T&T
treading in Nigeria's wake
One wonders what Mr Manning can teach African countries,
as he has reportedly offered, about energy resource
management.
Nigeria, for one, doesn't make joke
with multinationals that play the fool.
When Texaco was found to be pumping
oil for export without passing all of it through
the measuring system, they ejected from Nigeria.
When Britain was hesitating to enforce
handover from minority rule to majority rule in
Zimbabwe, Nigeria responded by nationalising BP's
operations in Nigeria. Within days, Britain enforced
the handover to majority rule in Zimbabwe.
Chad has agreed to comply with the
new international initiative on transparency in
the petroleum industry. But Mr Manning refuses to
divulge the price of natural gas offered to ALCOA.
Free universal secondary education
was introduced in Nigeria long before it was introduced
in T&T. I was personally allowed to shake hands
with President Obasanjo when he visited T&T
recently and I told him thanks to Nigeria for the
good free education provided to Trinidadian families
who have lived in Nigeria.
It is the same free Nigerian education
system that has provided T&T with so many competent
Nigerian professionals who have become pillars of
several T&T institutions.
And all of this has been happening
while T&T was much richer in petroleum per head
than Nigeria.
Still, I hope something good may
come out of Mr Manning's offer to African countries.
Peter Vine
Couva
Trinidad
Express
Monday,
February 19th 2007
Copyright
©2006 Trinidad Express. All Rights Reserved.
