By Salisu Na’inna Dambatta
Mele Kyari, the top Oil and Gas industry technocrat leading the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has attained the proverbial age of sixty. This in itself is something to celebrate in a country where soothsayers fixed our life expectancy somewhere below 50 years.
The son of Bulama Idris Kyari and Hajiya Fatima Mohammed, Mele Kyari was born on January 8, 1965 in Maiduguri, the Borno state Capital. His father was a community leader who enrolled young Mele in a Tsangaya school to learn and excel in Quranic sciences. He imbibed the hardy discipline of an almajiri and blended it with Western education. Thus his character was moulded, refined and defined in the best traditions and worthy values of both Islamic and Western education.
Attaining the age of 60 in a healthy, agile, full mental alertness and managing a highly technical and sensitive industry is a blessing from the Almighty Allah, for which I congratulate and wish him many happy returns.
Those familiar with the domestic and international intrigues in the Oil and Gas politics have testified that Kyari has performed exceedingly well by running the complex industry so skillfully and effectively.
The self-effacing oilman gained expertise and experience in the management of a challenging industry that lays Nigeria’s golden eggs. His career record at the NNPCL included managing a trade union without causing hiccups in the sector.
And as Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Mele Kyari implemented remarkable initiatives which ensured that Nigeria got its true value from selling oil transparently.
Dr. Kabir Usman Kabo, a Petroleum Chemistry lecturer who knows Mele Kyari closely said, ”when Mele Kyari was the Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division of the NNPC, he ensured that Government entitlements of Crude Oil & Gas production out of the Production Sharing Contracts agreed with partners were given as and when due.”
Dr. Kabo recalled, “Mele Kyari facilitated the operations of Crude Oil and Gas Terminals to ensure that crude oil can be ferried to markets without hitches.”
“One other major success of Mele Kyari as GGM (COMD) was establishing effective systems and processes which ensured accountability in Crude Oil and Gas sales,” Dr. Kabo explained.
Oil theft and the vandalisation of oil industry installations were so frequent that at a stage over 400,000 barrels of crude oil were stolen daily. An entry on offshore-technology.com site says, “In September 2022, the country lost 470,000 barrels of crude oil per day (bpd) due to such incidents, resulting in a monthly loss of $700m.”
In his role as GMD, Mele Kyari worked tirelessly to minimise or totally eliminate the two crimes. He instituted intensified physical surveillance of the country’s crude pipelines network and deployed technology for continuous remote monitoring and detection of any breach of the pipelines in real time.
Additionally, unique identity numbers were introduced for Nigerian crude to upstage oil thieves.
“I want to say that this industry is at a threshold of change. and it is very expensive and of personal cost to many people, including myself. I have several death threats; but we are not bothered about this,” Kyari said.
The NNPCL led by Mele Kyari for the first time declared ¦ 287 billion profit which he attributed to “cost control, the automation of business processes and other drastic changes that made the Corporation more efficient and accountable to Nigerians.”
Other notable activities that made Mele Kyari’s contribution to the Nigerian Oil and Gas sector visible include the successful reactivation of the Port Harcourt refinery; the construction of the Seventh Gas Processing Train; the laying of the Ajakouta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline to deliver gas for three electricity generation stations and other purposes.
The proposed three power plants tied to the AKK are the Gwagwalada plant which on completion will generate 350MW while the Kaduna station has a design capacity for 950 MW and Kano, 1,350MW.
The groundbreaking ceremony by President Bola Tinubu on August 4, 2023 for the construction of the first phase of the Gwagwalada 350 MW Power Plant demonstrated that the Kyari-led NNPC Ltd and partners are committed to delivering the project.
Despite the entrenched and daunting challenges that haunted, hurted and stunted the oil sector for decades, Kyari at 60 and his colleagues should sustain their efforts to stop the rot for good and the benefit of all Nigerians.
Salisu Na’inna is a public affairs analyst.