Where in the World is Stolen Nigerian Oil?

We have learned a lot about the problem of stolen crude oil plaguing Nigeria. It is estimated that up to 100,000 barrels of oil are stolen each day. That is almost 5% of all the oil exported in a day.

But how exactly does one steal 100,000 barrels of crude oil without getting caught red handed?

This picture shows large scale oil bunkering. A large mother ship lies in wait while a small tanker fills up from an illegal barge tapping into the pipeline. The small tanker empties into the Mother ship and refills. 

This picture shows small scale oil bunkering. A small tanker fills up from a barge illegally tapped and then leaves.

The boldest type of oil bunkering is simply when a tugboat or powerful towing boat simply attaches to a barge and carries it away when it is full.

Here comes another question. Where is this oil going? Where is is being sold? Surely in some run down shady warehouse like in gangster movies...wrong. This oil is being sold primarily on Wall St. Great Britain and the United States are the main buyers of this stolen crude oil. That's upsetting. 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/19/us-nigeria-oil-theft-idUSBRE98I13P20130919

What's even more upsetting is the companies reaction to the oil that it loses not from theft but from simply spilling it into the ocean. It is estimated that about 9 million barrels of oil have been spilled in Nigeria since western companies came in. Companies like Shell refuse to clean up oil spilled through terror attacks on barges (in their defense, 70% of oil spilled is because of attacks) and the spills that were their fault (the other 30%)...they also refuse to clean up or pay reparations for claiming that paying reparations will only encourage more terrorism. 

Okay. So that seems like sound logic. Last year, Shell executive Ann Pickard claimed that she had "infiltrated the Nigerian Government." Shell immediately claimed that was unture but a lot of recent non-aggression pacts you might call them between the government concerning oil clean up have been passed quietly and quickly. You be the judge. 

Nigeria Soon To Test its Population Limits

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/world/africa/in-nigeria-a-preview-of-an-overcrowded-planet.html

It is estimated that Nigeria's population will grow to be as big as the United States with the square footage of Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada combined. Living standards for most of the population are well below below below poverty standard. A typical apartment block is refereed to as a "Face Me, Face YOU" because whole families squeeze into 7 by 11 foot rooms. Up to 50 people share a kitchen, toilet, and sink-when running water is clean and available.   Nigeria's unemployment rate is nearly 50 percent for people in urban areas aged 14 to 24- the main factor that leads to civil unrest groups and rampant crime. Nigeria is one of the twenty countries in which women have on average more than five children. Nigeria made contraceptives free last year yet the speed of infrastructure development can still not keep up with the growing population.

Cleavages and Geography

I know that Geography is everyone's favorite, but there are many maps that show stark contrasts within the State of Nigeria. 

We have seen this before. Each color represents an area in which a different language is spoken. This causes social cleavages for obvious reasons. Communication is a big issue especially for UN workers going in to give aid.

This map also shows ethnic cleavages. Each color represents the dominating ethnic group in that region. Several minority groups feel like they are not heard because of the vast number of groups.

This map shows population density by state. As you can see, the south tends to be more densely populated. This is not surprising considering the higher rates of industry and urbanization happening in the Niger River Delta especially due to the oil trade.

This is a map of poverty within Nigeria. As you can clearly see, poverty rates are much higher on average in the north. This is a two part problem. The north has fewer factories and is more supported by agriculture. The second problem, as the next map will show is that this problem extends to more than just economics. 

This map shows in green the states that are under Shari'a Law. The white states are not and are majority Christian. The Muslim dominated (almost 99%) North is the portion struggling economically. This is upsetting because many Muslim extremists in Nigeria, like Boko Haram, are blaming the the government for creating this injustice on purpose. 

This is the saddest of all the maps I have seen today. This map shows the percentage of 1 year olds who have received basic life saving vaccinations. Medicine is clearly not a priority in Nigeria seeing as the highest rates are only about 40%. However, again there is a north-south cleavage in that the further north you go, the less likely a child is to have had vaccinations. This leads to a higher child mortality rate in the north and groups again like Boko Haram blame the government for intentionally withholding care from the North because they are Muslim.

Nigerian Civil War Film Banned

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/26/world/africa/nigerian-film-touches-nerve-over-civil-war.html?_r=0

A Nigerian film called "Half of a Yellow Sun" which depicts the Nigerian civil war has been been banned. The movie is based on the novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. One of the stars also starred in the Academy Award- winning film, "12 Years a Slave". The movie takes place during the Biafran War from 1967 to 1970 when southern provinces tried to secede from the nation-sate. Between one million and three million people died in the conflict and blockades established by the Republic of Biafra-->Update on Biafra.
Southerners, called Igbos were massacred in the north and the federal government went on a brutal tirade to surpress the Igbo uprising. The director feels that the censorship may be due to fear that the movie will stir up uprising again.  The director, Bandele feels that the topic, while taboo at this time, needs to be discussed in order for Nigeria to progress as a nation.

Breakdown of Decorum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r3QAvoRyR8

When called to speak to the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, Finance Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala admitted to being sick. As she was about to give her report, the committee chair, Representative Jibril Abdulmumin cut her off saying the committee would adjourn and reconvene two weeks later. Some experts say this was a deliberate attack on the fact that many Nigerians believe women are not strong enough for politics. In response, Jibril Abdulmumin says he was merely looking out for Okonjo-Iweala's best interests:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghdBsynJkfg#t=45

The Finance Minister clearly took it as an affront to her ability to lead and be held accountable for her ministry's actions. As Jon Stewart said in a recent segment, U.S. attitudes towards women in politics are currently along the lines of "the broads must be crazy." He claims that the same thing said by a woman versus a man are interpreted differently. Examples Stewart used included crying. When men cry they are passionate and sensitive to an issue. When women cry they are emotionally unstable. Do you think that the same culture exists in Nigeria? If the Committee chairman had said he felt sick but was willing to speak, would it have been seen as him toughening up or acting irrationally?

I suppose the issue comes down to whether or not Abdulmumin was being disrespectful or not. Okonjo-Iweala believes so and claims that she still isn't respected despite all her recent work and improvements to the Nigerian State. 

http://www.punchng.com/news/nigeria-now-africas-biggest-economy-overtakes-safrica/

This article demonstrates the positive effects that her economic reforms have brought. Nigeria is now considered the largest economy in Africa! Even with all the good she has done, it is sad to think that the hope she has brought to her people and administration is being overshadowed by sexism. 

This is big news for Nigeria and big news for the United States as well. Already, since this news, Obama has visited President Goodluck Jonathan to discuss a coalition to help end terrorism. Is he truly concerned about Nigerian citizens or was it a ploy to garner trade agreements with the now largest African economy?

As Terrorism Rises, Goddluck Utilizes Unique Tactics

http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2014/03/nigerias-insurgency?zid=309&ah=80dcf288b8561b012f603b9fd9577f0e

Since this time last year, President Goodluck Jonathan has attempted to increase military action to squash the efforts of the Boko Haram. However, as seen in recent events, the Boko Haram are still a very serious threat to the safety of Nigerian citizens. Their violence has proved almost impossible to stop. They are now attempting to mobilize the population in order to quell the efforts of the terrorist group. The government now seeks to basically re-program ex Boko Haram members with therapy and the pacifist version of the Koran. The Nigerian secuirty adviser says poverty, injustive, and corruption have been the cause for youths to join the Anti Western Education Group. Dr. Akilu, a psychologist who used to counsel homeless youths in London, has been asked by the security advisor to design a rehabilitation program for Boko Haram members awaiting trial and to dissuade other north-eastern youths from joining. 

A Man Like Goodluck

We know about a man like Putin but apparently making campaign songs is the new international trend. Goodluck Jonathan had this song made for his campaign for presidency in 2011.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQuJihVkVHE

Popular Nigerian pop artists and actors and actresses boast green and white T-shirts saying "Reforms, transparency, good governance, Transformation, Accountability and I believe in Goodluck."

Since then, the magic of song has died down a bit and Jonathan's true colors have shown through. While perceived as a strong moral leader in the election, by last month, he barely holds onto a 50% approval rating after a recent plunge in numbers. This could be due to violence and massive rolling blackouts throughout the south of Nigeria especially near oil refineries in the Niger River Delta.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/156163-jonathans-approval-rating-drops-february-noipolls.html






Looking at Jonathan's approval rating by region of the nation, we shouldn't be surprised that his biggest supporters are the majority Christian South South and South East regions. Even in the North Central region, support is widespread despite being about one quarter Shari'a Law States. I was also not surprised that Jonathan's largest opposition came from the traditionally Muslim North West and North East regions. I was, however, originally surprised to read that the South West region was a source of opposition for Jonathan considering their strong christian majority. Upon a closer inspection, the South West region contains Port Harcourt and the majority of the Niger River Delta. Recent blackouts and distrust of foreign companies as well as horrific spills which have gone virtually undetected in U.S. media, may have easily led to a much higher disapproval rating in the South West region.

This only adds to the geo-political cleavages as well as the ethnic and religious cleavages that ravage Nigeria today.

So I suppose there is just one more question to ask:

DO YOU BELIEVE IN GOODLUCK?