It is not always that the Nigerian narrative is told as a beautiful story with a happy ending. The story line drips with dirt, graft and miasma. The actors are portrayed as crooked, selfish and visionless and worse still, as a people lacking the will to do good or incapable of doing same. And you are tempted to believe this as a true reflection of the Nigerian people. The emblems and totems of inefficiency and self-inflicted treachery stare you in the face. Inability to conduct generally-accepted free and fair elections, inability to conduct credible census, a grossly deficient public sector, a failed infrastructure ecosystem; the list scares me.
Such seemingly endless litany of blights that barbs the soul of the nation tends to a negative character cast for Nigerians. They are often perceived as never-do-wells even in vocations in which they hold much promise. But in this vast wasteland with unimaginable human and natural potentials sprouts fountains of hope: men, women and organisations who simply buck the deleterious trend. They are outliers who have refused to be drawn into the cesspit of individual or corporate inefficiency. They are persons who have chosen the path of good, hard work and diligence all encased in integrity. Their standards are global standards; they do not believe in short cut to glory. They insist that out of Nigeria good will come; and they go ahead to prove it.
The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) represents one of the bright spots in the nation’s heavily dented fabric. Recently, President Muhammadu Buhari hosted a delegation of the NLNG in Aso Rock. At the meeting Buhari cited vandalism of oil installations and pipelines, piracy, oil theft and the fall in the global oil price as reasons why the nation’s economy is dithering to recession. To many Nigerians, the meeting between the President and the delegation of the Nigeria LNG was just one out of the many meetings between the President and different groups and individuals that have made sorties to the Presidential Villa since May 29. But it was more than that.
I am not sure but I am persuaded that Mr. Buhari may have masked his emotion on receiving a delegation of an organization that was just a mere idea on paper in his days as Petroleum Minister decades ago. Today, NLNG has gone beyond an idea to becoming one of the success stories out of Nigeria. Not many Nigerians know about NLNG. Except for players in the oil and gas sector and those in the art and science fraternity who have to contest every year for the attractive prize in the annual NLNG-sponsored contest for excellence in science and literature, not many Nigerians reckon with its existence and far much more its relevance to national economy.
Yet, this joint venture between the Nigerian government and foreign oil majors, has generated a good $87 billion revenue from exports with profit of over $36 billion since its inception 15 years ago. It is a single entity that contributes about 4 percent of the GDP. Shortly after Buhari’s inauguration as President, NLNG grabbed the headlines when it paid its tax which became the soothing oasis in a desert. It paid $1.6b as Income Tax and Education Tax in June this year to Buhari Government through the FIRS for the 2014 financial year as required by law. The money came in handy and it served as relief package for states most of which were steep in insolvency. It paid $1.3b last year and it is today the highest single tax-payer in sub-Sahara Africa. By last computation, it has paid out about $33 billion to the government through its various agencies including VAT since inception.
Aside contributing 7 percent of global LNG by export, it contributes over 70 percent of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) otherwise known as cooking gas consumed locally. The real feel good factor in the NLNG story is not in the statistics. It is in the fact that the success is achieved by a wholly Nigerian management team with Nigerians constituting a good 95 percent of the entire workforce. It provides a compelling evidence that nothing after all is wrong with Nigerians. It underscores the fact that Nigeria is not a nation of dull heads, of men and women who cannot compete globally or of people far adrift from good corporate governance. If ever Nigerians are still puzzled as to why institutions fail and keep failing, they should look to NLNG for succour.
The Nigerian gas project has proven that Nigerians can do good; can run organisations effectively and efficiently and can confront and overawe adversity. The difference between NLNG and other agencies is that whereas agencies like NNPC, PPMC etcetera are encumbered by government interference, the former is insulated from such meddlesomeness. We do not need foreigners to run our refineries. We don’t need aliens from space to make the education system work. Ditto other sectors and institutions. Our solution lies within us.
Mr. Babs Omotowa and his team at NLNG have shown that national redemption is possible. No doubt, the breaches are broken, the socio-economic walls are cratered by a cruel twist in our collective values but we can rebuild the walls. It’s no rocket science. National success is achieved when citizens wherever they find themselves do their simple tasks efficiently.
Herein is the lesson: President Buhari should do his bit as President and not usurp the position of Group Managing Director of NNPC; a governor should concern himself or herself with running the affairs of the state and allow those appointed to positions the free hand to do their work. Executive meddlesomeness whether at federal or state level has brought more evil than good on the public sector. NLNG is working because it is not a victim of politics of appointment. The leadership is allowed to grow and groom its successor. The leadership is not appointed by one president and fired by another. There is continuity and inherent in continuity is sustainability.
Listening to Mr. Omotowa tell the NLNG story recently rekindled the spirit of self-believe in me. It is a story that holds out a glimmer of hope that national rebirth is possible. I believe there is nothing wrong with Nigerians. The challenge is to create the type of workplace ethic and values that exit in NLNG and replicate them in the wider Nigerian public sector. I believe this is possible. Yes, it is.
Author: KEN UGBECHIE
