The Nigerian Navy claims to have destroyed thousands of so called
illegal refineries over the years mainly by setting them on fire, thereby
further polluting the environment which is ironical considering that one of
their main objectives is to help stop the pollution of the environment. I
remember Senator Ben Bruce once advocated that these refineries could be
legalised and they will pay taxes and employ people and he was lampooned
heavily by many who didn’t stop to think if there could be some sense in what
was suggested.
In the 1970’s, Some Asian Nations did something truly remarkable that
have turned them into economic super powers, China, India and the Asian Tigers
did something remarkable between the 1970’s and 1990’s they looked inward and
found solution to their peculiar challenges, ignoring advice from western
agents and the world bank and did what they believed will work for their own
environment…and it has payed off, They developed their own technology, started
crudely at first but with time, improved so much so that the rest of the world
now learns from them, we could also achieve this by coming up with models that
will work for our peculiar situation, I would suggest that instead of
destroying these illegal refineries and burning them, further polluting the
environment and all, Why don’t we engage the operators of this refineries,
where and how do they source their crude, even with their very crude method of
refining, they still show a level of intelligence, why don’t we harness whatever
they have and make them improve on it and have safe and standard but modular
refineries all over the region, that will be supervised by the relevant
government agencies. Presently they source
their crude through illegal means, although the numerous oil spills in the
region also supply them with steady crude, they can be compelled to get their
crude legally and pay for it even if it is at a cheaper rate. They must become
registered legal entities with the Corporate Affairs commission so they can
access loans from banks, so they can expand in future.. If Government can consider
this type of arrangement the positives will be employment for a whole lot of
young people, increase in revenue base for the states, a cleaner environment
because they will no longer operate at their crude level and would have to
adhere to industry standards, Imagine we have just 10 of these type of modular
small scale refineries in the Niger Delta region, employing graduates of engineering
and others, paying taxes to the government and cleaning up the environment. The
ripple effects will even reduce criminality in the region, with time these types
of refineries can be improved upon and will even help to develop our own home
grown technology.
Building a standard Refinery is expensive, even major IOL are reluctant
to invest in it, especially in a country like Nigeria where the industry is
over regulated, These types of Modular refineries may be just the kind of home
grown solution we need to wean ourselves
dependence on finished imported petroleum products. They will complement the
standard refineries in the country and as time goes on, may also grow to become
standards in their own right.
