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An Open Letter to god on Ninety-Nine Percent Corruption Called Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) BY Lanre Ogundipe Dear god,
I
am awfully sorry for not giving you a prior notice before bombarding
heaven with tales of woes inflicted on your people by the works of your
hands and those you have put in position of authority to rule us in
Nigeria. Many times we wonder whether it was a mistake creating a
section of the globe call Nigeria. But your word, the Bible makes us
realize that all that you created were perfect and good, thus putting to
rest every concept or argument of divine fallibity. In essence, god
couldn’t have made a mistake creating Nigeria. But then bringing up
the question of what went wrong with a creation the Bible asserted was
created perfect by god. Could we then attribute the woes of Nigeria to
some human mistakes? This is a question that begs for an answer. However
one thing that keeps on disturbing our mind and that of god we believe,
is why inspite of the numerous human, and material resources HE endows
the country with there are still complaints and tales of woes all the
time? Are we different from other creatures in other parts of the globe
or why is that our situation seems to defer solutions, despite the fact
that hundreds of your saints in the land cry virtually every other
minute for your divine intervention. Yet everything looks as if you are
not interested in our affairs any more. god,
I want to earnestly plead that you do not leave us mid stream to fend
for ourselves. We are helpless and with no strength again to fight the
battle on our own, the land and its people have been impoverished to an
extent that the pains and woes have become normal features with our
daily living, while those you’ve given the authority to rule over the
land and the people have sucked life out of us through their selfish and
inordinate ambition to become rich over night and with their insatiable
desire to accumulate wealth for their generations unborn in the name of
service to the nation. When would thy kingdom come? The
point that forced me into writing this letter to you is to bring to your
notice the danger posed to the lives of your people by the activities of
an institution that is supposed to provide one of the most important
social services to the nation and its people that has now been turned
into an anti-people organization whose intent and purpose is to defraud,
steal, pilfer, and squander our resources in collusion with few elites
who with ignominy rob the ordinary people by making them pay through
their nose or even lose their lives in the process of searching or
queuing endlessly at filling stations. The name of the organization is
called NINETY-NINE
PERCENT CORRUPTION known as NIGERIA NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION (NNPC).
Atrocities committed
in the name of service or making sacrifices to the nation is abominable,
that could warrant the wraths of the lesser gods, were it not for your
compassionate and omnipresent nature. It
would amount to vain talk, if I fail to list out some of the several
acts of injustices, maladministration, misappropriation and embezzlement
of public funds by those trusted to oversee its affairs. With billions
of naira expended on the turn around maintenance of the nation’s
refineries, there is nothing to show and nobody has been ever brought to
book for any wrong doing in the history of the orgaisation except for
one brilliant professor of virology from University of Ibadan who was
alleged to have been ‘bribed’ with a cup coffee and a gift of a
wristwatch, thereby earning a jail sentence. A cup of tea and wristwatch
attracted jail term in Nigeria. While someone who misappropriated
$12 billion oil windfall from Gulf war in 1990 still walk tall on
Nigeria streets as a “Messiah” inspite of the fact that Dr Pius
Okigbo’s Fact-finding panel indicted him of a grievous offence that
bothers on probity while in office as leader of government business, yet
our leaders kept the white paper of the panel in their cabinet to gather
dust. god,
we are grateful for the “shock-absorbers” given to your creatures on
the part of the globe called Nigeria, their will power to accommodate
garbage, as refuse dump knows no limit. They tolerate leaders as they
come and as you have rightly commanded us to do in the book of Romans
13, but these leaders are assuming too much to themselves. Shortly
after the one that embezzled $12 billion stepped-aside, the dark goggled
man came, blown up all the refineries, and for upward of 5years, your
people were forced to abandon their families sleeping virtually on the
road queuing in search for fuel. Hundreds of people were roasted like
plantains inside commuter buses while traveling because they were afraid
of been stranded on the road for none availability of fuel in all
filling stations, therefore hid some litres of the inflammables in their
boot. The goggle man went to the extent of bringing in toxic waste as
gasoline; your people were dropping dead like rotten pawpaw falling from
the tree. We cried unto you and you heard our prayer, when human efforts
to upstage him failed, you came in, and in the midst of night, the
unexpected happened. We thought then that the siege is over, not knowing
that the 12 billion dollar “Ali- Baba” would again attempt to hinder
that miracle of June 8, 1998, by planting another surrogate of his in
power to further unleash another round of mental torture by fostering
some who will further perpetuate the re-integration of the “Babanbarawo”(apology
for my poor Hausa language), just to ensure that the joy, freedom and
liberty freely given by god is short lived. Things were manipulated to
suit another “khaki-mafia” guru. god,
your creatures called Nigerians believe you will never allow such moment
of anguish come upon our land again, the wound inflicted on us by the
dark-goggled man is yet to heal. We all thought you loved us when you
made “Okiki” to come on the stage, people thought the dark days are
over, moreso when his appearance with a message laced with sweetening
words gave an impression that better days are here, people were happy
when he burst into song “my life time, I will give up my life time, if
I give up my life time, He will take care of me, He will never, never
let me down, I give up my life time”, Lord, I must report that he had
not finished singing the “ newly composed Halleluyah chorus in Nigeria
hymns” that your people trooped to the streets from all nooks and
crannies of the country shouting Hosanna, All hail the king and messiah.
All pastors, imams and other people of god were falling upon themselves
to offer prayers for a new “Immanuel” that was not to be. Within
weeks the long queues evaporated from our streets and people were having
more time to spend with their respective families once more, while
husbands have more than enough time to “horseband” their wives. We
heaved a sigh of relief thinking that we are in a new world, alas! It
was never to be. Baba
god, since then the man has given up his lifetime to unleash untold
hardship on the generality of your people. He is always happy not to
miss any available opportunity to remind us to prepare for the worst
because the economy would not improve if we refuse to make sacrifice
(s). Trust your people, they are more than willing to surrender to your
will in total obedience to those you have put in position of authority.
In the last four years, fuel pump price has been increased four times,
with our leaders giving same excuse (s) to justify the increase, and
this is done without any commensurate welfare package to at least stem
or cushion the effect of the hardship and improve the condition of
living, they were not just concerned. We want to believe that their
action tends towards reducing the numerical strength (population) of the
nation drastically through instalmental killing by way of impoverishing
the entire land. I should not forget to inform you that nobody was brought to book or punished for this dastardly act of corruption, misappropriation and embezzlement, apart from the “tea professor”, poor soul… Though Mr. Lifetime, promised to rid the land off corruption, and law was enacted to back this campaign, but right in his very presence, I mean within the corridors of power, corruption is given a red–carpet reception, Lord, it is a pity that he was helpless, as he merely looked the other way because his scared cows are involved. May be I should also point out what the holy books say about law, “ where there is no law, there is no sin. Where law exist, sin abound”, the enactment of Anti-graft Law in the country, confirms that the leadership is aware corruption exists within the system. Yes, the law exists on paper like any other law, but the corruption scourge is ravaging the entire system like Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Mere mention of corruption in the country, god it is my belief that you know where the pendulum swings. We are dying; won’t you look down from your throne to rescue us once more from these Philistines who have reincarnated in our ruling elites? Nine-Nine
Percent Corruption,
NNPC has assumed the role of the “super power organization” and
formed its own government including its rules and regulations. The truth
of the matter is that “it is a government within government”, and
thus, defy any control except your supreme and divine intervention. My
aim in enumerating these vices is to enable you have details of the
atrocities carried out against your people, moreso when these same
“Pharisees” operate under the disguise of helping your people hence,
the effort to outline Ninety-Nine Percent Corruption fraudulent
acts against your people. Within the spate of four years, 13.3 billion
naira had so far been expended on the Turn Around Maintenance of the
four refineries, yet none is working right now. Not only that the
activities of these refineries were shrouded in secrecy, the identities
of the contractors were been protected by the powers that be, contrary
to the much-touted transparency in governance by our leaders. Lord, you
know more than us mere mortals when you said, “all hidden things shall
be revealed on roof top” (expression mine). The
truth was that the contract was alleged to have been awarded to a
professional driver (who left his job with a construction company in the
Federal Capital City after running errands for one of the
dark-goggle siblings and was favoured/compensated with lot of contracts)
turned- politician to do Turn Around Maintenance, when competent hands
in field of petroleum engineering abound in the land, a driver got the
contract…. Will god still be watching seeing this injustices against
the people go unpunished? Not
quite long ago, Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and
Fiscal Commission, Hamman Tukur, cried foul that 300 billion naira was
missing from Ninety-Nine Percent Corruption organisation’s
account and it was reported that NNPC’s revenue does not go
into the Federation account, as stipulated by the constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, the figure I am sure must have jolted the
mallam, Awsubllahi! In addition to this, Ninety-Nine Percent
Corruption it is yet to remit the huge revenue from the increased
fuel price to the federal purse. And the authority is shielding these
contractors who are their cronies from the arms of securities
operatives. But LORD, I wonder how long would they run away from your
judgment and wrath. How beautiful and wonderful is it god for an
organization to build two mega-filling stations for petroleum products
retail business for a whopping sum of 1 billion naira each when they are
still battling to serve the existing ones with product that is
non-existence? Another in the atrocities of these orgainsation is the
cost of refining crude oil, the head of the corruption house, JAGOB
claimed the cost of refining a barrel of crude oil in the country is
$0.07 or (N9.8) based on input such as water and electricity
consumption, despite the fact that the country has crude oil being low
in sulphur content which is regarded as almost the cheapest to refine in
the world. Experts in petro-chemical says it cost between $0.03 for a
barrel or an average of $0.02 (N2.80) to refine our Bonny light crude
oil. Yet JAGOB and his team prefer the cutthroat price. god
is this what obtains in your “own chosen country” United State of
America and the Gulf region? Why is it that our own is different?
Is it because Nigeria is not your chosen country that’s why things are
always in the contrary?
But LORD you know that the aggregate cost of refining a barrel
should not exceed N15.47 ex-refinery. It also on record that we lose $50
million (about N7.2billion) weekly with over 300,000 barrels of crude
oil to illegal bunkering through connivance with top echelon of the
corruption personified organization. Lord, we are tired, the hardship in
the land is too much, we are gradually losing hope of sending our
children to schools, social amenities are no longer functioning,
darkness has continued to envelope the land, “for how long would you
allow the rod of the wicked to rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest
the righteous put forth their hands into iniquity”.
Is
it not surprising to hear that in a country where hundreds of thousand
of its university graduates are roaming the streets without any feasible
means of livelihood or employment after graduation JAGOB spent
N240,405,000 million ($ 1,834,452.50) on hotel accommodation within 48
months of his appointment and still beat his chest claiming to have made
sacrifice living in an hotel for four years. god, this money is not part
of his total emolument as salary or foreign trips allowance/hotel bills
and other fringe benefits. Is it true god that ours is a cursed nation?
god
listen to what JAGOB said, “ I am living in a hotel and eating hotel
food, to me this is part of sacrifice which I believe I could make to
get the system to work. I am sure that in the history of the NNPC,
I will be the cheapest group managing director NNPC ever had”.
Asked whether such huge amount spent on hotel bills would not be
more than what was required to build a house that would accommodate the
corporation’s GMD, JAGOB said “it cannot build a house for me”.
This has gone beyond putting words into his mouth; it is a clear
statement of a cynical mind that has forgotten that he would one day be
on a return journey back home beyond the blue and across the sky. His
statement may be true that he is the cheapest “ Group Damaging
Director” in the history of the organization but it is a pointer to
our leaders that NNPC is a house of corruption in the land. Lord,
since JAGOB averment our leaders still could not do anything to change
or stem the tide, by arresting these officials, their cry now is that
the price of petroleum products must be increased. god, I just wish I could go on to recount all that we have seen and pass through in the days past, I would deprive others of your needed attention. Dear Lord, our father who art in heaven, do good unto those that be good, and to those that are upright in their hearts. As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them forth with workers of iniquity, but peace shall be upon Nigeria Amen. |