RECENTLY, before the Senator Opeyemi Bamidele-led ad hoc committee on the alleged economic sabotage in the petroleum industry in Abuja, Mr. Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC Limited (NNPCL), regaled the public with tales of his good performance as GCEO. Acknowledging that the smuggling of Nigeria’s oil across the borders is real, the NNPCL boss denied any culpability in the matter. Hear him: “We all know what happens. Smuggling does take place. No one can deny that smuggling takes place across the borders both for PMS and any other products or commodities that you can think of. This is real, Mr. Chairman. When the details come, we will tell you what we know.” For good measure, the NNPC boss added that personnel of the company had nothing to do with the importation of substandard petroleum products into the country. As the GCEO of the company, Kyari averred, he had faced undue media attacks from certain persons who created the impression that the NNPCL was sabotaging the country’s economy. According to him, the company is “faithful and will not lie to the country.” He further said that the oil and gas sector was bleeding and that there were things he knew but could not talk about in public until the time.
Given Nigeria’s abundant crude oil resources, it is unfortunate that it is importing fuel at all. Nigeria’s political class evidently prefers keeping the refineries of other countries busy rather than getting Nigeria’s to actually work. The four refineries under the watch of the NNPCL are regrettably comatose, and their Turnaround Maintenance (TAM) contracts have serially been abused over the years, with billions of dollars literally flushed down the drain. Indeed, the so-called turnaround maintenance have virtually become turn around miseries. Yet Mr. Kyari, without remorse or even contrition, actually thinks that he deserves to be applauded for the rot he supervises at the NNPCL? Strange, we daresay. It is distressing that in the face of this economic sabotage, the fuel imported into Nigeria, and for which Nigerians have to pay through the nose, gets smuggled into the neighbouring countries, thus constituting double jeopardy for hardworking Nigerians.
The confidence with which the NNPCL GCEO addressed Nigerians, affirming that he and all those running the corporation had been above board and should even be commended for a good job, reflects the astounding lack of self-introspection by those privileged to serve the country at high levels, and who have performed woefully. The utter lack of remorse for woeful and atrocious performance is galling, to say the least. The NNPCL leadership has been presiding over the non-functionality of the four refineries in the country for years even after the commitment of trillions of naira to the so-called Turnaround Maintenance contracts. Date after date has been given for the refineries to roll out PMS, but the promises have been faker than a forged certificate. So, where is the sense of responsibility? Is it not because the country has had the misfortune of being saddled with the wrong people at the NNPCL and at the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) that there have been massive smuggling of Nigeria’s oil without anybody doing anything about it, with even those saddled with the responsibility of checking such atrocity publicly speaking of the same thing as if it is an achievement?
Are ordinary Nigerians the ones expected to combat smuggling? In any case, is it because of smuggling that all the refineries under Kyari have not been working for years? In spite of the utter shamelessness of people presiding horrendously over the patrimony of Nigeria, Nigerians know the truth and will, at the right time, demand accountability for the years of mismanagement and rot. Mr. Kyari can go on patting himself on the back for the ‘good job’ he claims to be doing at the NNPCL, but the facts on the ground speak only to negative outcomes for the so-called job and there will ultimately be a need for real accountability one way or the other. The people will certainly ask for remedies to their pain. Things are certainly not going to remain like this forever.
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