Some people don’t like numbers, so let’s look at the pictures.
Look at the map of State GDP below….
Look at Abuja, look at Bayelsa, Abuja is green, thus high GDP, Bayelsa is white, thus low GDP, however, the wealth from Bayelsa and the Niger Delta built Abuja, but Bayelsa was only connected to the National power grid in 2006…i.e. the year 2006!
If Nigeria could convert a barren Savannah to Abuja, and Abuja can have high levels of GDP, then why didn’t we convert the Niger Delta to Dubai?
Why?
Yes, I know the familiar comebacks, it’s the peoples fault, Niger Delta was NDDC, the have a Ministry, their Governors have 13% derivation, etc etc… yes I agree, the level of malfeasance by the Niger Delta indigenous folks is astonishing…But Abuja was not built with 13% Derivation or Abuja Development Commission…Abuja was built by literally taking oil money, and giving to contractors like Julius Berger to carve out a new city…
Abuja was designed by Kenzo Tange a Japanese architect and winner of the 1987 Pritzker Prize for Architecture. The Pritzker is the Nobel prize in Architecture. This was the level of commitment the Nigerian state put into Abuja….Who designed Yenogua?
Today the FGN is broke, even if they wanted to turn Bayelsa to Dubai we can’t…. But NLNG, Shell and ExxonMobil etc can….
How?
Without being too simplistic, can we not ask Shell and Co to pick projects in the FGN and NDDC budget and implement? i.e. fund 100% in return they debit it from their Petroleum Profit tax for 50 years? I mean the NLNG has offered N60b to fix the Bonny to Bodo road…N60b! this is more than any FGN or state capital project in the Niger Delta or Nigeria as a whole, understand this, a private company I offering to outspending the Federal Government on a capital project, … this is a model we can explore.
So why are we not exploring it?
It’s now clear that Nigeria without crude oil and gas, CANNOT survive. Don’t blame the Avengers, for 56 years, we built a nation where if pipelines are broken, Lagos manufacturing will crash…the FGN for 56 years has built its fiscal revenues to rely 95% on crude oil and gas…. whose fault? Today, if we don’t fix the Niger Delta, then nothing will work because we will earn no foreign exchange, forget the tales of non-oil, Cocoa our next fx earner is less than 3% of export earnings as reported by the NBS…. Nigeria forex earning come from one source, oil and gas.
So please let’s get to work…we have allowed Dangote to fix a road and claim back costs via his taxes, the Minister of the Works, Power & Housing gave a clear legal justification for this, precedence has been set. That road won’t be tolled; its net effect is a fall in FGN revenues for now
So we can we even expand this? ExxonMobil can pick the Dualisation of the Odukpani Itu Ikot Ekpene road at a “mere” N6b and implement
Shell can pick the Dualisation of the Sapele-Agbor Ewu road for a “mere” N2b and do
SABMiller can rehabilitate the Enugu to Onitsha road for a “mere” N5.5b and implement
Why can’t we simply tell companies and even importers to simply pic a federal project, fund it, instead of paying taxes…. State can offer the same package as well….
The FGN must realize it can’t eat its FAAC and have it, everyday FAAC is being shared, but no capital infrastructure is being built, why not just try something new, auction the FGN projects to companies to lock in their tax obligations?
These projects can be packed as a reverse bond, a zero coupon bond, redeemable by retirement with fiscal obligations, thus, if Shell wants to do the Sapele road, it buys the bond but it pays no cash to the FGN. Every year, Shell then pays its taxes by giving the FIRS coupons from the bond until the original sum is retired. in effect the, Shell is paying its taxes in advance, and is not affected by any increase in tax rates.
These thing are not difficult.
It’s our problem, we can fix it
Picture Credit: Services.Gov,ng)
