There is a parable in my village that poses a set of rhetorical questions: what do you do to a beautiful young virgin after you have forcefully undressed her? Do you sit back and start to stare at the virgin’s nakedness or do you also undress yourself and start to defile her? In our culture it is a taboo to rape a woman, not to talk of raping a virgin. As bizarre as it sounds, from 1956 when oil was first discovered in Oloibiri in present-day Bayelsa State till date, oil explorers have continued to strip their host communities naked. Now the effects of oil exploration in Nigeria have left the host communities and indeed the entire Niger Delta region bleeding profusely, and the country is losing billions every day in monetary and material terms. As if that is not enough, dubious characters have now joined the fray with illegal oil refining and bunkering, thereby obfuscating the already deplorable situation. Some bunkers are authorised while some are not, and it has become difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. This is the crux of the matter.

Some of these illegal oil explorers and bunkers operate like gods and appear to be more powerful than the Nigerian constitution. These so-called gods may claim to have monopoly of wisdom, but history has shown that Nigerians are resilient and can outwit the gods if they cudgel their brains thoroughly. As the Japanese proverb goes, “nanakorobi yaoki”; fall down seven times and get up eight. So, the question is not what, but how. How can this country solve the problems of illegal oil refining and unauthorized bunkering? How can the virgin land that has been stripped naked and raped beyond recognition be restored? When will the indigenes of these communities and the entire country start to enjoy the benefits of their God-given wealth? Not a few Nigerians have lost their lives trying to find answers to these questions.

First, it is pertinent to find out how this predicament came about. It has been argued that Nigerians engaged the expatriates and multi-national oil companies to help them drill oil, and for that reason, Nigerians should face the consequences of that invitation. Why did Nigeria invite the expatriates? O yes, it is said that even in the kingdom of animals it is foolish to invite the lion to a dinner party. So, as it stands today, that argument is like crying over spilt milk. It has also been argued that illegal bunkering and refining should be legitimized by licensing the operators and converting their grids to modular refineries. But how can a father give her daughter’s hand in marriage to a man that had repeatedly defiled her? The marriage will not work, because it smacks of Efua Sutherland’s romantic comedy, The Marriage of Anansewa, where almost all the suitors failed to live up to their vows when they heard that Anansewa was dead.

In 2017, Nigeria’s then Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, said in a statement, “Under the plan that is being developed, communities would come together working with their respective state governments, the federal government and private sector operators to work out a template for the establishment of modular refineries in the communities.” Evidently, this arrangement, like Anansewa’s suitors, did not also materialize.

A former Commissioner for Environment in Bayelsa State, Mr Gbaranbiri, captured the situation succinctly: “The impact is that crude will be littered all over the environment and the forest is incinerated—burnt to ashes. In an area where crude oil burns the forest, it will be difficult to recover that forest in 20-30 years. Every living organism in the water body dies. Meaning, our grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren are coming to inherit an environment that is incinerated, that is completely destroyed.”

Despite the amnesty programme for Niger Delta militants implemented by former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of blessed memory, a leader adjudged to have given his very best to this country, and the ultimatum that former President Buhari issued to the Nigerian military in May 2023 that “no litre of crude oil should be stolen across the country again”, the problem has persisted till date. At that time, Nigeria was estimated to be losing over $4 billion annually to oil theft. In 2022 alone, Nigeria lost about $23 billion to oil theft. Since then, the losses have escalated to well over 200,000 barrels lost daily. Incidents of pipeline vandalism have quadrupled over the years. These figures are indeed frightening, in a country that has the largest share of global extreme poverty with over 54% of Nigerians living in poverty, according to World Bank’s projections. The oil communities bear a large chunk of the brunt. Swamp dwellers are fishermen. And of course when oil-spill kills a fish, several families in the creeks are dead as well.

But beyond World Bank statistics and projections, the pertinent question to ask now is this: who are the people stealing this oil and why are they stealing it? Much of the illegal bunkering and refining is carried out by Nigerians in collaboration with dubious foreigners. The truth of the matter is that youth unemployment and poverty in oil-producing Niger Delta have made illegal crude refining and unauthorized bunkering an attractive but deadly business.

Now, what is the way out? First, all existing strategies must be reinvented because most of them have failed woefully. The first, and most important measure, is to modify the laws and rules of engagement between the oil-bearing communities and the oil explorers in an all-inclusive manner that protects both parties as against the present parasitic relationship between the two. Secondly, oil regulatory bodies should be well-funded and monitored so that they can stop barking and start biting. The third key step is to deploy world-class technology on the country’s oil waters so that, in the words of former President Buhari, “no litre of crude oil should be stolen across the country again”; and wherever there is a breach, the culprits will be easily identified and promptly brought to justice in accordance with the provisions of the law.

*Anthony-Spinks is of the Delta State Public Procurement Commission. He writes from Asaba.