Nigerians are reacting to the news making the rounds that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited found an illegal 4-kilometer (km) pipeline from the Forcados terminal to the sea, and a loading port, which has operated undetected for the last nine years.
The revelation was made by the Group Managing Director of the NNPCL, Mele Kyari, while appearing before the senate joint committees of petroleum and gas on Tuesday.
Nigerians have taken to Twitter to express their opinions about this strange news. Nairametrics got some of these opinions from the NNPC trend table on Twitter. The reactions show various levels of disbelief and distrust of NNPCL and the government in general.
Some people believe that it is not possible for NNPCL and Nigeria’s security agencies not to be aware of the situation.
What they said:
Others have expressed helplessness regarding the situation. As seen in the past, many issues in Nigeria have left some Nigerians fed up with being Nigerians.
Some people are of the opinion that NNPCL is no different from NNPC. To them, the change that was made in July 2022 was just the logo, nothing else! They believe that a truly limited liability company will not allow the issue of oil theft to become a permanent stain on the Nigerian identity.
Others blame it on the security agents. But, do the security agents have any real power as long as issues like these are concerned? What if the Navy knew about the operations but they could not do anything about it because the operations were above their pay grades?
What you should know
- Nairametrics has reported that Nigeria loses up to $150m every two days on illegal crude oil production and pipeline vandalism.
- In September 2022, the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd) faulted the daily consumption figures of petrol claimed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to justify the over N6.34 trillion subsidy payment on the product annually.
- Nairametrics had also reported that NNPCL denied allegations that it is operating secret accounts.
Bottomline
Nigerians are showing signs of being tired of a failed economy and the failure of the Buhari administration to prosecute those who are in on the grand plan to steal the nation’s crude. Nigeria is not gaining from high crude oil prices and this has made Nigerians develop a level of distrust for the Buhari administration. Crude oil theft has cost Nigerians a lot including revenue losses, and a rise in the country’s debt profile.
