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  • NNPC embarks on recovery measures

    NNPC embarks on recovery measures

    For several years, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was an epitome of corruption as it was hardly accountable and transparent to tax payers. The new management is battling to address these issues, writes JOHN OFIKHENUA.

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) now churns out press releases almost every day on its activities; a departure from the past when the corporation’s operation was shrouded in secrecy. Previously, little or no news emanated from the information unit of the corporation, but now the unit is super-active.

    The NNPC made the security of pipeline the responsibility of private individuals for no justifiable reason other than outright shirking of the duty of the police and navy, but according to an analyst, the step was a measure to placate kinsmen and political allies. Now it is no more business as usual.

    Several years of alibi for why the country could not refine crude in its refineries, and undue dependence on imported fuel suddenly seems to be coming to an end as the refineries have become functional.

    The body language of the Presidency and the changes already made, point to how the corporation can flourish in the next four years. President Muhammadu Buhari’s first action to transforming the NNPC, was the removal of a near dormant Group Managing Director (GMD), Dr. Joseph Dawha. It was either the former NNPC boss was bereft of ideas about how to run the corporation or someone weighed him down, and made the office suffer neglect.

    But on August 3, Buhari  returned the corporation to the path of revival , competitiveness and profitability with the appointment of Dr, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu as the new NNPC and the retirement of eight Group Executive Directors ( GEDs) namely:  Mr. Bernard Otti, GED Finance and Accounts; Dr. Timothy Okon, Acting GED Exploration and Production, who also doubles as Coordinator, Corporate Planning & Strategy; Engr. Adebayo Ibirogba, Engineering and Technology; Dr. David Ige, Gas and Power; Ms. Aisha Abdurrahman, Commercial and Investment; Dr. Dan Efebo, Corporate Services; Engr. Ian Udoh, Refining & Petrochemicals; and Dr. Attahiru Yusuf, Business Development.

    Prior to their retirement, analysts were already clamouring that the Presidency should purge NNPC of all the players that have run it like a personal business. The populace was tired of the mystery that surrounded the operation of the corporation and the deluge of fraudulent allegations.

    The media were awash with various stories of mismanagement and corruption in the Corporation, which made the cleansing of the top echelon necessary.

    The Presidency in a one fell swoop pruned the directorates from eight to four. With the approval of the presidency four new GEDs and Chief Executive Officers were appointed for some of the NNPC subsidiaries. Those appointed were Dr. Maikanti Baru, Group Executive Director, Exploration & Production; Mr. Isiaka Abdulrazaq, Group Executive Director, Finance & Services; Engr. Dennis Nnamdi Ajulu, Group Executive Director, Refining & Technology; and Dr. Babatunde Victor Adeniran, Group Executive Director, Commercial & Investment.

    New Company Secretary/Legal Adviser and Managing Directors were also appointed for the Strategic Business Units (SBUs). They are Chidi Momah, Group General Manager, Company Secratarty & Legal Adviser; Mrs. Esther Nnamdi Ogbue, Managing Director, Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC); Engr. Chinedu Ezeribe, Managing Director, Warri Refinning & Petrochemicals Company (WRPC); Mr. Babatunde Bakare, Managing Director, Nigerian Gas Company (NGC); Mr. Inuwa Ibrahim Waya, Managing Director, Hyson; Mr. Abubakar Mai-Bornu, Managing Director, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC); and Mr. Ladipo Fagbola, Managing Director, NNPC Retail.

    Others are: Mr. Rowland Ewubare, Managing Director, Integrated Data Services Ltd (IDSL); Mr. Modupe Bammeke, Managing Director, NNPC Prpoerties; Mr. Abdulkadir Saidu, Managing Director, Duke Oil; and Mr. Dafe Sejebor, Group General Manager, Nigerian Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS).

    Besides his intimidating curriculum vitae, it was evident that Kachikwu’s job was already cut out for him with strident terms of reference. With his private sector background, he has started running the corporation with his eyes on profit for the benefit of the citizenry. His actions since assumption of office on August 4 have shown that he is ready to live long in the hearts of Nigerians. Critics, especially labour economists, may view the reduction of the Directorates from eight to four and the retirement of 38 top management staff as inimical to the economy, especially now that there is global economic downturn. But the GMD’s explanation is that he wants to reposition the NNPC. The new NNPC, according to him, should take a leap from its civil servant orientation to a business-driven entity. With this conception, he has employed 12 personnel from the private sector to jump-start a new business outlook to intensify operational space as a profit-driven business.

    The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ohi Alegbe clearly explained this in a statement saying: “the new appointments are in line with the Federal Government’s aspiration to transform the Corporation into a lean, efficient, business-focused, transparent and accountable national oil company in keeping with international best practices.”

    Besides, one thing, however, goes for him, his principal, President Buhari, is also bent on leaving indelible legacies in the country’s oil and gas sector. He has demystified the longstanding politics of turnaround maintenance without results without results. Surprisingly, NNPC on July 29 announced that the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries have been successfully re-streamed after a nine-month phased rehabilitation exercise conducted by its in-house engineers and technicians.

    The Corporation said with the successful re-streaming of the PHRC and WRPC attention has now moved to the 110, 000 barrels per day Kaduna Refining and Petrochemicals Company, which is billed to come on stream soon.”

    Kachikwu has also vowed that all Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) and Joint Venture Agreements and all other contracts between the NNPC and its various partners would be reviewed to reflect current day realities in the global oil and gas industry. The decision, according to him, is to put in place efficient, transparent and profit-oriented processes and not to embark on a mass retrenchment of the workforce.

    The Corporation has cancelled the current contract for supply of crude to Nigerian refineries due to exorbitant cost and inappropriate process of engagement and appointed NIDAS Marine Limited to handle the job in the interim. It also terminated the Offshore Processing Agreement (OPA), entered into with Duke Oil Company Inc., Aiteo Energy Resources Limited and Sahara Energy Resources Nigeria Limited and the process of engaging new contractors is ongoing.

  • The measures of my days

    The measures of my days

    Maj Gen. Geoffrey Obiaje Ejiga has written his autobiography which readers and researchers of Nigeria history will find to be profoundly interesting, provoking and rewarding. Gen. Ejiga was born the only son of his mother Ohigana and the 12th and last of his father Ede Ejeh.

    Ede named his Obiaje which translates to “holder or lord of the land” while Ejiga the man who played the role of a father of him named him Ogbole which translates to “watcher of Home or he who has come to take care of home”.

    The dominant trait early his life, when as a young student of Katsina Ala m Middle and Secondary School, was such a shinning light, that he played a leadership roles through his life in the college, culminating he becoming a house prefect in his two years of 1959 and 1960. Going to Katsina Ala wasn’t quite easy for then timid boy who had had his early years in the villages of Ipole and Okpafio and in the Methodist Central School, Adoka, Otukpo Local Government Area. Travelling from Adoka to Otukpo on his first journey to Katsina Ala, he had to be carried on a bicycle over a distance of some 36 miles. At Katsina Ala, he would have to cross River Katsina Ala in canoes and walked the last ten miles to reach the school. Life here was harsh. At a stage he toiled with running away back to his village. However, he persevered through the school before ending up in the military in 1961. At age of 39, was already a Maj. General in the Nigerian Army.

    The Army the Author joined was an army in the British tradition. The author also covered thoroughly the military in governance from Gen. Ironsi to Gen. Abubakar vividly analyzing all coups. This is one of the reasons the book must be read by anyone who wants to go though basic military drills discipline and the story of the Nigerian Army after the British had left up to end of military governance in 1999.

    Through the entire period of military coups from Ironsi to Gen. Abubakar, the author held to a principle that the career of a military officer should not be in politics but service to the nation as required by the oath of service on enlistment. Hence although he had the bitter experience of witnessing all the coups that occurred in the nation, he never shared in any spoils of successful coups. He remained on pure military postings throughout his career period.

    There was an irony. The first coup led by Nzeogwu passed through his nose without  knowing it. As the General Staff Officer 3 in the Brigade Headquarters commanded by Brigadier Ademolegun, the author has responsibility to receive requests for us of troops from units. Nzeogwu as the chief instructor Nigerian Military Training College (NMTC) requested for troops to use for exercise Damisa. The author assessed the request and recommended to Brigadier Ademologun who approved Nzeogwu used the troops for operation Damisa on the coup day to eliminate political and senior military commanders in Kaduna. The author covered the entire coup from the counter coup of 1966 which removed and killed Ironsi. The 1975 coup led by Col. Taiwo which out stead Gen. Gowon, the failed Dimka coup, the Buhari/Babangida coup of 1983 which outstead President Shagari. The Babangida coup of 1985 which outstead Gen. Buhari which the author described as the most relaxed coup he ever witnessed.

    At page 86 the author recalled the incident how he called off Lt. Col. Ojukwu’s bluff when Brigadier Ademulegun visited his 5th Battalion in Kano. About Gen. Murtala the author recalled that his command of 2 Division during the civil war was disastrous but yet he was not called to question. He vividly gave account of Onitsha River crossing, which turned out to be a disaster because of failure of the GOC and Division Staff Officers. The author was the Battalion Commander that first landed at Onitsha at 3am of the day. He corrected the misconceived stories spread in the Army that troops entered Onitsha and were engaged in looting hence the failure. The author at page 124 to 126 give reasons for the failure of the crossing which should be entirely placed on the GOC and his staff. About Gen. Obasanjo the author said he was often too lucky to the extent that some officers regarded him as an opportunist. For example, he came into the civil war at its tail and only for him to claim victory of federal forces in his book ‘My command’ similarly the ways and means he became head of state after Murtala’s death and his presidency in 1999 were opportunistic. About Gen. Gowon, the author said his administration was easily the best in the military era. About Gen. Danjuma, the author praised him and said he was the best chief of army staff (COAS) that the army has ever produced.

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    About his late wife, he said she was a wonderful wife. He reproduced his goodbye message to his wife at the funeral. The author indeed underscored the sorrow that tore through his heart. He is still devastated till today.

    In chapters thirteen, fourteen and fifteen the author described his roles in pioneering commands he established i.e. the Command and Staff College (CSC) and Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). He also spoke on his sojourns in retirement and politics. These are also a must read for military officers and civilians in public.

    The author talked about his great passion for the game of golf. He had built golf courses where ever he went. He built the Bagauda Lake Hotel, golf course for Audu Bako, the Jaji golf course when he was the Commandant of the College, the G.O.C of TRADOC and a personal one in Adoka in his village.

    In chapter sixteen the author reflected on life in the army and out. He noted the gradual rot, decadence and indiscipline that came into the army after the British had left. He said all these were brought about by rapid Nigerianization, first republic politicians, coups and military in governance.

  • Barrick hopes to score with new measures in Tanzania

    In the midst of a drastic cost-cutting campaign at its three Tanzanian mines, African Barrick Gold PLC paused to make room for a new priority: a soccer match.

    The subsidiary of Barrick Gold Corp. has been slashing costs and reducing jobs from top to bottom. But it made an exception in three areas: public relations, community relations and government relations. Those are the only departments where it is adding staff.

    Barrick Gold founder Peter Munk announced plans to step down from the company’s board

    Mr. Munk is perhaps best known for Barrick Gold Corp., a mining firm he founded in 1983. What started with a small stake in a Northern Ontario mine has evolved into the world’s largest gold producer.

    The new priorities are an admission of African Barrick’s need to rehabilitate its brand in Tanzania after years of protests and clashes between local villagers and police at its North Mara gold mine. Dozens of villagers have been killed or injured in clashes at the site in recent years, including another incident last month in which a man was killed and a policeman was injured.

    The soccer match between the company’s managers and local community leaders is an example of the company’s new strategy. “It would never have happened a couple of years ago,” Brad Gordon, the company’s new chief executive officer, said at the annual Mining Indaba conference of African mining investors on Tuesday.

    Mr. Gordon insisted that the company is “starting to get on top” of community issues at North Mara, where thousands of villagers routinely invade the mining site to grab pieces of waste rock where tiny bits of gold can be extracted.

    He said the company is developing an underground mine at North Mara, instead of expanding its pits. This could ease tensions by reducing the amount of land that the company needs to acquire from the local community, where 70,000 people live in close proximity to the mine.

    But the company’s biggest priority remains its cost-cutting drive. Its parent company, Barrick Gold, has cut or deferred billions of dollars in capital spending over the past year. African Barrick says it has identified $185-million (U.S.) in potential savings and was able to achieve about $100-million in cost reductions last year.

    Mr. Gordon said the company has cut its expatriate staff to about 300 from 550 and will keep cutting in the next two years. It is also scaling back its administrative offices, recruiting contractors who are “more efficient,” and even eliminating the position of chief operating officer to save money.

    African Barrick dominates the gold industry in Tanzania, producing more than 3 per cent of gross domestic product. With about 100,000 direct and indirect jobs in its mines, it is the country’s biggest private employer. But its costs have weighed heavily on Barrick Gold’s balance sheets in the past.

    Its biggest asset, the Bulyanhulu mine, is a world-class deposit that should be profitable, but is hampered by outdated facilities, Mr. Gordon said. “The first time I walked into Bulyanhulu, I thought it had been built in the 1960s, but it’s actually quite new.”

    He said the company is retaining psychologists and “cultural transformation” experts to improve its corporate leadership and employee relations at Bulyanhulu, and it will introduce a digital dispatch system to monitor its employees and underground activities.

    Mr. Gordon is not the only mining executive to be preoccupied with modernizing mines and rescuing reputations. Anglo American PLC, the huge London-based multinational that remains the biggest miner in southern Africa, has candidly admitted the challenges.”We continually feel under siege,” KhanyisileKweyama, the company’s executive director for South Africa, said in a speech to the mining conference. “We have to do far better at eliminating the things we do that damage our reputation.”

     

     

     

     

  • Women lack access to protection measures, says ILO

    A large majority of women lack access to quality maternal and infant health care and other maternity protection measures, Director-General, International Labour Organisation (ILO), Guy Ryder, has said.

    Ryder who stated this in a statement marking this year’s International Women’s Day, added that this challenge effectively penalises women fromtheir reproductive role, stressing that risks and opportunities for women often vary depending on their colour, religion, social origin, or skills levels.

    However, he said the situation is not all gloom as countries across the world continue to adopt policies that reduce discrimination against women. ”There has been notable progress in the area of national legislation with most countries having incorporated the principles of equality and non-discrimination.

    “Many governments have adopted active labour market policies to tackle discrimination against women and a growing number of employers’ and workers’ organisations are implementing initiatives on equal opportunity and treatment. A number of individual women have managed to advance and to break through the glass ceiling,” Ryder said.

    “Stubborn and often profound gaps persist. Progress in increasing women’s labour market participation has been uneven according to our 2014 Global Employment Trends Report.

    “He said occupational sex-segregation and gender pay gaps persist, adding women are over-represented in the informal economy, precarious work, and in low-paid jobs.” He listed South-East Asia and the Pacific, as areas were vulnerability in women unemployment was highest in 2013, climbing to as high as (63.1 per cent as compared to 56 per cent for men).

    In the formal economy, share of decision-making posts remains low notwithstanding the pool of talent.

    He said services to assist women and men in balancing work and family responsibilities – particularly state-funded and quality childcare are unavailable or inaccessible for many, adding that such care still largely falls on the shoulders of girls and women.

    Meanwhile, members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Women Commission, have called on the Federal Government to immediately end the killings in the northeast and the fuel scarcity in the country.

    The women activists who joined the rest of the world last Saturday to commemorate the 2014 International Women’s Day at the Labour House in Abuja, said women were the worst hit in times of social or economic crisis, adding that women will make representation to the Ministry of Women Affairs on the need to rise up against injustices against women.

    Chairperson of the NLC Women Commission, Lucy Offiong, said women are adversely affected by the killings because they are not only killed, but also abducted and turned to sex slaves.

    ”We are saddened by the spate of killings in our dear country, Nigeria, especially the recent dimension of targeting young people in schools and colleges.

    ”The recent killing of students in Yobe and the abduction of girls by the Boko Haram sect; as mothers, we are greatly disturbed and condemn in strong terms, such cruel, inhuman and senseless killings. We therefore call on the President to take immediate steps and put a final stop to these unwarranted killings,” Offiong said.

    The NLC President, Abdulwahed Omar, in his remarks, noted that the Federal Government may be plotting to privatise the downstream sector of the oil industry, hence the inexplicable fuel scarcity currently rocking the nation.

    However, he said the NLC will lead Nigerians against any such plot, considering the fact that Nigeria is a major producer of oil and does not have any business importing oil.

  • Fed Govt to sue IOCs over non-compliance with weights, measures

    Fed Govt to sue IOCs over non-compliance with weights, measures

    •Deploy monitoring devices to filling stations

    The Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment and its consultant, Nigerco (Nig) Limited, are set to drag the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the International Oil Companies (IOCs) to court this month for denying Weight and Measures staff access into their premises to inspect and ensure they comply with the Legal Metrology System Act of 2004.

    Chief Executive Secretary, Nigerco (Nig) Limited Chief Executive Officer, Yabagi Sani, disclosed this to our correspondent in Abuja at the weekend.

    He also said the activities of Weight and Measures and enforcement of the Legal Metrology System in Nigeria, will in this year save about N500billion that would have been lost to inaccurate measurements and illegal sales for the Federal Government.

    Consequently, he said the Federal Government is expected to raise N50billion as fees from the oil and gas sector this year.

    Most of the oil companies had last year refused to pay the N35billion fees for last quarter of 2012 to the government.

    He said to ascertain accurate sales at the petrol stations, Federal Government will within the first quarter of 2013 deploy bulk meters to petrol stations across the country.

    He said:”In the first place, we want the operators of the petrol stations to receive accurate quantity of what he has ordered. And the only way you can ensure that is when you have this bulk meters so that when the tanker driver brings the fuel to the petrol station, what it receives is what it has ordered.

    “We believe that will come in the interest of the petrol stations and the economy. I think the bulk meter will come within this first quarter. In the first quarter of this year, petrol stations will be under law to have bulk meters.”

    Sani said within the first quarter, his firm will deploy Independent Service Providers (ISPs).

    “They are going to man and monitor petrol stations all over the country. They are already being engaged. They are to supervise activities of petrol stations including monitoring devices in the petrol stations,” he said.

    He noted that there will be remote monitoring devices for the petrol stations.

    On non- compliance with weight and measures, he explained that the IOCs, which are the major players in the oil and gas sector have refused to allow staff of Weights and Measures access into their premises.

    He said: “One thing you must also understand is that Weight and Measures is about stopping criminality. It is a criminal offense for you to engage in inaccurate measurement. The law is about stopping criminality. So I don’t know how a criminal will determine how I enter into his premises. So, we will take serious position on this. If it means invoking the stiff penalty of the law, we are going to do that: including sealing terminals, taking people to courts and suing the CEOs of these companies to courts because that is what the law says.”

  • CAN to Jonathan: take drastic measures against sect

    CAN to Jonathan: take drastic measures against sect

    The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) yesterday advised President Goodluck Jonathan to adopt radical steps to conquer the new method of killing by the Boko Haram sect.

    CAN described killings in the North as ‘senseless and uncalled-for’.

    A communiqué issued in Abuja at the end of the meeting of the 19 Northern States and Abuja Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the 17 Southern States CAN held in Abuja and jointly signed by Chairman, 17 Southern States CAN, Primate Nicholas Okoh and Chairman, 19 Northern States and Abuja CAN, Archbishop Peter Jatau (Emeritus), said: “The meeting deliberated frankly and exhaustively on issues bordering on the state of the nation and CAN.

    “The meeting noted the advantages derivable from regular comparison of notes by the two chapters of CAN and resolved that a wider forum, comprising a cross-section of members of the two chapters would meet to discuss specific issues that concern the future of the Church in Nigeria . Accordingly, it called on all Christians, irrespective of their denominational persuasions, to unite and that the unity of Christians is most crucial at this time when the Church is undergoing major challenges that border on persecution.

    “However, the meeting urged President Jonathan to adopt drastic measures that are proactive to match the new tactics of the insurgents in order to halt the senseless killings of innocent Nigerians, especially Christians and the destruction of Churches in the northern part of the country.

    “It took a scrupulous look at the activities and pronouncements of the leadership of CAN and re-affirmed its confidence and support for the leadership under Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor (OFR). The meeting commended the President of CAN for the excellent job he is doing on behalf of Christians, giving the current challenges while also applauding his efforts at uniting all Christians in Nigeria through the five blocks. It encouraged the CAN President to continue on that path.

    “The meeting noted, with pleasure, President Goodluck Jonathan’s undertaking to deal decisively with the security challenges facing the nation and commended the Federal Government under his leadership for its management.

    “The meeting noted with a sense of satisfaction President Jonathan and his government’s humane and prompt management of the flood that ravaged most parts of Nigeria . While it thanked the President and his team for a job well done, the meeting called on the Federal Government to do all within its powers to ensure that the victims are assisted to regain their lives to enable them settle down to their various vocations. It feared that if the funds are not disbursed directly to the victims, they may be wasted on items the direct victims do not require. The meeting, therefore, called on the Federal Government to monitor the distribution of its financial assistance to avoid a hijack that may end up reducing what should accrue to the victims.

    “Present at the meeting were executive committee members of both chapters of CAN.”