OIL THEFT IN THE NIGER DELTA
The bible says that there is safety in the midst of counselors. But what happens when the counselors are crafty? As Nigeria has huffed and puffed on the path of nationhood with very little to show for its exertions, it has become clear that the cocktail of dysfunction has thrown up hurriedly assembled heroes.
The clones and clowns of the Nigerian circus. So, it happened that former Niger-Delta warlord Asari Dokubo crawled out of his lair in Port Harcourt and travelled all the way to Abuja to advise Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s newly minted president.
In a visit which culminated in a series of well publicized comments on June 23, 2023. Dokubo took aim at some of his perceived enemies and competitors whom he feverishly sought to paint as enemies of the country.
Firstly, he presumed to weigh in on a red-hot topic that has threatened to cripple the Nigerian economy in the last few years. According to Asari, himself a former Niger Delta militant and warlord who certainly knows more than a thing about oil theft and the vandalism of oil theft, the Nigerian army and navy are responsible for 99 percent of all the oil theft in the Niger Delta.
Dokubo also lashed out at the narrative that the Nigerian military is ill-equipped to take on terrorism, militancy, and banditry in the country. According to him, the military has everything it needs to fight, but instead prefers to cede ground to the terrorists running the country aground.
But Asari was not done. He had time to twist the knife further on the continued detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra Movement (IPOB), whom he described as a common criminal who should face the full force of the law. According to Asari Dokubo, releasing Nnamdi Kanu would only fuel impunity in the Southeast.
In Nigeria, talk is cheap, as is fame and popularity. In a country where everyone seems to have an opinion with a legion of speakers, few listeners and even fewer doers, it is not surprising that Dokubo has something to say about key national assets and issues.
Nigerians are no longer in doubt that some of the most prominent partakers in the oil theft business are also some prominent Nigerians who are living large off Nigeria’s losses.
It would be in the character of Dokubo to point it out he who has been one of Nigeria’s most divisive figures of recent years.
A former militant must know a thing or two about those who vandalize oil pipelines in the Niger Delta; for Dokubo to call out members of the Nigerian armed forces so casually means that he has much more than he is willing to divulge. In any serious country, he will be getting grilled by security agencies.
It was also illuminating to hear Dokubo’s position on Nnamdi Kanu who is supposed to be a freedom fighter like him.
To hear Asari say he should be condemned to the gallows hinted at a dark kind of rivalry with those he perceives as his competitors for Nigeria’s oil resources. And even resentment.
But more crucially, his misgivings about members of the Nigerian armed forces and the Indigenous People of Biafra movement hint at an irredeemably selfish man—one that knows nothing and no one apart from himself.
Dokubo is like many of his fellow Niger Delta militants, who supposedly fought for the emancipation of the region, but in reality hid behind what was supposed to be a genuine struggle to suddenly become filthy rich.
It is a good thing that a new administration is in office. It would be interesting to see if a new administration would mean a novel, far more successful approach in tackling the menace. As for Dokubo, while it may be unwise to shoot the messenger, Nigerians must be wary of those who speak as though they have their best interests at heart while in truth they do not care if the country burns.
Ike Willie-Nwobu,
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