“I stepped on the toes of greedy cabals that have dominated oil sector for years” - Diezani Alison-Madueke

The Nigeria’s first female Minister of Petroleum Resources and first female President of OPEC, said the cabal is resisting the reform in the sector.

Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke has alleged that her life is being threatened by members of a powerful cabal who benefited from petroleum subsidy fraud.

According to her, despite her role in reforming the oil industry in Nigeria to the benefit of all, she found herself in the mucky water of Nigerian politics mostly in last few days of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

In a three phase interview in London with freelance journalist reporting for African Free Press, Allison-Madueke bares her mind on how she reformed the oil sector in Nigeria and why the oil cabals are on her throat.

Except..

“Honourable Minister thank you for granting me a few minutes of your time for this pressing discussion about the future of policy evolution in Nigeria. But I want you to quickly talk about the fuel scarcity that has come just weeks before the hand-over to the new administration.”

Minister Spoke……………..

“The time of my appointment as Minister of Petroleum Resources five years ago was a time when the nation was in the throes of many years of continuous fuel scarcity and the abandonment of our fuel facilities. This was having such an adverse impact on the masses especially in terms of livelihood and quality of life. This situation certainly affected me and my household. I was one of those who went out to queue at filling stations and what left an indelible mark on me was the plight of the many, many women who were queuing for this essential commodity for their families.

We are looking at time when women where losing their lives as a result of adulterated products as kerosene stoves were exploding all over the country. So the problem was not just about getting access to the product but also purchasing the right quality products to ensure the safety of the households of my fellow women. It was a time when cars were ‘knocking’ engines generators that cost hundreds of thousands of naira were also breaking down because of adulterated products. People around the country were losing many millions of Naira as a result of loss of business incomes and we are talking of taxi drivers, face-me-I-face-you traders in the market, the lorry drivers transporting food to the markets, the okada drivers – basically the engine room of the economy was affected.

I am a mother and grandmother myself and I understand the pressure that women go through in order to put food on the table for their families. I am very sensitive to the struggles of the Nigerian woman. So, when granted the opportunity to serve the country as Petroleum Resources minister, I made this my first priority. Dealing with the fuel scarcity was a key issue that I resolved to address as soon as I stepped into office. Nigeria is a country that relies on access to petroleum products for businesses to thrive, for families to survive and for communities to evolve. For me it was a fundamental issue. I immediately set to the task. Several inter-ministerial committees were formed to get to the root of the matter including liaising with marketers and the unions.

A few things were identified such as the process of payment to marketers as well as the improvement of the distribution and monitoring mechanisms. The Ministry of Finance is charged with addressing the payment process while the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and its parastatals tackle production, distribution and monitoring aspects.”