(Published by The Southerner, Saturday, April 26, 2025)

There is no gainsaying the fact that the challenges bedevilling the Nigerian petroleum sector are enormous and has remained intractable over the decades, despite the purported efforts by the past and present governments to make the refineries function again.

Apparently, in what may be likened to a crucial government effort to reform the nation’s oil sector and improve its performance, President Bola Tinubu recently initiated a major shake up in the management team of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

President Tinubu boldly called the shots, kicked out Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) and appointed Mr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari, a former Shell Managing Director as take charge as replacement at the NNPCL.

However, the recent overhaul of the management team of NNPCL did not come as a surprise to many Nigerians. Obviously, there had been a plethora of calls by Nigerians for the replacement of Mele Kyari who had since lost public trust for failing to address the challenges in the embattled oil sector, occasioned by the nation’s ailing refineries.

No doubt, the reactions that greeted the sacking of the Maiduguri born Mele Kyari speak to the peoples’ total loss of confidence in his capacity to breathe life into the countries four moribund refineries and get them back on stream to refine petroleum products and meet the energy needs of the citizens.

A look at the profile of the new NNPCL boss, Mr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari, brings to the fore his towering experience and expertise in the oil industry. He is an engineer and expert in petroleum process and production engineering.

And his legacy in the oil industry is foundationally tied to his achievements in Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) where he rose to the rank of managing director, from 2015 to 2021.

Frankly speaking, banking on Ojualari’s grounded experience in the oil sector, one would quickly say that the near moribund Nigerian refineries would be given express attention and put in good shape to commence production of petroleum products in no distant time.

Suffice it to say that while some persons may applaud President Tinubu for replacing Mele Kyari, discerning Nigerians may not get carried away by the credentials Mr. Ojulari brings on board. This stems from the obvious fact that over the decades, Nigerians had seen phases of failures that trail the performances of past NNPCL management teams.

In fact, it is common place for past Group Chief Executive Officers of NNPCL to woo Nigerians with inspiring resumes, but would later fail woefully to activate actions and technical ingenuity that would make the refineries work and sanitize the chaos prone country’s energy sector.

Consequently, massive importation of petroleum products has become a recurring decimal in the country’s chequered socioeconomic history while the refineries rot away.

Small wonder, Nigeria is the only OPEC member country that imports more than 90 to 95% refined petroleum products to meet its domestic consumption, still there has been no proactive steps taken by successive governments to address the shame.

This time, Nigerians are seriously worried about the gross ineptitude that has severely stalled any meaningful development in the country’s refineries over the years.

They are very eager to see their refineries working at full capacity to abate the torture they are currently inflicted with, resulting from the astronomical rise in the prices of refined petroleum products and attendant high cost of food and other basic commodities that sustain life.

In a nutshell, the new boss of NNPCL, Mr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari and his team have been entrusted with a difficult national task that demands their best to make the refineries functional in order to rescue the country from its current and serious energy crisis and worsening economic situation.

The nation’s moribund refineries can be fixed timeously. No rocked science technology is needed to achieve this task. Only patriotism, competence and determination will make the change a reality.