Oil-fare

‘EVER since the likes of Nick Butler from the Financial Times declared, ‘The hottest new prospect for the world’s oil industry is Guyana, spurious flag bearers have emerged to weep for the nation they once sold out for 30 pieces of silver. Before I proceed, let me make a clear distinction between genuine nationalists who harbour deep love for this country and the patrioteers, those with sinister agendas covered in the veneer of nationalism.

This very familiar group straddles the political divide and includes members of a pre-2015 engineered civil society. They are separate apart from the nationalists. The nationalists must not be ignored, it is nice that we debate the best ideas to exploit this maximum resource to the benefit of all Guyanese and the government of the day must be receptive to best advice from this camp, since we all know no government is omniscient, no government has a monopoly on ideas. This column has no business with constructive critics and organic civil society vis-à-vis the oil debate/discussion.

The word oil-fare is a play on the word warfare which means an engagement in war or conflict. Since it was announced that Guyana is on the precipice of being an established oil-producing nation, this issue has become very emotive, the national debate and discussions have been so acrimonious that it sometimes seems like warfare, hence the title of this column. Beneath the facade of this new-found care, there lies selfish, personal and ill-boding enterprises. The engagements are sharp, the criticisms are venomous. Plots and schemes in smoke-filled rooms being fraught at feverish levels with black gold on their minds. As an observer of Guyanese politics for many years, I can say without fear of successful contradiction, we have never seen this level of activism in the affairs of the state in such passionate forms.  This did not occur for other issues that were far more worthy of attention in our recent past. We have had decades of a plethora of abuses that were anathema to the nation’s interest and we did not see some of these forces forming the ‘Human Rights Association’ or the ‘Good Governance Association’. This oil-fare has brought the most dormant forces back to life. The question must be inevitably asked, are these intense motivations based on genuine interest in the nation’s development, or is this oil-fare being fraught due to the age-old trappings of black gold? If you conclude the latter, I humbly submit this column.

The wagers of oil-fare must know, oil-fare teems with serious existential implications for this nation. There are many threads in this dangerous tapestry, let us extract the thread of ethnic divisions. Let us imagine in this technological age of ‘fake news’, these forces resort to the race card, last refuge of political desperadoes, this could be disastrous. The world has already seen numerous recent examples of the power of social media and the push for political power: the Arab Spring, the US elections 2016 and the Me Too Movement. Alec Ross warned all governments around world, ‘If you are not open to social media spaces then you are not attuned to the dynamics on the street and you sacrifice both understanding and power’.  There is no reason to believe that those who have waged oil-fare will not resort to this effective political tool to achieve their aims and objectives. The writing is already on the wall as evidenced by the appearance of websites such as the ‘Indo-Caribbean Diaspora News’ (ICDN), which is a social media tool that spews ethno-centric opinions on Guyana. This approach facilitated by social media could place Guyana in a situation where the nation is extremely divided at a time when a particular neighbour is looking on with envy of our acquisition of black gold. I don’t think the perpetrators of oil-fare care that much; this kind of politics does end at the Wenamu River.

For these forces, there must no appeasement, no negotiations, no détente, and no rapprochement. They have decided that they must be the ones to shepherd Guyana through a period of oil wealth at any cost. Oil-fare is real and as we proceed to the 2020 elections, Guyanese must stay laser focused on this group and watch their actions, it is not about country, it is about self and friends. We have seen this movie, it premiered for 28 years right before our very eyes. We must proceed from this theoretical assumption to expect anything is possible with oil-fare.

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