Steady progression beyond rhetorics: The Fact of Austen Oniwon's NNPC

Diezani Allison Madueke and Austen Oniwon

 

Following the release of the Hon. Lawan Farouk led panel Petroleum Subsidy Probe Report (Click to read Full Report) released last week, social media has been agog with all kinds of reactions. It became open season going by the many reactions it elicited ranging from commendation of the committee and calls for the speedy implementation of the report, to the outright “Herodiasish” call for the heads of the Petroleum Minister and the Board of the NNPC on a platter.

Suffice it to say the NNPC reaction on Sunday, debunking the allegations included an advertorial (CLICK TO READ) and a Press conference followed by statements by NUPENG and PENGASSAN absolving NNPC management of any complicity in the claims of fraudulent conduct levied against it also lent credence to Honourable Lawan’s comments at  the House proceedings earlier this week where he stated that ”Infractions in the Petroleum Subsidy Reports were by the Chairman of PPPRA, NOT the Petroleum Minister”.

In the past 24 hours or so since the recommendations of the panel were adopted by the House of Representatives, the one thing that has been on my mind, and which in more ways than one may very well have formed my Point of View today, is the fact that the outcome of the recommendations if implemented by the Presidency, may very well be the highest Point of the career of Austen Oniwon, a maverick who by dint of hard work and divine grace rose through the ranks as a rookie Engineer and pioneer staff of the newly constructed Warri Refinery in the late 70’s to the position of Group Managing Director of NNPC, following his appointment by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2010.

Oniwon, a fiercely private person has since assumption of office, remained out of public glare except on rare occasions and would rather remain in the flanks supporting the Honourable Minister in her uphill task of managing the Oil and Gas industry. Unfortunately his decision to remain under the radar, has resulted in a dearth of information about him and especially his antecedents spanning over three decades in the Corporation he currently heads. This dearth of information is perhaps one of the reasons comments that are at best slanderous can so unabashedly be published on Social Media supposedly pointing to massive corruption at the NNPC and by so doing implicating him in such shady shenanigans.

The principal aim of this post is to present the online community of many thousands a perspective via way of sharing his antecedents for no less a purpose than provide a balanced view that would hopefully guide and inform subsequent discussions on online platforms from here on.

Rather than present his antecedents in commentary format (much as I would have loved to), I’d rather remain in the realms of objectivity; just state the facts as they are and invite as many as would deem it fit to either corroborate or debunk the contents herein, since they are all verifiable.

• Before his appointment, he was the Group Executive Director; Refining and Petrochemicals Directorate from 2009 to May 2010. During his tenure, WRPC and KRPC were re-streamed on a sustainable basis.  He it was that drove the War-room initiative that wiped out the intractable petroleum products scarcity towards the end of 2009.
• Between 2005 to 2009, he served as Group General Manager, Research & Development Division in the Corporation during which time the Division obtained the prestigious NIS ISO 9001-2000 Certification in Quality Management System (QMS) and commenced the finger-printing of Nigerian crude oil in collaboration with Plymouth University, UK.
• As Managing Director of Eleme Petrochemicals Company Limited from 2003 to 2005 He is credited with the rejuvenation of EPCL from a cost centre to stand-alone profit unit during his tenure. It is on record that the massive turnaround of the fortunes of the company under his watch made it a stellar choice by the then administration for Foreign Investment participation.
• He served as Managing Director of Pipelines & Products Marketing Company Ltd., PPMC, in 2003 before moving on to Eleme Petrochemicals Company Limited. He was a key factor in the Special Depot Managers Initiative that cleaned up the very chaotic distribution system that pervaded the nation up to 1999. As MD, he also recovered within his very short tenure, all the debts, totaling ($19.1 billion) owed the company prior to his assumption office.
• Following his dexterity in the downstream sector, he was appointed Senior Technical Assistant to GMD and General Manager, ISD, Group Managing Director’s Office and where he served from 2000 to 2003.
• From 1999 to 2000, he served as General Manager, Information Systems, Engineering & Technology Directorate during which time he initiated and accelerated the massive deployment and usage of computers in offices across the NNPC Corporate Headquarters and Strategic Business Units of the Corporation.
• Between 1993 -1999, he was made the Head, Engineering & Technical Services Dept. Port-Harcourt Refining Company Limited.
• His dexterity in the downstream Sector earned him the position of Head, New Business Development, Corporate Planning and Development Division, CPDD, now Corporate Planning and Strategy of the NNPC from 1992 to 1993.
• He served as Head, Engineering and Technical Services Department, ETSD, Kaduna Refining & Petrochemicals Company Ltd between 1991 and 1992.
• Between 1988 and 1991, he was the Technical Assistant to GED, Downstream of the Corporation.

Since Oniwon's assumption of office as GMD under the astute leadership of Madueke, the NNPC has witnessed positive developments that have added value to the Corporation and the Transformation Agenda of the administration, ranging from operational developments in the Upstream, Midstream and Downstream Sectors to policy articulation and implementation. 

They include but are not limited to the underlisted:

• NNPC has recorded remarkable development in the upstream sector through NPDC the E&P subsidiary with increased production capacity from less than 50,000 bpd to about 110,000bpd since he took over, and is aggressively targeting 250,000bpd by 2015.
• Increased activities Prospecting for oil in the inland basins has also been intensified.
• The country has benefitted from improved supply and distribution of products nationwide, via the implementation of strategic interventions like direct product distribution of DPK (kerosene) and the expansion of NNPC Retail Services.
• The NNPC has also developed a partnership with the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to combat the menace of pipeline vandalism and security threats to key oil and gas facilities in Nigeria.
•  Plans have also been concluded to rehabilitate the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries with a combined capacity of three 445,000 barrels per day in a bid to increase domestic refining and stem products importation. To achieve these, the NNPC has engaged the services of the original Engineering, Procurement and Construction contractors and vendors of the three plants to ensure effective implementation of the Turn Around Maintenance and Rehabilitation work. Preliminary inspections have been done ahead of the analysis on how the plants can be revamped to achieve 90 per cent capacity utilisation in the next two years.
• The Corporation is actively committed to driving the economy through developing the downstream sector with the aim of increasing local refining to a minimum of 60 per cent of local consumption by 2013 and 100 per cent by 2015 and has so far successfully concluded the feasibility studies on the Greenfield refineries and rehabilitation of product pipelines such as Kaduna-Kano, Kaduna-Gusau and Kaduna-Suleija.
• The NNPC is also aligning fast with the gas revolution agenda, which by 2014 would hopefully position the country as the regional hub for gas based industries of fertilizer, petrochemicals and methanol. The gas initiative when functional, would generate over 100, 000 engineering related jobs, as well as about 500, 000 direct and indirect jobs in construction, logistics fabrication and agriculture
• As one of its contributions to ensure the successful implementation of the Nigerian Content Act Signed into existence on April 22, 2010 by President Goodluck Jonathan, the NNPC has created an enabling environment for increased roles for local firms which would achieve the much needed in-country capacity in the Oil and Gas industry.

Suffice it to say, it’s my opinion that Oniwon won a moral victory against the irreverent cabal last January and if his antecedents are anything to go by then there is yet hope for the NNPC under his stewardship to do the best for “Country and Commons”

OSA