By Japhet Davidson

A popular saying has it that “What you have is what you will share, if you don’t have it you will not share it”. It was on the basis of the above saying that Chevron Nigeria limited Chevron Nigeria Limited, one of the foremost operators in the upstream sector of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry in partnership with the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) gathered media personnels for a human capacity building workshop to empower and equip them on some of the topical issues in the nation. 

The one day training with the theme: Driving Nigeria’s Business & Economy: The Media Perspective was held on Tuesday, 23rd of July, 2024 at Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos state. 

The workshop had four resource personnels, Dr Olusegun Aribike, Ademola Irinyemi, Blessing Anaro and Emeka Ugwuanyi who took the participants on the following: Capital Market and Money Market; Towards Nigeria’s Realistic Budget, Maximising The Gains of Nigeria’s Blue Economy and Tapping the Potentials of Oil & Gas Sector of the Nigerian Economy. 

And as was expected, the four scholars who dwelt of the sub topics lived up to expectation as the participants were exposed to some of the fundamental problems responsible for Nigeria’s inability to make it as a nation and offered solutions on the way forward. They were of the view that Nigeria as country has all the human and material resources needed to make them a developed country but the inability of the leaders to do the right thing, formulate good policies and provide a favourable environment is what has kept them in the dark for years. 

In his paper, Maritime Expert Dr.Ademola Irinyemi who spoke on Maximising The Gains of Nigeria’s Blue Economy stated that the maritime industry plays important role in the sustenance of the socio-economic and political development of any nation and Nigeria is no exception. 

“Maritime activities and the associated services no doubt, are central and highly relevant to an economy that is externally focused and determined”

He added that Nigeria’s coastline was in danger due to human exploitive activities, coastal development, pollution, overfishing and insecurity and called for structural reforms, infrastructure investment, human capital development and the use of Technology and Innovation if we must get it right as a country.

 Mr.Olusegun Aribike, FNGE, speaking on how Nigeria can have a realistic budget  said for Nigeria to have a realistic budget, such budget must be tied to certain projects that will bring about economic development such as roads, schools, hospitals, water amongst others.

He urged government to be deliberate in putting the interest of the citizenry into consideration when planning a realistic budget, and not embark on white elephant projects. 

Blessing Anaro, Editor Southern Operations, Blueprint Newspaper who spoke on Money market and capital market explained how useful the money and capital markets can help grow the economy but stated that it is dependent on government policies and sincerity.

“The government cannot continue to raise funds, either locally or internationally for particular projects and spend the money recklessly on other things. We should also have policies that are investment friendly. That is perhaps why multinationals are leaving the country.”

Emeka Ugwuanyi, CEO of Profagos Digital Limited who spoke on how Nigeria can harness the full potential of its oil and gas sector, said the oil and gas sector was the heartbeat of Nigeria’s economy. 

He identified some of the challenges bedeviling Nigeria’s oil and gas industry like oil theft and pipeline vandalism, deficient infrastructure, policy and regulatory instability and lack of governance and transparency. He also outlined the various strategies to be applied but advised that to ensure sustainable economic growth, improved living standards, and a diversified economy less vulnerable to global oil price fluctuations, there must be effective implementation of the strategies with a coordinated efforts from government, industry stakeholders, and local communities.

Earlier, Victor Anyaegbudike, Chevron Communications Manager, who represented the chairman said Chevron Nigeria Limited embarked on the partnership as it believe in the value derivable from developing human capital to build the capacity of media practitioners to enhance their skills and abilities to perform their duties.

“We continue to partner with the media for the development of the society. In this light, we also recognize the need for capacity building of the media practitioners to enhance their capacity to perform their duties. That is why CNL sponsors the Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (AWARES) programme in collaboration with the Pan Atlantic University, Lagos…”

On his part, the chairman of Nigerian Union Of Journalists (NUJ) Lagos Council, Mr Adeleye Ajayi in his opening remark expressed his gratitude to the Management of Chevron Nigeria Limited which sponsored the laudable training programme to widen the horizon of businesses and the economy of the nation for the second year.

He also stated that the training is coming at a very auspicious time as the economy of the nation and business climate is undergoing surgery and rejuvenation by the Federal Government.

Therefore, he added that it is imperative to collate all shades of opinion and views on how to bring the Nigerian economy back on track, to which the Management of Chevron Nigeria Limited is no doubt passionate about for the transformation of the nation’s economy, and to which he was sure that, that is the reason why this training is being organised.