I wish to use this Opportunity to thank Senator Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, the Anambra South Senator as you have offered much knowledge of rehabilitation towards Nigerian Political system today.

The tremendous efforts from you has brought about reformation in the Nigerian Legislative system which is important for good leadership and our nascent democracy.

I urge the Federal Government of Nigeria to act on the motion Senator Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah raised on the issues of foreign airlines in Nigeria, and should also see this as an important move to promote Local Airlines and businesses.

This is the first time we can see a Nigerian Senator capable to speak against the unfair treatment by foreign airlines towards Nigeria as a country. The observation from Senator Ifeanyi Ubah is a great move.

Foreign Airlines have serious businesses in Nigeria where they airlift and discharge passengers on daily basis but the Airlines cannot even employ Nigerian Citizens as part of their Cabin Crew or one of the stewards of their Airlines.

Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, you have been very instrumental to human rapacity development in Anambra State, and you're practically engaged in the employment sector which directly or indirectly, puts Anambra State indigenes above their equals. In no doubt, you're a philanthropist which has been felt even beyond our dear State, Anambra.

The people of Anambra State wish to thank you for your great leadership with good representation since you entered office on 11th June 2019 to represent the good people of Anambra South. This is indeed the type of Senator we need. You deserve a respect on high regards as your Legislative representation attests a creditable conduct.

(Hon. Emmanuel Egwu)
(Odogwu N'epe Mpe)

Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah, Gov. Lalong, Gov. Geidam, NNPC GMD, others conferred with the prestigious Fellowship award of the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (ICMC)

The Chairman of Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited, Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, Governor of Yobe State, Alhaji Ibrahim Geidam and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru, today, bagged the prestigious Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators award in Abuja.

The Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (ICMC) is a professional body of practitioners in Nigeria that regulates and set standards for the practice of mediation and conciliation.

Others who were conferred with the prestigious Fellowship award of the ICMC during the Annual Conference and Induction Ceremony 2017 in Abuja include: Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, DG, Standard Organisation of Nigeria, Mr. Osita Abaloma, DG of the Nigerian Law School, Dr. Olanrewaju Onadeko (SAN) and the Chair of the Delta State Traditional Rulers, His Royal Majesty, Dr. Emmanuel Onyidike Efeizomor.

Speaking to journalists shortly after the induction ceremony for the awardees, Ubah said alternative dispute resolution mechanism remained the best way of resolving any conflict.

He also noted that there was so much work to be done in order to promote this noble Institute and its work. He summed it up by charging his fellow awardees to continue steadfastly in preaching their message of peace among Nigerians.

In his goodwill message, Governor Lalong stated that his "state is a direct beneficiary of mediation and conciliation", urging both public and private institutions to embrace the concept for swift conflict management. Lalong further declared that the deployment of security operatives during conflict was no longer yielding fruitful results, but called for the use of ADR as a veritable means of managing disputes.

The NNPC boss, Dr. Maikanti Baru while expressing his gratitude to the institute, revealed that his corporation had adopted the twin concepts of mediation conciliation as the first route of dispute resolution, adding that they are cheaper than litigation. 

President of the ICMC, Mr. Emeka Obegolu said his Institute preferred the promotion of mediation and conciliation for dispute resolution, adding that "they are a vehicle to the enthronement of political, communal and ethnic/tribal peace and harmony in Nigeria."

Emeka noted: "We are challenged to continue to interrogate the incessant crisis that bedevils the polity and threatens to tear the social fabric of our society apart."

In his presentation as a keynote speaker, Deputy Senate President, Dr. Ike Ekweremadu who spoke on the theme of the conference: "Myth and Reality of Agitations; The Place of Consensus Building," said Nigeria as presently constituted is not working. Ekweremadu lamented that Nigerians were split along ethnic and religious lines. "As a nation, however, we have to tell ourselves the hard truth. Nigeria, as currently constituted, is certainly not working well. Nigerians are not only dangerously split along ethnic, religious, and sectional lines, the gap is widening on a daily basis. The trend of insults and divisive verbal attacks traded by younger ones against one another’s ethnicities, sections, and religions on the social media on every matter do not also inspire any hope of a brighter future. "Therefore, I believe the constituent parts of this country must come together around the table immediately to discuss and agree on how to fix the country. I also believe that the 2014 National Conference Report is a starting point.

"It is the most recent roadmap produced by every shade of opinion and group in the country. Sadly, it has been abandoned to gather dust. It is rather unfortunate that several months after the Senate requested Mr. President to transmit the Report to the National Assembly for legislative actions, nothing has happened. We only read a recent statement credited to the presidency to the effect that it has no confidence in the Confab Report. I do not believe, in good conscience, that a report produced by the cream of all spheres and units of the Nigerian society is worthless. Does the present government intend is to set in motion a process to convoke another conference, which outcome it can trust? That will be a waste of time and resources. But, whichever way we look at it, Nigerians must work out a blueprint for a workable, equitable, and prosperous nation. We cannot continue to play the ostrich while our world appears to sink. It is heartwarming that ADR now thrives in the country and practitioners are eager to lend their expertise and weight to the consensus building efforts," the Deputy Senate President said.

Peter Obi can now conduct the burial ceremony for PDP in Anambra state! No wise man will want to stay with an organisation that allows impunity! Good move sir

cstr1000:

Which level?
Even dangote wants more money.

He empowers people even with the little he has! What makes you think he won't do more of the empowerment if he is in power? Anyways, he just joined a party which majority of his people has been clamouring for him to join!
The eagle has landed!

The only constant thing I have come to notice in politics is alignment and realignment! Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah even without being in power has empowered more Anambrarians than any past and present governor of the state. Even if he moves to the Moon party and still empowers his people, the Moon party it is!

Clerverly:
From LP To PDP-TAN-APC-LP-PDP-APGA in a space of 3 Years

All in a bid to Steal From Anambra Purse...

Ifeanyi Ubah Shameless Man!

If at the level Dr Ifeanyi Ubah is, you still think he is joining politics to enrich himself then you are more shameless than he is!

PDP I's like a child who has seen knowledge and ignorance but have chosen to be ignorant. They will never learn even in the face of glaring evidence

Is NNPC also not owing him? Who wins in a war with a stronger opponent?

facts and figures speak for themselves! DSS should hide their heads in shame for politicizing a civil and commercial matter with their biased and false narratives just in an attempt to rope in someone they have been targeting since.
I wonder why the Grass cutter of over 200bn isn’t dead already and all the looters in this country are still working free! Which truly is the economic sabotage? Foolish and bias DSS! No one is talking about how he has managed to keep his business afloat for over 2 years that the NNPC has been owing him N16b. What about those periods that NNPC loans products to Capital Oil and they get their payments? If a government agency can owe an indigenous company over N16b for over 2 years, who really is sabotaging the economy of Nigeria?

Nigeria is shouting about being the giant of Africa when the agents of government are dragging our civilization and progress backwards! why detain a man over a civil matter and refuse to Obey court orders for you to produce him in the courtroom? Has DSS turned itself into the judge and the jury? when will this 95% & 5% narrative stop playing out? election has come and gone 2 years ago, can't we now look beyond who you supported and all work together for a better Nigeria? we have a long way to go in this country!

Nigeria is shouting about being the giant of Africa when the agents of government are dragging our civilization and progress backwards! why detain a man over a civil matter and refuse to Obey court orders for you to produce him in the courtroom? Has DSS turned itself into the judge and the jury? when will this 95% & 5% narrative stop playing out? election has come and gone 2 years ago, can't we now look beyond who you supported and all work together for a better Nigeria? we have a long way to go in this country!

Key and salient points! when you have facts and figures, they speak for themselves! DSS should hide their heads in shame for politicizing a civil and commercial matter with their biased and false narratives just in an attempt to rope in someone they have been targeting since.

Yyeske:
Give me the link was all I asked for Mr man

http://www.thebreakingtimes.com/capital-oil-and-gas-accuses-dss-of-attempts-to-criminalize-commercial-dispute-between-company-and-nnpc/
That's the link

It is safe now to believe that the FG has been on the hot-seat since looking for what to nail this man with. Dasukigate didn't rope him in! they tried Dezianigate and that one flopped! they must have searched for issues with TAN's involvement in the last election and still found nothing! this case-less case is what they are riding on its back to tarnish this man's image! they now want to criminalise a commercial dispute just to get at him. if truly this offense is punishable by death then all those involved in crude oil swap should have been dead by now.

obailala:
Which elite southerner has been convicted?.... We need to stop this nonsense clannish based defense of everyone. Everything today in Nigeria is now viewed and interpreted from a tribal lense even in the most ridiculous circumstances. We keep making a mockery of ourselves with this paranoid victim mentality.

Last time I checked, Uba isnt the only person involved in this case and others involved have been harassed by the same dss and forced to return huge sums. Now Uba is being asked to return his part and suddenly, it's now a case of 'it is because he is Igbo.' Oga Ifeanyi has a huge financial chest and can afford the best legal teams in the world to defend him, he doesn't need this nonsense 'it is because I am Igbo' based defense.

please tell me how you would agree to pay back what you owe to someone that is owing you more? NNPC owes him N16 billion for over 2 years but no one heard about it. Capital Oil & Gas still continued to do business with NNPC believing that NNPC will pay. nobody sued NNPC to the ECOWAS court or dragged NNPC's management.

these false narratives are just to insult the intelligence of Nigerians! How can you claim that a pure business dispute is punishable by death? Which law in Nigeria backs that claim? If murder still has a leaner punishment, why would the government be doing everything illegal to detain and spoil the person of Dr. Ubah? What happened to peaceful resolution of disputes? Why would they claim that the act by Capital Oil & Gas industry is an attempt to cause product scarcity when the products were sold right here in Nigeria and to Nigerians?
Did Ubah commit a treasonable felony? Please the DSS owes it to Nigerians to prove the reason behind this death punishment they are talking about.
What exactly is the meaning of sabotage from the DSS angle as they claimed that Dr. Ubah is committing sabotage by inciting the tanker drivers and when that claim was refuted, they turned around to claim that the sale of the PMS products is a sabotage! Such inconsistency by an agent of the government that should know better about precision and intelligent investigation is laughable. What a sham of a country.

obagangan:
for those of us who no capital oil md very well. the guy is not clean

it is also the truth that he sold the said products in his possession

pls let him face the music.

even he collected money from ppl and use it for his business

if you ask he tells u to be patient. u will be get ur product or sue him.

that guy is a darm cruk?!!!'

I wonder how clean you are!

I wonder what DSS is turning into! Illegally detaining a man for 2 weeks and counting! His depot is closed and workers are the ones paying for it!

The Attorney General od the federation needs to call the DSS to order! What kind of impunity is this? They should release Dr. Ubah and make NNPC sit down with him to settle their differences!

So sad! When they noticed it and spoke to the NEPA, why didn't they look for blocks to barricade the endangered area? It could have safeguarded the place till NEPA comes

Success has many relationships!

Miles300:
ifeanyi has been a scammer right from his days in Congo , he was once a neighbor , dude got rich over time and his sister was scared about how he got his money , she is late tho , she was consistently refused taking his money in several occasion , I remember her tellin her husband that Ifeanyi didn't go to school and wonder how he got all this money , during her second pregnancy which took her life , Ifeanyi gave her a cheque of 2miliion then which she later accepted and she passed on during labour and thus her husband was pointing finger at Ifeanyi cos same day she passed on , Ifeanyi flew her corpse down to nnewi .. Her husband tore the cheque and he had problems wit Ifeanyi . Don't know if they av settled since then .

I hope you can defend this when called upon. His sister is late? Which one? Every poor man sees every rich man as a ritualist! Go into oil and see if you will not become a millionaire! Poor man with poverty mentality will die poor. And I am afraid that may be your lot!

gbegemaster:
And since when did a request become an offense?

Not offended at all!

masseratti:
whatever they are owing him,he should get it from appropiate source,you dont shift tge goal post in the middle of the game.

It is an acceptable practice in business called 'net off' or 'lien' and the part of the Throughput Agreement published allows that. NNPC should come out to speak on this and clear everyone's doubt.

gbegemaster:
OP, please add your source.

Since when did 'anonymous' become an offense in news reportage?

Baring any last minute u-turn, it has been uncovered that Nigeria's secret Police, the Department of State Services, DSS, are adamant to produce the Chairman, Capital Oil and Gas, Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, before the Justice Muhammed Idris Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday, May 12, 2017.

Recall that on Tuesday, May 9, 2017, Justice Idris ordered the DSS to produce Dr. Ubah before his court today (Friday), and show why the oil mogul should not be released unconditionally.

The Honorable Justice was ruling in the ex-parte application filed by Ifeoma Esom, Counsel to Dr. Ubah, to compel Ubah's unconditional release from the custody of the DSS, where he has been since Friday, May 5, 2017.

Last night, a DSS Source who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said its operatives will not produce Ubah in court today, as directed by Justice Muhammed Idris, because its Director-General, Lawal Daura is out of the country with President Muhammadu Buhari.

It could be recalled that President Buhari departed Nigeria for London last Sunday, for follow-up medical consultation with his doctors.

Daura, being one of President Buhari's closest allies is said to have escorted the President to London.

The DSS operative said: "It is expected of us to produce the Chairman of Capital Oil and Gas, Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah, in Court, tomorrow (Friday), as ordered by Justice Muhammed Idris of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos. But I must confess that that won't happen because our DG is out of the country. He joined President Buhari's entourage to London, last Sunday, where the President went for follow-up medical consultation with his doctors."

He stated that "The DSS, under this current leadership is now ran as a one man show. Once the DG is not around to give orders and directives, no action can be taken in his absence. Anyone who does that no matter how highly placed in the Service risks losing his or her job."

Efforts made to contact the Public Relations Officer of the DSS, Tony Opiuyo, to confirm the development proved futile, as he was not taking his calls.

It remains to be seen how Justice Idris would react to this flagrant disobedience of his Orders as the Court resumes for hearing by 10.00am today (Friday).

gbegemaster:
Is this not the same Ifeanyi Ubah that said he knew why the Naira was crashing against the dollar? Few days after that comment Naira appreciated greatly.

That aside, the DSS wades into all matters including domestic disputes which shows that they are less busy. They should be conscripted into a joint team with the army and sent off to fight Boko Haram.

Very correct! They are better off fighting Boko Haram group!

Now it is clear to all!

BREAKING: Arrest Of Ifeanyi Ubah Has Nothing To Do With NNPC’s Transactions – Headquarters, As Tanker Drivers Brands DSS Liars.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) headquarters has disassociated themselves from the illegal arrest and detention of the Chairman of Capital Oil, Dr Ifeanyi Ubah by the operative of the Directorate of Security service (DSS) and the trumped-up charge(s) that a man that used his wealth to rescue Nigerians and the economy against the oil marketers should be charged for sabotaging the same economy.



In a telephone interview by Hope For Nigeria to NNPC headquarters, the Nigerian Oil corporation confirmed that they are aware of the incarceration of Dr Ubah by the DSS, but snapped that is has nothing to do with Capital Oil's business dealings with them as the two companies are already reconciling their books, and the whole episode sounds political.

NNPC confirmed also that they have some financial liabilities to Capital Oil and their on-going reconciliation will determine who is owing who and added that the detention of Ubah will not bring any solution to the impasse and cushioned that Nigerians should not associate NNPC, and concluded that the aftermath controversy surrounding the case is the reason NNPC Management has been silent on this development.

Our NNPC sources confirmed that the DSS and other government agency were involved in the last accounts reconciliation meeting between Capital oil, an indigenous downstream petroleum firm and NNPC Retail Services, a subsidiary of the NNPC and wondered why DSS should resort to arrest of their customer, noting that the corporation has some safeguard in the event of a default. Hope For Nigeria was informed that if any of their downstream customers sells NNPC products in their custody, they have 5 days to replace them or a penalty regime will set in.

NNPC claimed that their products sold by Capital Oil in lieu of their indebtedness to Capital Oil is estimated to be about N11billion, while Capital oil has provided evidence of NNPC owing them over N15billion and non supply of products they already paid for.

In a similar phone call to Hope For Nigeria's contacts at the DSS headquarters in Abuja, Hope For Nigeria learnt that the DSS were enraged by Ifeanyi Ubah's lawyers whom they claimed went to court to restrain the Secret Police from arresting their client (Ubah) while the negotiation was going on. The DSS decision to arrest and detain Ubah and the charges including economic sabotage, left our contacts relatively speechless, as they stated emphatically that the allegations does not add up, considering Ubah his pedigree and constructive actions in the past where he rescued the country against mean-spirit oil dealers.

In a related development, the Petroleum tankers Drivers (PTD) has described the DSS's bogus charge of inciting Tanker Drivers against Dr Ubah as an unfounded lies. The PTD's Media officer, Mr Mohammed Abdulkadir said in a statement made available to Hope For Nigeria, that “The allegation is baseless, unfounded and totally untrue. Our responsibility as a trade union is solely to promote, project and protect the job security of workers mostly the tanker”.

We can recall that few days to the swearing-in of General Muhamadu Buhari as the President of Nigeria, oil Transporters and Marketers down tools because of outstanding funds owed to them by the Federal government a development that resulted in untold hardship to Nigerians.

There was extreme scarcity of petrol, diesel, aviation fuel and house hold kerosene across the country. Hospitals cannot perform surgeries, radio stations were shutting down, communication companies were affected as MTN and other telecommunications companies announced plans to shut down operation, foreign airlines were planning relocating to neighbouring countries.  In some parts of the country, petrol was selling at an all-time high of N1,000 per litre, while Nigerians were sleeping in petrol stations for days waiting for a products that will never come.

Dr Ifeanyi Ubah rationalizing that the resulting chaos from this scarcity shutting down the Nation and sabotage the efforts Nigeria has made to attain greater heights, informed the striking Marketers and Transporters that “two wrong can never make a right” and added that, “We (Capital Oil) will not be part of this sabotage against our fatherland”. Therefore from this minute, we shall take the risk of opening our facilities and commence swift loading and distribution of products Nationwide”. Our facility has the capacity to load over 13 million litres (approximately 400 trucks) of product before dawn and another 57 million litres”. 70 Millions litres will conveniently earn Ifeanyi Ubah an additional profit of about N17.8billion if he has chosen to join the strike and selling to the black market.

To ease the delivery of the products across the country, Dr Ubah immediately ordered his truck park, port reception facilities and our depot complex to be opened risking the attack of the striking transporters on his multi-billionaire dollar facilities. opened. Hope For Nigeria recalled that Dr Ubah solved the traffic menace along the Oshodi Apapa expressway as he engaged the Federal and Lagos State Government and other stakeholders in the affected area, to optimally utilize his truck park facilities which has the capacity to accommodate over 1,100 trucks per time and 5,000 on a shift basis.

The DSS has detained Dr Ubah for nearly a week today and the Nigerian secret police has not convincingly prove to Nigerians and the International communities why a man who has over 10,000 Nigerians on his payroll and in various occasions stood up Nigerians against the greedy marketers. The DSS has also failed to inform Nigerians whose interest they are protecting by incarcerating Dr Ifeanyi whose company, the Capital Oil and NNPC Retail Services have been trying to reconcile the transactions. DSS was not set up to collect debts and their charges against Ubah holds are baseless. This is purely a commercial transaction between two corporate entities and any default of contractual obligations are remedied by the court not DSS

Congrats to her! A lot of Ikeji''s wedding this year? Maybe Linda Ikeji is also about to get married! Thank God

In the last few days, the Mainstream Media and Social Media have been abuzz with the arrest and detention of the Chairman, Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited, Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, by Nigeria's secret Police, the Department of State Services, DSS.

The DSS is said to have acted upon a petition by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, alleging that Capital Oil and Gas diverted Petroleum Products stored in its farm in Lagos.

However, Capital Oil and Gas, has argued that the matter is a civil contractual matter which needed no Media Hoopla or involvement of the Security agencies.

Having gone through the facts of the dispute between NNPC and Capital Oil and Gas, it must be clarified that the contract between Capital Oil and NNPC where NNPC stores its Petroleum Product in the Lagos Tank Farm of the former is known as THROUGHPUT AGREEMENT.

The ThroughPut Agreement allows “conversion and diversion of IT products by “operators” so long as the operator is prepared to re-deliver the products within 7 days of demand by the products owner or to pay a penalty for non-re-delivery.

Therefore, failure by one party to re-deliver is a “mere” breach of contract, remediable by the payment of penalty to the owner.

There can be no issue of crime in conversion or diversion of product, and does not call for the intervention of any law enforcement agency.

The Throughput Agreement expressly states that any penalty due for non-re-delivery is to be treated as a debt.

Therefore, it must be clarified that the DSS or its Sister security agencies are not supposed to act as debt collectors.

NNPC OWES CAPITAL OIL AND GAS

It has never been denied by the NNPC that it owes Capital Oil and Gas over N16billion represented as follows:

$5,540,000 (N2.2billion) – unpaid berthing fees for NNPC vessels that called at our Jetty.

$2,952,555 (N1billion) -invoice for chartered vessels to carryout STS operations Lagos offshore to ferry product (PMS) to storage at the request of NNPC since 2015.

N1.170billion- amount owed to Capital Oil & Gas Industries Ltd for throughput services from March to October 2016.

N3.146billion: payment made to NNPC for 26,820m litres of PMS vide Pro-forma Invoice No. 53598 which is yet to be delivered to us.

N2.0billion- Payment to NNPC in April to facilitate the release of the Managing Director and engender reconciliation which NNPC reneged on.

N6.266billion- N0.80k and N0.40 Jetty Throughput charge on over 7 billion litres dispensed for NNPC by Capital Oil and Gas.

This debt has run since 2015. So, did Capital Oil and Gas call law enforcement agencies to collect the debt?

It must be stated that DSS continued arrest and incarceration of the Chairman of Capital Oil, Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah is nothing but Meddlesomeness in a civil matter that requires mere Reconciliation of Account Books.

DSS, FREE IFEANYI UBAH NOW

Without much ado, I call on the DSS to unconditionally release Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah now, following the order of Justice Muhammed Idris of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Justice Idris has ordered the DSS to produce Dr. Ubah before his court on Friday, May 12, 2017, and show why the oil mogul should not be released unconditionally.

The judge was ruling in the ex-parte application filed by Ifeoma Esom, counsel to Mr. Ubah’s, to compel his release from the custody of DSS where he has been since May 6.

SAVING OVER 2000 CAPITAL OIL AND GAS STAFF

There is no doubt that Dr. Ubah's Capital Oil and Gas, is the biggest oil firm in the Petroleum Downstream sector. Capital Oil and Gas boasts of over 2000 Workers. Even the NNPC retail outlet could only boast of a paltry 300 workers.

So, the question becomes, what would the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government wants to happen to over 2000 workers, with this latest onslaught to shutdown or suspend activities at Capital Oil and Gas?

The collateral effect that will see over 2000 innocent Nigerian workers forced into the Labour market again, is what must be considered by the President Buhari-led Federal Government in this latest onslaught against Capital Oil and Gas over a civil contractual matter. What will happen to the various families of these workers who are bread winners in their different homes?

In the Petroleum Downstream Sector, Capital Oil and Gas is renowned for its unflinching efforts in bettering the lots of its workers.

WHEN NLC HONOURED IFEANYI UBAH FOR STAFF WELFARE

It was against this backdrop that in September 2016, the Lagos State Chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, led by its Chairman, Comrade Tokunbo Korodo, honoured Dr. Ubah over what it described as the various milestones he (Ubah) has achieved in the oil industry, as well as his promotion of the welfare of Nigerian workers and the masses generally.

Then, the Chairman, NLC, Lagos chapter, Comrade Tokunbo Korodo, who led other executive members of the congress to present the awards to Capital Oil and Gas, as well as to Ubah in his personal capacity, said the various milestones Dr. Ubah has achieved in the oil industry, coupled with the promotion of the welfare of Nigerian workers, and the masses, geared the awards.

Korodo had said: “The various milestones you have achieved in the oil industry, considering your glowing pedigree, and coupled with your present stance on the promotion of the welfare of Nigerian workers and the masses generally is to us in the NLC very exemplary.

"We are here today to appreciate your magnanimity and your service to humanity. You are a role model to us and the younger generation of this country, a ray of hope, compassionate, and a philanthropist of inestimable value.

"This visit comes to serve as a solemn notification to you through this auspicious Honour that you are a rare gem in our modern day Nigeria, and indeed, your foray in the areas of business, politics, sports development and human capital development are testimonies of your forthrightness, ingenuity and determination to leave positive footprints for posterity.”

“You have touched the lives of people with the enormous milk of human kindness. Your sheer desire to allow for free flow of more of this quintessential humane touch was largely displayed when you forayed into the gubernatorial race in your dear state, Anambra under Labour Party." Korodo continued

“On behalf of my colleagues here, I want to appreciate your interests for workers and most significantly implore your pursuit to give more to workers through capacity building, and an improved workers’ welfare as we encourage you with this token (awards) to properly register our profound appreciation to you.”

Also, recognising the collateral damage the shutdown of Capital Oil and Gas would cause for over 2000 workers, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has called on the Federal Government to embrace the use of dialogue to resolve the lingering impasse between the management of Capital Oil and Department of State Services (DSS), over the alleged illegal sale of petroleum products stored in their tank farm by the NNPC.

The union stated that workers have the right to protest the non-payment of their salaries and allowances and that the Federal Government should secure the jobs of those working in the sector.

NUPENG, in a statement signed by its President, Igwe Achese, stressed that although it does not support the alleged illegal diversion and sale of petroleum products, it was of the opinion that the Federal Government cannot sit still and watch workers lose their jobs.

The Union also made reference to the case of Seawolf Oil Services that was taken over by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in which it says workers are yet to be paid their backlog of salaries and entitlements for over five years.

The statement had read: "NUPENG believes that the job creation mantra of the government should be allowed to play, rather than paving way for job losses as it is the case of the current closure of Capital Oil.”

It therefore called on the government to allow the 2,000 workers to resume work at the depot and load products so that their salaries can be paid, “instead of throwing them into the unemployment market for no fault of theirs”.

Against this backdrop, I call on the Federal Government currently led by Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, to call the DSS and the NNPC to order. The NNPC and Capital Oil and Gas have been business partners over the years. So, they must seek for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to settle their differences, instead of this whole Media Hoopla, as if they were sworn enemies.

No doubt, Capital Oil and Gas boasts of having a capacity to store over 60 per cent of NNPC's petroleum products, so, this current impasse would not stop the NNPC and Capital Oil and Gas from doing businesses. This current impasse must not be politicised.

I therefore also call on the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara to intervene into this impasse.

The lives of over 2000 Nigerian Workers are more important than any impasse or contractual disagreement between NNPC and Capital Oil and Gas.
Ikenna Asomba is a Social Commentator.

**Ikemba Asomba

Today affects tomorrow! Live it, enjoy it but never disregard caution!