Leadership (Abuja)
Philip Nyam
12 November 2009
Abuja — Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Dimeji Bankole, yesterday expressed disdain at the current political situation in Anambra State, accusing Nigerian leaders of unfairness and challenging prominent people from the state to speak out.
Bankole also challenged the nation's security agencies to code Nigeria's crude oil in order to prevent bunkering by international criminal gangs and their local collaborators.
Bankole stated this while delivering a lecture entitled "Towards Effective Budgetary Provisions for the Realization of the Security Component of the 7-Point Agenda" for participants of the Executive Intelligence Management Course 2 at the Institute of Security Studies , Bwari, Abuja.
He said according to 1999 Constitution, the security and welfare of the people of Nigeria was the responsibility of the state, but when the security of state degenerates, lawlessness and insecurity takes the centre stage; hence, Nigeria must not be allowed to get to that level.
While making reference to the situation in Anambra State, the speaker stated: "I'm sure as leaders, we have been exceedingly unfair to Anambra State. And I ask that where are those Nigerians of Anambra extraction that have made their names through Nigeria like Professor Chinua Achebe, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Dr. Alex Ekwueme; how come they are silent as leaders of international repute when Anambra burns?" he queried.
He noted that at least half of Nigeria's crude oil in the international market is stolen through bunkering with the attendant loss to the nation in terms of revenue and reserve loss.
"If it is to be assumed that our oil reserves is to last for a hundred years, it will now be shortened to 50 years because they would have stolen 50 percent of it," he stated
The speaker further noted that coding was the possible answer to the menace of illegal bunkerers, arguing that if the coding is done, as in the case of "blood diamonds" in war-torn Sierra Leone, its origin can be easily traced to Nigeria crude at any oil refinery all over the world, adding that security agencies in Nigeria should brainstorm on how to achieve this as it is a security issue with implications for the nation's economic development and the security of the Niger Delta.
According to Bankole, the biggest security blunder committed by Nigeria was the $3 billion loan it took in 1993 which by 2005 had grown to $35 billion without taking any additional loan, stressing that the nation's revenue base needs to diversify from the present 90 percent contribution from oil alone, to include the yearly revenue generated by MDAs to the tune of almost a trillion that is not remitted as constitutionally required .
He stated that if the unremitted revenue is made part of the budget, the pressure on the crude oil from Niger Delta would have been reduced with serious economic implications for the Niger Delta and the entire nation.
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