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Whither The Federal University Of Petroleum Studies In Ugbomro/Effurun, Delta State? By Dr. Emmanuel Ojameruaye Phoenix, USA 12 November 2009.
It is rather surprising that since the October 4, 2009 deadline for the Niger Delta militants to surrender to the Federal Government (FG) there has been little or no mention of the fate of the neglected Federal University of Petroleum Resources at Ugbomro/Effurun (FUPRE), near Warri in Delta State. In fact, the FUPRE has been conspicuously omitted in all the post-amnesty promises and plans that have been announced as part of the “amnesty deal”. On October 28, 2009 the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved about N200 billion for the execution of 44 projects in the Niger Delta region. Some people expected that the FUPRE will be among the 44 projects but this was not to be. Among the projects were a N14.9 billion contract for the development of the newly established Federal Polytechnic of Oil and Gas in Bayelsa, N5.72 billion for the upgrade of the Petroleum Technology Institute (PTI) in Effurun, Delta State, and N412.4 million for the construction of six units of two-bedroom duplex for the National College of Petroleum Studies (NCPS) in Kaduna. The absence of the FUPRE among the projects has resurrected the ghost of the alleged plan of the FG to either kill or relocate the FUPRE to Kaduna. Curiously, N412.4 million was allocated to the NCPS in Kaduna (in addition to the N14.5 billion approved for it in May 2009). Why was this new allocation the NCPS included in the list of Niger Delta projects? Since when has Kaduna become part of the Niger Delta? The Controversy over the Purported Relocation of the FUPRE to Kaduna
It will be recalled that the issue of the alleged plan by the FG to relocate the FUPRE from Warri to Kaduna was one of the issues that became a clog in the wheel of the amnesty deal until President Yar’Adua clarified the situation in a meeting he held with the Governors from the Niger Delta region on August 4 just before the start of the 60-day amnesty period on August 6. After that meeting, Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State who spoke on behalf of all the governors confirmed their "unconditional support" for the full implementation of the amnesty program. He stressed that "all issues were discussed and we gave our commitment as governors that the amnesty succeed." He further stated that: "Mr. President also clarified the issue of the movement of the Petroleum Training Institute which was not the official policy of government and which was not a decision of the Federal Executive Council. And as such, clearly, the Petroleum Institute remains upgraded to a university as propounded by the previous administration. It is to remain on course... " Prior to the meeting, the presidential spokesman, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, issued a statement on August 1, 2009 which read in part: "Notwithstanding the various clarifications...that there was no decision by President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to relocate the Petroleum University from Effurum to Kaduna, this needless controversy has persisted…For the avoidance of any doubt, the memo approved by the Federal Executive Council on May 25 this year was for the award of contracts for the Nigeria National College of Petroleum Studies, Kaduna which was established in 1995 by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the training of higher level technical and senior management personnel who are transiting to general management level within the Corporation. " The “rumour” of the relocation of the PTI (or the Petroleum University?) from Effurun to Kaduna came on the heels of a meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on May 29, 2009 at which the sum of N14.5 billion was approved for the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) to upgrade the College of Petroleum Studies in Kaduna (CPSK) which is owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the take-over of the college by the Federal Government. After the upgrading, the new institution will be called the National College of Petroleum Studies (NCPS) or the Institute for Petroleum Policy and Strategy (IPPS), Kaduna. After the FEC meeting, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr Rilwan Lukman stated that “the decision to upgrade the PTI Effurun to a degree awarding institute was unnecessary…it is better to allow the institute to train the middle workforce we need than degree holders we do not need”. This statement was interpreted to mean that the Yar’Adua administration had reversed the earlier decision of the Obasanjo administration to transform the PTI Effurun to a degree-awarding institution. However, what Dr. Lukman and many other people involved in the debate failed to realize was that before he left office, President Obasanjo abandoned the idea of changing the PTI to a degree-awarding institution (university) and established a new university, the Federal University of Petroleum Resources in Ugbomro near Effurun in Delta State. In fact, during the debate there was confusion between the PTI and the FUPRE as they were used interchangeably as can be seen from the statements by Gov. Imoke and Mr. Adeniyi above.
Understandably, the comment by Dr Lukman generated widespread suspicion among the people of the Niger Delta region, especially in view of the palpable neglect of the FUPRE by the Yar’Adua administration since it was established. Although some top government functionaries at the federal level decried the statement by Dr. Lukman, he refused to clarify it. Officials of the Presidency noted that despite Dr. Lukman’s statement, “that there was no decision by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to relocate the Petroleum University from Effurun to Kaduna.” Despite denials by officials of the Presidency, the “rumour” persisted.
During the course of the debate there was little or no mention of the FUPRE, and in most cases it was confused with the PTI. In fact, most people had no idea that the FUPRE and the PTI are separate institutions. Thus, the debate became one of the “relocation of PTI” rather that the “relocation of the FUPRE”. In fact, it was inconceivable that the FG would relocate the PTI which was established in 1973 by the FG (as a prerequisite for Nigeria’s membership of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) to train indigenous middle level manpower to meet the labor demand of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria and the West African subregion. What was conceivable was the relocation of the FUPRE (“the Petroleum University”) which was established in April 2007 (to train senior level manpower for the oil industry) in view of the slow pace of development of the FUPRE since its was established. In fact, the new NCPS in Kaduna can be seen as a duplication of the FUPRE. Given that the FUPRE is still operating within the premises of the conference center of the PTI and there is hardly any infrastructure on the ground at its permanent site at Ugbomro/Effurun, it is not unlikely that some people within the presidency may have had an ulterior motive of relocating the FUPRE to Kaduna under a new name. How else can one explain the fact that the FG that has failed to develop the FUPRE since it was established over two years ago woke up all of a sudden to approve an unprecedented amount of N14.5 billion to upgrade the CPSK and take it over for the purpose of training “senior level manpower for the oil industry.” The presidency did not help matters by remaining silent on the fate of the FUPRE in light of the upgrading of the CPSK to NCPS and the relationship, if any, between the new NCPS and the FUPRE.
The timing of the FEC decision to upgrade the CPSK to NCPS – at time when the controversial PIB was in the National Assembly; the JTF was waging a war of attrition against the militants in the Niger Delta; the FG had just proposed amnesty for the repentant militants; some senior management staff of NNPC, many from the Niger Delta, had been prematurely retired; and there is a sense of increasing “northernisation” of the petroleum industry - fueled the “rumour” of the relocation of the FUPRE from Warri to Kaduna. Apparently, members of the South-South (Niger Delta) parliamentary caucus and the South-South Governors believed the rumor or at least saw a hidden agenda behind the speedy decision of the FG to allocate N14.5 billion to upgrade the CPSK within two years. For instance, in a press briefing on July 2, all eighteen Senators from the South-South geopolitical zone demanded the immediate dismissal of the Petroleum Minister, Dr. Rilwanu Lukman; the immediate withdrawal of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB); and the reversal of the decision to abort the upgrade of the Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun, Warri. They also expressed misgivings on the recent reorganisation in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which they said targeted the South-South. They noted that “The apparent reversal of the policy of the Obasanjo administration to upgrade PTI Effurun to a “University” for which a Vice Chancellor had already been appointed, while the upgrade of the Institute of Petroleum Studies in Kaduna is being upgraded is in bad taste. While we do not begrudge the upgrade of the institute in Kaduna, we insist that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. We reject this”. Also, the governors of the South-South geo-political zone meet in Asaba, Delta State to express their indignation over the Petroleum Industry Bill and the purported movement of the University of Petroleum Resources from Effurun to Kaduna. At the end of their meeting the governors threatened to withdraw from the amnesty deal of the Federal Government if the contentious issues were not resolved. It was after the Asaba meeting that the Presidency sent the Minister of State for the Niger Delta, Mr. Orubebe, to re-assure the Governors that the FG did not intend to relocate neither the PTI nor the FUPRE from Effurun to Kaduna as alleged. This was followed by the Abuja meeting on August 4 where the President personally re-assured the Governors who in return gave their full support to the Amnesty Deal scheduled to start on August 6. However, in view of the silence over the FUPRE in the post-amnesty plans and promises, one is bound to wonder what the future holds for the FUPRE and what will be its relationship to the new National College of Petroleum Studies (NCPS). However, before painting the likely future of the FUPRE, it is necessary to take a look at the genesis of the university and the upgrading of the CPSK to NCPS. The Genesis of the FUPRE The roots of the FUPRE can be traced to President Obasanjo's 9-point agenda for the Niger Delta which he presented in his inaugural address to the Council on the Socioeconomic Development of Coastal States of the Niger Delta on April 18, 2006. The agenda included : "the creation 20,000 new jobs in the Armed Forces, Police, NNPC and Teaching for indigenes of the region within three months, commitment of N230 billion for the construction of the long-abandoned East–West (Warri-Mbiama-Port Harcourt-Eket-Oron) road, commencement of the dredging of the river Niger, upgrading of the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun, Warri to a degree-awarding institution, establishment a federal polytechnic in Bayelsa State by September, rural electrification for 396 communities, water supply for over 600 communities, and the appointment of an officer in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to coordinate the various intervention programs by all the tiers government as well as those of oil companies and development partners".
President Obasanjo’s plan for upgrading the PTI to a degree-awarding institution was simply to convert the PTI into a College of Petroleum and Gas Engineering and make it a campus of the existing University of Benin (UNIBEN) in Edo State. Of course, Deltans opposed this idea vehemently. The opposition to the conversion of the PTI to a campus on UNIBEN was based on two grounds: a) that it would undermine the original objective of PTI, i.e. to train middle-level manpower for the oil industry; b) that Delta State was one of the few states in the country that does not have a federal university and, therefore, the Federal Government should establish a separate Federal University of Petroleum Resources in Delta state to train senior-level manpower and serve as the research hub for the oil industry in Nigeria. Deltans argued that there was nothing wrong in having the PTI and the University of Petroleum Resources located in the same town, Warri. After all, there are many towns in Nigeria (and elsewhere) with one or more polytechnics AND one or more universities.
Following opposition to the conversion of the PTI to a campus of UNIBEN, President Obasanjo decided to leave the PTI as an independent institution focusing on its original mandate of training middle level manpower for the oil industry. At the same time, he decided to establish a Federal University of Petroleum Resources in Warri or its environ which will be temporarily housed at the Conference Center of PTI while construction work on the permanent site was being fast-tracked. During the penultimate month of his administration in April 2007, President Obasanjo appointed the Vice Chancellor (Professor Alabi from Ogun State), Registrar (Mrs Onwuka), Chancellor (Emir of Gwandu) and a Governing Council (chaired by Engineer Makoju) for the new university. I remarked in my assessment of President Obasanjo's scorecard on the Niger Delta in June 2009 that: “The proposed university may prove to be a Greek Gift because the stage now is set for its colonization. This is yet another indication of the insensitivity of the present administration to the Niger Delta crisis and how it treats the Niger Delta people with utmost disdain. Yet, the PDP scored its highest votes from this same region in the recent and past elections! Haba OBJ! So you could not find suitably qualified Niger Deltans to be the VC, Chancellor, Registrar, etc?? How do you want the ND people, especially the qualified ones, to feel about this? Such actions of omission and commission are responsible for the continuing crisis in the Niger Delta region. "
The university took off at the PTI conference center with its first batch of students in the 2008/9 academic session. After initial controversy over the location of its permanent site, it was decided to locate it at Ugbomro village, at the outskirt of Warri along the highway to Port Harcourt. There is bold signpost of the university along the highway and there has been an upsurge of estate development activities in the area in anticipation of an increase in the demand for housing by staff and students. Unfortunately, since President Yar'Adua came to office, the pace of development of the university has been very slow. Rather than allocating more resources to the university to accelerate its development, he apparently decided to embark on an alternative “National College of Petroleum Studies” in Kaduna.
The Upgrading of the CPSK to the NCPS
Before charting the future of the FUPRE, we must first look at the evolution the NCPS. Prior to the Federal Executive Council meeting of May 25, 2009, the Centre of Petroleum Studies, Kaduna (CPSK) was a "division” of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). It was the corporation's training center similar to the training centers of some parastatals and private companies. In fact, its official name was "Centre for Petroleum Studies, Kaduna (CPSK) - A Division of NNPC”. From its website (www.cpskprograms.com), the mission of the centre is to " provide high level training and consultancy services for the oil, gas and energy sectors"; more precisely, "train higher level technical and senior management personnel who are transiting to general management level within the Corporation, i.e., NNPC," according to the presidential spokesman. Following the approval of the upgrade of the CPSK, the Executive Secretary and CEO of the PDTF noted in a press release that “the NNPC had hitherto used the CPSK for the training of its management personnel especially those moving from senior level cadre to general manager grade. …but with the take-over of the College by the Federal Government and its upgrade by the PTDF, the College would now cater for the entire oil and gas industry to the standards comparable to similar institutions particularly in the United States of America, among other places.”
In an article titled “The
Kaduna ‘PTI’ Brouhaha – Let the Truth Be Told!” “the idea of establishing the Centre began…in a far away North Carolina, USA at the Duke University located in the city of Durham….The idea of a special petroleum policy and management centre or college for Nigeria came up during one of the series of professional training programs on Management of State-owned Oil and Mining Companies in developing countries.. The NNPC team came up with a public policy memorandum (memo) in which they recommended that their organization (i.e. NNPC) should establish a top-rated corporate senior-level capacity-building and training outfit…the famous Oxford College of Petroleum Studies in England, United Kingdom was commissioned as Consultants by the management of the NNPC to mid-wife the recommended Nigerian Centre for Petroleum Studies to be located in Kaduna. However, how the decision to locate Centre in Kaduna came about is only known to the NNPC management. The CPSK is one of the arms (a Division) of the NNPC corporate structure as can be seen from its organogram attached to its official website. Dr. Livi Ajuonuma who has been the Group General Manger (GGM), Corporate Affairs of the NNPC was the last Head of the CPSK that I am aware of. But Ajuonuma rightly refused his posting to the CPSK, which was done during the reign of the immediate former Group Managing Director (GMD) of the NNPC, Engr. Abubakar Lawal Yar’Adua. It is a corporate knowledge that the CPSK is considered by NNPC Staffers as a dumping ground, where those not in the very good books of the NNPC top management are posted to rot; just as the CPSK has been allowed to rot for over 15 years running, It means your are better elsewhere than asked to head the CPSK; where the grass has never been green not think ever of it being greener or anything else you can think about”. In other words, the Centre has never lived up to its expectations since it was established over 15 years. In fact, NNPC still sends its staff to overseas training institutions and training courses run by its joint venture partners. Of course, other oil companies hardly use the centre for its training needs. Did the PDTF or the Federal Executive Council try to find out why the NNPC with all its resources failed to upgrade the CPSK and allowed it to “rot”? Maybe this was due to its wrong location – far from the hub of the oil and gas industry - and lack of experienced and well-qualified trainers and state of the art training facilities. Will the upgrading of the CPSK cure the defect? Was the decision to spend a colossal amount of N14.5 billion within two years for the upgrading of the CPSK to the NCPS not driven more by political considerations rather than economic factors? As we know, structures alone do not make an institution attractive. Let is hope that the NCPS not end up as another white elephant. Some Issues in the Upgrading of the CPSK to NCPS
If the mission of the new NCPS is simply to train senior level and management personnel for the oil industry, what was the rationale for approving N14.5 billion to upgrade it at a time when oil prices and revenues were down significantly (due to the actions of the Niger Delta "militants"), when the FG is stalling on the development of the FUPRE and when the Niger Delta region was in turmoil and crying for attention. Do we need to spend N14.5 billion just to train "higher level technical and senior management personnel who are transiting to general management level within NNPC"? How many of such personnel are trained annually to justify this colossal investment? Given that over 80% of oil and gas exploration, production and processing activities take place within the Niger Delta region, does it make economic sense to locate the training center outside the region? The fact that the CPSK was established in 1995 (under Gen. Abacha) does not justify its upgrading now. In fact, past administrations and NNPC management did not bother to "upgrade" the center because it did not seem to make economic sense. Why not spend the money to fast-track and transform the new FUPRE to both a teaching and research university with a strong management training and consultancy unit similar to Duke University or similar institutions? Given the fact the oil industry is a “lucrative” and self-sustaining business, why can’t the federal government encourage NNPC or the joint-venture oil companies or some universities or the Lagos Business School to establish a management training program similar to the one run by Duke University or the Oxford Princeton Programme, Inc? Is spending N14.5 billion of public money to upgrade the CPSK a wise economic decision when there are better alternative uses of such funds?
There is no doubt that many people saw the planned upgrade of the CPSK as yet another milestone in the gradual "Northernisation" of the oil industry. In fact, as soon as the FEC approved the N14.5 billion for the upgrading of the CSKP, the PTDF issued a press release which stated among other things that “the project when completed will become the flagship institution for training senior management personnel in the industry to become general management staff …This institute would represent to the industry what the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies is to the public service and the National Defence College to the military.” It further noted that the upgrade of the college would involve equipping it with relevant facilities, including a world-class laboratory for analytical work and research in oil as gas. Newspapers also reported that the PTDF Chief Executive visited the Governor of Kaduna State to seek his support for the project and for the issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy for the 90 hectares of land provided by the state for the project. It was also reported that a target of 97 weeks (less than 2 years) from July 1, 2009 has been set for the completion and commissioning of the project.
There is another puzzling question: Why did the FG decide to use the PDTF to undertake the upgrade of the CSPK. It appears that the scope of the work is beyond the mandate of the PDTF. According to its website, “The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) is a parastatal of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources …dedicated for the purpose of development, promotion and implementation of petroleum technology and manpower development through research and training of Nigerians.” The objectives of the PDTF are: a) To provide scholarships and bursaries, wholly or partially in the universities, colleges, institutions and in Nigeria or abroad; b) To maintain, supplement, or subsidise such training or education as mentioned above; c) To make suitable endowments to faculties in Nigerian Universities, Colleges or institutions as approved by the minister; d) To make available suitable books and training equipment in the institutions aforesaid; e) To sponsor regular or as necessary visits to oil fields, refineries, petrochemical plants, and arrange any necessary attachments of personnel to establishments connected with the development of the oil and gas industry; and f) To finance and participate in seminars and conferences which are connected with oil and gas industry in Nigeria or Abroad. It appears from the above that the use of the PTDF to carry out the N14.5 billion upgrade of the CPSK is beyond its mandate.
Furthermore an examination of the 2009 Federal Budget did not show that PDTF was allocated N14.5 billion for the purpose of upgrading the CPSK. In fact, there is no provision for the upgrade of the CPSK in the 2009 budget (see www.fmf.gov). In other words, the N14.5 billon approved by the FEC is an “extra-budgetary” expenditure. It is not even clear if it was part of any supplementary budget approved by the national assembly. Did the FEC follow the due process in approving the N14.5 billion? In fact, CPSK and NCPS are not in the budget. The amount allocated to the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources in the 2009 budget for capital project was only N19.57 billion which includes N6.75 billion for the Calabar-Umuahia-Ajaokuta gas pipeline and N9.25 billion for the Ajaokuta-Abuja-Kano pipeline. Thus, if N14.5 billion for the "upgrading" of the NCPS is not in the 2009 budget, why did the FG not wait for the 2010 budget to allocate a reasonable and less controversial amount for the project? What was so special and urgent about the NCPS that it could not wait and the Federal Executive Council had to meet during the heat of the Niger Delta crisis to approve an unprecedented (extra-budgetary) amount of N14.5 billion for it? To put the N14.5 billion in perspective, it is important to point out that under the 2009 Federal Budget this amount is more than the combined budget allocation to both the Universities of Ibadan (N7.9 billion) and Lagos (N6.2 billion) in 2009. Some of the other "first generation universities) got as follows: ABU (N8.2billion), OAU (N7.5 billion), UNN (N7.8 billion). Furthermore, under the 2009 budget, N8.59b was allocated to PTI, Effurun while only N1.789b was allocated to the Federal University of Petroleum Resources in Effurun, Delta State (FUPRE) which was established in April 2007 by President Obasanjo with a take-off grant of only N1 billion. With so little on the ground at the FUPRE, one wonders if the Federal Government under Yar'Adua released the full amount of N1 billion to the FUPRE in 2007. In the 2008, only N1.19 billion was allocated to FUPRE and it is also doubtful if the full amount was also released. Current State of the FUPRE A visit to the so-called permanent site of the FUPRE will clearly show that the university may not have received up to N1 billion since it was established, although a total of almost N3 billion has been "allocated" to it since 2007. Just visit its website www.fupre.com and you will weep! The university cannot even develop a befitting website and there is virtually nothing on the website to show that the university indeed exists. It looks like the website of some “419” university! If the FUTRE is well resourced, its website will not be so empty. In fact, the website is a national disgrace. In a report published in the THISDAY of August 9, 2009, after a visit to the “university”, Mr. Omon-Julius Onabu noted that: “Three years after the first set of students were admitted into the Federal University of Petroleum Resources Effurun (FUPRE), no effort is being made to build physical structures at the permanent site in Ugbomro, Delta State. The institution still operates from the premises of Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun.
Perhaps the issue was not that the FG was trying to relocate PTI or FUPRE from Warri to Kaduna but that it was trying to kill the FUPRE on the altar of the National College of Petroleum Studies in Kaduna (NCPSK). There was no doubt that the many Niger Deltans saw (and still see) the upgrading of the CPSK to the NCPS as another milestone in the gradual "Northernisation" of the oil industry. In order to clear the air of this suspicion, the FG must, as a matter of urgency, fast-track the development of the FUPRE. Imagine the number of jobs that would have been generated in Delta state if the FG had decided to spend the N14.5 billion to develop the FUPRE within 97 weeks (less than 2 years) as being done for the NCPS in Kaduna. No doubt the N14.5 billion represents a significant economic stimulus for Kaduna State.
The future of the FUPRE is still uncertain in view of the emphasis on the FG on the NCPS in Kaduna. Much depends on the ability of Delta State government and representatives from the area to lobby the FG to fast-track the development of the university. If they remain quiet the FUPRE will either be eclipsed by the NCPS or it may die by installment or become an “eyesore” to the oil industry in Nigeria. There is a strong and compelling case to have the NUPRE near Warri than the NCPS in Kaduna. For one thing, the FUPRE will enjoy the “economy of synergy” with the PTI and the well-resourced post-graduate Shell Intensive Training Programme (SITP) located in Edjeba Warri as well as the existence of many oil companies and oil facilities in Warri – the oil city. With peace gradually returning to Warri and the rest of the Niger Delta region, the FUPRE can be developed to become a center of excellence for the oil industry not only in Nigeria but the rest of Africa. All that is required is for the FG to have the will to make this happen and not allow the NCPS to eclipse the FUPRE. It is possible for both institutions to co-exist without one getting preferential treatment over the other.
Dr. Emmanuel Ojameruaye Phoenix, USA 12 November 2009. |