NIGERIA - Part 4 - The Decision Makers.

The men in charge of petroleum policy in Nigeria are President Olusegun Obasanjo and his top energy adviser Rilwanu Lukman, a force behind OPEC's price defence strategy. Next are Funsho Kupolokun, special presidential assistant on petroleum affairs, and Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Below them comes Jackson Gaius-Obaseki, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC).

Before Obasanjo came to power in 1999, the petroleum sector and the other vital segments of Nigeria's economy were controlled by military governments. Successive regimes had squandered over $280 bn of oil revenues in the past 29 years.

The last civilian administration came to power in 1979, as then head of state Gen. Obasanjo ended his military rule. The 1979 presidential elections were won by a mild-mannered former civil servant, Shehu Shagari, who promised to end corruption and the mismanagement of Nigeria's vast resources. But his government turned out to be a disaster. Corruption and mismanagement brought it down four years later, as the military again took over in 1983 and stayed in power until May 1999.

Under the military regimes, the decision making process for petroleum was unstable. Most oil deals used to go through people connected to the military in one way or another. There used to be numerous administrative changes in the oil ministry, NNPC and the other institutions.

The situation has not improved much since Obasanjo came to power in 1999 as a civilian heading a non-military administration. The country remains heavily indebted. Its foreign debt amounts to $31 bn. Ethnic violence in the southern oil city of Warri has added to supply concerns and world oil prices. Nigerian troops moved in on Aug. 19 to separate warring ethnic groups as fighting flared for a fifth day. Shell and ChevronTexaco said the clashes had not affected production, though Shell has closed offices in Warri. The violence is the worst since March when oil companies were forced to shut in 40% of Nigeria's oil production. Traders in the US and Europe are worried that oil exports from Nigeria may still be disrupted.