RE: NNPCL AS A BLACK HOLE: A RESPONSE TO AN AMUKUNMEKO

BY MUIZ BANIRE

My attention has been drawn to a rejoinder by one Olufemi Soneye that claimed to be the spokesperson of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in respect of the last Thursday, 12th September, 2024 edition of my column in the Sun newspapers titledNNPCL As A Black Hole. Ordinarily, I would not have dignified the author with any response but seeing the opportunity to educate him and other spokesmen of public organizations on their roles, I chose to do so. It is unfortunate that some of the characters parading themselves as spokespersons are not trained, or poorly trained. Most of the spokesmen often misconstrue their roles as that of attack dogs rather than ‘ambassadors’ of their organizations. In this instance, if, as a consumer of petroleum products, I chose to complain about the maltreatment meted to me by the incompetence of the managers of the sector, I am not too sure I have outstepped my bounds. To therefore suggest bias or mischief, as the source of my complaint or anger against the incompetent system that has paralysed economic activities of many Nigerians, is the height of ignorance.

A well–trained spokesperson ought to simply furnish facts to displace my alleged wrongful assumptions, at the best. In the peculiar situation of this case, the mere fact that we are queuing to purchase fuel is enough testimony to the injury I am suffering, coupled with the astronomical and prohibitive prices foisted on me. One would have expected a good spokesman to see such supposed criticism as a feedback which requires evaluation and appropriate action. Again, the minimum acceptable response of the beleaguered organization is to continuously apologize to me and the public for their failures. Aggression can but only exacerbate the already precarious situation of the organization. It shows how very insensitive, rudderless and institutionally arrogant the company he represents is. The author alluded to my service in Lagos State as if he knows my person but unfortunately failed to appreciate who I am. I do not know the age of the author, and ought ordinarily to investigate further, but I have consciously chosen to resist the temptation in order to situate correctly my perception of the author. My reference to age here is not born out of supercilious consideration of youth as a source of ignorance but to be able to situate the source of his ignorance and intemperance. There are many young men in positions of authority who would exercise caution and rather consider their positions of authority as ones designed for service and not to do image laundering for a dirty organization and its viperous leadership. The writer had insinuated my ignorance of the happenings in the institution but as shall be unveiled in the substance of this rejoinder, the readers will actually know who is wallowing in ignorance, either deliberately or mischievously. If the author did not witness my period of service due to his age, or non–challant attitude, the Yoruba will say that ti omode o ba ba itan, a ba aroba; aroba si ni baba itan which literally translates to mean if a child does not witness an historical event, he would at least meet its record and the record is superior to the event. For his education, he should have done a little research about my person, or lazily enquire from the Chairman of the company, our highly revered Chief Pius Akinyelure, our uncle and leader. For his information, I belong not to his class or that of his colleagues that act through proxies or get triggered by third parties to tojoin public frays.  Having said this, let me also state that for the regard I have for the Chairman of the Board, I will be measured in my response and not unveil and exposethe cankerworms in the system yet, notwithstanding the provocative, jaundiced and confused response of Soneye, as eru kan lo nje ka bu igba eru. Now addressing the crux of his confusion.Obviously, the reaction of the author to my article is as confused as the author himself. It is disheartening that honour has vanished in the country otherwise by now, the President would not even be bothering wiping out the characters in the establishment called NNPCL but they all would have voluntarily resigned. But in a society where honour and dignity have taken flights long ago, incompetent leaders and officials of government and parastatals would still consider themselves the best that had happened to mankind after sliced bread. This is where the Yoruba elders of ancient jurisprudence and philosophy concluded that ti ile o ba itii pa osika, a ni awa won la jo n se ile yii t’o fi n gun. For the benefit of non-Yoruba readers, it means until the wicked is caught in his evil treachery, he will still be boasting that he’s one of those making life worth living.

Little did the officials of NNPCL like Soneye know that their incompetence and manhandling of the operations of the organization has not only led to the collapse of several businesses but deaths of so many Nigerians, even at the filling stations while queuing for fuel.  It is a shame that someone could still be reacting to innocent issues of gross incompetence raised in the column without burying his head in shame. The author forgot that I am still a Nigerian and a consumer of the product and impacted by the nefarious activities in the organisation. The response showed as usual the lack of direction and institutional memory. The author expects me, assuming without conceding, that he is innocent, to help the organization prevent smuggling as if that is my job.

Should your management be unable to resolve the issue, let them get out of the kitchen and allow more competent and honestly responsible people to run the most critical height of the economy, for God’s sake!Beyond that, if only Mr Soneye had done some little research within his organization, he would have known that the same organization under Timi Silva told us more than three years ago that it had put in place a tracking system to eliminate smuggling. Whatever has happened to that tracking system of “Ali and the Angel”, we have not been told by Mr gospel singer. Just as the organization has promised endlessly the completion of the Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries without delivering, I suspect the same fate has befallen this much celebrated tracking system. Something that little children are fabricating and are being marketed in sane societies, our NNPCL has not been able to successfully install to ensure an accurate record of what it produces and supplies. An organization that has spent more than three decades paying salaries of humongous amounts to its own staff without producing a single litre of refined fuel. Is that a profitable business that anyone of them would want his father to invest their family savings in if not that they have no conscience?

Obviously again, the author appears not to recognize the nature of subsidy being referred to in the column. In its usual tradition of opaqueness, the organization could not come out precisely to say that it is subsidizing the fuel prices from the resources of Nigerians again. Rather than admit same, the organization was filibustering and toying with the feelings and sensibilities of Nigerians. Whether it is due to forex volatility or otherwise, the truth is that there is the return of the subsidy regime in another form by the same company, using of course the accruable resources of the people again to pay what it once described as the monster destroying the economy. All the arguments of the government on why subsidy must be removed and an immediate hike in the price of petrol at the inception of this government, have been rendered senseless by NNPCL which has been paying subsidy without appropriation. Furthermore, it is laughable to hear that importers were unable to service the industry after floating the naira. This is obviously white a lie. I do know as a matter of fact that this is not correct as even as at now, there are so many importers that are willing to import if given the nod. At what stage did the NNPCL become the importer of last resort? Who declared it to be the sole importer?  What is the essence of the deregulation of the sector if the company is the declared the sole importer of petroleum products? I think, at times, when we converse, some logic should be interrogated and integrated in our thoughts. The thinking in the reaction is not only frivolous but absurd. Now that the company is accumulating debts all over, what is the solution? Are you still waiting for me to think for you, regardless of the fat pay you pluck every day? Sorry, I am not available and not ‘boba ronu’, the King’s thinker.

Let your people get out of the kitchen if the heat is too much. I also could hear you  pretend about the intimate  and influential relationship between NNPCL and the regulatory authorities, this is unfortunate and amounts to insulting our collective intelligence. Are babies? I am not a stranger in the corridor of power if you may know. The worst and baseless allegation of bias by you is even comical. What reason do I have? I am sure I don’t want to replace any of the characters in the organization, and who could have procured me to do so? Again, dear Mr. Soneye, I am not surprised by the suggestion as that is the modus operandi of your organization. I am only shocked that you are even bold enough to react, as on a normal day, it is your proxies we would have been reading. While I do sympathize with your precarious position of having to defend at all costs, out of survival, diligence would have assisted you to produce a better intelligence piece rather than ranting. It is a pity!  It is unfortunate that men of honour have disappeared from the land, otherwise, as indicated, the least you should be doing is to appeal and be pleading with Nigerians and not to task our patience further. For your information, not all of us are in the ilk of those characters in the organization that stays put in public officenotwithstanding their uselessness.  You are simply too small to get on board as you need more wailers and attack dogs. Finally, the Yoruba symbol of an amukunmeko that the topic above portrayed above fits NNPCL perfectly. An amukunmeko is the dirty pig of a man that consumes his pap with the mucous substance trailing out of his nostrils. It is the perfect picture of a lazy glutton that does not distinguish between his dish and his sleezy waste but rather consumes both in his fit of a raging greed. Clean up himself he would not do. Leave the community of decent men, he would not do.The day the amukunmekos leave NNPCL, Nigerians will breathe a better air. I sheath my swords for now!

MUIZ BANIRE