My Sunday Broadcast: KILLING NNPC BY NIGERIANS IS COMPULSORY FOR NIGERIA TO LIVE

 

NNPC Corporate Headquarters

 

Group Managing Director of NNPC – Mele Kolo Kyari

 

 

I seek Nigerians’ permission to start today’s conversation with one of Major General Muhammadu Buhari’s well documented and most rigorously played jingo and slogan, for its accuracy of interpretation on this subject matter.

By using his military rank; Major General, it has nothing to do with disrespect to his present statue as President. I respect the man – both as a top ranking military officer and as a politician President of Nigeria.

It doesn’t matter if he fails as a civilian political president of Nigeria. Record and posterity would forever refer to him by saying there goes Muhammadu Buhari; a onetime President of Nigeria.

However l remember him more, in quoting his jingo and slogan, as a tough military officer finding ways possible to crossover into transforming from a dethroned Military Head of State to becoming Nigeria’s democratically elected president. It was that ambition that made him to coin a language that led to the creation of the jingo and slogan.

If we don’t kill Corruption, then Corruption will kill Nigeria.

There has arrived a compelling reason for that coinage of Buhari resonating alive; at least in my mind and in the minds of most Nigerians, though with elongated escalation and interrogation. And in view of events in the country currently, it can no more be Corruption killing Nigeria but instead – and this is real, NNPC [either as NNPC or with the Limited appellation added a few days ago} killing Nigeria.

I will quickly draw our attention to a few vital evidences in anchoring this large vessel called NNPC – and for now, I am seeking permission again to continue with the NNPC without the epaulette called Limited, because there is nothing changing in the life-style of functionality of this National Octopus of destruction called NNPC. The limited liability added to it is nothing but to take Nigerians to the gutter in a brilliant game of living by deceit.

I will mention only three or four items to present my submission. We shall be dealing with the Octopus continually in weeks to come. The items that shall be mentioned here today, and that shall be serving as preamble of the total discuss, cut across many years – about 40 years in reality.

Then, at the end of the preamble, let us see if the NNPC has ever changed colour in its packaged intent of killing Nigeria. That is on one hand. And in the other hand; that is at the end of presenting the four items as preamble, Nigerians would be able to know their urgent responsibility of killing NNPC before it [NNPC] kills Nigeria.

There was a Justice Ayo Irikefe Tribunal put in place in 1980, by the Second Republic, under President Shehu Aliyu Shagari, following reports that an amount of $2.8 billion was missing from crude oil sales from the period 1976 to 1979. This amount was at that time the equivalent of about one year’s sale of crude oil by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.

During the investigation into that monumental fraud, two things quickly happened and the books of investigations were quickly closed as the Tribunal, under Justice Ayo Irikefe, who was then a Justice of the Supreme Court, conclusion became inconclusive.

It was pointed out that Colonel Muhammadu Buhari was the Minister of Petroleum Resources and Chairman of the Board of the NNPC, during the referenced time when the money was said to have missed. It was said also that the Nigerian Senate of then wrote to MidWest Bank in England to confirm if such money was in its account. The reply that came from that Bank; which linked the movement of the money to another bank – BCTI, was not made known to the Nigerian public. Neither was a Colonel Muhammadu Buhari ever indicted.

The second thing that happened was that fire engulfed part of NNPC’s building, mostly the Finance Department where essential financial documents were kept. Again, case of arson was never brought against anyone in Nigeria. Nothing wrong with these motions without movement – just the way the Nigerian cookie crumbles. Investigation thereafter went sine die. And this was 42 years ago.

Let us fast-track to 2014. That was the year that the then Governor of Central Bank; Lamido Sanusi Lamido, alleged that the sum of $20 Billion was missing from NNPC account under the watch of President Goodluck Jonathan. At the end of the day – either it was a propaganda tool in the hands of APC against the PDP or not, it was adequately concluded that another huge money had vanished from the NNPC’s account.

Let us come to the now.  Just last week or so two issues became of concern to Nigerians. One, the NNPC has been shouting so largely that it could not remit money to the Federation Account as there was no Crude since what should have been sold as crude was being daily stolen by the oil thieves in the Niger Delta. Yet, NNPC wanted Nigerians to believe that the 400,000 barrels of crude being stolen daily – that is what the Federal Government and NNPC told us, was through vandalism.

That was a lie but l shall not be going to the details of whom the thieves are to us, but suffice to say that the top management of the NNPC knows much about the thieves and they – the NNPC, can stop them if all of them agree together and say to themselves that “let us steal no more”.  The leadership of the Nigerian Navy recently told us that top management of the NNPC knows about the stealing – meaning there might be a convenient connivance. That settles everything about the oil thieves, at least for now.

Another point of identification before l draw the curtain on today’s exercise is the reply the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Custom Services; Colonel Hamid Ali [rerd], gave to the members of House of Representative at the National Assembly, again, last week. The man, in his wisdom, queried the perimeter through which the NNPC arrived at the exact amount of the quantity of fuel [PMS] Nigerians consumed per day.

NNPC Group Managing Director once told Nigerians that the NNPC did not know the quantity of PMS Nigerians consumed per day. Then, of recent the same NNPC moved our consumption to 40 million litres, then 50 million before arriving 60 million. But the most curious aspect of the Nigerian consumption is that while the NNPC agreed that we consume 60 million liters per day, yet it releases 98 million litres every day to distributors.

Why releasing 98 million litres every day when you know that Nigerians consume only 60 million litres daily? The NNPC, ipso facto, would have arranged 38 million litres to some waiting thieves out there somewhere in the darkness in other to charge Nigerians more for subsidy of what was never consumed by Nigerians.

Wasn’t that what President Goodluck Jonathan called ‘OLE’ – a sophisticated one ab initio, at a time?

Who shall kill NNPC before NNPC kills Nigeria and Nigerians? And unless this is done Nigeria might as well be on its way to the grave.

All these are just tips of the iceberg and for those who are willing to join The Guru tomorrow, Monday, September 5, 2022, at the studio of Lagos Talks 91.3 FM, from 0930-1100 hours, there are much revelation coming their ways. There shall also be a robust Historical Perspective, an unforgettable Periscope and an exciting Knowledge Dropbox.

The Guru is expecting you.

Godwin Etakibuebu; a veteran Journalist, wrote from Lagos.

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You can also listen to this author [Godwin Etakibuebu] every Monday; 9:30 – 11am on Lagos Talk 91.3 FM live, in a weekly review of topical issues, presented by The News Guru [TNG].