A don, Prof. Wumi Iledare says the newly unveiled Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd. needs new manpower development and deployment strategy that is completely different from the old practice to achieve stakeholders’ expectations.
Iledare, Professor Emeritus in Petroleum Economics and Executive Director, Emmanuel Egbogah Foundation, made this known in a statement issued on Wednesday in Lagos.
He also said the opportunities for the company was huge in terms of creating value for stakeholders with the amount of gas and oil resources at its disposal
Reports state that the new NNPC Ltd. was officially unveiled by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja on Tuesday as a commercial venture.
The transition is in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021 and has transformed the NNPC from a corporation into a limited liability company, incorporated under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).
Iledare, while congratulating the NNPC Ltd., said the development was a new beginning for the Nigeria oil and gas industry in many ways.
He, however, noted that the new dawn in the oil and gas space in Nigeria and the NNPC Ltd., in particular, comes with challenges and opportunities in this Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 era.
“First, NNPC Ltd. is a commercial entity now with mission and vision to maximise stakeholders’ economic value, just as Shell, TotalEnergies and Chevron do.
“Unlike the old NNPC, which basically tends to maximise public policy in-kind value, PIA 2021 expects less agency roles for NNPC Ltd. if not even zero agency roles,” Iledare said.
The don noted that the old NNPC had been the “cash cow” for the Nigeria Central Government in particular and the federation in general.
According to him, the corporation was in charge of collecting oil and gas rent, spending on behalf of the federation, and offering other in-kind services to the Federal Government with in appropriate payment for services.
He said: “The post PIA NNPC cannot legally do that without consequences.
“There are Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to justify investor’s continuous investment and in-kind services without payment, are not part of the KPIs.
“Yes, the federation currently owns all the shares at the moment but only for a while.
“Thus, the Federal Executive can no longer get involved in the structure and philosophy of NNPC. No interference in manpower development and deployment is henceforth legal!”
Iledare said other challenges ahead included changing the public perception of the NNPC Ltd.
“I said it somewhere it is less likely than not that NNPC Ltd. can change this perception without a complete overhaul of the current governance structure!
” Professional competence devoid of political expediency is required to maximise stakeholders value!
“The other challenge is how NNPC Ltd. will consciously come to terms with the fact that the agency role can no longer be in its radar.
“In that case, NNPC Ltd. needs a new manpower development and deployment strategy that is completely different from the old practice to achieve stakeholders’ expectations.
“Anything that is out of alignment with PIA 2021 provisions is an illegality,” he said.
Iledare said the NNPC Ltd. must be aware that the expectations of stakeholders now was for the company to be obedient to the laws of Nigeria as Shell, TotalEnergies, Mobil and Energia do to maximise value.
He said: “The opportunities are huge in terms of creating value for stakeholders with the amount of gas and oil resources at its disposal.
“The human resources are huge as well, but governance mentality has to change to harvest these resources effectively, efficiently, equitably with optimal professional ethics.”