Nigeria: Government to Prosecute over 500 Oil Thieves

Oil stealing otherwise known as "bunkering" or 'illegal bunkering' in some quarters in Nigeria is very prominent in the Niger-Delta region. Gangs most times destroy and tap into pipelines in the creeks and swamps of the Niger-Delta, siphoning off hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil a day in operations.

Some are always running out of luck and get arrested. Those already arrested are to be prosecuted by Nigeria's government. About 500 people have been detained on allegations of stealing oil, officials said on Thursday in a crackdown on a criminal enterprise that drains up to a fifth of the country's oil output.

The governor of Delta state, Emmanuel Uduaghan, told reporters after a meeting at President Goodluck Jonathan's house that the government was preparing cases for oil theft, which carries a prison sentence of 21 years.

"The resolutions included that a legal task force ... be set up immediately to commence prosecution of proven cases, using relevant laws," Uduaghan said. Finance Minister Okonjo Iweala had earlier siad that an estimated 400,000 barrels a day was lost to theft, or about a fifth of the output of Africa's leading energy producer.

About 90 percent of the stolen fuel is sold onto international markets, to criminal networks in the Balkans or refiners in Singapore, analysts say. The rest is refined for local consumption, filling a gap left by Nigeria's defunct legitimate refineries.

Security forces said on Sunday they had impounded three barges laden with 600,000 litres of illegally refined fuel in the Delta. But enforcement has proven difficult because Nigeria's own žsecurity forces are complicit in the practice.

Residents of the Delta say the lack of development and environmental devastation in the region of mangrove swamps has given many a feeling that they are entitled to help themselves to a share of Nigeria's vast oil wealth.

President Goodluck Jonathan had earlier in the year appealed to foreign buyers to shun stolen oil from Nigeria. His appeal tilted towards labelling stolen oil as 'blood oil' just like in the case of diamond from Sierra Leone. The volatility of the Niger-Delta region is having its effect on the Gulf of Guinea where piracy is on the rise.

New Convocation Dates for University of Lagos: Jonathan Becomes Perplexed

With series of meetings and close door activities over the postponement of the heroic Golden Jubilee Convocation Ceremonies, the authority of the University of Lagos has set new dates for the ceremonies. The dates are 7^th, 8^th and 9^th of February, 2013. Presenting the dates to the President, the authority gave him alternatives of choosing either towards the tail end of January or early February and he chose the afforementioned dates.

The fiasco over the change of nomenclature from University of Lagos (UNILAG) to Moshood Abiola University (MAULAG) was buried with the rejection of the bill by the House of Representatives. With the throwing out of such move, the President has no other alternative than to accept that the institution must remain what it is, in deed and in truth.

The main headache of the Presidency is no longer to hold the convocation, it is now whether President Jonathan will attend or not. Information from a reliable source stated that the Presidency is really very worried over his attedance because of irate students. Out of the three days scheduled for the events, President Jonathan is likely to be present by the weekend when most activities have been concluded and students will be scanty.

The representative of the President while speaking to officials in the school downplayed the name-change saying it was just an honour for a virile Nigerian, Moshood Abiola, and that the President had no ulterior motive. The President himself was reported to have communicated such to the University after his defeat. The authority wants his presence so he can with his own mouth mention the University's name in deed and in truth.

The President was playing, malingering and meadering because he knew the University Council will soon be dissolved so his calculation was to use that as a medium of delay but the University authority took him back to history that the University had had a convocation ceremony without the Council in a known distant past and that still serve as a reference and precedent.

Two historical events will also be happening at the ceremonies, for the first time in the history of University of Lagos, the Vice Chancellor will be inaugurated. The known procedure before is for the VC to be elected and work begins but now, the precedent of official inauguration is to be laid. Moreso, the new Pro-chancellor of the University, Jerry Gana will be inaugurated. The events are specially constituted to honour the renowed, amiable and dedicated Vice Chancellor, Professor Adetokunbo Babatunde Shofoluwe of blessed memory. The university still waits for the appointment of a new Chancellor after the demise of the erstwhile Chancellor, the Attah of Igala.

The defeat of the President over the change of nomenclature is a sign that reasoning backed up with action will go a long way in checkmating the nefarious and obnoxious activities of the worms called leaders in Nigeria nay Africa. All the citizens must do especially those in the academics is to stand and defend the future.

Henry Okah is convicted

The long term imbroglio between President Jonathan and Henry Okah, the acclaimed leader of the Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is gradually finally being laid to rest with the conviction of Okah. 

A South African court on Monday convicted Nigerian national Henry Okah of 13 terrorism charges, including bombings that killed 12 people in Abuja on independence day 2010.

“I have come to the conclusion that the state proved beyond reasonable doubt the guilt of the accused,” said Judge Nels Claassen, handing down the verdict in the South Gauteng High Court.

Okah was found guilty of masterminding attacks including twin car bombings that killed 12 people in Abuja on October 1, 2010 and two explosions in March 2010 in the southern Nigerian city of Warri, a major hub of the oil-rich Delta region.

Okah continues to deny involvement in the blasts. He said the charges were politically motivated. He also denied leading MEND, but had said he sympathised with their goals.

However the South African court found Okah was the leader of the movement after uncovering documentary evidence including his wife’s handwritten notes. (AFP) 

Okah's brother who has been held in Nigeria ever since in connexion with the bombing had written a long letter smuggled out of prison detailing all the conspiracy against his brother as revealed by his interview and questioning by men of the State Security Service (SSS). 

It now looks as if becoming the President is another avenue to get back at those one is not in good terms with.