dsi1 wrote:
> On Sunday, April 30, 2023 at 2:03:15 AM UTC-10, Gary wrote:
> > Had to uninstall corrupt version the other day.
> > Then installed the newest version but I see it's really messing up.
> >
> > My headers are messed up and today...Many posts are all combined in one,
> > just my responses. WTH?
> >
> > I'll deal with this later
> You should install Google Groups on your computer. Come over to the Dark Side, Garry and together we can bring order to the Usenet-verse and rule together as father and son. Of course, I'm Darth Vader - you're just going to have to be Luke.
By best estimates, about $20 billion worth of oil was stolen from Nigeria in 2022 alone, a staggering sum on
its own, especially considering the Nigerian government only took in $22 billion in tax revenue that year.
The Nigerian government’s oil revenues dropped from 47% of the budget in 2017 to an annualized 7.4% in the
first half of 2022.
Mostly due to theft, oil as a total percentage of the economy fell from 13% in 2010 to under 6% in 2023.
So, despite having an enormous amount of oil, the Nigerian people see little benefit. Oil profits are basically
split between criminal gangs and corrupt politicians (but I repeat myself) who waste the oil money through
corrupt patronage networks.
But wait! Nigeria’s oil situation gets worse.
Nigeria imports nearly all of its fuel (ie. refined oil) today. Back in 2012, it imported 70%. This seems like a
terrible idea for a country that produces an enormous amount of oil. Crude oil is valuable, but refined oil is
more valuable (about 46% more valuable at the time of writing this).
Nigeria used to profitably refine most of its oil, but since at least the early 2010s, the Nigerian government’s
four massive oil refineries have almost completely been out of commission, not due to terrorism or natural
disasters, ***but due to lack of maintenance***.
Recall – Nigeria has at least 220 million people. Even with a huge proportion of them being dirt poor,
Nigerians still use a lot of fuel.
Hence, Nigeria’s lack of fuel self-sufficiency is an enormous unnecessary drain on the economy.
Nigeria exports pretty much all of its oil and then buys it right back as fuel because state-run companies were
too incompetent to maintain their own refineries.
--
GM