It is crucially important to loudly emphasize that the structural arrangements and the revenue-sharing formulas for extracted Nigerian crude oil that existed from 1993 up until 1998 during the Sani Abacha military government were fundamentally different from the submissive, neocolonial policies that existed after 1999, when Nigeria transitioned into a heavily compromised, Western-approved democratic government with Olusegun Obasanjo emerging as the president.
Under the Abacha administration, most of the deep offshore oil fields in Nigeria had not even been discovered yet, and the local domestic industries completely lacked the highly advanced technical infrastructure, the specialized deepwater drilling equipment, and the massive financial capital required for such high-level exploration. Consequently, the original policy framework was strictly designed to allow the greedy IOCs to merely perform the expensive, and dirty work of physical exploration, but they were legally and categorically forbidden from actually owning the oil blocks outright.
Under Abacha's uncompromising resource nationalism, any lucrative oil block had to be owned strictly by a local Nigerian company, and the foreign IOC would then be forced to enter into a highly regulated joint-venture agreement or a technical partnership with the local company if they wanted to participate in the lucrative production.
A highly famous example of this resource battle would be the notorious Malabu oil block (OPL 245). It was one of the single biggest, most lucrative deepwater oil blocks in the entire country, accounting for a staggering one-fourth of all known deepwater oil deposits in Nigeria at the time. Chevron pulled every single diplomatic lever, geopolitical string, and intelligence asset in Washington to bypass this rule and secure direct ownership of that block, but a fiercely resistant Abacha flatly refused, stood his ground, and insisted that the block must remain fully owned and managed by a local company.
However, just a few short months after this high-stakes geopolitical battle between Abacha and Chevron, Sani Abacha mysteriously, highly conveniently died, and Olusegun Obasanjo was ushered into power. The very first thing the Obasanjo administration did upon capturing Aso Rock was to aggressively seize, confiscate, and revoke all these highly lucrative oil blocks that rightfully belonged to indigenous Nigerian companies, only to hand them over on a silver platter to giant American oil majors and British energy cartels.
Not only did he commit this spectacular, generational economic treason, he single-handedly maintained the lopsided revenue-sharing formulas(designed for exploration only), ensured the Deep Offshore Act remained untouched, and allowed these Western conglomerates to continuously eat the lion's share of Nigeria's liquid wealth.
Even the mineral-rich Bakassi Peninsula, which Abacha had heavily barricaded with battle-ready Nigerian troops to resolutely stop Cameroon from seizing the massive, lucrative offshore oil and gas reserves it contained, was quietly forfeited and signed away by Obasanjo under the submissive guise of international diplomacy and legal compliance.
Corruption by African leaders or Sabotage by the West, which is the primary hindrance to Africa’s development?
Here you have your answer.
WATCH and SHARE to educate others.
South African Blames West for Anti-Immigration Movement
Agitators. That’s what uMkhonto waBantu calls Black South Africans who have been rallying against Africans migrating into South Africa.
The South African social commentator apologised to all Africans for what he sees as a result of a Western divide-and-conquer strategy.
Do you agree? Drop us a comment.
For more like this, follow The Spearhead.
When David told you guys that these ppl aren’t your fvcking friends you called him a conspiracy theorist.
This is exactly how your friendly neighbourhood white men will congratulate bola when he wins the Oscar’s for best democratic performance in a couple months
PVC una
europe spent 400 years using slave labour in colonies to build their wealth, rebranded this extraction model in the 20th century and somehow their citizens still believe their social conditions is a result of some superior intellect rather than inhuman violence
IMF’s Fresh Advice, & What Nigerians Must Know
There is currently a lot being said about the IMF and its predatory recommendations for African economies, with Nigeria as the latest case study. However, a large number of Nigerians like other Africans, seems to miss the forest for trees by not realising that the IMF is merely one manifestation of US imperialism.
@Big_Mck examines why it is inherently self-defeating for Africans to see one part of the problem, while studiously refusing to acknowledge the wider ugly reality of western imperialism and how pervasive its influence is.
African Independence is a Myth - Chinua Achebe
Chinua Achebe said it plainly.
African independence is a myth if the same foreign powers that claim to have “left” are still interfering, still choosing sides, still supplying weapons, still shaping outcomes, and still pretending they are neutral. That is the dishonesty Achebe was pointing to.
They call it an African problem in public while fueling the same crisis behind the scenes.
So what kind of independence is that? This is why the conversation about Africa’s freedom cannot end with national borders. To be truly independent, we must have absolute control over our politics, resources, security, economies, and our future.
Anything less is performance.
Oil extraction companies in 🇳🇬Nigeria:
Chevron- 🇺🇸USA
ExxonMobil- 🇺🇸USA
Shell- 🇬🇧Britain
ENI- 🇮🇹 Italy
TotalEnergies- 🇫🇷France
Moral of the story, 🇺🇸AMERICA, 🇬🇧BRITAIN n 🇫🇷FRANCE IS STEALING NIGERIA'S WEALTH n IMPOVERISHING THE PEOPLE
European imperialism is keeping Nigerians poor.
A Nigerian Challenges The IMF’s Counterintuitive Economic Recommendations For Nigeria
Nana Fatima Bello, a Nigerian writer and social-political commentator, has a few words to say about the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest recommendations for Nigeria.
Upon reporting that 63 per cent of the Giant of Africa’s 242 million people continue to live in poverty and that 27 million Nigerians are food insecure, the IMF offered a strange solution: More taxes!
Already, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s unprecedented obedience to the IMF and the World Bank since 2023 has led to runaway inflation, leaving families struggling to afford food and fuel.
If you are Nigerian, what do you make of this latest IMF report? Let us know in the comments.
For more like this, follow The Spearhead.
The solution is not a better president.
It is the reconstruction of states that answer to their populations not to foreign creditors, not to multinational extractors, not to a comprador class whose survival depends on keeping the arrangement intact.
You baboons are in the qts talking about “marry a rich partner” or “don’t give birth if you’re not financially ready,” when the real blame should be on the useless government that has failed to provide basic, humane healthcare.