By Kunle Ojeleyeย
I read many posts and comments on this app, and just waka pass. However, I have been amused by various comments following the press release on the re-constitution of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) board.
What I found amusing was the many negative references to the former Chairman of the Board, Chief Pius O Akinyelure (POA).
Many referred to him as a stranger to the Oil and Gas (O&G) sector, and I could not avoid bursting out in laughter to the curiosity of those around me.
How can a man:
๐๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ 30 ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ด ๐๐น๐น๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ,
๐๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ข๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ฏ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐น๐น๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ข ๐๐ด๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ,
๐๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐น๐น๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ 20 ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐จ๐ฐ,
๐๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ถ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐น๐น๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ,
Be called a stranger in the O&G sector?
At over 80 years of age, you can accuse Chief POA as old. You cannot label him a stranger to the Oil and Gas sector.
On the issue of incompetence now ascribed to all those relieved of their NNPC board positions, I cannot comment since I am not privy to the tasks and performance index set for them when President Tinubu appointed them about 16 months ago.
I do not know Mele Kyari or any other board members who were relieved of their appointments by President Tinubu. I cannot comment on the various allegations made against Mele or the board members in the media.
Nevertheless, I have always argued that the systemic design of our political system has tended to restrict if not completely disempower, the intellect and competence of many individuals who found themselves in the saddle of steering the nation in the right direction.
My summation is that the same systemic decapitation of individuals in our political space has affected not just the NNPC but practically all our institutions, including even the academic environment.
The NNPC had never been bereft of capable hands.
Are Engineer Kupolokun and others who have been at the organisationโs helm not competent?
To what extent could they make the NNPC an outstanding and performing organisation within a system designed to serve sectional interests rather than the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians at large?
I do not doubt the competence of the new board of NNPC. Still, I am afraid that unless they find a way to dismantle the current structure, all their individual and combined talents will amount to nothing in providing Nigeria with a truly nationalistic corporation, as everyone is clamouring for.
Time will tell.
*Dr Kunle Ojeleye is an academic and public affairs analyst
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