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OPEN LETTER TO THE HONOURABLE MINISTER FOR EDUCATION
Geoscience expert Dr Livinus Nosike has written an OPEN LETTER TO THE HONORABLE MINISTER OF EDUCATION.
In that letter, he implores the Honourable Minister of Education, to INTRODUCE PETROLEUM STUDIES AT EVERY LEVEL OF OUR EDUCTION SYSTEM TODAY – as it will soon be too late.
He said, “I write this open letter to you today because of the urgency of the above subject matter and because of our resolve to see that petroleum exploration and production knowledge becomes a common knowledge to every Nigerian.
He emphasised how agriculture has not been the main stay of the Nigerian economy in the last few years, yet agriculture is taught at almost every level of our educational system. On the other hand, despite being the nations source of revenue, as if by conspiracy, advanced petroleum training has been reserved for only a few select persons who are often ostracised, after being selected and profiled to work for major oil and gas corporations. Such people have severed the bridges with their nation and are by design lacking patriotism or having a hard time showing it by the virtue of the internal dynamics of the industry.
In an example, he said that outside the shores of this country, primary and secondary school children undergo observational internship and industrial trainings in some of the world’s top petroleum technical centres. This oil technological headquarters may or may not have oil and gas wells, but they have imbued the culture into their own people, to ever have the heritage of coming to developing oil host nations like Nigeria to exploit the resources under our nose. They will ever have the technology while we have the resources, except we make the necessary changes towards independence.
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He said that the mistake of the past is still haunting us today. When exploration and production of oil started, the local host communities were not involved by either negligence or design. In a capitalistic economy, he who brings the capital goes with the proceeds. In the oil and gas industry, expenditure spells profits, and that belongs to the person who controls and operates the fields. The only solution is to build the capacity, and that begins at the grassroots, in our primary and secondary schools. That is before the candidates have lost the patriotism, why our elites today work against their own country, for the multinational systems.
He went on to explain how developed nations are turning away from oil and gas resources, focussing their newest research on alternatives. In his words, “It is perhaps the last chance to revive and make the last use of our resources. Like the Enugu coal, very soon our oil will completely lose value and classed as non-condusive for the environment. Even with technologies such as coal liquefaction to produce petrol, capturing polluting gas for sequestration, we didn’t think of revamping the tons of coal seams until now.
“Piece mill trainings, skewed to teach you one fact or give you one tool after the other, cannot develop independent capacity,” he said. “Even if the first nursery or primary school child starts petroleum studies today, it will take him about 20 years to complete the education and hands-on technical training necessary to make him a holistic oil and gas technical expert. Therefore, the onus is on you, Honourable Minister, to use your good office with the various parastatals that develop curriculum and syllabus at national level, and include all aspect of petroleum studies, covering the chain from Exploration through Appraisal and Development to Production.
We have to start all over again, from the grassroots, from the nursery, primary and secondary school, all through to the higher institutions.
Dear honourable minister of Educaiton, institute petroleum studies in all levels of our education now.”
Dr Livinus Nosike holds a PhD in Tectonics and Petroleum Geology from the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, France, following a development of talent award to study for his postgraduate education in Europe. He trained and worked in several countries and technical centres abroad, onshore and offshore, before returning to work in Nigeria. He is a Member of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
He is the author of the book: OVERVIEW OF THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY – A New Perspective in the Saga of the Oil and Gas Struggle, available in bookshops in every state of Nigeria.
He is the Founder of IES Oil and Gas (iESog) www.iesog.com the first indigenous oil and gas training and services firm with the aim of equipping every Nigerian with petroleum geosciences knowledge.
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