Although commercial quantities of offshore oil reserves in Ghana were discovered in the 1970s, by 1990 production was still negligible.
After nearly over a year since Ghana struck oil, the country has been thrown into disarray of whether or not to stop focusing on other income generating endeavors or better still economy propelling ventures. Students from all circles are delving into the pursuance of oil and gas masters programs and honestly the government is readily and impulsively funding scholarships that spell ‘oil and gas’ whereas the other sectors are left unfed and malnourished. Most of these masters students who fly out to pursue these programs obviously and mostly have not made any effort to research thoroughly into the oil industry.
I spoke to a friend who was so excited of his leaving Ghana to pursue a course in Oil and gas management at the University of Westminster in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Ghana government. During his last days in Ghana, He came to visit, somewhere in our conversation, I cunningly asked if he had a fair knowledge of what he was going into and his blatant answer was a nonchalant No, I was taken aback but he seemed unperturbed and kept his cool. Did he even know the actual title of the course, did he even know whether Ghana’s oil is onshore or off shore? Did he even know the name of our oil fields? On a lighter note, did he know whether the oil that is being talked about is cooking oil or not? These were the questions that run through my mind as I listened to him attentively as he went on talking about his fantasies about the ‘white man’s land’. This friend was a cut throat computer software developer and was willingly throwing away this talent that glaringly looked God given, owing to the ease at which he did it.
Yes our youth should go study courses in Oil and gas but not at the detriment of their talents, that would be a classic case of a square peg in a round hole. The argument that we shouldn’t look on for the ‘foreigners’ to come and manage our oil still holds but the question still lies; are the youth well educated in respect to the oil find in Ghana? From the look of things, like a craze, everybody is jumping to it and like bush fire in the harmattan this craze is spreading unwittingly to even the remotest parts of the country thereby causing a terrible increase in rural-rural migration and placing a great burden on facilities in the western region. As the government look on akimbo the situation gets worse. The government should be improving amenities there and do away with the building of ramshackle KVIP’s that do more harm than good to the already deteriorating environment owing to the drilling. A visit to the Takoradi Township spells a town that has potential as an economic capital if well managed and by reason of the oil find there, drastic development projects should be going on.
Truth be told oil find does not mean an automatic shoot in the cost of living or a change in budget deficit neither does it mean a drastic economic climb or a sudden change from a developing country to a developed country; what it actually means and would always mean is the need for hard work which cannot be over emphasized, and a commitment to the livelihoods of the people. We all know the number of people who died in the Niger delta in Nigeria because of a similar case. Our minds as a people must be renewed as Parke A. Dickey puts it “We usually find gas in new places with old ideas. Sometimes, also, we find gas in an old place with a new idea, but we seldom find much gas in an old place with an old idea. Several times in the past we have thought that we were running out of gas, whereas actually we were only running out of ideas.” The most important quality in managing oil revenue is the availability of fresh ideas that would rake in sums of money and that would last generations upon generations.
In the middle east, Although Dubai’s economy was built on the back of the oil industry, revenues from oil and natural gas currently account for less than 6% of the emirate’s revenues It is estimated that Dubai produces 50,000 to 70,000 barrels of oil a day and substantial quantities of gas from offshore fields Dubai’s oil reserves have diminished significantly and are expected to be exhausted in 20 years. Dubai is now focusing on real estates (which forms 22.6%) one of the largest contributors to Dubai’s economy, Dubai is now more drawn towards ‘what will bring the world to Dubai?’. upon realizing the answer Dubai created artificial islands and now the World is watching, these islands would become home for world icons and famous people. Though Ghana hasn’t gotten to the point to start thinking of when our oil reserves would start diminishing the best way to reap bountifully from this find is to manage it as though we were informed that it was finishing tomorrow, Roads must be built, schools must be set up, tourist site must be improved, farmers, teachers, police officers and others must be well motivated, on the whole structures must be put in place to forestall any disappointments and surprises, these structures would come in handy even when the oil is long gone.
For everyone to get a fair share of this oil find, the Government (whichever party is in power) should act and protect this black gold and milk it for its worth positively targeting all proceeds to the development of the nation region by region. This is one of the times we need true patriots, this is one of the times we need one of those Nkrumaist speeches and ideologies.
Long live Ghana
