The Petroleum Technology Development Fund said it has shortlisted over 5,000 applicants nationwide for the award of scholarships for the 2023/2024 academic session overseas scheme.

The Head, Oversees Scholarship Scheme in the PTDF, Mrs Bolanle Kehinde-Agboola revealed this on Monday at a selected interview exercise for the shortlisted candidates for MSc and PhD postgraduate programmes. 

According to her, the selection interview was in continuation of the application process which commenced on February 13, 2023, through publications in some national newspapers, inviting qualified Nigerians to apply.

“What is happening here today is the interview for the award of scholarship to Nigerians for the 2023/2024 academic session.

“We have shortlisted over 5,000 applicants to partake in the exercise which is going on in the six geo-political zones.

“The first criteria is that you must be a Nigerian. For the master’s programme the applicant must be a student of any of the oil and gas fields like engineering, geology, computer sciences, environmental sciences and management.

“You must have a minimum of second-class upper in any of these fields for you to be qualified,’’ she said.

Kehinde-Agboola also said the process of applying for the exercise was that the agency would open the application windows at the end of the year for candidates to apply.

She further added that PTDF was an agency charged with the capacity to strengthen and develop the oil and gas sector, indicating that the essence of the programme was to train those who would bring innovation into the sector.

She added that the aim of the exercise was also to offer the applicants the necessary skills required to function effectively in the industry.

“The candidates are sent abroad to study the relevant skills. This scholarship scheme is running in the United Kingdom, while “we also have what is called strategic partnership in France, Germany, Malaysia and China.

“This scholarship interview scheme will run for one week nationwide and the number of successful applicants depends on its budget for this year.

“The agency has two types of collaborations in this programme, the United Kingdom collaboration and the strategic partnership collaboration.”

[Punch]

Retired police intelligence officer, Nuhu Ribadu was appointed as the new National Security Adviser (NSA) to replace Major General Babagana Monguno (Rtd).

Naija News reports that Ribadu was appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu initially as a Special Adviser on Security but his position was upgraded yesterday to the NSA.

Meet the new NSA:

Nuhu Ribadu was born in Yola, Adamawa State, on 21 November, 1960.

He attended Aliyu Mustapha Primary School, Yola from 1966 to 1973 and Yelwa Government Secondary School, Yola from 1973-1977. Between 1978 and 1980, Mr Ribadu was at the College of Preliminary Studies, CPS, Yola, for his A-level studies.

In 1980, he gained admission to study law at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, graduating in 1983. He graduated from the Nigerian Law School and was called to the bar in 1984. He joined the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) immediately after his national youth service.

Ribadu holds an LLM degree with emphasis on the jurisprudence of corruption in Nigeria from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. In 2008, he was at the Harvard Business School where he did a programme on the strategic management of law enforcement agencies.

Ribadu became a household name in Nigeria and beyond on account of his glorious public service record and personal integrity. A trained lawyer and fearless crime fighter, Ribadu has carved a niche for himself as someone who is patriotic, passionate, honest, courageous and compassionate.

He is the pioneer Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the government commission tasked with countering corruption and fraud which he literally transformed into one of the most effective and renowned anti-graft agencies in modern history. Yet, his major contribution to the anti-corruption crusade was his selflessness, resilience and exemplary conduct in his spirited fight against the cankerworm.

With uncommon commitment and dedication to duty, Mr Ribadu worked assiduously to clean the Augean stable created by graft and fraud, Premium Times report.

He courageously brought to book hundreds of fraudsters, scores of high profile looters and economic saboteurs in spite of temptation, booby traps and threats to life.

In three years, the EFCC, under his leadership, built the now most celebrated Crimes Training and Research Institute in the West African region. The agency also recorded over 200 criminal convictions under his leadership.

In acknowledgement of these rare achievements, Mr Ribadu was promoted to the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), in March 2007. The African Union (AU) put him on its advisory board on anti-corruption matters; and he was invited to join the advisory board of the Friends of the World Bank/UNODC initiative on Stolen Asset Recovery.

Ribadu is a recipient of several awards as a police officer, prosecutor and chairman of the EFCC. He received the Inspector General of Police Awards in 1997, 1998 and 2000, and the Special Commendation of the President in 2005, for the successful prosecution of several advanced fee fraud cases, banking fraud and sundry economic crimes. He was also specially commended by the Accountant General of the Federation for successfully prosecuting some corrupt public servants in 1999.

Since 2004, notable newspapers and magazines in Nigeria have repeatedly voted Mr Ribadu as Man of the Year, in recognition of his outstanding achievements as a committed crusader against corruption and other related crimes.

In 2008, Ribadu completed the senior executive course of the Nigeria Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies where he was conferred with the Membership of the National Institute, MNI. In June 2010, Mr Ribadu was awarded the Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) by the Babcock University, Ogun State, in recognition of his “resolute courage” as well as his “fierce stance against corruption in the face of sponsored disgrace and certain death that has resulted into positive changes and global acclaim hitherto considered impossible.”

In 2012, Ribadu left a United Nations assignment in Afghanistan to take up a special inquest into government’s revenue from the oil sector, an assignment he handled with his characteristic passion and dexterity, turning in a report that has since become a reference point on reforming Nigeria’s oil industry.

In his quest for higher call to service, Mr Ribadu has since 2010 been involved in active politics. He was named NSA today, 19 June, 2023, days after he was appointed the security adviser, security, to the president.

The disclosure by the immediate past Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike that he was poisoned at the secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been faulted by Phrank Shaibu, the Special Assistant on Public Communication to Atiku Abubakar, the 2023 PDP presidential candidate.

According to Shaibu, the failure of Wike’s kidney and liver as revealed by the former Governor is a result of excessive alcohol drinking and not food poisoning.

Naija News recalls Wike during a special Thanksgiving service on Sunday organized by his family at the St. Peters Deanery, Rumuepirikom, Obio-Akpor alleged that he was poisoned at the PDP secretariat in 2018, resulting in the failure of his liver and kidney.

He added that he had to be flown out of the country for medical attention in order to save his life.

However, Shaibu disagreed with Wike’s submission, positing rather that the former Governor’s love for alcohol, particularly whiskey is what was responsible for his health challenges.

“Governor Wike has always been open about his intense and indubitable love for whiskey. He even said back in March that he was sipping a 40-year-old whiskey with his friends while watching Atiku and others protesting on TV at 11 am.

“Governor Wike has also been seen drinking and dancing in videos, including one he did with former Governor Rochas Okorocha. If Wike was indeed poisoned and his organs failed, he ought to be a teetotaller by now and reduce his drinking.

“I am not a medical doctor, but it is general knowledge that excessive alcohol consumption leads to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, digestive problems; and cancer of the breast, mouth, throat, oesophagus, voice box, liver, colon and rectum,” he said.

Shaibu called on Wike to stop blaming food poisoning but accept his love for alcohol is responsible for his organ failure including his hoarse voice.

“Other ailments associated with excessive drinking include: weakening of the immune system, increasing the chances of getting sick; learning and memory problems, including dementia and poor sexual performance. Wike should look inwards. Let us assume that he was poisoned by food. Was his hoarse and husky voice also caused by food poisoning?” Atiku’s aide submitted.

Sokoto governor, Ahmad Aliyu has disguised himself and visited the State Specialist Hospital to ascertain the quality of services provided to residents.

The governor’s press secretary Abubakar Bawa in a statement on Monday, disclosed that the governor’s decision to visit the facility unannounced follow a series of concerns raised by Sokoto residents over poor service delivery.

The statement added that other concerns that forced the governor to visit the hospital were dilapidated structures, erratic power supply, shortage of staff, and lack of functional medical equipment, among others.

The governor visited the hospital in a tricycle to get first-hand information from its workers.

“I was surprised with what I saw during my visit to the hospital, which lasted for four hours; it afforded me the opportunity to see things for myself,” Mr Aliyu explained.

“Patients and their relatives are subjected to all kinds of hazardous situations owing to the dirty environment and lack of functional equipment in the medical facility.”

The Sokoto governor added, “Patient relatives rely solely on their personal alternative source of power due to the erratic electricity supply in the hospital. Therefore, I have directed the management of the hospital to see me for further discussion on how to remedy the situation.”

The poor state of things at the hospital may not be unconnected with the inability of past administrations to release the monthly allocations due to the hospital.

Sierra Leone’s Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion (ICPNC) and the Political Party Registration Commission (PPRC) held a joint peace meeting in Freetown on Monday 19th June to address complaints by the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) against the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) and security forces, ahead of the 24th June presidential and parliamentary elections.

At the meeting attended by senior officials of the four bodies, as well as top national security figures, diplomats and Election Observers from ECOWAS, AU, Commonwealth, and the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, APC’s deputy leader Dr Richard Konteh, alongside other party officials, listed the party’s areas of complaint to include the ECSL’s Voters Register, Results management system, District level certification and Early voting.

The APC officials claimed that there were duplication of names and under-age voters in the Register, with the majority from the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party’s (SLPP) strongholds, while in some cases the Register only had “the voters’ names and photographs without identification numbers or other details.”

Consequently, the APC “demands an audit of the Voters Register by an independent firm.”

The party also questioned the “eligibility of (ECSL) Commissioners,” and further complained about “violence against APC candidates and supporters, including its presidential candidate and running mate,” as well as attacks on the party’s offices.

In his response, the ECSL Chair Mohammed Konneh said most of the issues raised by the APC had been addressed in the past and appealed for understanding to enable the electoral process to proceed. 

He disclosed that the Commission received on Monday the ballot papers for the elections after a delay of the cargo flight from South Africa.

In their interventions, the ICPNC Chair Rev. Shodankeh Johnson and his PPRC counterpart Abdulai Bangura appealed for restraint, but at the same time called for “frank and honest dialogue” for amicable reconciliation and resolution of the issues.

After a closed-door session, Rev Johnson announced that a smaller group of representatives of the four bodies should continue the peace meeting on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, ECOWAS’ Long-Term Observers were deployed to Sierra Leone’s 16 districts on Monday, with those in urban Freetown attending a Police-Media Dialogue on Elections organised by the Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG).

Issues covered at the meeting included Police-Media Relations, Challenges and Opportunities for Collaboration on Election Coverage, Police Preparations toward ensuring peaceful elections; Election Coverage: Rights and Responsibilities of Journalists and Ensuring Journalists’ Safety and Security during Elections.

At a separate meeting, the ECOWAS Observers were briefed by officials of the MRCG, Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) and the Independent Media Commission (IMC) on the country’s media landscape, ownership, regulation, the status of media freedom, the impact of social media and cybercrimes, and the role of the media in national elections.

The Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, has called for a lasting partnership with the National Productivity Centre (NPC) towards the implementation of the Performance Management System in order to promote employees’ accountability in the area of delivery of service.

She made the appeal yesterday, in Abuja, while receiving the National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) from the Director General, NPC, Dr. Raji Mustapha in recognition of her contributions to the growth and development of the Federal Civil Service.

She expressed happiness in becoming the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation at a time when the system was ready for change, stressing on the importance of working together with the NPC on the ongoing implementation of PMS, which she termed as a big task that would instill a culture of productivity and allow a worker to access his work based on given targets, away from the norm of workers getting promoted without working for it.

She expressed joy that the NPC was working towards linking productivity with wages, adding that it would help in measuring workers who really deserve salary increment so as to curb the continuous clamour for increment without commensurate work to show for it.  The HoS indicated the willingness of her office to assist in the needed areas.

Speaking earlier at the award ceremony, Mustapha praised efforts of the HoS in bringing creativity to bear on the Service.

He similarly hinted the HoS of the ongoing plan by the centre to come up with a Productivity Wage Link System, aimed at linking the productivity of workers with their wages, adding that it is at a completion stage and that a report would be sent to the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), when completed.

While presenting the award to Dr. Yemi-Esan, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Ms. Kachallom Daju, lauded her for initiating laudable reforms in the Service.

[Thisday]

The Director, Media and Publicity of the defunct Tinubu-Shettima Campaign Organisation, Bayo Onanuga, has said the appointment of new Service Chiefs by President Bola Tinubu was not based on nepotism.

He made this clarification on Monday through his official Twitter handle.

Recall that Tinubu sacked all service chiefs on Monday and appointed their replacements.

Reacting to claims of nepotism, Onanuga stated that Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, Chief of Naval Staff, is from South East – Enugu, and Maj. Gen. EPA Undiandeye, Chief of Defense Intelligence, hails from South South – Obudu, Cross River State.

He said the appointments spread across the major geo-political zones in the country.

“Here is a breakdown of the state/region of service chiefs 1 Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, National Security Adviser (North-Adamawa), 2. Maj. Gen. C.G Musa Chief of Defence Staff (North-Southern Kaduna), 3. Maj.Gen. Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja Chief of Army Staff (South West), 4. Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla Chief of Naval Staff (South East-Enugu), 5. AVM H.B Abubakar Chief of Air Staff (North), 6. DIG Kayode Egbetokun Acting Inspector-General of Police (South West), 7. Maj. Gen. EPA Undiandeye Chief of Defense Intelligence (South-South- Obudu Cross River State). For those accusing the Tinubu government of nepotism, the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, is from Igbo Eze North LGA of Enugu State. The Chief of Intelligence is from Cross River. Critics should try to dig for information before rushing to judgment”, he wrote.

[DailyPost]

President Bola Tinubu on Monday took steps to stop ship owners from withdrawing their vessels over what they see as excessive bank charges.

Reports had suggested that at least two ship-owners said they were keeping their vessels away from Nigeria after a series of multimillion-dollar tax bills were sent out, seeking to recover back unpaid duties from 2010 to 2019.

The Special Adviser to the President on Revenue, Zacheus Adedeji, led government officials in an interactive session with shipping stakeholders at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where he warned that Nigeria cannot afford not to have vessels move in and out of the country.

He said the problem arose from the demand notice to the vessel owners issued in accordance with extant tax laws to make their remittances.

The presidential aide assured that a technical committee has been set up to resolve the issues in contention.

He noted that no vessel would be arrested or detained as the committee works to reconcile the back taxes.

Adedeji, however, warned that Nigeria would not succumb to blackmail as its laws must be obeyed.

He stated: “So, we have agreed to resolve this issue. And what is the issue? There was a demand notice, which was issued to the vessel owners or chattered, as it were, which is in accordance with the Nigerian tax law, that they should remit the tax deal to them for the last ten years and that there were concerns about the timing of compliance or afraid of the enforcement.

“So, we’ve now resolved within ourselves to resolve this issue as quickly as possible, just to make sure that we don’t affect the flow of the products, in and outside the country.

“We also made it clear that Nigeria will not accept any blackmail by defaulters who are not complying with our laws. We have laws, and the laws must be respected and obeyed.

“However, we will not detain or arrest any defaulting ship or vessel because this is what is causing panic.

“We’ve sent them demand notice, and then they’ve also come, and the agreement is that we should give them time. So, we’ve agreed to set up a technical committee to resolve these issues.

“The technical committee will comprise the regulator, which is NUPRC, NMDRA, NNPC, Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Presidency, in the Office of Chief of Staff, SA Energy and SA Revenue, and the Secretariat will be the Federal Inland Revenue.

“The technical committee will look at the concerns and reconcile the back taxes and set a process that will ensure compliance going forward.

“So, we’ve agreed to give the parties three months to come to the conclusion, and we will also give a grace period of six months, when we will not enforce any of these laws, just to allow for reconciliation.

“In essence, no vessel or ship will be detained or delayed. So, we give this six months break for them so that they can reconcile with this technical committee that we set up.

“Nigeria, as you know, is open for business, and we are business-friendly, as you’ve seen from what we’re doing and what we will do.

“So, we are open, but that is not to say that anybody will take advantage of the country. We have the law, and the law must be respected.”

Meanwhile, six companies have received approval to import petroleum products in the month of July.

The Managing Director of Nigeria Mainstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDRA), Farouk Ahmed, revealed this to correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Monday.

He said apart from the six, several companies applied for permits to import petroleum in due course.

Ahmed also debunked the insinuation that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had given approval to the Dangote Group to import petroleum, saying that the company has no power to give such approval.

The Managing Director stated: “There are several companies that applied for a fuel importation permit. So, you can apply for importation to get access to the port. And by the way, we are open to all those who are interested in importing.

“We have guidelines which are not very stringent because we’re trying to encourage importation.

“There are six companies who said they want to import fuel in July. Of course, all the others may import in December, November, or anytime but for those who expressed interest to bring in fuel in July, there were six of them as of this morning.

“The beauty of it is that there are interests which means that they have been able to have access to foreign exchange in order to import.

“Now, as we go along, of course, we’ll be briefing you on the progress or the achievements so far, but the important thing is that NNPC has 30 days of fuel sufficiency, so we do not anticipate any gap in supply or in distribution.”

[Tribune]

Palm Oil imports from Malaysia – a top global producer to Nigeria have surged by 353 per cent in the first four months of 2023 despite local players ramping up production, data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Council shows.

The Nigeria’s palm oil import from Malaysia increased to 92,961 metric tons (MT) between January-April 2023, from 20,513 MT in the corresponding period of 2022, indicating a 72,448 MT increase.

In 2022, the country imported 227,035 MT of palm oil from Malaysia.

Despite moves by the government, in listing crude palm oil alongside other 40 items restricted from forex access, and closing the Nigerian borders, oil palm imports into the country are still on the rise owing to the huge demand-supply gap, according to experts.

“Nigeria’s oil palm imports from Malaysia will continue to increase for the time being because our investment in the industry is still very insignificant,” managing director, Palmtrade and Commodities Development Nigeria Ltd, Henry Olatujoye, said according to reports by BusinessDay.

“We estimated that our local/domestic consumption is averaging 2.4 million tons in a year, and our first-class developers – Okomu, Presco, and others, do not annually produce up to 800,000 tons.

[Leadership]

Asari Dokubo, the self-styled Niger Delta activist and revolutionary who came into prominence during the struggle for self-determination in the Niger Delta finally got the attention that he may have been looking for. He came into prominence in the 2000s as an activist until the Umaru Yar’Adua administration launched an amnesty programme and the embattled militants were later allowed to have a look at what is “in the pipelines of Abuja”, turning former warlords of the creeks into overnight billionaires and contractors. He was one of the warlords who made good on the wings of the Niger Delta agitation. During the 2023 general election campaigns, he openly declared support for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as he described Tinubu as his benefactor whom he would do anything to support. Tinubu reportedly took care of his family while he was in detention. He gave his wife a house in Victoria Garden City (VGC) and paid his children’s school fees. One good turn deserves another – for him it was pay back time. Hence, in March 2023, he led a solidarity march for Bola Tinubu and the APC on the streets of Port Harcourt.

In May 2023, just a few days ahead of the inauguration of the new President, Dokubo again led a group of Niger Delta Youths to the Presidential Election Tribunal sitting in Abuja to declare that nothing on earth would stop Bola Tinubu’s inauguration as Nigerian President. Dokubo was stoutly praised by Festus Keyamo, erstwhile spokesperson of the Tinubu Campaign Organization for leading the “ground forces” to support a long-time friend and brother. Without a scintilla of doubt, in a democratic setting, every individual is entitled to his or her own choices, and as far as loyalty matters as a societal value, it is clearly within Asari Dokubo’s rights to support any candidate of his choice, express his views and summersault acrobatically in so doing if that is convenient for him.

What I find curious would be the kind of monstrous sycophancy and attention-seeking antics that have attended Asari Dokubo’s recent exertions in the public space and the need for some of his claims to be closely interrogated. Sometime last week, Dokubo was quoted as saying that Nigerians should hold him responsible if Bola Tinubu fails. He reportedly said: “If Ahmed Bola Tinubu fails, hold me responsible. I am unapologetic. I have known him since 1992 and I know what he stands for, and I can stand in the gap between him and the people and say this. This is a step my brother Goodluck failed to take when he had the opportunity. The same step Buhari could not take and Tinubu took it from his first day at the office.” Asari Dokubo was referring to the removal of fuel subsidy by President Tinubu. He has however, just provided a strong reason why Nigerian history should be made a compulsory subject in our schools. Some of the so-called big men in our society who have the capacity to smuggle themselves into front page news have no clue about contemporary history. Asari Dokubo wants to be held responsible if Tinubu fails. In his capacity as what, please? Who has appointed him into the role of the King’s Horseman?

Has he ever heard of a man called Tokunbo Afikuyomi, who was even much finer in his expression of loyalty? Has he heard of all those people who said they should be stoned if President Buhari disappointed them as President? When Nigerians started looking for people to stone, all the early-day Buhari champions had gone quiet, or were playing deaf and dumb. Many of them have learnt to remain quiet forever. Asari Dokubo may make the headlines, in the euphoria of the moment, but let him be careful what he asks for. In any case, Nigerians have no business with him. Our business is with President Tinubu. He will be the one to be held responsible for his own performance because the buck stops at his desk. In a fit of unbridled self-ingratiation, Dokubo in fact added a snide comment about President Goodluck Jonathan whom he calls “my brother”. The kind of wonders I have seen in Nigeria’s political space, I simply cannot fully tell it all. Et tu Asari? Many Nigerians would sell their own brothers for a mess of porridge, and lick their tongue doing so. Not even Engr. Joe Igbokwe, the Igbo man from Nnewi, turned Yoruba spokesperson, has been so uncouth. But it is not only President Goodluck Jonathan that Asari Dokubo has thrown under the bus in recent days. He finally got rewarded with a visit to the seat of power, the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja. It is not as if he is actually a new visitor to the premises, but this time around, Tinubu apparently laid out the carpet for him. And he wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass. He upped his game. If na you nko? The thing to note though is that his visit fits perfectly into the Rose Garden politics that the Tinubu administration has been managing very well. While some people are going with lawyers and boxes of materials to the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, a judicial process that may not end till next year, President Tinubu is busy “seizing the day”, to borrow a phrase from the Canadian-American writer, Saul Bellow, making appointments, and pronouncements, and receiving visitors. Who has not yet visited?

Traditional rulers, former government officials, members of the opposition, former Presidents and Heads of State, a former CBN Governor have all visited to pay homage to Nigeria’s new King. Even Tinubu’s arch-critic, Chief Olabode George of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has been quoted saying whereas he does not need anything from Tinubu, if he has to make any recommendations to him, he would do so for the good of the country. Nobody should panic if we make up one day and we hear that the National Judicial Council of Nigeria (the NJC) is having an audience with Tinubu. May be President Olusegun Obasanjo would also visit very soon, some day. Tinubu is a great student of power. Is former Governor, former Minister, Rauf Aregbesola not now singing his praises to high heavens, and attributing everything he has been in his life to Tinubu and Buhari?

Apparently shot in the arm with a good dose of a wonder drug to be known for the purpose of this writing as “Tinubumycin”, Asari Dokubo was taken straight from the President’s office to address the state house press corps. Ordinarily when non-state actors visit the Villa, they are never seated directly below Nigeria’s coat of arms. They can be seated to the left or the right, with a state official co-ordinating the media interaction, in most cases, the visiting non-state actor is even interviewed on the corridor or just by the entrance to the media briefing room. I was shocked seeing Asari Dokubo sitting below Nigeria’s coat of arms and making pronouncements. In what capacity, please? The Media Department in the Villa shares the same corridor with the Protocol Department. Protocol and Etiquette are important aspects of state diplomacy. If the new guys along the corridor do not know how state diplomacy works, they only need to ask. The point is that diplomacy is based on rules not the preferences of the official in charge. Asari Dokubo had no business seating directly under Nigeria’s coat of arms, a symbol of state, symbolism being an important part of diplomacy as stated in Article 20 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961). Whereas Dokubo was not an envoy, our point is that state activities in every circumstance are governed by protocol. Symbolism is important. And what exactly did he say? He used the platform to vomit.

Last Friday, revelling in the excitement of the audience that he had been granted to visit the Nigerian President, Asari Dokubo told the media that he had advised President Tinubu not to release Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) who has been in state custody since his extra-ordinary rendition from Kenya in 2021. Dokubo reportedly said: “Releasing Nnamdi Kanu is rewarding criminality and rewarding gruesome murder of innocent people. He should face the law for the actions and instigations he carried out... His release would fuel impunity. During EndSARS, Nnamdi Kanu was walking free. What did he do? He poured petrol on the flames of ENDSARS. Now, he has been caught. What of the people who have died? This is a criminal. He should face the law.” If this was just reported speech, I would have assumed that perhaps Asari Dokubo would show up later to say that he was quoted out of context, which is the standard practice in Nigeria. After all, Senator Muhammad Adamu Bulkachuwa who was recorded on tape and whose submissions at the valedictory session of the 9th Senate have been widely circulated is now saying that he was misquoted, and that he was not allowed to complete his submissions. He should be grateful to Senator Ahmad Lawan for cutting him short. He has done more than enough damage already, and if he has nothing important to say, I advise him to keep quiet! Why is Nigeria always having leaders in high places, who cannot think straight? Does Senator Bulkachuwa expect us to believe him, especially now that his wife has publicly contradicted him and his so-called “unfinished valedictory speech” has thrown the integrity of the entire judiciary into question? As for Dokubo, he has not denied his statements on Nnamdi Kanu, but the irony is writ large.

He seems to have forgotten his own antecedents and personal history. Asari Dokubo could not complete simple university education but he gained prominence as a freedom fighter defending the rights of the marginalized people of the Niger Delta. He was a prominent figure in the Niger Delta struggle for self-determination, as President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), and later as founder and leader of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPF). He was the General of Generals, Lord of the Creeks, who became a folk hero and a champion among his people. He was involved in direct action on behalf of his people – the Kaiama Declaration, Operation Climate Change, resource control and self-determination. Asari Dokubo’s team took on the Nigerian state and fought it, making life and business near-impossible for the oil multinationals operating in the Niger Delta. In effect, oil production activities in the Niger Delta dropped. In 2007, Asari was arrested and charged for treason. President Umaru Yar’Adua would later “settle him” and his boys. This piece of recent history is necessary to underline the fact that there are key parallels between the struggle led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and before him the struggle led by Asari Dokubo. In the years between 2001 and 2007, many described Asari Dokubo with the same words that he is using against Nnamdi Kanu today. His anti-Kanu outburst is clear evidence that his gentrification is now complete! He used to speak against the Nigerian state. He is now helping the same state to look for criminals. Kanu’s counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, Emma Powerful of IPOB and Ohanaeze Ndigbo have already responded to Asari Dokubo in robust measure. He is yet to respond to them, particularly their allegation that he is using Nnamdi Kanu’s name to look for oil pipeline contracts from the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Ejimakor, IPOB and Ohaneze Ndigbo are not alone. Last Friday, Asari Dokubo also accused the Nigerian military – the Navy and the Army of being behind the menace of oil theft in Nigeria. He offered to help the Nigerian state to check oil theft in the Niger Delta. This is the story of our lives. A non-state actor comes forward and accuses the Nigerian military of being an army of thieves, stealing Nigeria’s most prized natural resource, and he offers to succeed where the Nigerian military has failed. The international community must be laughing at us. I had dealt at length with this subject in a previous piece here titled “The Oil Thieves of Nigeria” (ThisDay, January 4, 2022). Nigeria loses about 193 million barrels of crude oil in 11 months, about $3.5 billion, and about 10% of the country’s foreign reserves. This has been confirmed by players in the oil and gas sector, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), and by the Multinational Oil Companies who have had to divest from Nigeria. The question is: who steals the crude oil? Oil theft is certainly not a small operation. To steal crude from a particular platform and move it to an evacuation point is a high technological venture, and to even ship it out of Nigeria’s maritime territory requires a heavy deployment of men, resources, technology and capital. And this happens every day, throwing Nigeria’s monocultural economy adrift and all we get is the trading of blames? Asari Dokubo has been consistent in blaming the military for colluding with other elements to steal Nigeria’s crude oil. The Navy and the Army have exercised a due right of reply and asked him to name the military officers involved. They have similarly accused him of looking for oil pipeline surveillance contracts. High Chief Government Ekpemukpolo who he probably considers his “boy” in street parlance has a similar contract. Why shouldn’t he hustle for one for himself?

Asari Dokubo’s outburst speaks to the failure of the Nigerian state to protect its own resources. There is a body called Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority – how efficient has it been? Why is the Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission asleep? There is the Federal Government Investigative Panel on Oil Theft and Losses led by General Barry Ndiomu (rtd) which submitted its report to the National Security Adviser in March 2023. Since then, mum has been the word. The exchange between the Nigerian military and Asari Dokubo may have generated some interest, but I do not think the matter should be allowed to die down. Dokubo must be made to share what he knows with the Nigerian government. He may or may not get whatever he is looking for – Nigerians are always looking for things – but we need to get to the root of the evil of oil theft and address it once and for all. It is time we heard from the operators – Sterling Global, Aiteo, Seplat and the IOCs. They should come and tell us what they produce in actuality. There is something somewhere that runs counter to business economics. Yesterday, President Tinubu showed his readiness to continue to act swiftly by making new appointments, including changing the service chiefs. More persons would have to go. Of all the 23 appointments announced yesterday though, I looked in vain for an Igbo name on the list – may be one from the South East. And why is the President appointing commanders for the Brigade of Guards, the Garrison and the Artillery - which are supposed to be routine military postings?