According to Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s ex-president, 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.
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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.
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