Femi Falana has called on the federal government to assign oil bloc licenses to state and local governments instead of individuals. Speaking at the 5th Comrade Yinka Odumakin Memorial Lecture on Thursday in Ikeja, Lagos State, Falana questioned the wealth accumulation of certain individuals through oil blocs. He cited a woman in Lagos alleged to be the richest in Africa and a retired general said to be the wealthiest pensioner on the continent, both beneficiaries of oil bloc allocations. "You don't know they give oil blocs to themselves?" Falana asked, claiming such individuals often sell the licenses offshore without investing locally. He argued that redirecting oil blocs to states and LGAs would help them meet obligations like paying civil servants' salaries. Falana also raised concerns over the expansion of mining licenses to those already holding oil blocs, linking them to environmental damage in affected communities.
Femi Falana's revelation that top oil bloc holders include a Lagos woman dubbed Africa's richest and a retired general turned billionaire cuts to the core of Nigeria's resource injustice. When licenses flow to well-connected individuals rather than public institutions, it entrenches private wealth while states struggle to pay salaries. This system doesn't just enrich a few—it starves public services across Nigeria. Restructuring that shifts control to states could force a reckoning, but only if it doesn't replicate the same elite capture.
