₦airaland Forum

Miranda11:
If the 1000 are incompetent and have no value to add, then they shld go because there are a lot of incompetent hands in NNPC. A lot of the staff were recruited on a man know man basis which is not bad if they are competent to do the job and can add value to NNPC, but unfortunately this has not been the case so what's the need keeping some1 that has no value to add that's just a waste of moneyed . That money can be used to employ pple who are more competent and have value to add in order to help NNPC become a more profitable and efficient corporation.

This cleansing should apply to the entire agencies and parastatals under the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the federal civil service. To deserve a job with the Govt you must be competent to perform, gone are the days when incompetent pple are employed on a man know man basis. Change is truly here indeed.

M16:
Reading thoroughly is a problem for Nigerians, especially on nairaland. it said 800 are supposed to retire by december 2016 having reached the mandatory age of retirement 60 years or having spent 35 years in office. They were already on their way out

laudate:
Another funny assertion... the GMD said..?? What criteria, exactly? You and your GMD should provide evidence that performance reviews were used in determining who was sent packing, and who was retained. What proof do you have that those people who were laid off, did not add any value to NNPC?

Provide proof of the so-called criteria please, so that your words can have true meaning. You know 'people who said...??"

That is the problem with Nigeria. People who always claim to know people, instead of relying on hard evidence and verifiable facts.

Later, they will turn round to claim that things don't work. How will it work when most folks prefer to rely on hearsay and 'people who know people'?

abbakacici:
NNPC will have 2 phases of massive restructuring, first one is actually massive retirement because 80 percent people sack are about to reach retirement age while phases 2 is massive sacking using performance review

slimfit1:
Too late NNPC is a family business everybody in NNPC are related to each other. If you don't know anyone you can't get in there. Even if you are franking Stine or what is his name you can't get a job there. Bill Gates will not even get a gate man's job there if he doesn't know anyone.
However, it is one of the most corrupt agencies in Nigeria.

Miranda11:
Laudate it seems ur really aggrieved with the current restructuring going on at NNPC, why is that, are u an employee of NNPC?

Maybe you shld request to have an audience with Ibe Kachikwu and make ur feelings known to him.

laudate:
Madam, don't just post corporate double-speak online. Provide proof, that the criteria was used in sending those 1,000 people packing. Is that so hard to do?? You are jumping to GMD's defence without knowing the true story of the matter... simply because in your own words, 'people said' or you know 'people who said' ..... na wah, oh!. Like I asked you before.... "What proof do you have that those people who were laid off, did not add any value to NNPC??

cuteboy2:
Good advice..

This @laudate fellow has been disturbing our ear drums with his wailing and lamentations.

Few weeks ago Shell announced they will let go 6500. Nobody heard hues and wailing. As a matter of fact retrenchment has been a recurring theme in Shell since 1998.

That NNPC stinks is known by all. Go and find out how much NNPC is owing their JV operators (ExxonMobil, chevron, Total, She'll, Addai, etc), in unpaid cash calls you will weep. On top of this they refuse to remit the proceeds from sale of their 60% equity oil to government as required by law. NNPC has practically crippled the oil industry making it impossible for operators to fund new investment and execute annual work programs and budgets agreed with the same NNPC.

All these was going on in an Era when oil price was sky high at over $100/barrel. So what happened to oil the money?

Dr Kachickwu is even lenient, most of those bad eggs should be prosecuted and jailed for economic sabotage.

Proof my foot

hinwazaka:
He can fire, rehire, desire and pretend he is not tired at the so called restructuring of the NNPC. But the fact is if he does not review the outdated act that set up the NNPC, he will arrive at the same conclusion that jettisoned the ex-president

laudate:
Hehehe.... wailing and lamentations, indeed! Nah, that phrase applies to you... and what you have just done on this thread. bros, I am not privy to what happened at Shell, so I cannot pass any comment on that exercise. So why don't you tell us the full story??

You mentioned cash calls. Good. At what point did NNPC start defaulting on cash calls? Wasn't it when the same govt started using NNPC resources to fund political jamborees and meaningless campaigns all over the place??

Oh, I don't disagree that there are some bad eggs in any organisation, but the right thing to do is to name them, shame them and prosecute them. Are the bad eggs ghosts? Do you have proof of their misdeeds?

Why turn round to just retire over 800 people prematurely, and act as if it is the solution to the all the myriad problems facing NNPC?

cuteboy2:
Don't have ur time, man

If you have been penciled for retrenchment and u feel you are not ready to go, file a complaint at Public Complaints Commission, brief your lawyer, talk to your senator, or write to Buhari. Do something positive man to fight your case following the due process that you love so much.

Go and look at other National Oil Companies like Petronas, Aramco, Qatar Petroleum, ADNOC, Pemex, Sonangol, Sonantrach, to name few. Then you will appreciate how much damage NNPC has wrecked in Nigeria. They should all hide their faces in shame.

Thousands of Nigerians are daily flocking to Saudi Aramco and Qatar Petroleum to look for jobs that NNPC could easily have created here in Nigeria. Yet they still have mouth to talk. If I hear phim from any chop-chop Union ehn...... The clean up must continue. We want a brand new NNPC.

If you have been thrown out and you feel you are still good go to one of the new Independents like Seplat or Aramco and proof yourself there.

Why are you disturbing us here?

Governors and Oil Industry Cash Calls APR 02, 2010

The Forum of State Governors rose from a meeting a fortnight ago expressing their dismay at the rising level of cash calls paid to Joint Venture Companies (JVCs) from the Federation account. The exasperation of the Governors stemmed from the fact that cash calls being akin to a first charge on the Federation revenue need to be kept to a level that leave a fair amount of funds in the kitty to be shared amongst the three tiers of government.
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....There have been concerns across various stakeholder groups in the Nigeria oil and gas industry that Nigeria is not optimising its investments in the oil sector, that the costs of production in Nigeria exceed the costs associated with similar projects in comparable regions and that there is an insufficient basis on which discrepancies, differentials, meaningful analytical insights can be understood. These concerns are fundamental. The Trade Union Congress, from the pivotal positions that our members hold in the oil and gas industry, given our knowledge from within are even more concerned.

The audit of the oil and gas industry that was carried out by the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency International (NEITI) for 1999-2004, which reports are available on their website showed that the problem with cash calls is not a confirmation of what cash calls where paid and received as these “on the surface” receipts and payments were fully reconciled as between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the JVCs where fully agreed. The problem, if one reads between the lines seemed to summarise into

· Concern that upstream companies (JVCs and PSCs) are gold-plating their expenditure (both capital and revenue), with impacts on quantification of sums paid to them in cash calls on the one hand and what gets into the Federation account by way of revenue from petroleum profit tax and similar government income elements on the other. This double jeopardy punch of paying more than might have been necessary for capital and revenue items as well as reducing what income gets into the government purse is perhaps what the Governors are worried about!

· Concomitant to the above is whether the price of the goods/services arising from contracts and procurement are comparable with the market price of similar goods/services at a similar time.

· Whether a comparison of actual costs incurred in Nigeria between JVCs and Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) which together are responsible for over 98% oil and gas production and the equivalent level of costs actually compare with each other in terms of cost efficiency and effectiveness.

· Most importantly, whether Nigeria’s costs are out of line with acceptable international levels.

· Whether planned versus actual processes on development of fields, facilities and projects can be subjected to any standard level of analysis to understand and determine the related rates of return, efficiency and productivity such that can give comfort to stakeholders like the Governors whether or not they are making wise investments.

· In recent time, the oil industry in the argument that the National Assembly’s reduction of annual cash call allocation in the budget have resorted to alternative financing of some capital projects, there is uncertainty about the quantitative impact of alternative financing on costs, cost of capital and government revenue generally.

· Whether a fair opportunity is being given to Nigerians to be engaged in the industry either as employees or contractors such that local content of input and earned income is enhanced.

Government and NNPC have agonized during cash call negotiation sessions that they were not comfortable with the rising trend of operating costs in Nigeria, compared to reducing trends elsewhere together with concerns about procurement processes of the JVCs and the PSCs. These twin issues and the concerns that they raise in the minds of the people have been compounded by the fact that NNPC does not have standard metrics established within a performance Measurement and Benchmarking mechanism with which to challenge and drive the industry towards efficiency, effectiveness and a higher standard.

With regards to all the above the players in the oil and gas industry have tried to make the case that as a result of the challenges in the Niger Delta where they operate, a cost premium has to be paid to cover the inherent risks. Be that as it may, there is a general belief that the amounts currently being spent on cash calls can achieve a higher result than it currently does. Alternatively, the current level of operations or achievements can be met with reduced cash calls. Herein lies the challenge that the players in the sector should meet. It is a direct call that they need to be more efficient and effective by aiming for enhanced economy.

They need to be seen very transparently achieving more with less. This calls for the need for them to plug all leakages and eliminate waste. It also calls for the application of best practice processes such that the players begin to reasonable benchmark against efficient players in the industry internationally.

To make matters worse, we know for certain that the oil and gas companies are supposed to maintain a uniform accounting system that is supervised by NNPC. This standardization is supposed to help in ensuring accurate records and books of accounts are maintained by Joint Venture and PSC operators, support uniformity of financial and cost accounting and reporting and thus enhance transparency and value for money.

Specifically, this standard accounting format is meant to ensure that a uniform format for accumulating and reporting costs are applied using a chart of accounts set out by NNPC.

However, it is doubtful if the players in the industry comply with these rules or strictly adhere to them. It has been argued by industry accounting experts that companies keep their records in accordance with their preferred systems and find ways to pay only “lip service” to a standard accounting and reporting to fulfill “all righteousness” with the directives of NNPC.

Read the rest of the article here: http://saharareporters.com/2010/04/02/governors-and-oil-industry-cash-calls

laudate:
Another funny assertion... the GMD said..?? What criteria, exactly? You and your GMD should provide evidence that performance reviews were used in determining who was sent packing, and who was retained. What proof do you have that those people who were laid off, did not add any value to NNPC?

Provide proof of the so-called criteria please, so that your words can have true meaning. You know 'people who said...??"

That is the problem with Nigeria. People who always claim to know people, instead of relying on hard evidence and verifiable facts.

Later, they will turn round to claim that things don't work. How will it work when most folks prefer to rely on hearsay and 'people who know people'?

laudate:
Bros, 800 people out of the current 1,000 folks that were laid off are going to reach retirement age in December 2016. That is about 18 months down the line. Why sack them now? Where is the place of due process, proper succession plans, structured handover, change process management etc., in such a hasty exercise?

Somebody once asked me: "If you buy a ticket for a one-way trip abroad, and that flight is due to leave at 3.30pm, you get to the airport at 2.45pm only to be told the flight departed an hour earlier, what would you do?"

Olufemiolaolu:
Missing funds, crude oil swap, oil theft &
shady subsidy scams re evidences of incompetence ok

sevule:
@laudate

I have read most of your posts and I really have no idea why you are up in arms about this early retirement. You asked why he is retiring staff that were meant to retire in December 2016 now, but the question is WHY SHOULDN'T THEY BE RETIRED? What value are they really adding?
Are you aware of the billions that would be saved by retiring them now rather than waiting till December 2016?

This is what is called RESTRUCTURING and as far as I am concerned more deadwood should be cut out from NNPC. We all know that the NNPC is an incredibly inefficient and humongous bureaucracy and the place NEEDS TO BE SANITIZED!!

As far as i am concerned the MD is actually being nice by retiring only a thousand people. Change is painful but it is necessary. Obviously the MD is trying to run NNPC like a limited liability company and he OUGHT TO BE COMMENDED not condemned. It really blows my mind that we Nigerians say we want change but when the change starts to happen we start complaining. Do we really want an NNPC that has no idea how much crude oil Nigeria is generating? An NNPC that refuses that refuses to remit funds from sale of crude oil to the federal account? An NNPC that has not been audited for almost 10 years? Is this what we really want?

Besides all the people that were retired early would be paid their full benefits so what exactly is the problem?

laudate:
Um, let me guess .... you have evidence that the 800 people who were due for retirement in December 2016 (as well as the extra 200-plus) that were laid off, were involved in your " Missing funds, crude oil swap, oil theft & shady subsidy scams..." which you cited up here??

Please provide the evidence by showing " authorisation for the payments as well as breakdown of the amount, purpose for the payments, beneficiary accounts in which such payments were made and the utilisation of such payments," etc., if you want everyone to believe you are not just dwelling in the realm of conjecture.

Last time I checked, it was the militants that were carrying out the oil theft in the Niger-Delta area, by bursting pipelines oh! Oil swaps started and ended on Diezani's table. As for missing funds... ah, we are waiting for you to substantiate this one, oh!

Olufemiolaolu:
Do u think oil theft happened without govt of clueless turning a blind 2 it. Y has it suddenly stopped now? Has d all d militant suddenly gone on extinction right?

kay9:

Relax, the guy was just being silly. I know a tongue-in-cheek tease when I see one.

olatade:
Last Friday the two unions in the oil industry, the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (NUPENG and PENGASSAN) warned that the reforms are exposing their members to danger.

http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/news/nnpc-retires-1000/106772.html

laudate:
No, you have definitely NOT read my posts from the beginning, because your response here shows that you have missed the whole point of my posts.
Kindly go back & re-read them. I am tired of repeating myself. Thanks.

Sack Of NNPC Leadership: A Dance Around The Real Problem By Ifeanyi Izeze JUL 03, 2012

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) deserves a Nobel laurel for its record in churning out Group Managing Directors as compared to apex national oil concerns of other oil producing countries particularly those of the OPEC cartel. Is it not record-breaking that in the last 10 years the NNPC produced seven Group Managing Directors from Dr. Jackson Gaius-Obaseki to Mr. Andrew Yakubu?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) deserves a Nobel laurel for its record in churning out Group Managing Directors as compared to apex national oil concerns of other oil producing countries particularly those of the OPEC cartel. Is it not record-breaking that in the last 10 years the NNPC produced seven Group Managing Directors from Dr. Jackson Gaius-Obaseki to Mr. Andrew Yakubu?

However, if President Goodluck Jonathan expected applause for the sack of the entire leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), obviously he is not going to get it, at least from those who know where the real problems of the nation’s apex oil company comes from. The President’s action was a mere naked ‘owigiri dance’ because he deliberately failed to properly situate/address the root of the gross financial malfeasance in the NNPC which to a great extent, was not the fault of the top management though they cannot be completely extricated from complicity in the rot.

According to a statement by the Presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, the sack was to further strengthen the ongoing reforms and transformation of the petroleum sector. As said, “The action of the President was in furtherance of efforts to achieve greater transparency and accountability in the oil and gas sector.”

To a great extent, the NNPC was the architect of its misfortunes. The top Management of the corporation especially within the last 14 years allowed the Presidency to use them to ridicule the organisation’s efforts at being anything near a credible and serious-minded national oil interest. This is the truth.

No doubt that since the NNPC was established in 1977 to oversee the management and operation of the nation’s oil industry, it had not only failed to establish itself as an active oil company in business to make profit, it also failed in establishing administrative structures that is free from government manipulations. And this led to the 100 percent hijack of the day-to-day financial and business decisions- making muscles of the corporation by the Presidency under the pretence of correcting the fraud and culture of corruption often associated with the organisation. The presidency of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo started this unholy relationship and ever since, any sitting administration sees the NNPC as a cash cow to be milked, and in most times, in unsustainable manners.

However, if we are now ready to redress the fraud and corruption culture in the NNPC system, the approach must be holistic if it’s a sincere one. All these years, we have majorly dwelt on the bad eggs in the system ignoring the hen that has continued to lay these bad eggs. It is time we place the NNPC problem in proper perspective.

The Presidency’s interference in the operations of the NNPC, especially in money matters has done more harm and made the corporation completely lose its credibility in business transactions both at home and abroad. It is not a Jonathan thing at all. It was instituted by King Obasanjo when he reigned as the sole administrator of the entire oil and gas sector using even NNPC funds to run his Peoples Democratic Party activities and campaigns. That was why we had people like the former PDP Chairman heading the “lucrative” cow -milking conscription- the PPPRA. We had what happened during the fight between Obasanjo and his deputy Atiku over how the NNPC was used for purposes other than our collective national interests. And it has been so through Yar’adua and now to Jonathan- nothing has changed.......

Any performance or transparency rating/assessment of the NNPC would be out rightly biased and grossly incomplete if it does not take due consideration of the negative effects of the undue Presidency’s interferences in the activities of the corporation.

......Is it no interesting that everybody in the NNPC who should refund or at least tell us how to trace and retrieve the stolen fuel subsidy money is being sacked in an ‘operation sweep’ style. Who is going to be held responsible for the monumental fraud in the fuel subsidy scam? How is the stolen billions going to be retrieved from the alleged culprits if actually those NNPC officials were the ones responsible for the fraud? Is it not obvious that somebody or an office that was actually responsible, maybe by proxy, wants to clean-up/cover something?

In the past few months, the nation has spent billions of naira on the refineries’ revamp project working to bring back the refineries. And there have been some results to this effect no matter how small, as the Kaduna and Port Harcourt Refineries have started working progressively towards their installed capacities from their present disabled setting. Now we have sacked the people in charge of this operation. So are we going to start all over again or accept that nothing is going to come out from the exercise after the huge resources already committed to the exercise? Is it deliberate that the first causality of the President’s decision to sack the entire leadership of the NNPC is definitely going to be the ongoing Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) and revamp of the four existing name-plate refineries intended to put them back on stream to operate at least somewhere near acceptable capacities? Let’s watch and see.

http://preview.saharareporters.com/2012/07/03/sack-nnpc-leadership-dance-around-real-problem-ifeanyi-izeze

.... So blanket condemnation of the NNPC as inefficient and fraud infested may not be enough in our genuine quest to unravel the demon that has continued to hold the corporation moribund. Every concerned Nigerian should bother to ask where and how the NNPC gets the funds to run its operations including the joint venture obligations. Does the Corporation really have anything like its own budget in the strict sense of the term?

Any performance or transparency rating/assessment of the NNPC would be out rightly biased and grossly incomplete if it does not take due consideration of the negative effects of the undue Presidency’s interferences in the activities of the corporation.

Ask me, and I would say that the parasitic marriage of convenience between the Presidency and the NNPC be dissolved immediately rather than re-packaging it under the guise of reform and restructuring for transparency and accountability.

There is no amount of restructuring that would make NNPC corruption/fraud-free and profit-driven, if the corporation continues to take direct instructions from the Presidency, or even any other government agency that is not schooled in the highly technical oil and gas exploration and production business, even the marketing of the crude and products. The Presidency should completely hands- off the NNPC so that the corporation can function like a commercial profit-driven business outfit.

http://preview.saharareporters.com/2012/07/03/sack-nnpc-leadership-dance-around-real-problem-ifeanyi-izeze

sevule:
I did read you post from the beginning and I can summarize your arguments in 2 sentences:

1. Why did the MD decide to retire 1000 people from NNPC early?
2. Was due process followed?

And the answers to your argument still remains the same

1. It is the MD's right to terminate appointments if need be. The MD is obviously trying to restructure NNPC and is cutting off deadweight.
2. Due process was definitely followed. You cannot terminate the jobs of a 1000 people without following due process. It is just not possible in the civil service/NNPC

Does this answer your questions/concerns?

The Oil Sector as a Scapegoat By Sheyi Money on July 27, 2015 | The Guardian Newspapers |

BETWEEN the summer and autumn of 1940 when Britain stood in grave danger of being overwhelmed by the all-conquering German air machine, the small Royal Air Force (RAF) of Britain braved the odds to defend the Island in World War II’s first major campaign fought entirely by air forces. Known as the Battle of Britain, it was also the largest and most sustained aerial bombing activity to that date.

Germany’s air power, according to military experts, dwarfed the British such that, it was thought that in a matter of days German victory in the skies would make it easy for her land troops to make a way into English territory. But the so-called Lilliput of an RAF staved off the deadly Luftwaffe attacks from Berlin to save Britain and indeed Europe from complete control of Adolf Hitler.

As he looked back at the invaluable contribution of the puny RAF, British Prime Minister at the time, Winston Churchill declared: “Never, in the field of human conflict, was so much owed by so many to so few.” This famous remark hasn’t been disputed; for truly the survival, together with their subsequent victory of millions of Britons and Europeans was made possible by RAF men and women.

Now in Nigeria, as we look at the fate of the oil industry, we can say without sounding immodest that never in the history of our country has so much been owed to a single sector by so many other sectors crowding around it for social, political and economic existence. . True, cocoa in the west, groundnut in the north and coal in the Southeast may have performed their own wonders in their era. These resources in the 50s and 60s did give us the high-rise Cocoa House, schools, hospitals, industries, groundnut pyramids and estates.

But it was the era of petrodollars and petronaira in the 70s, 80s and 90s that saw the erection of super highways and mega skyscrapers in our cities. The oil industry has been the single largest donor to service our humongous national, state, and local government budgets running into several billions of dollars. Although its manpower has what appears to be an insignificant percentage of the work force of the nation, it is nevertheless known to be responsible for some 70% of the income and wealth of Nigeria.

So, when the oil sector sneezes, the nation catches cold.

But alas, in the face of current global oil price crash, the authorities have failed to sympathise with the industry and its players and accord them the recognition they deserve. They have refused to learn from the attitude of the great Sir Winston Churchill.

Instead, we have visited the oil workers with such ingratitude and gross indignities as a witch hunt, unjustifiable layoffs, malicious accusations, absurd charges of corruption and the discrediting of local oil merchants who have contributed greatly to bringing down unemployment with their job-creating measures. There is also a vicious attack on major stakeholders in the downstream sector, especially the use of the media to bring down indigenous oil companies under the guise of probes.

Why must the oil industry, so “little” a sector owed so much by so many, be the only casualty when a concatenation of global events and locally mismanaged politics come on board to rock the economy. Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Angola, the Gulf nations among others are experiencing hiccups following the slump in oil prices. Yet we do not hear of disruptive job losses or ill-advised government charges of sleaze against the industry players.

Waging war on the industry and on its patriotic and enterprising denizens via mass sack and biased investigation of their activities are, to be sure, not the proactive answer to the current challenges in the sector.

Consider this: if you resort to outright castigation of the indigenous operators in the oil industry as the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is being stampeded to do, it would backfire with its outcome of ballooning the labour market with a spiral effect of worsening the poverty levels, a condition the governing party vowed to put in order during the campaign for votes.

Next, we inject notions of instability in the polity when we don’t attach creative long-term solutions to our economic problems. Now this sends wrong signals to the international investors we intend to woo for the reform in the industry.

The strategic solution to arresting our vulnerability in global oil politics is to play out of the box, move imaginatively to find a way of diversifying our sources of revenue, industrialise agriculture, and pump enormous capital and human resources into it as well as build more refineries as we rehabilitate the existing ones to a functional mode. Thankfully, the much-maligned Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has unveiled a plan for the establishment of modular refineries.

These are mini refineries that, by the reckoning of DPR, would allow private investors including big names like Shell, Chevron, Total and Texaco as well as indigenous companies like Oando, Aiteo, MRS and others to contribute in restoring life to our downstream sector. They are said to be cheap to build, with such far less endowed countries as Chad, Niger Republic and Congo operating them to cushion them and their citizens against the vicissitudes of the world market.

Let Nigeria align with the realities and dynamics of the petroleum industry, by giving it and stakeholders the honour they deserve as the hen laying the golden eggs. You don’t kill or destroy the hen by initiating policies that suggest that you don’t recognize the role they played in the past, a role they’d still play better if well handled for more productive work in the years ahead.

• Sheyi Money is an energy development economist in Lagos. http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/07/the-oil-sector-as-scapegoat/