The
North and the Search for Oil!
By
Zayyad I. Muhammad
zaymohd@yahoo.com, Aug 22, 2006
Of recent, two issues
are dominating debates in the north - the agitation for power shift and
the much-talked search for oil in the north; the latter has raised so
many questions than answers in the minds of the common northerners and
indeed many Nigerians: why are northern leaders eager to search for oil
now? Is it purely for economic reason? Is it just politics or simply
the usual Nigerian elites’ way of approaching issues? If it is for
economic reasons, would the common man on the streets benefits from it?
Would it not be a replica of what is happening in the Niger Delta region
of Nigeria, where poverty is rampaging like a wild fire in the midst of
plenty? While selected few, are egging from the circumstances.
Out of the forty-six
years of Nigeria’s political independence; northern elites had power on
their grab for nearly thirty-eight years; what is boggling the minds of
northern talakawas is; what had stopped the elites then, in
making a true resolute effort in the search for oil in north, despite
the fact that, preliminary geological survey had shown evidence of oil
existence? Though, no right thinking man of understanding can carry-on,
on a white elephant project just to satisfy regional inclination at
the expense of greater Nigeria, but has the present crop of northern
leaders done to the north what would have freed the poorer of the poor
from the prison of poverty to an unlocked future? The answer is
anybody’s guess– one may not be out of point to say: nearly most elites
in the north have their legs wobbling, now that Obasanjo have
systematically shown to them how to use power – despites the hitherto
long period of northern elites domination of Nigeria’s political
space; the region is virtually crawling behind the rest of the other
regions of Nigeria, in almost all sector Nigerian economy.
There are strong
convictions that oil will be found, or indeed, it do exist in Lake Chad
part of Nigeria; for the reason that Niger republic and Chad have stroke
oil on their part of the Lake. But how will the whole process going to
be taken? Is the Northern Nigeria Development Corporation (NNDC) that
seems spearheading the project going to approach the issue ‘off-the-
shelve’? Who are the prospective technical partners? Would real business
men from the north, who are always at poles apart with long term
investment, be willing to invest in the project ; a project that
probably is their grand children would benefit from; how about
environmental issues? – It is a known fact that Lake Chad is
considerably shrinking; how about the locals, whose livelihood is
sustained by the Lake? Nevertheless, the recent production sharing
agreement between the NNPC and NNDC is a welcome step.
Though, the world is at
a speed in search of cheaper and cleaner energy, when hydrocarbon is
stroke in the Lake Chad part of Nigeria, it would not be only beneficial
to the north but greater Nigeria- more petrodollars to the nation, more
jobs and opportunities and technology transfer. But some observers are
of the view that, there is strong correlation between oil and corruption
in Nigeria; others are also of the opinion, Nigeria’s continuous
reliance on oil as the locomotive of the economy; is continuing to make
Nigeria’s economy system, a ‘series’ built-up system; where the failure
of the ‘source’ system, means the bringing down of the economy down to
its knees. The current NNPC ethanol project is one among the many ways
to re-design Nigeria’s economy into a ‘parallel’ based system, where a
situation of dwindled oil price in the international market will not
necessary mean an instant collapse of the economy. Does the NNDC
determined effort to search for oil in the north means the north is
completely leapfrogging away from boosting agro-allied industries and
developing human resource?- This is the most immediate need of the
region. Is oil the answer to the current level of poverty in the north?
- most countries in the world, who are now considerably having the
fastest growing economy and high GDP achieved such through purely human
resources development. Or are the political leaders in the north foresee
a Nigeria, where politics of oil would in future be the order of the
day; when you have oil you control the polity; but common Nigerians
would not in any way pray for such, but the typical Nigerian politician
would love such scenarios or something similar, that would give them
unmerited political advantage. Nevertheless the start of Oil
exploration in northern Nigeria, will means a new entirely different
operating environment that would be easy to operate on, without adverse
environmental destruction and opportunity for Nigeria to have a new
start in oil exploration.
Zayyad I. Muhammad
writes from Jimeta, Nigeria.
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