Nigeria Content Online

Since oil companies gained dominance of the world economic
system, literally driving the engines of industrialisation and modern fossil
civilisation, they have taken several steps that have endangered humanity. The
massive burning of fossil fuels, such as oil and gas, have contributed
immensely to the stoking of the atmosphere with greenhouse gases responsible
for global warming.

The sector is also known to have been responsible for environmental
and human rights abuses in the world. The presentation of their commodity as
the cheapest form of available energy has been sustained over a century by cost
externalization to the voiceless, whose environments have been heavily
assaulted. The energy wars that are sometimes masked as war on terror are also
well known. The contribution of oil companies to human misery is well
documented.

Although the leopard may not change its spots, the companies
have not been blind to the woes they generate. One of the steps they have taken
to cushion the impact of their harm has unfortunately been nothing more than
hogwash. One subtle way this has been done has been to plant into public minds
that they are not oil, but energy companies. The difference may be subtle, but
it seeks to erode the stink that the former name carries. We insist on calling
them by the name that best describes them and to avoid grouping them in the
same slot as clean energy producing companies.

Apart from change of nomenclature, the fossil fuel sector has
etched some oxymoron into public minds, making people accept clearly
contradictory terms as being logical. Take the example of clean coal. What is
that? There are others, but this is not our focus in this discussion today.

Voluntary Principles on
Security and Human Rights (VPs)

Some oil companies, including Shell and Chevron, have signed up
to what is known as Voluntary Principles, by which they solemnly declare how
they would change their corporate practices in the area of security and human
rights. See the principles at http://www.voluntaryprinciples.org/.

The question this raises is whether the endorsement of these
voluntary and non-binding principles has brought about any positive change. The
VPs are not even known to be in existence by many. We will touch briefly on
some key areas of the principles. You are urged to ask how those principles are
applied in Nigeria oil fields.

The companies say they will report payments made to security
forces or, in our case, to the Nigerian government for supply of security cover
for company operations. If such records were properly kept, it would be
possible for such companies to be held accountable where funds are tied to
incidents that resulted in human rights abuses. If a company pays money to the
military, for example, and the funds support an assault on a community, the
link should be transparently traceable for this clause to make sense.

A look at the Voluntary Principles appears to start from the
premise that oil company security depends on the actions of the country’s
security forces. This thinking has maintained the relationship with the
Nigerian military and police and continues to encourage abuse. It also often
precipitates clear acts of mayhem. Oil companies sometimes review their
security arrangements to determine if the relationship they have built with the
security forces has been a credit or a liability.

A review conducted by Chevron in 1999 found that Nigerian
security forces were actually more of a liability than a benefit, and that they
were prone to cause great harm both to Delta residents and company employees.
Shell, on its part admitted in a 2003 security review, that it had contributed
to the rise of conflict and corruption in the Delta region through its
relationship with security forces. The question is, what changes have they
made?

We submit here that if the official security forces provide a
safe atmosphere for ordinary citizens, corporate citizens would also enjoy the
same. Moreover, if oil companies maintain their equipment, operate with the
same standards they apply in their home countries, and respect community
rights, there would be no need for special security arrangements that must be
eating into their resources.

The voluntary principles also require that oil companies
communicate effectively on Human Rights Principles to security forces and
ensure proper training, and screening of known human rights abusers.

Security officers of corporations and public security forces are
often tied together in mutually dependent arrangements, whereby governments
take primary responsibility for security and the private entity provides
resources and logistical support. To what extent have the guidelines provided
in the Principles been used to ensure that the conduct of the forces abides by
human rights law?

Holding Individuals
Accountable

It is known that oil companies do keep security logs showing
records of security incidents as they occur at their facilities. They should
also be required to keep full records of incidents in which local residents are
injured or killed in confrontations with government security forces, acting to
secure the interest of the companies. Such incidents should also be reported
promptly and publicly. Individuals indicted should be held accountable.

The Voluntary Principles provide an opportunity for the Nigerian
legislative houses at the state and federal levels to take their provisions,
review, and enact them into law. The oil companies may have endorsed the
principles as a way of beefing up their public image and presenting the face of
companies that care about human rights.

Enacting same into law will encourage the companies to implement
them by making them mandatory principles. It will also help the companies to
bridge a part of the huge deficits they have accumulated in terms of
transparency in their activities.

The value of equities at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE)
depreciated further on Wednesday after closing negatively on Tuesday.

The NSE market capitalisation closed yesterday at N7.913
trillion from Tuesday’s figures of N7.920 trillion, reflecting N7 billion
losses or 0.08 per cent decrease. The market had lost N92 billion or 1.14 per cent
on Tuesday.

The All-Share Index also lost 0.08 per cent or 21.32 units on
Wednesday, down from 24,804.22 basis points to close at 24,782.90. The NSE
sectoral indexes recorded negative performance on Wednesday as the NSE-30
Index, which measures activities of blue chips in the market, dropped by 0.21
per cent.

The NSE Banking shed the highest points by 0.26 per cent; the
Food/Beverages plunged by 0.12 per cent, followed by the NSE Oil & Gas
which declined by 0.18 per cent, while the Insurance, the only gainer, went up
by 0.30 per cent.

Equity Analysts at Resource Cap, an investment advisory firm,
attributed “profit taking activities by investors” to the downturn, adding that
“sell pressures may continue across the sectors on the bourse.”

Low volume

At the close of Wednesday’s trading, a total of 253.22 million
shares valued at N1.930 billion were traded in 6,200 deals as against the
277.00 million shares worth N2.658 billion exchanged in 5,711 deals on Tuesday.
The banking subsector maintained its lead on the most active subsector chart
yesterday with 140.05 million units valued at N1.14 billion.

The volume recorded in the sector was driven by transaction in
the shares of Zenith Bank, United Bank and Access Bank. The Insurance subsector
followed, trading 26.047 million shares valued at N21.843 million. Transactions
in the subsector were largely driven by the shares of Aiico Insurance, NEM
Insurance and Lasaco Assurance.

The Mortgage companies subsector came third with investors
trading 26.032 million shares valued at N14.669 million. Investors in Resort
Savings & Loans, Union Homes Savings & Loans and Aso Savings &
Loans enhanced activities in the subsectors in terms of volume.

More gainers

The prices of 29 equities appreciated in value on Wednesday
while 20 depreciated. Okomu Oil led the price gainers, appreciating by 70 kobo
to close at N14.95 per share. Oando gained 70 kobo to close at N64.00 per share
while University Press grew by 29 kobo to close at N6.28 per share. African
Petroleum topped the price losers’ chart, depreciating by N1.31 to close at
N24.94 per share.

Ashaka Cement shed 91 kobo to close at N22.66 per share while
Ecobank Transnational Corporation lost 74 kobo to close at N15.26 per share.
Meanwhile, a total of 12 companies released their financial results at the NSE
floor on Wednesday.

Fidelity Bank, in its third quarter report, recorded a profit
after tax growth of 85.97 per cent. Nigerian Bottling Company third quarter
result shows a turnover growth of 14.06 per cent and profit after tax growth of
30.21 per cent.

E-commerce, if given the right framework and infrastructure, has
the potential of aiding African countries and expanding the horizons of their
trading to a competitive level in the global village.

This was the consensus on Tuesday at the Kuramo Conference, an
international colloquium on trade, law, and economic development held in Lagos.

The conference participants agreed that with the right framework
and strategy, Africa can make a difference in her economic and trade climate if
she fully explored the benefits of e-commerce.

E-commerce is the buying and selling of products or services
over the Internet and other modes of computer networks.

Enver Daniels, the chief state legal adviser, South Africa, said
e-commerce has the potential to expand horizons of the African market.

Tackle infrastructural
challenge

However, for e-commerce to be successful, African countries must
address the attendant infrastructural challenges. Mr. Daniels said countries
must take up the responsibility of developing infrastructure locally, for trade
between countries to be successful.

“For instance, if you order for an item or items online from
Ghana, Ghana must have the right infrastructure in place that would aid the
movement of such orders to their destination, within the shortest time, and
Nigeria must in turn have the appropriate infrastructure to receive such
goods,” he said.

He added that countries must also develop their human capital,
adding that one of the major reasons militating against e-commerce success is
the lack of understanding of its attendant benefits.

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State said legislation must
also remove barriers to trade.

“A new legal order is now needed. There is the need to examine
the existing legal order for trade and commerce among nations,” Mr. Fashola
said.

He also challenged participants to set the agenda “here and now,
as regards the mechanism for a fair global regime.”

Emmanuel Ayoola, a retired Supreme Court justice and the
conference chairman, said it was a platform for the restoration of a nation,
and not another talk shop.

“It is a forum to define the path of a new national vision,
deploying application of knowledge and experience drawn from multifarious
disciplines as tools.

“It is the platform to launch the new order that is shaped by
right thinking, right values, right ideas and palpable commitment,” Mr. Ayoola
said.

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board says it is
determined to enforce provisions of the Nigerian Content Act for indigenous and
international oil companies operating in the country.

Ernest Nwapa, its executive secretary, said Monday, in Abuja, at
the 14th International Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Biennial Conference
on the oil and gas industry in Nigeria, that this is part of government’s
imperative to realise the Nigerian content development agenda.

Mr. Nwapa said until 2004, there was very low local capacity in
Nigeria’s petroleum industry, with about 95 percent of goods and services
imported, while the introduction of the Nigerian Content Policy has improved
local capacity to about 35 percent.

He said government agenda is to identify and close all capacity
gap business opportunities in dry dock integration, shipyards, heavy
industries, pipe mills, equipment manufacturing, and service companies’
training in the industry.

Part of government’s expected impact on the national Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) in the next four years, the NCDMB scribe said, is to
ensure that at least $10 billion of an average annual petroleum industry
expenditure of $20 billion is retained within the local economy, while about
30,000 direct employment and training opportunities are domiciled in Nigeria
through the implementation of the policy.

To ensure that capacity building projects are not stifled by
lack of funding, he said government has launched the Nigerian Content
Development Fund (NCDF), a central pool of financing, in collaboration with the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and commercial banks, for certified beneficiaries.

Cost effectiveness

“Local capacity building will improve cost effectiveness and
certainty of supply by reversing the trend of 100,000 jobs currently created
abroad by the international oil companies, through the continued outsourcing of
service contracts to companies outside the country,” he said.

“Henceforth, government, through the provisions of the NCD Act,
would ensure that no other vessel is allowed to work if a vessel owned by a
Nigerian working in the nation’s oil and gas industry is not put to work first.
Any equipment working in Nigeria must be partly-owned by a Nigerian before it
is allowed to work.

“This is the only way to reverse the current practice where nine
out of 10 cents paid for equipment in the industry are not domiciled in
Nigeria,” he said.

However, John Mpi, manager, business development, Nigerian Agip
Oil Company (NAOC), however, expressed skepticism over the policy prospects, if
government does not pay serious attention to human capacity development issues.

Mr. Mpi said it is sad that the industry has nothing significant
to show for its 50 years of existence, saying there is need for the indigenous
companies to model their operations after the successful international oil
companies, in terms of setting key performance indicators to measure their
success and growth as well as strict supervision.

In the midst of dwindling earnings, banks are cutting down on
their cost of doing business in order to remain profitable. As a result,
despite recording significant drop in their earnings, many banks still managed
to post significant rise in profit as seen in recent results.

For most banks, while gross earnings dropped, profit before tax
rose due to what analysts at Afrinvest, a financial research firm, refers to in
Zenith Bank’s case as “improvement across the bank’s key efficiency and
operating ratios.” Despite a 13.6 per cent drop in gross earnings, the
institution posted a profit before tax of 196.3 per cent.

In its update for the
bank’s third quarter result released on October 27, Afrinvest noted that
“continuous improvement across the bank’s key efficiency and operating ratios
has fuelled this performance even as top-line growth continues to come under
intense pressure.” A similar scenario played out in First City Monument Bank
(FCMB) as gross earnings dropped by 19.02 per cent from N55.02 billion to
N44.55 billion. Interest expense however when down from N21.8 billion to N16.7
billion while profit before tax rose by nearly 2000 per cent from N298.13
million to over N6.1 billion.

For Sterling Bank, while gross earnings declined by 13 per cent
from N26.6 billion in September 2009 to N23.1 billion in the corresponding
period in 2010, profit after tax rose to N5.3 billion from a loss of N6.2
billion last year.

The bank attributes this significant increase in profit to
efficiency and cutting down on its cost of doing business. Thus, funding costs
declined 38 per cent to N8.1 billion from N13.0 billion. “Sterling Bank
emphasis on efficiency and profitability has been the cornerstone of its
performance in the third quarter. Discretionary costs have been kept in tight
check and new processes brought on stream at the beginning of the year continue
to show expected results”, said the bank’s executive director, Lanre Adesanya.

Common experience across
board

Access Bank’s third quarter results showed that gross earnings
declined by 15.2 per cent from N91.93 billion to N77.95 billion. From a loss
position of N10.64 billion in the third quarter of last year to a profit before
tax of N14.06 billion this year.

Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Access bank group managing director,
said the bank has achieved significant growth in its deposit base with a 24 per
cent increase in customer deposits quarter on quarter as it continues to
benefit from the continuing success and effectiveness of its value chain
strategy. “With our focus on maintaining a high quality service-centered
business model supported by a robust enterprise risk management framework, the
bank is well positioned to deliver a strong full year performance in line with
the positive results achieved year to date,” Mr Aig-Imoukhuded said.

First Bank also posted a gross earnings of N177.1billion, an 11
per cent drop over the N197.9 billion posted last year.

However, profit before tax rose to N40.7 billion from a loss of N6.6 billion
posted last year. Guaranty Trust Bank similarly showed an 11.9 per cent drop in
third quarter earnings from N136.1 billion to N119.8 billion, while pretax
profit rose significantly by 82.1 per cent from N21.4 billion to N39 billion.