₦airaland Forum

I can only hope that we have people like Richyblack all over the country. Your advise is well taken on board. It will be communicated to the highest level. We will do our best to tidy up our side of the present divide so that we can unite, integrate fully into the larger mother Nigeria.

Thanks and God bless you.

Tex,
The Yorubas are already clamouring for a LNG plant in Ogun-Ondo border, and that's because Ondo state have very small hydrocarbon resources. I wonder what they'll demand if they have hydrocarbon resources as huge as that of the Delta. And you're here saying something else.

You're on your own Tex.

Bros Richy black,
All those ones na just trivial things. 1.46, 1.5, 2.0, 2.2 trillion green backs doesn't call for too much mathematical computation. My calc actually came up with 1.5, which is 1.46 round up to 1dp, which is 2.0 to 1 sf. secondary school people make una correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyway, the[b] koko[/b] of the matter is how much of this did our wise ruling brothers from the North, West and East have managed to[b] plough back into the Niger delta for it's development.[/b]


But you have made one impressive statement up there. And that should get debo thinking if he's in the ''thinking mode''. Thanks. I know we can do it in this country. It's just good that we put to good use our intelligence by harnessing what's in our respective areas to our full advantage without bitterness and rancour. Without jealousy and greed. This will ultimately engender solid healthy competition rather than the parasitic method that's presently the norm.

oldie:
Like you wrote, we should be pragmatic in our reasonings
We should also lay down the facts as they are
A barrel of oil wouldnt have been $40, 50/40/30 years ago!
So also we were not producing 2mb/day in 1958/1968/1978

This type of statistics does not help our arguments.

My question really, is: what have our leaders done with all the monies allocated to Niger Delta in all these years
We should start asking questions, instead of buck passing

I used the word ''average''. Ever heard of rough estimate before. A barrel of crude oil (nigerian grade) currently goes for upward of about $95. In the early 90s it was sold for about $18. And in the early 80s it was some $80. So, if I used an average price of $40 for the past 50 years, is there anything wrong with that?

Beside,  we have produced close to 4 million barrels a day in the past, especially during the oil boom era. So, what point are you trying to pass across?

I once said in one of my entries that when we're dealing with the delta issue, we should be pragmatic in our reasonings.

If we have been producing oil in the country fro the past 50 years at an average rate of 2 million barrels/day, that means we've produced some 2million*365*50 barrels of crude oil. And if the price of the barrel of crude is averaged at 40 dollars per barrel over this period, then Nigeria have realised:

2million*365*50*40 dollars in the past 50 years. That's some staggering: ~ 2 trillion dollars!

Now, how much of this can we say was ploughed back into the Niger Delta over the past 50 years?

And why won't I be passionate about these things? Who will be in my shoes and not be passionate about the issues affecting his place? I bet if you're in my shoes, you will be at the rooftop shouting away at the injustice meted to your people.

debosky,
We've been through this argument several times in my entry on Olokola LNG and the Niger Delta Question. You didn't get back to me on that last post of mine.

At the root of the sit tight issue in Chad, you see a ''greedy'' leader who wants to appropriate all the good fortunes Chad is reaping from crude oil sales to himself and cronies loyal to his government. That the opposition groups were repelled by the army will not do much to address the uprising you have going on here. Corruption and corrupt enrichment have been the bane of most African leaders. Tell me anyother thing Chad produces that will make one not want to sit tight on the president seat. Didn't IBB do thesame, didn't OBJ tried the path of third term until he was eventually chased out? You should be able to read meanings to issues by now rather than looking at things at face value.

We all know how France deals with their former colonies - especially in times of crises. And a country like Chad that produces the balck gold will surely draw the French army when in crises.


You want to compare the kind of attention and infrastructural development you have in Lagos , Abuja and Kaduna to what obtains in Asaba and Portharcourt, or even Yenagos. This is laughable. Yenagoa is yet to be connected to the national grid as we speak, even when Bayelsa state hosts some of the prolific gas fields in the Niger Delta, that will contribute to you OKLNG. Or is it the decaying infrastructure and slums that is Portharcourt that you're comparing to Abuja and Kaduna? Please get your facts rite. Portharcourt and Warri should at least be able to measure up to the level of several oil hubs in the world - like Aberdeen, Houston and The Hague, but for the satanic neglect of the place by successive military and civillian thieves.

By your statement on the first phase of the OKLNG, you've succeeded in telling us that the plant will be much bigger that NLNG. By the time OKLNG goes into its second and third phases with other trains, it will be the biggest LNG plant in sub saharan Africa. So, what are you talking about?

romeo:
@Ono
Please brief me on the war in Chad and leave Niger Delta issue for now

You'd better pray that things don't degenerate to the level we now have in Chad, in Nigeria. It will be too much for the ''earth'' to grapple with. But then, it seems that's just where we are heading at the moment, except something soothing happens to the delta people.

I'm particularly thrilled by the response from doyin -  a non Niger Deltan for that matter! Tex and his group just don't know what pains you feel when you go to your hometown or village and see someone else ''tapping'' into your ancestral lands to the benefit of not yourself or community, but to the benefit of other places. Places like Lagos, Abuja earlier  listed are the sole benefactor of the proceeds from oil sales.

I really don't think things would have degenerated to this level but for the satanic neglect, deprivation and inhuman treatment meted out to the Niger Delta that hosts the oil and gas resources.

Someone said in one thread that simply because Ondo state now produce some 5% of hydrocarbon resources (oil and gas), although I know it's less than that, they deserve sitting a project as huge as OKLNG in a border town between Ondo and Ogun state. OKLNG will be bigger, much more bigger than the Bonny LNG plant in River State - at least I know that much about the OKLNG project.. I also know that the gas resources to be fed into that plant will be coming from the Niger Delta (95%) states of Bayelsa and Delta.

Looking at the Nigerian map, and the location of the Niger Delta, there's no moral, economical, political justification for sitting the plant in Olokola. It's sheer devilment for OBJ to move a plant as huge as that to an enclave. 

People just don't appreciate what psychological trauma the average Niger Deltan pass through daily. I mean, just imagine all that's happening around you in your homelands. The gradually eroding ecosystems, the wastes, the pollution, the unemployment, the pipelines carrying hydrocarbon resources to places as far as Kaduna, Benin, and Lagos, power plants at Ughelli, Sapele, Kwale and Afam generating power for other places while you remain in darkness. A state like Ogun having up to 10 Universities, and others with several Federal Universities. Meanwhile, Delta and Bayelsa States have no Federal Universities. The case of Delta is even pathetic. Put all these together and add others I'm simply tired to put down here and tell me if its reasonable to even engage anyone in a discussion session as this.

Jakumo:
This is a very serious development. The Nigerian Airforce must be placed on Stage 3 Red Alert so that fully armed fighter jets can be scrambled on a moment's notice to intercept any inbound flights of spiritual pigeons picked up on our air defence radar systems.

The Abuja Police Department must be commended for swinging into action and spreading out a dragnet to track down and re-instate the missing Instruments belonging to that unfortunate motorcycle taxi operator, BUT, their efforts must be properly coordinated with ongoing Nigerian military operations so that invading terror pigeons can be detected, tracked and destroyed regardless of whether they try to invade Nigeria by air, sea or land.

Until this state of emergency is lifted, all men resident in Nigeria are hereby advised to keep a firm grip on themselves at all times so as to preempt any further attempts by pigeons, bats or indeed any other airborne life-form, to destabilise our great nation by threatening the central foundation pillar of biological manhood.

LOL!! Hilarious as ever.

Except that bank is a separate entity, as distinct from the church, one can safely conclude then, that the robbers went to raid a bank very close to Winner's Chapel Hq. And nothing more than that. Someone should correct me if I'm wrong.

I just want to believe that the bank wasn't a part of the church.

Fact is that when men come up with evil machinations, they believe it will last for ever, they forget that it will only last for a while. Over the past 50 years, the people of the delta watched helplessly as the major ethnic groups of this country carved out their lands, called them OMLs, OPLs,  funny names, etc etc and sold them to the highest bidder foreigners. They practically shared the delta lands to their own advantage.

And after sharing the lands, they sat back and watch as the foreigners go to work in the creeks, drilling wells for oil and gas. The foreigners are here for profit and profit alone. They careless about the well being of the inhabitants of the area, rightly so I daresay, afterall, the government is supposed to be responsible for the up keep for their citizens.

But the foreigners don't know that these government are largely composed of ethnic groups who careless about the well being of the delta people. They were shocked to their bones when they realised that they've been dealing with the wrong people.

With time, everyone now knows who own what and how proceeds from oil sales have been shared over the past 50 years.

Tensions are flaring high in the delta. It's only a matter of time. The fragile union called Naija will be subjected to the true test of ''unionship'' - where everyone will have a say in the way this country should/will be governed.

Who cares.

Will bibiking kindly rise to the occasion by providing concrete evidence as demanded?

babs,
I know how much volume of gas each of the partners in the OKLNG project are expected to pump to that plant. And 95% of the gas volumes will be channelled v[b]ia long range pipelines[/b] from a number of[b] prolific gas fields from the Niger Delta[/b]. Never mind that the companies handling the gas pipelines and projects are different.

Will Bibiking kindly list out projects with which groundnut pyramids, cocoa and coal proceeds were used to erect any enduring structure in any parts of the Niger Delta - from Delta to Cross River state?

As per what we have from the proceeds from oil sales, I have:

1. The entire city of Abuja - Including Aso Villa, NNPC Towers, The Ship House, National Stadium Abuja, NTA Head office, International Conference Centre, Supreme Court, Louis Edet House (Hq of NPF) etc etc.

2. 90% of Lagos: There's no gainsaying the fact that General Gowon built all of the bustling bridges and roads you see in Lagos. The CBN office, The former house of Assembly complex, Dodan Barracks, Bonny Camp VI, etc etc etc.

3. Practically all of the Federal Structures you see in places at Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Borno, Jigawa, Taraba, Katsina - including all of the military paraphernalia at Kaduna.

4. The two Hiltop Mansions at Minna and Abeokuta.

5. OFN (Obasanjo Farms Nigeria Ltd)

6. $12 BILLION greenbacks to IBB - courtesy of Gulf War oil windfall

7. $10 Billion greenbacks unaccounted for by OBJ as power projects fund - evidence from Yar'Adua.

8. Festac 77 structures - including FESTAC TOWN

9. Games Village Abuja.

10. The National Assembly abuja.

11. OKLNG at Olokola (Ogun and Ondo) boarder.

So, bibiking, please show us any structure built with proceeds from elsewhere in Nigeria, in the Niger Delta. I'm waiting.

JunkieKobo,
Do you mind explaining what the hell that signature statement of your mean?

naijaking,
Spot on post. I daresay you are right about the ''shortsightedness'' of the Delta people at the time. But, do you remember Isaac Boro? It was only when it became clear to him at the time, the agenda of the FG that he decided to rebel against the them. That cost him his life. We need more Boros today to fight our cause once again.

@ romeo and juliet,
You just don't get me. I'm not bothered if Kano produces oil or gas, talk less of Abia. All I want is justice, regard and respect for other people, true federalism and equity for all in the country.

romeo:
One Nigeria , Oil belongs to all and if the text in bold is your idea of fair play, hmmm you need to do a rethink

THE OIL BELONGS TO THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA

Is that the much you can muster? Hiding under one 'disunited' Nigeria to perpetrate evil? God help us all.

romeo:
True Niger Deltans should hold their state executhieves and local leaders responsible for their ills today, tell me what cultism and thuggery has to do with the development of Niger Delta. The constant flexing of muscles by their leaders has led to the creation of many criminal gangs to terrorise their own people, because the winner of this their power tussle will control things in Niger Delta when the money starts coming in

When you use the word ''today'' as above, I then begin to think if you really are sincere with your post. This is one area that's just about 20 percent in land mass of the entire country. A place where the population is just some 15 - 20% of Nigeria's population. Aren't other ethnic groups in the country thinking about how they can beat the ''Delta people to it'' with their own God-given resources? Instead of challenging the delta lands and people with their oil/gas, we hear Ogun State, a state that can hardly boast of anything in the not too distant past now have a school for oil and gas training - a replacement for the PTI in Warri. The school is a fallout of the OKLNG planned to be built in the border town between Ondo and Ogun border - Olokola.

And the OKLNG plant will be ''fuelled'' 90% by gas resources from Delta and Bayelsa States - which presently have no such plant!

Instead of developing what they have in their own lands, these other ethnic groups are so daft and not ashamed, bereft of ideas that they cannot think of anything else but to come together to milk a land foreign to theirs with impunity and wickedness. Ironically, they are the people that are well read. Some of the brightest minds in the country are with these ethnic groups. But they use their bright minds to formulate policies and laws that will perpetually impoverish the Niger Delta people, and leave them at their mercy.

They are the ones who formed the bulk of the nation's populace. And instead of harnessing that to their advantage, they use it to intimidate the minority ethnic groups in the delta by positioning themselves at the echelon of practically every parastatal that's concerned with wealth generation. They cannot think of harnessing what's in their own soil to their benefit. And while they are at it, their own elders are committing adultery with their sons wives - such that has never been heard of in the nations history. And they have the guts to accuse our leaders of corruption and theft. Their leader are the big thieves, IBB stole practically all the money realised from oil sale after the gulf war of the 90s - More than 12 billion dollars. OBJ spent 10billion US green backs on power that we cannot see, built another Hiltop Mansion at Ibara Abeokuta plus other atrocious acts all over the place. Today he's the PDP board of Trustees chairman May the tormentors of the Niger Delta people know no peace all of their days.

They are not ashamed to come out in the open to share the proceeds of the resources their fragile union has created. Nuff said before I go gaga.

As far as I'm concerned, these guys are hoodlums. And your suggesting Robin Hood and Hamas style of ''militancy'' will not happen in the delta because as things stands they don't have any feeling for humans like they are. Also, just as we have Adedibu doing his own ''thing'' at Ibadan and OPC and the Northern pressure groups doing theirs elsewhere, under the guise of propagating some ethnic agenda, and without the blessing of the generality of the people of those areas, so also are these hoodlums in the delta.

I really care less about who their sponsors are, and like you rightly observed, these people are just a selfish bunch. I'm fed up with their activities and I believe they constitute a nuisance to the Niger Delta society at large.

And I don't know what you're talking about their academic qualifications. I heard a lot of these folks are very well read people from reputable Universities, whose efforts at getting gainful employment have been repeatedly thwarted by the ethnic oligarchs in the oil companies operating in their areas.

Point of correction Tex, It's impossible for hoodlums and folks who have ill-gotten wealth to show anything ''meaningful'' for it.

I'm sure you don't imply that Niger Delta people are waiting on hoodlums to account for their stewardship - while pilfering in the creeks.

I really don't know if we're discussing along thesame lines here.

I have said that hoodlums parading themselves as ''Niger Delta'' militants do not have the blessings of the people of the area. I thought that's clear for all to see.


But I also said that with or without the militants, there's a general feeling of neglect, utter diregard for the rights of the people of the area and deprivation of the highest level going on in the Delta on the part of the Niger Delta people. And that they will do all they can to change the gory trend. Leave hoodlums parading as ''Niger Delta Militants'' alone. Their time is almost up.

Now, can we discuss further from here?

One thing is very clear here. There are genuine agitators for the peaceful development and upgrade of the standard of living of the average Niger Delta man. And while we have hoodlums and thieves, who, by virtue of their trade in bunkering and vandalisation of pipelines terrorising both the inhabitants of the Delta and the exploiting companies, the genuine agitators are using viable channels to press home their demands.

These hoodlums, who are the direct + indirect products of OBJ's thugs and his lieutenants + puppets in the Delta , have constituted themselves into a dreadful bunch. At the moment, with the indictment of prominent army officials who aided these thieves by providing the arms with which they kill innocent people, there seems to be a lull in the activities of these hoodlums.

There's no cause for alarm. It's obvious to all peace loving people of the delta and the larger Nigeria that the injustice meted out to the Delta lands and her people needs to be adressed immediately. I personally believe in Yar'Adua to come up with viable solutions to the Niger Delta problems. And while these will take time, we can only urge Yar'Adua and his vice to hasten up the process, just the way Abuja was developed to the level it is in less than 20 years with the proceeds from oil sales.

almondjoy:
99.999999999999% of Nigeria look like this so we are not shocked at these images.

Please next topic!

That's not true. I can take you to VGC and some areas at Maitama in Abuja . . . . . . places largely built up with oil money. Yet you come here to say everywhere is like the Niger Delta. Abeg hold ya self o!

But Sam Egwu is gunning for the PEEDEEPEE chairmanship slot. How is it that the EFCC have not done anything to prosecute him?

Tex,
You know I've been pretty quiet lately. This is a trap to draw me out of my closet and I will not fall for it. All I know is that we have genuine Niger Delta agitators and we know those who are criminals from neighbouring states - including Edo, Ondo etc etc.

It is the work of the Police and JTF to maintain law and order in the Delta and prevent hoodlums from inflicting pain on innocent people.

I believe naija sports officals conspired against Mali. They went and greased the hands of Drogba and Drogba's wifey. That's my take on this matter.

What a nightmare. Tell me I'm am dreaming!

First thing IBB was military OBJ was civilian. OBJ in Military regime killed Fumilayo Kuti.

In Civilian regime Bola-Ige, Harry Marshals, Dikibo, THousands in Zaki Biam and Odi .

I think OBJ is HIV and IBB is whooping cough.

OBJ rigged an election so massively that the winner even complained. IBB conducted an free and fair election but pocketed the results. So who is better.

OBJ that can never do anything good or IBB that can do something good but would spoil it himself. Count the number of GOV in the last election that have been stripped of their mandrakes rather mandates

Great post.

Yeah. Fela would have made the most of this situation to do some yabis on uncle Sege alias Babacracy.

In the worst case scenario, you could be asked to do a kind of buy back of what you stole. How did Yar'Adua put it that time? Something like parting with some of what you stole, so that you can go free.

And in the worst of all cases, you'd spend six months in prison (like Tafa Balogun) and you'd be welcomed back home to your hometown, a worthy son of the soil.

This is not the issue at hand. We're talking here about the corruption charges brought against him by OBJ and his bulldog - Ribadoo Scooby doo, at a critical time in the political life of Atiku.

Much as I do not doubt the ''corruptness'' level of Atiku, recent happenings have indicated and brought to limelight the father of all the thieves during the OBJ locust years - OBJ himself and his little kids. And I believe OBJ is the most corrupt, morally decrepit, ungrateful old man walking the surface of the earth!