The Nation Newspaper

Category: Discourse

  • A cowardly assault on honour: exposing the lies against Matawalle

    A cowardly assault on honour: exposing the lies against Matawalle

    By Muniz Usman

    The recent article titled “A Bandit in the Ministry: The Case Against Bello Matawalle,” penned by Professor Abdussamad Umar Jibia, is nothing more than a disgraceful attempt to tarnish the reputation of the Honourable Minister of State for Defence, Dr. Bello Muhammed Matawalle MON. It is filled with baseless allegations, malicious innuendos, and outright fabrications that seek to undermine the honour and integrity of a man who has dedicated his life to public service.

    A Reckless Attack Wrapped in Falsehood

    Professor Jibia’s piece is a textbook case of character assassination—thinly veiled as an opinion piece—meant to deceive and misinform the public. The allegations, from the alleged involvement with bandits to the supposed defense of criminals, are nothing short of preposterous innuendos. Let’s dissect these lies for what they are: desperate attempts to twist the narrative against Dr. Matawalle for political reasons.

    The professor’s account is filled with inconsistencies, misinformation, and lacks any shred of evidence. His narrative about the turbaning of Ado Aleru and the other sensationalized stories of bandits supposedly receiving Hilux trucks and personal support from Dr. Matawalle is not only false but insulting to the intelligence of the Nigerian people. At no point in his article does Jibia provide credible sources or hard evidence to back up his wild accusations. It is nothing but a hodgepodge of hearsay and rumours recycled to attack a man who has served the country with dignity.

    The Devious Role of Sheikh Murtala Bello Asada

    In this cowardly attempt to besmirch the good name of Dr. Matawalle, Professor Jibia has found an equally unreliable partner in the form of Sheikh Murtala Bello Asada. Asada, a supposed religious figure, has made a habit of spewing baseless accusations and incendiary comments in public forums. His slanderous claims about Dr. Matawalle’s alleged association with criminals like Turji and Haruna Dole are nothing more than fabrications concocted to incite public outrage. These accusations lack any real basis in fact, and Sheikh Asada’s so-called “evidence” is nothing but the rantings of an opportunist desperate for attention.

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    Asada’s challenge to Dr. Matawalle to take him to court is laughable, given the complete lack of credibility in his claims. It is high time that figures like Asada are held accountable for the damage they seek to cause by fanning the flames of discord with their unfounded allegations.

    Matawalle: A Beacon of Service and Sacrifice

    Dr. Bello Matawalle has categorically denied these ridiculous allegations, stating unequivocally, “I have never supported nor fraternized with criminals or bandits in any capacity. My commitment to peace, security, and the welfare of the Nigerian people is unwavering.” His actions as the Governor of Zamfara and now as Minister of State for Defence have been centered around improving security, not undermining it.

    As a man who has faced the complex challenges of security in Zamfara State, Dr. Matawalle worked tirelessly to create initiatives aimed at reducing violence and fostering peace. His efforts, while difficult, were borne out of a genuine desire to see an end to the suffering of his people. Those who have closely followed his career know that he has always advocated for a strategic, multifaceted approach to combat insecurity—an approach that prioritizes dialogue, security reinforcement, and community engagement.

    It is important to remember that as the Governor of Zamfara, Matawalle inherited a state ravaged by years of neglect and systemic insecurity. To suggest that he, of all people, would align himself with the very criminals wreaking havoc on his people is not only illogical but deeply offensive. Professor Jibia’s attempt to twist this reality is a sad commentary on the lengths some individuals will go to pursue their own agenda.

    An Academic in Disgrace

    Professor Jibia’s article is not just a reflection of his own desperation but a disgrace to the principles of responsible journalism and academic integrity. Instead of presenting a well-reasoned argument backed by facts, he resorts to tabloid-style sensationalism, effectively turning his platform into a megaphone for baseless conspiracy theories. Such behavior is unbecoming of a man who claims to be a professor. Rather than educate and inform, Jibia has chosen to deceive and mislead, abandoning the ethics of truth and fairness.

    What’s even more appalling is the professor’s call for Dr. Matawalle to be removed from the Ministry of Defence on the basis of unsubstantiated claims. Jibia’s suggestions are as reckless as they are unfounded. His eagerness to cast aside due process and throw around accusations without any legal backing exposes his true intentions: to sow confusion and chaos.

    The Truth Must Prevail

    In times like these, it is essential that we, as Nigerians, remain vigilant against the forces of misinformation and slander. Dr. Matawalle has shown himself to be a man of integrity, focused on the safety and security of the nation. The Honourable Minister is fully committed to his duties in the Ministry of Defence and will continue to work with the Armed Forces to eradicate banditry and terrorism in all its forms.

    To Professor Jibia and his fellow conspirators, we say this: your lies will not stand the test of time. The Nigerian people are smarter than you think. They will see through your desperate attempts to discredit a man who has served his country with honour and still serving and dazzling in his assignments. As for Sheikh Asada, his theatrics may earn him a few moments of attention, but truth and justice will ultimately prevail.

    Dr. Matawalle remains focused on his mission, undistracted by the baseless accusations thrown his way. As the Minister has said, “My conscience is clear, my hands are clean, and I will not be deterred by those who seek to distract us from the urgent work of securing our nation.”

    A Call for Unity and Accountability

    As a nation, we must rise above these cheap attacks and rally behind leaders like Dr. Bello Matawalle who are working day and night to ensure the safety and prosperity of Nigeria. We must demand accountability from those who seek to poison the public discourse with lies, and we must hold individuals like Professor Jibia and Sheikh Asada responsible for the damage their falsehoods attempt to inflict on our national unity.

    Dr. Matawalle’s service to Nigeria is far from over, and his commitment to the cause of security will continue to inspire hope for a brighter, safer future for all Nigerians.

    • Usman is a Public Analyst/ Opinion Perceptionist.

  • This time too shall pass away

    This time too shall pass away

    By Opeyemi Bamidele

    Let me most sincerely welcome all my colleagues back from our annual recess, a period we, as a tradition, suspend plenaries for dispassionate field engagements. It was no doubt a period of wider consultations in preparation for the tasks ahead. It was also a period of intense engagement with critical stakeholders nationwide with a view to getting feedback from our constituents; identifying issues of public interests and presenting the feedback for policy consideration in the 2025 fiscal year.

    A lot of events indeed happened between the period we went on annual recess and now. The events obviously ranged from the nationwide protests to the return of long queues to our filling stations; festering instability in the foreign exchange market and flood disaster that escalated humanitarian crises in some states of the federation. Each of these public concerns, again, reminded us about the complexity of our socio-economic challenges; people’s desperation for multi-pronged antidotes and the crucial tasks of transforming Nigeria to a federation we shall all be proud of someday.

    At the National Assembly, we clearly understand all these public concerns and the rights of the people to demand explanations, especially at the time of national crises. We also understand that governments at all levels are under obligation to listen to public grievances and work out strategies to address them. But are these challenges peculiar to us as a people? Is Nigeria the only country facing hard times worldwide?

    Of course, countries – developed, emerging and underdeveloped – are going through turbulent times, economically and politically, across the globe. For example, Ghana and Kenya in East Africa, Argentina and Venezuela in South America, Japan and Pakistan in the Pacific, Iran and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East as well as Greece and Spain, among others, are all neck-deep either into intractable crises that their governments are working hard to reverse or considerably address.

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    These countries are, like Nigeria, methodically and painstakingly responding to their challenges not just to meet public expectations, but also to create enabling environments for real growth and sustainable development. This is not, in any way, to make an excuse for the governments. Rather, it is to show that the world has entered into another era of turbulence, first started with the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020; followed by the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022 and compounded by the renewed hostility between Israel and Palestine in 2023. 

    Each of these geo-political dynamics has grave implications for import-dependent economies like Nigeria and their internal stability. As we are all aware, the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict disrupted the importation of grains to Africa. Consequently, it triggered chronic food inflation in most African economies because most of them sourced 50% of their grain needs and 70% of their wheat requirements from Russia and Ukraine. They could not because the war disrupted grain shipment.

    Nigeria was not exempted from this grain supply distortion. Her grain supply constraint was compounded by internal instability that further decapitated her food production capacity long before the current administration office.That explained why food inflation was as high as 40.87% in June 2024 before it dropped to 39.53% in July 2024 and further to 37.52% in August 2024. What does this decline truly suggest? It simply suggests that the multi-pronged responses of all government arms have started yielding positive outcomes. This time shall surely pass away.

    These geo-political dynamics, likewise, escalated the prices of crude oil in the international market. For us, as one of the world’s oil producers, this increase should ordinarily be a blessing rather than a headache. Again, the failure to significantly and strategically invest in the development of the midstream petroleum infrastructure  turned us to a victim of the geo-political conflicts. And we were faced with the realities of either returning to a vicious subsidy regime or bracing up for the escalating fuel pump prices that eventually constrained people’s living standard. We are now gradually navigating through this thorny path that our fear to decisively act constricted us. 

    This was the indisputable geo-political context that an import-dependent Nigeria found herself, even before the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly. These challenges became more excruciating and grievous within the first year of our four-year tenure. These are the grim and disturbing realities from which we cannot run away. As public servants, we took up the gauntlets and began addressing our heinous national challenges from the very foundation.

    Fellow countrymen, we have been responding to these challenges, considering creative and innovative parliamentary initiatives. As legislators, we firmly share a conviction that the initiatives will, in no small measure, add value to the lives of over 133 millions, whom the World Bank Group classified to be multidimensionally poor. And we are committed to this vital national mission for which we were elected to undertake.

    But Nigerians must trust us with the power they had already entrusted to us. This is not the time to play politics with all these issues of national significance, all in the name of strategising to win the 2027 contest. We must remember that there must be 2025 before 2026  and 2026 before 2027. What Nigerians are demanding from us is the demonstration of patriotic spirit and not the display of parochial political agenda that will never improve the lives of our people, whether in the North or South. We must not miss this period of national challenge. It is the best time to act collectively, decisively and reasonably.

    How has the National Assembly been responding to all these national challenges? This is a vital question that deserves a detailed response. But I will point out a few areas that we have, independently or interdependently, addressing all these challenges. First, we have a clear understanding with all federal agencies we are oversighting that we will not tax citizens, who are multidimensionally poor. We are committed to this promise because we are in government for the people and not against the people.

    This truly explains why we introduced windfall tax under the 2023 Finance Act. This legislation, specifically, imposes a one-year tax on the realised foreign exchange profits derived by commercial banks in the 2023 fiscal year. This practice is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. Countries going through turbulent economic times have  embraced it in Europe and beyond, though with the sole purpose of resolving their fiscal challenges. In 2022, for instance, the Parliament of the United Kingdom introduced a 25% Energy Profits Levy, which it imposed on its oil multinationals.

    The levy was increased to 35% in 2023 when the UK effectively slid into another meltdown. Within this time, this tax was introduced in 25 member-states of the European Union. In Greece, it was as high as 60%; 70% in Slovakia; 75% in Ireland; 90% in France; 90% in Austria and 100% in Belgium, each of which purely targeted electricity and oil giants that made super profits. If these countries could go this far, why can we not do the same in the national interest? It is a progressive tax aimed at taking from the wealthy to fund pro-people projects and programmes.

    Consistent with our mandate under Section 59 of the 1999 Constitution, we also reviewed highly fundamental sections of the 2024 Appropriation Act to address thorny issues that could have created funding gaps and further compound our socio-economic challenges. This review enabled the Parliament to mandate the Executive to significantly scale up its social support to the poorest of the poor due to acute food inflation that the nation witnessed for 12 consecutive months. In addition, the Executive further suspended import duty on food products, also with a view to making food more accessible, available and affordable.

    At the time of the national labour dispute, also, the Parliament meaningfully engaged the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC). The engagement was designed and structured to assure the labour leaders of our unflinching support; promise them our unbiased interventions and persuade them from shutting the economy that we are all working together to strengthen. Even when they did not, in entirety, trust our resolve, we proved them wrong; honoured their agreement with the Executive and sped up the enactment of the 2024 National Minimum Wage Act.

    We truly committed our energy, intellect and time to make all these initiatives happen. Our drive is nothing, but mirrors our allegiance to all our constituents nationwide and undying passion to ease vicious fiscal challenges under which our nation is reeling. We made critical interventions in the interest of all our countrymen regardless of their socio-economic status. We are still committed to more creative legislative interventions that will positively impact our economy and polity in future.

    As we return fully to the parliamentary sessions, the National Assembly will, without ambiguity, revisit its decision to decisively address challenges in the petroleum industry. The industry is not optimal in its performance. This may not be unconnected to crude oil theft, endless turn around maintenance of public refineries, importation of substandard petroleum products and disruption of fuel supply, among others. Before we went on annual recess, the President of the Senate, His Excellency, Senator Godswill Akpabio, GCON, constituted an ad-hoc committee to beam searchlights on all these issues. The Senate later expanded the scope of the committee to deal with diverse allegations of economic sabotage in the petroleum industry.

    Contrary to some media reports, the Senate never suspended its Ad-hoc Committee to Investigate Alleged Economic Sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, but postponed its public hearing due to the need to address issues that border on the Rules of the National Assembly. Today, both chambers of the National Assembly will resolve the issues and possibly constitute a joint committee that will continue with the investigation from where the ad-hoc committee stopped. We are committed to unearthing the roots of economic sabotage in the petroleum industry in the national interest and developing institutional mechanisms that will make the industry more efficient and functional.  

    We are expecting a new medium term expenditure framework (MTEF) from the Executive. MTEF is an integral part of our budget culture that emphasises a multi-year public expenditure planning exercise; sets out the future budget requirements for existing services and assess the resource implications of future policy changes. The consideration of MTEF occupies a prime place on the rung of our legislative agenda. This is simply because MTEF must be ready before the 2025 Appropriation Bill can be laid before the National Assembly.

    We are equally preoccupied with the review of the 1999 Constitution. In the Senate, the Constitution Review Committee is chaired by Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I. Jibrin, CON. In the coming weeks, the Committee will hold retreats and strategy sessions; call for memoranda and organise zonal meetings on some sections of our grundnorm that should be amended. Given the pedigrees of all its members, this exercise no doubt promises a truly federative approach that will redefine and reinvent public governance in this country.

    We have all these legislative initiatives before the Parliament for consideration in coming weeks. Each of the initiatives is designed to develop an efficient and functional political system that works for all and not for the few. We therefore plead for more cooperation and understanding to act in the best interest of all Nigerians. As a people, we must all share the conviction that the task of nation-building is not individualistic or unilateral in nature. But it must be collectively driven at building one indivisible, resilient and united nation. We must rise above parochialism and sectionalism to reposition Nigeria for a global role for this time too shall soon pass away.

    • Bamidele, Leader of the 10th Senate, writes from Abuja

  • Wale Tinubu: Defying odds, building West Africa’s energy giant

    Wale Tinubu: Defying odds, building West Africa’s energy giant

    By Chima Obiora

    In Nigeria’s challenging business environment, any company that operates profitably for just a decade is considered exceptional. Oando Energy, which started from humble beginnings over 30 years ago, has successfully breasted several finish lines  and now tops the oil and gas sector pyramid in Nigeria and indeed in West Africa.

    But for a while, there have been various public narratives on Oando and its Group Chief Executive Officer, Wale Tinubu, with certain persons attempting to turn facts on their head.

    Not the least of these imputations is that the Wale Tinubu-led Oando is being favoured by the government because of his familial relationship with the current Nigerian leader, Bola Tinubu.

    Apparently coloured with in politics, the recent seeming attacks on Oando’s business operations vis-à-vis its acquisition and thereafter divestment in OVH as well as its acquisition of Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), have been nothing but baseless.

    As it is, the facts do not support the perception in certain quarters, especially sentiments expressed by  former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that the company is thriving as a result of the undue favour it is getting from the Bola Tinubu administration.

    This is because the Oando story did not start with the current government. In fact, there were other landmark achievements, including several acquisitions by the company before the Tinubu administration,  which is barely 16 months old.

    But these forces have continued to push the flawed narrative that the Oando Plc chief executive is being favoured in his business acquisitions by the government because the president is his uncle.

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    Oando is sub-Saharan Africa’s foremost indigenous energy group with a primary listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and a cross-border listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

    Its story goes back to 1956 when ESSO West Africa Incorporated, a petroleum marketing subsidiary of Exxon Corporation, which was then acquired by the federal government in 1976 and rebranded as Unipetrol Nigeria Limited. This  eventually gave birth to Oando.

    The real transformative journey of Oando began with the establishment of Ocean and Oil Services Limited, whose focus was on the supply and trade of petroleum products both locally and internationally.

     In 2000, Ocean and Oil Holdings acquired a 30 per cent controlling interest in Unipetrol, later increasing it to 42 per cent in 2001. Following a further acquisition of a 60 per cent stake in Agip Nigeria Plc in 2002, Unipetrol and Agip Nigeria were merged in 2003, resulting in the formation of Oando.

    Over the next decade, Oando subsequently built the largest indigenous integrated energy company in Sub-Saharan Africa.

    These comprised Oando Marketing Limited, one of the largest downstream petroleum marketing companies in Nigeria with over 500 retail outlets across Nigeria, Ghana, and Togo.

    There’s also Oando Supply and Trading Limited, incorporated in 2004, one of the largest independent traders of crude and refined petroleum products in sub-Saharan Africa.

     Besides, Oando Gas & Power Limited incorporated in 2004, is a pioneer in the development of Nigeria’s foremost gas distribution network, spanning 264km and serving over 150 industrial and commercial customers in Lagos, Calabar and Port Harcourt.

    For Oando Energy Services Limited incorporated in 2005, it is Nigeria’s largest indigenous oilfield services provider, enhancing indigenous participation with a fleet of five rigs while Oando Energy Resources is regarded one of Nigeria’s foremost indigenous upstream oil and gas companies.

    On its oil and gas upstream journey, this commenced 20 years ago, when in 2004, the company secured a 42.75 per cent interest in the marginal field, Oil Mining Licence (OML) 56. Subsequently, in 2007, it acquired a 15 per cent stake in OML 125 & OML 134.

    Hungry for further success, in 2008, Oando acquired a 30 per cent interest in the Akepo marginal field, OML 90. This continued in 2009, when it further acquired an 81.5 per cent interest in Equator Exploration Limited, while in 2012, the Company was awarded a 100 per cent in Blocks in Sao Tome EEZ.

    In 2014, the company achieved a significant milestone by acquiring ConocoPhillips Nigerian assets for $1.8 billion, inclusive of working capital, securing a 20 per cent interest in the NAOC-Joint Venture.

    It augmented its total net 2P reserves to 503 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), with peak net production levels of 45,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (kboep/d).

    In 2016, the company took a strategic decision, to divest from its naira earning businesses and to focus on its dollar earning portfolio, resulting in the phased sale of its interest in the downstream between 2016 to 2019, and its stake in the midstream in 2017.

    Besides, in 2021, Oando Clean Energy Limited was established to design and deliver clean energy projects towards the realisation of the nation’s energy requirements and the United Nation’s Race to Net Zero.

    Now a big player in the industry, in August 2024, 10 years after the purchase of ConocoPhillips Nigerian assets, Oando completed the acquisition of 100 per cent of Eni’s interest in NAOC, the operating company of the JV, further increasing its stake in the JV from 20 per cent to 40 per cent, securing operatorship of the JV and doubling its 2P reserves to 996.2 mmboe.

    This acquisition also resulted in the expansion of the company’s exploratory asset base portfolio.

    Today, the company’s strategic focus lies on expanding its dollar earning portfolio and positioning itself for the energy transition through the development of its renewable energy business.

    This significant milestone of the successful acquisition of Eni’s Nigerian subsidiary, NAOC for $783 million, achieved in a signing ceremony in London,  marked a new era for the Nigerian energy sector, describing it as a watershed moment for indigenous oil and gas players.

    Sixty eight years after the discovery of oil in Oloibiri, Oando is  now poised to lead and operate oil and gas assets previously dominated by International Oil Companies (IOCs) in Nigeria.

    Despite the thorough trashing of the allegations by the former vice president , which also included alleged underhand dealings in the NNPC’s acquisition of OVH, the matter continues to still continue to take some space in public discourse.

     According to Atiku, the retention of Mr. Mele Kyari as the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC was a compensation for the alleged acquisition of NNPC Retail Ltd by OVH in which he claimed Mr Wale Tinubu held 49 per cent stake.

    He further alleged that the NNPC Retail and OVH acquisition deal was part of a grand scheme by Tinubu to integrate his personal business interests into Nigeria’s public enterprises at the federal level.

    Separately, the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate,  challenged the government to clarify how Oando Plc allegedly received accelerated approval to acquire the onshore assets of NAOC.

    But those who should know better, especially government agencies in the sector have come out to explain why other divestment deals slowed down and why the Oando transaction appeared to have been faster compared to those ones.

    For instance, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in an explanatory note, said the approval of the divestment deal between Oando and NAOC followed due process and was done in compliance with existing regulations.

    As for the divestment by Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) to Seplat Energy Offshore Limited (Seplat), referenced by Atiku, the statement noted that it was undergoing the same consent approval process and is expected to be completed within the 120-day timeline provided by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

    “It is worth pointing out that NNPC’s right to pre-emption and consent under the NNPCL/MPNU Joint Venture Joint Operating Agreement was the subject of Suit No: FCT/HC/BW/173/2022 NNPC versus Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Mobil Development Nigeria Inc., Mobil Exploration Nigeria Inc. and NUPRC,” it added.

    On OVH, the NNPC sought to push back on allegations by Atiku that the president as well as Wale Tinubu had underhand dealings in the national oil company’s acquisition of OVH.

    Contrary to the “false alarm” raised, the NNPC stated that neither Wale Tinubu nor the president has any interest in the OVH acquisition, stressing that the process of renaming OVH NNPC Retail after its acquisition was ongoing.

    As it is today, the post-merger renaming had been completed, meaning that  OVH Energy Marketing Limited is now NNPC Retail Limited and  this has been accepted by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

    Indeed, it is only those who do not know Wale Tinubu well that will insinuate that he will push to get anything done on a platter. That would be very much unlike him.

    Wale has never been a pushover. From all available pointers, Bola Tinubu was not the president when Wale acquired those aforementioned assets spanning decades.

    Many can still remember Mofe Boyo alongside Jite Okoloko who along with Wale Tinubu birthed what has today become the energy sector behemoth to beat. These three musketeers became the poster boys of the privatisation programme then.

    Wale started early school in Nigeria before proceeding to University of Liverpool, England for his tertiary studies where he earned a bachelor’s degree in law (LLB). Subsequently, he went to the London School of Economics where he bagged a master’s degree (LLM) specialising in International Business Law in 1989 and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1990.

    He began his career in 1990 as a legal practitioner and later achieved a track record as a serial energy entrepreneur with a proven reputation in building energy companies and institutions.

    An astute business leader, and a visionary with a track record of having raised over $4 billion from international financiers for various growth, acquisitions, and development projects. He sits on the board of various companies.

    In 1993, he co-founded Ocean & Oil Group leading its growth from an oil trading and shipping company to a fully diversified Oil & Gas Company. In 2000, Ocean & Oil acquired a controlling interest in Unipetrol PLC and two years later, he led the largest ever acquisition of a quoted Nigerian company, with Unipetrol PLC’s purchase of Agip Nig PLC, thereafter rebranded as Oando.

    He is globally recognised for the successful transformation of Oando from a petroleum marketing company to sub-Saharan Africa’s foremost integrated energy group.

    Under his leadership, Oando Marketing became the nation’s leading distributor of petroleum products with a network of over 130,000MT tank storage capacity and over 400 retail outlets.

    He also pioneered the construction of a state-of the art mid-stream jetty designed to eliminate operational inefficiencies in petroleum product importation, resulting in millions of dollars cost savings for the industry.

     For Oando Gas and Power, he developed the nation’s foremost natural gas distribution company with circa 300km of gas pipelines delivering cleaner energy to over 150 commercial customers in Lagos, Calabar and Port-Harcourt.

     In 2014, he completed the $1.8 billion landmark acquisition of Conoco Phillips  Nigerian businesses, fortifying the company’s as one of the largest indigenous oil & gas companies in Nigeria.

    Today, OER has interests in 15 licenses with extensive infrastructure across the Niger Delta & West Africa in addition to being a strategic national gas supplier as it is the 2nd largest gas supplier to the LNG and the domestic market as well as being a dominant power supplier to the nation via its Okpai Power Plant Phase 1 & 2.

    • Obiora is a Lagos-based public affairs commentator

  • Hope confiscated or a promise deferred? Redeeming the time in the Niger Delta

    Hope confiscated or a promise deferred? Redeeming the time in the Niger Delta

    By Daniel Iworiso-Markson

    Nothing puts in more stark relief the squandering of Nigeria’s fortunes than the state of development of other oil-endowed climes like the Gulf states vis-a-vis the utter despoilation of our oil-rich Niger Delta. Why couldn’t  the Niger Delta be developed like Dubai, which in the space of two decades,and before our very eyes, grew from an unremarkable fishing town to the Middle East’s business, tourism and culture epicentre?

    In one of his many published articles, Brandon Bekker, while on a sabbatical in Dubai wrote a piece he titled ‘A Dream in the Desert: The Man Who Built Dubai’, where he said, “If ever there was an example of a high growth, high performance city, Dubai would certainly be it.

    “What’s even more impressive about the meteoric growth of Dubai is the role that one man played in developing the ideas, strategies and teams that fuelled it. I greatly admire Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, prime minister and constitutional monarch of Dubai, and reading his book My Vision: Challenges in the Race for Excellence reminded me exactly what I love about his style of leadership.”

    The challenge of today’s Niger Delta, not to talk of the larger Nigerian polity is that we have been bereft of leaders like Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Truth is the development or advancement of any state or nation is a function of her leadership. According to John Maxwell, author of over 70 leadership books, everything rises and falls on leadership.

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    The success story of Dubai today revolved around the vision and uncommon leadership of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The same can be said of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew. It was clear that both the  Sheikh and Lee Kuan Yew were not just men of enormous vision, but they possessed the unique ability to be single-minded in the execution of their vision.

    To build the Niger Delta of our dream will require a similar single-minded deliberation and effort. The first place to start is to identify and be deliberate about the choice of leaders we put in positions of leadership for if the truth be told bad and corrupt leadership is at the heart of our region’s underdevelopment. If the Niger Delta must develop, then it is imperative that we elect the right set of leaders and buck the national predilection to enthrone mediocrity. For too long it  appeared as if  only the worst amongst us  found their way to power  by hook or by crook.

    The right leaders would of necessity prioritize basic development, focusing poverty alleviation, primary healthcare and education. If you move around the Niger Delta today you will be shocked to find out that our people still lack the very basic amenities. There are many communities still without portable drinking water or a primary health clinic. Whilst it is good to build  roads and bridges to link communities and promote social and economic intercourse,  it is equally important to attend to the very basic needs of clean water supply and basic health facilities. 

    Leaders in the Niger Delta should be intentional about assisting the common people with resources to meet their basic needs. Your good roads and bridges mean nothing if the people are wallowing in abject poverty, unable to appreciably pursue a means of livelihood that will enable them live in dignity.It means nothing if the children are roaming the streets instead of having them in the school classrooms and learning. It means absolutely nothing if the bulk of your youth population are not gainfully employed or empowered and armed with the requisite skills to fend for themselves.

    Sadly, the derelict situation of the denizens of the Niger Delta reflects the national condition such that  Nigeria today teeters on a dangerous precipice fuelled by widespread discontent and instability.

    For us in the Niger Delta, our future and prosperity now lies in our ability to look beyond oil, a depleting asset that has inflicted more pain than gain. The magnitude of the damage to our environment and the attendant effects on the lives and health of our people by oil exploitation is still to be fully appreciated.

    Rather than wasting time in lamenting this baleful legacy, we must focus our energy on harnessing available resources to actualize our goals of create a strong regional economy through economic cooperation and integration. This was the aim that undergirded  BRACE ( acronym for the states that make up the Niger Delta) Commission. It is sad to say that the governors of the six South-South states today have not moved the needle as far as BRACE is concerned. What is clear from where I stand is that some of our governors are busy politicking and are more concerned about their hold on power than be bothered by any vision  to transform the Niger Delta and positively affect the material conditions of the  people.

    With the future of oil and even natural gas fast receding into the past as a result of climate change driving the development of alternative energy sources, we cannot afford to waste any more time.

    I strongly believe the Niger Delta can still be made to emulate Dubai’s  development model if our leaders would embrace the vision of looking beyond the self and take the necessary steps. Many years ago, Qatar sought to emulate the development template of Dubai and today that effort has paid off. Qatar today is fast overtaking Dubai as the number one business and tourism destination in the Middle East. I believe If it worked for Qatar, it can also work for us in the Niger Delta. All that is required are men of vision to arise, give the people a new hope and provide selfless leadership and example.

    Reflection on the squandered opportunity to develop the region and the imperative to do something about it rather than indulge in lamentation and hand-wringing informed our decision to mark the fourth anniversary of our online newspaper, FIRST NEWS, by organizing a public lecture with the theme “Building the Niger Delta of Our Dream: With or Without Oil”. It is scheduled to hold in Port Harcourt on the 4th of October 2024 at the Atlantic Hall of Hotel Presidential. Billed to speak at the event are some of the engaged figures on the challenge of development in the region and beyond. They will engage our audience in meaningful conversation and dialogue that will stimulate new ideas and solutions on the way forward to fast track the region’s development.

     It bears restating:there can be no better time than now for us to rethink the future of the region, casting our minds back to the time when we were a thriving economy, long before the discovery of oil in Oloibiri in 1956. That was when  the white man came with his oily business. Then, our people were bemused by his preoccupation with the  oil and allowed him to exploit our land rather mercilessly. Now he has sucked out the black gold  and has left our land badly degraded and despoiled, leaving whatever is left to  their local interlopers. Now they have put a knife (guns) in the hands of warlords in the name of pipeline surveillance contract, in another phase of exploitation and despoilation of our land and its resources.

    Indeed it is worth recalling that before the discovery of the oil at Oloibiri the Niger Delta occupied a  most fertile land suitable for the cultivation of crops such as yam,cassava, palm kernels and rubber while the availability of water bodies made for aquaculture particularly fish farming . Agriculture was the mainstay of our region’s economy back then and we grew our crops both for local consumption and exports. The region was a major exporter of rubber, timber, and palm oil and palm kernels via the Niger delta ports of Burutu, Forcados, Koko, Sapele, and Warri. Today, all that has gone with the wind.  Warri and other ports in the Niger Delta are now looking like grave yards. The only gainful ( some would say ungainful) employment in the Niger Delta today is either to be a card carrying politician or a brief case toting oil and gas contractor. Agriculture has been relegated to the background. With the people economically marginalized little wonder one  report indicates that 73% of the population are multidimensionally poor in the Niger Delta. Some states in the region had the largest percentage of people in the country living below the poverty line as of that 2023 report.

    The situation demands clarity of vision and spirited engagement by a new generation of leaders to turn the tide.

    The challenge is urgent. The time to act is NOW!

    • Iworiso-Markson, PhD is Publisher of First News

  • Kaduna smart city: Perspective on foreign investment flow under Governor Sani

    Kaduna smart city: Perspective on foreign investment flow under Governor Sani

    By James Adamu

    Many Nigerians who have been observing governance in Kaduna since May 2023, when Governor Uba Sani took the reins of power, can attest to his undiluted passion for the overall wellbeing of the state, particularly the socio-economic prosperity of the people of the state.

    He adopted a multi-sectoral approach to development, considering the urgent, peculiar needs of the people, especially the insecurity and ethno-religious crises that have widened the development gap in the state. Looking inward, the governor who fought for the rights of the people for many years as a human rights campaigner, believes that people must be at the centre of government decisions.  So, Kaduna State people are actively engaged in the development process through regular consultations with stakeholders using different fora, including town hall meetings.

    Both foreign and local investments in the critical sector is a major pillar of his government. Last year, the governor in partnership with the Office of Vocational Training and Employment Promotion, Morocco, and the NBTE, initiated the construction of the Kaduna State Vocational and Technology Skills City in Igabi. The centre which would produce skilled artisans in mechatronics, welding and fabrication, ICT, plumbing, and automobile engineering, among others, would be replicated in the other senatorial zones.

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    Likewise, he initiated the construction of a $50 million soya bean oil refining plant owned by Sunagrow International Oil Ltd and located in Kutungare, Igabi Local Government Area, with an expected production capacity of 500,000 litres per day.

    On the background of the governor’s antecedence, the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Kaduna State Government and Huawei Technologies Company in faraway China, will obviously produce tangible results.

    The governor of the State, Uba Sani, signed on behalf of the state in the presence of Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu, GCFR, governors, ministers and other senior government functionaries who had joined the delegation to China.

    The project is a partnership on Kaduna Smart City Project that will further enhance  the socio-economic and security infrastructure of the state. Succinctly, it is geared towards “ enhancing security, efficiency and transparency in public service, competitiveness, city management, and attracting talents and investments. The ultimate goal is the establishment of a safer and smarter Kaduna State”, the governor revealed in a statement.

    Giving more details on the project, the governor said: “ As the strategic partner of the Kaduna State Government, Huawei will provide comprehensive leading solutions and professional technical support for Kaduna State in the following areas: (i) State-Level Unified Command Center (ii) Enhanced Security (iii) Intelligent Traffic System (iv) E-Government and Office Automation (v) Smart Education (vi) Smart Healthcare (vii) ICT Talent (viii) Renewable Energy, and (ix) Public Transportation

    “Today’s ceremony demonstrates our solid commitment to the effective and efficient use of digital and telecommunications technologies to improve Kaduna State for the benefit of our citizens and businesses. Our Administration recognizes the strategic place of ICT in driving economic growth and improving the lives of citizens. The Kaduna State Directorate of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) has been playing a crucial role in implementing various key ICT services, e-Government solutions, and digital economy initiatives.

    “We have ramped up the implementation of our “Bridging the Last Mile Initiative 2024 – 2027.” This initiative aims at increasing and achieving digital inclusion in Kaduna State. We want to ensure that our people effectively utilize digital tools to enhance their businesses and livelihoods. I signed into law a Bill to Make Provisions for the Development of Tech-Enabled Start- Ups in Kaduna State, and Other Related Matters, 2023. The key objective of the Law is to position Kaduna State’s startups ecosystem as the leading digital technology center in Nigeria having excellent innovators with cutting edge skills and exportable capacity”.

    The China landmark pact is in furtherance of the ongoing local economic reforms and activities that will ensure that the state witnesses real development across all sectors.  The governor had aggregated the needs of the people and set implementation in process on the ultimate goal of transforming the state.

    The well-thought interventions that are addressing the real and urgent concerns of the people. One of them is the intervention of the governor on the popular Pantakers market in Kaduna State. It is the hub of skilled workers in the informal sector. Artisans like painter, electrician, plumber and the rest are in their number in the state. To harness the huge potential of the enterprising youths, who form the largest percentage of the skilled workers in the market, the government of Kaduna set out on an ambitious plan of remodelling the market to become a skill incubation centre for upskilling, in line with global development trend.

    For the people to also own the process and the project, the governor initiated a joint venture between Kaduna State Government and the Old Panteka Market Development Association (OPMDA). The governor said, while the market association will develop the shops, the government  “will construct a clinic, fire station, outdoor public toilets, incinerators, two transformers, security posts, places of worship, and ICT Center”.

    ,“The state government will construct a clinic, fire station, outdoor public toilets, incinerators, two transformers, security posts, places of worship, and ICT Center in the remodelled market located in Tudun Wada, Kaduna,” said Governor Uba Sani.  “The Old Panteka Market Development Association (OPMDA) will handle the construction of shops.

    “When completed, the market will be a major centre for skills acquisition and creation of thousands of jobs. It will be the biggest technology hub in Northern Nigeria. It will contribute to our economic revitalization drive. Youths will be trained in carpentry, welding, painting, roofing, plumbing, electrical work and other trades”, the governor added.

    The state government, in partnership with the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), had also completed plans to make the trained artisans globally competitive through certification of the Nigerian Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF), which enhances their prospects of getting jobs locally and abroad.

    The market is reputed to be the largest informal tech market in Africa, with about 38,000 artisans and apprentices receiving training in different skills at the market.

     The Executive Secretary National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Bugaje, noted that, “Panteka is a heritage site with a vibrant history linked to the building of the city of Kaduna, the former capital of the Northern Region. Panteka is now a brand, well respected across the nation and even in many ECOWAS countries. Panteka has finally become an institution. The transformation of Panteka at this time is very appropriate.

    “Therefore, notwithstanding the MoU with Kaduna Polytechnic, Panteka has now been granted, by the NBTE, the status of a full-fledged Training Centre. We hope they will apply the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) to get more of their apprentices certified”.

    These are the local  human capital that will drive the process, through backward integration. Aside from the socio-economic and security benefits the state will get, there is also technology transfer to the locals who will go on to enhance the growth prospects of the state.

    • Adamu writes from Kaduna

  • NNPC Ltd and challenges in the oil sector: Banire misconceives the facts, promotes biased views

    NNPC Ltd and challenges in the oil sector: Banire misconceives the facts, promotes biased views

    By Olufemi Soneye

    In the face of the challenges in the oil sector, particularly the current tightness in the supply of petrol, it has become fashionable to blame the national oil company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPC Ltd), for everything. Last week, it was Prof. Pat Utomi who railed and fumed at the NNPC Ltd calling it one of the most opaque and unreliable companies in the world. Before then, The Punch had published an editorial in which it described the NNPC Ltd as a danger to Nigeria. The latest of these vitriolic attacks is by Dr. Muiz Banire, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and former Commissioner of Transport and Environment, Lagos State, who contended in his column in The Sun that NNPC Ltd is the black hole of Nigeria.

    Considering all that is going on in the petroleum sector, it would appear justifiable to call out the NNPC Ltd as some people have been doing in recent times. But most of the diatribes have been based on sentiments that are not rooted in facts. Railing at the NNPC Ltd without a thorough understanding of the issues that threw up the current challenges in the oil sector, as most of the commentators have been doing, will yield no good for the country. At this critical intersection, the task for all well-meaning Nigerians should be how to find lasting solutions to the mischiefs in the oil sector and not to look for scapegoats, as Dr. Banire has done.

    According to Banire, Nigeria has been experiencing fuel scarcity since 1973 on the back of fuel subsidy and the NNPC Ltd is responsible for it. The assertion that the NNPC is responsible for this state of affairs is moot. The policy of fuel subsidy is not the preserve of the NNPC. Various administrations over the years have thought it wise to subsidize the cost of petroleum products for citizens. They came up with different methods of doing that. The role of NNPC Ltd has been to implement the policy as decided by government. At a point when the various administrations felt that the fuel subsidy policy had become a burden that should be done away with, they made it known. NNPC Ltd, as the national oil company, implemented it. This was the case in 2012 when the nation went up in protest against the decision of government to remove fuel subsidy. The same scenario repeated itself in 2019 when the then administration came up with the policy to remove fuel subsidy. NNPC Ltd is neither responsible for the policy of fuel subsidy or its removal.

    It is very unfortunate that Dr Banire would descend to the level of castigating the NNPC Ltd for the fuel subsidy debacle that has plagued Nigeria and on the basis of that label the Company that has over the years patriotically borne the brunt of the fuel subsidy policy as a black hole. His analysis fails to take into consideration the huge challenges of products smuggling, pipeline vandalism, and crude oil theft that the company contends with daily, and in spite of which it manages to keep the nation going with crude oil production and fuel supply.

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    Barely three months after the Federal Government announced the removal of fuel subsidy, it became difficult for both major and independent petroleum products marketers to import petrol because of the foreign exchange policy. They could not source forex to continue to bring in petrol. Since then, NNPC Ltd has been importing the product and selling at almost half price in keeping with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) which designates it as the fuel supplier of last resort. Yes, there have been supply hiccups here and there because of the financial constraints imposed by the transaction. Just imagine the hardship the nation would have suffered if NNPC Ltd was not there to play the role of supplier of last resort! NNPC Ltd is the reason Nigerians continue to enjoy lower pump price for petrol than they would ordinarily pay for the product. How then does such a company become a black hole?

    For Banire, NNPC Ltd is responsible for everything that is wrong in the oil sector. He even blames smuggling and the unauthorized sale of petroleum products to street urchins who in turn trade it in the black market in jerrycans on the NNPC Ltd. But does he have evidence that the unpatriotic marketers who divert petroleum products meant for local consumption to neighbouring countries are staff members or representatives of the NNPC Ltd? Does he have any shred of evidence that the boys who sell fuel in the black market in jerrycans source their products from NNPC Retail Ltd.’s stations? The least one would expect from a lawyer of Banire’s standing is a fact-based and not speculative commentary.

    The NNPC Ltd has turned a corner since 2018 when it began to prepare for the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act, which was eventually passed into law in 2021. Apart from deepening its commitment to accountability and transparency by regularly publishing its audited annual financial statements, it has become a profitable company with undisputable growth trajectory. It recorded an unprecedented N3.29 trillion profit in its recently released 2023 audited financial report. But this fact is conveniently lost on Dr. Banire who insists that he has not seen any difference between NNPC as corporation and the commercially focused NNPC Ltd that was incorporated in 2021. Fortunately, it does not take Banire to see or believe that NNPC Ltd, as presently constituted, has broken away from its debilitating past for it to be true. He is at home with the legal maxim: “Res Ipsa Loquitur”, meaning the facts speak for themselves.

    While one cannot dissuade people like Dr. Banire from criticizing the NNPC Ltd, they must refrain from standing facts on their heads all because they want to be populist or be in the good books of the public. Besides, the Banires of this world should also not be intentionally mischievous in their assertion that the NNPC Limited is exercising an overbearing influence on the regulators.  One expects that given the level of their educational accomplishments, they should have the capacity to research very well into the subject matters of their editorial interventions so that they do not argue, assert and progress in error(s). In the corollary, it is either Banire is mischievous or ignorant about the assertion he made in his write-up that the NNPC influences the NUPRC and the NMDPRA who are the two independent regulators.  If he lacks a clear knowledge  of the workings of the sector, he should be humble enough to seek clarifications so he could be well informed.  NNPC Limited is an operator-with a number of refineries under its purview.  The Port Harcourt refinery will soon take off. As a matter of fact, the refineries under the NNPC are operators and are therefore subject to the regulatory framework and regulations set out by the NMDPRA.  The operator(s) cannot, therefore, exercise overbearing influence on the regulators. This is commonsensically impossible. Pure and simple.

    •Soneye, is the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the NNPC Ltd

  • A golden jubilee dedicated to Owan and Akoko Edo alliance

    A golden jubilee dedicated to Owan and Akoko Edo alliance

    By Sunny Ifijen

    Beloveth, as I celebrate my 50th birthday, thanking God for my humble beginning, amidst the ambience of family, complexities of business, innuendos of politics, lustre of aith, transience of luxury, effervescent of knowledge, committee of friends and my benevolence of mentors. Indeed, it has been a sojourn of moments, milestones and memories, yet the mission still unaccomplished.

    Irrespective of our individual fulfillment, according Prof. P.L.O.Molumba of Kenyan, “You have not succeeded if you do not have a succeeding successor.” This is my perspective of the unsuccessful leaders of Owan and Akoko-Edo extract.

    My attainment of golden jubilee is an opportunity to reflect not only on my life and adventures, but to re-echo the need for Akoko-Edo and  Owan people to reflect deeper in their shared fate of marginalization which seem pathological under the Afemai bond.

    Due to the myopic selfishness of most Akoko-Edo and Owan leaders, we have been manipulated in a slave-master bond called Afemai.

    Ironically, the current fate of Akoko-Edo and Owan is contrary to the 2004 founders brotherhood between Justice Ohiwere, Alhaji Kassim Momoh, Chief Charles Lawani, Chief Arogundade, and other Edo-North elites which was aimed at enhancing the development of human and infrastructure within Akoko-Edo, Owan and Etsako. 

    But from 2008, the Afemai romance became a pathological rape of the destinies of Owan and Akoko-Edo for a inordinate Etsako agenda which crescendoed in 2023 when the immediate-past Governor(Adams Oshiomole) un-Afemaily  grab the Edo-North Senate seat from his own Etsako brother (Senator Francis Alimikhena) who had spent eight years, in addition to the earlier eight years of Senator Kassim Oyofo).

    It’s noteworthy that Oshiomole became Senator at a time where the Etsakos had an incumbent Deputy-Governor, Minister, Ambassador, Grade ‘A’  as well as board members. This is aside the infrastructural development the area have witnessed without fair recourse to the Afemai bond.  

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    Oh! the sting of death on Alhaji Inu Umoru and Barr. Samson Ekhabafe, was a monumental blow on the deserved hopes of Owan and Akoko-Edo in the Afemai Union;  wherein the position of Senator(our collective heritage) suppose to be rotational by principle, as well as justifiable and equitable spread of human and infrastructural development within the Afemai tripod (which is coincidentally three Federal Constituencies).

     Legendary Bob Marley said “You can fool see people sometimes but you can not fool ALL the People, ALL the time.”  With our array of prominent royal fathers, religious leaders, renowned intellectuals, professional gladiators, business moguls, astute diplomats, and a thriving population that have become a decisive factor in Edo equation, yet it took the benevolence of non-Afemai persons to make Owan and Akoko-Edo become Speaker and Deputy-Governor respectively.

    Indeed, it is a divine new era where we must re-define the Afemai accord. Otherwise, we will begin to denounce Afemai and just maintain our geographical nomenclature as”EDO-NORTH.

    Behold, this struggle goes beyond Comrade Sunny Ifijen, Hon.Omeiza Ogumah, Elder Edgar Freeman, Elder Ozamaye, Rev.Uadia,Elder Erimekena, Engr.Ayo Olowojoba, and others behind the screen.

    It is a generational vision for every progressive Akoko-Edo and Owan Indigenes to propagate across politics, religion, traditional institutions, academia, social groups, civil societies, etc.  

    So far, this ALLIANCE appreciates the developmental trajectory of Dr. Earnest Afolabi Umakhihe. His dogged first-time guber ambition was gallant-lustre semblance of Prof. Ihonbvere’s unrivaled 2007 governorship campaign of “NA HIM BE DIS.”

    This ALLIANCE is proud of Speaker Blessing Agbebaku who in the face of political pressure to betray Akoko-Edo, stood for posterity to give Akoko-Edo the 1st Deputy-Governor,  Engr. Marvelous Omobayo (our son in whom Akoko-Edo is highly pleased).

    Meanwhile, as I thank GOD, family and friends for their birthday gifts, yet a lifetime birthday gift will be to see a UNITY OF PURPOSE meeting organized by any of Excellency Rev. Peter Obadan, Senators Domingo Obende /Yisa Braimoh, Hon. Pally Iriase, Hon. Peter Akpatason, Hon. Abdul Oroh, Hon. Johnson Agbolagba, Otunba Oladele Balogun, Hon. Kabiru Adjoto, IGP Solomon Ariase (rtd), General Areinde rtd, C.P. Dawodu rtd, Mr. Uwaseru, Arumemi Johnson of Arik Air, etc. May they not fail the unborn generations of Akoko-Edo and Owan extraction.

    Let me appreciate supporters and  beneficiaries of the OWAN and AKOKO-EDO ALLIANCE who have stood firmly with us since 2022.

    We appreciate those in diaspora for understanding the plight of Owan and Akoko-Edo people. Our Unity of Purpose is the only bargaining power we must explore, 2023 was a test-run, 2024 will be Louder, 2027 will be decisive.

    On a final note, I wish to specifically appreciate Governor Godwin Obaseki whose tenure have been most magnificent to our people.

    With two sons of Owan and Akoko-Edo occupying sensitive positions in his administration, in addition to the appreciable development in the area, I can only say thank you to the wake and see Governor for remembering Owan and Akoko-Edo after such a lengthy period of political marginalization.

    •Ifijen is the convener Owan and Akoko Edo alliance

  • NNPCL’s full disclosure and necessity of disciplined lifestyle

    NNPCL’s full disclosure and necessity of disciplined lifestyle

    By Akpata Alao

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on Sunday, September 1, admitted that the debts owed international oil traders are a major factor in the ongoing fuel scarcity across the country.

    In a statement released by its spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, the NNPCL confirmed that the fuel supply disruption was caused by outstanding debt obligations to international oil traders.

    Though NNPCL did not reveal the exact amount owed to these oil traders, it is pertinent to state that the national oil company has demonstrated a high level of moral obligation by subscribing to the principle of full disclosure in its dealings with Nigerians. Nothing could be more heartwarming than establishing the fact that Nigerians deserve to know what is going on. And, for this singular act, the management and staff of NNPCL deserves commendation.

    Whatever the amount the NNPCL is owing suppliers, whether $6.8 billion as has been speculated in some quarters or less, the point to note is that the company has been finding ways to ensure that petroleum products are made available to Nigerians at all costs. Again, the NNPCL deserves applause for this commitment.

    Call it whatever name, subsidy or under recovery or anything, it is now apparent that somebody has been bearing the burnt of the availability of fuel for Nigerians consumption. 

    Soneye in the statement said: “NNPC Ltd has acknowledged recent reports in national newspapers regarding the company’s significant debt to petrol suppliers. This financial strain has placed considerable pressure on the Company and poses a threat to the sustainability of fuel supply.

    “In line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), NNPC Ltd remains dedicated to its role as the supplier of last resort, ensuring national energy security. We are actively collaborating with relevant government agencies and other stakeholders to maintain a consistent supply of petroleum products nationwide,” Soneye said. 

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    What this means  in a layman’s language is that the NNPCL may no longer be able to maintain the fixed price of petrol following the removal of the subsidy on May 29, 2023. Besides, the NNPC has indicated that it will or is seeking financial relief from the federal government, hinting that the company might rely on government intervention, though not necessarily a return to subsidy regime, to navigate this financial crisis.

    Though the return of subsidy has been a topic of intense speculation in the polity NNPCL has yet to confirm the reintroduction of the subsidy. That the statement clearly hinted that it will rely on the government does not in any way suggest that it is pushing for the reintroduction of the subsidy regime. Yet, it is fully granted that the federal government may need to step in to help settle some of the company’s obligations to international oil traders.

    The direct implications of the recent development is that Nigerians are now face to face with reality. The days of escapism or viewing everything with rose tinted glasses are gone.

    For too long many have engaged in fantasy, parading a lifestyle that is clearly unsustainable under present global economic reality. It is time to deal with the hedonistic attitude that prioritizes extravagance above and beyond prudent living.

    Here are some ways through which Nigerians can deal with the new reality and cut down on our lifestyle:

    Car-pooling: This allows you to share fuel cost with other people who are going in the same direction. It can be a great way to save money, especially if you have a long route to commute and need to take several buses before you get to your destination. With the now obvious increased fuel prices, car-pooling becomes an effective solution to share attendant commuting expenses. Coordinate with friends, neighbours, or colleagues with similar routes and schedules and share the cost. It is also a great way to make new friends or network and  strengthen old bonds.

    Converting cars and generators to run on auto-gas: With the government’s push for autogas adoption in Nigeria, and has been championed by the NNPCL, converting your vehicles and generators to run on autogas like liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) can be a viable solution. Autogas is more cost-effective than traditional Premium Motor Spirit commonly called petrol and diesel fuels. It is more environmentally friendly.

    Many people are simply averse to the use of public transport systems. The simple reason is their personal comfort. The status of being called and addressed as a “Car Owner” and such mundane things. In other climes, the public transport system is more valued that the private/ personal transportation system. It is a very practical and effective way to deal with the fuel price increase. It is an option that saves you a significant amount you would have spent on fuel. Buses, tricycles, commonly known as keke, trains, and other forms of public transport are generally cheaper than individual car usage.

    Cutting down on social activities is yet another way to cope. It can be difficult to say no to friends when they invite us out or resist the urge to attend every social activity happening around us, but to adjust to the current reality, it is an unavailable thing to do.  Instead, you can plan indoor activities that do not require you to spend on fuel, like reading, baking, cooking with friends, etc or organise meetups closer to home. This will significantly minimise your fuel consumption and save you more money.

     Investing in inverters is a great investment, especially in a country like Nigeria, where electricity isn’t reliable, and fuel cost keeps increasing. They allow you to store electricity for a power outage, helping you cope with electricity supply fluctuations, reducing your dependency on generators and saving fuel costs. Although inverters are expensive, they can last up to 15 years.

    More important than anything else is the need to adjust your spending.  It is important to review and adjust your overall spending to deal with this fuel situation. Identify areas where you can reduce unnecessary expenses and prioritise essential needs. Budgeting and financial planning help individuals navigate challenging economic times like this.

    It is something to be worried about if a family of five, sufficiently rich to the point of having five cars to put all the five cars to be on the road everyday. The father, mother, and children going about with each car.

    It is arguable that the family has the means and so it could afford to put all the five cars on the road, but we must also see the flip side of the need for the family to demonstrate fiscal and social discipline.  To make it convenient for the supplier, there has to be a design that will make for a reduction in the lifestyle that many of us, have chosen over the years.

    The reality at hand therefore, calls for a radical review of personal and national lifestyles that will conform to the prevailing global economic situation as the government of the day moves painstakingly to address the harsh economic situation at hand.

    •Alao, a Sociologist and public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja.

  • Harvest of plaudits as Abiodun breaks 21-year jinx on Ewekoro Road

    Harvest of plaudits as Abiodun breaks 21-year jinx on Ewekoro Road

    By Kayode Akinmade

    Nigeria returned to civil rule in 1999 after decades of military dictatorship, but democracy didn’t always bring dividends. Ask the long-suffering people of Ewekoro, Ogun State, who for years watched their businesses ruined and many lives lost on the 70-kilometer Abeokuta-Ifo-Ota-Lagos Expressway. Governors came and promises were made, but the people saw no action on the road. Until recently, that is, when the current governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, dared the odds and persuaded a hitherto unbending Federal Government to let him reconstruct the road, a federal edifice, for the benefit of the long-suffering populace. And so when, on Friday, the Governor flagged off the construction of the road with a pledge to complete it in 18 months, his pronouncement was greeted with roaring applause.

    Adjudged as the second busiest road in Nigeria, the road, as Governor Abiodun himself noted on the occasion, connects Abeokuta and its hinterlands to Lagos State, and links Ilaro in Ogun West to Sagamu in Ogun East through the Sagamu-Interchange-Papalanto-Ilaro road. On the Ota side, it also connects the Sango-Atan-Owode-Idi-Iroko road, leading to border towns and the Benin Republic. The road, he said, “serves as a critical artery for numerous industrial hubs in Ota, including the Lafarge Cement Factory, Ile-Ise Awo, various schools, and higher institutions. The communities along this corridor are densely populated, and the road’s strategic location has a significant impact on trade and economic activities.”

    But as the Iyaloja (market women’s leader) of Ewekoro, Alhaja Busirat Ejire, said on the occasion, the road had been a blight even on royalty, as critics wondered loudly if the Olu of Itori, ruler of the community that the road literally cut off from the rest of the state, ever had the ears of the present governor reputed for spreading road projects across the state. Hear the excited market leader: “We thank you for the phenomenal work you are doing for us market women. We are daily praying for you and may the prayers be answered. This road is for us and the Olu of Itori. He received a lot of tongue-lashing because of this road. We market women suffered greatly on account of this road.” And the Olu of Itori, Oba Akorede Akamo, did not mince words: “I do tell people you are Mr talk and do, a silent achiever. For over 20 years, this road had been so bad. We have always prated that God should bring the person that will do this road. I knew from the day you came to Itori that you will be the one to do this road. I have used almost four governors, starting from Baba Osoba to OGD, Amosun and you. Why you sir? It is because you have been ordained for good things.”

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    The Olu and Iyaloja were speaking at the flagging-off ceremony attended by the governor and his deputy, Noimot Salako-Oyedele; the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Oludaisi Elemide; the chairman of the Ogun State All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Yemi Sanusi; a former deputy governor of the state, Alhaja Salimot Badru, and a retinue of federal and state lawmakers, including Senator Akin Odunsi, Hon. Abiodun Akinlade,, Hon Tunji Akin-Ose, Hon Yusuf Amosun and Hon Maroof Afolabi Afuwape. The Olu of Ilaro and chairman of the Ogun  State Council of Obas, HRH Kehinde Olugbenle, led royalty at the ceremony attended by members of the business community, students, market union and transport union chiefs.

    The Olu of Ilaro toed the line of the Olu of Itori. Hear him: “This road caused me palpitations for almost 12 years. God has attended to the things that caused us fear. I thank you on behalf of Nigerians; the people that ply this road. I thank the President too. This road is being salvaged during your tenure. Indeed, we are in a tenure of renewed hope. We were in a state of hopelessness. This is the only road that enters Yewaland. You have done what your predecessors over the years refused to do.”

    As Governor Abiodun himself noted on the occasion, the road is significant not only to Ogun State but also to Lagos State and the nation at large, as it provides a thoroughfare for people going to the neighbouring country. Hear him: “ I am glad to inform you that work is beginning on the road immediately. The excuse then was that there was a sitting contractor on the road. The best the state could do at that time was to carry out palliative works on the critical sections along the road axis. We re-opened our appeal to the Federal Government to reconstruct the road upon the inauguration of His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who graciously, through the Honourable Minister for Works, handed over the reconstruction of the road to Ogun State.”

    To fast-track the reconstruction of the road, Abiodun said, five reconstruction teams would be involved, and each team would handle one of the following zones: Ota/Ifo, Papalanto, Ewekoro/Itori, Abeokuta, and the team allocated for palliative works to ensure smooth traffic along the project alignment during the construction duration. “Each zone covers a distance of approximately 15 km. The Abeokuta/Ifo/Sango/Abule-Egba Road project is expected to be completed in eighteen months,” he said.

    Speaker after speaker appreciated the governor for redressing the people’s plight. A transport union chief, Taofeek Sokoya (Danku), told the governor: “It is for us that you have done this road. Currently, we take about five hours to get to Ota from Ita Osin. When this road is completed, it will only take 45 minutes.” The representative of the community development associations in the area, Comrade Oluseun Oke, could not hide his excitement. He said: “This road had given Ewekora a bad name for long. Whenever accidents happened, people would say it happened in such and such a place in Ewekoro. We thank God that all of that has become history.” The chairman of the state council of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Comrade Francis Adeyanju, enthused: “We don’t have much to say but to thank you. We want to assure you of our support always, because you have given us enough reasons to keep supporting you.”

    Also speaking on the occasion, the state APC chairman observed: “The total rehabilitation of this Abeokuta-Ota-Lagos road is a major dividend of democracy in this state.  People had been clamouring for the reconstruction of the road. With the flagging off of the reconstruction of this road, we must emphasise the immediate benefits. It will comfort our people, foster economic growth, create more jobs and make things easy for all commuters.”

    The representative of Craneburg, the construction company handling the project, Edmond Maalu, thanked Governor Abiodun for trusting the company with the iconic and landmark project after it had proudly partnered with the state on some of its most laudable projects, including the Ijebu Ode-Epe project and the Agro-Cargo Airport. The significance of the project to the trade and commerce of Ogun State and Nigeria as a whole, he said, could not be overemphasized. He appealed for the support and understanding of commuters and stakeholders in the months ahead, adding: “We will liaise with the state  and federal traffic agencies to ensure that the discomfort that may be experienced due to the lane restrictions and possible closures will be as limited as possible. We also assure of our commitment to giving employment opportunities to both skilled and unskilled workers within these communities as well as creating opportunities for small businesses in the course of our activities.”

    Going by his track record, the people know that Governor Abiodun will keep his word. As the state Commissioner for works, Ade Akinsanya, said on the occasion: “The state government will ensure the timely completion of the road for the benefit of commuters and residents of Ogun State, Lagos and the entire country in general.”

    Akinmade is Special Adviser on Media and Strategy to Governor Dapo Abiodun

  • CHI wins big at Africa’s brands awards

    CHI wins big at Africa’s brands awards

    Chivita|Hollandia (CHI Limited), manufacturer of fruit juices, dairy and snacks, has won top honours at Africa’s Most Admired Brands Awards at Civic Centre in Lagos.

    Chivita 100% won Most Admired Natural Juice, lauded for its quality and fruit extract. Chivita Happy Hour is the Most Admired Children’s Drink Brand, while Hollandia Evaporated Milk won Most Admired Milk Brand of the Year.

    Marketing Director, Mrs. Toyin Nnodi, hailed the recognition, noting the awards reflect the company’s commitment to excellence in product quality and consumer satisfaction.

    The awards, organised by African Brands magazine, ‘‘inspire us to push the boundaries to meet consumer needs…” Nnodi said.

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    ‘‘Chivita 100% fruit juice exudes the essence of nature in its wholesome form, blending modernity with nature’s offerings. Chivita Happy Hour is a range of refreshing fruit drinks, while Hollandia Evaporated Milk provides a source of essential nutrients for daily nutritional needs.’’

    The success of CHI Limited at the awards, underscores its dedication to quality, innovation, and customer-centricity, with products that cater to evolving consumer preferences.