“A sum can be put right: but only by going back till you find the error and working it afresh from that point, never by simply going on.”
—C.S. Lewis
By Enyeribe Ejiogu
When on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu dissolved the Board of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, and removed the Chairman, Chief Pius Akinyelure and the Group Chief Executive Officer, Malam Mele Kyari, the decision came with mixed feelings.
Many believe that events in the past two years had given enough indications that the erstwhile NNPCL GCEO had practically come to the end of his wits regarding resolving a major, primary problem: reviving the full operations of the refineries of the nation’s Oil and Gas company, and the crown jewel that contributes the lion’s share to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of Nigeria.
After almost three decades of Nigeria’s four refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna, being dormant and producing no refined products, leaving the country in the ignoble status of being a major producer of crude oil that cannot add value through refining of its own crude in sufficient volumes to satisfactorily meet domestic demands, but rather choosing to engage in wholesale importation of refined premium motor spirit (PMS) commonly known as petrol, automotive gas oil, AGO (diesel), dual purpose kerosene, DPK, Nigerians had good reason to hope that the conversion of NNPC into limited liability company that would be run well and touch the core need of the citizenry, which is to be able to buy locally refined petrol, diesel and kerosene at very affordable pump prices, devoid of the poor supply chain management practices that lead to stress, long queues, profiteering, price hikes and fracas at filling stations during the frequent scarcities that became the hallmark of petroleum products importation and distribution in the country.
The appointment of Melee Kyari as NNPC GMD and the mandate given to him held out the hope that the refineries, like the Phoenix would come back to life and become fully functional again.
Nigerians, who are old enough, can easily recall the particular occasion, during the regime of late General Sani Abacha, when dirty petrol that had a foul smell was imported into the country and distributed through filling stations. It damaged the engines of vehicles of motorists who bought the bad petrol.
Through the years, Nigeria has produced sudden billionaires who had access to establish tank farms and engage in the importation of refined petroleum products. In the same vein, NNPC massively imported and distributed petroleum products. It got worse as corruption took over and birthed the staggering subsidy regime. All through the years, the country actively and substantially funded several bogus, purported turnaround maintenance (TAM) initiatives which produced no results desirable by the plurality of the citizenry. Instead, the TAMS created more opportunities for fleecing the nation by the fly-by-night contractors with access to the powers that be, and got awarded the lucrative contracts partly as settlement and to serve as conduits for funding party activities, acquisition of assets overseas or simply dumping the misappropriated funds in European banks.
Alas, the NNPCL refineries woefully failed to deliver on the key expectations of Nigerians. In deciding to invoke the powers granted to him under Section 59, subsection 2 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, Tinubu has made it clear that Engr Bashir Bayo Ojulari, the new Group Chief Executive Ojulari of NNPCL should work assiduously to enhance operational efficiency, restore investor confidence, boosting local content, driving economic growth, and advancing gas commercialisation and diversification.
A key part of the expectation of President Tinubu is that the new leadership of NNPCL should seek to raise the level of new investments of US$17 billion within the sector reported in 2023 to $30 billion by 2027 and $60 billion by 2030.
Crude Oil production should reach two million barrels daily by 2027 and three million daily by 2030. Concurrently, the government wants gas production jacked to 8 billion cubic feet daily by 2027 and 10 billion cubic feet by 2030.
Furthermore, President Tinubu expects the new board to elevate NNPC’s share of crude oil refining output to 200,000 barrels by 2027 and reach 500,000 by 2030.
On the part of the average Nigerian, the clear and present desire is to be able buy petrol, diesel and kerosine at very affordable pump prices. It is unconscionable Nigeria produces crude oil for export but the citizenry are forced to buy refined products at international, dollarized pump price. Is that how the Saudi and Iranian governments serve their citizens?
In other words, President Tinubu, whose wife, First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, is a pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, and all other Nigerians have essentially taken a cue from the Bible and telling him, “Do in Capernaum what you did in Chorazin and Bethsaida.” They are asking him to do excellent good work that will give them joy, by helping to resolve the niggling issue of NNPCL refineries not working to produce petrol, kerosine and diesel from Nigerian crude, to conclusively end the blight of fuel importation.
It is significant that Ojulari comes across as a round peg that can easily fit into NNPCL’s round hole. Just before he was appointed, Ojulari was the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company, the company that led a consortium of indigenous energy firms to acquire all the equity holding of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), at the princely sum of US$2.4 billion.
“Take responsibility for what you think and what you do,” is one piece advice by Terence McKenna, which Ojulari should keep in mind. And just like Brendan Francis said, Ojulari should know absolutely that “the best way to escape from a problem is to solve it. Moreover, he should take to heart what Brian Tracy said: “Your ability to solve problems and make good decisions is the true measure of your skill as a leader.”
Ojulari, who hails from Kwara State, graduated from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He began his career in the Oil Industry in Elf Aquitaine as the first Nigerian process engineer. From Elf, he joined Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) in 1991 as an associate production technologist.
Beyond Nigeria, he has worked in Europe and the Middle East in different capacities as a petroleum process and production engineer, strategic planner, field developer, and asset manager. In 2015, he became the managing director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO).
During his career, he was chairman and member of the board of trustees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigerian Council) and a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.