Legacy Mark, Tambuwal must leave is passage of PIB this year – Nwapa-Ibuaka

– Nwapa-Ibuaka, Nigerian Diaspora consultant

Like most Nigerians, Dr. Njideka Nwapa-Ibuaka, is piqued by the seeming foot-dragging over the

Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) that has been before the National Assembly. As somebody conversant with the goings-on in the Nigeria oil and gas industry and given the enormous benefits that would accrue to the country, Nwapa-Ibuaka, a consultant with a rising profile in the Nigeria oil and gas industry strongly be­lieves that Senate President, David Mark, and House of Representatives Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, should be reminded of the charge the late John F. Kennedy gave to Americans on the day he was inaugu­rated, as President of the United States in 1961. He said: “Ask not for what your country can do for you, rather ask for what you can do for your country.”

In the run-up to a major human capital development training for managers in the Nigeria oil and gas industry, starting in Houston, Texas, USA, on Monday, August 25, 2014, Nwapa-Ibuaka, Chief Executive of New Generation Consulting Resources and Solutions Limited, says the best way for Mark and Tambuwal to further demonstrate their patriotism and commitment to the continued growth of the country’s GDP is to push for passage of the PIB into law on or before December 31, 2014.

In this interview, Nwapa-Ibuaka sheds more light on this and other related issues.

Your firm is organising a seminar for Nigerian oil and gas industry managers. What are the key objectives of the semi­nar and what real benefits would accrue for participating companies?

The principal objective is introduce managers to global best practices in the oil and gas industry and equip them with concepts and tools aimed to assist man­agement in evaluating and valuing junior personnel as assets and smart investments of the organisation. The expectation is that at end of the training, managers will be able to: evaluate and realise junior personnel as assets, stakeholders, and capital investments to the organisation; understand the expec­tancy theories pertaining to human capital management and investment; assess the needs of the organisation and junior person­nel leading to long-term employment and a human capital model; train emerging leaders to use open communications to communi­cate a clear vision, mission statement, and strategy and lastly, provide tools needed for junior personnel to become self-sustaining leading to job satisfaction. Junior person­nel should be given room to grow; this is very important. So you when energise each employee in terms of moving forward; when you train, build and develop your employee, you produce a better employee who in turn helps make the company’s bottom-line much better. But if you neglect this, you will have an employee who does not have an owner­ship mindset, but rather sees himself as just getting a salary.

How long have you been involved in human capital development and manage­ment?

I have been involved in management training for many years in the United States where I live. But I have been doing this in the Nigeria oil and gas industry for the past three years, starting with the Nigerian Na­tional Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Nigerian Content Development and Moni­toring Board (NCDMB) and the Chrome Group. We are in discussion with a number of other major operators in the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry.

Basically, what we have been doing is run­ning management courses. As I said earlier, we started with a training programme for NNPC in 2012 that focused on change and reform particularly in the area of human capital management, because clearly reform is needed in all facets of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. Again, change has to come. When you have those two, reforms and change, and in order for what you have achieved to work, it must be sustained. Both the management and the employees must be transparent. You will agree that transparency, either in the government, the private sector and educational institutions, has been a chal­lenge in this country.

Shouldn’t the political leadership be blamed for the lack of transparency in the conduct of governance and activities in the public sector?

I quite agree that we have deficiencies in government, but there is also a role for the masses to play. I am a key believer in the fact that the leaders and the people have to understand that we need a new approach. The leaders and the people must have a shared vision about how to make the country grow economically and be better. What I see happening in the country is that there is no shared vision: the politicians are one side, the leaders are another side and the people are on a different side. Had there been a shared vision, then it would have been easier to meet in the middle, of course with the leaders providing guidance, and the people exhibiting tolerance, offering cooperation and having ability to absorb what the leaders are bringing to them. A shared and common vision is needed first before you can begin to talk about development. It almost feels like two countries within one geographical location. You have the people at the top run­ning their own affairs and the people at the bottom running their own country through trial and error.

As somebody familiar with the local oil industry, what are your views on the Petroleum Industry Bill, which is still lan­guishing before the National Assembly?

That brings us back to this question of there being two countries in Nigeria – the small group of people preventing the PIB from being passed into law are only con­cerned about their self-interest and how it will benefit them, rather than how the PIB will impact the whole country in a very posi­tive way. Then there is the pressure from the Western operators in the Nigeria oil and gas industry – that is completely another story.

Let’s look at the local content law. How can we get more benefit from it – in line with the human capital development initiative that you are obviously passion­ate about?

The local content law on its own is such a wonderful piece of legislation. It is some­thing that is awesome and will benefit the country immensely in terms of how it is implemented. My qualms about it is that it still favours the international oil companies (IOCs) more than it favours the indigenous companies in terms of bidding for contracts, supplies of relevant oil industry goods and consumables. The law says one thing on pa­per, but in the implementation, do we really measure to ensure that indigenous compa­nies are getting real value from the local content law in terms of distribution of power, distribution of resources and ensuring that Nigerian are given first choice in employ­ment of technical staff, first choice in train­ing; how do we make sure that Nigerians are fully absorbed into new IOCs that come into the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry within the three-to-four-year time frame specified by the law as opposed to hiring expatriates? How do we ensure that Nigerians are being trained? How do we ensure that the IOCs are researching on what will benefit Nigeria in strict compliance with the provisions of the law?

There is a case in court, involving an Asian company that was awarded a major contract because it had a technical agreement with an indigenous company, whereby it was supposed to use the facili­ties of the Nigerian company to fabricate vital, core components for the project and in the process scale up the technical skills of Nigerian engineers. But soon after it won the contract, it dumped the Nigerian company and tried to repatriate the jobs that would have been created in the coun­try to its home country. How can such ugly developments be prevented?

I know that the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Moni­toring Board (NCDMB) is doing his utmost, more than most other officials in such capac­ity, to ensure that the law is complied with by IOCs. Having said that, the question is whether we have the human capacity to meet the challenges of implementing the law and ensure that Nigeria gains the utmost from the local content law. Here is one man, who is doing his diligent best to see that the law is implemented in a way that benefits the country but then you have the Nigerian Fac­tor represented by a hierarchy of powerful individuals that are not allowing the law to be implemented as it should. A good number of these people are in the “good books” of the IOCs. The IOCs are supposed to be partners but we have them owners and also protected their ownership through the law. This is very wrong. Middle East oil produc­ers didn’t take this unpatriotic route that Nigeria has been cruising on for decades. The PIB is the veritable way to forcefully put the brakes on this unwholesome practice that endured for years. What the IOCs do not do in the Middle East, we must not continue to allow them do in Nigeria. Other jurisdic­tions do not allow IOCs do in their country what they do in Nigeria. The PIB is the only way forward for Nigeria. The legislators in the National Assembly must understand this and rise to the occasion.

Still on the issue the PIB, if you were to meet the Senate President, David Mark, and Speaker of the House of Representa­tives, Aminu Tambuwal, in one place, what would you tell them?

I would tell them to demonstrate true pa­triotism and leadership and get the National Assembly to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill on or before December 31, 2014. It is long overdue. I would tell them that they need to get some experts who can bring inputs to areas that are vague, to sharpen the provisions of the proposed law so that it benefits everybody in the country. The benefits need to trickle down. Doing this is the most patriotic thing that the 7th National Assembly can do for Nigeria. Like John F. Kennedy told Americans in 1961, “Ask not for what your country can do for you, rather ask for what you can do for your country,” David Mark and Aminu Tambuwal must stand up and be counted for Nigeria. If they fail, then they lack the moral right to seek re-election in 2015.