Nigeria Must Resuscitate Ailing Refineries-Former Minister

Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia, has emphasized the need for Nigeria to revive its ailing refineries,saying the gesture is the only way the country could reap the benefits of huge crude oil deposit their in.

He said  lamented that Nigeria has not made good use of her petroleum resources compare to other petroleum producing countries.

He spoke at  the unveiling of a book titled “Extractive Industry Toolkit to Aid Law Making, Oversight and Representation by Legislators” by Nigeria Natural Resource Charter (NNRC) in collaboration with National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS).

The former minister, who is also the Chairman, Expert Advisory Panel, NNRC, said the 76 page handbook is aimed at fortifying the capacity of legislators to make decisions that will positively impact the Nigerian economy and the lives of Nigerians.

“The book is as important as the users will make it. It contains guidelines, a lot of information and a lot of knowledge that has been accumulated over time in different jurisdictions like us from extracting and exporting natural resource. We have not done very well in Nigeria if we compare ourselves with some other countries that have less endowed than Nigeria.

“This toolkit recognizes the importance of legislative process in developing a framework for the development of extractive industries.

“The Toolkit which we unveiled today, is designed to ensure that knowledge of the extractive industry is institutionalized and reposed within a credible and effective institution committed to ensuring current and future National Assemblies learn from the mistakes from the past, draw perspectives from more successful regions and are capable of charting an informed path forward for the extractive industry.

“It further highlights the contributions made by National Assemblies to improvements in Nigeria’s performance against global best practice indices and its competitors, providing practical examples on how the legislators may better enhance the benefits of resource” he added.

Also speaking, Professor Abubakar Sulaiman, Director General, NILDS, noted that the legislative guide is coming at a very important time when oil revenues are dwindling and when the government are committed to passing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

He said the Toolkit will serve for effective technical decision-making as well as transparency and accountability in the management of oil, gas and mineral wealth of Nigeria for good of all Nigerians.