In
spite of the unprecedented fall in oil price, Nigeria can still make enough
savings for the future from its crude oil.
 |
| Dauda |
The
country Officer of the Natural Resource Governance Institute, NRGI, Dr. Dauda
Garuba who stated this in a lecture during the ongoing Masters Class for oil
and Gas Reporting, in Lagos underlined the entrenchment of transparency and accountability
in oil and gas business as among many measures, need to create wealth in the
sector.
He
said, oil and gas sector would still profit the country if the agencies
involved, could entrench transparency and accountability in the sector, which he
noted was lacking since oil exploration and exploitation began for about 60
years now.
“The oil and gas sector is very opaque in the
sense that outsiders do not have information about the business going on there.
There are many ways that revenue are lost, “Under the precept 10 which is on private sector investment. Is the government improving the business environment that allows the private sector
to invest? Is the government improving the regulatory environment to allow the
private sector to grow? Precept 11, is on the role of home government of extractive
company. Is home government acting to inquire, enforce, propagate best practice
in a way which supports efforts at the host community? Are oil companies
following best practices in contracting, operation and payments?”
According
to Dr. Garuba the accountability mechanism include the allocation of oil wells
based on merit, proper engagement with oil producing communities to avoid
restiveness which could disrupt oil exploitation and avoidance of non-
profitable business deals.
Garuba listed other measures to generate more
income from oil to include expanding the value chain such as processing crude
at home and using bye products from crude oil drive petrochemical companies,
which lead to massive job creation and income generation.
Dauda
said, past government mismanaged oil revenue which is the reason the country is
facing difficult times now.
“The
question is, is the country targeting
the right balance between consumption and investment, or you are
eating tomorrow like we have done? We are eating all that we have earned from
oil. There was the stabilization fund. The last time audit was conducted in
that by NEITI, that was between 2007 and 2011, it showed that all the fund that
we established including the cash call, the stabilization fund and the natural
resource fund, Nigeria has been taking the money to do other things that they
were not even meant for, to the point that even money was given to buy vehicle
for a ministry”.
He
also stressed the need to increase oil exploration which he said drastically
reduced since 10 years ago, thus diminishing revenue prospect from the oil and
gas sector.
It
is believed the Nigeria missed the opportunity to save enough money for future
use when oil being a non-renewable resource may have finished or its price reduces
drastically as it is now.
For
instance, between 2010 and 2014 when oil price was at its highest ebb, the
country made a whopping sum of 424 billion dollars from oil sale, yet it has
just about 1 billion dollars in its sovereign Wealth Fund, which is savings for
future generation.
The
Masters course in Oil and Gas Reporting was organized by the Natural Resource
Governance Institute, NRGI, in collaboration with School of Media and
Communications, Pan Atlantic University and Premium Times.
Twenty
Five journalists from different media houses and online media in the country
including the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, NTA, NAN, The Guardian, New
Telegraph, The Punch, Premium Times and Newsbreakers are attending the two
weeks residential course.
By
Innocent Onoh
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