Gov Ayade frowns at failure of local content Act

 

Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade

 Cross River Governor, Senator Prof. Ben Ayade yesterday expressed worries over the inability of the local content Act of 2010 to fully actualize the objectives for which it was enacted.

 The Governor made this remarks while declaring open a 3 days stakeholders interactive workshop holding at the Calabar International convention centre, Calabar.

The governor who was represented  by  his Deputy, Prof. Ivara Ejemot Esu, said despite the more than four decades of experience  as a  country in the  oil and  gas exploration and  production activities it is  rather ironic and tragic that  we have  not been able to harness this  huge natural resources optimally for national development  and poverty reduction,  a situation he  attributed  mainly to the fact that  the  law  is  observed more in breach than in compliance.

 Governor Ayade explained that the  enactment of the  local content law 2010 became necessary in view of the country’s  urgent  need to assume firm control of exploration,  exploitation and production activities in the  oil and  gas sectors so as  to harness the  potentials of this most strategic industry to generate value addition to the sector and the  local economy.

 He stated that of more concern is the harsh realities of falling crude oil prices, obsolete and non-functional refineries, and descrepit pipelines as well as near absence of indigenous participation in the oil and gas upstream, with its attendance result of further collapsing our economy.





He explained that disheartening situation are possible because the local content  act is being made inactive by institutionalized conspiracy and  sundry collaborations including flagrant abuse of expatriate quotas by  operators of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other  agencies charged with enforcement  and compliance.



According to Ayade Cross River is  conscious of this abject  Institutional failing that my administration has a matter of deliberate Policy ensured that as a state  we are the first  and perhaps, the  only state that  has entrenched local content practice with the creation and institutionalization of the Department  of Local content Policy, headed  by a  Special Assistant to the  Governor.

The Governor added  that  the new department  is charged with the  responsibility of ensuring  that  companies doing  business in the  state adhere strictly to the prescriptions of the Act.



The Governor further decried local Nigerian firms abuse of local content compliance not only in the  oil and  gas sector but also in other sectors of the economy, noting  that  most indigenous firms hardly make provision to accommodate indeges of the  state  where they operate but  would rather source the bulk of their  staff from  regions where major shareholders hail from.



Ayade therefore expressed the hope and  expectation that the fruitful deliberations that  will emanate  from the workshop will chart a way forward on how to ensure honest  and faithful implementation of the policy so that  Nigerians can realize  the  inherent gain of the  local content Act.



The Workshop which has as a its  theme “Nigerian content Policy: Rational; challenges and the  way forward” had participants drawn from amongst the political and executive class,  captains of the  oil and Gas Industry, representatives of the  capital market among others.


Goodwill messages were received from the Senate President, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki who was represented by the Chief whip, Senator Prof. Olusola Adeyeye; Chairman Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (upstream), Senator Tayo Alasondura, Vice Chairman Petroleum Resources (Up stream), Senator Gershom Bassey and the Minister of State for Petroleum, represented by Mr Bank Anthony Okorafor who is himself Chairman of Petroleum Association of Nigeria (PETAN).