In the twilight of the Obasanjo administration, when Nigerians have been nonetheless able to being outraged, when Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of refineries was a buzzword that also held some mysticism to bamboozle residents, throughout a dialog, a sure man stated one thing profound. The man stated, “As a businessman, if I were the owner of these refineries, knowing that they are three decades old, I would take the last money I have, hire bulldozers, raze them to the ground, and obtain loans to build new ones.”
When we pressed him additional on why he would interact in such waste, he defined that repairing the refineries is the actual waste. He defined that even when the TAM have been actually carried out, a thirty-year-old refinery would by no means compete favourably with a brand new one that may combine modern expertise. Operating at its finest, such a refinery would by no means be comparatively extra environment friendly. It is due to this fact pointless to have spent one other one naira on the refineries at that time.
Just a few months later, I had a dialog with a then-lawmaker on a wholly totally different matter. I discussed that the National Assembly has failed by not crafting laws that may criminalise and punish public workplace holders who foist unsuitable selections on the nation. The logic: a public workplace holder needn’t steal to be punished, unsuitable selections ought to appeal to penalties for an workplace holder who opts for the worst of all choices when there are much less injurious ones.
These established premises converse to the continued nauseating efforts at revisionism by those that wrecked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and its earlier iteration, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Notably, this marketing campaign to rewrite historical past is traceable to Engineer Mele Kolo Kyari, the disgraced speedy previous Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL and his hirelings. They have suffocated the information and the general public opinion house with much more lies than they spun whereas in workplace.
The Saint Kyari marketing campaign is anchored on convincing Nigerians that the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries have been absolutely practical when he was booted out of workplace. So brazen is the marketing campaign that considered one of its speaking heads challenged the group chief govt officer (GCEO), Engr. Bayo Ojulari, to “inform Nigerians categorically what happened to the functioning refineries he inherited from his predecessor, Engr. Mele Kyari.” The effrontery.
We haven’t forgotten so quickly the charade that adopted the baffling declare that Nigeria has spent $2.8 billion on the restore of the refineries, whereas they aren’t churning out even a single litre of refined product amongst them. Saint Kyari and his goons performed all method of tips, all of which embarrassed President Bola Tinubu, who had counted on ticking off the return to productiveness of the refineries as a part of his achievements, solely to understand that he was deceived into celebrating phantoms. Tragic.
Lest we overlook, 200 vans have been organized as props in a well-directed video clip to have a good time the re-streaming of the Port Harcourt Refinery. The disappointment. Nigerians have been to be taught from a number of reviews that the Port Harcourt refinery was not producing and was as a substitute utilizing outdated, saved petroleum merchandise to load vans. Worse nonetheless, the Kyari crew was passing off sanction-tainted Russian-sourced crude oil refined in Malta as regionally refined merchandise. More insult was piled on the assault on our collective sensibility with the lies that the Port Harcourt Refinery exported semi-finished merchandise. Brazen.
Meanwhile, Kyari and his hirelings known as those that identified or protested these obvious scams all method of names. They hid behind trade technicalities and jargon to create the impression that these of us who knew Nigerians have been being robbed didn’t perceive what we have been saying. The level stays {that a} $2.8 billion funding can probably construct a refinery with a capability of round 100,000 barrels per day (bpd). Of course, the precise capability of such a refinery will rely on varied elements, together with the complexity of the refinery, the expertise used, and the placement. That is the quantity that Kyari’s regime on the NNPCL took and didn’t give Nigerians refined merchandise.
Fast ahead to Kyari’s sack and the appointment of Engineer Bayo Ojulari, who has demonstrated that issues can certainly be executed otherwise. Kyari’s exit was expectedly adopted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) going after him and his associates. The extent of the theft is healthier understood towards the backdrop of N80 billion being discovered within the {bank account} of considered one of his associates. They went on the run.
Perhaps as a result of the EFCC was biding its time on securing worldwide warrants for the arrests of those characters on the lam, they’ve turn into emboldened. They have determined to combat again and rewrite the story of their participation within the best fraud towards Nigerians. Engineer Ojulari’s renewed mindset, which is entrenching a semblance of the transparency Nigerians demand, grew to become their pure goal. The demons that after roamed across the company got here out with malevolence. They began spinning tales of corruption to tarnish the incumbent who refused to cover their crimes. The goal: convey Ojulari down. But alas, he’s profitable the conflict because it stands.
His innocence is confirmed, and it’s obvious that those that need him out are mere charlatans who can now not ply their corrupt wares due to the influence of the brand new reforms. Corruption within the NNPCL is in its closing throes. The faux information being unleashed towards the incumbent management is akin to corruption’s final kicks as reforms within the sector strangulate it and its practitioners. The reforms should happen within the NNPCL, whether or not the trade demons prefer it or not.
As a parting shot, Kyari and his associates would do properly to organize their defence. In addition to accounting for the $2.8 billion they laundered within the identify of repairing the moribund refineries, they have to additionally reply for the poor resolution to repair that which is irretrievably damaged. Awarding contracts for Turn Around Maintenance of 59-year-old refineries {that a} right-thinking particular person had steered needs to be demolished nearly twenty years in the past, once they have been solely 30 years outdated, is legal. Trying to deceive Nigerians that the faux repairs labored is treason.
Olasanmi is a public affairs analyst writing from Lagos.
