The real fuel cabal and saboteurs

The word cabal, a coinage from cabalocracy, became more pronounced during the recent anti-fuel subsidy removal strike and protests. It was the recurring term Nigerians used to condemn in unequivocal terms, those short-changing them under the cover of fuel subsidy. While all attention focused on the invisible and faceless economic saboteurs, Nigerians must not forget that the economic felons could not, on their own, milk the country dry without readily available official collaborators and accomplices.

It won't be strange to say that the majority of Nigerians occupying various spheres of human endeavour in the country are enslaved under the burden of corruption. However, the intimidating aspect of this is when those who consider themselves clean are disappearing, or battling with their resolve to remain steadfast. Nevertheless, the murky enticement corruption offers is making many to compromise or lose faith as they see the situation as irredeemable.

The so called cabal in the nation's oil sector and their counterparts in other subsectors have thrived in their sabotage because an immoral and unpatriotic society so permits. Corruption and impunity reign supreme across all strata in the land. No wonder these ‘sabos’ have succeeded in wrecking an endowed country that has the resources to make it great and the envy of the world. The country ranks among some of the pauperized nations even in the African continent. How can one explain the free passage of diverted consignments of oil to neighbouring countries and the rising subsidy payments from N261billion in 2006 to N1.46 trillion last year?

This is happening amid 38 different checks on the Petroleum Product Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) checklist. The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Patrick Akpobolokemi, in a statement, said the Federal Government has been swindled of millions of dollars by fuel importers who pretend to import products from abroad, whereas they sourced their stock from their local consignments. But should all blame be on these opportunists, while we turn blind eyes on those who are supposed to man and scrutinize the regulatory documents and ensure that the necessary standards are met before payments are made?

In every established corruption deal, there are always insider collaborators, and along the chain is the existence of many benefactors who will be bent on ensuring that they maintain the status quo ante. On a daily basis, loads of fuels are diverted by trucks to neighbouring countries where they are sold at a higher price. Most times, one sees the trucks being accompanied by security personnel who serve as escorts. Are these heavy trucks invisible to the many road blocks manned by men of the Customs Service and other security operatives along the border routes? The truth is that Nigeria's border routes have turned a heaven of sorts for the illicit activities of smugglers.

These compromised security operatives and public officials that refuse to arrest economic criminals are the real cabals and enemies of the people and the nation. The products from the nation's comatose refineries are diverted and stage managed as imported products by common criminals glorified as cabals, who turn around to claim billions of naira as subsidy money. A suggestion raised that the country's locally refined fuel be coloured differently from imported fuel was jettisoned. Most times, such propositions end up on the tables of those who benefit from the illegal businesses. Just as it is said, the devil cannot cast out devils. Can corrupt public officials who have no moral pedigree be useful tools in the fight against graft?

How can the country's economy grow when people who can build refineries are not allowed to do so in the country? Sadly, too, some unpatriotic Nigerians who have the resources prefer building refineries outside the country, either for the sheer greed for higher petro-dollars or to cut their own share of the country' s subsidy largesse. When the government on a daily basis, continues to pay subsidy for about 24 million litres of fuel which Nigerians do not consume , as reports claim, ordinary Nigerians are denied developmental projects worth N1.1billion.

But for this kind of reckless spending, why should Nigeria continue to remain stagnant and retrogressive in terms of the provision of infrastructure and basic amenities? This also explains why the gulf between the rich and the poor has remained extremely wide. Nigerians, no matter their levels or position, are quick to exploit the misery of their fellow citizens for selfish gains.
How can one for example, explain the situation where petrol dealers that were quick to changing their pump price from N65 to N141 on January 1, 2012, even when they have old stock when the subsidy removal was announced, were very reluctant to revert to N97. For about three days after President Goodluck Jonathan announced the new pump price of N97, many filling stations hoarded fuel or remained shut, which led to artificial scarcity.

Those that opened dispensed the product at a black market price of N140 or more to desperate consumers. Transport operatives, even those using diesel to power their vehicles, equally doubled or tripled their fares. A report where engineers in the Delta State Broadcasting Service removed parts of an expensive transformer and gave same to their cronies to bring back as spare parts for self- inflicted damages on the transformer vividly mirrors the kind corrupt practices holding down the nation’s up and down stream oil sectors.