November 14, 2021

It was a moment of celebration for the successes achieved so far in the oil and gas sector as the Group Managing Director (GMD)/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Malam Mele Kyari bagged two prestigious awards in one week.

The first award was the “2020 Zik Prize for Public Service Leadership”, while the second was the “CEO of the Year Award at the #AfricaEnergyWeek (#AEW2021), held in Cape Town, South Africa.

The Public Policy Research & Analysis Centre (PPRAC) at the conferment of the “2020 Zik Prize for Public Service Leadership” on the GMD, at the Eko Hotel, Lagos, commended Kyari for transforming the fortunes of the NNPC from a position of loss-making into a profit- making venture.

Speaking on behalf of the Centre, Chief Mac Wabara, said Kyari was recognised for his distinguished leadership and sterling achievements in the NNPC, which were evident in the reforms he had instituted at the Corporation through the deployment of the Transparency Accountability and Performance Excellence (TAPE) Agenda.

He said: “Mele Kyari continues to seamlessly transform the operations of NNPC, through the deepening of domestic gas utilisation, rehabilitation of the nation’s refineries and public disclosure of NNPC accounts, the first in NNPC’s 44 years of existence.”

He added that the GMD/CEO’s greatest achievements had indeed turned around the fortunes of the NNPC from a loss of position, into a profit-making entity.

“Under Kyari’s watch at the NNPC, the company declared a profit after tax of N287 billion in 2020 after losses were reduced from N803 billion in 2018 to N1.7 billion in 2019. This is unprecedented in the history of the NNPC,” Wabara said.

He explained that Kyari played a pivotal role in the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), adding that with the emergence of the legislation, the NNPC had been positioned to operate effectively, like its global peers.

Kyari, while responding said that in the course of the last two years, the NNPC had automated its processes and systems; reduced its operating costs and was now focused on delivering value to Nigerians.

He added that the enactment of the PIA had placed a huge responsibility on the NNPC to become more creative in its business approach and to be accountable to its shareholders of over 200 million Nigerians.

Kyari noted that the Zik Leadership award would spur him and his Management team to work harder towards becoming an International National Oil Company at par with its global peers.

Other recipients of the prestigious Zik Leadership Award include the Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim.

Minister of State for Health, Sen. Olorunimbe Mamora; Director-General and CEO of the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Bashir Jamo and MD/CEO of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Mr Uche Orji were the other recipients.

The well-attended event was also witnessed by the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero; Emir of Lafia, Justice Sidi Bage (rtd) and several other dignitaries.

Established in 1994 by the PPRAC and now in its 26th edition, the Zik Prize in Leadership is aimed at highlighting Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe’s legacy of patriotic fervor and nationalist vision.

In a related development, the GMD/CEO of NNPC Ltd, Malam Mele Kyari received the CEO of the Year Award at the #AfricaEnergyWeek (#AEW2021), held in Cape Town, South Africa.

NNPC’s Group Executive Director (GED) Upstream, Engr. Adokiye Tombomieye, received the award on behalf of Kyari from the Libyan Minister of Oil & Gas, HE Mohammed Oun.

The Africa Energy CEO of the Year Award is a high profile recognition covering the entire value-chain of the Energy industry, which includes power sector.

Also in the week, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPC alerted the public that the information circulating, especially in the Social Media platforms, claiming that the Company was conducting a recruitment exercise was not true and that the public should disregard it in its entirety.

The Company’s General Manager, Human Resources, Malam Aminu Zaria, said NNPC’s recruitments were usually done in line with the federal character principles through a robust and well-organised process which cannot be compromised.

He said NNPC was not recruiting presently having just concluded the recruitment of 1,050 graduate trainees last year.

Zaria said that the Company usually advertised widely through authentic and credible public communication channels including the NNPC’s website (www.nnpcgroup.com) whenever it intends to recruit.

He noted that the essence of the advert was to ensure that every eligible person participated.

The GM noted that the NNPC as an employer of choice and one of the best places to work in the country was always a target of such fake adverts.

He therefore advised the public to always verify from credible sources whenever they receive such information.

Still in the week under review, the NNPC Limited made a giant stride towards achieving optimal gas penetration with the signing of the Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) for the building of a 5million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscf/d) mini Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility in Kogi State.

The EPC agreement which ushered in the 18-months projected duration of the construction phase of the project was among the Nigerian Gas Marketing Company (NGMC), a subsidiary of NNPC and Trans Gas Nigeria Limited as operator of the NGMC-Transit Unincorporated Joint Venture and Phoenix Development Limited.

With the agreement, the natural gas supplied through the existing Oben-Ajaokuta pipeline would be liquefied at the proposed LNG facility – an interconnecting pipeline of less than 150metres would be constructed to the facility from the adjacent NGC Geregu metering station, transported via oxygenic tanks and degasified at each customer location or cluster.

Speaking at the ceremony, the GMD/CEO of NNPC Kyari, who was represented by Mr Umar Ajiya, Chief Financial Officer of the NNPC, said the project was in tandem with the Federal Government’s desire to make gas the country’s transition fuel, available to all end users across the country.

Group Executive Director, Gas & Power, directorate of the NNPC, Mr Abdulkabir Mohammed spoke on the significance of the project to the national oil company.

Also, Mr Bolaji Osusanya, Managing Director of Transit Gas Nigeria Limited, the operators of the Unincorporated Joint Venture, Offered his perspective.

Furthermore, buoyed by the desire to harness its resources and consolidate the transition to an effective national oil company with diverse business interests, the NNPC Limited also in the week opened its doors to Amazon Web Services (AWS), a subsidiary of U.S. based Amazon Group.

The aim was to grow its Telecommunications business and increase its revenue base.

Speaking at a session with Amazon Web Services Business Leaders at the NNPC Towers in Abuja NNPC GMD, Kyari, via a virtual message, said the NNPC would learn from Amazon’s vast competence in this regard to enhance its competitive edge and sharpen its innovative quotient.

Mr Sanusi Yerima, Managing Director of National Petroleum Telecommunications Limited (NAPET), a wholly owned NNPC subsidiary said that the objective of commercialising NNPC IT and Telecommunications Infrastructure, Provided insight to the emerging synergy between the national oil company and Amazon Web Services.

• By Edith Ike-Eboh and Emmanuel Afonne (NAN)