Ecocide

Grimot Nane Zine

2017: “Saint Buhari” and More Economic Stagnation

The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else – Chinua Achebe

In the year 2017, Nigeria’s economy is predictably going stagnate further without recourse to rescue. Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’ will be mostly only fulfilled at the bottom level in the nation. The imminent threat of mass hunger will eventually overtake the ‘Nigerian genius’ of denying hunger when living with sharply decreasing calorie intake over time. Stuff higher than food and water will be harder to acquire or keep. Hopes for improving personal prosperity have never been higher but the economic, cultural and political climate has never been so decisively forbidding. Business opportunities, profits, employment, ethical credit, education, exchange rates are all facing steep decline.  It is all, sadly, a problem of leadership and the “Household of Buhari” is a big part of the problem. (more…)

Continue Reading2017: “Saint Buhari” and More Economic Stagnation
Grimot Nane Zine

Can Buhari Win The Oil War?

The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) may not be a praiseworthy entity to many but their emergence and defiance have provided a thorough and incisive diagnosis of the dissembling cohesion of the nation-state called Nigeria. Nigeria has never been a thoroughgoing republic but simply a geographical “convenience” of British colonial exploitation (for palm oil) and a political “convenience” of Northern Nigerian auto-colonial hegemony (for crude oil). Race and tribe have played an exceeding big role in the creation of NDA. Enduringly placing the ‘straightjacket of inferiority’ firmly upon Niger Delta people/region who never asked for it by people who have extracted its wealth in obscene amounts without considering the indigenes will generate extreme reactions. Oppressive exploitation of oil in a highly fragile state does not work forever; President Muhammadu Buhari will learn this. (more…)

Continue ReadingCan Buhari Win The Oil War?
Nigeria: Stealing in the Name of Nuclear Power

Nigeria: Stealing in the Name of Nuclear Power

Nigeria: Stealing in the Name of Nuclear Power

Anytime you hear that a new great ‘developmental project’ is being planned and undertaken by the Government of Nigeria (GON), it is important to identify who the short, medium and long term beneficiaries and losers created will be. Consultants, contractors, traditional land-owners, traditional rulers, government officials, board members and special interests groups are the short, medium and long term beneficiaries with a mix of obscene upfront fees, atrociously inflated contracts, preferential job offerings, generous concessionaire privileges under privatisation and convenient abandonment clauses. The 150 million ‘everyday Nigerians’ who the GON take out odious “development debts” on their behalf without asking them (by default) become the permanent losers but projected as winners by GON. This ‘development’ winners/losers dichotomy has now been moved to nuclear power, oil is failing. (more…)

Continue ReadingNigeria: Stealing in the Name of Nuclear Power
The Niger Delta Clean-Up for Profiteers?

Niger Delta Clean-Up for Profiteers?

Niger Delta Clean-Up for Profiteers?

It has been announced by the Buhari Administration that the heinous cumulative oil pollution in the Niger Delta will be cleaned-up; this is very good news. The clean-up is a recommendation by the 2011 UNEP report (i.e. four years ago). Why it took so long to get to this stage?  Perhaps, a result of a confluence of sheer misgovernance, inordinate oil wealth greed, political insensitivity. As you might have known already, the delay is due to corruption. So what is the predictable scenario of the clean-up in practice? Are Niger Deltan going to have clean water resources and decontaminated lands? (more…)

Continue ReadingNiger Delta Clean-Up for Profiteers?
Grimot Nane Zine

Nuclear Power in Nigeria: Another Crazy ‘Pole Vault’

For many years the Government of Nigeria seems to be managed by a class of “capability pole vaulters”. Government officials tend ‘pole vault’ the nation into many projects they lack the capability, will or wherewithal to execute or sustain effectively. The latest pole vault project is the establishment of nuclear reactors as power plants to provide conatsnt electricity in Nigeria. This is a nation that cannot independently manage its uncomplicated thermal and hydroelectric power plants with any efficacy or credibility. (more…)

Continue ReadingNuclear Power in Nigeria: Another Crazy ‘Pole Vault’
End of Oil, Beginning of Prosperity: Nigeria

End of Oil, Beginning of Prosperity: Nigeria

End of Oil, Beginning of Prosperity: Nigeria

One inexplicable phenomenon among Nigerians is their response to the news that Nigeria’s oil is facing a demise as a major export commodity. That would be “The End of Oil.” It is a distressing reality to grapple with for some in one category of the demography. Economists and political scientists who I hang out with regularly are cynical if not fearful of the implications for that state known as Nigeria. Such a disturbing reaction is probably the one to expect. We may ask, would the end of oil also mean the end of the oil curse? (more…)

Continue ReadingEnd of Oil, Beginning of Prosperity: Nigeria
Benzene Holocaust in the Niger Delta?

Benzene Holocaust in the Niger Delta?

Benzene Holocaust in the Niger Delta?

The Niger Delta is a top “ecocide hotspot” on planet Earth. Minor and massive oil spillages are frequent and ubiquitous in the Niger Delta, around seven thousand of them. These spillages cause untold pollution and ecocide with highly devastating impacts on the lives and livelihoods of the people who reside in the region. There is evidence of a sleek everywhere on the water. The Niger Delta is a landmass of the riverine terrain bordered by a coastline with the Atlantic Ocean. Pollution is also on the land in the villages, in the towns, on farms, in houses, in schools, in churches. And it is in the air. Animal and plant life in the ecosystem suffer a terrible terminal fate. However, this is an endless perennial story, usually more of the same. Can it change for the better?

(more…)

Continue ReadingBenzene Holocaust in the Niger Delta?