Oil Theft: Before The $1bn Plan

The recent plan by the Federal Govern
ment to check crude oil theft and the
associated criminality in Nigeria has tended to raise more questions that expected. This is more so because efforts have not been made to expose why previous strategies that gulped huge sums failed.
During his recent State visit to the Netherlands, President Goodluck Jonathan said that the Federal Government plans to use $1 bn to check crude oil theft, vandalism of oil and gas infrastructure, as well as  arrest and prosecution of oil thieves in the country.
Speaking at separate meetings with the Prime Minister of Netherlands, Mark Rutte and the Chief Executive Officer of Shell International, Ben van Beurden at The Hague, Jonathan said that a technical committee has already been set up to look into all aspects of the implementation of the programme.
According to him, the plan would enable the government to enhance the security of pipelines and other oil industry infrastructure, resolve community-related challenges, boost youth empowerment in oil-producing areas, and enhance the commitment of oil companies to the discharge of their corporate social responsibilities.
Jonathan, who was at the Netherlands to attend the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit, acknowledged that “oil theft is an aspect of global terrorism, which has become a big industry on its own. It has become a major threat to the Nigerian economy, and we need to work with all stakeholders to curb it. The thieves must be traced, apprehended and prosecuted,” he said.
In spite of the network of corruption working against sanity in the oil indsutry, The Tide welcomes any initiative that would protect the economy as well as the people and the precious Niger Delta environment. Such plan should also serve to mop small arms and restore peace to the region.
Policing of the Niger Delta creeks and waterways can be challenging, the failure of the military, local contractors, the communities and the oil firms to check the crime needs to be understood. This is more so because the illegal activity in petroleum are not only everywhere, they are done in the open.
This is why we agree with the President that the support of the international community, especially those countries with substantial interest in Nigeria need to support and frontally attack this disturbing phenomenon. We believe that a genuine international collaboration aimed at eliminating the crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, can make the most needed different.
This is becasue the crime has an international base. Apart from some powerful Nigerians who cannot be touched by local security agents, the whole menace will stop if and when no country buys those stolen crude, a goal that can be achieved by finger-printing the officail crude. Even so, the joint policing of the international waters can expose so much, even oil theft.
We believe that like the global cooperation that tagged the illegal trade in diamond as “blood diamond” among others can also be able to spot the “blood-crude” and shun it. Besides, the sharing of intelligence and cooperation of the financial institutions, even oil theft will be history.
Therefore, before the Federal Government begins the implementation of the new plan a detailed re-evaluation of existing strategy should be undertaken with a view to ensuring that all viable options are exploited. For us the key is not in awarding contracts, but in deciding to deal with the cabal behind it. Government must be determined to save the economy and protect the future of the Niger Delta by removing the criminals, no matter who they may be.
The Tide, thinks that government needs to employ technology in the plan if it wants to succeed. For instance, we feel the time has come for government to deploy, to the full the two satellite communication systems launched into space some years ago by Nigeria. The unmanned Air Force vehicle, the two specialised helicopters bought by the Rivers State Government as well as the Naval vessels, gunboats and patrol watercrafts.
We believe that a combination of these steps will bring to an end crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism in Nigeria. But even more is the cooperation of the people, the capacity of the military to confront and dislocate and the political will to give the needed order.