Nigeria, India Plan Prisoners’ Swap Pact …To Boost Modular Refineries Capacity

Former Nigerian Ambassador to United Kingdom, Dr Christopher Kolade (2nd left), Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (2nd right), and other dignitaries, at the 3rd Christopher Kolade’s Annual Lecture in Lagos, last Thursday.

Arrangements are on ground for Nigeria and India to sign Prisoners Transfer Agreement to allow prisoners of the two countries to return to their home countries to serve their jail terms.
The Indian High Commissioner, Amb. Ajjampur Ghanashyam, who said this while speaking with newsmen yesterday in Abuja, said no fewer than 1,100 Nigerians were serving various prison terms in India.
“When I came to Nigeria, there were about 1,800 Nigerians in our prisons and that was shocking for me and now I am told it is about 1,100.
“We are waiting for an agreement to be signed between India and Nigeria on transfer of sentenced persons.
“They need to be brought back and they can also be taken back to India before commencing their jail terms so that they can serve their sentences here.
“At this is at the moment, pending with the Nigerian government. I hope that we will be able to sign it”, he said.
The Indian envoy also said some Indians had been arrested as pirates, adding that the High Commission was engaging the Nigerian authorities to ensure that the innocent ones among them released.
“We still have some problems with piracy. There are ships operators who hire Indians to run the ships.
“The boys are not aware of that the ships are used for bunkering; they are paid to do a job on the ship.
“So they picked up the job and then land on the ship only for the Navy to come and pick them up and take them to jail.
“You must arrest the owner of the ship, maybe you should arrest the Captain of the ship but not these boys who have no knowledge of what the ship was doing,” he told newsmen.
Ghanashyam said Indians living in Nigeria were quite happy adding: “I have not come across Indian who complains but occasionally there are some pockets of kidnappings”.
“But ultimately we have not seen any loss of lives to kidnapping and I believe the situation was much worse before.
“This is because I think the infrastructure of law enforcements in the country is now far better than what it was in the past in Nigeria,” he said.
India also said it is ready to help end the perennial fuel scarcity in Nigeria by boosting the capacity of Nigeria’s oil refineries through technical support.
Ghanashyam, however, said that India would be able to offer the support on invitation of the Federal Government through a bid.
“India can come if you (Nigeria) want to technologically upgrade your refineries; if you want to increase the scientific value of your refineries; if you want to get your engineers become smarter than they are.
“If you want the same refineries to do the job at 120 per cent of their created capacity; if you want people to be proud of your refineries, bring the Indians.
“But this is a suggestion, which we have given to the government of Nigeria; but we will come in only when we are invited.
“So, if there is an occasion – if there is a bid, then we will participate; but this is an area in, which I would say, Nigeria has the solution.
“I believe personally that every solution to a problem is somewhere near the problem.
“You don’t need experts and philosophers from the East and the West to solve your problem.
“Your problems are solved here by people locally and you have the intelligence here, you have the capital here, you have the intellectual capital and you can easily resolve with yourselves.
“And tomorrow, if we (India) come here to help you, that is because you will be able to avoid making the mistakes we made, and it will help you add value your experience on the basis of our experience.
According to the high commissioner, Nigeria has the capacity to be a net exporter of refined petroleum products instead of being an importer of refined petroleum products.
‘You (Nigeria) are producing about two million barrels of crude oil every day and your requirement of petroleum products is about 40 million litres a day.
“Out of that (40 million litres), 70 per cent is petrol, just used for cars and the remaining 30 per cent is diesel, kerosene, aviation fuel.
“Now you have four refineries and I am told that most of them are actually ready to operate, that they were actually overhauled and upgraded during the last one and half years quietly by some good people, who meant well for this country.
“Problem is they have not been given allocation of crude oil. So if they get allocation of crude oil, they will produce at least half of your 40 million litres; you don’t have to buy that half.
“Aliko Dangote is building his petrochemical complex, which includes a major refinery. He is likely to produce much more than 20 million, much more than what the four refineries (can produce) put together or at least equal to that.
“Then you might end up becoming a country which stops exporting crude oil but starts exporting products of crude oil. Actually, you have everything yourselves.“