Dan Etete, His Oil Well And Our Indomie Generation. By Chinedu Ekeke My detractors (I learnt that word from the Nigerian politician) like to see me as a promoter of extremist views, the one who bores his readers with his complaints about corruption and bad governance. I actually have got a very bad news for them: I am yet to see myself as such and therefore unwilling to stop being who I am. My style isn’t to rush into stories that’ll be pleasing to an Indomie generation who, sadly, are victims of government corruption but too carried away by entertainment and sports to understand the damage bad governance does to their lives; neither do I bother one bit about their more devious collaborators who actually understand what we face, but smartly – through writings and speeches – endeavour to make the problem appear more complex than it really is, while secretly supporting the rogue governments at all levels in exchange for patronage and contracts. When I hear some supposed youth opinion shapers declare that Nigeria’s problem isn’t corruption, I wonder if such a declaration emanated from a mind laced with mischief or plain ignorance. Sometimes I go for the former, because it does appear as though the more we position ourselves to benefit from the rot, the more we desperately try to push the discussion away from corruption. I have two clear cases of non-functioning states which fortunes changed instantly as soon as corruption was fought by the state leaders. And in previous essays about a year or two ago, I presented the success stories of those two states. One was Georgia, the other was a state in India, Bihar. The common denominator was the poverty and lawlessness that reigned in those two places before purposeful leadership came all out and fought the monster. The result was an unexpected jump in GDP: that economic index which the Nigerian government is quick to bandy about as a proof of their ‘growing economy’, as though it is one abstract concept that shouldn’t have real life corroboration in the amount of incomes that get to households and the amounts, thereof, that are disposable. I am not an entertainment commentator. My job isn’t to excite a generation of ‘the government is trying’ crooners. I have a major interest in highlighting acts of corruption in government, and that’s why I will be interested in seeing how the government of Goodluck Jonathan handles this earth-shattering (well, earth-shattering is for climes where official roguery is an exception, and Nigeria doesn’t come close. So that phrase was used for lack of a better one) revelation of how the government has become an accomplice of a rogue former minister of Petroleum, Dan Etete, in a shady oil deal involving Malabu, Shell Petroleum and ENI. I’ll try to explain. In 1998, Dan Etete, Abacha’s Petroleum minister, awarded an oil block OPL245 to a company called Malabu. The company was only registered a few days before it was awarded the oil block. Do note that Abacha’s government was particularly notorious for ‘dashing’ oil blocks to whoever it chose to. It never mattered to them that the oil blocks were Nigeria’s resources that should go through an open and transparent bidding process. One of such gifts was the one received by Theophilus Danjuma who confessed to us, a few years ago, that he sold the oil field and made a profit of one billion dollars. The Economist reported that Malabu had no assets or employees when it was awarded the oilfield that contained “9 billion barrels – enough to keep all of Africa supplied for seven years.” Even at the period of the award, the ‘signature price’ was supposed to be $20m, but Malabu paid only $2m. At that level, the nation was defrauded of $18m. You want to know who owns Malabu. Actually, the felon, Dan Etete, owns the oil block. I call him a felon because he was convicted in France for the bribes he took while serving as a minister in Nigeria. Now, isn’t it curious that he hasn’t even been questioned in Nigeria for those bribes, and for which he was convicted in France? So, the summary is that Mr Etete gave out Nigeria’s oil block to himself while he served as a minister. It is not as if he owned up to this – of course nobody likes owning up to being a thief – but the facts clearly support his ownership of the oil field. He claimed he has only been a consultant to Malabu, yet he once admitted in court to being the only signatory to the company’s bank account. And as a case between the company and the Nigerian government during Obasanjo years was being heard, Dan Etete was the company’s representative in court. He was even quoted as saying, “I put my blood, I put my life into this oil block.” But there’s also a critical question about his being a consultant to the company to which he awarded an oil block as a federal minister: what is the definition of conflict of interest? Where in the world does a consultant to a company become a signatory – actually, the sole signatory – to the company’s account? The Malabu oil deal is a story entwined in intricacies, extending at one end to a business associate of DSP Alamieyeseigha, Goodluck Jonathan’s friend and former boss, a felon recently granted questionable state pardon by the president; and at the other end Mohammed Adoke, the nation’s attorney general who many observers believe is competing with his immediate predecessor in office –Michael Aondoakaa – for a trophy in ignominy. Mohammed Adoke was Mr Etete’s lawyer many years before he was appointed the nation’s attorney general. I recall vividly the reactions of many of his colleagues as soon as he was given the appointment by President Jonathan. I read in their comments a certain level of disappointment following a past steeped in the representation of clearly not-so-upright citizens and corrupt big men. The tale of Malabu also extends to the Abachas, with the late dictator’s son, Mohammed, rearing his head at a time with the claim of part ownership in the rich oil field. In all of this, there’s a humongous $1.3b proceed from the sale of the oil field which Goodluck Jonathan’s government midwifed in favour of Malabu, a clear front for a former federal minister. Can anything meaningful be made of this story? A whole lot. Hear what the EFCC has to say: “Investigations conducted so far reveal a cloudy scene associated with fraudulent dealings. A prima facie case of conspiracy, breach of trust, theft and money-laundering can be established against some real and artificial persons. One of the artificial persons has to be one “Kweku Amafegha”, a fictitious name which felon Etete himself admitted to using to open accounts in the past. President Jonathan’s capacity for ignoring acts of corruption around him no longer surprises me, but the comfort with which his administration grows it will shock even the devil himself. For a moment, one is genuinely scared that the current government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria actually sits and designs ways to bankrupt the state. As for the EFCC, I sincerely doubt if they will do more than the above statement they released. So what will the Indomie generation do about this revelation? Nothing. They will simply shake their heads, brand me an ‘activist’ or a social media ‘noisemaker’, quickly settle for the next ‘ reality show’ or football match and move on. Their more cerebral counterparts will start looking for the next talk show where they’ll want to ‘keep the conversation going ’.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:32:57 +0000
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