Prince Billy S Gillis-Harry, president of the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, is urging the National Gas Company of T&T (NGC) to grasp the opportunities available in Nigeria to work with that country's state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to help develop their vast natural gas reserves. Gillis-Harry's chamber represents business interest in the Niger Delta and he is the head of one of Nigeria's most powerful business organisations. The chamber is the umbrella association of the organised private sector in Port Harcourt (the capital of Rivers State) and, invariably, the hub of the Niger Delta region in the Gulf of Guinea. The Niger Delta basically comprises six coastal states in the Niger Delta area facing the Atlantic Ocean. The states are: Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross-Rivers, Delta and Rivers. However, by political definition, other oil producing states of Abia, Ondo, Edo and Imo are included in a generic term called, the Niger Delta States of Nigeria.
Gillis-Harry said he had urged NGC to move quickly and seek business opportunities in Nigeria, but said NGC indicated it was trying to first wrap up a deal in Ghana before turning its attention to Nigeria. "This is fine, if they want to wrap up business in Ghana, but Nigeria is full of opportunities and it is on the move, so there is little time to wait, and I would suggest that your NGC can partner with our national oil company so we can learn from your experience and develop our natural gas sector," Gillis-Harry said. Lauding the Pt Lisas industrial estate, Gillis-Harry said it was a massive investment for a country so small and that Nigeria had a lot to learn from T&T. "There is no doubt that there is a lot to learn from this country. We will try and ensure we do not make the same mistakes you all made, but we feel that you have a lot of expertise in the downstream business, and we will like to use your expertise in developing out own natural gas," Gillis-Harry told the Business Guardian in an interview at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad hotel, Port-of-Spain.
Gillis-Harry admitted there were major allegations of corruption and conceded that in the past leaders of the West African country have embezzled millions of dollars, but said the problem is often exaggerated.
"I am a businessman in Nigeria and at no time have I been asked to pay a bribe, nor have I bribed someone. There are times that people help you and Nigerians are generous people, so you may give someone something for their assistance, but never a bribe." Gillis-Harry also argued that there were few places that were more corrupt than the boardrooms of large multinational companies and rejected the painting of Nigerians with the broad brush of corruption. Gillis-Harry said Nigerians were impressed that T&T nationals were at the head of many of the major oil and gas and petrochemical companies, adding that this is the problem Nigeria faces, where its nationals are not at the very top leadership positions.
He also said there is little skill sets in the area where most of the oil and gas are located. Gillis-Harry said the depth of proven wealth is at variance with the physical outlook of the infrastructure in the Niger Delta and the level of education cannot comprehend how to harness the documentary of opportunities to actual gains. Gillis-Harry said he was seeking to get a south-south corporation going so T&T would provide skills and, in return, get business opportunities and Nigeria can learn to develop its resources in partnership with its Caribbean brothers and sisters.