I have read a number of compelling accounts that depict the unfortunate state of Nigeria’s oil sector, but none does so with as much piercing clarity as ‘Very Bad People’ by Patrick Alley.
This non-fiction work explores how powerful individuals and corporations have systematically exploited vulnerable nations for profit, often with devastating consequences for both the environment and local communities. Is there a more fitting example than Nigeria – a country endowed with immense oil wealth, yet mired in mass poverty, with only a select few reaping the rewards?
In Nigeria, proximity to power or a fortuitous appointment to public office can turn individuals into instant billionaires, complete with private jets and opulent lifestyles – all while doing little or nothing of substance. We witness a system where billions of dollars are allocated for the so-called “turn-around maintenance” of oil facilities, yet no tangible outcome is achieved. Where people serve as Group CEOs of dormant, moribund companies, drawing enormous salaries from recurrent expenditure without delivering any value.
Even more baffling is the case of a state corporation, built to refine petroleum products, now functioning primarily as an importer – despite the billions spent to revive our state-owned refineries. In a country that consumes an average of 30 million litres of petrol daily, we somehow manage to import over 600 million litres, with subsidies paid on every litre. Even with an insufficient storage capacity, documents have surfaced alleging imports of over four billion litres – a figure that defies both logic and logistics.
This is a system where regulators lack basic testing infrastructure, or worse still, blatantly ignore their own rules. Where the laws of the land are deliberately bent to favour importers, while environmental and health standards are consistently compromised.
Various investigations – both domestic and international – have repeatedly laid bare the extensive corruption entrenched in Nigeria’s oil sector. Government-led probes have done the same. Yet, those implicated remain undeterred, continuing their deceit with impunity. No sectoral investigation in Nigeria has ever been as sordid as those linked to oil; the revelations are too grim to believe, yet tragically accurate.
It is a national shame that despite possessing the much-coveted Bonny Light crude -highly prized for its low sulphur content and high yield – Nigeria remains a dumping ground for carcinogenic, low-quality petroleum products. The environmental and human cost has been catastrophic.
We still recall the notorious ‘foul fuel’ scandal of 1997 that wrecked countless vehicle engines. Similar incidents followed in 2008 and again in 2022, when off-spec petrol wreaked havoc on homes and vehicles nationwide. Ironically, the regulators – the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) – alongside the main importer, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), stood idle. It was only when the Netherlands and Belgium, appalled by the consequences, banned their ports from exporting such substandard products to Nigeria and the West African region, that a marginal shift occurred, as the cabals found solace in Malta.
Should it then come as a surprise when former NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, brazenly described Nigerian crude as “Lamborghini crude”, only to assert that it was not economically viable for Nigerians to enjoy such quality because “Nigerians are driving Keke-NAPEP”? That statement, made before an international audience at the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists’ conference in Lagos – ironically themed “Resolving the Nigerian Energy Trilemma: Energy Security, Sustainable Growth and Affordability” -epitomised the tragic absurdity of Nigeria’s oil sector.
This is what a nation of over 220 million people – the so-called Giant of Africa – has been reduced to: a “Keke economy”. A country blessed with Lamborghini-level crude oil, yet condemned to survive on tricycle-grade petrol, thanks to the greed of the “very bad people”.
Thankfully, with the advent of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals, Nigerians are now gaining access to premium refined products, which have also garnered international demand.
Left to Kyari and his ilk, Nigerians would have continued to receive only the most inferior of fuels, despite sitting on a vast pool of high-quality crude. Kyari’s notorious “Keke-NAPEP” remark showcased disdain for the plight of everyday Nigerians – people forced to bear the brunt of systemic failure and elite avarice.
It felt like a collective sigh of relief when President Bola Tinubu finally relieved Kyari of his duties at the helm of NNPCL. But beyond his dismissal lies an urgent call for a comprehensive, independent forensic audit of the corporation under his leadership. Allegations abound – from the Auditor-General’s annual reports – to claims that between 2017 and 2021, over N2.68 trillion and $9.77 million were diverted, in violation of both the Nigerian Constitution and the Financial Regulations Act of 2009.
While Nigeria’s oil cabal has long remained untouchable – like the individuals exposed in Very Bad People – Patrick Alley reminds us that change, while difficult, is not impossible. But it demands courage. It demands collective action. It demands the will to confront entrenched interests and end the culture of impunity.
For Nigeria, this means going beyond mere rhetoric. It involves dismantling the structures of corruption within the oil import industry, investing in domestic refining capacity, and enforcing regulations that protect both citizens and the environment. Only then can the true promise of Nigeria’s oil wealth be realised – not for the few, but for the many. Only then can the fame resource curse syndrome be averted.
- Abiodun, a communications specialist writes from Lagos
