WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF NIGERIAN CONTENT LAW IF INDIGENOUS COMPANIES ARE NOT ENCOURAGED? – NDIMRC

NIGER DELTA INDIGENOUS MOVEMENT FOR RADICAL CHANGE (NDIMRC)

Offices: Oporoza, Headquarters of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South-West L.G.A., Delta State.
&

Sani Abacha Expressway, Yenogoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria

E-mail: ndimovement4radicalchange@gmail.com

 OPEN LETTER TO  PRESIDENT GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, GCFR

His Excellency,

Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR

President, Commander-in-Chief of the

Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Presidential Villa, Aso-Rock

Abuja, Nigeria.

His Excellency,

WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF NIGERIAN CONTENT LAW IF INDIGENOUS COMPANIES ARE NOT ENCOURAGED?

MR. President, we write to register our displeasure about the Nigerian Content Law that came into existence April 22, 2010. Four years down the road, our indigenous companies are yet to feel the impact of the Nigerian Content Law that came with high expectation from stakeholders in the Oil and Gas sector.

We must say that the hope of our indigenous companies on the Law has been dashed as things are not working as expected. Mr. President, the Nigerian Content Law as it is now, is like a deceit to our indigenous companies that have invested fortunes in human capital and equipment, yet they are not being empowered by the Federal Government and the International Oil Companies (IOCs).

Mr. President, our indigenous companies are folding up daily, no thanks to lack of empowerment by the Government and the IOCs. These local firms in the Oil and Gas sector have paid their dues; they have done the needful, yet there is no encouragement and as a result of this, many of them have been swallowed up by the huge loans they obtained to procure modern equipment for the Oil and Gas sector.

But Mr. President, when are these indigenous companies going to be empowered?

On Thursday, October 30, 2014, Mr. President, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Ernest Nwapa, while commissioning latest equipment procured once again by FENOG Nigeria Limited, a wholly Nigerian Oil and Gas service provider established in 1992, lamented that the IOCs were not making use of facilities purchased by FENOG and other indigenous companies aimed at boosting the Nigerian Content Law.

Engr. Nwapa, who had also in the past commissioned FENOG’s equipment, said that the latest facilities of the company (a range of seven Continuous Horizontal Directional Drilling Rigs, CHDD) were best suited for the Trans Niger Pipeline Loopline Project (TNPL) and if you will recall Mr. President, we have been imploring Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to award the TNPL to our indigenous companies like FENOG that have invested heavily on capacity building as a result of their high hope on the Nigerian Content Law.

But sad enough, Mr. President, SPDC has been playing its dirty politics on the TNPL Project.

We want Mr. President to direct SPDC on the immediate award of the TNPL project, as we do not want to believe that SPDC is the President of Nigeria. Or is it because the Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani-Alison Madueke worked in SPDC that is why the company is frustrating her?

Mr. President, several projects have been approved by the Board of the NNPC, but they are taking too long to be awarded by SPDC and other IOCs to our indigenous firms and this development is getting our youths in the Niger Delta region agitated again. Companies in Nigeria investing a lot of money in the Oil and Gas Industry are going through a lot of threats; they are not being protected by the Federal Government Local Content Policy. Mr. President, do something now!

Mr. President, we do not want either you, the Petroleum Minister or the Group Managing Director of NNPC to deceive our indigenous firms and indeed all Nigerians about the Nigerian Content Law because as it is now, the Law is only favourable to the big players in the Oil and Gas sector. We therefore need an urgent assurance about the future of our indigenous firms as far as the Nigerian Content Law is concerned. Therefore, Mr. President, call the Vice-President, SPDC Africa and its Managing Director to order now to obey the Local Content Policy that you signed into Law April 22, 2010 by urgently awarding the TNPL project.

Mr. President, we have refrained our youths from all forms of protests, but we are all now warming up seriously to protest over the lack of implementation of the Nigerian Content Law and approved projects yet to be awarded to our indigenous firms.

Our planned protest will draw the attention of the whole world to the unholy activities of SPDC and the total failure of the Nigerian Content Law which is nothing but a total deceit of our people. We are set to mobilize our youths to SPDC office in Port-Harcourt, the National Assembly and the Presidential Villa to press home our demands because we are worried about the hope and future of our indigenous firms that have invested so much and yet getting nothing in return.

The truth of the matter is that both the Federal Government and the IOCs are frustrating the Nigerian Content Law despite the patriotic efforts of Engr. Nwapa.

FENOG, NEST-OIL and KAZTEC have invested over $200 Million to purchase facilities for the TNPL project and yet SPDC refused to award this project already approved by the Board of NNPC.

But we are tempted to ask if the Nigerian Content Law is working for companies owned by our President, the Petroleum Minister or their relatives? The whole world need to know if they have approved projects in their favour, otherwise how come that adequate attention is not being paid to our series of letters on the frustration of our indigenous firms by SPDC and other multinational oil companies?

Mr. President, it is up to you to tell us the future of our indigenous firms under the Federal Government Local Content Policy. To be or not to be? Enough of the deceit!

Long live Niger Delta Region,

Long live Federal Republic of Nigeria

Sign: