A United Kingdom-listed independent oil and gas, producer, Afren, on Tuesday October 14, 2014, announced on its website that it had dismissed its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Osman Shahenshah and two others over unauthorised payments in which a Nigerian oil firm, Oriental Energy Resources, was involved. The sack of the oil executive followed the conclusion of an investigation carried out by a law firm which established receipt of the said payments by members of management and senior employees of the company – Afren. Two weeks earlier, an Italian oil and gas major, Eni, which is the parent company of Nigeria Agip Oil Company, was alleged to have used at least half of the $1.1 billion paid to purchase a Nigerian oil field in 2011 to bribe local politicians, intermediaries and others. The incumbent and former chief executive of Eni and the company itself are currently under investigation for alleged international corruption in connection with the deal for the oil prospecting licence 245 offshore oil field concession.
That corruption has become the standard practice in the conduct of business by Nigerian public officials is common knowledge from the north to the south pole. This is why corruption stories have always been grist to the media’s mill. While the frequency of stories of malfeasance being published in the media has been alarming, the number of cases covered up can only be imagined. The major source of worry, for well-meaning Nigerians, is the impunity that goes with the odious practice. In spite of the existence of a Code of Conduct Bureau and two anti-graft agencies, corruption has been thriving like a plant on a fertile soil. As a result of the lack of will on the part of the people in authority, the institutions created to combat the menace have been very weak.
The statistics that emerged from the rebasing of Nigeria’s economy elevated the country to the top spot as the largest economy in Africa. The unchecked and deep-rooted corruption has, however, not allowed the accruals from the nation’s resources to percolate to the populace. That Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa thus remains a statistical argument which has not removed the country from its long-standing position as a member of the league of nations being ruthlessly ravaged by poverty. As the sixth largest producer and exporter of crude oil, Nigeria occupies a prominent position in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The wilful mismanagement of the oil wealth, on which the country depends for sustenance, has been having a ruinous effect on the economy. The entire gamut of the oil industry – from the oil block to the fuel pump at the filling station – is plagued by dirty deals and sharp practices.
United Kingdom’s Afren and Italy’s Eni are not the first foreign oil firms with which Nigerian officials have engaged in sordid business. There have been similar revelations of sleaze in which Nigerian officials took bribes from European and American firms. Two American companies – Halliburton and Wilbros – and a German firm – Siemens – have been involved in such cases in their efforts to ensure a favourable consideration of their bids for contracts in Nigeria. In the course of investigations, Halliburton admitted that improper payments totaling $182 million were made as bribes to Nigerian officials. Wlibros, on its own part, distributed $6 million to top officials of the Federal Government – the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Shell Petroleum Development Corporation (SPDC), the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) and some chieftains of the ruling party – the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In the case of the German firm – Siemens – five Nigerians were named as receivers of 10 million Euros bribe. As individuals and corporate bodies, all those involved in the unwholesome acts were made to face the wrath of the law in their different countries. Conversely, no action was taken against Nigerians involved in the dirty deals. In spite of the fact that the identities of those involved in the Siemens case were revealed in France, Nigerian authorities did not take any action against them. The identities of the partakers in the Halliburton and Wilbros bribe scandals are still being kept under wraps as state secrets.
The cases of Afren of the UK and Eni of Italy are new bribery scandals of international dimension. Afren has sacked its CEO and a number of its top officials as a prelude to the commencement of legal proceedings against them, while Italian prosecutors have been probing into the acquisition by Eni. What will be the response of the Nigerian government? Will it as usual be an undignified and deafening silence? Will the government make it a replay of the Halliburton, Wilbros and Siemens cases? Will the government rise to the occasion and make it a pleasant surprise?
