Nigeria’s former President, Goodluck Jonathan, says the Western companies that discovered oil in Nigeria failed to develop the country, blaming this on a lack of laws and technical know-how.
Unlike in China, Jonathan said the oil companies preferred to outsource and import everything needed in the industry, leaving the host communities with nothing to show for the oil in their domain.
Jonathan stated this Wednesday night at the Champions of Nigerian Content Awards Dinner organised by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
Jonathan, who was honoured with the Nigerian Content Lifetime Achievement Award, recalled how he was eager to sign the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content bill into an Act in 2021, saying the bill was sponsored by Senator Lee Maeba of Rivers State and others.
According to him, a Ugandan once told him how he developed skills before signing an agreement with international oil companies to avoid the mistakes made by Nigeria.
“I brought up this story because I used to tell people that if at the beginning of the oil discovery we had laws designed to protect us, Nigeria would have gone further than this. But we didn’t have those kinds of laws. Of course, the first law that controlled the oil industry was the Mineral Oil Ordinance of 1886, I’m not sure if Nigeria played any role in developing that law.
The second one was the Mineral Oil Ordinance of 1914, when we amalgamated. I don’t know how many Nigerians have any knowledge about petroleum law.
“The one that actually became law that started the oil industry was the Petroleum Act of 1969, which was after the discovery of oil in commercial quantity in 1956 and after the independence in 1960. The next proposed law was the Petroleum Industry Act that we worked on during my government, but luckily, in 2021, it was passed into law,” he recalled.
Jonathan said the Local Content Act was passed in April 2010 when the Minister of Petroleum told him there was a private law sponsored by Senator Lee Maeba to promote local content in the oil and gas industry.
Jonathan disclosed that he hurriedly signed the bill after his experience in China.
“What is the story about the Nigerian content, or what’s popularly called the local content? I signed that law in April 2010 because of the experience I had in the Year 2000. Then, I was the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, and I led a trade delegation to China. And because we are from the Niger Delta, an oil-producing area, we decided to visit some of the oil cities. And we visited what the Chinese call the oil capital, Daqing. They took us through their library, through their museum. They told us stories from the beginning of the mining activities up to that time.
“Remember that the Western companies discovered oil in commercial quantities in Nigeria in 1956. The same Western companies discovered oil in commercial quantities in China in 1968, two years later. But as of 2000, most of the needs of the oil industry in China were manufactured locally. But in Nigeria, if any company needs a valve, they must go to their home country. If they need anything, they must go.
“So, if the companies say they are investing $1bn or $500m in a project in a state, then you ask yourself, what percentage of that money really goes to impact the local economy, and you see nothing because nothing is being produced here. In Nigeria, most of the people are labourers. Maybe about $50m will be spent here. Every other thing is spent outside,” he stated.
Jonathan commended the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Felix Ogbe, for ensuring the local content law is being implemented effectively.
