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The End Of The Oil Age by starkid1996(m): 2:00pm On Jul 15, 2017 |
"The Stone Age didn't end because we
ran out of stones. It ended because we
invented bronze tools, which were
more productive.” Sheik Ahmed Zaki
Yamani, (former Saudi oil minister).
-------------------------------------------------------
The oil age is fast drawing to a close
and the signs are everywhere. For
example, throughout the world, except
in Africa due to backwardness, massive
work is going on installing charging
points for electric cars. The EU has
instructed that all new housing
developments must have electric
chargers for the next generation of
automobiles. Once motors go electric,
oil prices would collapse. And once the
cost of producing oil exceeds the selling
price, oil companies will divest and
leave the sector.
Apart from newer technologies
replacing oil, one development within
the oil sector itself will sink the price of
oil and make it even more worthless-
fracking. Fracking involves the pumping
of water at high pressure into ancient
rocks to release the oil and gas
entrapped in them for millions of years.
This technology which is already in use
in the USA and UK means that all
countries where there is rock can
produce its own oil and gas. And all
countries have ancient rocks so all
countries can be oil and gas producers!
No need to import oil from any other
country.
The end of the oil age is no longer a
speculation belonging to sci-fi, it is
here. When this happens, all rusting oil
installation in the niger-delta will
become artefacts of exploitation and
black stupidity just like the discarded
chains of the slave trade. This raises the
question: so where are we now? To
answer this question, lets sketch the
story of oil
in Nigeria.
[b] The Colonial Geological Survey of
Eastern Nigeria & the Plot to Cage the
Igbos.
The geological survey of the entire
Eastern Nigeria was concluded in 1929
by the British colonial government. This
survey showed that the area was
saturated with oil and gas- the energy
which drivers of the 20th century
economy. Signs of these survey are still
visible in areas from Afikpo in Ebonyi
state all the way to Egbema etc. where
capped oil wells and cement markers are
common sights in the bush and some
streams often get contaminated by
crude oil. But the biggest concentration
of crude oil was in the area then known
as Aba and Owerri. provinces.
To exploit this oil, Shell D'Arcy (later
known as Shell BP) set up its HQ in
Owerri, but it ran into serious
opposition by the natives who did not
want oil exploitation on their land. This
matter went to the colonial courts
where it was fought vigorously and
frustrated all efforts to open an oil well
in Igboland. Then, Shell & co went back
to the drawing board, perfected a
horizontal drilling technology which
enabled them to open a commercially
viable oil well a remote none-Igbo
location at Oloibiri in 1956. The rest is
history which we learnt is no more
taught in Nigeria.
The Biafran War & the Mantra of "Niger-
delta Oil"
But Shell and its foreign backers still had
to contend with the Igbo resistance
factor made worse by the likes of Zik et
al in the Nigerian independence fight. It
was obvious for Shell and its owners
that to exact the ruthless exploitation of
the oil and gas of eastern Nigeria, they
must get Igbos out of the way by all
means necessary. That opportunity came
with the military coup of January 1966.
What began as a patriotic anti-
corruption revolution against ten
percenters was soon turned into anti-
Igbo riots by foreign intelligence agents
based at Ahmadu Bello University which
snowballed into pogroms, secession and
war.
During the Biafran war, several efforts at
a negotiated peace at Addis Ababa,
Kampala etc. were frustrated by Shell
and its backers who not only supplied
weapons and diplomatic support but
also urged the Nigerian side to agree to
nothing but a military solution- defeat of
the Igbos. Their aim- to get the
troublesome Igbos out of the way and
exploit oil unhindered.
The Aftermath- US$600 billion
Expropriated from Eastern Nigeria.
Once Igbos were out, the ruthless
exploitation commenced in earnest.
Between 1970 and 2016, over
US600billion of oil was taken from
Eastern Nigeria. While this was going on,
the eastern "minorities" now hired to
watch oil pipelines conveying the wealth
to Kaduna, Lagos and sundry places
where programmed to chant the
mantra: "Ibos are after the oil wealth of
Niger-delta". Even when Fulanis from the
margin of the Sahara desert parcelled
out oil wells in the niger-delta and
distributed them among themselves, this
mantra persisted.
Fifty years down the line, US600Billion
has been taken from the area. Some of
that money went to develop "federal
capital" in Lagos, Western Nigeria. Part
of the money went to create another
"federal capital" in Abuja, Northern
Nigeria. The rest of the money went into
coded Swiss accounts, golf courses in
Europe etc. Eastern Niger got nothing
but polluted farmlands, rivers,
carcinogenic emissions from over 50
years of gas flaring. And now, the
Yorubas have moved their capital from
Ibadan to Lagos, asking Ibos to leave the
erstwhile "federal capital" or face
deportation. The Hausa-Fulani have
claimed Abuja too, issuing quit notice to
Igbos or face death. Funny that the same
ones who once declared "Niger-delta
republic" over governance in eastern
Nigeria which lasted for 6 years
(1960-66) could do nothing but wring
their hands for 50-odd years and
counting.
Empty Gin Bottles, Chains & Enduring
Artifacts of Stupidity.
When coal was discovered in Ngwo, it
led directly to the founding of two
leading cities in Eastern Nigeria today-
Enugu and Port Harcourt.
But when oil was found in the area,
human vultures from everywhere
descended on the area to ensure that
nothing, absolutely nothing came out of
it for the people. Even their investments
in the so-called federal capitals have
become an instrument of ethnic
blackmail.
The slave trade lasted for over 400 years.
When it ended, key players like Europe
and USA were left with robust
economies and infrastructure which
endure till today. By contrast, the Niger-
delta, a key centre of the trade was left
with nothing but empty ogogoro
bottles- Schnapps, Johnny Walker,
Gordon gin etc. and discarded chains
and broken people. As the oil age draws
to a close, history is about to repeat
itself due to self-hatred, only this time as
a farce. NG 1 Like 1 Share |
Re: The End Of The Oil Age by NCP: 2:26pm On Jul 15, 2017 |
Congrats for your confused state, Revisionist...
|
Re: The End Of The Oil Age by starkid1996(m): 12:10pm On Jul 18, 2017 |
time for ss to plan |
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