PPMC and challenges of rebuilding the oil sector

Since the advent of President Muhammadu Buhari as the President, Federal republic of Nigeria, reforms in the oil and gas industry have reached a crescendo with the introduction of various changes aimed at making the industry transparent, more focused and purposeful. As the biggest revenue earner for the nation, this onerous task is seen an […]

Since the advent of President Muhammadu Buhari as the President, Federal republic of Nigeria, reforms in the oil and gas industry have reached a crescendo with the introduction of various changes aimed at making the industry transparent, more focused and purposeful. As the biggest revenue earner for the nation, this onerous task is seen an undisputed nation building effort that most succeed if the nation is to continue to develop.
It is because of the significance of this sector that the President rally eminent group of reliable, intelligent and dedicated team to steer the change and bring glory to the oil and gas sector. Several interventions and changes that have since improved the operations of the NNPC, and the oil and gas in general. Although these changes have placed the nation in healthy position, no genuine change is achieved without the opposite reaction of few whose aim is to retard this development and delay the wheel of change in any sector. With the introduction of several changes in the oil sector, agents of corruption have started fighting back through blackmailing and peddling of falsehood aimed at disrupting the changes being introduced especially in the Pipeline sector of the NNPC where Mrs  Esther Nnamdi Ogbue has been saddled with running the affairs of the sector.
Her experience over the years in the oil and gas sector has placed her in a position that has since proved vital in steering the PPMC to greater performance. It should be noted that her role is to ensure security of supply of petroleum products to the domestic market at low operating costs, market special products competitively in the domestic and international markets, provide excellent customer service by effectively and efficiently transporting crude oil to the refineries and moving petroleum products to the market. Mrs Ogbue has performed these functions creditably well that local and international organizations have praised her interventions and recognized her as such.
It is this commitment to duty and her passion for change and credible operations devoid of corruption that has exposed her to cheap blackmails and intimidations by people who have been used to business as usual. Let me be objective, in life, at times, people are funny. They deviate from the truth and focus on speculating lies to divert citizen’s attention from the reality. Some of these people are paid to undermine the credibility of certain individuals with proven integrity, simply because they refuse to do their pay masters biding. The day of corruption and blackmail is over. It is no more possible in the new administration that focuses on change and progress. A change Mrs Ogbue represents in her untainted record in the NNPC for over two decades.
As we all know, fighting corruption is not an easy task, as corruption equally fights back. But the time has come and agents of change must act the same way the present changes administration is doing. Corruption will fight back in different ways and forms, but resistance is the only way to success. Those that cannot withstand the pressure of fighting corruption under the leadership of President Muhammad Buhari and state Minister of Petroleum, Mr Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, along with Mrs Ogbue, the Managing Director PPMC are the cartel that sponsor false allegations against people with clean records at the NNPC.
Dr Bashir Jabbama, resides at 45, Olusegun Obasanjo Street, Maitama, Abuja and can be reached at [email protected]