National Development

Among the committee of nations, Nigeria is one if not the most blessed in terms of human and natural resources. The nation can boast of the best heads in all facet of human endeavour, from the South to the North, East to West, there are abundant mineral resources many yet untapped.
The discovery of crude oil in 1956 at Oloibiri, Niger Delta by Shell D’Arcy now Shell-BP at the time the sole concessionaire after half a century of exploration ranked Nigeria among oil producers in 1958 when its first oil field came on stream producing 5,100 bpd. In 1965 the EA field was discovered by Shell in shallow water southeast of Warri.
Nigeria at the end of the Biafran war enjoyed a rise in the world oil price reaping instant riches from its oil production.
This was followed by various discovery and production with Safrap later known as Elf discovering Obagi field and Ubata field 1963 which was Gulf's first production, Agip found its first oil at Ebocha in 1965, Phillips 1967 drilled its first well (Dry) at Osari –I and first oil discovery at Gilli-Gilli –I, Pan Ocean Corporation drilled its first discovery well at Ogharefe –I in 1973, Ashland's first oil discovery at Ossu –I in 1974, and so on.
The country had since then enjoyed lots of goodwill making her a toast and bride among the committee of nations, making oil her major source of income. Just like oil brought wealth and fame to the country, the coming of the global system of mobile communication was like a discovery when it eventually took of in the early life of the Obasanjo administration.
Before now, the Nigerian telecommunications sector was grossly underdeveloped before the sector was deregulated under the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida in 1992 with the establishment of a regulatory body, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC). On assumption of office on May 29, 1999 the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration swung to gear to make a reality the complete deregulation of the telecom sector, most especially the much touted granting of licenses to GSM service providers and setting in motion the privatisation of NITEL.
The return of democracy in 1999 paved the way for the granting of GSM license to 3 service providers: MTN, Nigeria, ECONET Wireless, Nigeria and NITEL Plc in 2001. This proactive approach by the government to the telecom sector has made it possible for over 2.5 million Nigerians to clutch GSM phones today.
The coming of GSM service providers have completely changed the tempo of the Nigerian business terrain by creating countless opportunities for small and medium businesses in franchises, dealerships, retailer-ships and value added services within the GSM market. It has caused employment explosion both directly and indirectly. Over 2.5 million Nigerians now have a convenient way of communication; this development has greatly affected positively our business environment, increasing the income accrued to the nation’s purse.
The above scenarios are the joy associated with the coming of oil and the GSM phones, but alas, recent events had made nonsense of the pomp and pageantry that heralded the discovery of the nation’s wealth.
Scarcity of petroleum products had done nothing but add to the hardship of the citizenry, and in some instances led to the demise of some likewise the mobile phones which serves as a means of communication. So we ask ourselves, is it a blessing or curse that we enjoy these amenities.
In the Niger Delta region where oil was first discovered back then, it is a shame to behold the poverty written all around the once quite and habitable environment. Going round the region, one would not fail but notice years of neglect on the part of the government and leaders that claim to represent the people. Millions and billions of petrodollars are been siphoned by the leaders in the name of exploration and exportation, leaving little to nothing for the well being of the citizens residing in the various communities that make up the Niger Delta region.
The people of the region have decided to take their destiny in their hands by taking up arms against the perceived enemies, but for how long shall we kill our brothers, sisters and friends all because of oil. It is an evil wind that will blow nobody any good; dialogue should be the last solution and not violence.
Vandalisation is another means by which people tend to register their frustration against the government, but it has been proved times without number that we worse of than we started. The effect on the people is more as the product becomes scarce, endless queues and sleepless nights at filling stations, some people gets burnt while scooping the fuel at locations, scarcity of oil most times leads to hoarding the few available ones at home which portends great danger to the owner and other occupants, explosions occur even at homes, filling stations and so on.
The disasters caused by the use of handsets actually arose from the stubborn nature within our polity, just like in most situations and circumstances we find ourselves, we tend to show that we are better off flaunting our level of expertise, our latest acquisition and many other reasons for disobeying instructions.
Many road accidents would have been averted if users of mobile phones obey simply to park while receiving or putting a call through, it forestalls the incident of knocking road users down, running into an on coming vehicle, etc. There have been incidents of drivers been knocked off the road by heavy duty vehicles all in the name of communication.
Likewise, explosions have been triggered off at different times due to the use of this simple but “highly volatile” means of communication that looks more like a remote control for trigging off explosives.
The recent disaster at Abule Egba area of Lagos was said to have been triggered by a simple call on the mobile handset of one of the scoopers at the vandalized pipeline, before anyone on the spot knew what befell them, they explosion came without any form of notice and they were all roasted alive, hundreds of lives lost at a swoop.
Another scene occurred while someone was said to be refilling his generating set, occasioned by the incessant and never working Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) who may be out of coinage acts true to their name of holding power. A call came through on that particular day and before anyone could come to the rescue of the victim, he too was roasted right there in the house.
Numerous examples abound as to disasters caused by the coming of these two source of wealth to the nation and her people but should we say it’s a blessing to us having them or a cause, maybe we just need to adjust our attitudes to issues in order to save lives and properties been consumed due to our inept attitude.
Government should create more awareness among the populace on dangers faced on Vandalisation, bunkering and hoarding of petroleum products, use of phones at petrol filling stations, filling and emptying of petroleum products with the phones on.
It should provide basic amenities for the populace, cater for the communities where the products are been tapped as well as encouraging the companies based in the vicinity to plow back a little out of what they have reaped.