Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Pius Anyim Pius, Professor Pat Utomi and the United States Regional Director, Association of International Petroleum Negotiator (AIPN) and the Executive Committee for the Institute of Energy Law, Mr. Steven Otillar, has proffered solutions to the nation's energy woes.The trio spoke in Lagos at the 2012 PUNUKA Attorney & Solicitors lectures, with the theme: 'Making a Petroleum based Economy an Engine for Growth: The Realities of the Resource Curse".While lamenting that the nation's petroleum resources were yet to be exploited to the benefits of the ordinary Nigerian citizens, they called for a paradigm shift in policy and regulations to ensure that petroleum resources is a blessing and not a curse.In his speech, Chief Anyim regretted that though the oil and gas sector has dictated the pace and structure of growth in the Nigerian economy for the past decades, its impact on employment generation, value addition and diversification of other sectors of the economy has remained comparatively sub optimal.According to him, the Oil and gas sector's relative contribution to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in real term, has remained less than desirable with some estimates put at 17 per cent in the last three years.By this implication, Anyim said Nigerians are yet to maximise the benefit from petroleum resources due to a myriad of constraints that include; high level of foreign content, focus on export of unprocessed crude and low refining capacity.Chief Anyim however expressed hope that the petroleum industry strategies and programmes under President Goodluck Jonathan's Transformation Agenda will stimulate investments in both the upstream and downstream by encouraging local and foreign investors.The Federal government, he said, shall strive to diversify oil exports to include refined petroleum products and other derivatives from the sector as a means of maximising the benefits from petroleum resources.According to him, Deregulation, privatisation and other institutional reforms are being done in this regard, while efforts geared towards the instalment of new refineries and increasing the capacities of the existing ones are done to stimulate the petrochemical industries.He said' I am proud to announce that this government is also making determined effort at re-invigorating the local content initiatives in the oil and gas sector with its ongoing reform of fiscal regime and regulatory framework through the petroleum industry bill (PIB).Anyim, who spoke through an aide, Ferdinand Agu, said the Nigeria National petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is now being transformed to a world class national oil company with the capability to compete and fund oil and gas project as part of the global best practice benchmarking embraced by the government with enthusiasm and conviction.On his part,Professor Utomi, who moderated the session, disclosed that there is a need for a paradigm shift from the way Nigerian resource is managed in order to allow Nigerians to benefit maximally from their God given resources.According to him, the resources have now shifted from blessing to curse because of the way the sector is presently being managed which tend to favour those in position of authority and the former military generals.The guest lecturer, Steven Otillar, disclosed that there is need for consistent enforcement of regulations by the government as well as to make all parties, both national and international operators to feel that everyone is playing on the same field under the same rules.He however regretted that Nigeria with substantial natural resources has not been able to develop such resources in order to increase the overall standard of living of the populace.The energy expert said the greatest challenge facing Nigeria's petroleum industry is finding an environmentally conscious way to translate oil wealth into individual wealth for the citizens of Nigeria.He called on the government to establish certain rules which domestic and international companies alike have to understand and comply with.On how to manage Nigerian petroleum resourcse to ensure that it is beneficial to the common people, Otillar said it is an issue being considered by all societies that are net-exporters of hydrocarbons.According to him, the solution in Nigeria will have to be different, but will involve taking a little from several success stories around the world.'The fundamentals that are required will also take some time to develop. It is necessary to have a true, strong respect for the rule of law. If commercial parties cannot have confidence that contracts they enter into will be honoured and enforced, then major projects are very difficult if not impossible to develop.'Nigeria likely needs to focus on maintaining energy exports, but perhaps looking at exporting not crude products, but refined ones, higher value products and chemicals. There must be a level playing field where all companies have the same opportunity to compete in transparent manner", he added."Every country has corruption, every country has political agendas that get in the way of economic growth and prosperity. However, if the situation is such that there is a lack of confidence that business can get done, then companies unwilling or unable to bend the rules will eventually leave, and transformational change can be accomplished' he saidIn his welcome address, the Managing Partner of the PUNUKA Attorney & Solicitors, Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN), said the theme was carefully selected for the yearly lecture in the light of the recent trend and development in the Nigerian oil and gas sector.According to him, the sector had in the last couple of years been experiencing some transformation, with the passage of the Nigeria Content Development Act last year and efforts at drafting various laws to reform the fiscal and regulatory frame work for the industry.According to Idigbe, Nigeria is now at cross road regarding its petroleum resources, which made Nigeria's oil and gas endowment an epitome of a 'resource curse'.
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