3 July 2008
Lagos — As a key element of THISDAY's commitment to contributing to the public policy process in Nigeria, Mr. Simon Kolawole, the Editor of the newspaper, is embarking on an extensive research into the governance structures and socio-political management of the oil industry in five countries: Venezuela, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Norway.
In addition to the field trips, Kolawole will also make use of the libraries of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, Austria, and International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank in Washington, DC, United States, to conduct a broader literature study across the global spectrum.
The study is to be carried out on a comparative scale with Nigeria - to draw out areas of strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities for the country.
The research, proudly supported by African Petroleum Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Oando Plc, Rivers State Government, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc and Zenith Bank Plc, is the first of its kind in Nigerian media history.
The key areas to be covered by the research are the socio-political management of oil revenue, accountability institutions in the sector, local policy environment, linkages between the upstream and downstream sectors and community relations/environmental dynamics - as well as the structure and operations of the national oil companies.
Some key questions to be probed by the research are: How the oil revenue shared among the component units of government, special allocations for oil-producing regions, local pricing policy for petroleum products, and management of the excess crude oil revenue.
In the area of accountability, the questions cover the processes that lead to the auction of oil blocks/licensing rounds, the payment of signature bonus, watchdogs in the industry (both governmental and non-governmental) and how much information is in the public domain on the operations of the industry.
The study will consider questions on the linkages between the upstream and downstream sectors: the involvement of upstream companies in downstream activities such as product marketing, refining and power generation, and if this is a matter of government policy or by choice.
Kolawole is expected to visit oil-producing communities, conduct interviews with industry executives, experts, government officials and NGOs.
"This is a unique opportunity to contribute constructively to the development discourse in Nigeria," he said. "Nigerian journalists are often regarded as arm-chair analysts. We are seen as people who contribute nothing but hot air to debate. It is an exaggerated deficiency, but it is in our interest to take up the challenge of participating in nation-building."
THISDAY is the first Nigerian newspaper to embark on this kind of initiative - marrying academic research with journalistic flavour.
Kolawole, a Development Specialist, holds a Master's degree in Governance and Development from the prestigious Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK.
The report of the study will be published in the newspaper in September as a special all-colour pull-out.
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