APPRAISAL OF THE COPY AND PASTE SYNDROME IN THE NIGERIAN OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY

Abstract

This article aims at examining the notoriety of copy and paste in the Nigerian oil and gas sector in consideration of the inability of previous reforms of the industry to resolve the perennial challenges of the sector. The objective of this research is also to discover why in spite of several reforms, the industry is still bedeviled by threshold hitches. The paper discovers that the reform is heavily characterized by recycling, imposition, importation and retention of unworkable laws of the colonial days and of other foreign nations with the result that the reforms do not target existing problems, so repeat previous errors and even create new ones. It is observed in this research that the reforms relegate the agitations against oppression, marginalization and injustices by the host communities leading to disillusionment, restiveness, hostilities and all sorts of criminalities that disturb peaceful operations in the zone. The paper concludes that copy and paste reform cannot address the ailing situations in oil and gas sector. It recommends a proactive and innovative legislative engineering that can resolve the mischief of the earlier legislations and guarantee harmony in the industry.