The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd needs a new manpower development and deployment strategy to enable it to operate like Shell, Chevron, a petroleum economy expert has said.
Prof. Wumi Iledare Iledare, a Professor Emeritus in Petroleum Economics and Executive Director, Emmanuel Egbogah Foundation, revealed this in a statement on Wednesday.
He said the NNPC’s human resources are huge as well, “but governance mentality has to change to harvest these resources effectively, efficiently, equitably with optimal professional ethics.”
He said, “First, NNPC Ltd. is a commercial entity now with mission and vision to maximize stakeholders’ economic value, just as Shell, TotalEnergies and Chevron do.
“Unlike the old NNPC, which basically tends to maximise public policy in-kind value, PIA 2021 expects less agency roles for NNPC Ltd. if not even zero agency roles,” Iledare said.
The professor said the old NNPC had been the “cash cow” for the Nigeria Central Government in particular and the federation in general.
According to him, the corporation was in charge of collecting oil and gas rent, spending on behalf of the federation, and offering other in-kind services to the Federal Government within appropriate payment for services.
He said: “The post PIA NNPC cannot legally do that without consequences.
“There are Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to justify investor’s continuous investment and in-kind services without payment are not part of the KPIs.
“Yes, the federation currently owns all the shares at the moment but only for a while.
“Thus, the Federal Executive can no longer get involved in the structure and philosophy of NNPC. No interference in manpower development and deployment, is henceforth legal!”
Iledare said other challenges ahead included changing the public perception of the NNPC Ltd.
“I said it somewhere it is less likely than not that NNPC Ltd. can change this perception without a complete overhaul of the current governance structure!
“Professional competence devoid of political expediency is required to maximise stakeholders value!
“The other challenge is how NNPC Ltd. will consciously come to terms with the fact that the agency role can no longer be in its radar.
“In that case, NNPC Ltd. needs a new manpower development and deployment strategy that is completely different from the old practice to achieve stakeholders’ expectations.
“Anything that is out of alignment with PIA 2021 provisions is an illegality,” he said.
