To Succeed You Need Hardwork, Absolute Commitment And Mentoring — Prof. Olawuyi (SAN) Advises Lawyers And Law Students

*Prof. Olawuyi also gave insight into his recently published
book titled “Local Content and Sustainable Development in Global
Energy Markets”

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Damilola
S. Olawuyi, who is also a professor of law and Senior Advocate of
Nigeria, has advised lawyers and law students to be hardworking,
committed, and to take advantage of mentorship.

He said this during an interview with Catch up Media and
Publicicity, not Nairalaw

Olawuyi, who is also an arbitrator with expertise in petroleum,
mining, energy, environment and sustainable development law,
advised them to build relationships with colleagues within and
outside the profession

“As I tell my students, to succeed in anything in life hard
work, absolute commitment, and mentoring are very essential. For
lawyers and law students, hard work simply means going the extra
mile in preparing for tasks, which requires absolute commitment, in
terms of having a disciplined and balanced routine that
accommodates work and leisure.

“The moment a lawyer becomes unreliable in terms of delivering
quality work at all times, then the future becomes precarious. Of
course, it is also very important to actively build relationships
with colleagues within and outside the profession, in order to
widen one’s horizon and knowledge base. Having a wide network of
mentors brings boundless opportunities, and opportunities
ultimately open the door for professional success.” he said

When asked about the motivation behind his recently published
book titled “Local Content and Sustainable Development in Global
Energy Markets”, Olawuyi said there have been calls for greater
participation of indigenes in resource development and in response
to which various countries have produced Local Contents
Requirements and Laws (LCRs).

According to him, if those LCRs are not properly designed, they
could produce negative effects on social, human rights and
environmental outcomes.

“Over the last years, we have seen a geometric rise in calls for
greater involvement of indigenes and local communities in resource
development activities (such as oil and gas, mining, agriculture,
and renewable energy projects). We have also witnessed a rise in
localism across the world, i.e ‘buy local’, ‘act local’ and
‘support local’ movements that aim to mobilize support for local
industries and locally owned businesses and entrepreneurial
ventures in supply value chains. In response, countries have
developed local content requirements and laws (LCRs) that stipulate
a percentage of goods and services that must be sourced from local
industries and individuals.

“However, while LCRs generally aim to boost domestic value
creation and economic growth, inappropriately designed LCRs could
produce negative social, human rights and environmental outcomes,
and a misalignment of a country’s fiscal policies and global
sustainable development goals. These unintended outcomes may
ultimately serve as disincentive to foreign participation in a
country’s energy market.

“In developing this book, I sought to understand how the
critical intersections between LCRs and the implementation of
sustainable development goals have been handled in frontier global
energy markets across the world. The aim was to develop a book that
simplifies the scope, content, and guiding principles of effective
LCRs. The book is therefore prepared in a user-friendly style to
enhance its utility among its primary audience, namely students,
corporations, energy ministries, local content agencies, law firms,
arbitrators, courts and international tribunals before whom
arguments over local content clauses and policies often come for
resolution.”

Giving insight into the book, the learned Prof. said the book
examines the critical intersections between local content
requirements (LCRs) and the implementation of sustainable
development treaties in global energy markets including Africa,
Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, South America,
Australasia and the Middle East.

He added, “With 21 chapters from leading scholars in different
parts of the world, the book provides an authoritative exploration
of the nature, scope, and contours of LCRs, and how countries avoid
misalignments between LCRs, and a country’s wider social,
environment, trade, investment, and human rights treaty
obligations.

“In doing so, the book outlines the guiding principles of a
sustainable and rights-based approach – focusing on transparency,
accountability, gender justice and other human rights issues – to
the design, application and implementation of LCRs in global energy
markets to avoid misalignments.

“Overall, the book aims to enhance an understanding of the
relationship among, LCRs, sustainable development, distributive
justice, gender justice, social licence to operate, and corporate
social responsibility in the energy sector.”

Furthermore, Prof. Olawuyi explained that the book has filled
some gaps that were not addressed by several other publications in
area of energy law

According to him, while earlier texts have focused on surveying
existing laws and policies on LCRs in select countries, the global,
multi-dimensional, and intersectional nature of LCRs and
sustainable development has yet to receive detailed, book-length
exposition.

Therefore, he said, the book fills this gap in three ways:
“First, it unpacks the relationship among local content,
sustainable development, distributive justice, gender justice,
social license to operate and corporate social responsibility in
energy markets. Second, it provides a complete survey that covers
Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, South America,
Australasia and the Middle East. Third, it provides recommendations
on the guiding principles of a sustainable and rights-based
approach to the design, application and implementation of LCRs in
global energy markets.

“In so doing, the book sheds new light on the oft-neglected
social dimension of the design, application and implementation of
LCRs, especially the question whether LCRs aid or hinder the
implementation of sustainable development treaties in energy
markets.”

*Prof. Olawuyi also gave insight into his recently published
book titled “Local Content and Sustainable Development in Global
Energy Markets”

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Damilola
S. Olawuyi, who is also a professor of law and Senior Advocate of
Nigeria, has advised lawyers and law students to be hardworking,
committed, and to take advantage of mentorship.

He said this during an interview with Catch up Media and
Publicicity, not Nairalaw

Olawuyi, who is also an arbitrator with expertise in petroleum,
mining, energy, environment and sustainable development law,
advised them to build relationships with colleagues within and
outside the profession

“As I tell my students, to succeed in anything in life hard
work, absolute commitment, and mentoring are very essential. For
lawyers and law students, hard work simply means going the extra
mile in preparing for tasks, which requires absolute commitment, in
terms of having a disciplined and balanced routine that
accommodates work and leisure.

“The moment a lawyer becomes unreliable in terms of delivering
quality work at all times, then the future becomes precarious. Of
course, it is also very important to actively build relationships
with colleagues within and outside the profession, in order to
widen one’s horizon and knowledge base. Having a wide network of
mentors brings boundless opportunities, and opportunities
ultimately open the door for professional success.” he said

When asked about the motivation behind his recently published
book titled “Local Content and Sustainable Development in Global
Energy Markets”, Olawuyi said there have been calls for greater
participation of indigenes in resource development and in response
to which various countries have produced Local Contents
Requirements and Laws (LCRs).

According to him, if those LCRs are not properly designed, they
could produce negative effects on social, human rights and
environmental outcomes.

“Over the last years, we have seen a geometric rise in calls for
greater involvement of indigenes and local communities in resource
development activities (such as oil and gas, mining, agriculture,
and renewable energy projects). We have also witnessed a rise in
localism across the world, i.e ‘buy local’, ‘act local’ and
‘support local’ movements that aim to mobilize support for local
industries and locally owned businesses and entrepreneurial
ventures in supply value chains. In response, countries have
developed local content requirements and laws (LCRs) that stipulate
a percentage of goods and services that must be sourced from local
industries and individuals.

“However, while LCRs generally aim to boost domestic value
creation and economic growth, inappropriately designed LCRs could
produce negative social, human rights and environmental outcomes,
and a misalignment of a country’s fiscal policies and global
sustainable development goals. These unintended outcomes may
ultimately serve as disincentive to foreign participation in a
country’s energy market.

“In developing this book, I sought to understand how the
critical intersections between LCRs and the implementation of
sustainable development goals have been handled in frontier global
energy markets across the world. The aim was to develop a book that
simplifies the scope, content, and guiding principles of effective
LCRs. The book is therefore prepared in a user-friendly style to
enhance its utility among its primary audience, namely students,
corporations, energy ministries, local content agencies, law firms,
arbitrators, courts and international tribunals before whom
arguments over local content clauses and policies often come for
resolution.”

Giving insight into the book, the learned Prof. said the book
examines the critical intersections between local content
requirements (LCRs) and the implementation of sustainable
development treaties in global energy markets including Africa,
Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, South America,
Australasia and the Middle East.

He added, “With 21 chapters from leading scholars in different
parts of the world, the book provides an authoritative exploration
of the nature, scope, and contours of LCRs, and how countries avoid
misalignments between LCRs, and a country’s wider social,
environment, trade, investment, and human rights treaty
obligations.

“In doing so, the book outlines the guiding principles of a
sustainable and rights-based approach – focusing on transparency,
accountability, gender justice and other human rights issues – to
the design, application and implementation of LCRs in global energy
markets to avoid misalignments.

“Overall, the book aims to enhance an understanding of the
relationship among, LCRs, sustainable development, distributive
justice, gender justice, social licence to operate, and corporate
social responsibility in the energy sector.”

Furthermore, Prof. Olawuyi explained that the book has filled
some gaps that were not addressed by several other publications in
area of energy law

According to him, while earlier texts have focused on surveying
existing laws and policies on LCRs in select countries, the global,
multi-dimensional, and intersectional nature of LCRs and
sustainable development has yet to receive detailed, book-length
exposition.

Therefore, he said, the book fills this gap in three ways:
“First, it unpacks the relationship among local content,
sustainable development, distributive justice, gender justice,
social license to operate and corporate social responsibility in
energy markets. Second, it provides a complete survey that covers
Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, South America,
Australasia and the Middle East. Third, it provides recommendations
on the guiding principles of a sustainable and rights-based
approach to the design, application and implementation of LCRs in
global energy markets.

“In so doing, the book sheds new light on the oft-neglected
social dimension of the design, application and implementation of
LCRs, especially the question whether LCRs aid or hinder the
implementation of sustainable development treaties in energy
markets.”