Newly appointed Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), Oluwole Oluleye, said last week in Abuja that judging by the presentations made to him since assumption of office two weeks ago, the fund is in precarious financial position and may not be able to meet its obligations.

Addressing PTDF staff in Abuja, he concluded that: “All is not well” with organisation.

He said he has so far been briefed by “the Acting Executive Secretary, Jolomi Arenyeka, and held discussions with General Managers of the seven Departments.  From these meetings and documents handed over to me, I now have a fairly good insight into the workings of the organisation, particularly its state of funding.

“The comprehensive hand over note by my predecessor in office detailing the state of the organisation as at November 29, 2012 and the briefing by the former Acting Executive Secretary on its activities between November 29, 2012 and May 16, 2013 when I took over, lead me to conclude that we are in a precarious position and all is not well.

“There are indeed critical challenges presently confronting us. Some of which are dire and fundamental to our corporate existence. Top on the list is the financially poor situation. I have observed that for the first as a fully functional independent agency of government, we might not be able to meet our commitments and obligations if the funding issue is not urgently addressed”.

He explained that “apart from the unsalutory effect of mounting liabilities to contractors, our scholars are frustrated and exposed to the threat of having their studies prematurely terminated as a consequence of delayed remittances of fees and up keep allowances.

“Within the hierarchy of staff is a growing cynicism about careers and career progression in the Fund. All these have culminated in total absence of commitment to duty and a near breakdown of cohesion and camaraderie within the Fund. My first priority therefore is to restore the confidence of my staff, stakeholders and partners by ensuring that we are properly funded to enable us meet our current and future obligations”.

He however assured the workers that the issues that gave rise to the uncertainties in their career progression will be addressed within the shortest possible time, provided they are credible and compelling.

“This is because staff welfare is of utmost importance to me. I therefore expect the co-operation of the Unions with Management to ensure a peaceful working environment”.

He urged the staff to work together for the progress of the fund, an appeal, he stressed, “is a call to duty and everyone must align to that call, as I will be exacting in my demands for hard work from all of you. I firmly believe in discipline and will lead by example”.

Oluleye noted that “as the lead agency for the development of human capital for the oil and gas industry, the (PTDF) is critical to the realisation of Mr. President’s Transformation Agenda as it relates to the Nigerian Content Initiative.

“The Fund will continue to discharge its mandate, but this time in a manner that the impact of its interventions will be measured against the huge financial resources spent on them. It is therefore my intention to review and streamline some of the capacity building programmes to focus on those that will produce tangible results that will make a difference in the ratio of foreign to Nigerian experts’ domination of critical sectors of the petroleum industry”, he added.

I may be wrong but i think that 2 weeks is too short for a good manager to make judgements. The signs may be there but probably not conclusive enough until you look deeper and probe further, gathering all the facts with your head tuned to transforming the gloomy situation on ground.

I just don't want another Sanusi heading another government agency, shouting fire! fire!! as he settles down only to be stuck in full tenure of breathless prattles but no real movement. I think this guy should cool down, focus and position the PTDF to a post NNPC era. To do this, he needs more than 2 weeks, or so i think.

So does this mean there won't be able to sponsor students this year??
@abbakacici you seem to have an ear to the ground, do you have an idea of the test date for oversea Msc or its the funding that's also stopping them from doing the tests

That what am trying to find out. Because they hace already shortlisted candidate