Amid the challenges facing Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, says there is hope rising for the national oil company. Reacting to the recent appointments by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he said the changes in the leadership of NNPC Limited mean well for the country.
The president recently appointed Mr Bashir Bayo Ojulari as Group Chief Executive Officer and Mr Ahmadu Musa Kida as Non-Executive Chairman. Dangote announced that he visited the president to commend him for putting together such a formidable and professionally competent team, that is eminently qualified to take NNPCL to greater heights, his media team said in a statement.
“We are confident that this team will address systemic challenges, align with the president’s vision of a $1 trillion economy, and reposition NNPC Limited for operational excellence and long-term sustainability,” Dangote said.
For a man who has dealt with NNPC Limited quite closely, these comments carry a lot of weight. It is not certain whether he made a similar comment on the NNPCL’s immediate past leadership for the entire period he dealt with them or while they dealt with him in the run-up to the commencement of operations by the Dangote Refinery.]
Dangote dealt with the leadership of the NNPCL that wanted to take up a 20 per cent stake in his refinery, while abandoning its four refineries with a combined capacity to refine 445,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Meanwhile, the same management claimed to be undertaking turnaround maintenance of the refineries, which were all comatose at the time. Today, there are twists in the tales about those refineries and their turnaround maintenance. The tales are still unfolding.
According to the statement, the new team, under the leadership of Bashir Bayo Ojulari and Ahmadu Musa Kida, reflects the president’s strategic intent to drive reform and innovation across the energy sector. Incidentally, I have just written a different piece for another platform in which I unequivocally declared that the NNPCL that we all knew lacked the “strategic intent” required for an organisation of its status now.
Nigerians know that the nation’s stunted economic growth derives partly from the misadventure into the oil economy, with the NNPCL acting as the wrong driver for the journey. Yes, some people could claim that the corporation, now a company, has always operated in a politically controlled environment. Yet, we do not recall any chief executive who resigned his appointment on the grounds of disagreement with the government over the direction the company should go. The truth is that we have been saddled with a national oil company that failed to work in the true interest of the people.
Dangote recently talked about the existence of cabals in the oil and gas industry. Explaining further in the statement, he declared that the cabals he was referring to are some major oil marketers and traders who were bent on frustrating the efforts of President Tinubu in revamping the nation’s economy.
Within a month of the new management taking office, it has undertaken some structural reforms, including the dismissal of some managers of the refineries. These changes, said Dangote, are strong indicators of the organisation’s renewed focus on transparency, efficiency and accountability. Nigerians would recall that while the four refineries lay prostrate, producing no litre of refined products, their employees continued to earn salaries, with no regard to the cost-output relationship. This certainly is not the attribute of a prudent organisational leadership that can innovate in critical situations such as we have right now.
“The calibre of individuals at the helm, and their deliberate, reform-driven agenda, demonstrate a commitment to fostering a culture of performance and professionalism,” Dangote said about the new officials.
With optimism, Dangote expressed confidence that the new leadership of NNPC Limited will propel the country’s energy industry to new heights and reaffirmed his group’s commitment to supporting the collective vision of a prosperous, energy-secure Nigeria.
However, it is too early to celebrate. While admitting the qualities of the new leadership in charge of NNPC Limited, Nigerians must exercise caution. According to Dangote, the new management team brings a wealth of technical expertise, adding that all have managerial experience that is essential for revitalising Nigeria’s most strategic public enterprise. We should wait and see them perform.
Nigeria’s oil industry faces complex challenges that call for policy reviews and interventions. Corporate-level reforms are part of the solution to the problems. Nigerians are waiting to see what the new team does about the refineries; the actual role of the company in the local energy industry, from exploration and production, right up to product refining and distribution. We will wait to see.
So, the actions taken so far by the new management are commendable. They show that the new chiefs are ready to confront the rot in the place that prevented it from being the leader in Nigeria’s drive for an affordable energy mix in the current power crisis facing the whole world.
