ISA WABOTE

Gen. T. y. Danjuma GCON Chairman, South Atlantic Petroleum (SAPETRO)

Alhaji Aliko Dangote GCON President, Dangote Group (Dangote Petrochemicals)

Alhaji Mohammed indimi OFR Chairman, Oriental Energy Resources

LUKMAN JADESIMI KRAGHABOBBOI

VALUECHAIN BEACONS OF THE INDUSTRY

VALUECHAIN STARS OF THE INDUSTRY

RANO

TINUBU

BARKINDO PETERS KACHIKWU BARU

Awardees

Awardees

5 EDITORIAL

iNDUSTRy10 Demand from Asia set to Power

Growth of Global Gas industry in 5 years

11 Knocks, Kudos Trail FG’s Revocation of Oil Licenses

13 Oando, SEC Fiasco: intrigues, Politics, Business

15 Waltersmith Refi nery: Eliciting Hope of Nigeria’s Refi ning Capacity

19 NNPC Trading gets New Offi ce Complex

32 IOCs, Host Communities Spar Over Underdevelopment

34 Downstream Oil Sector: Motion, No Movement

36 JUNE SHORT TAKES

38 Why 88% of Nigerian Deepwater Oil Fields are Not Producing

LiFE17 Living with Sickle Cell in Nigeria

AViATiON42 Life Saving Adventure 33,000

feet Above the Sea Level

COLUMN44 THREE GREAT PODCASTS FOR

CURiOUS MiNDS

MOTORiNG46 Here Comes Powerful Jaguar

F-PACE SVR

PROPERTy50 How Rising Abuja Properties may

Fuel Money Laundering Risks

SPORTS52 NBBF CRiSiS: Kida, Umar and

the court case

CONTENTSJUNE 2019 VOL. 2 NO. 6

27

23Anibor O. KraghaCOO, Refi neries & Petrochemicals, NNPC

Star of the industry

KRPC: Giving New Meaning to CSR

TRIBUTEto Anti-Job Loss Unionist, Francis Olabode Johnson

6

8

CORRIGENDUM: In our May edition, page 28, we mistakenly captioned the picture of Chinese President, Xi Jinping, as Dr. Zhou Pingjian, we highly regret the error.

ONTENTSNTENTSJUNE 2019 VOL. 2 NO. 6

How Kyari Emerged 19th GMD of NNPC

4

It appears that a wind of change is currently blowing in the public sector arm of the

Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry. It started on 28th May, when the former Minister of State Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Dr Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu bowed out of offi ce following Presidential direc-tives that all serving ministers should vacate offi ce due to the expiration of the administra-tion’s fi rst tenure.

The Industry eagerly awaits the appointment of new min-ister(s), possibly substantive and State. On Thursday 20th June, a major shake-up was announced by the Nigerian Na-tional Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) informing the public about the appointment of a new Group Managing Director in the person of Mr Mele Kolo Kyari and six other Chief Op-erating Offi cers. Not too long after that, the Director of the Department of Petroleum Re-sources, Mr Modacai Ladan also retired from service.

It is our hope that the new changes and those that are yet to come will bring about the much-needed transformation

MB. UsmanNB. Feel free to send in your views and have your say @ 007mbu@gmail.com

ny (KRPC) Limited through its Corporate Social Responsibili-ty (CSR) initiative to empower hundreds of youths over a peri-od of seven years.

Also in the package, we have reports on the recent FG revo-cation of Oil licenses, the linger-ing Oanda vs Security and Ex-change Commission face-off, and how International Oil Com-panies and Host communities continue to trade blames over who is responsible for underde-velopment in the oil-rich com-munities.

In this edition also, is a tribute to Comrade Francis Olabode Johnson who died on 31st May, 2019.

While you relax to enjoy the content of our June edition of Valuechain, kindly accept our best of wishes over here.

of our Oil and Gas Industry. Our cover story centers around the new GMD’s appointment and the stakeholders’ reaction to it.

Inside this edition, we also bring you a report on the giant strides made by Kaduna Refi n-ing and Petrochemical Compa-

Publisher/Editor-in-Chief

Editor

Graphic Consultant

Acting Deputy Editor

Circulation Manager

Online Editor

Photo Editor

Business Dev. Executives

Contributors

Musa Bashir Usman

yange ikyaa

Theresa Ogbonna

Benjamin ike

Danlami Nasir isah

Saidu Abubakar

Bashir Bello Dollars

Adeniyi Onifade (South)Abdulkarim Sani (North)

Fred OjiegbeGideon Osaka

ironhand S. ChukwuemekaAisha SamboDavid Chukwu

info@thevaluechainng.com @thevaluechainng.com thevaluechainng.com

1-2 Abu-Rayyan Street, New NDC Layout, Kaduna. Tel: 08077201571, Abuja: 07089626420, Lagos: 08036840121. email: 007mbu@gmail.com www.thevaluechainng.com

5

As a pointer to its pivotal Corporate Social Respon-sibility (CSR) project, a

self-regulatory business mod-el that helps a company to be socially accountable to itself, stakeholders and the public at large, the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) recently at the graduation cere-mony of the ninth edition of its Youth Empowerment and Skills Acquisition Programme (YE-SAP) restated its commitment to the scheme which has turned out about a thousand (1000) graduates so far.

Speaking in his welcome ad-dress on the occasion, the Man-aging Director, Engr. Adewale Ladenegan who was represent-ed by the company’s Executive Director Services Abdullahi Id-ris said YESAP was conceived as a capacity-building initiative targeted at the youths of KRPC host communities. He said the programme was not only a vi-sion of ensuring that they ac-quire significant skills and em-powerment to emerge ready products for the increasingly competitive labour market, but more importantly as job cre-ators.

According to him the concept of YESAP is based on the aware-ness that when youths are em-powered with vocational skills, they become good entrepre-neurs and do great things that would power the nation’s econ-omy maintaining that the KRPC YESAP has recorded successes

over the years with immense benefits to the host communi-ties where about a thousand youths have so far been empow-ered over the past seven years.

In his own remarks, the Chief Operating Officer (COO), Re-fineries and Petrochemicals of the Nigerian National Petro-leum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Anibor Kragha said skills ac-quisition contributes greatly to the elimination of joblessness, development of positive atti-tude towards work as well as development of entrepreneurial ability, and building self-reliant youths which ultimately lead to technological advancement with its concomitant reduction of poverty and crime rate in the society.

Represented by the Gener-al Manager, Support Services, Mr Oibiokpa Ogale, the COO in-sisted that the KRPC deserves commendation for setting up YESAP which he said is targeted at curtailing societal vices such as terrorism, kidnapping and sectarian strife among others which are attributable to youth unemployment or idleness.

The out-going Group Manag-ing Director (GMD) of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru could not agree more. Describing the Youth Empowerment and Skills Ac-quisition Programme of KRPC as key to the economic devel-opment of the nation, Dr. Baru said he was gratified to learn that almost a thousand youths have so far been trained in var-

ious trades and presented with business-starters to make them self-reliant.

Dr. Baru who was represented by Group General Manager in-charge of Special Duties, Alhaji Nuhu Mohammed, said the con-cept is a pointer to the resolve of NNPC as a corporation towards youth empowerment especially to the host communities.

The out-going GMD said KRPC’s initiative in identifying the youth as a critical and vital segment of the citizenry and empowering them to contribute to social development is a sign of commendable management through corporate social re-sponsibility.

And also having been im-pressed by the progress made by YESAP, the Governor of Ka-

Industry 06:19

KRPC: Giving New Meaning to CSR

–By Benjamin Ike

Wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari

6

Industry 06:19

duna state, Mallam Nasir El-Ru-fai said: “We are delighted by KRPC’s leadership and the deep sense of commitment to make a difference in Kaduna state… and I hope other organizations will emulate KRPC and offer simi-lar training to increase employ-ment opportunities among the youths”

Meanwhile the First Lady Mrs Aisha Buhari had lauded the KRPC for transforming the lives of youths of Kaduna state and the commitment to community development through its YESAP programme.

The First Lady who spoke through the Co-ordinator of her pet project, “Future Assured”, Hajia Binta Mu’azu said the importance of the initiative of KRPC YESAP cannot be overem-phasized, while charging other organizations both in the formal and informal sectors to take a cue from the KRPC in improving the standard of living of youths by providing skills training, set-ting up businesses, provision of equipment and monitoring for successful performance.

The representative of the COO, R & P, Mr. Oibiokpa Ogale presenting certificate to a female graduand of YESAP IX

Governor Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai of Kaduna State

The Wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, represented by Hajia Binta Muazu, presenting a gift to one of the outstanding graduands of YESAP VIII

Cross section of Graduands

7

Industry 06:19

Comrade Francis Olabode Johnson, President Pe-troleum and Natural Gas

Senior Staff Association of Ni-geria (PENGASSAN) died in the early hours of Friday 31st May 2019 at National Hospital Abu-ja.

Mr Johnson, who hailed from Eti-osa area of Lagos State, died after a brief illness.

The National Executive Coun-cil (NEC), Central Working Committee (CWC), members and staff of PENGASSAN an-nounced the untimely and pain-ful death of Mr. Johnson who was fondly called FOJ.

Late Comrade F.O. Johnson until his passing on was a staff of the Nigerian National Petro-leum Corporation (NNPC) and was on his final lap of his event-ful and transformational six years tenure as President PEN-GASSAN, having been elected to that position in June 2014 and re-elected in 2017.

Comrade Johnson will be re-membered by his comrades, co-workers, family and friends for being thoughtful, humorous, compassionate and transpar-ent as he touched the lives of so many and was the very em-bodiment of strength, patience, and perseverance.

These attributes propelled him to develop a deep connec-tion with nature, zest for life and the total transformation of PENGASSAN National Secre-tariat and initiating the e-library and Events Resources Centres in all PENGASSAN Zonal offic-es.

As President of a union as

PENGASSAN, one of the attri-butes that endeared him to his comrades, co-workers and the generality of Nigerians, was his passion for the protection of jobs of workers and hatred for maltreatment of Nigerians as slave workers within their own country.

In his acceptance speech after he was re-elected for a second term in 2017, Johnson said,

“Under no guise will we al-low our members to lose their jobs. We will fight any form of un-procedural redundancies or

restructuring that affects our members. We are ready to col-laborate with the government and other agents towards the development and growth of our industry.”

He will be remembered for fighting vigorously for digni-ty in labour and infringement on workers’ rights to freedom of association, mass sack of workers and dehumanization of same in total disregard to rule of engagement and the laws of the land.

He vocally condemned for-eign and indigenous oil and gas

Tribute to Anti-Job Loss Unionist, Francis Olabode Johnson

–By Fred Ojiegbe

8

Industry 06:19

companies anti labour posture and practices including the ter-mination of the employment of workers for their willingness to belong to the union.

One of the remarkable things about his leadership was the industrial harmony the current administration enjoyed in the oil sector. There was hardly any major strike by the union that undermined the industry.

However, when it became necessary, PENGASSAN under late Johnson’s leadership, used industrials actions including threats to shutdown oil and gas installations, disruptions to fuel supply and distribution across the country as a result of alleged unfair labour practic-es and seemly untamable pos-ture of some indigenous oil and gas companies and marginal field operators.

Notwithstanding, one out-standing example was how he resolved amicably the industri-al dispute between the union and Neconde Energy Ltd (of Nestoil Group of companies) which was alleged to have sacked workers in contraven-tion of Nigerian labour laws. The resolution of the dispute averted what would have been a major shut down of the oil in-dustry.

The union under late John-son has been in the forefront of the resistance against the sale of the nation’s oil assets particularly, the refineries even as they remained comatose.

Johnson, believed that speed-ing up the rehabilitation of the ailing refineries and returning them to optimal production lev-el was better than selling them off.

His words at the 5th NNPC Group Executive Council (GEC) Triennial Delegates Conference in Abuja, December 2018 are worth remembering. He said, “PENGASSAN’s position from time immemorial has been the NLNG Model and for the model to be accepted by the associa-tion, the rehabilitation of these refineries must be concluded, as this will go a long way in not short-changing the Nigerian nation.”

He also led several calls on the Federal Government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to reach an agreement within the shortest possible time on the new minimum wage.

The kind of tribute paid to him by his colleagues in the labour struggle after his death showed the kind of life he lived.

Labour unions described his death as shocking and untime-ly.

The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) Secretary Gener-al, Musa-Lawal Ozigi, said the deceased, who was the third deputy president of the Con-gress was a labour leader of note.

“Johnson was a labour lead-er of note, a Christian and a fa-ther. He was an embodiment of

grace who will be missed by the Congress,” Mr Ozigi said.

The Nigeria Union of Petro-leum and Natural Gas Work-ers (NUPENG) in its statement signed by its president and general secretary, William Ak-poreha and Afolabi Olawale, said the union was deeply sad-dened with the untimely death of Mr Johnson.

They said the death of the PENGASSAN president, who was also the chairman of NU-PENGASSAN, has flamed an indelible sore in the minds of workers.

“NUPENG regrets the huge vacuum created by the passing to eternal rest of the quintes-sential unionist in the labour movement.

“NUPENGASSAN, which he meritoriously chaired kept unit-ed, strong and virile has pain-fully lost a rare gem in its folk,” it said.

The union noted that he would be remembered for his commitments to see his mem-bers and staff successful, move above challenges, stay produc-tive and fulfilled in tandem with the union’s policy.

His joyous laughter and giving spirit will forever be in-grained in our memories.

We, the Valuechain family commensurate with his im-mediate family and the entire members of PENGASSAN na-tionwide on this great loss.

Rest on, F.O.J.

He said, “PENGASSAN’s position from time im-memorial has been the NLNG Model and for the model to be accepted by the association, the rehabilitation of these refineries must be concluded, as this will go a long way in not short-changing the Nigerian nation.”

9

Industry 06:19

Demand from Asia set to Power Growth of Global Gas industry in 5 years

–By Gideon Osaka

After another record year, global demand for natural gas is set to keep growing

over the next five years, driven by strong consumption in fast-grow-ing Asian economies and support-ed by the continued development of the international gas trade.

This is coming at a time two liquefied natural gas, LNG, proj-ects in Nigeria have continued to face an uncertain future. Olokola LNG, Brass LNG and the NLNG’s Train 7 have suffered setback as a result of the delay in taking final investment decision, FID, by the stakeholders. The OK LNG project was stalled because all the inter-national oil companies (BG, Shell and Chevron) withdrew from the project, with only the NNPC left. The Brass LNG project, which was designed to produce 10 million metric tonnes per annum, was to be built by the NNPC, Total, Con-ocoPhillips and Eni Group. But ConocoPhillips withdrew from the project in 2013.

According to the International Energy Agency, IEA, latest annual market report, demand for natural gas grew 4.6 percent in 2018, its fastest annual pace since 2010. It stated that gas accounted for al-most half the increase in primary energy consumption worldwide. Demand is expected to rise by more than 10 percent over the next five years, reaching more than 4.3 trillion cubic metres (tcm) in 2024. “Natural gas helped to reduce air pollution and lim-it the rise in energy-related CO2 emissions by displacing coal and oil in power generation, heating and industrial uses,” said Dr Fatih Birol, the IEA’s Executive Director. “Natural gas can contribute to

a cleaner global energy system. But it faces its own challenges, in-cluding remaining price competi-tive in emerging markets and re-ducing methane emissions along the natural gas supply chain.”

The report further explained that China is expected to account for more than 40 percent of glob-al gas demand growth to 2024, propelled by the government’s goal of improving air quality by shifting away from coal. Chinese natural gas consumption grew 18 percent in 2018 but is expected to slow to an average annual rate of 8 percent to 2024 as a result of slower economic growth. The IEA also sees strong growth in gas consumption in other Asian coun-tries, particularly in South Asia. In Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, the industrial sector is the main contributor to growth, especially for fertilisers to meet the needs of growing populations. Industrial use of natural gas, both as a fuel and a feedstock, is set to expand at an average annual rate of 3 percent and account for almost half of the rise in global consump-

tion to 2024. Power generation remains the largest consumer of natural gas, in spite of slower growth due to strong competition from renewables and coal.

The report also focuses on the role of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at sea, which is set to emerge as a fast-growing alternative fuel be-cause of stricter rules on sulphur content that take effect in Janu-ary 2020. Supplies to meet grow-ing global demand for natural gas will come from both new domes-tic production in fast-growing economies but also increasingly from major exporting countries, led by the development of abun-dant shale gas resources in the United States. The strong growth in LNG export capacity will enable international trade to play a grow-ing role in the development of nat-ural gas markets as they move to-wards greater globalisation. It also stated that investments in LNG projects have rebounded in 2018 after several years of decline, and the large number of projects due to take final investment decision in 2019 is likely to further sup-port trade and market expansion. However, more investment will be needed in the future. The recent convergence in market prices in major regions gives an indication of the increasing globalisation of the natural gas trade. Establish-ing market-driven pricing mecha-nisms in fast-growing economies remains a challenge, however. Re-cent reforms in major markets are sending encouraging signals, but more will be required to ensure the sustainable market-driven de-velopment of natural gas in these economies.

Dr. Fatih Birol

10

Industry 06:19

Knocks, Kudos Trail FG’s Revocation of Oil Licenses

–By Gideon Osaka

Diverse reactions have con-tinued to trail the recent revocation of six oil blocks

belonging to five companies, an-nounced by the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, on behalf of the Federal Govern-ment.

Valuechain gathered from some industry insiders that dou-ble standards were noticed in the Federal Government’s action as it was said to have applied differ-ent and milder sanctions on other companies that committed the same offence, while some other stakeholders were of the opin-ion that the decision would send positive signals to others who presently own oil fields that are not producing. Ademola Henry, team leader, Facility for Oil Sec-tor Transformation (FOSTER), said that it is within the powers of DPR to revoke licences, espe-

cially oil blocks that are not pro-ducing. “Why keep something that is depriving the country of huge revenue which we desper-ately need now when we can find other investors?” he asked. On the implication of DPR’s deci-sion going forward, Henry said, “It means people that bid for licences should be those that have both financial and techni-cal capacity, which implies DPR should make sure those that bid for these licences are well vetted. “It means we will probably get quality investment and we will have more people who actually can do the business and maybe we eliminate the card-carrying contractor who just wants to get the licences to sell.”

Also speaking, Ayodele Oni, energy partner at Bloomfield Law Practice, said the government acted within the scope of the

laws governing the petroleum sector and each breach has a corresponding penalty. Accord-ing to him, “Remember also that the Minister possesses discre-tionary powers to revoke or with-draw oil licences.”

However, another industry source, who chose to be anony-mous, told Valuechain that all the revocations may not make sense as Pan Ocean, one of the victims is still finding it a bit surprising because it has invested so much money and technology in pro-ducing oil from OML 98 which is currently producing about 3,500 barrel per day, bpd. “A substantial volume of oil and gas is being produced. So what will happen to the million-dollar investments invested by Pan Ocean in devel-oping the block or its 40 percent working interest? Will it be given to another person?” he asked.

President Muhammadu Buhari Moshood Abiola Mr. Mordecai Ladan, DPR Director

11

Industry 06:19

It was also gathered that the Moshood Abiola family is bitter that the Federal Government revoked the oil block given to their patriarch, while at the same time pretending to have healed the wound of the June 12 pres-idential election annulment, by declaring it a public holiday. “Are we supposed to be happy that June 12 has been made a public holiday, when the Federal Gov-ernment has revoked the license of Summit Oil? Has the govern-ment shown sincerity by such action? Don’t you see that the government wants to stifle the family economically?”, a family member who wouldn’t want to be named asked. Summit Oil In-ternational, which held oil pros-pecting license, OPL, 206 was owned by late Moshood Abiola whose 1993 presidential election victory was annulled by the mili-tary junta of Gen. Ibrahim Baban-gida. OPL 206 has over the years struggled to produce any com-mercial quantity of crude oil de-spite several attempts.

Some other revoked blocks in-clude oil mining lease, OML 110, operated by the family-owned Ni-gerian firm Cavendish Petroleum since 1996 but has not had an official titleholder since Caven-dish’s rights to the zone expired in 2016. Cavendish Petroleum was founded by the late entre-preneur Alhaji Mai Deribe, who hailed from Borno State. He was able to pull strings under Gen. Sani Abacha, military Head of State from 1993 to 1998, to pick up oil blocks and become one of

the richest businessmen in his state.

Allied Energy (now Erin Ener-gy) acquired 40 percent working interest in OMLs 120 and 121 from Nigerian Agip Exploration, a subsidiary of Eni SpA, in 2012. Not much production activity has been done on those fields. In April 2018, New York and Jo-hannesburg-listed Erin Energy filed for bankruptcy as it sought to restructure its debt and regain financial viability as Allied Energy Plc and Camac International Ni-geria Ltd founded by renowned Nigerian-born industrialist Kase Lawal. Erin bought what it called the “economic rights” to Nigeri-an oil mining licences 120 and 121, which included the produc-tive Oyo oil field owned by Law-al and his family. However, Oyo oil field turned out not to be as productive as forecast as Erin shareholders sued the CEO and certain directors of Erin over the deal.

The OML 108 (formerly OPL 74) was owned by Express Pe-troleum. It assigned 40 percent interest to Conoco Energy Nige-ria Limited as technical advisor. Conoco relinquished its 40 per-cent stake in the bloc in 2004 and transferred it to Shebah Explora-tion and Production Company Limited same year, owned by Bryant Orjiako, Chairman Seplat Petroleum Development Com-pany. OML 108 covers an area of 750sqkm in a water depth of 88ft (30m) in the western edge of the Niger Delta in shallow water offshore Nigeria, six miles south-

west of Chevron’s Meren field, but reaches water depth of 700ft (213m) on the southern portion of OML 108.

OML 98, controlled by Pan Ocean is located in the Northern Delta Depobelt and in the north-ern fringe of Niger Delta Basin. It covers an area of 523 km² in Edo and Delta States. Fields within the block include the Ogharefe, Ologbo, Asaboro, Adolo, Owe, Os-siomo, Ona and Erimwindu fields. Pan Ocean commenced crude oil production at the Ogharefe field (OML 98) with an initial produc-tion of about 11,000bpd in 1976. It is the only asset belonging to a Joint Venture (JV) between NNPC which owns 60 percent working interest and Pan Ocean Oil which has 40 percent. Accord-ing to a source close to the mat-ter, OML 98 has a more delicate and complicated relationship between the JV partners, the NNPC represented by National Petroleum Investment Manage-ment Services (NAPIMS), the in-vestment and management arm of NNPC, and Pan Ocean Oil Cor-poration. The source explained that high-level negotiations held previously to resolve the issues of outstanding payment as well as related projects tied to the JV and other assets within the vicin-ity of OML 98 between represen-tatives of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources led by the former Minister of state for Pe-troleum Resources, Ibe Kachik-wu, and Pan Ocean had failed to yield any positive result.

Ademola Henry, team leader, Facility for Oil Sector Transformation (FOSTER), said that it is within the powers of DPR to revoke licences, especially oil blocks that are not producing. “Why keep something that is depriving the country of huge revenue which we des-perately need now when we can find other investors?”

12

Industry 06:19

Ahmed Bola Tinubu Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai WaleTinubu

Oando, SEC Fiasco: Intrigues, Politics, Business

The recent directive by the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, to Oando

Plc, to appoint new directors and hold a general meeting by July 1, 2019, thereby compulsorily re-signing the Chief Executive Offi -cer, Wale Tinubu and his deputy, Omamofe Boyo, may not have surprised many people who have been following the goings-on in the company.

What however kept tongues wagging are the twists and tim-ing associated with the directive. The directive came at a time Mu-nir Gwarzo, suspended Director General of SEC was ordered to be reinstated with immediate effect by the National Industrial Court, while his salaries and allowanc-es should be paid to him. Gwarzo was indicted for abuse of offi ce

and corruption by an Administra-tive Panel of Inquiry set up by the Federal Ministry of Finance head-ed by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Mahmoud Isa-Dutse. Prior to this, Oando and SEC have been embroiled in boardroom tango.

Two years ago, Dahiru Mangal and Ansbury Incorporated sent a petition to SEC objecting to the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Oando Nigeria Plc billed for September 11, 2017, over alleged corporate governance breaches by its management. Mangal is a substantial shareholder in Oando Plc, while Ansbury, is a majority shareholder in Ocean and Oil De-velopment Partners which owns 56 percent equity stake in Oando Plc. Their petition was for SEC’s intervention to change the man-agement of Oando. They alleged

that the management wanted to continue running the oil fi rm even when it was not improving its fortunes. Subsequently, in March 2018, SEC engaged Deloitte and Touche to conduct a forensic au-dit of the activities of Oando Plc.

The result of the forensic audit was said to have informed the de-cision of SEC to take the measure on Oando. According to the regu-latory body, “The general public is hereby notifi ed of the conclusion of the investigations of Oando Plc. The fi ndings from the report revealed serious infractions such as false disclosures, market abus-es, misstatements in fi nancial statements, internal control fail-ures, and corporate governance lapses stemming from poor board oversight, irregular approval of di-rectors’ remuneration, unjustifi ed

–By Gideon Osaka

13

Industry 06:19

disbursements to directors and management of the company, re-lated party transactions not con-ducted at arm’s length, amongst others.” The commission also di-rected that the Group Chief Exec-utive Officer (GCEO) and the Dep-uty Group Chief Executive Officer (DGCEO) of Oando Plc should resign and refund improperly disbursed remuneration among others. According to the compa-ny’s 2018 full year financial state-ment, Employee benefit page 65, Wale Tinubu earned N568 million ($1.58million) making him the highest paid CEO in Nigeria.

SEC also stated, “Oando Plc failed to establish an effective system of internal controls as required under Section 61 of the ISA 2007, over its financial re-porting thereby compromising the integrity of the company’s fi-nancial controls and reporting as revealed by the misstatements in the financial statement, a high number of related party transac-tions and unjustified disburse-ment to directors.

“In 2013, Oando Plc reported the sale of its subsidiary, Oando Exploration and Production Limit-ed (OEPL), to Green Park Manage-ment Limited without obtaining the approval of the commission, (in violation of the provisions of the Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2007) and the consent of the Minister of Petroleum (As required under the Petroleum Act,1969).

“In 2012, 2013 and 2014 and 2015, certain insiders of Oando PLC sold shares of the company during “close period” despite hav-ing knowledge of active closed periods by the company and con-trary to the Rules of the NSE. The insiders include Ocean and Oil Investment Limited (OOIL – rep-resented by Jubril Adewale Tinu-bu and Godwin Omamofe Boyo), Ocean and Oil Development part-ners (OODP – represented by Jubril Adewale Tinubu, Godwin Omamofe Boyo, Francesco Cuz-zocera), and ECP African Fund II PC (a Company in which Nana Appiah-Korang was Director).

Speaking on the issue, Ato-batele Musibau, spokesman of Ansbury Incorporated said, “The earlier this matter is resolved the better for the company and its shareholders. Whether the management of Oando likes it or not, this unending war of at-trition has impacted and will continue to impact the compa-ny negatively.” Explaining that the best option for both parties is dialogue, Musibau said the re-covery in oil prices is a sign that the company can improve under the right atmosphere. “One must state that Oando has not record-ed any meaningful capital gains, nor has it paid dividends to in-vestors in more than four years. We are therefore the grass that suffers as these two elephants slug it out. “We, therefore, call on the management of Oando not to

miss out on the golden opportu-nity provided by the turnaround of the oil industry to improve on the fortunes of shareholders. “We want to see better returns, capital appreciation of our shares and payment of dividends in the not too distant future. This can only happen, however, if the manage-ment resolves all pending rifts to enable it to concentrate on run-ning the company,” he added.

Giving a political colouration to the issue, Reno Omokiri, aide to former President Goodluck Jon-athan, attributed the fiasco to a calculated plan to clip the wings of former governor Bola Tinubu of Lagos State. He stated, “The cabal is using Kaduna Governor, Nasir El-Rufai to clip Bola Tinu-bu’s wings politically through the instrumentality of the Securities and Exchange Commission. This is because the bond between Bola Tinubu and his Nephew Wale is so deep. It would be re-called that there have been hints that Tinubu would run for pres-idency come 2023 a position which El-Rufai also has an inter-est. “The fact that Nasir El-Rufai unleashed his salvo about cutting certain godfathers to size, three weeks ago in Lagos, and then this recent move by the Securities and Exchange Commission against a company that is only one degree separated from both El-Rufai and Tinubu, cannot be a coincidence. Not at all!” Reno stated.

The commission also directed that the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) and the Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer (DGCEO) of Oando Plc should resign and refund improperly disbursed remu-neration among others. According to the company’s 2018 full year financial statement, Employee benefit page 65, Wale Tinubu earned N568 million ($1.58mil-lion) making him the highest paid CEO in Nigeria.

14

Industry 06:19

Waltersmith Refinery: Eliciting Hope of Nigeria’s Refining Capacity

There appears to be hope that Nigeria’s refining capacity may be on the increase in

no distant time with the construc-tion of Waltersmith Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited’s 5,000 barrels per day, bpd refinery at Ibigwe field in the Ohaji/Egbema Council Area of Imo state.

The company had expressed its readiness to contribute about 271 million litres of refined products annually towards the development of Nigeria’s economy. Waltersmith modular refinery is one of the 10 out of 40 Licensed modular refin-eries making progress. The imme-diate past Minister of State for Pe-troleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu had stated that out of the number, three are likely coming on stream by the end of 2019. He stated at the last SPE conference in Lagos, “out of the 40 private licenses is-

sued to private investors to build refineries, only 10 have showed signs of progression.”

Waltersmith refinery, no doubt is coming at a time Nigeria is in need of improved refining capacity. Cur-rently, the country’s four refineries have a combined refining capacity of 445,000 barrels per day, bpd, while Nigeria requires local refining capacity of 1.52 million barrels dai-ly, mbd. According to the out-going Group Managing Director, GMD of Nigerian National Petroleum Cor-poration, NNPC, Maikanti Baru, Nigeria needs to grow local refin-ing capacity to 1.52million barrels per stream daily (BPSD) to meet the need of premium motor spirit (PMS). Baru said the state-run oil firm planned to bridge the 20 mil-lion litre per day PMS shortfall in refining capacity.

He said: “Nigeria needs a refin-

ing capacity of 1.52 million barrel per stream day (BPSD) of crude oil in order to meet its PMS require-ment by 2025.

“This capacity requirement in-cludes Dangote’s 650,000 BPSD Refinery and NNPC’s current nameplate capacity of 445,000 BPSD (WRPC, KRPC and PHRC). This leaves a shortfall of 20mil-lion litres which is equivalent to 427,000BPSD.”

In a presentation titled: The roadmap for energy sustainabili-ty in Nigeria at the Society of Pe-troleum Engineers (SPE) Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum 2019 in Abuja, Baru, however, ex-plained that in order to address this shortfall in PMS demand, NNPC is adding 215,000 BPSD of refining capacity through private sector-driven co-location of exist-ing facilities in Port Harcourt Re-

–By Fred Ojiegbe

Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu performed the groundbreaking of a 5,000 bopd modular refinery by Waltersmith Refining and Petrochemical Company

15

Industry 06:19

fi nery Company (PHRC-100,000 (BSPD) and Warri Refi ning and Petrochemicals Company (WRPC-115,000 BPSD).

“Additionally, NNPC through its new initiative of establishing condensate refi neries with pri-vate sector participation is pro-viding clusters for in-country refi ning capacity totalling about 250,000BSPD, which closes the PMS supply-demand gap and cre-ates positive margins to the inves-tors.

“These improved in-country re-fi ning capacity plan ensures Nige-ria’s domestic crude oil utilisation of up to 66 per cent with its atten-dant local,” the GMD said.

He also said that local petro-leum product demand is expected to grow from 13.2 million metric tons in 2015 to 15.1 million metric tons in 2020 and 17.3 million met-ric tons by 2025 while the popula-tion growth corresponding to this demand was 182 million in 2015. For 2020, it is 207 million and 234 million in 2025 while average pop-ulation growth rate is three per cent per annum.

The construction of Walter-smith modular refi nery therefore seems to be one of the answers to the shortfall in Nigeria’s refi ning capacity. The refi nery is expected to help in reducing the growing unemployment rate in the country by offering jobs to thousands of Nigerians, either directly or indi-rectly. It is also expected to rave up business activities in the host communities in Imo State, while contributing to the well being of the communities through a formi-dable Corporate Social Responsi-bility, CSR, programme that should be benefi cial to the company’s identifi ed publics.

The Niger Delta area is replete with stories of unfulfi lled promises by mostly international oil compa-nies, IOCs to their host communi-ties. Cases of pipeline vandalism, destruction of facilities and kidnap-ping of oil workers have also made the headlines in the past, as well as spillage, destruction of peoples’ means of livelihood and abandon-

ment. There is no gain saying the fact that Waltersmith, an indige-nous oil company, understands the terrain and the challenges in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, espe-cially as regards host community issues. The company will do well by avoiding the pitfalls of the IOCs and tow the path of symbiotic rela-tionship with their communities to engender a win-win achievement.

The chairman/chief executive offi cer (CEO) of Waltersmith, Ab-dulrazaq Isa has assured that the 5,000 barrel per day (BPD) mod-ular refi nery located on its Ibigwe Flowstation, in Ohaji Egbema lo-cal government area of Imo State would be completed in the next 18 months.

According to him, the refi nery when completed would help meet the petroleum products needs of its immediate operating environ-ment of Imo and Anambra states.

Speaking on how the refi nery will work, the CEO said, his com-pany, which currently operates the Ibigwe Field (OPL 2004) would henceforth refi ne its 7,000bpd oil locally instead of exporting the crude.

He stated that this position would allow the modular refi nery to enjoy uninterrupted refi ning of crude oil from its upstream busi-ness all year round.

“By so doing, Waltersmith will be in a position to contribute about 271 million litres of refi ned products (Diesel, Kerosene, HPFO and Naphta) annually to the Nige-rian economy, serves as an import substitution for meeting domestic demand for products, create both direct and indirect employment as well as reduce the demand for for-eign exchange from the country’s treasury to import these prod-ucts,” he said. Speaking on how he intends to grow the company further, he said, “The 5,000 bpd refi nery is the fi rst phase of a much larg-er development. Ultimately, we plan to increase capacity to

30,000bpd to process additional products including Petrol (PMS) and Jet Fuel.

“We have already executed an MoU with PCC of China towards the installation of the additional capacity within three years, after start up of the 5,000 bdp modular refi nery in December 2020.”

“To ensure the security of crude supplies for that level of refi ning capacity, it is our intention to ei-ther acquire additional assets within 30km radius of this site or partner with assets owners to se-cure sustainable crude feedstock for the expanded refi nery. We have no doubt we will receive the much-needed support from the federal government, NNPC, DPR and all stakeholders as the devel-opment expansion evolves,” he ex-plained.

On plans to transform the com-pany into an integrated energy enti-ty, he said, “Waltersmith is also de-veloping a 30 megawatt gas-fi red power plant for which the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has granted a power gen-eration licence in 2017. The plant will be situated in the same energy industrial estate complex as the refi nery and the flow station in the Ibigwe marginal fi eld. “The pow-er plant will utilize processed gas from Waltersmith’s Ibigwe mar-ginal fi eld and from third parties operating gas fi elds that are within proximity to the Ibigwe fi eld. The power generated will be supplied to the national grid and is expect-

ed to contribute to-wards bridging the

power supply gap in the country and create both direct and indi-rect jobs during the construction

and operational phases,” he

added.

products (Diesel, Kerosene, HPFO and Naphta) annually to the Nige-rian economy, serves as an import substitution for meeting domestic demand for products, create both direct and indirect employment as well as reduce the demand for for-eign exchange from the country’s treasury to import these prod-ucts,” he said. Speaking on how he intends to grow the company further, he said, “The

power generated will be supplied to the national grid and is expect-

ed to contribute to-wards bridging the

power supply gap in the country and create both direct and indi-rect jobs during the construction

and operational phases,” he

added.

Abdulrazaq Isa, Chairman/CEO, Waltersmith

16

Life 06:19

Do you know that Nige-ria alone has nearly 150,000 children born annually with sickle-cell

anaemia? The country bears 50% of the global burden of the disease. Sickle Cell Disor-der (SCD) is caused by a mu-tation in the gene that helps in the production of haemoglobin, a substance that is responsi-ble for the transportation of oxygen in the blood. The blood harbours various types of cells, most common of these cells are the red blood cells, they are the cells that contain the haemoglo-bin, a red pigment that gives the blood a characteristic red co-louration. The haemoglobin of a normal red blood cell is not mu-tated, thus the cells appear disc-shaped, whereas, in SCD, the red blood cells are sickle-shaped due to mutation of the haemo-globin. The disease is heritable and the mutated gene can be passed on from parents to chil-dren. Knowing your genotype prior to marriage could help to curtail the menace and spread of this disorder.

There is no doubt that to successfully ameliorate this disease, there is a need for a radical approach to improved awareness. A number of out-standing Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Nigeria are breaking the cycle on sick-le cell. In honour of Sickle Cell awareness day, I would like to spotlight a remarkable woman I admire so much: Samira Sanusi.

She is living proof that you can still have ambitions and dreams while living with SCD.

Samira Sanusi is a sickle cell awareness advocate and writer. She is also the president of the Samira Sanusi Sickle Cell foun-dation, an Abuja based NGO that was founded in 2014. She has written two very interesting books. Her first book titled “S for Survivor” features a memoir of her journey living with Sickle Cell, and her second book titled “I wrote this for you” is a collec-tion of poetry, prose short essay and philosophical quotes. SCD sent Samira on a 7-year journey to fighting for her health and life, she’s had over 28 surges and is now cured of Sickle Cell Dis-ease. Although not an easy jour-ney as I can only imagine, Sami-ra meets the odds and is striving for others to be as fortunate as

she was. Through the Samira Sanu-

si Foundation, Samira and her team have raised funds for or-ganisations and clinics that pro-vide care, aid, and treatment for Sickle Cell patients. Her founda-tion also organises awareness programs to educate and sen-sitise people on the disease in Nigeria. The foundation is also committed to supporting the Nigerian government in acceler-ating provision for management and treatment of SCD complica-tions. To douse the excruciating-ly painful experience, families of the victims are encouraged to provide unending support to the patients. Families are the perti-nent stakeholders required for ensured successful health care delivery to SCD patients.

SCD is one of the common inherited disorders in the world

Living with Sickle Cell in Nigeria

–By Aisha Sambo

17

Life 06:19

and three-quarters of the cases occur in Africa. In Nige-ria for example, it affects two out of every hundred chil-dren born. Thanks to the Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria and other NGOs like Samira, the country now have sickle cell centres. A group of NGOs under the aegis of The Coa-lition Of Sickle Cell NGOs have urged the government to implement health policies that would make provision for newborn testing and improve the lives of sufferers through access to adequate care. The coalition com-prises of 13 NGOs they include the Sickle Cell Founda-tion Nigeria, Sickle Cell Advocacy and Management Initia-tive (SAMI), Crim-sonBow Sickle Cell Initiative, Genotype Foundation, Tony May Founda-tion, Sickle Cell Aid Foundation (SCAF), Couple and Kids Ini-tiative, Noah’s Ark Foundation, Soulage Foundation, Nirvana Initiative among others. Even cooperate organisations are demonstrating a level of com-mitment to the promotion and support of SCD patients. For ex-ample Banks such as Keystone Bank and Fidelity Bank has part-nered with Slum2School Africa and Coalition of Sickle Cell NGOs to create awareness about SCD in Lagos. Traditional rulers will also have a major role to play in creating awareness, because

most people living in rural areas may not be well informed about SCD. For instance, the Emir of Gwandu and Chairman, Keb-bi State Council of Chiefs did launch a sickle cell awareness and sensitisation campaign in the state.

World Sickle Cell Day June 19th, was established by the United Nations General Assem-bly in 2008 in order to increase the awareness about the sickle cell disease and its cure among the common public. Nigeria joined the rest of the world to commemorate the 2019 World Sickle Cell Day as designated by the United Nations to draw at-

tention and create more awareness on the problems posed by SCD.

So far Nigerians have been doing a tremendous job in driving advoca-cy and educating the public on the disease, neverthe-less, more work needs to be done to cut down the prevalence of the disorder. If you don’t know your genotype now is the time, visit ac-credited health centres to deter-mine your gen-otype. It is also good to know that normal haemoglo-bin displays an AA genotype, where-as a semi-normal one carries AS genotype. Abnor-mal haemoglobin has an SS geno-type. The risk of amplifying the dis-ease prevalence is higher in couples

that are both AS, SS or any mix-ture of the two (AS & SS). It is safe when any of the couples is AA, thus the risk of giving birth to a child with SCD is near zero.

This article is dedicated to all SCD warriors, especially to my late friend, Fatima-Yasmin Ab-dulkadir Kure who passed away on the 2nd of May 2019. She was an SCD fighter who had a loving and supporting family, she was a remarkable woman, gifted in the kitchen with her skills and the words of God. I miss you and may your soul rest in peace.

World Sickle Cell Day: Red Umbrella Walk in Lagos

18

Industry 06:19

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on 13th June, 2019

inaugurated a new office complex for its crude oil trading subsidiary, Duke Oil.

Speaking at the launch of the facility in Abuja, the out-going Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru, said the complex was an intelligent building, to boost staff productivity.

He said the use of technology and process create a safer and more productive environment for its occupants and more operationally efficient for its owners.

Baru said that a lot of research had gone into examining the impacts of physical office environment on employee productivity.

He explained that essentially, the consensus was that a functional office environment would significantly affect the workers behavior, perceptions and productivity.

He said: “You will recall that on assumption of office in July 2016, i declared the focus of the Corporation under my watch as encapsulated in what is now well known as the 12 Business Focus Areas.

“One of the items on the list is: Developing New Business Models for NNPC companies and Corporate Business Units. “As part of the larger design, the existing multiple crude oil and petroleum trading companies of the corporation were coalesced into one single entity: Duke Oil.

“While still operating under the name, Duke Oil (NNPC Trading), pending the resolution of legal

issues, the consolidation of the alignment has progressed.

“I am pleased to state that the inauguration of the Duke Oil (NNPC Trading) office building today, perhaps physicalised the consolidation,” he added.

He urged the staff of Duke Oil to make the best of the facilities available in the building complex to boost their productivity in the overall interest of the NNPC.

According to him, it’s important creating the right ambience in an office environment, and in ensuring that such features as the workplace design, indoor temperature, lighting and ventilation, colour and noise among others align. He said:

“This is in addition to ensuring the right layout of office space, provision of comfortable furniture, as well as creating appropriate walk out areas around the office.

“The building, located in a serene, highbrow area in

Abuja is spacious, equipped with modern information and communication technology system, as well as comfortable furniture for the use of the staff.

“It spots a commodious boardroom, suitable restaurant area, a gym and a befitting car park.” He commended the management of Duke Oil for bequeathing the NNPC with the structure, expressing confidence that the structure would serve the company and the NNPC at large, towards meeting the group’s corporate goals.

in his remarks, the Managing Director of NNPC Trading, Mr. Inuwa Waya thanked the Group Managing Director for the support his office received which led to the acquiring of the new office complex. The event was attended by top management staff of the corporation and other stakeholders.

NNPC Trading gets New Office Complex–By Danlami Nasir Isah

Dr. Maikanti Baru cutting the tape to commission the Complex. He is being assisted by MD of NNPC Trading, Inuwa Waya alongside other top NNPC officials. Photo: BASHIR BELLO DOLLARS

19

Photosplash 06:19

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on 13th June, 2019 commissioned a new office complex for its crude oil trading subsidiary, Duke Oil. The commissioning ceremony which was performed by the out-going Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru and his host, MD NNPC Trading, Mr. Inuwa Waya. The event was attended by top management staff of NNPC among whom were Engr. Rabiu Bello, COO Upstream; Mr. Henry Ikem Obih, COO Downstream; Anibor Kragha, COO Refining ; Babatunde Victor Adeniran, COO Ventures; Engr. Rabiu Suleiman, STA to fmr HMSPR on RDI; Mr. Mele Kyari, GGM COMD; Mallam Garba Shehu, SSA to the President, Media and Publicity; Alh. Bashir Koko, former GED, Mrs. Aisha Ahmadu-Katagum, GGM (Shipping); Ms. Lawrencia Nwadiabuwa Ndupu, GGM NNPC Oil Field Services; Mr. Adeyemi Adetunji, MD NNPC Retail Limited; Mr. Ndu Ngamadu, GGM PAD, and a host of other guests. Photo: BASHIR BELLO DOLLARS

20

21

For e

nqui

ries,

call:

070

5 50

0 10

00

Star of the Industry 06:19

Anibor O. KraghaChief Operating Offi cer for the Refi neries & Petrochemicals Directorate of the NNPC

23

Star of the Industry 06:19

Mr. Anibor Ohiole Kragha holds four degrees: a Bachelor in Chemical

Engineering from the Universi-ty of Minnesota (1996), a Mas-ters in Plastics Engineering from the University of Mas-sachusetts-Lowell (1998) and two Masters’ degrees received

from the Massachusetts In-stitute of Technology (MIT) in 2003. At MIT, Mr. Kragha was a Fellow of the Leaders for Manufacturing (LFM) du-al-degree program via which he secured both a Master of Science in Chemical Engineer-ing and a Masters in Business

Administration (MBA). WORK EXPERIENCE

Mr. Kragha is currently the Chief Operating Offi cer (COO) for the Refi neries & Petro-chemicals Directorate of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), a posi-tion that he has held from April

At the 14th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the African Refineries and Downstream Association (ARA) held at the Century City Conference Centre, Cape Town, South Africa held on March 27, 2019, Mr. Ani-bor Ohiole Kragha was elected to lead the association for the year 2019 to 2020 activities. He succeeds Mr. Hilaire Kabore of Burkina Faso.

–By Danlami Nasir Isah

Anibor KraghaChief Operating Offi cer for the Refi neries & Petrochemicals

Directorate of the NNPC

24

Star of the Industry 06:19

2016 to date. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing the operations of NNPC’s four re-fi neries with a total combined installed capacity of 445,000 barrels per day (BPD).

Before then, he served as the Group General Man-ager (GGM), Treasury for NNPC from September 2015 to March 2016, a role that saw him responsible for the

Treasury Operations and in-ter-company funding arrange-ments for NNPC. He was re-sponsible for coordinating the implementation of the Federal Government’s Treasury Sin-gle Account (TSA) initiative across all Strategic Business Units in NNPC. Prior to joining NNPC, Mr. Kragha spent over ten years working for Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), an

affi liate of ExxonMobil, in var-ious capacities of increasing responsibility in Nigeria and the United States. At MPN, Mr. Kragha served as Upstream Treasurer for ExxonMobil Af-fi liates in Nigeria from July 2012 to September 2015 and was responsible for Affi liate Finance, Benefi ts Finance & Investments, Cash Manage-ment and Insurance activities.

From January 2011 to June 2015, Mr. Kragha served as Financial Advisor for the ExxonMobil Development Company (EMDC) in Houston and Affiliate Finance Department at the ExxonMobil Corporate Headquarters in Dallas. At EMDC, he worked on a landmark US$ 1.5 billion project financing arrangement for Nigeria and developed a National Content framework for cross-func-tional teams in Angola, Indonesia and Houston.

25

From January 2011 to June 2015, Mr. Kragha served as Fi-nancial Advisor for the Exxon-Mobil Development Company (EMDC) in Houston and Affi li-ate Finance Department at the ExxonMobil Corporate Head-quarters in Dallas. At EMDC, he worked on a landmark US$ 1.5 billion project fi nancing arrangement for Nigeria and developed a National Content framework for cross-function-al teams in Angola, Indonesia and Houston. In the Affi liate Fi-nance role, he worked on com-plex valuations for ExxonMo-bil’s Hong Kong and Singapore subsidiaries, re- introduced inter-company fi nancing into Esso Thailand and coordinat-ed fi nancing arrangements for affi liates in Thailand, Malaysia and Nigeria. From February

2005 to December 2010, he occupied various positions of increasing responsibility in ExxonMobil Upstream Africa Audit and MPN’s Commercial and Treasurer’s departments.

His roles included leading a diverse range of audit engage-ments in Chad, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Angola and Nigeria, implementing various Alternative Funding Arrange-ments and performing analy-sis of the impact of proposed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) provisions on industry-wide oil & gas operations in Nigeria. Mr. Kragha also worked as a Manufacturing Team Coordi-nator and Process Engineer at the Polaroid Corporation in the USA from 1998 to 2001.

He performed his mandato-ry one-year Nigeria National

Youth Service requirement by providing leadership and ca-reer development seminars at local secondary schools.

At the 14th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the African Refi neries and Downstream Association (ARA) held at the Century City Conference Cen-tre, Cape Town, South Africa held on March 27, 2019, Mr. Anibor Ohiole Kragha was elected to lead the associa-tion for the year 2019 to 2020 activities. He succeeds Mr. Hilaire Kabore of Burkina Faso.

Mr. Kragha is happily mar-ried with three beautiful daughters and his interests include mentoring, sports, fi t-ness & exercise, traveling, fi ne dining, architecture and interi-or design.

Star of the Industry 06:19

26

–By Gideon Osaka

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, 20th June 2019 confi rmed the

appointment of Mr. Mele Kolo Kyari, as the new Group Manag-ing Director (GMD) of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Mr. Kyari until his appoint-

ment was the Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division (COMD) of the corpora-tion, and also doubled as Nige-ria’s National Representative to the Organization of the Petro-leum Exporting Countries, OPEC since 13th May 2018.

A geologist by profession,

Mr Kyari who hails from Borno state, succeeds the incumbent GMD, Maikanti Baru, who is due for retirement from the NNPC next month.

He is the 19th GMD of the Na-tional Oil Company and boasts of a profi le of professional and service credentials

Cover Story 06:19

How Kyari Emerged 19th GMD of NNPC

27

Mele Kyari is not related to Abba Kyari, President Buhari’s Chief of Staff. While the former is of Kanuri tribe, the latter is Shuwa tribe. The NNPC said Kyari would be bringing to his new appointment, more than 27 years of experience in the Petroleum Industry. Also appointed were six Chief Operating Officers and Chief Finance Officer.

Industry 06:19

A crude oil marketer with prerequisite certification and outfield pedigree in Petroleum Economics and crude oil and gas trading, Mr Kyari has in the last 27 years, traversed the en-tire value chain of the Petroleum Industry.

Mr Kyari holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) degree in Geolo-gy and Earth Science from the University of Maiduguri in 1987.

He did his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) with the Directorate of Foods, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI) be-tween 1987 and 1988.

Mr Kyari worked with the Ni-gerian Geological Survey Agen-cy between 1988 and 1991,

before joining the NNPC sub-sidiary, Integrated Data Services Limited (IDSL), where he worked as a Seismic Data Processing Geophysicist in the Data Pro-cessing Department.

In 1998 he was moved to the National Petroleum Invest-ments Management Services (NAPIMS) – Exploration Geo-physicist Production Sharing Contract (PSC) before becom-ing the Abuja Operations Man-ager of the NNPC in 2004.

The new GMD was Supervi-sor PSC, Crude Oil Marketing De-partment (COMD) of the NNPC in 2006. He became the Head of PSC, Crude Oil Marketing Department (COMD) of the Cor-

poration in 2007 while in 2014, Mele Kyari became the General Manager, Production Contracts Management, Crude Oil Market-ing Department (COMD).

His last position before he was recently appointed GMD was NNPC’s Group General Manager, Oil Stock Manage-ment, Crude Oil Marketing De-partment (COMD).

Mele Kyari is not related to Abba Kyari, President Buhari’s Chief of Staff. While the former is of Kanuri tribe, the latter is Shuwa tribe.

The NNPC said Kyari would be bringing to his new appoint-ment, more than 27 years of experience in the Petroleum In-

Mr. Roland Onoriode Ewubare, COO Upstream Mr. Mustapha Yinusa Yakubu, COO Refining and Petrochemicals

28

dustry. Also appointed were six Chief Operating Officers and Chief Finance Officer.

Mr. Roland Onoriode Ewubare who hails from the South-South region of the Country and is ap-pointed Chief Operating Officer, Upstream, was until his new appointment Group General Manager, National Petroleum Investments and Management Services, (NAPIMS), a Corporate Services unit of the corporation headquartered in Lagos. Before his NAPIMS’ appointment, he was Managing Director of the Integrated Data Services Limit-ed (IDSL), a seismic data acqui-sition company of NNPC based in Benin. Mr. Mustapha Yinusa Yakubu hails from North Cen-tral region of the Country and is newly appointed as Chief Oper-ating Officer, Refining and Pet-rochemicals. Until his new ap-pointment he was the Managing Director of National Engineering and Technical Company Limited (NETCO). Mr. Yusuf Usman hails from North East and is Chief Op-erating Officer, Gas and Power. Until his new appointment, Engr. Usman was Senior Technical Assistant to the Group Manag-ing Director of the corporation. Ms. Lawrencia Nwadiabuwa Ndupu, from South East, is new-ly appointed as Chief Operat-ing Officer, Ventures. She, until her new appointment was the Group General Manager, NNPC Oil Field Services, established to provide technical services to players in the Industry. Mr. Umar Isa Ajiya, from North West region of the Country who holds the new position of Chief Finan-cial Officer, was until his recent appointment, the Managing Di-rector of Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) of NNPC, a Downstream arm of the corporation. Prior to holding the position as the Managing Di-

rector of PPMC, he was the cor-poration’s Group General Man-ager Corporate Planning and Strategy (CP&S).

Mr. Adeyemi Adetunji, who is from the South West region of the Country, holding the new ap-pointment of Chief Operating Of-ficer, Downstream, was until his new appointment the Managing Director of NNPC Retail Limit-ed, a Downstream Marketing Company of NNPC. Prior to his position as the MD of the Down-stream Marketing Company, he was General Manager, Trans-formation Department, a Think-tank unit of the corporation. Mr. Farouk Garba Said who hails from North West and holds the new position of Chief Operating Officer, Corporate Services, was Group General Manager, Engi-neering and Technology Divi-sion of NNPC. Mr. Said would be taking over from the present oc-cupier of the office who retires statutorily on 28th June, 2019.

Mr. President has directed that the new appointees work with the current occupants of the various positions between now and 7th July, 2019 towards a smooth transition on 8th July, 2019.

OPEC and NEITI describe new GMD’s appointment as well de-served

While congratulating the new GMD, the OPEC Secretary Gen-eral, Mohammad Sanusi Bar-kindo described Kyari’s appoint-ment as well deserved.

“On behalf of the Members of the OPEC Economic Commis-sion Board (ECB) and the staff of the OPEC Secretariat, may I con-vey our sincere congratulations on your recent well-deserved ap-pointment as Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

“We wish you every success

in this important and challeng-ing role and many years of ser-vice to NNPC and the country.

“This appointment has come as no surprise and is a testa-ment to your exemplary record and exceptional performance over the many years you have worked for NNPC in a variety of strategic roles.

“You have earned the respect of your colleagues in the ECB where you conducted yourself with gravitas and greatly con-tributed to the discussions and decisions of this body.

“May I conclude by wishing you good health, happiness and a long-life of service to our great industry, to NNPC and to the country. I trust you will remain a life long member of the OPEC family, and will continue to be involved in the activities of this great organization.

Also, in his congratulatory message, the Executive Sec-retary of Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initia-tive (NEITI), Mr. Waziri Adio de-scribed Kyari as a well known Transparency champion who shared the principles which underline NEITI’s work and the global EITI on good governance of the oil and gas industry.

“As a member of the global EITI working group on commod-ity trading transparency, Kyari’s appointment has placed him in a vintage position to push the frontiers of openness and to work more closely with NEITI and the global EITI,” Adio con-cluded.

The Powerplay behind the Scene

Nigerians may have been surprised at the announcement that a new Group Managing Di-rector, GMD, of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mr. Mele Kolo Kyari has been

Cover Story 06:19

29

appointed to take over from Dr. Maikanti Baru, who is scheduled to hand over on July 7, 2019.

Valuechain gathered that Baru who is due to retire by July, had prepared for it long ago by putting some of his trusted allies in strategic positions at NNPC, such as Engineer Yusuf Usman, the Chief Operating Of-fi cer, COO, Gas and Power, who until his appointment, was Se-nior Technical Assistant to Baru. Usman also hails from the North East, as Baru. Few months ago, Usman was sent to head the Ni-gerian Petroleum Development Company Limited, NPDC.

In the last few months, Baru was said to have bared his fangs against his perceived ene-

mies who may likely replace him or get to higher positions in the NNPC. One of the victims was Engineer Rabiu Suleiman, Se-nior Technical Adviser to former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, who was issued retirement letter on June 18, 2019. Engineer Sulei-man who was sacked along with Ogechukwu Olufunmilola Modie, who worked as the Chief of Staff (an unconstitutional offi ce) to Ibe Kachikwu. Mrs Modie also worked with the former minister when he was the Group Manag-ing Director (GMD). It was gath-ered that the former minister confi rmed her appointment as a permanent staff of the Corpora-tion when he was the GMD.

While many viewed the quar-rel between Suleiman and Baru as purely struggle for suprem-acy between the two erstwhile top ranking colleagues, it may not be unconnected with the frosty relationship that existed between the GMD and the for-mer minister, where Suleiman was said to be an inner caucus member of Kachikwu’s team.

In her case, the former Chief of Staff was said to have stepped on many toes among whom are top management of the NNPC and the Ministry. “She was so over bearing and disrespectful in her dealings,” said a source within the NNPC Towers. Val-uechain observed that both ju-nior and senior staff of the min-

As a member of the global EITI working group on commodity trading transparency, Kyari’s appointment has placed him in a vintage position to push the frontiers of openness and to work more closely with NEITI and the global EITI, Adio concluded.

Cover Story 06:19

Mr. Yusuf Usman, COO Gas and Power Ms. Lawrencia Nwadiabuwa Ndupu, COO Ventures

30

Cover Story 06:19

istry were unsympathetic to Mrs Modie’s ordeal. The situation, no doubt, brought about tension at the NNPC Towers, which made some to think that Baru was paving way for his favorite can-didate to assume the position of GMD, since it had become glar-ing to him that he might not se-cure a tenure extension from Mr. President as was granted to the current military Service Chiefs.

Baru and Rabiu Suleiman are speculated not to be in good terms since Baru became GMD. That may have informed the rea-son why he posted Suleiman to Kachikwu’s office, the same fate he (Baru) suffered when Kachik-wu was the Group Managing Di-rector/Minister of State. During Kachickwu’s time too, he retired some of the Executive Directors so as to be in firm control of the Corporation.

Rabiu Bello Babura, the Chief Operating Officer, COO, Up-stream was initially assumed by many to be the likely successor to Baru. The assumption was based on the COO’s closeness

to the outgoing GMD. Off recent, Bello seemed to be the one rep-resenting the GMD in most of the major Oil and Gas events. It would be recalled that he re-cently represented Mr. Baru at the just concluded OTC in Hous-ton, United States. Apart from that, Bello was a close confidant of the GMD as it was gathered that both of them performed this year’s Ramadan Lesser Hajj together in Saudi Arabia. Presi-dent Muhammadu Buhari too performed the Lesser Hajj with-in the period that the two were in Saudi Arabia.

According to an unsubstan-tiated report, Dr. Baru is being positioned for the post of sub-stantive Minister of Petroleum Resources, which President Bu-hari is said to be ready to relin-quish, while a South-Southerner will be the Minister of State.

Reacting to the change in management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, the President of the Na-tional Association of Petroleum Explorers, NAPE, Mr. Ajibola

Oyebamiji stated that NAPE has a lot of expectations from the new management. According to him, “the expectations include increase in Nigeria’s exploration activities, ensuring passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, fre-quent oil bid rounds, search for oil in the frontier-cretaceous six sedimentary basins, appropriate legislations and incentives for gas flare down and encourage-ment of more indigenous par-ticipation in the acquisition of blocks.

However, making clarification on the changes, the NNPC said that the new Group Managing Director, Mr. Mele Kolo Kyari, who takes over from Baru, ef-fectively on 8th July 2019, is until his new appointment the Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division of NNPC. Dr. Baru would retire statutorily on July 7, 2019.

Mr. Adeyemi Adetunji, COO Downstream Mr. Umar Isa Ajiya, Chief Financial Officer

31

Industry 06:19

The growing underdevelop-ment in Nigeria’s Niger Del-ta region, regarded as the

goose that lays the golden eggs has continued to pitch the re-gion against the international oil companies, IOCs, that have been producing oil from the region for many years.

While the host communities continue to allege negligence and ill-treatment, the IOCs be-lieve they have done enough for them and therefore need cooper-ation and enabling environment instead of vandalism and de-struction of their facilities, which have negatively affected their op-erations in the region.

According to Dr. Anthony Clark, of the Institute of Foundation Studies, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, inter-national oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region should

always respect the Memoranda of Understanding, MoUs entered with their host communities. He observed that most of the MoUs, after being drafted and signed, were hardly implemented by the oil companies, adding that it is necessary for the IOCs to pay attention to issues that could cause conflict within their host communities.

Clark, listed respect for MoUs as one of the factors that could put an end to youth restiveness in the Niger Delta region.

“Talking about respect for MoUs and GMoUs, most com-munities have entered into agreements with these compa-nies, some of these MoUs, even when they have been drafted, are not implemented judiciously. Let every party have respect for the MoUs and GMoUs.

“The IOCs should pay specific

attention to the factors identified by the youths and their host com-munities as being responsible for the occurrence of conflict in their communities,” he said.

The university don also urged government agencies to ensure the standardisation of the oil and gas industry with emphasis on local content to provide jobs for the people.

He said, “There should be a deliberate plan by government to employ youths and ensure an ap-propriate employment quota be-tween foreign workers and qual-ified indigenous counterparts in line with equity and justice as well the Nigerian Content Act.”

He decried activities of some youths in the region such as kidnapping, pipeline vandalism, closure of flow stations and rigs and piracy, saying, “We must stop the consistent destruction of the

IOCs, Host Communities Spar Over Underdevelopment

–By Fred Ojiegbe

32

ecosystem, pollution of air and surface water, through pipeline vandalism.”

Similarly, Mr. Mike Emuh, Chairman, Host Communities of Nigeria, Producing Oil and Gas, HOSCON, said that the IOCs owe a lot to the host communities. He said, “The IOCs and indigenous oil companies owe host commu-nities today, about $12 billion. In our agitation so far, we are telling Nigerians and the whole world, that the IOCs and indigenous oil companies have not been help-ing matters. We want them to change, because the HOSCON is committed to creating an en-abling environment for operators in the petroleum industry. “The National Assembly had not ac-tually helped issues, based on the non-passage of the PIB, right from the time of the Yar’Adua administration till date. I want to call on the National Assembly to pass the remaining portion of the PIB before the next elections.”

He, however, appealed to peo-ple of the region, especially agita-tors, to exercise patience with the president, noting that HOSCON had secured the assurances of the president that a committee would be set up to look at ways to address the challenges be-deviling the Niger Delta. He fur-ther stated that the president was considering addressing the anomaly in the disbursement of the 13 per cent derivation fund and the gas flare penalty levy, as well as the issue of pipeline sur-veillance. He said, “The 13 per cent derivation is our right that we have been denied; that we have been robbed off.

The most under-developed part of the country is the South-south that produces the oil. It is saddening when you know that despite the presence of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, the Ministry of Niger Del-ta Affairs and the disbursements of the 13 per cent derivation over

the years, there is no develop-ment in the Niger Delta. “The Constitution, as amended, made it mandatory that 13 per cent derivation should be given to the oil-producing communities. This was denied; and as a pressure group, we have mounted pres-sure on various governments, yet we are still on the issue. “Our pressure was mainly on the issue of the 13 per cent derivation and the denied gas flare penalty levy money. We had also taken our de-mands to the National Assembly, both to the Senate and the House of Representatives, yet we have not got favourable response,” He added.

Also, Governor Seriake Dick-son of Bayelsa State has blamed IOCs for degrading the predomi-nantly swampy Niger Delta en-vironment through oil and gas exploration and production. Ac-cording to the governor, the IOCs operated without adherence to international best practices. The governor, who reiterated his commitment to fighting environ-mental degradation, noted that the launch of `Rise For Bayelsa Campaign’ was to attract global attention to the effects of oil pol-lution in the state.

He said the commission was inaugurated to investigate the environmental, health, socio-eco-nomic, cultural and human dam-age caused by operations of both local and multi-national oil com-panies. Dickson sought the part-nership of Rotary International and other local and international groups to support his administra-tion’s efforts towards addressing the environmental challenges confronting the people of Niger Delta region.

However, the IOCs have com-plained to have lost significant oil as a result of increasing pipe-line vandalism and oil theft in the Niger Delta. The latest report obtained from Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC,

indicated that the company, ap-parently the highest producer with over 600,000 barrels per day, bpd, experienced 39 cases of vandalism and oil theft between January – April, 2019.

A breakdown showed that 12, 15, eight and four incidents were recorded in January, February, March and April 2019 respec-tively. IOCs In its latest Briefing Notes, Shell stated: “Security re-mains a high priority due to con-tinued crude oil theft and crimi-nality in parts of the Niger Delta. Illegal refining and third-party interference are the main sourc-es of pollution in the Niger Delta today.

Third party interference caused close to 90 percent of the number of spills of more than 100 kilograms from The Shell Pe-troleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited operated Joint Venture (SPDC JV) pipelines in 2018. “Security in parts of the Niger Delta remains a major con-cern with persisting incidents of criminality, kidnapping and sab-otage as well as onshore and offshore piracy. Although there has been no damage to key oil and gas infrastructure caused by militant activity since Novem-ber 2016, the security situation remains volatile in this region of the country.

“Facilities operated by both indigenous and international oil and gas companies continue to be affected by attacks and other illegal activities such as crude oil theft. This led to disruptions to oil and gas production in 2018, par-ticularly for indigenous producers and incidents of environmental contamination. Disruption to pro-duction also impacted revenue for the Federal Government of Ni-geria and to gas supply to power electricity for industry, business-es and public-sector services.”

Industry 06:19

33

Industry 06:19

–By Gideon Osaka

There appears to be no end in sight to the chal-lenges facing Nigeria’s

downstream oil sector. Issues of subsidy payment, inadequate refining capacity of the nation’s refineries and liberalisation of the sector continue to rever-berate as the nation’s economy beckons for revival.

Despite denial by the Federal Government, it was learnt that the country may have spent about N10 trillion in the provi-sion of pump price subsidy on imported petroleum products from 2006 to 2018. Accord-ing to report by BudgIT, a pub-lic finance-focused Non-Gov-ernmental Organisation, the amount came from the price shocks in the international en-ergy market as well as the ex-change volatility. It also stated that the subsidy regime has opened Nigeria’s public finance to huge corruption and illegal exportation of petroleum prod-ucts to neighbouring countries. The report titled, “Nigeria’s Pet-rol Subsidy Regime: Dilemma of the World’s Most Populous Black Nation”, stated: “Nigeria currently imports an average of 91 percent of its daily petrol needs, thus disproportionately exposing local petrol prices to price shocks from internation-al factors of production and exchange rate volatility. “There is a near perfectly inverse rela-tionship between the fall in the value of Naira and the rise in the

cost of imported petrol. That is, when next the Naira is devalued, Nigeria’s subsidy bill can be ex-pected to jump.”

It stated further: “The contin-uation of petrol price regulation perpetuates safety nests for exceptional forms of corrup-tion within the country’s sub-sidy regime. Import subsidy creates petrol price arbitrage – the differential between the regulated price in Nigeria and the high petrol prices in neigh-bouring countries – which is big enough to incentivise smug-gling of subsidized products to neighbouring border towns.” On the implication of the adverse development, the report stated: “BudgIT notes with dismay that fuel subsidy deprives Nigeria of funds needed for critical so-cio-economic development as it discourages investors, who generally prefer a deregulated industry, from investing in the downstream sector especially in the area of refinery construc-tion and operation. For instance, the 10 trillion consumed by the subsidy regime is sufficient to construct 27,000MW of elec-tricity or build about 2,400 units of 1000-bed standard hospitals across 774 local government areas of Nigeria, from our re-search. “We equally note that the Nigerian masses worship low oil prices. More so, the po-litical class fears that increases in petrol price (and in the cost of living by extension), occasioned

by a deregulated price regime, could become a flashpoint for mass uprisings and political in-stability. Nonetheless, we can never shy away from the oppor-tunity cost of the corrupt subsi-dy regime.”

BudgIT report seems to be in tandem with the submissions of immediate past Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu who said that ap-propriate pricing of petroleum products, fixing existing refin-eries and encouraging private investors to build new ones are some of the ways to perma-nently address the challenges in the downstream oil sector. He however called for caution as he said that care must be taken to ensure that people are not made to suffer unduly while attempting to review the prices of petrol and other com-modities. Kachikwu, who spoke at the Nigeria International Pe-troleum Summit, NIPS, in Abu-ja, said: “Ultimately, the great-er challenge that this country would have and still has is that of pricing. “Everybody wants power, available gas and freely delivered fuel with no queues, but people are not willing to make the sacrifices that are es-sential for these things to hap-pen. “Sometimes, it is a pricing issue. We have got to get to a point where we got to deal with some of these issues in a man-ner that doesn’t hurt our people but at the same time create the

Downstream Oil Sector: Motion, No Movement

34

level of efficiency as to remove arbitrages and patronages that are inbuilt in them. “Refineries and local production are key. We expect between 12 and 18 months corridor of construction and hopefully, at that point, we would get our refineries back. However, if we get refineries back by 2019, does that solve the problem? No, it doesn’t. You still have to deal with the pric-ing issues, because nobody is going to build a refinery and sell products at a loss.”

Indeed, the downstream sec-tor of the Nigerian oil and gas industry is in desperate need of reform as unresolved chal-lenges continue to dampen private sector players’ appetite to make further investment. In December 2018, the Chairman of Forte Oil Plc, Femi Otedola, announced his decision to sell all his shares in the firm’s down-stream business, the latest in a series of divestments from the downstream oil sector in recent years. The firm said Otedola would “divest of his full 75 per cent direct and indirect share-holding in the company’s down-stream business.” Before then, ExxonMobil had divested its 60 per cent stake in Mobil Oil Nige-

ria Plc to Nipco Plc, leaving the French energy major Total as the only international oil com-pany operating in the nation’s downstream sector.

According to Muda Yusuf, Director-General, Lagos Cham-ber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, the challenges facing the sector include policy uncertain-ty (as the Petroleum Industry Bill has been stalled), funding and indebtedness to marketers with regard to subsidy payment,

absence of a level -playing field, failure of refineries and dilapi-dated pipelines. “Perhaps, the most troubled sector of the Nigerian economy today is the petroleum downstream sector. The policy and regulatory envi-ronment are stifling, making it difficult to unlock value and the huge investment potential in the sector.”

“The outcomes of these are the spate of divestments and the inability to attract new pri-vate investment into the sec-tor. Currently, the private sector players have been practically crowded out by the state-owned NNPC, which currently supplies over 90 per cent of petroleum products in the country.

“The reform of the oil and gas sector would definitely be a game changer for the Nige-rian economy. We need to put an end to the regime of petro-leum subsidy, which is evident-ly not sustainable. An innova-tive framework is imperative to make this happen because of the extremely contentious na-ture and citizens’ perception of subsidy withdrawal,” he added.

Industry 06:19

The report titled, “Nigeria’s Petrol Subsidy Regime: Dilemma of the World’s Most Populous Black Nation”, stated: “Nigeria currently imports an average of 91 percent of its daily petrol needs, thus disproportionately exposing local petrol prices to price shocks from international fac-tors of production and exchange rate volatility. “There is a near perfectly inverse relationship between the fall in the value of Naira and the rise in the cost of imported petrol. That is, when next the Naira is devalued, Nigeria’s subsidy bill can be expected to jump.”

Femi Otedola, Chairman, Forte Oil Plc

35

Industry 06:19

I Learnt Dignity Of Silence, Trust In Others From PMB -Kachikwu

The immediate past Min-ister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, has said he learnt the dignity of silence and trust in the capacity of others from President Muhammadu Buhari while he served in his cabinet as a junior minister.

Gas Projects’ll Boost GDP By $50bn In 2021 — NNPC

The Nigerian National Pe-troleum Corporation has said with the 3,500 million standard cubic feet per day of additional gas to be supplied from seven critical gas development proj-ects, the nation’s economy can create up to seven million jobs and boost the Gross Domestic Product by about $50bn.

Petroleum Sector Reforms At-tracted $130bn Foreign Invest-ments In 4 Years – Kachikwu

The former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu has said the federal government’s reforms in the petroleum sec-tor in the last four years yield-ed over $130 billion foreign in-vestments and commitments aimed at growing the sector.

Excess Oil Revenue Drops By $6.31 Per Barrel

…As Bonny light price falls to $67.28 in May

The nation’s excess oil reve-

nue dropped from $13.59 per barrel to $7.28 per barrel, fol-lowing increased instability in the global oil market between the first and last week of May, 2019.

PPMC Posts N223bn Turnover From Petroleum Products Sale In One Month

The Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) posted N222.929 billion from the sale of petroleum products in the country in January 2019.

Stakeholders Uneasy Over De-lay In Outcomes Of Inland Ba-sins Drilling By NNPC

Over three months after the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) started drilling activities at the spud-in

of Kolmani River-II Well in Gon-gola Basin in Bauchi, petroleum industry stakeholders have ex-pressed divergent views over the delay in making commer-cial find.

Court Adjourns FG’s $406.7m Debt Recovery Suit Against Shell

A Federal High Court in La-gos, adjourned until June 19, hearing in a debt recovery suit filed by the Federal Govern-ment, against Shell Western Supply & Trading Ltd, over alleged 406.7 million dollars shortfall in Crude Oil shipment.

NNPC Products’ Sales Hits N174.62bn In March

The Nigerian National Petro-leum Corporation (NNPC) re-corded N174.62billion sale of white products in March 2019,

JUNE SHORT TAKES–Compiled By Saidu Abubakar

Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Nigeria’s Vice President

36

Industry 06:19

the corporation’s Monthly Fi-nancial and Operations Report (MFOR) for March 2019 has stated.

Uganda Official Commends DPR’s Regulatory Activities

An official of the Petroleum Authority of Uganda has com-mended the management of Department of Petroleum Re-sources (DPR)’s professional conducts in carrying out its reg-ulatory activities in the oil and gas industry.

Waltersmith’s Modular Refin-ery Begins Operation Q2 2020, Says Wabote

The 5,000 barrels per day modular refinery being devel-oped by Waltersmith Refining & Petrochemical Company Limit-ed, with equity investment from the Nigerian Content Develop-ment and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), would be completed in May 2020.

Nigeria Earns $236 Billion From Petroleum Exports In Five Years

Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, earned a total of $236.15bn from petroleum ex-ports over the last five years, a new report by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Coun-tries has shown.

Oil Theft: Navy Hands Over 3 Vessels, 16 Suspects To EFCC

The Nigerian Navy Ship, NNS Pathfinder in Port Harcourt, has handed over three vessels and 16 suspects arrested in con-nection with oil theft and oth-er maritime offences in Rivers State, to the Economic and

Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Nigeria Loses N44.6bn In One Month Over Oil Terminal Shut-downs

Nigeria lost N44.6bn as a result of the drop in oil revenue occasioned by the shut-ins and shutdowns of some terminals by the Nigerian National Pe-troleum Corporation (NNPC) in April 2019, latest data obtained from the Central Bank of Nige-ria revealed.

NUPENG Laments Indecent Jobs In Oil Sector

The Nigeria Union of Petro-leum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has lamented the prevalence of casual/indecent jobs in the oil and gas industry, saying that the development is appalling.

VP Osinbajo Reveals FG’s Plans For Restructuring Nige-ria’s Power Sector

The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, says the Fed-eral Government is discussing with stakeholders on ways to restructure Nigeria’s power sector with a view to improving supply and attracting more in-vestment to the country.

Fuel Scarcity Looms In Lagos There are rising concerns

that Lagos may experience fuel scarcity following the vandal-ization of the major petroleum products pipeline installed by the Nigerian National Petro-leum Corporation (NNPC) in La-gos, which was busted for the second time in three day and now obstructings smooth dis-tribution of petrol to neighbour-ing states in the southwest.

OilServ Gas Pipeline work37

The Nigerian oil and gas industry has experienced phenomenal growth in

deep water operations in the past two decades, as the Nige-rian National Petroleum Corpo-ration (NNPC) has continued to support planned deepwater projects, while ensuring ade-quate participation of indige-nous companies in exploration, exploitation, transportation, as well as refi ning and marketing of crude and refi ned products.

Yet, only 11.31 percent of the deepwater oil blocks in the country are either producing or at different stages of develop-ment, with the remaining 88.69 percent without any activity. A further analysis of the trend shows that just 6.09 percent of deepwater oil blocks in Nigeria are producing, while another 5.22 percent of the oil blocks are

being developed. “There are 87 deepwater

blocks in Nigeria, out of which only seven (6.09%) are produc-ing and additional six (5.22%) at different phases of develop-ment,” said data from NNPC sourced by Valuechain.

This therefore means that a great majority of the coun-try’s deepwater oil blocks are idle, and “more than half of the blocks in deepwater Nigeria are open,” yet Nigeria’s deepwater operations have generated reve-nue to the country in excess of $180 billion.

To arrive at these profi ts, in-dustry players’ capital invest-ment has exceeded $65 billion in a sector that still has potentials for growth amidst untapped abundant opportunities.

Nigeria has an estimated 13 billion barrels of oil reserves in

deepwater and only two billion barrels of it have been explored, and the delay is predicated on lack of, and great need to have more attractive fi scal and regu-latory regime, especially through the much awaited Petroleum In-dustry Bill (PIB).

According to Mordecai Ladan, who is the Director, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), there is need to amend the pol-icy that nobody brings third parties investors who will bring Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessels (FPSO).

To unlock the huge potentials in the deepwater, the DPR chief said the Federal Government will create more attractive fi scal and regulatory regime, incen-tives based on reserves replace-ment, ensure accelerated lease renewals and encourage deep play exploration and reserves

Why 88% of Nigerian Deepwater Oil Fields Are Not Producing

Industry 06:19

–By Yange Ikyaa

5.22 percent of the oil blocks are billion barrels of oil reserves in play exploration and reserves

38

maturation.Other measures include cre-

ating unique fiscal policy for unique emerging plays, respon-sive legislative environments and for gas commercialization, among others.

Ladan said there is need to amend the policy that nobody brings third parties investors who will bring Floating Produc-tion, Storage and Offloading vessels (FPSO).

To unlock the huge potentials in the deepwater, the DPR chief said the Federal Government will create more attractive fiscal and regulatory regime, incen-tives based on reserves replace-ment, ensure accelerated lease renewals, and encourage deep play exploration and reserves maturation.

Other measures include cre-ating unique fiscal policy for unique emerging plays, respon-sive legislative environments and for gas commercialization, among others.

Data from DPR seen by Val-uechain says that Nigeria’s deepwater oil production cur-rently stands at 850,000 barrels per day, representing 40.47 per cent of the total production of 2.1 million barrels per day.

Deepwater oil blocks are those located in areas of water depth beyond 200 metres and extending up to 200 nautical miles seaward from the coast of Nigeria.

According to Mordecai Ladan, of Nigeria’s over 80 deepwater oil and gas blocks, 30 have been awarded and eight blocks out of the 30 are oil mining leases (OMLs) that have begun pro-duction, and there are 53 open blocks to be awarded.

“Successful progress has been made in growing Nigeria reserves and production from the development of deep off-shore hydrocarbons since 2003.

“Technology has been the key enabler in converting resources into economical reserves. There abound ample opportunities to realize accelerated revenues and sustained investment in maturation of more than 40 bil-lion barrels of oil equivalent re-sources presently untapped in Nigeria deep offshore area.

“DPR as a regulator, working with other stakeholders includ-ing the Nigerian National Pe-troleum Corporation (NNPC), decided to go into deep water, when the inland and the off-shore were already saturated.

“The only way to do that was to come up with Production Sharing Contract (PSC) agree-ment, and that was how 83 blocks were mapped in Nigeria deep water and 30 of the blocks were awarded.

“Eight of the blocks were awarded in 1993, eight in 2000 and other 14 in 2015.”

“At my last count, about 10 deepwater projects were lined

up for sanctioning. Also, given the lead time for project matu-ration, the time to build is now for us to achieve the results we desire, seizing the chance to de-velop our oil and gas industry and by extension the economy,” said Bank Anthony Okoroafor, who is the Chairman of Petro-leum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN).

Okoroafor also commended Dr. Maikanti Baru, the out-going Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC, for always supporting the development of indigenous oil and gas companies, stress-ing further that “the future of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria and by extension the nation’s economy is the deepwater oper-ations of the country.

Nigeria’s proven total oil re-serves in all basins are estimat-ed by the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) at between 16 and 22 billion barrels, but other sources claim there could be as much as 35.3 billion barrels or more. NNPC figures put the countries total oil reserves at 37 billion barrels.

Its reserves make Nigeria the tenth most petroleum-rich na-tion, and by far the most affluent in Africa.

Oil and gas in the country account for more than 98% of export earnings and about 83% of federal government revenue, as well as generating more than 14% of its GDP. Oil also provides

Yet, only 11.31 percent of the deepwater oil blocks in the country are either producing or at different stages of development, with the remaining 88.69 percent without any activity. A further analysis of the trend shows that just 6.09 percent of deepwater oil blocks in Nigeria are producing, while another 5.22 percent of the oil blocks are being developed.

Industry 06:19

39

95% of foreign exchange earn-ings, and about 65% of govern-ment budgetary revenues.

Nigeria remains an active player relative to other regions in terms of deepwater devel-opment, with the country’s de-ployment of latest technology making it famous for the stride it has continued to make and maintain.

“Out of the 15 Floating Pro-duction Storage and Offloading (FPSO) in Nigeria, seven have been deployed for deepwater operations. Nigeria ranks only behind Angola within the African deepwater operations in terms of FPSO deployment,” said Dr. Baru, NNPC helmsman.

The country has now been known to utilize each deepwater project as an avenue to upscale its unique human capital skills in different areas not limited to en-gineering design, project man-agement, welding and diving.

As a result of this, the share of local content contribution or services in deepwater has also continued to grow and im-prove from the sub 1% level to an aggregate contribution of over 25%, and from engineering man-hours of less than 20,000 to over 1.1million recently at the Egina project.

“With the Nigerian content, tonnage has grown by 600% from the first deepwater project till date,” Baru noted.

The deepwater projects that are working in the country at present have benefited the wider Nigerian economy by boosting demand for a range of goods and services, including offshore vessels and platforms, materials, floating hotels, heli-copters and manpower, creating jobs and providing wide range of training and maintenance ser-vices to the industry locally.

This means that services in

areas such as manpower sup-ply, logistics, and vessel supply, chemical supplies have more or less been domesticated in the deepwater value chain.

The in-country topside inte-gration of the Egina FPSO proj-ect recently is a clear demon-stration of this important feat of local content mainstreaming in Nigeria.

This has resulted in achieving the dual goal of both industrial-ization and manpower develop-ment through job creation and skill acquisition.

“The gains enumerated in terms of production and reserve growth, revenue and value cre-ation, as well as manpower and technology development need to be sustained.

I must reiterate that sustain-ing these gains means all hands must be on deck. We must leverage the expected growth in deepwater for national develop-ment. We expect within the next 10 years that production from Nigeria deepwater would dou-ble.” Dr. Baru expressed.

The development being an-ticipated implies an increase in steel demand, as steel rep-resents 20% to 35% of the over-all cost for a new-build struc-ture, dry docking, pipe coating, welding and sundry ancillary services, adding that Nigeria needed the right caliber of tech-nical and engineering skills and manpower.

The history of oil exploration in Nigeria dates back to 1903 when Nigerian Bitumen Corpo-ration conducted exploratory work in the country, but at the onset of World War I the firm’s operations were stopped.

Due to the lack of technolog-ical and financial resources by small oil companies, large oil companies took over the ex-ploration of commercial oil in

the country. Thereafter, licens-es were given to D’Arcy Explo-ration Company and Whitehall Petroleum, but neither company found oil of commercial value and they returned their licenses in 1923.

A new license covering 920,000 square kilometres (357,000 square miles) was giv-en to Shell D’arcy Petroleum De-velopment Company of Nigeria, a consortium of Shell and Brit-ish Petroleum (then known as Anglo-Iranian).

The company began explor-atory work in 1937 and it was granted license to explore oil all over the territory of Nigeria, but the acreage allotted to the company in the original license was reduced in 1951 and then between 1955 and 1957.

Drilling activities started in 1951 with the first test well drilled in Owerri area, the cap-ital of present day Imo State and, later, oil was discovered in non-commercial quantities at Akata , near Eket in 1953.

Prior to the Akata find, the company had spent around 6 million pounds on exploratory activities in the country before Shell-BP finally found commer-cially viable petroleum oil in Oloibiri, Nigeria in 1956. Other important oil wells discovered during the period were Afam and Bomu in Ogoni territory.

Production of crude oil began in 1957 and, in 1960, a total of 847,000 tonnes of crude oil was exported. Towards the end of the 1950s, non-British firms were granted license to explore for oil. The firms are Mobil in 1955, Tenneco in 1960, Gulf Oil and later Chevron in 1961, Agip in 1962, as well as Elf in 1962.

Industry 06:19

40

Subscribe&& Save!

Delivery is Free!

Contact: 0807 720 1571, Abuja: 0708 962 6420, Lagos: 0803 684 0121. email: info@thevaluechainng.com 007mbu@gmail.com

OUR RATES

All rate are 5% VAT Inclusive

Payment should be made to MB DOT COM Media Associates, Diamond Bank Plc, Account No. 007-4244-967. Terms and conditions apply.

Corporate Subscription Rate:Duration No. of copies Cost (N)3 Months 10 copies above 1,800 per copy6 Months 10 copies above 1,700 per copy12 Months 10 copies above 1,600 per copy

Don’t forget to visit Valuechain

Online News Platform Daily on

for real time news as they break!

www.thevaluechainng.com

Aviation 06:19

It’s getting clearer now, ... why I was born.

I just saved a life who would have possibly died midair in the aircraft I was a passenger in.

I was on seat 14F of BOEING 737-500 of AZMAN AIR from Kano to Lagos.

Suddenly, his head dropped.A passenger on the seat to my

far left on the other side of the aisle.

The Indian man sitting beside him screamed and called the at-tention of the air officials.

The Indian said it seems the man passed out.

We were still several thou-sands of miles above sea level.

Far from Lagos our destina-tion.

As it is with my nature, I was listening to some music with my earpiece on board this flight. I was rocking myself head for-ward and backwards, my hands slightly moving up to the power-ful music of SHOW US MERCY by Will Adiks.

The movements to the uncon-scious passenger got my atten-tion.

I removed my earpiece.In five powerful long strides, I

got to the dying patient.To the air hostesses, “I am Dr

James King. I want to take over. He is deteriorating fast.”

The air hostess said, “Ok sir. Go ahead.”

And she gave me way.I quickly checked his pulse

around his radial artery. It was small volume, irregularly irregu-lar rhythm.

I shouted, “Any doctor, nurse or paramedic here?”

No response.All the other passengers on

board were staring at me with a forlorn look.

As if there was an impending danger to all of them.

I turned to the immaculate-ly dressed three air hostesses around me. “We can save this life together. His life depends on us now.”

I turned to one of the hostess-es, “Can you please get us all the medical boxes and kits in this aircraft.”

She responded, “Ok sir” and walked fast away.

I asked two other male pas-sengers to help me lift the dying man from his seat to the aisle between the aircraft seats, ... so I can have more space to start my intervention on him.

We placed him on the ground.

I immediately positioned him supine and also freed his respi-ratory airways by tilting his head back a bit.

I again asked, “please can I have any cloth or anything to support his neck.”

The air hostesses removed their top suits and handed them to me.

I was encouraged.I folded two of them and

placed them under the neck of the dying man.

At this point, the dying man was already having rolling up eyes, ... all white.

I listened to his apex heart-beat.

It was very weak and faint.I knew in seconds, he would

be dead if I don’t do something fast.

I commenced CPR (Car-dio-pulmonary resuscitation) on him.

He responded favourably.Then he began to convulse

uncontrollably.At the top of my voice, I shout-

ed: “Can someone get me Diaze-pam please?”

An air hostess ran somewhere to get it.

It was 30 minutes before land-ing.

If nothing was done fast he will die in less than 10mimutes.

I repeated CPR again.And again. And again... .I listened to the heart using

my stethoscope.Some mild activity com-

menced.I turned to the chief air host-

Life Saving Adventure 33,000 feet Above the Sea Level

–By Dr James King

Dr James King

42

Aviation 06:19

ess, please call Murtala Moham-med Airport and tell them to ar-range an ambulance before our landing.”

She said, “Right away” and be-gan to rush toward the cockpit to inform the pilot to do so.

When I was sure the patient’s ventilation improved a bit, I quickly withdrew 5mg of Diaz-epam and gave him straight in-tramuscular on his buttocks.

Returned to the supine posi-tion again.

Commenced CPR.Checked his radial pulse.I then announced to everyone

that... “I am buying time. He will survive.”

I was on the floor of the air-craft kneeling around him.

Monitoring every single thing I can pick from his reflexes.

The chief air hostess came back.

I asked her, “How many min-utes do we have more to land?”

She said, “in five minutes.”I again announced to every-

one on board, “He will survive.”Then there was a loud sudden

noise in the aircraft.Then we landed on the run-

way.Three men/passengers car-

ried him.We evacuated him very fast

out of the plane.At the foot of the plane, there

was no ambulance waiting.I was visibly angry and now

shouting at the top of my voice to all the airport officials.

In a rage, I said to them, “This is wickedness. We did all our best with God’s help to keep this man alive for 30 minutes and you people could not even get us a waiting ambulance?”

Someone suggested that he should be taken in one of the Toyota Hilux vans.

I said, “No, it will kill him before we get anywhere”.

I screamed, “Any clinic in the airport?”

That was when their brains came back to default reset and

they chorused, “Yes.”I said to the men still carrying

him, “let’s go.”That was when we rushed him

to the clinic in the photo of this post that is close to the arrivals of the Murtala Muhammed Air-port.

I explained everything I did and the medications given to the doctor on call.

She took over.Then I walked out and looked

up to heaven and said, “I know you were involved in this. Thank you, Lord.”

I actually came to Lagos for an absolutely FREE Medical outreach that’s poorly funded to sick and abandoned prison in-mates at Kirikiri Prison.

We are all born to save lives.

Dr James King first published the above narration on his Facebook page few months back. He gave Valuechain permission to re-pub-lish.

Azman Air crew

I knew in seconds, he would be dead if I don’t do something fast. I commenced CPR (Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) on him. He responded favourably. Then he began to convulse uncontrollably. At the top of my voice, I shouted: “Can someone get me Diazepam please?” An air hostess ran somewhere to get it.

43

Column 06:19

Podcast has become big busi-ness, and in this post-serial audio world, celebrities, ac-

ademics, scientists, journalists and anyone really who owns a mixing desk and microphone can create their own podcast show. The quality is generally high but some efforts can still become a hit and miss with thousands of new podcasts emerging every year. Fear not, I am here to help guide you through the best pod-casts out there. Let’s start with my top three favourite Podcasts at the moment.

1. The Knowledge Project Pod-cast with Shane Parrish

The Knowledge Project Pod-cast is one of the top podcasts in the world. The show aims to cre-ate world-class multidisciplinary education by exploring the ideas, lessons, and methods that help us truly understand what works, what doesn’t, and why. I love this podcast because of the range and diversity in the topics. If you

are a sapiosexual this is the pod-cast for you. #ListenAndLearn

2. Not Your African ClichéFour young Nigerian women

describe themselves as having “a mutual disgust for ignorant com-ments about our continent”. Yes, Africa is a continent not a coun-try. They are highly opinionated and hold the most interesting conversations on misrepresenta-tion in Africa, no more Disney and National Geography telling our stories. The podcast aims to cre-ate a platform that fights Africa’s single story, and it does it well. Join Ify, Yeka O, Ife and Amayo on their mission to changing the Afri-ca narrative.

3. The Young God Pod by Rod-ney Omeokachie

This one just got added to my list this week! The host, Rodney Omeokachie, curates ideas, sto-ries, and conversations that ex-

plore the creative mindset. It chal-lenges both the host and listeners to explore new ways of thinking about their personal development aspirations and the ways they wish to impact the world. The best version of ourselves is only a mindset away and Rodney deliv-ers the message in a unique style. Deep thoughts, big questions with an unexpected dose of pop culture, history and, realness.

I featured on Rodney’s podcast and you can listen to it HERE. Honestly one of the most relaxed recorded conversations I’ve ever had. A conversation about life, business and creativity, my jour-ney towards creating myself, through the launch of my own sunglasses brand (SHUSHI), my plans for a production company and my past experience working at PwC and co-hosting TEDxMai-tama.

THREE GREAT PODCASTS FOR CURIOUS MINDS

Step into SHUBOX where you will unbox Aisha’s journey to discovering the stories behind people in Africa and interesting places all over the world. Expect an eclectic dive into history and current events on the intriguing developments in media and entertainment. I am here to give you a piece of myself through my writing by reporting and reviewing all things educative, entertaining and engaging.

– By Aisha Sambo

44

Motoring 06:19

Jaguar’s highest perfor-mance SUV, the F-PACE SVR, is now available in

sub-Sahara Africa regions. With 405kW and 680Nm the F-PACE SVR is capable of launching from 0-100km/h in 4.3 sec-

onds and on to a top speed of 283km/h.

Inspired by the F-TYPE sports car, the new SVR fea-tures Jaguar’s Variable Valve Active Exhaust System which provides a throaty soundtrack

and is another factor behind the SVR’s increased performance capability. The advanced de-sign allows increased exhaust flow and is 6.6kg lighter than the standard system.

To make the most of the

– By Ironhand Sydney Chukwuemeka

Powerful Jaguar F-PACE SVR Drives 0-100km/h in 4.3 seconds, top speed of 283km/h

Here Comes

46

Motoring 06:19

SVR’s 5.0-litre V8 Supercharged engine, Jaguar’s eight-speed ‘Quickshift’ automatic trans-mission has been specially cal-ibrated and its uprated suspen-sion delivers driving dynamics to match its performance. The chassis upgrades include pro-gressive front and rear springs that are 30 and 10 per cent stiff-er respectively and incorporate an anti-roll bar specification that contributes to a 5 percent reduction in body roll.

SVR-specific lightweight forged 21- and optional 22-inch alloy wheels are wider at the rear by 25mm compared to the front and contribute to the SVR’s enhanced handling. The 22-inch wheels are 2.4kg light-er on the front and 1.7kg lighter on the rear and are designed to deliver greater airflow to larg-er 395mm front and 396mm rear brake discs. Brake discs feature an advanced two-piece construction on the front and rear to reduce weight, further contributing to the SVR’s agile handling.

Aerodynamic enhancements include larger air intakes at the front and side fender vents that lower pressure in the wheel arches, reduce lift and provide additional cooling while also optimising high-speed stability. In addition, unique wheel arch extensions and lower body mouldings offer a low-slung muscularity that sets the SVR apart.

At the rear, a unique spoil-er is joined by a new bumper housing the quad tailpipes of the Active Exhaust system. The bumper incorporates side strakes that aid aerodynamic performance by smoothing air-flow away from the rear of the vehicle. An exclusive SVR bon-net also features vents to help extract air from the engine bay.

Beyond the visual enhance-ments, the F-PACE SVR fea-tures a comprehensive range of advanced technologies, each calibrated for the performance. These include the sports-tuned Electronic Differential and Adaptive Dynamics, while Torque Vectoring by Braking provides controlled independ-ent braking on the individual inside front and rear wheels, maximising capability through

even the tightest corners.The Dynamic Stability Con-

trol system has been adapted to suit the added performance potential of the F-PACE SVR with the system able to reduce engine torque or apply braking to individual wheels to help maintain the chosen line when cornering.

Jaguar’s engineers have also developed a unique Dynamic Driving Mode for the SVR, which initiates faster, more respon-sive gearshifts, sharper throttle responses and increased steer-ing response, which all com-bine to provide a more engag-ing driving experience.

The Electronic Power Assist-ed Steering (EPAS) has been tuned to manage the specific demands of high-speed cor-nering and the steering adapts depending on the drive mode selected – in Dynamic mode drivers experience a sportier set-up with enhanced steering feel and more direct response.

Drawing on Jaguar Land Rov-er’s extensive all-terrain exper-tise, the F-PACE SVR features a host of advanced technologies to ensure superb all-surface performance. All-Wheel Drive with Intelligent Driveline Dy-namics, All Surface Progress Control and Adaptive Surface Response ensure the SUV can handle all weather conditions and a wide variety of surfaces.

The F-PACE SVR is now avail-able in sub-Sahara Africa, in-cluding Nigeria where the Jag-uar Land Rover is represented by Coscharis Motors Limited. All Jaguars come standard with a 5-year/100,000km Care Plan.

47

NIGERIAN GAS MARKETING COMPANY LTD.Nigerian Gas Marketing Company Ltd. (NGMC) on Friday 7th June 2019 held its Annual General Meeting in Abuja. The AGM which took place at Fraser Suites, had in attendance the Chairman of NGMC Board, who is the NNPC Cheif Operating Officer Down Stream, Mr. Henry Ikem Obih;

the Alternate Chairman of the Board who is also the NNPC Cheif Operating Officer Gas & Power, Engr. Saidu Mohammed; the Managing Director of NGMC, Barau Mohammed Kabir and other top

management members of the company.

Industry 06:19

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

48

On Saturday 22nd of June, the ancient city of Kano attracted many personalities from the Oil and Gas Industry who came to the city to witness the wedding Fatiha of the NNPC Cheif Operating Officer Upstream,

Engr. Rabiu Bello Babura’s daughter; Dr. Hajara and her groom, Mr. Sadiq Ya’u Kanya. The wedding which took place at Al Furqan Mosque in Nasarawa GRA was graced by the Executive Governor of Jigawa State, His

Excellency Alh. Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, former Governor of Jigwa State, Barr. Ali Saadu Birnin Kudu, NNPC Cheif Operating Officer Refining, Mr. Anibor O. Kragha, Managing Director of NPDC, Mr. Yusuf Matashi,

the Publisher of the Valuechain Magazine, Alh. Musa Bashir Usman and a host of others. Photo: BASHIR BELLO DOLLARS

Dr. Hajara Rabiu Bello Babura weds Mr. Sadiq Ya’u Kanya

Industry 06:19

WEDDING FATIHA

49

Property 06:19Property 06:19

How rising Abuja Properties may Fuel Money Laundering Risks

–By David Chukwu

The rise in property develop-ments in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, is equally fuelling

concerns the real estate sector is becoming an avenue for individ-uals to conceal their illegally ac-quired wealth.

According to Valuechain fi nd-ings from a survey of developers, within the central and highbrow parts of the city, hundreds of new and existing estates and luxury flats that are grossly unoccupied continue to litter the city.

This comes as the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) late last year concluded plans to create four new districts in the territory.

With the coming of the new districts, there is the likelihood that more people will flow into the city and more estates and other private offi ce and residential de-velopments will happen.

The anticipated rising property developments has warranted the need for law enforcements agen-cies to increase their focus on the

real estate sector because of the sectors high vulnerability to mon-ey laundering.

The type of properties in refer-ence that are vulnerable to money laundering in the city are not lim-ited to residential buildings alone but banks as well as offi ce com-plexes, market stalls, plazas and pieces of undeveloped land.

Money laundering, according to the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) in a Feb-ruary 2019 briefi ng, is the process used to camouflage the illegal or-igin of funds generated by illicit or criminal activities.

In real estate, money launder-ing involves using such funds to pay for the transactions involving properties.

How Corrupt People Launder Money via Real Estate

Reports based on surveys pro-vide for a typology of the basic techniques used for laundering money through the real estate sector.

Two reports by the Organisa-tion for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) pub-lished in two consecutive years: the one titled ‘Money laundering and terrorist fi nancing through the real estate sector’ and the 2008 OECD report ‘Real estate sector: Tax fraud and money laundering vulnerabilities’ highlight the basic techniques used for laundering money through the real estate sector.

Real estate money laundering can be in form of complex loans or credit fi nance; use of non-fi nan-cial professionals and through mortgage schemes and fi nancial institutions.

Other features, according to the OECD report, that can serve as specifi c indicators of real es-tate money laundering include recourse to third parties by cus-tomers (sellers and buyerr) for concealment of ownership; un-usual income (e.g. inconsistency between income and standard of living), and unusual debt (e.g.

50

Property 06:19

mortgage with low income or un-identified lender) on the part of the legal owner.

The other ways are the use of front companies i.e shell compa-nies, trusts and company struc-tures, allowing the criminal not to appear as the real owner and rent-al income to legitimise illicit funds (renting the property to a third party they use as the legal owner).

Other pointers to real estate money laundering include proper-ty renovations and improvements using illicit funds that increase the value of the property, which is then sold at a higher price.

The scale of Money-laundering via the Real Estate

Although there are limited reli-able sources on the scale or im-pact of money laundering via real estate. However, some estimates by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in a 2011 report showed that mon-ey laundered globally in one year could represent between 2 % and 5 % of global gross domestic product (GDP).

As regards money-laundering risks associated with the real es-tate sector, the 2008 OECD report “Real estate sector: Tax fraud and money laundering vulnerabilities”, based on a 2006 survey covering 18 countries, said that none of the countries had reported official fig-ures or statistics.

However, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-gov-ernmental body that sets interna-tional standards for combating of money laundering, in one of its re-ports noted that because the real estate sector has notoriously lax controls, it is an attractive target for those wanting to hide the pro-ceeds of crime.

A major indication of the scale of money laundering via real es-tate, FATF report showed, is the share of real estate in criminal as-sets confiscated, which was esti-mated at 30% between 2011 and 2013.

Another impact is that distor-tions in the prices of real estate could affect housing affordabili-ty, something that has been wit-nessed in several cities in both de-veloped and developing countries including Nigeria.

This impacts not only those people rendered unable to pur-chase housing but also renters. In both cases, this can affect deci-sions about where to live, among other factors.

Accuity, one of the world’s leading business data providers, in one of its reports said that as banks and financial institutions increase their controls to combat financial crime, money launderers are looking for new targets and they find real estate sector as the weakest link.

Most of the basic techniques used for laundering money through the real estate sector listed by the OECD report are the same techniques found to have been used by money launderers in Nigeria.

Former chairman of the Eco-nomic and Financial Crimes Com-mission (EFCC), Ibrahim Lamor-de, once raised concerns over the new mode of money laundering through investments in real es-tates in the FCT.

He said during a visit to erst-while FCT minister, Bala Moham-med that the EFCC had uncov-ered several money laundering schemes in the city in which the perpetrators disguise the pro-ceeds of crime by investing in properties without using the banks, preferring to pay for their acquisition with cash.

The ex-EFCC boss further re-vealed that the laundered funds are frequently converted into foreign currencies through the bureau de change before the pur-chases are made and that in most cases, no change of ownership is done after such acquisitions, making it difficult to verify the identities of the new owners or the sources of fund.

He added that evidence of the trend was the number of palatial but unoccupied houses that litter the capital city.

The EFCC in particular has re-cently intensified efforts to fight money laundering in the real es-tate sector as evidenced in cases of investigations of phoney real estate deals as well as sealing of properties alleged to be proceeds of financial crime.

A cross section of property de-velopers, engineers and project management experts applauded the anti-graft agency saying the move would help to stop illicit financial flows into property de-velopment but warned about the slowdown of new or ongoing proj-ects in the industry, should the acts of the agency turn out to be mere witch hunt.

Combating Real Estate Money Laundering

As part of ways to combat money laundering cases globally, the FATF developed the anti-mon-ey-laundering (AML) framework in relation to real estate in 2012.

FATF now wants gatekeep-ers (wide range of professionals who are governed by different regulations and anti-money-laun-dering obligations) in real estate transactions to run customer due diligence checks based on risk assessment and record-keeping requirements.

This includes real estate agents involved in transactions for their clients concerning the buying and selling of real estate and also law-yers when preparing or carrying out such transactions for their clients.

Among the gatekeepers, the financial sector also has a role to play. This role, according to the EPRS briefing, is important but should not be over-relied upon, as not all transactions pass through a financial sector intermediary, es-pecially in the case of cash trans-actions.

51

Sports 06:19

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the two warring factions of

Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF) led by Musa Kida and Tijani Umar to steer clear of the activities of Nigeria’s basket-ball pending the determination of the substantive suit.

On Wednesday, 20th of March 2019, the lead counsel to the management of Kwese Premier League, Josiah Daniel Ebune Esq. revealed that the court had

stopped both administrators from parading themselves as the head of the federation and should not organize any league in the country until the matter is properly resolved.

However, Ebune pleaded that the game of basketball and its lovers cannot continue to suffer because of the leadership cri-sis and sought for an order that allows for a smooth running league and other affairs without interference from the two fac-

tions. The Order was reported to

read thus: 1. THAT AN ORDER OF IN-TERLOCUTORy iNJUNCTiON is hereby made restraining the de-fendants by themselves, agents, privies and/or servants whoso-ever and however defined from going ahead with conducting any fresh Premier Basketball League for the purposes of se-lecting men’s representatives of the 2018/2019 African Con-

NBBF CRiSiS:Kida, Umar and the Court Case

–By Saidu Abubakar with Agency Reports

Ahmadu Musa-Kida Tijjani Umar

52

Sports 06:19

tinental Basketball Champion-ship pursuant to the letter of invitation to 2018 NBBF Premier Basketball League contained in the letter to that effect ahead of October, 2018, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

2. THAT AN ORDER OF IN-TERLOCUTORy iNJUNCTiON is hereby made restraining the de-fendants by themselves, agents or servants from enforcing or further enforcing or giving ef-fect or further effect to the doc-uments titled: RE: INVITATION TO 2018 NBBF PREMIER BAS-KETBALL LEAGUE and/or from imposing or further imposing any guidelines, eligibility or con-ditions for the purposes of se-lection and/or conducting any league for purpose of selecting Nigerian male Basketball Repre-sentative for African Continental Competition, any condition to that effect, pending the hearing and determination of the sub-stantive suit.

…Kida-led group insisted on AGM

The interlocutory injunction notwithstanding, the Nigeria Basketball Federation has, how-

ever, unequivocally stated that the planned 2019 Annual Gen-eral Meeting of the Federation slated for April 13 in Abuja had to go on as planned. It really did hold.

This assertion came against the backdrop of stories mak-ing the rounds on social media and published by some national dailies about the possible post-ponement of the AGM due to a court ruling filed by a fictitious body known as the League Man-agement Board.

Responding to the develop-ment, a faction of the crisis-rid-den NBBF, led by Engr. Musa Kida, described it as the last at-tempt by “drowning men” to con-fuse enthusiastic stakeholders ahead of the landmark event.

Kida wondered how Josiah O. DanielEbune, Counsel to the fictitious body not recognized by the NBBF, could be referring to another case which the body he is claiming to represent is not connected to in any way.

He said: “We find it funny that this fictitious body is referring to a case instituted by one El Has-san Auwalu and Abdullahi Bello in 2017 seeking to challenge the election that brought us on board which fortunately got

thrown out by the court. “It definitely shows that some

people whose aim is to disrupt basketball growth in Nigeria for their selfish reasons have now joined forces and are working together to distract our board by creating artificial crisis.”

He stressed that if a fictitious body not recognized by any law or statute under the NBBF can go about waving an exparte or-der around, then anybody can rise up one day and challenge the existence of NBBF as the apex basketball body in Nigeria.

Kida noted that all the activ-ities of these shenanigans are being documented by the Feder-ation of International Basketball Association with appropriate measures to be applied at the right time. Ahead of the AGM and Stakeholders meeting, Kida said the NBBF has duly notified all relevant law enforcement ap-paratai as law abiding citizens to forestall any breakdown of law and order.

He advised the media which he described as the Federation’s partners in progress to always verify their reports and steer clear of sensationalism which has continued to affect basket-ball in Nigeria. “Since we came

53

Sports 06:19

on board, we have continued to enjoy good working relation-ship with our esteemed friends in the media. We have over the months demonstrated that our board is very open, so in cases where such reports emanate from faceless people, at least they need to verify.”

…Dalung backs Kida-led faction?

Meanwhile, contrary to the declaration by the world bas-ketball governing body FIBA, nullifying both Tijjani Umar and Musa Kida’s elections as presi-dent of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), ex-Youth and Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung threw his weight behind the Kida-led faction as the duly constituted leadership of NBBF. The former minister was react-ing to a judgment of the Abuja High Court which dismissed the suit filed by El Hassan Auwalu and Abdullahi Bello challenging the election of Musa Kida as NBBF president.

“Our attention has been drawn to the judgment of an Abuja

High court striking out case Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/497/17 filed by one El Hassan Auwalu and Abdullahi Bello against the NBBF and Solomon Dalung as an individual defendant on the June 20, 2017 elections of the NBBF.

“We are also aware of a pur-ported legal notice filed by one Josiah O. Daniel-Ebune Esq. sending a caveat to the general public to that effect that there is no duly constituted leadership in the Nigerian Basketball Fed-eration.”

Dalung once again reiterat-ed, for the benefit of the general public, that the “Musa Kida-led executive is in charge of the Ni-gerian Basketball Federation,” Dalung said in a statement by his SA Media, Nneka Ikem-Anibeze and made available in Abuja.

Dalung said the position of government is that any griev-ances must be ventilated with-in the confines of the rule of law which in the circumstance, is the Court of Arbitration for Sports CAS.

He warned that those looking to foment trouble where there is none will face the full wrath of the law.

“Adopting unconventional meth-ods just to secure personal ben-efits and destroy government’s investments in sports will no longer be treated with kid gloves, therefore, I call on security agen-cies to be on the alert for those who have not been impressed by the remarkable progress re-corded in sports development in Nigeria or will always want to portray government in bad light. “Sports is critical to national development, we must empha-size, therefore that government will leave no stone unturned to tackle any obstacles that will be a cog in its wheel of progress”.

The former minister restated government’s commitment to sports development and urged all investors to take advantage of the enabling environment which is yielding positive re-sults.

54