Nigeria at a Crossroad: Civil Unrest and Police Brutality Spotlight Need for Change

Episode Summary

In this episode, Barry Adedamola talks about the Nigerian energy market, education system issues, the role of the youth in Nigeria, and infrastructure problems that are slowing the growth of the country and its population. 

Highlights

·       CNS Marine supports international companies working offshore in exploring for oil and gas. Providing vessels and personal.

·       Barry believes that Nigeria has gone backwards somewhat over the last 60 years

·       The Prize (book) discusses impact of oil on the global markets over the last 100 years. 

·       When Nigeria found oil it changed the dynamics of the country. There was a lot of money coming in and very little work for the population.

·       Nigeria hasn’t don’t a good job as a country in allocating the influx of money to sectors that could help develop the country.

·       Barry doesn’t believe that Nigeria has invested enough in the educational system.

·       Over 80% of GDP relies on the Oil sector.

·       Africa has one of the youngest populations in the world. Approximately 70% are under the age of 30. Nigeria has had a problem sharing prosperity and engaging with young people.

·       Barry is not surprised that young people are rebelling and want change. The youth see what is happening around the world and they see that they have a voice.

·       Barry doesn’t believe that government misunderstanding youth is exclusive to Nigeria. It’s evident in the USA and other countries as well. 

·       There is a lot of entrepreneurial opportunity in Nigeria but there is a lack of infrastructure that makes it difficult.

Meet Barry Adedemola

Barry Adedamola is the Managing Director and CEO of CNS Marine, Nigeria.  Barry was previously a director for global markets at Cambridge energy research associates, a leading international consulting think tank. He is an advisor to several multinational companies on international oil market strategies. He has extensive knowledge of projects, activities, and political climates of the EMP industry in West Africa. Barry is a board member of African Energy Association.

Transcript

Moronke: We're talking to Mr. Barry Adedemola, the managing director and CEO of CNS Marine Nigeria. CNS Marine specializes in providing trained and experienced personnel for offshore Marine projects  and is headquartered in Nigeria.  Barry was previously a director for global markets at Cambridge energy research associates, a leading international consulting think tank. He is an advisor to several multinational companies on international oil market strategies and so has extensive knowledge of projects, activities, and political climates of the EMP industry in West Africa. Barry is by definition, a problem solver and strategic planner. And we're looking for strategic thinking about Nigeria's future in light of the end SARS protest.  So, we're going to be picking his brain on that later, but before we start, let's [00:01:00] welcome. our guests, Barry, welcome to the show. 

Barry: [00:01:03] Thank you. Thank you for having me. 

Moronke: [00:01:06] Thank you so much for taking the time out here. I know that you are, you travel back and forth between Nigeria and, the U S and probably other places around the world too, except we know that COVID 19 slowed you down.

Barry: [00:01:22] Absolutely. It's kept me grounded, 

Moronke: [00:01:25] kept you grounded, and I'm sure your family, thrilled about that, to write

Barry: [00:01:31] it a little bit, they're saying you're home too much. Is that was that's correct? I may have stayed a little longer than I ever expected. . Just anecdotally, I'll tell you that. I calculated how many flights I took last year. I think I took about 32. Good gracious this year. Two

Moronke: [00:01:54] 32 to two. Yes. I see what you mean. Yeah. the kids [00:02:00] and folks are probably saying, dad, when do you, when are you off again? Exactly. so Barry, tell us a little bit about, your company. Sure. Thank you. What do you do and how do you do it? 

Barry: [00:02:15] Okay, we are an oil field service company, and basically we support the international companies that work offshore, in exploring for oil and gas, which is really the mainstay in Nigeria, which is a market I'm currently working it. We also have presence in other markets, equatorial, Guinea, Ghana, and we're looking at other emerging markets like Guyana, full place to provide services to the national, international oil companies.

Moronke: [00:02:49] Okay 

Barry: [00:02:49] specifically, we provide Marine services which include providing, vessels and personnel, that go offshore [00:03:00] and, participates in the inspection, maintenance, repair of offshore assets. Which includes remote-operated vehicles, which can go, as far down as, 4,000 feet, to repair or maintain any self, sea assets that are used for the production of oil and gas.

Moronke: And you've been in the business for how long 

Barry: I've been on this side of the business and the service side, approximately nine years. Prior to that, I worked, like you said earlier, for a consultant firm providing, strategic planning, market entry strategies for international energy companies. and I covered Africa in some instances. And then I also had global, coverage, for the power sector. from there I moved [00:04:00] on to, develop power projects around the US, before I decided to head to Nigeria and, at least bring back some of the experiences that I've learned, while working in corporate America, back to the market or the industry in Nigeria.

Moronke: [00:04:21] so you've been in the energy industry for many years. And so you, since, energy or I should say oil is, has been Nigeria's mainstay, you know, Nigeria pretty well.   So, as I said, before, we're looking here to talk a little bit about, Nigeria's future, Perhaps not surprising that 60 years after independence. we're at this, at this stage. So, my first question to you is what would you say that Nigeria has achieved, in that time. 

Barry: [00:05:05] what we've achieved is not as much as what we have not been able to achieve. And, I think in 60 years, maybe the country has gone backward. but that's mostly because of the tremendous growth, that, the population and really the deed requirement to share in the public cake, which is not enough to go around. And unfortunately, we have not done enough to build industry, to build out a capacity outside of the oil markets. So interestingly, my first job in the consultant sector was working for a Harvard professor Daniel Yergin who wrote a book called the Prize

Moronke: [00:05:53] , ah, I read that book

Barry: [00:05:55] okay, amazing. So really it really walks you through the next itself, the impact of oil, over the last a hundred years on. I'll do the global markets. And I think the subtitle to the book it's called the Epic quest for oil, money, and power. And so, Nigeria and it's sheer luck or positioning found oil that good oil and started finding a lot of it. And that really changed the dynamics. I believe of the country. 'cause it was a lot of, money coming in with very little work to be done, at least for the population. So, a lot of folks moved from the villages and, from the small towns and wanted to participate in that revenue flow. By moving to the city, chasing the lights of the city, On thing, I remember when I was quite young in Nigeria was seeing pictures of the pyramids and the North, which was, the groundnut industry, or peanuts, as it's called here, and that was a formidable sector in the farming sector. Cocoa was very formidable. These are industries that have vanished over the years because nobody wants to do that anymore. And they moved to the city to work as engineers or to work in the service sector, supporting the oil industry where you can make more money. But we have done a good job of allocating as a country that influx of money to the relevant sectors that would help develop the country. I think any developing country that's you see, education is paramount and I just don't believe Nigeria spent enough on the educational system to grow a base that can participate in multiple industries and not just one.

I think today right now you don't have the exact number, but probably go by 80% of the, GDP relies on the oil sector, that's a huge imbalance. And so, whenever anything happens, which is what we're going through today in Nigeria, it's actually cataclysmic events. So, while the sector is tanking, COVID happens, demand goes away and you have a glut of supply that nobody's interested in. And so you'll oil prices stayed out. And that reduces your access to [00:09:00] inflow of revenue and dollar, which is the mainstay of the country. And so long answer to a short question, but I don't believe we've done enough in 60 years to support the population that we have and to support the future growth of the country.

Moronke: [00:09:21] so COVID has done a lot of damage we're aware of that,  but Nigeria's problem though, and I guess it's true of, of, a lot of African countries that have oil as, it's main, its main focus, but specifically Nigeria, this problem though really predates, COVID in the sense that we've had all this money coming in, but it hasn't really trickled down in, in any significant way. Africa has a, as a continent, as some of the youngest population in the world, right? what is it around 70% of the population are, I about 30 maybe are under 30, something like that? Am I correct? Yes. Okay. and even with it with the prosperity, with the oil, Nigeria has had a problem engaging, Young people or sharing some of that prosperity with its young people and and I, it's interesting, you talked about education because Nigerian, universities are also very well recognized internationally or used to be but we've neglected them. I heard, sometimes folks don't get paid and, and so forth. So, you have professors who can't, push any real agenda or produce, skill full, professionals. Who can engage in that market. [00:11:00] And you can talk a little bit about that because you, your business taps into or seeks, skilled professionals in certain areas.

what are some of the challenges you face? with recruiting, skilled and experienced people. skilled in the sense that you can also train them, right? Yes. what are some of the challenges, knowing that our educational system, has not provided the human capital, that you need for these, Skillful, positions that you have to fill in the Marine industry does that make sense? 

Barry: [00:11:39] Sure. No, I agree with you. And I, we have said it is quite a bit of imbalance in the pool of candidates that she can reach out to. I sat back and looked at the industry and really the best candidates that you end up finding. I worked in the [00:12:00] financial sector, which puts a lot of time and money into training. Or you would get someone as an engineer, that would want to work for you, but they've worked. If you wanted the experience then possibly they've worked for an international company. And so now their pay scale is way over what you can afford. So you just learn to take on folks that are interested in learning, they take your training and you can tell pretty quickly the one that wants to learn as opposed to just show up to work.

The work ethic is still needed. It's a lot of work in progress if that's the right word. they just don't understand the requirements. And you're not born with it. I think it's mostly, you learn from people [00:13:00] around you and as a leader, you show your team that you put in twice as much as they do so that they can say that they need to keep up.

Nigerians have a very resilient pool, regardless of the poor educational system, lack of infrastructure, obviously creates part of that, power, transport, getting wages on time, strikes. I don't know how many starts and stops, that four-year students in university would have in that four years that they're supposed to get a bachelor's degree.

All right. that's quite a bit, right? Yes. They ended up doing five, six years just to get there at four. But again, regardless of all of those obstacles, you would still find, that's Nigerian students come out, tops all [00:14:00] over the world when they get an opportunity to learn and to be able to produce now, part of that might be the sheer numbers. It is, there's a anecdote that one out of every five black African is a Nigeria. So, we do produce a lot of numbers, but we have people all over the world that have done well. And, part of me going back there was saying, looking around and saying, okay, I've spent two-thirds of greater than that's of my life in the U S and so I wanted something different and that was part of the impetus of going back and trying to give back the little I can in training and taking on young folks, just to learn from what I was able to learn in corporate America.

Moronke: [00:14:56] So does it surprise you that the young people in [00:15:00] Nigeria are rebelling? And saying, they won't change enough is enough. They won't change.

Barry: [00:15:05] Not at all. I think there's a knock on effect. This probably started two, three years ago with the Arab spring, and then COVID app or, and a lot of that moves to the US and, teenagers or youth in Nigeria are exposed and, information now travels immediately. So, they see what's happening around the world and they see that they're empowered that they actually have a voice. Now how far that voice goes is up to them to stay the course. And now. I think Nigerians are not, confrontational as a nation. So, it takes a lot to get everyone galvanized, to be able to push and ask for change, [00:16:00] and in the middle of that change the government that I had a listen or push back. And so with that nexus right now, To see how this is going to play out, I think for the first time the youth are saying you're not doing enough for us, and needed, she was just one little spark, that sort of that created this flame, just like in the US, with George Floyd. It was just one instance that started folks pushing back. It happens every year in different States, all over the place. And it was just that one incident that seemed to have gripped everybody's attention. And, the same thing is happening in Nigeria. It was just once I, chances are most folks do not remember what triggered this end SARS movement, and it's really more than the i #EndSARS movements.

It's more so help [00:17:00] us out, give us a chance so that we can grow in an environment where. The rest of the kids our age around the world have opportunities and they see it online. Is it on Instagram so it behooves the government to listen and say, what more can we do?  

Moronke: [00:17:21] Do you think. Nigeria, when I say Nigeria, the government understands it's a young population. Do you think they get it? 

 Barry: [00:17:29] Not as much as they should, but I don't think it's just a Nigerian problem. I see some of that happening in the US. Absolutely. And again, I think where technology has taken us today, as changed in the dynamics of that separation between youth and old and how well you can do at what age and the progression that you have in your life. [00:18:00] you can go from zero to hero as a. 20-year-old at the blink of an eye, and you can do it from your bedroom, as opposed to where you had your normal nine to five daily grind. And, by the time you're 40, 50 years, you'll have everything you wanted or you always wanted. So the world is a global marketplace. It's moving very fast and the governments that's. making an effort to learn and react to it. my, the ones that are ahead of this and the ones that are not ahead again, I'll go back to the Arab Spring. It was really the Youths that drove that, in the U S you see that happening. And you also see a little bit of a change of guards in the U S. You see so those, some of those young and dynamic, People get into politics and making their voice heard of different race [00:19:00] and creed. And I think for change to come in Nigeria, that's, what's going to need to happen. They need to have some young folks step up and take charge of their lives because. If you really look at the last 60 years in Nigeria, that would probably say it's the same six, eight men yes, that have controlled and ran things for the last 60 years. Absolutely. And they keep coming back.

And as though, so I'm a true believer in Darwin's sort of theory of evolution, Survival of the fittest. They're at the top of the food chain and they want to stay there so they will keep coming back. so you've got to fight your way up that food chain to move up. Unfortunately, 

Moronke: [00:19:50] Do you think your, you said they have to fight their way. Do you think that's the way it's going to [00:20:00] be? Or do you think that the government will realize that they need to incorporate or invite young people, to the table? Or do you think that young people are going to have to, they're going to have to fight? 

Barry: [00:20:19] Fight in the sense that they need to take charge of their lives.

It's, we just saw it happen in the U S it's the vote count, and you feel you can galvanize your votes and say, I want something different. You would always be stepped on. So when I see a fight, it's not in the sense of, Looting or rioting and taking over, the cities. Yes, that's part of the, to your collateral damage that comes in that instance, what fight and the sense that you need to galvanize and use what you have as a pool, to demand for change.

Moronke: [00:20:58] Do you think that's what they're [00:21:00] doing now? 

Barry: [00:21:01] They're starting to, and you'll be amazed. I met a couple of young folks that, were major behind the scenes driver of the last election in Nigeria, that actually helped the present government to stay in place because they recognized that they needed the youths votes.

And the only way to reach them was to have a reach, multimedia. Type approach, to the youth. And they were very successful, galvanizing them and supportive of the campaign. I met them on a trip to Abuja last year and had a conversation with a couple of them. And I was incredibly impressed. And interestingly enough, it was a young lady. She was probably about 30 years old. activists had gone to school in Maryland and decided she wanted to go [00:22:00] back to Nigeria and pressed for some change. And so she set up our own political action committee and, fought her away to the front of the boss fights in the sense that, she pushed all the right questions and made sure that, Her skillset was recognized because she had a good group behind her that was able to, show that they could bring something different to the table.

Moronke: [00:22:27] Interesting. So talking about the millennials and this, EndSARS protest. as we've been saying all along it's a reflection of the same, Black Lives Matter movement, which in the U S targets racism at its core, even, with the challenges of youth. So I was wondering it's Nigeria is, because we can't get away from the whole police brutality issue. each time I read about it, it makes me very angry and, I've, when I went to Nigeria many [00:23:00] moons ago, I saw the same kind of behavior, but I thought it was over.

I thought it was then so to see it raised and to hear that it's ongoing and that it's targeting young people was quite distressing. So I was wondering, yeah. Do you think this, that Nigeria is police brutality, is the legacy of its, history with colonialism or is it, is it something else?

Oh, from my vantage point, I would say it's not just Nigeria. that's what started the movement here in the US it's police brutality. And what it seems to boil down to is that, you get a core group of people that you've empowered to maintain law and order.

and if they're not checked properly, they get, they go overboard, they [00:24:00] stop thinking and, the size team was put together for the core reason. And they achieved that, but then let them run a mock I think at one point it would have been impossible, not impossible, but very difficult for you to go to Nigeria and not feel uncomfortable, just because of the sheer level of, robberies and, kids not paying that thing.

So it went on. But again, isn't that because of the lack of employment opportunities, what are these folks supposed to do? 

Barry: [00:24:37] Yeah, so they're all interconnected and it goes back to the root cause, right? Education, Education, and education. You can, with enough education, you can find your way out of a hole because you will learn how to dig. I feel to learn how to climb that you would know how to move forward. So, I think if the government is not provided that, [00:25:00] then you would have the whole group that's growing up without the right tools to survive in a global marketplace. I think if you go back to the sixties, which is probably right before my time, free education and the Western States. So, Nigeria produced a tremendous amount of educators, bright and intelligent and educated. 

Moronke: [00:25:28] that was our period with the development of the intellectuals. 

Barry: [00:25:31] Exactly. And but unfortunately, we have this brain drain that sort of as moved everybody out of the country and the ones that go back after they feel comfortable enough to go back and post scout. And so we've lost a whole generation. That has not been afforded that type of a level of education. And the result of it is what we're [00:26:00] seeing now.

 Moronke: [00:26:01] one of the things that people always say about Nigerians is the, they have an entrepreneurial spirit it's as if, Nigerians, born entrepreneurs, as an entrepreneur yourself, how were the opportunities in Nigeria for young entrepreneurs to, move themselves to that next level?

Barry: [00:26:25] There's a lot of opportunities. unfortunately, the infrastructure to support it is very low, access to capital infrastructure, power, water, those things make it more difficult, but it's not impossible. Incredibly, optimistic about the future of the youth and what they can achieve, what they've been, what they've been able to achieve so far. And I think with [00:27:00] continued, level of push individually, they can get there. Like you said where they should have entrepreneurs. Everybody believes they can start a business and run a business. Personally, for me, I think it's a numbers game, three out of 10 would make it. Which is what happens here to us.

I was going to say, and so if you don't jump in, you don't know if you can, if we can't make it happen. if there were, if there was a system that was consistent and, that's, if you put in your 40 years, at the end and a proper patient was waiting for you and all those things, then maybe they wouldn't be. That drive to always go and try to make it on your own.

 Moronke: [00:27:56] As a strategic, thinker and [00:28:00] problem solver, what would you like to see developed? they've just approached. You have asked you, how do we begin to develop opportunities for young people, those millennials and those, gen Z is w what, what needs to be in place?

How do we begin? I know at one point I was following the, technology industry. And I remember, readings that, the government had, was going to create or had created, an agency to support, that, and I know that, companies such as Facebook and Microsoft and Twitter and all those people have ventured, into Nigeria, some have stayed, but others have not. what needs to be done? What would you like to see?

Barry: [00:28:55] I think it's just getting back to normalcy and creating an enabling environment [00:29:00] for the millennials to develop themselves,

Moronke: [00:29:04]  what's an enabling environment?

Barry: [00:29:07] get them in a consistent educational system that is stable. And they can go through the natural progression of getting an education where there's such instability and low funds directed at the educational system. You will always have a breakdown. And so if you provide that basic amenity that's needed. It's education. It's a roof over your head and it'd be able to get a square meal. I think you'll be okay. And they can be us. And those things are readily available. Even when you can't afford it. The government provides, services [00:30:00] that support you to have those basic things met. And I think if Nigeria focuses on that and make sure that you don't have this class of millennials or teenagers that are not part of the system, then you'll start to see a sea change where they can also compete globally. Nowadays, you don't have to travel to China to go do your work. You can do all of your work on your computer.

And the last eight, nine months have taught us that, that's, most folks can do a lot of deal work at least in the service sector from home. and that's, what's just the word help. Nigeria youth to be able to [00:31:00] compete globally. I can give you an instance where my team, tried to do online calls daily and half of the time it's an infrastructure issue. I can't connect this is poor. I don't have power. You have, you get those constantly, and those starts and stops yeah affect your productivity level. Absolutely. And so it's just provided those basic things. And I know for certain that we can compete globally with anybody.

 Moronke: [00:31:40] education. 

Barry: [00:31:42] that's all like you have to, if you don't have it, ignorance is a terrible thing.

Moronke: [00:31:49] it's been very interesting. Talking about this and trying to understand it. And I guess for the most part, we all know, essentially where the problem is, as you say, with education and also those [00:32:00] basic infrastructures, because you can't begin to develop, especially in the tech industry where the power, is on and off and not predictable. But yet at the same time as, Nigeria is often called, what do they call Nigeria? The, an economic giant, we like to believe that they are, but this giant is, um, 

Barry: [00:32:25] Slumbering a little.

Moronke: [00:32:26] I was, yeah, I was going to say asleep at the wheel. Yes, exactly. And I guess what I wanted is a sense of what is it that we can do to wake it up. and, in terms of, the next step, because, 

Barry: [00:32:42] you know what I'm to the sets of friends that are politicians and I in a positions of influence is you don't have to do it all. But if we do a little individually, it would add to it a lot. [00:33:00] So it's really everybody just picking up the shovel and making an effort. And turning this wheel.

Now it's very easy to turn a blind eye and go about your business when you're in the middle of it. And so the way I've tried to address it's just to make sure that's my core team and maybe folks that are outside of that core team. Get the same level of, drive and deeds. And that, is basic.

So I, I put a lot of time and effort into making sure that my team gets proper training, and also give them the option to decide on what they want to get trained on. To make them effective. And I think, if we all individually make that effort, we would see things start to change. [00:34:00] I don't have a political blood, so I can't speak to, what politician would handle it  but for me. it's the basic part of it is that everyone should be treated fairly  and equality, and we'll see change Nigeria. 

Moronke: [00:34:18] I like your optimism. And, it's encouraging to hear that, but as you say, with the politicians, we have to see what approach, they're going to take with this. And we certainly hope, as folks are realizing. I should say, governments are realizing all of the world, because as you mentioned, it's not just happening in Nigeria, it's happening, across the African continent and in Europe too, not to mention right here. And, I, this is certainly a, a crossroads for, Nigeria and its youth. And it seems that they're ready to, keep it going until they get what they [00:35:00] want. So hopefully they'll be able to get themselves organized to the point that they can make some of these changes, quickly and in a, A strategic way, because it's all about strategy, isn't it? Oh, absolutely.

Yeah. Yeah. thank you so much, Barry, for spending some time with us here. this is fascinating. we'd love to, have you on again and talk a little bit more about, the work that you do and your, work with the young people, that you're training and bringing on, because clearly the energy industry is, going to be around for a very long time. 

Barry: [00:35:41] Absolutely. that's not going away. There's a lot of changes, but we still need that. 

Moronke: [00:35:46] So it's less than it's not going anywhere. COVID just slowed things down, but as you said, once it's over with, folks will be, we'll be flying again. some are doing it already. without fear [00:36:00] of COVID, but I think one of the good things though, having settled that is that Nigeria as with, other parts of Africa have been doing pretty well in terms of managing COVID, which is, very encouraging.

and we hope it stays that way. It's a pleasure talking to you. Thank you so much. And yeah, we'll look forward to, Talking to you again 

Barry: [00:36:22] thank you so much. Thank you for having me.