The Ibenanaowei of Ekpetiama Kingdom and Chairman, Council of Traditional Rulers in Bayelsa State, King Bubaraye Dakolo, Agada IV, has blamed the presidency and the Nigerian Government for the incessant oil theft in the country.
According to the prominent monarch in south-south Nigeria, the problem persists because it is condoned by the Nigerian president and its leader.
The incumbent president, Bola Tinubu was sworn in on May 29, 2023. His predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari was in office for eight years.
In an interview with The Sun, the monarch said, “However, it is a big shame to the Federal Government of Nigeria that this is happening because everything comes from them.
“I have been in the military myself so I know the psychology of the military. Today if Mr. President wants to stop crude oil theft, 14 days is too much, he will stop it. The same military you talk about are not made up of dumb people; they are made of trained professionals, trained in the act of defence of the Nigerian state. They are not fools.
“So, if Mr President wants them to effectively do their job, you give them training, equipment and money to do all that is required. Then you give them the right marching orders.
“It is not just to come on TV and say you want to stop crude oil theft. The security agencies over the years have seen that the Federal Government is not serious about combating oil theft. They have seen that the Federal Government is only putting them in harm’s way.
“I was a member of the 38 Regular Course, so I know how everything works. The security agencies are not curbing oil because the Presidency does not want it to be curbed. The Nigerian state has left the job it ought to do and is doing things it should not do.
“It doesn’t matter if they deploy the military, the Federal Government has not given them the effective orders. It is very important. There are what they call effective orders. I know how to give effective orders and the executive can give effective orders.”
According to the king, the mismanagement of Nigeria’s oil resources in the past 67 years is the reason for the continued crude oil theft.
He said, “Oil and gas resources have been so poorly managed to the point that Nigerians hardly knew how many barrels the country produced. So, it is like you have a priceless commodity but you don’t seem to care how it is dug out of the ground and how it is sold.
“In fact, Europeans have collected on our behalf our oil and sell at some cost before allowing them to sell at a universal cost, thereby fleecing the hell out of us. And the Nigerian government does not seem to care.
“The oil resource in its mismanagement has destroyed agriculture, damaged the environment, manufacturing, security and every other thing in this country.
“Individuals and foreign governments have been part of crude oil theft. And we have a docile Nigerian government sitting like a lame duck and allowing this to happen without any consequences more or less.
“Over the years, more people have got involved. Nigeria loses about 200,000 barrels a day to oil thievery. That is the statistics. It is not from me. NNPC can corroborate. At one time, last year, NNPC said it was losing $750 million every month. The quantum of oil being stolen cannot be stolen by one riff-raff.
“You can’t steal this oil and put it in your back pocket. It is stolen and put into a large ocean-going vessel, stolen from the real terminals where oil is supposed to be exported. This is what has been going on for years. Nigeria has lost so much money to oil thievery. Oil theft is now like a national pastime.”