of “Bayelsa has Oil and Gas, rich soil for oil palm and rice cultivation. We guarantee peace, power and natural resources and favorable operating environment, with first world opportunities. What more do you want? Come and invest in Bayelsa State”.
Gov Timipreye Sylvia at the South South Economic forum held in Tinapa, 27th April 2009
Last week the democratic first world Governor Timipreye Sylvia ordered Conoil Nigeria Limited to immediately stop operations in Bayelsa State, and her staff to vacate the state without further delay!
Please what happened in 2 months? What caused this governor that practically sold his state as a heaven of first world opportunities and operating environment suddenly change to become a Chavez? What was Conoil offense sef? Well the MD of Conoil failed to attend a special meeting the first world governor held with all the oil companies in the state. That’s it? They did not attend a meeting so they should pack out? Yes now! The governor said the meeting was called to discuss ways of addressing mutual challenges with a view to ensuring that oil coys produce at full capacity.
Many things come to mind when one reads this
1. Can anybody ask a Nigerian Citizen to leave a state in Nigeria? Can YarAdua ask a Nigerian citizen to leave Nigeria?
2. Can a state ask a company registered in the Corporate Affairs Commission (Federal) to leave its state i.e. not to operate there? If the state did not register them can they ask them to leave?
3. Conoil operates a franchise business also hence Conoil only supplies the PMS and AGO to the marketers who are Bayelsa indigenes, so are the indigenes to leave the state cause they work for Conoil?
4. Is failure to attend a meeting a ground for the expulsion of a company paying taxes and employing citizens of a state?
The truth is this action exposes the lack of appreciation of the role business play in the development of a state.
I checked my facts Bayelsa receives N9 billion monthly from Abuja, out of this figure only N274m is VAT, Bayelsa is the state with the lowest VAT receipts in Nigeria , they get lower than the poorest state in Nigeria (Jigawa) but that a topic for another day. Bayelsa generates just N1 billion monthly from internally generated Revenue as at January 2008, as at Oct 2007 the state was generating a paltry N250 million a month!. Hence internally generated revenue in Bayelsa is just 11% of total revenues i.e. they only generate N11 of every N100 they spend.
Bearing in mind that Abuja money is dependant on the price of Oil, One would presume that the governor would seek to diversify his resource base. Keep in mind that tax Conoil pays tax which goes to Abuja and come back as 13% Derivation to the state, and also pay Corporate and Local tax and VAT. Corporate tax and VAT go to the Abuja and return, but local taxes especially Pay As You Earn and other levies and dues will stay in the state 100%.
Internationally we see how the Governors and Mayor in the US are lobbying GM to keep their plants open in states they have interest in, why? Cause Jobs are king. we see Lagos developing Badagry, Lekki and even the slums to attract investors, why? Jobs are king, we see the VP in far away as Finland seeking for foreign investors to come to Nigeria why? Jobs are King.
It is a serious breach of protocol and ungentlemanly too not to attend a meeting with your chief executive, in some private companies you can be sacked, but we cannot cut of our nose to spite our face, this action is rash and not well thought out, can’t Conoil be finned, can’t they be made to do more CSR? Ok cant the MD alone be banned? Must the whole company and staff leave also? can Sylvia ask Shell to leave the state cause they did not attend a meeting? Can he?
I am beginning to suspect this Sylvia; he was the same governor that was involved in the abduction of a Lagos based journalist that wrote critical stories about his interests. Gov you are first class, prove it, don’t just say it.
Conoil please apologize to the Governor and the state, Our Gov please take it easy ooh, Na devil cause am.
It’s our problem, we can solve it
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