AN Online  news report of Sunday 28th November, 2016 carried the headline: “Militancy pushes government to turn to Niger oil”. According to the report, “The federal government has planned to construct pipelines from Niger Republic to Kaduna refinery…the NNPC confirmed that this was ordered by the President”. It went further, “The federal government has finalised plans of the construction of a 1000kilometre crude oil pipelines from Niger Republic to Kaduna refinery…”

This decision or proposed decision of the federal government to embark on this project is a misstep. I call it misstep because it will end up like all previous white elephant projects embarked on by the federal government that has not seen the light of day. If it is done in response to the Niger Delta militants challenge, it is illogical, as half of the amount to be used for the project, if judiciously applied to the challenges of the Niger Delta can eliminate the problems .

What is the problem of the oil producing Niger Delta communities? The people have grown up to witness utter neglect and discrimination, even on issues concerning their God given resources. Where the tank farms belonging to the oil companies, lying side by side these communities, are fully equipped with the luxuries of life, while the communities are in darkness and poverty. This is comparable with the old Maroko shanty in Victoria Island facing the luxury of Ikoyi, in Lagos state. I guess Maroko  was buldozed out of existence by the government of the day because of the probable future consequences, in its place you have the present Lekki estates.

What is happening in the Niger Delta oil communities is unimaginable, where landlords have become beggars to their own tenants, no electricity, no potable water  supply and other basic needs of life. Does this occur   anywhere else in the world? What the oil producing communities need are necessary infrastructure and education. Do that with concern and respect for their culture and you will win their hearts and have a free reign.

The people of the Niger Delta are very peaceful and friendly and very open to strangers – go to Warri, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Benin, Uyo and others – no discrimination of any sort. Why is it then difficult for the federal authorities to understand this? Going to Niger Republic to import crude oil will not impact the Niger Delta negatively.  In fact, the whole nation will suffer the consequences because of the waste, monies that would have been channeled to more productive and beneficial projects will be used for it. To be sure of this argument, our people must go back to our history, the people of the Niger Delta have always been prosperous and self dependent, with or without oil. If oil exploration activities are shut down for two years and the mangrove swamps allowed to flow naturally, the people will be able to feed themselves on the proceeds from the aqua culture alone, not to mention the diverse resources in agriculture – rubber, palm oil, timber, cassava, and others – which are in abundance in this region.

The biggest challenge that the people of the Niger Delta have faced is the exploration and drilling of oil in their land, it has not made them grow progressively, instead it has turned brothers against brothers with the active connivance of the federal authorities. Instead of improving the communities, they are busy empowering moles and stooges to do their bidding, to the disadvantage of the people.The example of Saro Wiwa’s Ogoni debacle is still fresh in our memory and this has made the people to remain restive till date. Every day you put the bucket in the well, one day the bottom will drop – apologies to late Bob Marley. The people are now very conscious of their God given resources and no amount of government threat and intimidation can take that away, the solution to the Niger Delta challenge is so simple; send representatives to other parts of the civilised world where oil is produced -US, UK, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and others – study how the people of the oil communities are taken care of or treated, come home to Nigeria and implement same, period. Why is it so difficult for revelant authorities in Nigeria to understand this? Why do they think that they can continue to govern the people through naked force or coercion? Even the super powers are not able to impose their will on smaller nations these days because the times have changed.

Our leaders must learn from what is happening in the world. Assuming we succeed in running pipelines from Niger republic, how are we sure what happened in the Niger Delta will not repeat itself? Or, are we saying that our Nigerian neighbour will be more reliable? Have we a full proof security on our country’s borders? What about the Boko Haram and other insurgents in the north? What has happened to the Sambisa forest? Are the Boko Haram insurgents not still there? If you cannot secure your internal space, how sure are you of your international boundaries? What about the political implications, how sure are we that the Niger people will be loyal to our interests? The way they hesitated before joining the war against the Boko Haram insurgents, are they not going to do same thing if we depend on them for oil? The decision to import oil from Niger is mainly based on sentiment and that will not solve the problem. We should  think about how we can dredge the Niger river up to the north, so that tankers and bigger vessels can transport goods in relative safety to and fro the north and south of the country. This will reduce the risk associated with pipelines,the pipelines have life spans and when the time is due, the damages caused by the spills cannot be quantified, coupled with the waste in land occupied by these pipelines that should be used for other beneficial purposes. That is where we should direct our thinking instead of wasting our hard earned resources cultivating a trade relationship with Niger Republic.

We must be rational and analytical in our decision making, refineries are better sited close to sources of raw materials but in Nigeria we have failed to heed that vital economic rule, that is why the multi billion Kaduna refinery has remained under utilised since inception, it’s problems predates the Niger Delta militant crisis. People have been siphoning products from these pipelines outside the Niger Delta region, now we want to go to Niger Republic. We are watching to see the out come. Let us concentrate on finding a lasting solution to the Niger Delta challenges and build very effective rail and water transport systems which will enable smooth movement of products to both ends of the country, the thought of importing crude oil from Niger Republic must be banished, unless there are other ulterior motives.

Mr. Sunny Ikhioya
www. southsouthecho.com
Twitter: @SunnyIkhioya