When a list of oil-rich communities in the Niger Delta suffering inadequate social amenities is drawn, Onne community in Eleme Local Council and Ogu community in Ogu-bolo Local Council, both in Rivers State, would probably lead the pack.
Brazil has proved a disaster in the management of Covid-19, but there are other areas where we can use its examples.
Like what to do about failing refineries. This hot-button topic returned to the front burner after the Nigerian government recently announced plans to repair the Port Harcourt Refinery.
That refinery and the ones in Warri and Kaduna have a combined refining capacity of 410,000 barrels per day (bpd), an output far less than the local daily demand, but which all three refineries have only struggled to meet since they were installed.
According to a recent report in
The Guardian, Nigeria has spent $26.5-billion in fake maintenance in the past three decades or so. Yet, the decision by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to shell out another $1.5-billion to flog the dying refinery horse indicates that Abuja is clearly not in the mood to curtail corruption or rein in its appetite for waste.
Brazil, Zambia and echoes of a $1 5bn Nigerian repair thecable.ng - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thecable.ng Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Brazil, Zambia and Echoes of a $1.5bn Nigerian Repair, By Azu Ishiekwene
It would take more than one more repair to cover the developing scandal that Nigeria’s refineries have become.
Port Harcourt Refinery
…all of this is proceeding with a sickening and confusing haste. Tecnimont, the Italian consultant/contractor that estimated the cost of repair at $290 million nine years ago, revised the cost to $1.78 billion in its fresh bid. The government has neither publicly disclosed details of the first technical report in 2012 nor details of the current one.
Brazil has proved a disaster in the management of COVID-19, but there are other areas where we can use their examples.