Byn Douglas Anele

It is doubtful whether a purist Muslim like Gen. Buhari would have appointed a woman to oversee the petroleum ministry, let alone support her for OPEC presidency. For unrepentant critics of President Jonathan, his support that enabled Mrs. Allison-Madueke to be both the first female minister for petroleum resources and the first female President of OPEC is nothing.

Alison-Madueke, Petroleum Minster

But considering the culturally-induced subordinate role traditionally assigned to women in our society from antiquity to the present irrespective of their talent and intellect, deliberate refusal to acknowledge the significance of Mrs. Allison-Madueke’s achievement is a bad case of hubris. Of course, intemperate male critics of the minister would have celebrated if she were their mother, sister, wife, lover etc.

There is a growing pernicious tendency among Nigerians to believe without question any allegation of financial rascality levelled against high-ranking officials of government. Recently, for example, Mrs. Allison-Madueke has been subjected to relentless obloquy in a section of the media for allegedly spending N10 billion on official travels.

Unfortunately, the same degree of publicity given to the allegation was not extended to her rebuttal of it. How many newspapers reported the interactive session that she had with senior journalists in Abuja to give her own side of the story? At that event, the minister stated she was being framed by enemies of progress for her bold attempts to change the Nigerian oil industry for the benefit of the country.

She further averred that the lease of aeroplanes to run a highly technical and competitive oil industry is a globally accepted practice because it is more cost-effective than buying. Moreover, hiring of aircrafts has been the norm since the inception of the NNPC to enable it exercise due diligence over players in the oil sector. It would have been unwise, she explains, for anyone to spend N10 billion in leasing airplanes, an amount that can conveniently buy three new jets depending on type. Thus, although the NNPC had an aircraft meant for the use of a sitting minister, she was advised by aviation experts to sell it off since it was purchased and packed abroad for some years, thereby raising safety concerns. Interestingly, Mrs. Allison-Madueke insists that she compared the financial implications of buying a new plane and leasing, and concluded that the second option was more economical.

Now, some key players in the petroleum industry argue correctly that although NNPC is still facing daunting challenges, particularly in the areas of financial leakages in the system and infrastructural deficits, there is noticeable improvement in transparency and accountability because the minister has been working hard to improve the mechanics of corporate governance in accordance with best global standards.

The germane questions that arise from our discussion above include; is there anything wrong if the petroleum resources minister chose the more cost-effective option of hiring planes for her official duties because it was cheaper to hire than to buy and maintain planes at prohibitive cost? Would a reasonable public official who knows that N10 billion can buy three aircrafts to spend such a huge sum on official travels? Could it be that some prominent Nigerians benefiting from the old and inefficient manner of conducting business in NNPC are against the minister because her effort to improve the corporation is beginning to yield positive results detrimental to their selfish interests?

Available information indicates that Mrs. Allison-Madueke is trying her best to re-engineer NNPC for enhanced service delivery to Nigerians. We have already alluded to her efforts to ensure that corporate governance in NNPC meets internationally accepted global practice. In addition, the petroleum ministry is working to improve the level of indigenous oil services infrastructure by supporting local production of pipes and mini tanks. It is envisaged that when these projects are completed in the next twelve to fourteen months, the four refineries in Nigeria would be refining to about seventy-five percent of installed capacity.

As usual, a major obstacle to progress in the oil sector is the cabal of powerful vested interests with strong media connections who thoroughly dislike the modest progress the minister has achieved in instituting greater transparency in NNPC’s operations. To buttress my point, consider the comatose Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), an executive bill that has been stalled for up to ten years in the National Assembly. The PIB provides a legal framework for different aspects of the petroleum industry. Specifically, it is a legal mechanism that will drive investment policy in the industry. Professionals in the field believe that the bill if passed into law could accelerate development in the oil industry, although some of them suggest that a piecemeal approach would have accelerated its passage by federal legislators. Unfortunately, some key players in the industry and entrenched political interests have prevented the passage of such an important legislation, the repercussions of which on the economy can hardly be overestimated.

We suggest that the petroleum minister, supported by President Jonathan, should mobilise resources at her disposal to encourage members of the National Assembly to pass the PIB before May 29, 2015. If eventually passed into law and implemented religiously, the bill will take care of knotty problems such as deregulation, appropriate tax regime for different stakeholders, and investment in the petroleum industry. Non-passage of the bill is discouraging investment in the oil and gas sector: investors, both foreign and local, are unwilling to put their financial resources in a sector characterised by subsidy and stochastic uncertainties.

Because of corruption in the management of oil subsidy, it is reasonable for government to remove it gradually. Clearly, if subsidies persist, unscrupulous businesspersons and a few corrupt public officials will continuously manipulate the system to make too much money at the detriment of ordinary Nigerians. The latest attempt to end the subsidy fraud in January 2012 failed mainly for two reasons: (1) government did not embark on massive sensitisation programme to let Nigerians know why subsidy should be removed; (2) complete elimination of subsidy at once instead of graduated removal within a clearly defined period when the removal would be completed led to mass hysteria about hyper inflation that might result from immediate total subsidy removal. Yet, subsidy cannot continue forever, and President Jonathan, in his second term of office, should have the political will to withdraw subsidy gradually over time.

Our discussion will be incomplete without some comments about the proclivity of Nigerians to believe hyperbolic negative false stories about President Jonathan and his lieutenants. Indeed, criticising and disparaging the President is a thriving industry presently to the extent that his achievements have been deliberately ignored or trivialised even by individuals who cannot manage their nuclear families let alone a hamlet or village. It is now fashionable to malign anyone who says or writes something positive about his administration, and to praise his malicious critics and worshipful admirers of Gen.

Muhammadu Buhari as those on the side of morality. Of course, incessant criticism tinged with mischief is far easier than constructive creative thinking, especially among people of mediocre intelligence. An objective observer would certainly acknowledge mistakes made by the President, and still commend him for the successes his government has achieved in different areas of our national life. Therefore, it is more reasonable to encourage President Jonathan to do more than to make a career of bitterness towards a man whose life story, despite his weaknesses as a human being and as a leader, resonates with millions of underprivileged Nigerians inspired and motivated by the conviction that if Jonathan can rise from poverty to President, then there is hope for a better tomorrow.

Concluded.