Her story ordinarily should be a simple one. Brilliant and beautiful. Good upbringing, good education, good jobs and the best of political appointments available. Educated in some of the best schools in the world. Rich and famous.
But hers has become a complex story. A tale of claims and counter-claims. Welcome to the world of Diezani Alison-Madueke, until May 29, 2015 Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources.
When she admitted battling cancer, not a few screamed ‘gimmick’. Between then and now, it has been one scary revelation of sleaze after another. Some samples: A block of six units serviced apartments at number 135, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi. 21 mixed housing units of eight 4-bedroom apartments, two penthouse apartments of 3-bedrooms each and six 3-bedroom (all en-suite) terrace apartments in Yaba. A twin four-bedroom duplex in Lekki Phase one. And a penthouse on the 11th Floor in the Block B Wing of the building.
There are also a large expanse of land at Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos and a duplex at 10, Frederick Chiluba Close, in the serene, upscale Asokoro District of Abuja. Those are not all. There are a 6-bedroom en-suite apartment Aso Drive, Maitama, Abuja and 16 four bedroom terrace duplexes at No. Heritage Court Estate, located on Plot 2C, Omerelu Street, Diobu Government Residential Area, Phase 1 Extension, Port Harcourt. And more. And more.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has so far traced N47.2 billion and $487.5million to the ex-minister. The agency says Diezani has N23, 446,300,000 and $5milion (about N1.5billion) in various Nigerian banks. There is also a $37.5million Banana Island property, which has been taken over by the Federal Government. She denies knowledge of this proprty, which investigators said was bought using a proxy.
And because of these revelations, not a few are calling for her head. But I beg to disagree. I do not have the facts that the EFCC has, but let us assume that Madam actually took this money.
I dare say the money in her care as oil minister came from the Niger Delta. She is from Niger Delta, a true son of Bayelsa, which contributes a lot of the oil cash. So, she has simply taken what belongs to her. No wonder some of her people are asking: ‘Wetin Diezani steal self?’
You need to see what Madam’s people are facing in the creeks for you to appreciate my argument. On my stops in Bayelsa and other parts of the Niger Delta, I see poverty, see degradation, see rejection and see desperation.
There are houses, made of wood, covered with palm front, which the owners must change from time to time as they wither away. There are imageries of luxury here and there, but in short supply. It is something many hear about and see when the rich choose to throw their weight about. So many children could not go to school.
In some parts of the Niger Delta, they never see night. The multinational operating in these areas have their flow stations so close to homes and send out gas flares throughout the day. So, the only way to differentiate between night and day is to check their wrist watches.
In many towns, oil pipelines are not underground. They are in the open. And often they burst or are burst and our soils and existence are damaged in the process.
The people have shouted, protested and threatened violence over their fate, yet change has refused to come. It is as if the multinational also has another licence: to send them all to their early graves so that their leaders can have all the wealth for themselves, including the little they manage to spend on basic amenities. This environmental genocide, as some have called it, is having serious effects on the people. Strange diseases are killing the people. Pregnant women are developing strange allergies. Yet, health centres are ill-equipped to take care of their health needs. They have several people with aggravated asthma; there are increases in respiratory symptoms, such as coughing and difficult or painful breathing, chronic bronchitis and decreased lung function. Premature death is not uncommon.
The truth is, the oil majors are more interested in the oil than in the people’s well-being. They can die for all they care. Oil is more important than man; that is their mantra.
Agriculture, which has the potential to help our country, has no breathing space in the Niger Delta. The soils are polluted and where they are not, the people are not properly motivated. Everybody is just waiting for handout.
The imageries I just painted are of Madam’s Niger Delta, yet the oil with which Nigeria is powered comes from there. This fact must have affected Madam and ensured she wasted not the opportunity to grab as much as possible for herself and her people. A bird told me that Madam actually planned to empower her people using the money she was taking on their behalf, but ill-health and witch-hunting from the present administration has made her unable to help lift her people out of poverty.
Another thing that pains me in how Madam’s matter has been handled concerns America’s involvement. The other day they came out with a fact sheet, alleging all kinds of things against our own darling Diezani. They even claim to have the recording of a telephone conversation in which Madam was warning one of her partners not to live extravagant lifestyle so as not to give himself away as a common thief. They claimed she said she would not go down alone.
Na wa for these Americans. Even the United Kingdom is also giving her hassles, asking her questions about money that is not their own. The money is Niger Delta’s money, not even Nigeria’s. The woman who has allegedly taken only a fraction of the money taken from her backyard should not be vilified. This vilification is bad, especially the foreign angle. Somebody should explain to these oyinbos that Madam has only taken what belongs to her.
My final take: Diezani should file a case of violation of fundamental human rights against Nigeria, Britain and the United States at The Hague. Human rights as excuses for all sorts of things work very well abroad. She should provide them evidence that the oil cash she is accused of taking came from proceeds of oil taken from her backyard. I suggest that she should see ‘Invasion 1897’ by Lancelot Oduwa Imaseun, where the lead actor was able to argue that a Benin bronze head he attempted to steal from the British Museum actually belonged to him by virtue of his origin as a Benin man. He argued that the British stole it during the invasion and he only came to retrieve it. And he was freed.
So, she should claim that Nigeria, through the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and their joint venture partners, stole the crude oil in her Niger Delta and thus deprived her and her people of the proceeds. Freedom will sure knock at her door. er story ordinarily should be a simple one. Brilliant and beautiful. Good upbringing, good education, good jobs and the best of political appointments available. Educated in some of the best schools in the world. Rich and famous.
But hers has become a complex story. A tale of claims and counter-claims. Welcome to the world of Diezani Alison-Madueke, until May 29, 2015 Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources.
When she admitted battling cancer, not a few screamed ‘gimmick’. Between then and now, it has been one scary revelation of sleaze after another. Some samples: A block of six units serviced apartments at number 135, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi. 21 mixed housing units of eight 4-bedroom apartments, two penthouse apartments of 3-bedrooms each and six 3-bedroom (all en-suite) terrace apartments in Yaba. A twin four-bedroom duplex in Lekki Phase one. And a penthouse on the 11th Floor in the Block B Wing of the building.
There are also a large expanse of land at Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos and a duplex at 10, Frederick Chiluba Close, in the serene, upscale Asokoro District of Abuja. Those are not all. There are a 6-bedroom en-suite apartment Aso Drive, Maitama, Abuja and 16 four bedroom terrace duplexes at No. Heritage Court Estate, located on Plot 2C, Omerelu Street, Diobu Government Residential Area, Phase 1 Extension, Port Harcourt. And more. And more.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has so far traced N47.2 billion and $487.5million to the ex-minister. The agency says Diezani has N23, 446,300,000 and $5milion (about N1.5billion) in various Nigerian banks. There is also a $37.5million Banana Island property, which has been taken over by the Federal Government. She denies knowledge of this proprty, which investigators said was bought using a proxy.
And because of these revelations, not a few are calling for her head. But I beg to disagree. I do not have the facts that the EFCC has, but let us assume that Madam actually took this money.
I dare say the money in her care as oil minister came from the Niger Delta. She is from Niger Delta, a true son of Bayelsa, which contributes a lot of the oil cash. So, she has simply taken what belongs to her. No wonder some of her people are asking: ‘Wetin Diezani steal self?’
You need to see what Madam’s people are facing in the creeks for you to appreciate my argument. On my stops in Bayelsa and other parts of the Niger Delta, I see poverty, see degradation, see rejection and see desperation.
There are houses, made of wood, covered with palm front, which the owners must change from time to time as they wither away. There are imageries of luxury here and there, but in short supply. It is something many hear about and see when the rich choose to throw their weight about. So many children could not go to school.
In some parts of the Niger Delta, they never see night. The multinational operating in these areas have their flow stations so close to homes and send out gas flares throughout the day. So, the only way to differentiate between night and day is to check their wrist watches.
In many towns, oil pipelines are not underground. They are in the open. And often they burst or are burst and our soils and existence are damaged in the process.
The people have shouted, protested and threatened violence over their fate, yet change has refused to come. It is as if the multinational also has another licence: to send them all to their early graves so that their leaders can have all the wealth for themselves, including the little they manage to spend on basic amenities. This environmental genocide, as some have called it, is having serious effects on the people. Strange diseases are killing the people. Pregnant women are developing strange allergies. Yet, health centres are ill-equipped to take care of their health needs. They have several people with aggravated asthma; there are increases in respiratory symptoms, such as coughing and difficult or painful breathing, chronic bronchitis and decreased lung function. Premature death is not uncommon.
The truth is, the oil majors are more interested in the oil than in the people’s well-being. They can die for all they care. Oil is more important than man; that is their mantra.
Agriculture, which has the potential to help our country, has no breathing space in the Niger Delta. The soils are polluted and where they are not, the people are not properly motivated. Everybody is just waiting for handout.
The imageries I just painted are of Madam’s Niger Delta, yet the oil with which Nigeria is powered comes from there. This fact must have affected Madam and ensured she wasted not the opportunity to grab as much as possible for herself and her people. A bird told me that Madam actually planned to empower her people using the money she was taking on their behalf, but ill-health and witch-hunting from the present administration has made her unable to help lift her people out of poverty.
Another thing that pains me in how Madam’s matter has been handled concerns America’s involvement. The other day they came out with a fact sheet, alleging all kinds of things against our own darling Diezani. They even claim to have the recording of a telephone conversation in which Madam was warning one of her partners not to live extravagant lifestyle so as not to give himself away as a common thief. They claimed she said she would not go down alone.
Na wa for these Americans. Even the United Kingdom is also giving her hassles, asking her questions about money that is not their own. The money is Niger Delta’s money, not even Nigeria’s. The woman who has allegedly taken only a fraction of the money taken from her backyard should not be vilified. This vilification is bad, especially the foreign angle. Somebody should explain to these oyinbos that Madam has only taken what belongs to her.
My final take: Diezani should file a case of violation of fundamental human rights against Nigeria, Britain and the United States at The Hague. Human rights as excuses for all sorts of things work very well abroad. She should provide them evidence that the oil cash she is accused of taking came from proceeds of oil taken from her backyard. I suggest that she should see ‘Invasion 1897’ by Lancelot Oduwa Imaseun, where the lead actor was able to argue that a Benin bronze head he attempted to steal from the British Museum actually belonged to him by virtue of his origin as a Benin man. He argued that the British stole it during the invasion and he only came to retrieve it. And he was freed.
So, she should claim that Nigeria, through the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and their joint venture partners, stole the crude oil in her Niger Delta and thus deprived her and her people of the proceeds. Freedom will sure knock at her door.
