"The Stone Age didn't end because we ran out of stones. It ended because we invented bronze tools, which were more productive.” Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani, (former Saudi oil minister). ------------------------------------------------------- The oil age is fast drawing to a close and the signs are everywhere. For example, throughout the world, except in Africa due to backwardness, massive work is going on installing charging points for electric cars. The EU has instructed that all new housing developments must have electric chargers for the next generation of automobiles. Once motors go electric, oil prices would collapse. And once the cost of producing oil exceeds the selling price, oil companies will divest and leave the sector. Apart from newer technologies replacing oil, one development within the oil sector itself will sink the price of oil and make it even more worthless- fracking. Fracking involves the pumping of water at high pressure into ancient rocks to release the oil and gas entrapped in them for millions of years. This technology which is already in use in the USA and UK means that all countries where there is rock can produce its own oil and gas. And all countries have ancient rocks so all countries can be oil and gas producers! No need to import oil from any other country. The end of the oil age is no longer a speculation belonging to sci-fi, it is here. When this happens, all rusting oil installation in the niger-delta will become artefacts of exploitation and black stupidity just like the discarded chains of the slave trade. This raises the question: so where are we now? To answer this question, lets sketch the story of oil in Nigeria. [b] The Colonial Geological Survey of Eastern Nigeria & the Plot to Cage the Igbos. The geological survey of the entire Eastern Nigeria was concluded in 1929 by the British colonial government. This survey showed that the area was saturated with oil and gas- the energy which drivers of the 20th century economy. Signs of these survey are still visible in areas from Afikpo in Ebonyi state all the way to Egbema etc. where capped oil wells and cement markers are common sights in the bush and some streams often get contaminated by crude oil. But the biggest concentration of crude oil was in the area then known as Aba and Owerri. provinces. To exploit this oil, Shell D'Arcy (later known as Shell BP) set up its HQ in Owerri, but it ran into serious opposition by the natives who did not want oil exploitation on their land. This matter went to the colonial courts where it was fought vigorously and frustrated all efforts to open an oil well in Igboland. Then, Shell & co went back to the drawing board, perfected a horizontal drilling technology which enabled them to open a commercially viable oil well a remote none-Igbo location at Oloibiri in 1956. The rest is history which we learnt is no more taught in Nigeria. The Biafran War & the Mantra of "Niger- delta Oil" But Shell and its foreign backers still had to contend with the Igbo resistance factor made worse by the likes of Zik et al in the Nigerian independence fight. It was obvious for Shell and its owners that to exact the ruthless exploitation of the oil and gas of eastern Nigeria, they must get Igbos out of the way by all means necessary. That opportunity came with the military coup of January 1966. What began as a patriotic anti- corruption revolution against ten percenters was soon turned into anti- Igbo riots by foreign intelligence agents based at Ahmadu Bello University which snowballed into pogroms, secession and war. During the Biafran war, several efforts at a negotiated peace at Addis Ababa, Kampala etc. were frustrated by Shell and its backers who not only supplied weapons and diplomatic support but also urged the Nigerian side to agree to nothing but a military solution- defeat of the Igbos. Their aim- to get the troublesome Igbos out of the way and exploit oil unhindered. The Aftermath- US$600 billion Expropriated from Eastern Nigeria. Once Igbos were out, the ruthless exploitation commenced in earnest. Between 1970 and 2016, over US600billion of oil was taken from Eastern Nigeria. While this was going on, the eastern "minorities" now hired to watch oil pipelines conveying the wealth to Kaduna, Lagos and sundry places where programmed to chant the mantra: "Ibos are after the oil wealth of Niger-delta". Even when Fulanis from the margin of the Sahara desert parcelled out oil wells in the niger-delta and distributed them among themselves, this mantra persisted. Fifty years down the line, US600Billion has been taken from the area. Some of that money went to develop "federal capital" in Lagos, Western Nigeria. Part of the money went to create another "federal capital" in Abuja, Northern Nigeria. The rest of the money went into coded Swiss accounts, golf courses in Europe etc. Eastern Niger got nothing but polluted farmlands, rivers, carcinogenic emissions from over 50 years of gas flaring. And now, the Yorubas have moved their capital from Ibadan to Lagos, asking Ibos to leave the erstwhile "federal capital" or face deportation. The Hausa-Fulani have claimed Abuja too, issuing quit notice to Igbos or face death. Funny that the same ones who once declared "Niger-delta republic" over governance in eastern Nigeria which lasted for 6 years (1960-66) could do nothing but wring their hands for 50-odd years and counting. Empty Gin Bottles, Chains & Enduring Artifacts of Stupidity. When coal was discovered in Ngwo, it led directly to the founding of two leading cities in Eastern Nigeria today- Enugu and Port Harcourt. But when oil was found in the area, human vultures from everywhere descended on the area to ensure that nothing, absolutely nothing came out of it for the people. Even their investments in the so-called federal capitals have become an instrument of ethnic blackmail. The slave trade lasted for over 400 years. When it ended, key players like Europe and USA were left with robust economies and infrastructure which endure till today. By contrast, the Niger- delta, a key centre of the trade was left with nothing but empty ogogoro bottles- Schnapps, Johnny Walker, Gordon gin etc. and discarded chains and broken people. As the oil age draws to a close, history is about to repeat itself due to self-hatred, only this time as a farce. NG

Congrats for your confused state, Revisionist...

time for ss to plan