By Kehinde Akinpelu
Kwara – A retired Deputy Director of the now-defunct Department of Petroleum Resources, Engineer Sunday Adebayo Babalola, has called on governors of the oil producing states to actively participate in the war against illegal refining of petroleum products.
He stated that the menace is inimical to Nigeria’s economy, environment, and the health of the residents.
Babalola who is currently Director of All Grace Energy, in an interview on Thursday commended the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike for his anti-illegal refining war in his state.
He said, “I must commend Governor Wike for his efforts and work. Illegal refining is cheating us on revenue. The companies are frustrated. They spend a lot of money producing operating costs, capital costs, and exploration and after they have found the oil, somebody goes to steal it and refine it illegally. The effect on the company is not good.
“The effect on the company with respect to financiers is not good. Nobody will want to bring their money into a country where they are not sure what they have invested the money on is going to yield good returns.
” The illegal refiners are not helping the situation. Moreover, environmental degradation is enormous. If you got to Port Harcourt today, by evening, you manage to put your hand in your nose, what it will bring out is bad soot.
” I commend Governor Wike for a very good job.I hope that he continues to do it and I hope that party differences will not make him be discouraged in what he is doing.
“I hope all the South-South governors will do it. The effect of illegal refining is huge. It affects the health of the people living around the South-South.
” From that, we see that it affects the hospitals too because when people are sick, they rush to hospitals and hospitals will be overpopulated.
“It also affects the revenue of the states and the federal government. It also affects companies from being able to raise money to further develop crude oil.
“It is very sad because today we think that crude oil is all that is required for huge foreign exchange earnings but that is not the case.
“The world is changing very fast. So if we do not produce what we can produce today, and sell it and make money that we can use for infrastructural development to move our country forward, we will stand to regret it in a few years.
” Because a time will come, it may not be tomorrow, it may not be next week, it may not be next years, it may not even be in 20 years’ time, but the time will come when oil will not be fashionable again.
“Just as it happened, coal was the in-thing one time but it is not the in thing today.
“The effect can be very devastating to everybody and to all stakeholders. And that is why I commend Governor Wike and I pray that he be supported by all stakeholders so that he can do more,”
Babalola charged other South-South governors to join in the fight against illegal refining of crude oil.
“If Governor Wike succeeds in his area, the perpetrators will move to other areas. So it is better for all of them to be prepared and start fighting from their own ends so that they will not have anywhere to run to and continue this illegal refining.
“When you talk of illegal refining, the environmental degradation, when they puncture the oil pipelines or when they leave the place after siphoning whatever they did, the environment is degraded and it is blamed on the oil companies, which is very sad.
“Honestly, it is wrong to say that many of those who are involved in illegal refining are poor. It is wrong. The people who have been doing it are not poor.
“They are not poor. Poor people can not afford to buy high-speed boats, poor people can not afford to buy the equipment they use to puncture and make holes in the pipelines. They are not poor. To me, I am not sure, they may be supported by highly placed people also.
” They also make a lot of money from it. I do not agree that they are poor people. People who are involved in illegal refining should stop it. They are even endangering their lives and that of other residents.
” They are also sabotaging the economy of Nigeria and their states. They also inhibit the revenue and growth of oil companies and also prevent them from more exploration.
“They also deter investors from investing in the industry and so prevent growth and development in their communities,” he explained.
Babalola, who is also a former acting Managing Director of Belemaoil Nigeria Limited, commended Nigerians for not embarking on protest or any violent act during the scarcity of premium motor spirit popularly called petrol in some cities in Nigeria.
He stated that Nigerians exhibited commendable maturity during the last queues in petrol stations across some states in Nigeria.
According to him, though the fuel scarcity lingered for some weeks, the Federal Government, tried its best to restore normalcy.
It will be recalled that over 100 million liters of fuel recently imported into the country, were said to be adulterated, containing high methanol quantities above Nigeria’s specification, which led to long queues at fuel stations in major cities in Nigeria.
This anomaly resulted to blame games among players in the industry.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, (NMDPRA), and other related agencies had blamed the anomaly on the NNPC, while, the NNPC Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari blamed some oil companies for the importation of the offensive product.
Babalola said the ” restoration of normal fuel supply is a very good development.
“I must commend the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited for the efforts they have put in to be able to bring about this restoration of fuel supply and prevent further fuel scarcity.
” Everybody’s hands were on deck to make sure it happened. It did not happen within the shortest possible time but it did eventually and that is very commendable.
“In spite of the trial and confusion going on in the world, including the Ukraine-Russian war, we are still able to get fuel into the petrol stations and people are able to buy without queues. I commend the federal government for that.
“You never can know what troubles can come in the world again. The world today is a global village. One person’s needs in Chile affect another person’s in Siberia. The effect is there.
” What people do will always be there. What I will advise the federal government to do is to develop our strategic reserves and make sure that we always have enough buffer.
“The last one was caused basically, as we were told, by adulteration; that there was too much methanol and ethanol in the fuel. It is not really adulteration per see, it is wrong mixing.
“The right word should have been wrong mixing or non-proportionate mixing and not adulteration. That kind of created a problem.
” However, they were able , to withdraw everything before it created another damage. They rose up to the challenge. I think Nigerians appreciate what they have done.
“To the NNPC, they have done very well. They did very well in rising up to the occasion to withdraw the fuel that was wrongly mixed and got them rid of before they could create further damage.
“They did very well in also bringing better quality fuel and distributing it as fast as possible. They did very well in ensuring that the prices generally did not change.
” They did very well in these areas. Of course, some unscrupulous elements must have seized the opportunity of the scarcity to rip people off. That is expected in any situation like that,” Babalola further explained.
