The Executive Director of ‘Development Specs Academy’ and Visiting Professor of Social and Management Science, Professor Okey Ikechukwu, has made a stunning allegation during a live interview, stating that a Nigerian individual is being paid four billion naira every month to protect the country’s oil pipelines, yet crude oil theft, known as bunkering, continues uninterrupted.
Speaking during a television programme, according to a video recently posted, Prof. Ikechukwu used Nigeria’s oil sector as a case study in what he described as a culture of self delusion within government. He pointed out that Nigeria, a country capable of producing far more crude oil per day, has watched its output fall dramatically over the years due to pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft.
Prof. Ikechukwu noted that while the government has recently celebrated a rise in production figures, the more important question is where the rest of the oil is going.
He argued that bunkering has grown so large and so organised that it now functions as an independent industry. He described the situation as one where the entire tracking and movement of crude oil into the international market has been compromised, and yet the government continues to speak of progress and control.
In his words, Prof. Ikechukwu said: “Not a drop of crude oil goes into the international market without a trace. So, you find that bunkering has become an independent industry. This same bunkering, you and I are aware that there is a Nigerian who is paid 4 billion naira every month to make sure nothing goes wrong with our pipelines. As I speak, he is still being paid. As I speak, bunkering is going on. As I speak, we are being assured that the government is in control. We can delude ourselves, but I am not very good at that. I am not very good at self delusion”.
The Professor stressed that celebrating a rise in oil output without addressing the underlying theft is not progress. He called it a management failure that reflects the broader inability of the government to protect the nation’s most critical economic asset.
