1. There is this issue on pollution and in which of the waters of the earth could be emptied hazardous materials, sea sewage, nuclear waste, and such like. A particular slide illustrated that since the late 19th Century, different regions of the world had taken steps to protect their waters – and all the things that live in those waters – leaving West Africa and parts of East Africa today, carrying the can. In other words, North America, Europe, Asia, South America, the Middle East, and by 2008, South Africa, had made it clear that no ship should empty any nonsense in their waters but no one had spoken up for core black Africa. Today, ours is the only acceptable area, in all of the world’s waters, where unwanted waste can be dumped.
2. There was this part where we discussed how international shipping conventions are arrived at, and some slides explained the concept called ‘tacit acceptance’. What this means in a nutshell is that international shipping conventions will be finalised and agreed even if a country does not respond to papers sent to it for that purpose. The trick there is that mailing papers to African countries can be awkward and slow. Apart from that, we are beset with issues of bureaucracy and incompetence. But the issue is not really about the ships, but about the underlying international trade transactions. The fact is that only countries who protect their own positions – or rather the countries who actually write those conventions – will reap the benefits of international trade. I began to wonder how Nigeria and black Africa will EVER grow!
3. I saw for the first time, that it was possible – and happens often – that a ship could load crude oil from Nigeria, meant for Europe, and 100 kilometres into sea, decide to divert to Asia. A lot of ships are so diverted, with some holding their cargo in anticipation of price increases (another way of expressing their opinion on where the market is going). We were also shown some of the tricks of the trade – altering the temperature of liquid commodities like crude oil so that it looks more than it really is, pilfering of such products, and the well-known act of illegal bunkering wherein many ships are met by their ‘partners-in-crime’ on the high sea and proportions of their ‘load’ is discharged into the smaller ships.
4. A slide mentioned the ease with which things like crude oil could be stolen from tankers and the other tricks those in that business, play. I recalled that my great president Yaradua (say what you like), had advocated ‘fingerprinting’ of our crude oil at one of the international fora he attended. The hosts of that forum simply ignored him, while still calling Nigeria corrupt, stupid and the rest. Nigeria loses so much money to those illegal bunkerers. To make matters worse, the same is alleged of the fuel subsidy imbroglio. Some of the importers of refined products are alleged to be selling most of the imported products at countries adjacent to Nigeria (like Benin Republic), before bringing almost empty vessels to Nigeria and claiming subsidy on full vessels! They are also alleged to be importing refined oil from their own refineries in Sao Tome and Principe, only to claim they are coming from Rotterdam (for the farther the distance the larger the payout)! It is simply because of those tricks that Nigeria’s fuel subsidy payout jumped from $500million in a year, just a few years ago, to the current level of almost $8billion in a year!
I could see the collision of international, systemic corruption with the African brand. It is bad enough that the entire system of international trade and shipping is fraught with … fraud… pardon the rhyme. It is even worse that many of the conventions are designed to suit the powerful countries of the world. Indeed decision-makers in the world know that they are doing Africa, black Africa, a favour! Really, we have but little contribution to these developments, and even the proportion of trade done in Africa is only 2% of world volumes, so why not dump sewage and nuclear waste in our backyard? But what can at least be done by serious countries is to be upright and protect their territories from the onslaught of global greed and deception. But that is where we fail woefully…
Because of the inability of Nigerians to come to terms with their cultures, we have this runaway problem with egotism and corruption. It is worthy to note that we were not corrupt when we ran our own type of economic systems in the olden days. But now that we are FORCED to operate another people’s economic system, it is apparent that there is a systemic malfunction of gargantuan order! When a Nigerian needs N10million to bury his father, because of the many ceremonies that must be performed, the number of musicians he needs to call, that Nigerian will readily open the innards of his country to the onslaught of global greed and deception, which has now been complemented by local greed to make Nigeria a candidate for another infamous and rancorous civil war in Africa, where too much blood has already been shed already.
But excessive greed and deception is what has taken Europe and the USA themselves to the precipices where they are today! For we have to ask where all the money has disappeared to and how come they the western world is broke after all the advantage they took of Africa (well who doesn’t?), Asia, Middle East, South America, Carribeans etc. It is apt to wonder, in the face of these apparent challenges, Africans would overwhelmingly choose to pick each other as enemies rather than allies. The need to UNITE has never been more obvious. Albeit, Africans have become more territorial than ever!
Say, would it be possible to enact a convention that would prevent the dumping of toxic waste and sewage into say, Ijaw waters alone and not Ikwerre waters or Yoruba waters, when we eventually split up? Can a tiny country – like Cape Verde – stand against age-long, institutionalised fraud, horse-trading, intimidation, espionage, blackmail and bribery that are the modus operandi at the highest echelons of international trade? Can a small country prevent the stealing of commodities like crude oil on the high seas?
Nigeria today produces musicians, actresses and comedians when the world has gone several eons ahead in the areas of science and technology. When we complain, they say we should shut up, that Nollywood is the second highest foreign exchange earner! It doesnt worry our intellectuals that they are counting peanuts and feeling like kings! No one is thinking of their children, and their children’s children, not in terms of leaving millions in their bank accounts. but in terms of leveling the playing field a bit, so that they have a chance in this world, and are gradually admitted, properly onto the dining table of real humanity – rather than being systemically kept on the fringes like species who have nothing new to offer, feeding on the crumbs that drop from the tables of ‘real’ humans!
I say again – It is important to remember the past, but it is absolutely fatal, totally debilitating, entirely self-annihilating, for one not to imagine (and create) the future… The time to build our unity – no matter how losely – is now. For today – the present – is all we have
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