Mele Kyari Retires with His Head High
By Salisu Na’inna Dambatta
The end of the glorious career of Mele Kolo Kyari at the NNPC and later, NNPCL is such that he left the organisation with his shoulders very high despite all the challenges and complex Nigerian factors which manifested in the course of his long career at the Oil and Gas industry.
His service was full of activities and he proved to be an oil man that knew the industry inside out.
His grip of the intricacies of the Nigerian, indeed, global energy sector, is undeniably superb. His deep knowledge of the industry enabled him to contribute and achieve a lot as the top man of the Nigerian Oil and Gas industry.
His achievements for Nigeria at the NNPC are truly impressive, for him a source of happiness and self-actualisation. Prior to his appointment as GMD of the NNPC by former President Muhammau Buhari, Kyari was in the Crude Oil Marketing Division, serving as Group General Manager and simultaneously Nigeria’s national representative to OPEC. He is respected for the legacy he left there.
As the Group Managing Director of the NNPC and later NNPC Limited, Malam Kyari’s notable achievements include the first ever declaration of profit by the organisation aftet nearly 45 years of operations in 2020. It was record-breaking. It set standard which should be emulated. The Corporation is now a profit centre for its shareholders.
His tenure intensified exploration activities in the inland basins to boost the country’s proven oil reserves. The effort yielded the desired result when over a billion barrels of crude were discovered in the two Kolmani River Wells in the North Eastern states of Bauchi and Gombe.
Consequentially, then President Muhammadu Buhari flagged off a $2 billion Kolmani Integrated Development Project (KIPRO) on 22nd November 2022. Current President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, then a presidential candidate, was at the event.
The project comprise a medium-size refinery, a liquefied gas processing plant, a urea fertiliser factory and a power generation house to supply electricity to the complex and neighbouring communities.
His policy of promoting Transparency and Accountability in running the organisation has set a standard. He was able to institute the publication of audited annual reports. The public now know what is going on in the Oil and Gas sector.
Nigerians have commended Mele Kyari for his active role in the process of passing the PIA in 2020. The Act seeks to transform the NNPC into a limited liability company to operate in an atmosphere of the best industry practice.
Malam Mele Kolo Kyari has made a consistent effort to rehabilitate Nigeria’s public crude oil refineries located in Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri. He has by created strategic partnerships with reputable companies to revamp the refineries.
Under his leadership of the Oil and Gas sector, there is a marked increase in domestic consumption of gas. Kyari promoted domestic gas utilization and new outlets for cooking gas have sprouted all over the country. And condensed Natural Gas (CNG) is gradually gaining popularity as motorists convert their vehicles from petrol burning to using cheap CNG.
The AKK Pipeline Project, spanning Kogi, FCT, Niger and Kaduna to reach Kano is a project designed to deliver gas to three power generating stations which are part of the AKK package.Laying the pipeline has reached Kano.
It is known that already the largest power generating plants in Nigeria are fired by natural gas from NNPCL. The stations are Egbin Power Station, a 1,320 MW-capacity station located in Lagos. The Alaoji thermal Power station of 1,074 MW capacity which is located in Abia state. There is also the Afam thermal Power Station I-V which has installed capacity to generate 987.20 MW. It is in Rivers state.
The Ughelli thermal Power plant with a capacity of 964.68 MW is located in Delta state. It also uses gas to generate electricity as does the Olorunsogo II Power Plant in Ogun state with a capacity of generating 750 MW of electricity.
NNPC revenue rised to N24 trillion in 2023 under his watch and it is believed to be on the upswing.
The NNPCL deployed technology to detect and swiftly act on any breach of the NNPC crude pipelines in the Niger Delta. This, coupled with the pipeline surveillance by private security organisations has reduced the number and frequency of breaching the pipelines to steal crude oil.
Malam Mele Kyari led the NNPC to reach an agreement with its partners, China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) and South Atlantic Petroleum (SAPETROL). He stated that the move was part of efforts to meet the target of three million barrels of crude oil output per day and unlock gas revenues to about $225 million.
Malam Mele Kolo Kyari, who this author has never met, left an indelible positive record and legacy at the NNPCL.This justified saying that he retired from the NNPCL with his shoulders high.
Salisu Na’inna is a senior journalist
