By Yemie ADEOYE

I acknowledge, in the ordinary course of government, that the exposition of the laws and Constitution devolves upon the judicial. But I beg to know upon what principle it can be contended that any one department draws from the Constitution greater powers than another in marking out the limits of the powers of the several departments.-James Madisson (June, 1789).

Dr. Ibe Kachikwu

DALLAS TX-IT is an obvious fact today that some departments of government draw more powers than other departments of same government and all from one constitution, but even at that the fact as established above is that separation of powers is not negotiable, hence the creation of several departments of one government, this is true today even in our personal lives and businesses.

Prior to this era of change, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been and to a large extent still remains the cash cow of the Nigerian economy as virtually every sector of the economy, and sphere of government was funded either directly or indirectly by this mammoth organization, the largest of its kind south of the sahara.

The emergence of a new national government headed by Mr. Muhammadu Buhari of the former main opposition political party has however seen a more determined commitment towards economic diversification. Hence it has become important to de-emphasise the dependency on the state oil firm while committing resources to other prospective economic drivers. e.g Solid minerals, ICT, Power, agriculture etc.

This would of course come with its expectant effect on the NNPC, as to achieve this Government needs to maximize potentials of the National Oil Company. The NNPC has to become commercially viable and able to compete in the international market especially against other International and Multinational nad national oil companies.

To kick start this drive the President announced in August, the appointment of Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, an accomplished lawyer and Vice President Africa for Exxonmobil. Harvard trained, Kachikwu’s appointment was described in many quarters as a master stroke as he is from the igbo extraction, a group which is seen as marginalised by the current government, and he is also seen as a highly cerebral personality who has risen to the pinnacle of his career with the world’s largest publicly traded hydrocarbon company, Exxonmobil.

Not a few people believe that Dr. Kachikwu would be a breath of fresh air from his predecessor who was seen as anything but intelligent and innovative.

In the first few months of his appointment the GMD was focused! He quickly commenced a visit to the strategic business units (SBU’s) of the NNPC. He gave out deadlines to moribund refineries even if the deadlines aren’t feasible, but he went ahead regardless. He gave a new charge to the oil industry, initiating a review of the JV agreements to further maximize national gains, initiating the unbundling of the PPMC in to three strategic companies and making strategic committed moves to end the JV cash call frustrations.

Interestingly, earlier in November, the President apparently impressed by the GMD’s commitment, and achievements in just three months named him as Nigeria’s Minister of state for petroleum resources.

Sadly though, since assuming this post, politics seems to be sucking in this highly cerebral and seemingly dependable individual. He currently holds the post of Petroleum Minister (State) and Group Managing Director of the NNPC, this is seen by experts in the industry as a hindrance to the evolvement of the new NNPC, unbundled and commercially viable.

Minister of state for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu

In Nigeria, it’s no news that a ministerial position is political; the minister is bogged down with political issues. He deals with stakeholders in the oil and gas industry both local and international; he formulates policies for government to drive the sector, serves as the regulator for the entire industry ensuring strict compliance through agencies of his ministry on both the NNPC and other oil companies operating in the country both local and international, he also deals with relevant committees of the national assembly and takes care of issues emerging from that unit of government with specific concerns and demands on the oil and gas sector, worse of all he deals . This is not to mention tons of international engagements as the country is a signature and member to different oil industry organizations and bodies around the world.

For the Minister to handle the above mentioned engagements with the same passion he displayed as GMD, he needs to focus!

While the minister is saddled with all the above engagements, the GMD would concentrate specifically on NNPC businesses, and ensuring that all SBU’s are functioning at almost optimal capacity. The GMD would also ensure that the Minister’s directive is carried effectively carried out. In all he is saddled with the direct operations of the NNPC and not the petroleum industry.

As this piece is being written, Nigerians across the 36 states of the country have been queuing for months to get petrol at the pumps. its been so excruciating for these innocent masses and the Minister amongst other international upstream commitments would still have to deal with this as GMD?

Definitely something has to give way if the minister must stay focused on his engagements. As it stands today, several appointments to either meet with the Minister for investment or other purposes are currently suffering as it is not an easy task to secure an appointment to meet with him.

An American business man who has operated in the oil sector for over three decades told BIZTELLERS on the condition of anonymity that severally he and his team have tried to meet with the “new gentleman” and have sent in a letter for that purpose but have been told severally that he was not in the country and decisions on a feasible date cannot be reached until he gets back. He had to be in Iran, Vienna, and Dubai etc. all on official matters. This was never the case while he held sway as GMD alone.

It has become highly imperative with seeming urgency for the Buhari administration to start shopping for someone with the kachikwu type of cerebral mindedness and avowed commitment to take over the affairs of the NNPC as the GMD.

This will enable the NNPC achieve those goals which the New minister has set before the corporation as soon as he was named GMD. Mr. President, This highly essential job cannot be done alone no matter how well intentioned.

Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu cannot be a regulator in an industry where he is also a player. If the NNPC and by effect Nigeria must be taken seriously in the global oil and gas industry.