Just as the Federal Government has promised that by the end of this year, it will start conducting deoxyribonucleic acid finger-printing of the country’s crude oil in order to identify theft and apprehend criminals, leading forensic analysts, Dr. Peter Ilori has punctured the drive, saying oil cabals has all it takes to kill the dream.
Minister for Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, had made the revelation during the inauguration of an ultra-modern Bio-Resources Laboratory and Feeding Mill Complex in Odi, Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State last week.
The minister assured Nigerians that with the facilities at the newly-opened laboratory, oil theft would soon become a thing of the past.
But in a telephone interview with an industry expert, Dr. Ilori, he laughed at the idea, saying “Nigerian oil thieves have long surpassed such threats as they may have gotten antidote for such government policy if it was able to see the light of the day”.
“Let me educate you more, the caliber of Nigerians involved in oil deal are not mere street urchins you that are usually arrested and paraded.
“In oil dirty deals, it has segments of engagements. There are the big boys who own the business; there is the second layer of the big boys which serves as the security ring for the first big boys, but they deal directly with the filed boys.
“The main big boys are now talking to their foreign allies who usually bring the idea and strategies on how to do the business in the first instance. The main big boys are so tied and interwoven within the corridors of every government; in fact, they are so close to the policy makers that brought up this idea of tracking crude oil. So tell me why they can be caught in a process they are part of.
According to him, “The question every IT conversant person will ask is at what point will the DNA test take place? It is when the sea vessel carrying the oil is caught or when it gets to an international refinery? Who will conduct the test and at what point I must ask?
Dr. Ilori said until government provides answers to such issues, it will take time for experts to really take it serious on the new idea.
However, explaining more on the DNA, Dr. Onu the finger-printing of Nigeria’s crude oil would enable the country to track its crude oil anywhere when stolen, and solve the problem of economic sabotage.
He said “I feel very happy with this ultra modern laboratory. For me, Nigeria is changing. With this capacity here now, we will be able to do many things”.
“I just gave them instruction that by the end of this year, we should have finger-printing of our crude oil.
”With this measure, if anybody steals our crude oil, the government will be able to identify it, because even crude oil can have fingerprints and with the equipment we have here, we can do it in Nigeria.”
