The current sudden shakeup on the Nigerian Nationwide Petroleum Company Restricted (NNPCL), introduced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, no doubt, despatched shock waves by way of Nigeria’s oil and fuel trade. Being the back-bone of the Nigerian financial system, what occurs within the NNPCL impacts on the whole financial system. The truth that the NNPCL’s efficiency is unpredictable, that offers room for apprehension in several quarters. It’s subsequently, not shocking that the shakeup generated hysteria. Impromptu board conferences are being held by totally different organisations to strategise on doable end result.
Thus, in what seems to be like a transfer to instill life into the NNPCL, President Tinubu, the opposite day, dissolved the board of the NNPCL and appointed a brand new chief govt officer for the corporate within the individual of Mr Bayo Ojulari. Earlier than his new appointment, Ojulari was director of Shell Nigeria Petroleum Exploration Firm, a subsidiary overseeing its Nigerian deep water funding in addition to the vp of Renaissance Africa Vitality Firm Restricted, which just lately acquired Shell’s onshore operations in Nigeria. With a brand new board made up of crack professionals within the trade, who’re versed with the nitty-gritty of the oil and fuel enterprise, the brand new group has what it takes to take the corporate to the subsequent stage.
The issue with the NNPCL doesn’t lie in its board composition, which has all the time been made up of individuals with the required experience; the issue is within the wrongheaded guidelines and laws guiding its operations. This constitutes the principle hindrances accountable for failure of the NNPCL to stay as much as expectations.After almost 50 years because it was established, the NNPCL should have made optimistic impacts within the lifetime of Nigerians. However that’s removed from being the case. The NNPCL and its opaque and none clear conduct, have for many years made Nigerians to not consider it. There isn’t any belief within the NNPCL. Folks don’t countenance the organisation as a result of its actions imply nothing to the abnormal Nigerians.
The final impression is that the organisation is simply there to serve the curiosity of a clique in authorities. That’s the reason it makes no which means who turns into the pinnacle of the organisation, as a result of from data it’s the identical individuals which might be being recycled from the north and the south west zones. The south east is totally shut out of the equation. That partly explains why the NNPCL has by no means lived to its bidding. Quite than make Nigerians leverage on the massive oil wealth and streaming petro-dollars, the wealth is frittered away into non-public pockets, leaving Nigerians in abject poverty. As a matter of reality, the NNPCL is synonymous with every thing troubling Nigerians. The query is to what extent are the brand new appointments within the organisation going to be totally different from the earlier ones. Are the appointments made to carry change, mark a brand new starting or is it simply one other spherical of routine train to usher in new individuals to come back and share within the booty? There’s a horde of challenges that the brand new board is predicted to sort out. To begin with is the problem of non useful refineries. There are 4 moribund refineries below the NNPCL which have just about been deserted for some years. The 4 refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna, with a complete mixed capability of 445,000 bpd have been unproductive for years thereby forcing Nigeria to resort to the importation of petrol and different refined petroleum merchandise from overseas. The scenario is essentially on the root of the turbulent financial troubles which have impoverished Nigerians. The controversial gasoline subsidy funds are sequel to gasoline importation. Maybe, Nigeria is the one member of OPEC that may’t boast of 1 useful public refinery. NNPCL’s friends in different nations have moved from being simply nationwide oil firms to multinational oil firms.
Examples embrace Petrobras of Brazil, Aramco of Saudi Arabia and Petronas of Malaysia. Petrobras, which is a publicly traded company, operates in an built-in and specialised method within the oil and fuel trade. It operates 11 refineries in Brazil, with a complete crude refining capability of 1.85 million bpd. By share luck, amid the failure of NNPCL to handle its refineries for productiveness, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, a prime price enterprise tycoon and Africa’s richest man floated the most important petrochemical refinery to fill the hole in oil refining in Nigeria.
Quite than give most help to the refinery to complement the brief fall in Nigeria’s petroleum refining output, the NNPCL is taking part in politics with the Dangote Refinery to the detriment of Nigerians. Because it have been, the Dangote refinery is compelled to import crude oil from overseas for its operation. The naira-for-crude association to boost crude provide to Dangote is unrealistic. There’s have to streamline the association for a gentle provide of crude to Dangote which is helpful to Nigeria. The problem of transparency and allegations of large corruption within the firm’s operations stays on the entrance burner. How is the NNPCL going to sort out this problem below the brand new management? Is it doable for NNPCL to function in a clear and fewer opaque method in different to achieve public confidence and belief? There’s additionally the problem of heavy interference by authorities within the operation of the corporate. When the President of the nation is the oil minister, he takes direct cost of the corporate’s operations. Consequently, the appointments within the firm are politicised. Funds are ceaselessly lacking with out accountability this clarify why the operations of the corporate are opaque to cover doubtful actions going down. This additionally explains why the NNPCL hardly declares income however as an alternative incurs large money owed on behalf of Nigerians. In opposition to this backdrop, the primary activity earlier than the brand new management and its board is to work in direction of turning the corporate round from loss making, debt incurring Authorities Firm to a revenue making, dividend declaring firm. The problem of itemizing NNPCL on the Nigerian Inventory Trade has been mooted previously with out being completed. The brand new board and its administration ought to get the corporate listed on the Inventory Trade to be able to improve transparency. The opacity bedeviling the corporate is partly resulting from lack of clear accounting and auditing system. The board ought to have interaction a good audit agency to audit the corporate on common foundation.
One other activity is the standing of the 4 redundant refineries. What’s the board going to do with them? Is it to promote them off for the reason that earlier flip round upkeep (TAM) yielded no optimistic consequence?
Moreover, reviews point out that the corporate has a bloated workforce of seven,000 who’re paid over half a trillion naira yearly, whereas the corporate recurrently is working at a loss.
There’s additionally the problem of inexperienced vitality to which NNPCL ought to shift in direction of. The board ought to work in direction of being a world participant. The NNPCL ought to be future oriented within the mild of the rising technological breakthroughs.Dr Onyekakeyah is a public affairs commentator.
