No abstract

The introduction of the Local Content (LC) policy by the Nigerian Government in the early 2000's was primarily aimed at transforming the petroleum industry into the economic engine room for job creation and national growth through capacity building and empowerment of Nigerian indigenous companies. Through stimulating higher participation of small and medium scale industries and promoting the utilization of local human and material resources in the oil and gas sector, Nigeria was to ultimately develop as the hub for service delivery within the West African sub-region and beyond. The high technology, capital intensive/high risk nature of operations in the oil and gas sector have always been the challenge that militate against the rapid development of successful entrepreneurship and the realization of government's goal in the area. The Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act 2010 has the potential for effective value repositioning, thus raising our small and medium scale enterprises in the sector to reputable service providers capable of wealth creation and contributing to growth of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

With over fifty years of oil industry operation in Nigeria, the sector is still largely foreign-technology driven. The national government s involvement has been classified into three distinct era: (1) The Era of Royalty (1956Royalty ( -1970 when government played passive facilitative role limited to the collection of royalties, rents, taxes and other forms of dues from the oil companies; (2) the Era of Shareholding when petroleum was established as a strategic rational resource which meant that ownership, control and exploitation should be vested in the Federal Government and (3) the Era of Active Involvement (2004-date) in which government seeks greater indigenous involvement through the encouragement of indigenous participation in upstream operations (Marginal Fields Development Programme) and the internalization of input in the industry by increasing the quantum of composite value added or created in the Nigerian economy through the utilization of Nigerian human and material resources (Local Content Development Programme). The latter programme is thus an attempt at circumventing both the capitalist and the critical social theories of technology transfer and developing an indigenous technology initiative. Physical infrastructure and social macroeconomic environment, institutional framework as well as attitudinal changes are identified as critical to the successful Nigerianization of oil industry in Nigeria.