PIB: RIP –‘Rest in Pieces

President Goodluck Jonathan speaks during his visit to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in Lagos,
on March 12, 2015. President Jonathan visited the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on March 12, and
 launched a new online mobile platform, X-Gen, designed to increase local investment. The platform is
 targetted at increasing the number of local investors in the country and to enable about 30 millions domestic
 investors have access to the market. AFP PHOTO

If ever there was one great damage President Jonathan did to the people of the Niger Delta, it would have to be his failure to get the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, passed twice – first in 2011 and again in 2015. At the moment, members of the National Assembly, NASS, are moving out of their offices – undoubtedly on the orders of the Executive branch of government. Perhaps, this was done to forestall any attempt by the lawmakers, still bent on passing a Constitution amendment which they want foisted on the nation.

Other casualties of the sudden closure of the NASS include the Constitution Amendments proposed by the Jonathan administration sponsored Constitutional Conference, CONFAB. The CONFAB has now become a triple tragedy. It represents hopes dashed as another attempt fails; it was a waste of time of some of the best people in Nigeria and it amounted to N10-12 billion down the drain. That will also be part of Jonathan’s lengthy legacy of failures.

But, if there is one legacy which can be regarded as inexcusable it is the death of PIB 2. One of the unintended consequences of the abrupt end to the NASS is the final closure of any attempt to get the PIB passed. In short, from 2010 to 2015, President Jonathan, members of the NASS from the Niger Delta (irrespective of political party), Governors and State Houses of Assembly in the Niger Delta, as well as “professional” public opinion leaders from the ND, had betrayed their people. The major culprit was President Jonathan.

It would have been inconceivable for the people of the Niger Delta, until it happened, that one of their sons would be in Aso Rock for eight years, three as Vice-President and five as President, and fail to push for the passage of the one bill that would provide for more equitable distribution of revenue accruing from oil and gas exploration and export. Today, as Jonathan gets set to move out, that is the unfortunate reality. That reality will cost the Niger Delta immeasurable fortune and lost job creation opportunities in years to come.

With this golden opportunity lost, the oil producing areas of the region face innumerable years before they can regain the initiative which Obong Victor Attah, the former Governor of Akwa Ibom State promoted through his campaign for RESOURCE CONTROL. That almost sing-handed effort resulted in the allocation of thirteen per cent of derivation to the oil producing states. But as Attah had always insisted, the thirteen per cent was a temporary arrangement. The ultimate goal was a return to true fiscal federalism which would allow each state to collect revenue from resources within its own boundaries and remitting only a fixed percentage to the Federal Government. Attah was obviously a man ahead of his time. The nation was/is not ready for true Federalism.

Meanwhile, the oil producing states and communities were bearing all the scourges of oil exploration and production – some of which involve environmental damages that will require centuries to reverse. That called for a major shift in the nation’s approach to revenue allocation. Unfortunately, a constitutional amendment designed to promote the interest of the oil producing communities was not immediately feasible.

The only other alternative to achieve greater equity for the Niger Delta was to introduce privatization into the upstream and downstream aspects of the nation’s oil sector. This was what PIB 1 and 2 were supposed to achieve. The arguments for this drastic departure from existing approaches to managing our oil wealth were compelling.

Augean stable and horse manure

However, instead of listing seriatim, all the disadvantages of the existing process for managing our oil resources, a few will be sufficient to illustrate the problems. Importation of refined petroleum products, intractable fuel scarcity, massive theft of crude oil by syndicates, monumental corruption involving all the agencies of government responsible for harnessing our oil resources will serve as proxy for all the other reasons why abundant reserves of crude oil has been more of a curse than a blessing to Nigeria. There is no need, at this point to repeat our litany of woes on each count. They are all too familiar. Let us just very briefly mention a few. None of which is admittedly new to us.

Today, nobody in the entire world can authoritatively declare how much revenue Nigeria has lost as result of the activities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. Even the recent audit by PriceWaterhouse, apart from raising more questions than it answered, only captured the revenue reported by NNPC. It left untouched the issue of 400,000 barrels per day which, by the Federal Government’s own admission, were lost. Neither did it capture alleged overloading of crude or loading without payment etc. It certainly failed to mention instances when payment for crude was made into secret bank accounts, to collect interests which rightly belonged to Nigeria but went into private pockets. Surely, the report did not take into account NNPC and the Federal Government borrowing from banks, at Shylock rates of interest, while at the same time having huge balances in their accounts with those banks.

Such activities have been summarized under the concept of moral hazard – individuals in public office spending funds in manners they would not have done if the funds were their own.

Saved by the smell

In boxing a fighter who is already hanging on the ropes is sometimes saved by the bell. Nigerians, hanging on to dear life had expected to be saved from the smell in Augean stable by Jonathan. It was not to be.

PIB was designed to move the country away from the mindless profligacy of public servants to the more rational approach which deregulation represents. If even only ten per cent of the oil belonged to the community, and another fixed percentage to the state, while the rest belongs to the private sector, then the issue of stolen oil would disappear because no community, state or private owner would allow its oil to be stolen for long. Ultimately, more revenue will accrue to the communities and states for general development – instead of to a few who build palatial mansions for others to marvel at.

It was assumed, wrongly as it turned out, that a President who, by his own admission, went to school “shoeless” will see the benefits of PIB to the down-trodden masses, not only in terms of general improvement in prosperity but also for massive job creation in the Niger Delta. It was also assumed, quite wrongly again, that he would constitute the arrowhead for ensuring the bill is passed – even if it would cost him the second term. As it is, there will be no second term; and not because he fought for the PIB – but in spite of his total neglect of the bill each time it was presented to the National Assembly.

A tale of two PIBs

Some Nigerians might not be aware that President Jonathan and his Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Alison Deziani Madueke, actually promoted the first PIB, PIB 1, while he was finishing Yar’Adua’s term in 2010-2011. From 2010 May till May 29, 2011, the President and the Minister actively tried to promote PIB 1, which gave more concessions to the International Oil Companies, IOCs, than to Nigeria. On a state visit in February 2011, Jonathan assured the Turkish President that he would sign the PIB 1 into law before May 29, 2011.

Meanwhile, working as a consultant to some patriotic Nigerians, I was probably one of less than ten Nigerians who read the entire 892 pages of the proposed PIB 1. We were opposed to PIB 1 and set about to defeat it in what should have been a David and Goliath contest. Against only a few million naira to work with on our side, the Presidency, Ministry and, of course the IOCs, had deployed billions of naira to get the NASS to pass PIB 1. But, by March 2011, it was clear to us that PIB1 would never get passed. The President and the Minister simply dumped PIB 1 on the NASS and turned their backs leaving us to slug it out with the IOCs. That made it easier to simply bottle PIB 1 up in the NASS until it passed into history.

Shortly after the 2011 Elections, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, once again, presented an amended PIB, PIB 2, to the National Assembly. The opponents of PIB, any PIB whatsoever, once again mobilized for action – expecting me to lead the fight. But, a patriotic elder statesman from the Niger Delta to whom the offer was mentioned implored me not to oppose PIB 2. It was a request impossible to refuse – irrespective of the huge financial sacrifice. However, while agreeing to work for the passage of PIB 2, it was pointed out that PIB 2 might never be passed because the President and the Minister could not be relied upon to lead the battle. In fact, it was bluntly stated that they would simply dump the bill and allow its opponents to defeat it by bottling it up. At least twice a year, the elder statesman would be reminded that the bill is stuck in Committees of the Senate and House – while time flew.

Out of desperation, in 2013 and again in 2014, letters were written to the Governors of the Niger Delta drawing their attention to the fate of PIB 2 and the need for them to come to the rescue of the bill for the sake of their people. Till today, none of the Governors even acknowledged receipt of the letters. Certainly, none took action. Niger Delta elected officials, in both houses of the NASS, were also individually and collectively derelict in their duties to the people of the Niger Delta. It would be difficult to imagine American Senators and Congressmen neglecting a vital bill, affecting their states, for four years and still having the nerve to return home and campaign for re-election or for governor.

Yes, others share part of the blame. Even the “leaders of thought” from the region paid no attention to the bill. There was no single person from the oil producing communities and states who monitored the progress, or lack of it, of PIB 2, because we followed its slow progress from the first day. But, the major blame for the death of PIB 2 should be shared between two people – the President and the Minister of Petroleum Resources. Since they come from the same state – Bayelsa – they owe their people a lot of apologies.

Consequences of the failure

“All great and honourable actions are accomplished with great difficulties and must be both enterprised and overcome with answerable courage..” Pilgrims landing in America.

What could be responsible for this singular and costly failure? One sage summarized it as “lack of grit”. The outgoing President of Nigeria craved admiration, even love. Granted, only a sadist or psychopath will endorse Cicero’s, 106-43 B.C, advice: “Oderint dum metuant,(Latin) meaning, “Let them hate as long as they fear.” But, the most effective leaders don’t set out to be loved. When the chips are down, they set out to get what they want. They do what they have to do achieve results.

Jonathan came across as a leader who did not want anything – not even the Presidency. Otherwise, how would someone who had spent more years in the corridors of power than most complain that he had been “in a cage for sixteen years”? So, even his concession of electoral defeat might not be for our sake but as a means of escape from challenges which he was incapable of confronting.

Return of the native son

Certainly, when he returns home, if asked, “Your Excellency, what have you brought back that will prove to be a lasting legacy?” the answer should be: “Nothing.” Indeed, everything else which Jonathan might have “taken back home” cannot possibly wipe off the tremendous losses which will accumulate over the years on account of the monumental error of not pushing PIB 2 through – at whatever cost. With the death of PIB 2, the Niger Delta had missed its golden opportunity to right the wrongs it had suffered since oil was first discovered at Oloibiri.

Millions will suffer needless deprivations; untold trillions of naira will flow out in the future. Surely, nobody in the next four years, at least, will re-visit PIB 2; or propose PIB 3. It might never even come up again in our life time.