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Many sustained and concerted reforms will be needed to ensure that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) operates efficiently and effectively in accordance with global best practices; and for it to serve, without interruption, the common good of Nigerians. For decades, the oil company has always been in the bad books of Nigerians who consider it a giant that successive administrations have appropriated to serve political interests and private ends.
However, the decision of Dr. Mikanti Baru, CEO of NNPC Group, to continually open the company to public evaluation and promote transparent and accountable management is new in the ecology of the anti-corruption crusade of the Federal Government. . Baru is committed to seeking a strategic partnership if necessary in a deliberate attempt to erase the negative perception that NNPC can not achieve the desired results or apply standard best practices in operations.
There is no doubt that leadership is the key to success. Since his arrival, the GMD is committed to doing things that will give society a positive outlook. But we must quickly admit that it is not always easy to turn the tide in a company where corruption is rooted and reforms frustrated for years. But what is going well for Baru, is his willingness to take up challenges and look for solutions. Apparently, that's why he succeeds.
That Baru chose not to comment on the recurrent question about the actual volume of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as oil, consumed in the country, says a lot of its ability to be over- above the fray.
He was not imprudent in his disposition. He did not create a ballyhoo on the issue that was politicized in an understandable way. There is a sense in which the management of the national oil sector has become a political decision under the tutelage of the successive federal government.
But we must recognize the exceptional leadership and sincerity of the goal that Baru has put in the management of the NNPC now. For example, as part of its expanding strategic partnership, it is good that the company has agreed to work with the World Bank and the Federal Ministry of Finance to put an end to these decades of worry about the company. opacity of the public finance management of the sub-sector. in which society plays a very important role for a rest.
He cheered the heart when I heard Downstream Chief Operating Officer, NNPC, Mr. Henry Obih, say that the company's decision to comply with the National Executive Board's directive (NEC) to work with the Ministry of Finance and the World Bank to finally unveil this mystery. That such efforts have been frustrated in testimonies of the financial discipline that President Muhammadu Buhari instilled in governance. On this point, Baru's management has demonstrated its support for the President's philosophy of prudent financial management. He showed by his disposition that he has nothing to hide.
In a Nigerian conference and exhibition on oil and gas recently held in Abuja, the NNPC COO said: We (NNPC) are currently in a joint project. with the Federal Ministry of Finance. We do a study on consumption to determine the actual consumption by people. He explained that "we have to scale it up to see what we call the daily charge or the evacuation, in relation to the actual consumption, that is to say what the people buy every day for their cars and their generators. For other uses. "
Obih said:" That is why the National Economic Council mandated that we work with the Federal Ministry of Finance. We also had meetings with the World Bank about six weeks ago, and we are trying to make progress in a global study that would help us get around the real numbers of what we are consuming in Nigeria. It's a project looking to the future. Pending the results of the tripartite investigation, it is equally good that the NNPC has chosen to set records in the context of the ongoing slander campaign largely sponsored by the mafia in the sector.
Different consumption figures had been published on social media to deceive the unsuspecting public. This tripartite intervention should, in the meantime, dispel the concerns badociated with it, while the investigation should, in all likelihood, appease the frayed Nigerians. Meanwhile, in terms of daily trucks from depots across the country and in terms of records of the Petroleum Price Regulation Agency and the Petroleum Resources Department, the NNPC has transported 48 million liters per day in 2016 and 50 million liters in 2017.
The problem of increasing fuel volume is compounded by cross-border smuggling, as Nigeria remains the cheapest source of PMS in the sub-region. West African region. Unfortunately, Nigeria has a network of oil mafias that runs through all the country's oil chains. The mafia group is very big and powerful and has been working for decades. It also feeds fats on segments of the country's pipeline system. It will take constant and persistent efforts to defeat the oil cartel. At each point, he defends himself and this has made the work of the NNPC led by Baru a little more difficult.
Obih, confirmed the challenges that society faces. Read it: "But again, a major challenge is the fact that we have cross-border smuggling.Nigeria remains the cheapest source of premenstrual syndrome in the West African sub-region.All of our neighboring countries are selling to more 200 per cent of the price we pay at the pump, we have difficulties in the pipelines that go across the land, especially the 2B system, for example, the one running around Lagos, which is a big challenge because there are a mafia who lives and feeds on these pipelines.
But this is not bad news for the NNPC. Good things are happening under Baru as revealed by the COO, especially in the area of Joint Venture cash call payments.In his view, "What is encouraging this year is that we can, at least, say that in a few areas we can see an attempt to address them . Since I have been in this industry, we have been discussing fundraising as an endless question. I think we have been able to sit together as both industry and government to try to solve this problem and we should not underestimate the importance of it.
"What is important today is that this argument is off the table, and for the first time we ended a year without NNPC due to fundraising. The appetite that it did, is that it opens the appetite for having a conversation about investment. for capital with all the other countries in the world and sometimes we forget that and we think we are global, but the reality is that each of these companies operates in 20, 30, 80 countries and that people are competing. JV process, we all need to get our hands on the plow to make sure it does not derail.We can not badume that we have a financing structure that works and badumes that It will continue to function. "
It is incumbent on Nigerians, especially those who have Over the years, NNPC's mandate has been to support the ongoing process of repositioning the company. Baru can deliver with the right support and the right climate. However, the NNPC now needs to ensure that a strong technology-driven mechanism is put in place to track the real-time consumption pattern in the country. This is what should attract attention and not the minor problems that distract.
Ukah wrote from Lagos
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Disclaimer : This article is entirely the opinion of the writer and does not represent the views of The Whistler.
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