Nigeria, Wikileaks and moles in high places
The revelations by Wikileaks from leaked diplomatic cables of the United States embassy in Nigeria that Shell knows everything about key decisions in government ministries because they have their moles planted in all the main ministries of the Federal Government should not come as a surprise.
Reading the original news report from the Guardian of London, my only surprise was that they were referring only to moles in key government ministries and not those
supposedly elected into to public office by Nigerians but actually sponsored to do the bidding of such companies.
I dare say that these moles do more that make such companies aware of key government decisions and in some cases probably allows these companies to dictate and influence government policies and actions from the inside.
I first came to appreciate the depths of the practice of mole planting in key government ministries by companies doing business in Nigeria during the ports privatization exercise and in my interactions with
the MDAs in that sector.
While the National Council on Privatization had adopted a policy of 'one company one port' to ensure that no single company ended up with more than one port concession, the outcome of the ports concession
especially as applied to ports being used for oil and gas purposes was another issue entirely.
There was this company which ended up with 5 port concessions in Nigeria Port Authority's Eastern zone, ensuring a 50 years monopoly in the handling of oil and gas related cargo for almost all international
oil companies and service companies in Nigeria.
The same company had also agreed tariffs with the agency overseeing Joint Venture relations for the handling of oil and gas related cargo, while other another government agency regularly issued directives to
importers of such cargo to discharge such cargo ports which fell within the jurisdiction of this company.
When considered against the background that total spending by IOCs and service companies on oil and gas logistics amounted to over 30% of every US Dollar spent in that sector, the stakes were quite high and
extended all the way to the corridors of power.
A top government official who was supposed to be overseeing the privatization exercise was even one of the key share holders of the company in question, but it was in my day to day interaction with these key MDAs that left me with the impression that I was dealing with moles of that company.
Even when the company that I was representing was finally able to secure space in one of the ports in the Eastern zone after the intervention of a Ministerial Panel set up by Olusegun Obasanjo who was then president, we were still frustrated by moles in one of the government agencies who ensured we could not use the facility.
Contrary to the directive of the then President Obasanjo, the agency refused to issue our company a copy of the lease agreement for its facilities, ensuring that we were disqualified from the bidding for handling of the project cargo for the Escravos Gas to Liquid Project belonging to Chevron Nigeria Limited.
In the course of my daily interaction with the public officers in some of these MDAs, I began to look out for defining features and qualities that made these moles stick out like a sore thumb, and I have decided to reproduce some of them here with a view to helping smoke out these spies in our midst.
The most common feature of these moles was that their children were attending top schools outside the shores of Nigeria, mostly in the United Kingdom and the United States of America, which would otherwise
be impossible if they were depending only on their salaries and other emoluments.
The next most common feature of these moles who were supposed to be public servants was that they owned houses in the top cities of the world, again mostly in the United Kingdom and the United States of
America with a sprinkling in some other European countries.
Their foreign houses were also complimented by the houses they had scattered either in Lagos, Port Harcourt or Abuja, which were mostly put up for rent and leaving you wondering how they could afford to
build or buy the homes in which they were residing.
Again, anytime these moles travelled out of Nigeria by air, they mostly flew First Class with Business Class being the least preferred option, and the frequency of such oversea trips was enough to leave you wondering at the staggering travelling costs they incurred annually.
If you are observant when next you enter any of the top shops either in Europe, the United Kingdom or the United States of America, you would likely find their wives and sometimes children blowing wads of
foreign exchange as if money was going out of fashion.
Finally, when ever these moles travelled to cities where they did not have residencies, you were likely to find them occupying the most expensive rooms and suites in top hotels and being driven around in
some of the most luxurious vehicles available.
The job of the State Security Service, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Persons Commission and the Code of Conduct Commission following the Wikileaks revelations is
straight forward, and that will be to smoke out these moles in our MDAs and high places.
Kingsley Omose < kingsleyomose@gmail.com >
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