…Tasks Govts, Institutions on Technology, Innovation
Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for giving the Corporation free-hand to deliver on its mandate, describing him as the only president who had never interfered in the NNPC’s operations.
Kyari stated this on Monday in Sokoto while delivering the Usmanu Danfodiyo University’s 2021 First Quarter Public Lecture Series entitled “Navigating Energy Transition and the Imperatives of University-Industry Collaboration.”
According to him, the corporation’s management was privileged to have a President in Buhari who would never interfere in NNPC’s operations, saying this “is very unprecedented, and it has gone a long way to help us deliver on our mandate, especially the drive towards domestic gas utilization.”
Besides, Kyari tasked governments and institutions on African continent to adopt technology and innovation to achieve energy sufficiency and its economic multiplier effect on their people, revealing that NNPC as Africa’s biggest national oil company which was already building on the convergence of new technologies and innovative business models, would no doubt play important roles in future of energy.
The NNPC boss, who was confident of the corporation’s role in the future of energy, said NNPC had established a Renewable Energy Division and completely transformed the NNPC Research and Development (R&D) Division to NNPC Research, Technology and Innovation Centre as part of its key initiatives to transit to an Energy Company of Global Excellence.
This, Kyari said that the oil industry which would not alone drive substantial innovation without sustained collaboration with universities, research institutes, manufacturers, policy makers and regulators, was opened to beneficial relationship with the academia and industry experts who had demonstrated capacity for productive research and innovation in the energy sector.
According to him, energy transition would not be complete without the right investment climate, capital, effective regulation, stakeholder’s commitment, supportive infrastructure, and an innovative business environment that can accommodate the anticipated changes.
Kyari said: “African Governments and institutions must rise to the occasion to leverage technology and innovation to support energy sufficiency, industrialization, job creation and economic growth,” Kyari emphasized.
“NNPC has set the necessary machineries to lead Africa in transition to low-carbon energy and renewables. We are taking firm position in this transition by institutionalizing the necessary enablers for success.”
Meanwhile, the Chief Host and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, said the NNPC under Kyari was being repositioned to align with the realities of tomorrow, especially as the oil industry was awaiting the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) by the National Assembly.
Tambuwal also called on the National Assembly to ensure the passage of the all-important bill, stressing that the lawmakers must not allow Kyari’s effort and his colleagues within the industry to go in vain.
Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of the occasion and Governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Abubakar Bagudu, also applauded Kyari’s good effort, describing NNPC under him had recorded remarkable strides, one of which was the tireless efforts being seen in transforming the Corporation into a knowledge-driven organization through collaboration with the academia and other stakeholders.
On his part, the Vice Chancellor of UDUS, Prof. Lawal Suleiman Bilbis, who thanked the GMD for honouring the university’s invitation despite his busy schedule, said the university was open to partnership with the Corporation, especially in the area of oil exploration in the Sokoto Basin.
