In 1988 the military junta of General Ibrahim Babangida embarked on the importation of refined petroleum products while the country’s four refineries underwent the required Turn Around Maintenance.
That's why I don't take these useless arguments on Nairaland seriously. Nairaland was once a place where you could find enriching content and arguments. Now many people are only interested in pushing an agenda and denying the obvious. I've got no time for that.
Another example. The endless turn around maintenance of the refineries during the Abacha era. How did Nigerians get petroleum products if all of these were happening? Of course they were imported. I only engage with facts, not nonsense. You already heard Buhari in that video, petroleum products were being imported in the 1970s when he was petroleum minister! Yet somebody is saying that there was nothing like importation and another person is backing him.
Biodun556: Businessday NG - Buhari, OBJ and Emeka Offor By Mohammed Al-Bishak on August 11, 2015
It is necessary to explain the relationship between Offor and the refineries. Offor founded a firm known as Anchoff Strongholds which was a clearing agent for the Warri Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals Company (WPRC) and later became its supplier. Between 1993 and 1994 it stunned the petroleum industry worldwide by becoming the first African company to carry out a turn-round maintenance (TAM) on the 125,000 barrels per day WRPC. It was assisted by Gidado Idris, then permanent secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, who was to become chairman of all of Offor’s companies. But practically no work was done. A probe led by Aret Adams, the best group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) ever, was instituted. The report recommended the dismissal of the WRPC managing director, Dr Owokalu, for his role in the scandal. The government acted promptly. The report also recommended the blacklisting of Anchoff Strongholds and its promoters and their ban from ever doing business with the NNPC. It was accepted.
But in the typical Nigerian fashion, the latter recommendations were circumvented. Anchoff promoters formed a new company and named it Chrome. Meanwhile, Gidado Idris had taken over from Aminu Saleh as the new Secretary to the Government of the Federation under General Sani Abacha’s military dictatorship. Chrome was awarded the contract to do the TAM on the 210,000 barrel per day Port Harcourt Refinery and Petrochemical Company, which is much bigger than the Warri refinery whose TAM had become an international scandal. Ever since then, all the country’s refineries have become comatose. This is the background to Obasanjo’s anger over the sweetheart deals between various Nigerian governments and Offor.
Obasanjo
“Take for example the decision on privatizing all refineries,” remarked the former president in respect of certain decisions he took in the days of his administration which were reversed by the succeeding Umaru Yar’Adua government which he had handpicked. “I explained (in my memoirs) that what I met were refineries that were not working, refineries that were given to an amateur for repairs, for maintenance, what they call turnaround maintenance, to the company of the Emeka Offor group. Where has Emeka Offor maintained refineries before? Where has he? That’s what we met. So, refineries were not working.”
Biodun556: No sooner had Premium Times published on Monday, August 3, 2015, the first part of its interview with erstwhile President Olusegun Obasanjo than it went viral. Though the immediate context of the interview was the publication of Obasanjo’s controversial trilogy entitled My Watch, the questions from the interviewers were forthright and wide-ranging, and the responses quite interesting. Early in the interview, Obasanjo devoted considerable time and sentiments to an evaluation of a controversial government contractor, Emeka Offor, and his activities.
“Take for example the decision on privatizing all refineries,” remarked the former president in respect of certain decisions he took in the days of his administration which were reversed by the succeeding Umaru Yar’Adua government which he had handpicked. “I explained (in my memoirs) that what I met were refineries that were not working, refineries that were given to an amateur for repairs, for maintenance, what they call turnaround maintenance, to the company of the Emeka Offor group. Where has Emeka Offor maintained refineries before? Where has he? That’s what we met. So, refineries were not working.”
The diligent team of reporters tried to find out from him why he did not bother to recover the huge amounts paid to Offor’s companies, and the retired army general, noted for ebullience, surprisingly sounded helpless before a mere civilian, a mere government contractor, almost half his age. Here are his words: “(Recover money from) a man who was paid upfront? He had people. He got some police….People were there. And Emeka Offor, after I left (office), became friends with every government that has come.” Offor was, no doubt, friends with the Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan governments. With this interview, Obasanjo is strongly warning the new Muhammadu Buhari administration to avoid controversial contractors like a plague. Otherwise, they would ruin the new government the way they destroyed governments before it. I should think there is merit in the wise counsel because Buhari is globally recognized for high personal integrity, and his government is the last hope of the Nigerian people to get out of the corruption cancer which has metastised all over the country.
One of the most important links in this story of fuel prices and refineries is that of Emeka Offor. Offor is very rich. His wealth has made him a power broker in politics. He is one of the principal financiers of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, at both the national and state levels. In the 2003 election he ‘donated’ some N200million to the PDP. The election of some of the senators, House of Representative members, state assembly members and council chairmen was said to have been funded by him. Most of the Igbo federal political appointees are said to be his nominees. They include Emeka Ani, chairman of the federal Poverty Eradication Programme; Martin Agbaso, presidential adviser on ecological problems and Martin Igbokwe, chairman of the NITEL board.
His overblown residence at Oraifitte, his hometown, situated along Onitsha-Owerri highway in Anambra State, looks like a presidential palace, brimming with opulence. It is heavily guarded by scores of mobile policemen. Offor moves about in a long convoy. He has several houses and flats in London and in Houston. He was the ‘godfather’ in Anambra politics when Mbadinuju was governor and the ‘Bakassi Boys’ ruled the streets.
Offor admits that he had a humble background. He was born in Kaduna. His father was a policeman. After secondary school, he went into business. He hit big money in 1983 when he won a contract of N19 million. He now has a chain of businesses in Nigeria and abroad. He owns Chrome Oil Services which handled the turn-around maintenance of Port Harcourt refinery. He also owns Chrome Air, a charter airline which is on retainer by the Central Bank of Nigeria. He is co-owner of African Express Bank, (Afex Bank) and a director of Niger Insurance, amongst several other companies, including Chrome Radio station in Oraifitte. Offor is a knight of the Catholic Church and close to the Opus Dei.
Exactly! Emotional outburst in order to avoid answering the question.
I was engaging with someone else and I was perfectly correct. This guy jumped into the discussion to claim that I was exaggerating. I then put the question directly to him and he cannot answer because I was correct and he was wrong. There is absolutely no way that he can prove that I was wrong. We imported petroleum products during the military era and anyone who says otherwise is wrong.
My point is made and that's the end.
I will not read anything you post because you have nothing meaningful to say.
Goodbye.
PoliteActivist: I don't give a rat's ass if you continue to engage me. Who the heck do you think you are?? CHECK MONIKERS before you post. You are mixed-up about who posted what. Even elementary school kids knew there was importation of fuel - which exponentially increased durring our copy copy, very expensive democracy!
General Muhammadu Buhari talking about importation of petroleum products when he was minister of petroleum in the 1970s and when he was head of state in the 1980s.
This interview took place before he became president in 2015. Yet someone is telling me that we did not import refined petroleum products during the military era.
PoliteActivist: The exaggeration is that the bad fuel was only a one-time shirt-lived mistake. The exggeration us that democracy did not end importation of fuel, it increased it. The exaggeration is that those were good, old days for the common man, compared to today!
This is a very simple thing (I assume you are educated).
He wasn't even talking about bad fuel (I used that as an example that everybody is aware of). He said that there was nothing like importation of petroleum products during the military era because all the refineries were fully working.
(I already know that's false, not only because of the bad fuel, but because General Buhari talks about how they imported refined petrol when he was head of state, I remember when Emeka Ofor was involved in the endless turn around maintenance during the Abacha era, etc).
But it is a simple issue and doesn't require any spin.
Can you answer these questions with a simple yes or no (that will determine if I will continue to engage you).
Did we import petroleum products during the military era, yes or no?
Was there "nothing like importing petroleum products during the military era", yes or no?
Someone said that we did not import fuel during the military era.
Chicagograduate: During the military government there was nothing like importation of petroleum products.Our local refineries were working fine.
and I replied with this.
naptu2: Then how come there was Abacha toxic petrol? Or don't you remember that??
1997 when the Abacha Regime imported toxic petrol that damaged many cars.
And you replied with this
PoliteActivist: You guys are exaggerating. The truth is that Nigeria of 1997 was far, far better than Nigeria of today. The bad-fuel thing was a short one-time mistake. In China and Russia you dare not criticise the government, and Putin's corruption is legendary, but Nigerians would happily japa there if they could
What the hell is the exaggeration there? It's either we imported fuel or we did not import fuel. What on earth are you trying to spin??
daveP: Did they retract the link. Seeing something else there?
It's still there, just that it's Channels Live link, so you have to scroll through the video to find it (there are other programmes before and after it).
Politics › Re: The Military Regime Was Far More Better Than Democracy by naptu2: 11:23am On Oct 30, 2023
