Dear Editor,
Lest there be uncertainty, I memorialize a vital statistic for the record. There is no quarrel with Vice President Jagdeo, no dislike either. On the latter, standards hold accountable. But there is disgust at how this great oil gift to Guyanese, of which he is the senior most trustee, has been stewarded. What goes for Bharrat Jagdeo, applies identically to President Irfaan Ali, and Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton. In sum and substance, their words, postures, and actions on this immense national patrimony encircle similarity. In the separateness of their individual representations, defenses, rationales, advocacies, there are common threads: Go easy on Exxon. Give Exxon a free pass, the most unfettered, unchallenged possible. The perennial loser for the last eight years (or four, depending on starting point chosen) has been locals. Hoping so much, losing so often. The only winner has been Exxon.
Observe the drawling happiness of Alistair Routledge in the hood, and that of Darren Woods in his Texas lair. I begrudge them not. But it is my hard duty to call things as I see them. It is a job that is ‘ruff and tuff’, but somebody has to do it. There is immovable conviction that Mr. Alistair Routledge would appreciate that sturdy Americanism, now thankless task embraced. There is President Ali, and he has convinced himself that his responses to oil issues are classical. They are, but to the degree that they are unconvincing to those who weigh what is happening with this oil, and are unpersuaded about the authenticity of assertions and positions of leaders. There is Vice President Jagdeo, and what he tables on this oil and his management of it is like the froth on the crest of a floating wave. Seen and physical for a fleeting moment, and then overwhelmed by the power of the surrounding sea. Of contemplations and considerations. There is Opposition Leader Norton, whose feet are unplanted, his mind unsettled, his strength unraveled, when oil is the matter at hand.
The concern is not what Exxon and Routledge have done to them. It is how the three of them at the helm of the national oil vessel have allowed Exxon to mold their minds, guide their thinking. I have some news for Guyanese, Exxon, all others. At their lowest ebb, on the worst of bad days, none of these three national leaders are this lacking, can be so obtuse, negligent, and weak. They have to see and know what Guyanese see and know (and interpret) about them and their husbandry of this enormous national birthright. Akin to the story in scripture about Esau and Jacob, what pot of stew featured to the extent that there is this GPL-like consistency? More blackouts than light. More outages than insights. I hurt for this country. And this may catch the unthinking and rabid off guard: I hurt for these three brothers of mine, as I watch them wasting away over this wealth. I invite, nay I challenge anyone-PPP fundamentalist, PNC loyalist, Exxon royalist-to step forward and shout to the world, any malice, venom, toxin deciphered in this contribution about our leaders. The spitefulness, recriminatory, and virulence I leave to the president and the Vice President. Mr. Norton is not spared; he has not gone down that road yet.
Separately, I read of the resource curse now stalking Guyana, developing steam to pounce. In my estimation, it is already here, growing in strength. But there is another curse that hovers over and haunts this land of oil fables, its foibles. It is the curse that oil placed on leaders who dared to tamper with its potential. The oil leadership curse has crippled Nigeria and Angola. The oil leadership curse has devastated Iran and Iraq. Neighbouring Venezuela has its pain. The hand of America has been visible and vibrant in the two Middle Eastern societies, and our reeling foe. King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia had his weaknesses, but his strength was that the people mattered to him. He did them good. His successors starting with King Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud left a blueprint for new oil producing countries to make their Bible. The oil leadership curse did not envelope them, put them in a vise. When I think of leaders and their mangled management of oil that poured from their nation’s pores, I think of the Hope Diamond: some who touched it, thought they possessed it, but became possessed by it. Look at the leaders named, and they register as men possessed by the unknown. They can’t speak, can’t stand, can’t represent. It is neither incompetence nor ineptitude. Their hearts fail. Their truths are flawed.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall