not ordinary Nigerians. These people are not affected by subsidy removal. Their state of the art cars have not disappeared from the streets like those of the ordinary Nigerians. They still fill their tanks at filling stations and still throw lavish parties.
They are the ones to be targeted. Instead of the whimsical announcement – subsidy is gone – through which he plunged Nigeria into the progressively catastrophic state it has witnessed since the last 20 months or so, Tinubu would do well to direct his gaze towards the Niger Delta for instance. There, he would find the powerful men that would match him force for force. He should go and defeat them. That would qualify him for the glorious crown of bravery.
A courageous leader would stand toe to toe, staring eyeball to eyeball with the behemoths that are believed to still be diverting half of the proceeds of the nation’s oil production into private pockets till date. If that massive pillaging of the commonwealth is ended, the production capacity ramped up by another half and the proceeds therefrom added to the national coffers, who would quarrel even if Tinubu is dubbed the modern-day Caesar?
In recent years, some parts of Nigeria have become totally inaccessible by the ordinary folks due to banditry and terrorists, said to be funded and armed by foreigners with vast interests in illegal mining operations and other criminal activities.
Courage ought to push President Tinubu to look in this direction and confront the monster, local and foreign. That way, farmers would return to their farms to produce food with attendant domino-effect of curing the malaise of food insecurity and attendant social vices. That way, citizens, including those in refugee camps would join in hailing and decorating his cap with the golden feathers as the New Nigerian hero.
What stops Tinubu from being spotted in Lagos boarding a local flight to Abuja, or driving himself in the street of Lagos or travelling incommunicado on Lagos-Ibadan, Abuja-Kaduna or any other federal highways? What stops him from alighting from his vehicle to listen and assure those women, who cheered him as Jagaban, now crying, ebi n’pa wa?
That is how to be daring. That is how to be courageous. That is how to exhibit rare leadership. That is how to win the hearts of the people. That is how to win the MoTY in a positive sense. Anything else is not only the inapposite, it is fraud.
Courage is not about making quirky, uncanny, impulsive, spur of the moment declarations. It is not a function of using any means necessary to sustain mindless, insensitive and callous policies including shutting down voices of opposition.
You can only be lionised as a hero for acts of bravery or valour. In that case, you must either have fought a lion with bare hands and defeated it, or more at home, at least fought your equals on fair ground. Tinubu has not done any of these. Famished Nigerians are not on fair grounds with him.
Further we say and further we maintain, unleashing untold hardship on citizens earns Tinubu no badge of honour as the THISDAY Board of Editors, tried to infer. The two policies, which sustenance this body hinged their decision on, are nothing but rash, instinctive and insensitive, if not reckless, foolhardy and outrightly wicked. No more no less!
Millions have died already due to hunger, starvation, disease and stampede. Many have jumped into lagoons, hung themselves on trees or quietly ended it all by taking poison. Many have killed their brothers or engaged in other malevolent acts to survive. Millions are going to die this month and in the months to come. How many more need to go before reality dawns?
Last Wednesday, Dangote Petroleum Refinery (DPR), came out with the news of the reduction in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol. The move was the second since September this year, when the refinery – a $20billion facility sunk in the Ibeju Lekki area of Lagos, began full operation in Nigeria.
Anthony Chiejina, spokesman of the Dangote Group, first announced such a measure on November 24, 2024, saying the refinery was skipping N20 off its price ex-depot price of N970 per litre from the N990, where it stood as of that date, a move the company said was way of “appreciating Nigerians for their unwavering support in making the refinery a dream come true.”
He added in a statement: “In addition, this is to thank the government for their support as this will complement the measures put in place to encourage domestic enterprise for our collective well-being. While the refinery would not compromise on the quality of its petroleum products, we assure you of best quality products that are environmentally friendly and sustainable. We are determined to keep ramping up production to meet and surpass our domestic fuel consumption; thus, dispelling any fear of a shortfall in supply.”
Wednesday’s statement, from the selfsame Chiejina, Chiejina, Chief Branding and Communications Officer of the company toed the same line, when he wrote: “To alleviate transport costs during this holiday season, Dangote Refinery is offering a holiday discount on PMS. From today, our petrol will be available at N899.50 per litre at our truck loading gantry or SPM. Furthermore, for every litre purchased on a cash basis, consumers will have the opportunity to buy another litre on credit, backed by a bank guarantee from Access Bank, First Bank, or Zenith Bank.”
On Saturday, the company upped the ante in another statement via its X platform, informing that it had entered a deal with MRS, one of the oil marketing majors to use its outlets across the country to ensure PMS sells at ₦935 per litre nationwide at its retail outlets, a development which is coming on the heels of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), also slashing prices below ₦1,000 per litre.
Again, Chiejina was on song, this time quoting Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, in a statement, where the African richest man commended President Bola Tinubu profusely “for the positive impact of the naira for crude swap deal on the Nigerian economy, which has led to a reduction in prices of petroleum products in the country.”
Hear him: “To provide succour to Nigerians, Dangote recently reduced the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from N970 to N899.50 at its Refinery loading gantry and provided generous credit terms to marketers. To ensure that this price reduction gets to the end consumer, we have signed a partnership with MRS to sell petrol from its retail outlets nationwide at N935 per litre. This price has already commenced in Lagos, and it will be offered nationwide from Monday.
“The Dangote Refinery is for the benefit of Nigeria and Nigerians. We will therefore continue to work with various value chain players to deliver high quality petrol at cheaper prices. Our aim is for all Nigerians to have ready access to high quality petroleum products that are good for their vehicles, good for their health, and good for their pockets.”
Now, these series of “goodwill” gestures are supposed to send Nigerians into cloud nine of happiness. Consumers are supposed to rush to the market square with drums to celebrate the mere removal of a misery amount that is not even up to N50. Yet, these were the same people who watched the price of the same product jump from N189 to N550 in a matter of hours – the same Nigerians that watched, albeit helplessly, the progressive and continuous jump in the same prices, such that it hit N1,300 per litre in less than a year. They are the ones that would roll out the drums to celebrate the fractional reduction of N40. What a kind, considerate, benevolent gesture!
Yes! Ordinarily, the gesture ought to have called for celebration. But it is only when it is genuine and credible and not a display of deceit, for which the people have been subjected in recent months. Nigerians are no fools. At least, not the sort of fools the purveyors of the Dangote plot seem to take them for.
They have to be complete imbeciles or struck with Mongolian Idiocy Syndrome (MIS) not to notice the obvious machination embedded in the macabre dance that has been the Dangote story. First, it started with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) striking at the company’s Ikoyi, Lagos headquarters of the company in January 2024, for yet to be fully explained reasons, save that it was one of the scenes in a series, where each plot clung to another in some sort of tragicomedy.
These same Nigerians watched and followed the steamy episode that played out with the official government pronouncement that Dangote Refinery was producing bad fuel, which came with its own ruckus that added its own din in the suffusing drama. This was before the pricing contestations and the back and forth that attended the controversy, before things got to where they are today.
Even the most indolent and poor economic students could still recall the textbook lessons about factors of production. They were drummed into every child’s head right from primary school – nearness to market, cheap labour, land, capital, nearness to source of raw materials. Suddenly all these disappeared completely or took the backseat in the Dangote debate – subsumed in the singular bemusing, if not insular line – oil is an international commodity.
Every man on suit that appears on television, tend to trumpet this single-line narrative. Obviously compromised by personal interests, they bandy around phantom figures that bear little relevance to the Nigerian situation – about how much fuel sells in the US, UK and other countries, without telling the same audience that a week’s salary of workers in these countries amount to a year’s earnings of their Nigerian counterparts.
What could be more obtuse and even laughable than the suggestion that Dangote would have to wait for the All Progressives Congress (APC) government through the Federal Executive Council (NEC), to fix the price of his petrol, when such demands were not made for cement, sugar and pastas he also produces? Of course, in a country where little children are being charged for treason for displaying mere flags and where people now spend months in detention for “insulting” someone on social media, what else would not make sense to the purveyors?
So, because of the drama that has beclouded the Dangote project, even this supposed “benevolence” and “Yuletide gift,” could only be taken with a pinch of salt. It could only fit into the multiple angles of interpretations, Nigerians have attached to the dance of shame that is the Dangote story. Who is to blame?
Deji Adeyanju, lawyer and rights activist, who has been on the matter since the malady started and who is emphatic that without taking care of vested interests, Dangote could sell at N500 and still smile to the banks was even considered quite generous. Not a few Nigerians believe that the margin could be far less – even less than N200, simply because petrol is just one in more than 15 items that could be produced by a refinery.
There are even whispers that the price is deliberately hiked for political reason. The argument is that it would begin to reduce over time gradually so that by the time election period starts to gather momentum it would be forced to an appreciably downward level, so that by the time it hits to about N500 or lower, it would be considered as part of the economic wizardry of the APC government.
Then, there is also the reality of the situation today suggesting that more than 50 per cent of car owners in the country, have practically abandoned them for alternative choice of movement and operators filling stations are virtually drinking their products due to low patronage, meaning that the recent gesture, could be an economic move to pull them out.
So, in the main, only very few could be impressed with the new outing of Dangote and his actors. Nigerians are still left with some scintilla of brain matters, enough to reason that something is amiss in the entire sequence and significant enough for them to at least suspect, even in their idiocy state that they are once again being taken for a ride with this story of price reduction.
So, let no one take them for fools. No doubt, there is every reason for Dangote to ride the decorated horse. Besides being the African richest man, he is the first in 35 years to build a refinery anywhere in Africa. He did so as a private citizen, breaking barriers where even the strongest governments failed. succeeding. Those feats may never be matched in his lifetime.
That should be enough feathers to his crown. But trying to add another feather in the colour of “champion of the masses” with this obvious Greek Gift of price reduction is not only akin to taking Nigerians for a ride, but pushing the envelopes too far. Nice try, though! But if he is too busy to notice, those around him should help him realise that the joke is actually on him for trying!
On Tuesday, November 27, President Bola Tinubu, rolled out the drums to lead Nigerians into high-hearted celebration of coming into stream of the Port Harcourt Refinery, in Rivers State. He not only linked the feat to the determination of his government and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to revamp the Nigerian economy, but added that Nigerians should expect more goodies.
For emphasis, the statement by Bayo Onanuga, his spokesman, conveying the President’s high enthusiasm, read: “With the successful revival of the Port Harcourt refinery, President Tinubu urges NNPC Limited to expedite the scheduled reactivation of both the second Port Harcourt refinery and the Warri and Kaduna refineries.
These efforts will significantly enhance domestic production capacity alongside the contributions of privately-owned refineries and make our country a major energy hub, with the gas sector also enjoying unprecedented attention by the administration. The President underscores his administration’s determination to repair the nation’s refineries, aiming to eradicate the disheartening perception of Nigeria as a major crude oil producer that lacks the ability to refine its own resources for domestic consumption.
Highlighting the values of patience, integrity, and accountability in the rebuilding of the nation’s infrastructure, President Tinubu calls upon individuals, institutions, and citizens entrusted with responsibilities to maintain focus and uphold trust in their service to the nation. In alignment with the Renewed Hope Agenda focused on shared economic prosperity for all, the President reaffirms his administration’s commitment to achieving energy sufficiency, enhancing energy security, and boosting export capacity for Nigeria.”
For this, Tinubu was full of praises for Muhammadu Buhari, his predecessor – remember he was the one who secured the $1.5billion loan to start the rehabilitation project in 2021 – and Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (GMD-CEO) of the NNPCL, “whose unwavering dedication and commitment were instrumental in overcoming challenges to achieve this milestone.”
But even as the echoes of Tinubu’s superlative words were still reverberating in the horizon, the huge balloon that carried the message soon went burst, with the information that the entire development was a scam and that Nigerians should not expect any drop of refined product from the facility, because there was none.
For emphasis, the entity was still comatose – dead as dodo, as Nigerians say. This damning revelation came from the community hosting the facility, which claimed that it would have been the first that would roll out the drums to celebrate were the narrative given out by the NNPCL and by extension the government credible, but now felt it a duty to alert Nigerians at the same time that they were being conned – as in swindled – hornswoggled.
Timothy Igbere, Timothy Mgbesa, Secretary of Alesa Community Stakeholders, the River State host of the refinery, in a detailed narrative, painted the ugly picture of the facility to underscore how Nigerians were being taken for a ride, while appearing on The Morning Show, the breakfast programme on Arise News Television on Thursday.
Hear him: “For an agency that is holding the oil industry in trust for Nigeria, they shouldn’t put out some of these information that are not true. What happened on Tuesday is that the NNPCL is under pressure and went out to tell Nigerians that the old refinery has started working. I can tell you that the GMD or the CEO was in Port Harcourt since Monday. The other MDs were also in Port Harcourt.
“The MD of Port Harcourt Refinery and the those heading the operations department, they didn’t sleep throughout Monday because of these whole events they had on Tuesday. What was the true picture? The old refinery is built with its own utilities, different from the new Port Harcourt Refinery. In terms of tank farms, the tank farm of serving the old Port Harcourt Refinery has a different loading gantry at the depot.
“The party that was held on Tuesday, was held at the new loading gantry that is directly connected to the new refinery. How does that work? It is impossible. They went there because the storage facility for the old refinery had some old stock that has been there for over three years. So, what they had, they released that stock, loaded six trucks and then televised it to Nigerians that that is the production from the old Port Harcourt Refinery.
“That is not true. I like Nigerians to know the truth. But they don’t need to believe me, because Nigerians, no matter how you paint the true pictures to them, they get sentimental, they get tribal, they want to whip up sentiments and all that. The product that was loaded – and let me be on record that it was only six trucks and it was not the new refined products from the old refinery.
“Let me shock you, if we’re celebrating that the Port Harcourt Refinery is already functional, how come they loaded only four trucks of the product? The whole day starting from 7am that worked resumed at the old Port Harcourt Refinery, it was only four trucks that were loaded till about 8.35 – only four trucks.
“Yet, they said it was automated. How can you have a truck under a bay for more than six hours under an automated system? Back in the years when we had manual system, it didn’t take more than 45minutes to load one truck. You can ask from any operational staff or any person that has been at the depot area.
“Manual system loads a truck for about 45 minutes. So, fully automated, fully rehabilitated – and then you tell us it’s 70 per cent operational – and then you tell us you’re loading four trucks for a whole day under the loading gantry for more than six to seven hours. Who are we deceiving? I think that’s a clear picture of the whole event at the Port Harcourt depot and by extension, the Port Harcourt Refinery.”
Nick Agule, an energy expert, who also on the same programme, echoed the same mantra, stating: “This refinery NNPC is running is owned by Nigerians. We are the owners of this asset and NNPCL is our servant. They are our workers and they have to report back to us in the most transparent way the situation with this refinery, not only the Port Harcourt refinery, but with the three others. I can say that this is not happening.
“First and foremost, the statement that was issued by the NNPCL announcing the commencement of production at the old refinery, did not carry anything. It was that production had started and that was it. It was when the controversy started to be generated on social media and other platforms that NNPCL issued a second statement and in this statement, they provided more data.
“The point here is why did they not able to mention to us the owners of this refinery. Why did they have to wait for this controversy to be generated before they gave us additional data. So, I will say that as it stands now, Nigerians are right in doubting. Nigerians are correct and I believe we’re being pragmatic if the NNPCL is not coming across to them in the way they desire.”
The NNPCL, has however clapped back. In a quick riposte, Olufemi Soneye, dismissed the Igbere as grossly ignorant, insisting that production at the facility was almost at full capacity, though he fell short of telling Nigerians why the company stated that 200 trucks carrying products were loaded from there while the number as actually less than 10.
Hear Soneye, Chief Communications Officer: “He (Mgbere) claimed that the old Port Harcourt Refinery was only operating skeletally and was not processing PMS. His proof was that the PMS truck-out was done at the gantry of the new Port Harcourt Refinery as against the gantry of the old Port Harcourt Refinery.
“This betrays his scant knowledge of the operations of the refinery. The old and new Port Harcourt Refineries have since been integrated with one single terminal for product load-out.
“They share common utilities like power and storage tanks. This means that storage tanks and loading gantry which he claimed belongs to the new Port-Harcourt Refinery can also receive products from the Old Port Harcourt Refinery.”
Now, the latest indication, suggest that the community was actually right. Not only that there are no 200 trucks being loaded, the loading bay at the refinery is actually empty, but the entire complex is said to be without much life.
The PUNCH, which took a tour of the facility, returned with a verdict of inactivity, with the only explanation being that water was being drained from the storage tanks of the refinery so that new products would be pumped into them by the time full operation resumed.
It is up to Nigerians to choose what to believe. But for us at the Whirlwindnews.com.ng, the position of the NNPCL requires more than a axiomatic pinch of salt to accept, while that of the Alasa people seems too irresistible and seducing to ignore. We will be profusely glad if we are proved wrong. But for now, there is no reason not to reject the former as a cock and bull story.
Why do we adopt this attitude? Right from the outset, the APC has proven strong deficiency in credibility and truth-telling, but maintains optimal capacity and tendency for deceit and lying to the people. Pray! What has the APC touched in Nigeria that they have not destroyed. What promise have they kept?
Take the instant case. On countless occasions they had claimed that the same Port Harcourt Refinery had been fixed, starting from the days of Ibe Kachukwu as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources under Buhari.
Remember the days of Buhari’s Body Language (BBL), when the world was told that fuel would start gushing out from the facility in a matter of days by just the President directing his gaze towards Port Harcourt. Morning came and evening came and the magic did not happen.
Even since Tinubu took over, some 18 months ago, the commencement of production at the facility has been promised and postponed more than five times. Why should we believe now that Nigerians are not being scammed as the Alasa community is alleging?
From the wacky story so far, a day might come when officials could store imported petrol in the tank farms at night and discharge same during the day as fuel from the facility. We can no longer put anything beyond these people.
What we do not know is whether Tinubu is aware of what is going on under his nose. But it would be tragic whether he knows and allows the scam to continue in order to cover up the complete disaster the APC has turned out. It would also be a greater tragedy if he does not! Terribly so!
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