By
The Practical
Nigerian Content (PNC) is an annual event that brings together government and
industry stakeholders to discuss and debate key issues surrounding local
content in Nigeria .
The event started in
2010 the year of the Nigerian Content Act, and is delivered in partnership with
the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), the body
established by the Nigerian Content Act to enforce the provisions of the Act in
the Nigerian oil and gas industry. The primary organiser of the event is CWC
Group, a UK
based global company that has for over a decade been “providing top-quality information and opportunities for governments
and industry players to come together to promote commerce and develop relevant
skills”.
While it is not
disputable that the event being organised by CWC is an applaudable event, it is
pertinent to ask if this event that showcases the extent of the success of the
Nigerian Content Act can be organised in violation of the spirit and letter of
the Act, in other words, how practical is the Practical Nigerian Content Forum?
It is worthy of note
that the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act was signed into
law in 2010, and since then has continued to guide and guard the development of
local content in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. Reports from the regulator,
and feelers from some of the indigenous oil companies indicate that so far, the
Act has been successful in encouraging development of local content, though a
lot more has to be done in terms of enforcement. The Act contains elaborate
provisions which emphasises on the use of local content in all facets of
operations in the oil and gas industry.
It is thus ironical
that the event to showcase the success of this Act is being organised in stark
violation of the provisions of the Act, and more ridiculously, with the
solidarity of the body supposed to enforce the provisions of the Act.
First, the said
organiser of the event, the CWC Group is not a Nigerian company, it is a UK company with its headquarters in the UK . Secondly,
the registration fee for the event (£1,890) is not in naira but in British
pounds. Obviously, this money would be paid into a UK based account, contrary to
section 52 of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act, 2010.
It is indeed
unfortunate that the NCDMB itself which ought to enforce the provisions of the
Act has been used as a potent tool in this clandestine violation of the
Nigerian Content Act and the whole idea of local content in the country’s oil
and gas sector. This is most ridiculous and casts a lot of doubt on the ability
of the Board to understand and appreciate its mandate as stated by the Act.
Accordingly, I call
on the Board to take a look into this and perform its statutory duty as the
custodian and enforcer of local content in Nigeria
and require the CWC Group to comply with the Nigerian Content Act in all its
activities in Nigeria .
Harrison
Declan, MCIArb(UK) is an editor of Energy Law Review, and author of the book
“Local Content in Africa’s Petroleum States:Law and Policy”
No comments:
Post a Comment