Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said Nigeria’s oil and gas local content reforms were inspired by China’s success in developing indigenous capacity in its petroleum industry.
According to a statement, Jonathan said this on Monday at the Nigerian Content Tower in Yenagoa during the SweetCrude Dialogue 2026, where he reflected on the enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act, 2010, and the impact of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board over the past 16 years.
He recalled signing the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Bill into law in April 2010, saying the inspiration came from a visit to China while he was serving as deputy governor of Bayelsa State.
“Almost everything used in the Chinese oil industry was sourced locally,” he disclosed, noting how China became a major global player in oil and gas after the massive discovery of crude oil at the Daqing Oilfield in the northeastern Heilongjiang Province in 1959, three years after a similar discovery in Otuabagi, Oloibiri District, of present-day Ogbia Local Government Area in Bayelsa State.
He said the China experience set him wondering why the case of Nigeria in that sector was so completely different, and his reflection on his return to Nigeria got him upset over the enormous economic losses arising from near-total dependence on foreign expertise, equipment, machinery, production inputs, and technology, among other things.
