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By Muhammad Saleh Hassan

Since the perennial crisis over scarcity of petrol and hike in price hit an alarming proportion in the country, unconstructive criticisms have trailed the performance of the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari.

On Tuesday, August 3, the NNPCL announced fuel price increase to N897 per litre. With the new price regime, some petrol stations are selling at N950, N1,000, N1,200 especially in Abuja and Lagos.
Worryingly, black marketers hijacked the situation and are selling at outrageous prices of between N1,500 and N2,000 per liter.

The development sparked fury and protests by some aggrieved Nigerians in Abuja on Tuesday.

Scarcity of fuel and long queues if vehicles at fuel stations took a centre stage of the crisis across the nation as motorists and commuters have been battling with transportation challenges.

In the wake of the melancholy, some critics have been blaming Kyari for the development.

But it is quite obvious that he is not to blame because he has been going the whole hog to proffer solutions to the problems.

Moreso, there are several factors and narratives in the scenario that are beyond him.

Before July 7, 2019, when Kyari assumed the position of GCEO, the NNPCL had been in a near comatose. It had been faced with many challenges which included oil pipeline vandalism, corruption, incessant oil theft, low production levels and the lack of transparency. But through his professionalism and commitment, he has been proffering solutions to all the problems in the best ways he can. He was able to restore stability to the company with remarkable achievements and results.

When Kyari was the Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC, he ensured transformation of the nation’s oil giant to a limited company in 1919 which gave it the new identity as Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) that we are all witnessing today.

There is no justification to hold Kyari and the NNPCL responsible for fuel increase because
petrol (PMS) prices are determined by free market forces but not by the NNPCL or Kyari.

Forex liquidity is another significant factor influencing fluctuation of prices which are governed by unrestricted free market forces as provided by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 signed into law to overhaul the petroleum sector in Nigeria.

If the perennial fuel crisis continues to worsen, Kyari alone can not be held responsible because he is running a system where he does not have absolute power to proffer solutions. There are structures in the NNPCL. It is not an individual or one off thing. Even if he has absolute power to proffer solution, it would be difficult for him because it is never possible to solve problems that started several years ago before he came on board just one day. It takes time and that is why he is always working full swing to find solutions.

The naira depreciation against the dollar is one of the factors responsible for hike in price of fuel because the product is imported.
Does Kyari has power to stabilize the naira against the dollar for it to appreciate? The answer is emphatic no.

There have been reports that rails are in poor conditions, thereby delaying transportation of fuel with a lot of loads spending months on the way before arrival into the country. Does Kyari has the power to fix the rails on a single day? No. Even if it is his duty to do so, it would take time because of the necessary machinery, expertise and workforce that need to be put in place to solve the problem.

Come to think of the virulent and humongous oil theft cases going on in the country.

Piqued by the spate of oil theft and pipeline vandalisation that became rampant in the oil-rich states, particularly the Niger Delta Region, Kyari swung into action to checkmate the criminality and illegality.

He is the first NNPC’s CEO to go all the way to the creeks in Niger Delta Region to personally monitor oil theft and pipeline vandalisation. His war against crude oil theft and illegal refineries led to a significant increase in oil production.

His doggedness also curbed oil theft through introduction of Saudi Aramco’s model, using video surveillance to monitor pipelines carrying crude oil from wells to flow stations in the Niger Delta.

Despite his commitment to fighting oil theft which is one of the major factors responsible for fuel scarcity and price hike the theft menace continues.

Sabotage is a serious factor against Kyari’s efforts because while he is fighting oil theft and corruption, some forces in the system are also fighting him back by sponsoring protests and cheap blackmails against him.

How then should Kyari be blamed over the fuel crisis bedeviling the country?

The NNPCL has just reported 188 cases of oil theft in the last one week. According to the nation’s energy giant, the incidents were recorded from August 24 to 30 across different locations in the Niger Delta Region.

It also disclosed that 89 illegal refineries were discovered and dismantled in one week, just as several illegal connections were unearthed during the week in Bayelsa, Abia and Rivers States. Illegal refineries were also destroyed in Abia and Rivers states.

Illegal storage sites resembling pond-like reservoirs were also discovered in Abia according to NNPCL.

It also disclosed that crude oil spills occurred in Abia, Rivers and Bayelsa due to illegal connections.

Vandalism incidents were also recorded, while a boat carrying metals from vandalised oil wellheads was accosted in Rivers.

On land, trucks and vehicles carrying stolen crude oil were reportedly seized at various locations in Delta State.

Also, wooden boats conveying stolen crude oil were intercepted in Rivers, Bayelsa and Akwa-Ibom States.

Reports also disclosed that 31 suspected oil thieves were arrested recently and handed over to government security agents for further investigations.

These are some of the challenges that the NNPCL and Kyari have been facing and that is why it is not constructive to criticise him or demand his sack.

Miffed by the oil theft challenge, Kyari contended that going by the huge volume of oil stolen daily and the impunity with which the perpetrators are carrying out the criminality, crude oil theft was one of the most offensive economic crime in Nigeria that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) must address urgently.

In March this year, he drew the attention of the EFCC’s attention to the scenario for the graft agency to tackle it.

While fighting the illegality, NNPCL under the leadership of Kyari, has destroyed 4,846 illegal pipes connected to its pipelines, which is out of 5,543 such illegal connection. The spate of oil thefts perpetrated in Nigeria never happened anywhere in the world.
Petrol cost per litre in our neighboring countries is between N1,300 and N1,500 equivalent per litre.

Even with the price of N800 in Nigeria, there is still an element of subsidy being paid by the NNPCL.

Smuggling is rampant across the subregion. Unfortunately, security agents policing the borders can not do much because we have very wide borders. We have coastal waters through which people can smuggle petrol.

These are other reasons it is not justified to blame Kyari for the fuel crisis in the country.
There is a report that the Federal Government ordered that it is only NNPCL that has the right to buy Dangote fuel and should be bought in naira and not dollars. This has fuelled insinuations that NNPCL is monopolising Dangote Refinery fuel. But this is wrong. The truth is that it is Dangote who made the announcement that NNPCL would fix the price. Maybe NNPC wants to act as an off-taker for the Dangote Refinery and they will now start distributing on behalf of Dangote Refinery to the marketers.

There are a lot of issues involved in this Dangote naira-to-naira transaction. Maybe that will bring the price to a reasonable level. It may not be called a subsidy, but perhaps an in-house arrangement. With the arrangement, I think NNPCL is trying to protect the interest of Nigerians which is always Kyari’s priority.

So, if Dangote is buying naira-to-naira, there must be some little difference in terms of cost. It might be so small, but I believe there must be a difference.

Dangote is ready to sell to anybody, not only NNPC. What people don’t know is that NNPC, as the nation’s energy giant, has absolute power to deal directly with Dangote Refinery because it has the prerogative as the sole protector of energy security. That is why it has influence over any other energy outfit. But its always ready to protect the interest of Nigerians.

If not for NNPCL’s intervention through which it regulates fuel prices, marketers and oil cartels would have increased the fuel price much more than the current price.

NNPCL has interest in Dangote because of its shares in the company. Both Dangote and NNPC has a deal that birthed the Dangote fuel production.

So, there is no way it will hands off and would not relate with it for mutual benefits.

However, NNPCL’s involvement is for the interest of Nigerians with a view to ensuring price regulations and not to leave any gaps for outrageous price.

NNPCL is ready to ensure that Dangote fuel is sold at affordable prices. If NNPC is said to be the only one to buy Dangote fuel for now it’s basically in the interest of Nigerians.

The Kaduna and Port Harcourt Refineries are not undergoing renovation but construction which takes time to be completed. But Nigerians are in a hurry to see that they start production immediately.

The fact that we are in a hurry does not mean that they should take off with substandard services. Kyari is working assiduously to ensure that they are put in the best shape. That is why patience is required.
Apparently, Kyari is a blessing to the nation’s energy giant, the NNPCL, following his track record performance.

Diligence, result, reward have been the diary of his midas touch at the company.

If the names of technocrats, pace setters, track record performers and people of integrity, diligence and transparent midas touch in the country’s social political and economic firmaments are to be written for record purpose, Kyari’s name would be written in gold.

If a roll call of the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) who had served at the NNPC (now NNPCL) were to be taken by a fact check, the first name that would ring bell is Malam Mele Kyari. This is because, his doggedness, tenacity, integrity, diligence, transparency, foresight, patriotism, professionalism and landmark achievements since he came on board as the Group Managing Director (GMD) and now (GCEO) of the conglomerate stand him out.

Following his background as a czar in oil and gas technology and management, the company had continued to witness transformation until it hit the limelight as a Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited to drive profits for the nation as a private company.

It is unarguable that Kyari is a goal getter whose voice is as firm as an ink cartridge and a spindle whose decisions and policies continue to engender profitable transformation in the oil company.

He does not only blaze the trail in his transformation agenda for the company, but has also broken many jinxes in proffering solutions to the challenges faced by the company.

Kyari has continued to walk the talk so much that he has recorded a plethora of unprecedented achievements since he started holding sway at the NNPCL.

The ongoing reconstruction of the nation’s three refineries in Warri, Kaduna and Port Harcourt, is an outcome of Kyari’s initiative and commitment to finding solution to the perennial fuel scarcity and price hike in the country. Very soon, the results will be there for everybody to see.

He has performed several feats in his management of the nation’s oil conglomerate some of which must be highlighted here.

Before he transformed the NNPC to NNPCL, Kyari had also introduced automated monitoring of pipelines in the country’s oil sector. Through the technology, many suspects have been arrested, while vehicles, speed boats, wooden boats, and trucks have been seized and destroyed. That is why there is no more pipeline vandalisation.

Kyari’s acumen has also gone a long way in attracting oil and gas investments into the country.

Under his management the NNPCL signed an MOU with a Chinese company to develop an LNG project that would deliver gas to industries nation wide.

NNPCL said the project would ensure efficient supply of LNG to the outgas and CNG.

The project is to deliver on President Tinubu’s gas and power aspiration across the country.

Considering the quantum of achievements by Kyari and a lot more ideas that he still has up his sleeve to better the fortunes of the country’s oil conglomerate as well as socio-economic and national development, Kyari remains the best phenomenon in the sector and a gift to the nation’s oil industry.
Since ⁠President Tinubu is a leader who appreciates the value of expertise and knowledge, he chose to work with Kyari because of his competences and track records.

*Muhammad Saleh Hassan is the Chairman/CEO of Skymark Energy and Power Ltd and National President of One Nigeria Group (ONG), writes from the FCT, Abuja.