Dele Momodu
21 June 2008
opinion
Lagos — I eventually caught up with the super CNN documentary, on their doomsday prediction, concerning the oil and gas crisis, last weekend in Tampa, Florida. The racy reportage was such that kept me glued to the television screen late into the night. It was titled: "We Were Warned: Out of Gas."
The chilling accounts put together, from all over the world, by CNN reporters were meant to forewarn Americans about the impending explosion of the oil market, and why America must do something, urgently, about its addiction to oil. A quarter of the world's consumption, and supply, of oil is gulped by America alone. America imports sixty percent of its oil, while forty percent is sourced locally. The largest deposit is in Detroit, while the oil cartels operate in Houston, Texas in a cold-blooded manner. The problem is that local production in America has been falling in the past 35 years. They have been digging deep into the waters, but are only able to produce about eighteen percent. The general fear now is that, the wells are likely to dry up, sooner than later. And the alarm bells are ringing.
CNN believes, though there is plenty of oil and gas in the world today, it is not easy to get out the oil these days. There are myriad of problems responsible for this difficulty. The threat of terrorism looms large. All it takes is just one attack on Saudi installations, and the whole world would be engulfed in cataclysmic tragedy. The Americans are worried that the billions and billions of dollars they spend on oil may, for all intent and purposes, end up in wrong hands. Some of these monies are laundered by terrorist organisations, to empower, and mobilise, the would-be suicide bombers, who are getting more and more creative, and extremely daring. They are disturbed that their own dollars would be used to blow them up.
And it seems there is really no where to turn to for succour. Canada, their neighbour, and America's second largest supplier of oil, only after Saudi Arabia, is embroiled in its own economic battles, with interests to protect. China and Iran can provide some solution, but at very huge costs, which would include America looking the other way, and pretending not to see any evil, while Iran perfects its nuclear arsenal. Even China has its own problems. China has moved rapidly, from a closed economy to a post-modern industrialised state. Today, there are an estimated four hundred million cars on the roads of China. And one out of 70 households has at least one car.
Nigeria, the fourth largest exporter of oil to America, is in big trouble of her own. The oil-producing Niger-Delta is littered with kamikaze militants, who are actively engaged in blowing up oil pipes, and the frequent kidnapping of expatriate oil workers. All efforts to quell this fire of rebellion have been largely abortive. In the meantime, the price of gasoline has jumped out of the roof, and the worst is coming.
The horrific situation is further worsened by the fact that the world leader in oil production, Saudi Arabia, like America, is building a nation on oil. Their consumption rate is bad enough because most of its affluent, and very wealthy citizens, drive the most expensive cars in the world. These cars are known to feed on gasoline. No one knows how much deposit is left in Saudi oil wells, though the Saudis produce ten million barrels per day, and claim they still have so much to give to the world. But despite those assurances, future projections are bleak. Any major disaster in Houston, and a terror attack in Saudi, will push the whole world to the brink of economic disaster.
Already, tourism and business travels have dropped drastically. No new refineries have been built in about 28 years, according to the CNN report. Global warming is crawling in on us, with its attendant dangers. The world is in desperate search for alternatives to oil. Brazil, for example, has developed its bio-fuels, which has helped to reduce its dependence on oil. Forty percent of their sugarcane goes into ethanol production. Brazil got wiser in the 1970s, during the major crisis that crippled their economy, and almost collapsed their country. Brazil has cured its oil addiction, and 75 percent of their new cars now use flex.
Brazil is not alone in the search for alternatives to oil. Even private entrepreneurs, whose businesses depend largely on oil, are pumping billions of dollars into scientific research on certain possibilities. Leading the way is the adventurer, Sir Richard Branson, who has substantial interests in air and rail travels. Virgin Fuels was born to invest heavily in new technology, and has pumped in about three billion dollars. Only recently, Richard Branson announced the break-through of his bio-fuels using corn ethanol to partly fuel one of his aircrafts successfully.
But critics are adamant about their rejection of curing one malady with another. Their simple argument is that the corn ethanol is what has pushed the world food crisis to its dangerous limit. Corn has been over-sold, and if the trend continues, there may be none for humans to eat. And this happens to form the staple diet for most of the world's poorest people.
As we go forward and backward, I find the CNN Armageddon story very worrisome. The reason is that our dear country, Nigeria, continues to live dangerously on the precipice, without any care in the world. I sometimes wonder what propels us. The giants have built amazing institutions with their oil, but we have wasted ours in the hands of heartless and greedy politicians. Everywhere we go, we can see evidence of oil wealth in Dubai, in Qatar, in the Gulf States, in Canada, in America, and even in war-torn Angola. What have we done with ours? The roads are bad. There is no electricity, as if we live in the jungle. We lack proper medication, and our leaders have to fly abroad at the slightest excuse. No social security for the poor. No mass transport. No mass housing, like those wonderful flats, and estates, we find everywhere in England. Something is terribly wrong with our leaders. Someone, somewhere, must rescue this otherwise great nation, from its deep slumber.
The most powerful nations on Earth are preparing for doomsday. Are we?
Chance Meeting with Alao-Akala
I was busy munching the delicious cheesecake, offered me by Virgin Atlantic in their Upper Class lounge, last Tuesday evening, when a familiar figure walked in with his carry-on luggage, and duty free bags. The giant of a man turned out to be the executive governor of Oyo State, Alao Akala, whose Garrison Commander, Alhaji Lamidi Ariyibi Adedibu, the King of Molete in Ibadan, had died suddenly, just days before.
I was busy then on my phone, and we just exchanged pleasantries very briefly. To my surprise, the friendly politician came back to my table to invite me to a corner where he wanted to stretch out comfortably on a low couch, while drinking his soup of what looked like asparagus. I was delighted to see such a powerful man in such a relaxed mood, as opposed to the usual protocol in Nigeria. We had all the time in the world to ourselves, while waiting for our boarding to be announced. And we enjoyed the rare moment.
First, I commiserated with him on the death of his godfather, Lamidi Adedibu, who was buried on the historic date of June 12. The governor said he was happy that the old man got a befitting burial, despite the fact that he was not personally around to supervise the funeral ceremonies. However, he said he worked the phone strenuously to ensure that everything went well. He had tried everything to fly back to Nigeria, including sitting in economy class, but the airlines could not get him a seat. Akala had travelled to Europe with President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, but the accompanying governors could not fly on the presidential jet because the President had flown a smaller jet this time. I did not bother to ask what had happened to the massive presidential jet, which was stubbornly purchased at a whopping N10 billion, by the deaf government of General Olusegun Obasanjo.
I asked the governor if he would soon join the class of governor-publishers, and was impressed by his response. He said he would rather invite private investors to resurrect the Sketch in Ibadan, a newspaper that was once the pride of the Yoruba nation. I had jocularly informed him that if the governors had given me one of the many billions being sunk into local newspapers, I would have made them international champions by ensuring that Ovation magazine was on every shelf in newsagents across the world. He smiled, and said he personally does not need the protection of any newspaper since he would not do anything that would tarnish the image of his family. He told a story of how he told his image-makers never to kill any story on him.
I was very surprised when he mentioned the article I wrote on Ibadan in my Thisday column and how he reacted to it, despite the suggestion by some people that I had attacked his government. He said what he did was to call his commissioner in charge of environment, and told him that "Dele has finished you today in his column, because it means you have not finished the work of cleaning up the city." He said my article for him was a wake up call, and that it was meant to alert his government to its responsibilities. And that the glory is coming to him, and not the writer, if they succeed in improving the living conditions of the people.
Akala believes all Yoruba people must come together, irrespective of their political persuasions. He said he admires leaders, whose stand on every issue is very clear, even if he disagrees with those views, as opposed to chameleonic characters. He gave the example of Bola Tinubu who had a running battle on principle with the former government of Obasanjo but was still able to relate with the former president on a personal basis. He said democrats must disagree to agree, and politics must never be a matter of life and death. According to Akala, he had succeeded in disarming his political enemies in the past, by simply appearing in their homes when they least expected.
Unknown to him, the journalist in me was taking in his great words on marble as I left him to pick my bags to the boarding gate.
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