Few days to her arrival in Nigeria, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the weekend said the continuous importation of refined petroleum products by Nigeria was a sign of bad leadership in the country.
“Nigeria is the 6th largest producer of crude oil but the country still imports fuel,” Clinton said at the weekend during her seven-nation tour of Africa, adding that this was a sign that the nation has poor leadership.
In contrast, she said, Botswana is a good example for Africa because the country’s leaders utilise its resources judiciously.
Earlier last week in Nairobi, Clinton addressed the eighth annual forum on the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a US law giving preferential access to the world’s biggest market to African states with open markets and democratic governments, where she urged African governments to “reject corruption, enforce the rule of law, and deliver results for their people… This is not just about good governance—it’s also about good business.”
She said, “Investors will not be attracted to states with failed or weak leadership, crime and civil unrest or corruption that taints every transaction and decision.”
Clinton is on a tour to Kenya, South Africa, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Liberia and Cape Verde. She is scheduled to arrive in Nigeria tomorrow, and will hold bilateral talks with President Umaru Yar’adua on Wednesday.
Nigeria produces around 1.3 million barrels of oil per day, just about half the quota allocated to it by oil cartel, Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The production cuts are largely because of unrest in the Niger Delta.
But the country imports most of the petroleum products needed for domestic consumption because the four refineries are not working at full capacity.
Experts say even if the refineries are to work at full capacity, they cannot meet the local demand of 30 million litres of petrol per day.
At present, the Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri refineries have a combined daily refining capacity of 445,000 barrels of petroleum, but run a production of a total of 336,000 barrels or less daily. About 600,000 barrels of crude oil need to be refined to get the 30 million liters of petrol.
At a recent event, Petroleum Minister Rilwanu Lukman said one of the problems bedevilling the nation’s downstream sector is the problem of refineries. Like Lukman, other experts have suggested that multinationals be made to refine crude oil in Nigeria.
Attempts by Daily Trust last night to get comments of government officials on the statement by the U.S. Secretary of State failed. Foreign Affairs Minister Ojo Maduekwe, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Ayo Olukanni and chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs Professor Jibril Aminu did not answer their calls when attempts were made to reach them.
Speaking in Luanda yesterday, Clinton praised Angola for its progress since the end of a devastating civil war in 2002. She said she was “encouraged” by Angola’s “peaceful and credible” parliamentary elections last year, although she stopped short of calling them free or fair.
Clinton’s tour is coming three weeks after American President Barack Obama’s trip to Ghana, where he said Africa needs “strong institutions” and not “strong men.”