By Musbau Rasak
The news of the appointment of Bayo Bashir Ojulari as the new Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) came like a bolt of the blue. Not a few saw it coming, hence, the surprise element was highly on display when it was made public.
As it is usual with this kind of high profile appointment in the Nigerian political landscape, tongues will wag, lips will talk, many will rise either for or against such pronouncement.
Few have, thus, raised the issue of why President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will appoint another Yoruba man to head the NNPCL. They have accused him of nepotism, saying he always favours his kinsmen.
These are the kind of people who sacrifice competence, quality and diligence on the altar of cheap ethnic campaign of calumny.
President Tinubu is a proven talent hunter, a man who can detect quality from long distance. This has been evidence in the team he has been building up since his era in Lagos where he was a two-term Governor for eight years.
In appointing Ojulari, therefore, President Tinubu has once again confirmed this special innate ability in him.
Going through the profile of the new NNPCL helmsman, one cannot but ‘stand up for the champion’! Ojulari is quality, competence and diligence personified, a consummate round peg in a round hole, perfectly fitting!
Ojulari has a very intimidating resume: in terms of academic and professional experience, and he has a proven record of excelling in all assignments given to him.
He is a seasoned Nigerian engineer with expertise in petroleum, process, and production engineering.
Before his new appointment, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company.
This company recently led a consortium of indigenous energy firms in the landmark acquisition of the entire equity holding in the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), worth $2.4 billion!
He made history as the first Nigerian process engineer at Elf Aquitaine before joining Shell Petroleum Development Company in 1991.
A native of Oke-Ode community in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, Ojulari served as the Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) from 2015 to 2021.
He is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Mechanical Engineering 1985 – 1989.
A fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, he was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE Nigeria Council) from 1998 to 1999.
Throughout his career, he has held managerial roles in Europe and the Middle East, specializing in petroleum engineering, process engineering, production engineering, and health and safety.
In November 2015, Ojulari was appointed Managing Director of SNEPCo and General Manager, Deepwater.
He also served on the board of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), overseeing onshore and offshore petroleum engineering, technical integration of development, well engineering, and project engineering.
Apart from working in Nigeria, he worked in Europe and the Middle East in different capacities as a petroleum process and production engineer, strategic planner, field developer, and asset manager.
It is this cerebral and quality professional that some people want to sacrifice on the altar of ethnicity – highly incredulous.
For those who don’t know him, Ojulari has never denied that he is a Yoruba man from Oke-Ode community in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State.
But he is not the designer or the creator of the Nigerian geo-political zone which put Kwara State in North Central region of Nigeria. Simply put, and for those who cares to know, by virtue of the geographical location of his state of origin, Bashir Bayo Ojulari is a northerner of Yoruba origin.
Okay, they want a northerner, let me burst your bubble: Ojulari is a complete Kaduna boy.
This is a man who has his formative years in Kaduna and for those who care to know, Ojulari speaks Hausa impeccably and fluently like the indigenous speakers.
He has all his childhood friends in Kaduna and he still relates with them till today.
As a young boy, brilliant and exceptional Ojulari was offered admission by the prestigious University of Lagos (UNILAG), but lo and behold, he rejected the UNILAG offer, decided to pursue admission into Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria: reason being that he did not want to leave his Kaduna background. He got his heart desire and was offered admission by ABU and the rest they say is history.
What else do they want?
Rather than looking for loopholes where there is none why can’t we appreciate this well deserved appointment of this patriot? Sentiment apart, most Nigerians know that he has proven himself to be worthy of this appointment.
Don’t allow sentiments, malice scuttle laudable projects and ideas.
Bayo Ojulari is a round peg, a perfect fit for the NNPCL round hole. Congratulations, may your reign bring massive, positive changes to the Nigeria’s oil industry
Musbau Rasak is a Lagos-based journalist and publisher of www.thegazellenews.com
