•It is oil thieves that now set traps for security officials rather than the other way round

It is unfortunate that technology which ought to have been deployed by security agencies to stay ahead of oil thieves and other criminals has now found its way into the hands of undesirable elements in the Niger Delta.

It has been reported that oil thieves responsible for cornering revenue that should have been used for national development have now installed close circuit television (CCTV) along the pipeline routes to aid their nefarious activities and beat our security forces.

In addition, it is said that the oil bandits have now acquired sophisticated rocket launchers, among other weapons, to ensure steady flow of crude oil supply for the illegal oil refineries in the region.

This is a wake-up call for the federal and sub-national governments, as well as the security forces. It is a shame that given the level of insecurity in the country for more than a decade, we still lack basic equipment that oil thieves have found easy to purchase. President Bola Tinubu should mandate the National Security Adviser and service chiefs to ensure that all the CCTV cameras and other equipment installed by the thieves are dismantled within weeks.

It is commendable that crude oil production has picked up of recent, thus boosting national revenue. We cannot afford to be back to the era of so much shortage that made government resort to the heavy borrowing that has become not only an embarrassment, but an albatross.

For so long, in various sectors of the society, criminals have always seized the initiative, and trillions of Naira have been lost to corrupt officials colluding to defraud the nation. As a result, Nigeria became the internationally acknowledged poverty capital of the world. Unemployment rate is high while crime keeps soaring month-on-month as the youth, including the well educated, are lured into crime.

The Niger Delta where relative calm had been achieved in recent years after a period of free reign by militants, is becoming restive again as a result of acts of omission and commission by the state.

The President, as Chief Executive of the Federation, has been invested with powers and the mandate to get the machinery of government working perfectly. Whatever was wrong has to be corrected in the interest of the ordinary people.

Fossil oil, sadly, remains the mainstay of the Nigerian economy and therefore deserves full attention. There has been inexplicable delay in procuring modern technology for surveillance and protection of national assets in the industry. It is, however, never too late to make the needed procurement.

Federal lawmakers who have the power of appropriation and oversight have a duty to ensure that fund is earmarked in the 2024 budget for all that is required in this regard. And, given the lesson learnt from previous appropriation for CCTV cameras for streets of the federal capital territory and other cities, lawmakers have a responsibility to ensure that the technology budgeted for are actually procured and installed.

Nigeria runs the risk of other African sub-regional leaders like South Africa, Egypt and Kenya leaving us behind. The African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) spearheaded by Morocco has already taken off without a clear roadmap for the Nigerian business community to effectively participate and benefit from it. The petrodollars that accrued to the country in decades was hardly used to develop it.

Government has committed much of our resources to rehabilitating the dilapidated refineries, with the Port-Harcourt facility expected to come on stream in December. The other three are expected to become operational next year. Taken along with the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote private refinery, a boisterous Mele Kyari, Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, said Nigeria would soon become a net importer of petroleum products and thus save the Naira from free fall.

All this will amount to nothing if the security forces continue to demonstrate utter lack of capacity to defend the oil facilities. The buck stops at the President’s table as he is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The time to act is now, that he seems to enjoy the goodwill of the international community. He should therefore make necessary purchases, installation and secure training of the personnel. Any official thereafter found to fall short of national expectations should be shown the way out.

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