WARRI: WHAT SHOULD NIGERIANS EXPECT FROM NNPCL AND KYARI?

By Usman Okeme

There is grave danger in believing in a lie. The Holy Bible condemns anyone who believe in a lie. God is not a liar and therefore admonishes His followers to be wary of liars and their lies.

The 2010 Jenji Kohan television comedy which later turned into drama series comes aptly here. This series gained notoriety for its propensity for turning one colour to mean the other.

The old Port Harcourt refinery and the production of fuel, has become the new orange is a new black. The more you see but the less you understand. Especially with the highly orchestrated and televised guided tour of machineries and upgraded equipment recently. The cycle of stunts, repetitive falsehood and deception has become a notoriety of fashion for the NNPCL.

Not only are Nigerians treated to new ‘stories by moonlight’ daily, but the company have decided to play it rough this time. They are determined to do it blatantly, playing on the sensibilities of Nigerians, obviously believing that Nigerians are gullible people who believe anything, especially shows from Nollywood, no this time stunts from NNPCLYWOOD.

For the umpteenth time the NNPCL and their helmsman Kyari, have come up with another fabrication – a well twisted contrivance at that. The company and her leader are now infamous for lies, fakery and disillusionment – sometimes they just forget what they said the previous day. Speaking from both sides of their mouths, they have the highest propensity for total disregard to sincerity and transparency.

NNPCL is using all attics to convince Nigerians that the refinery is now working. But we are afraid, because a trip to the refinery does not show anything close to that.

The repeated failure of the refinery to produce even a single litre of fuel after gulping a whopping FOUR BILLION DOLLARS, an equivalent of about SIX TRILLION NAIRA to revamp three refineries, especially the Port Harcourt Refinery, but he gave us a blending plant. What is he giving us after all our investments into Warri refinery, after the unaccountable 4 Billion Dollars investment?

Nigerians are tired of Kyari’s numbed and uncoordinated excuses. There are clear and incontrovertible indication that the refinery is not refining but, if anything about trying their hands at blending, and the amount squandered is too much for Nigerians to turn the other eyes. Kyari and the NNPCL must give an explanation and do it now.

Experts in the sector have revealed that the prospect of the Port Harcourt Refinery running at its nameplate capacity is in doubt as it would at best reach 40 percent to 50 percent of capacity but NNPCL is telling us a different story of running at something above 70 percent.

They also believe that even the blending plant cannot work, because Nigerian National Petroleum (NNPC) Limited, has not carried out any applicable construction or commensurate overhaul of any sort in the last 30 years, and does not possess the requisite manpower and competencies for any viable operations owing to the fact that there has been manpower wastages, and as such several organizational knowledge depletion within this period.

Fact remains that Kyari himself stated that what is envisaged at the refinery is blending and not refining. That statement did not come as a sudden realization but a confession after the fact, having gulped billions of dollars. It also underscores an acceptance of the fact that the establishment was out on a voyage of deception.

Unfortunately, Kyari and the NNPCL are now synonymous to deception. Few months ago, Nigerians where treated to the fact that the refinery has been brought back to life. A week later the company was battling to save its face, and using all conceivable means, including a guided tour of machineries and upgraded equipment, with none of those on the tour confirming they saw a single litre of fuel dispensed, just to convince Nigerians that the refinery was back on production.

This indeed is a troubling grand deception and an insult on the sensibilities of the Nigeria public. Just when Nigerians think they know where the NNPCL is going, it changes its trajectory, upping the ante of deception by finding another explanation – what a shame!

This refinery is vital for energy security, job creation, economic independence, and national growth and development, but Kyari is deliberately determined to ensure that these benefits and more, elude Nigerians. Nigerians deserve the truth. They want to see a refinery that billions of dollars of the tax payer’s money has been disbursed for and certainly not the one whose fuel is only in the mouth and papers of Kyari’s media propagandist, and basically not a blending plant.

Aside the experts, who have clearly stated that the refinery lacks both the human and material capacity to function as announced, a community leader and an eye witness, who is ordinarily passionate about the take-off of the refinery, debunked the fact that the Port Harcourt refinery, and by extension, the Port Harcourt depot, is operational.

He unequivocally stated that while the community was happy because of the attempt by the NNPCL, because the refinery is the mainstay of the Alesa community’s economy, as the economic activities emanating from the operations of these depots mean a lot to them, he does not think there is cause for celebration yet because what is in the media space is different from what is on the ground. He emphasized that as a community person, the guided tour and dramatization were all mere fluke.

The operations at the old refinery are merely skeletal with some units of the refinery up and running, while the entire unit of the old refinery is not functional. It is also fact that the Old Port Harcourt refinery is built with its utilities, different from the new complex. The tank farm that is servicing the Old Port Harcourt refinery has a different loading gantry at the depot.

Common sense of logic demands that when any company produces a product regardless of the type or time, whether it is biscuit or toilet rolls. The first thing to do immediately after production is to send them to the market out to the customers at a fixed price. Unfortunately, NNPCL has not sent out its product several months after they claimed to have commenced production.

The party and televising was held at the new loading gantry that is directly connected to the new refinery. And so, how does that work? It is impossible. The simple explanation is that the feedstock storage facility for the old refinery had some stock, old stock that has been there for over three years.

And so what Kyari did was to release that stock, and then load six trucks, which was televised for Nigerians as the production from the old refinery. This is a grand foolery. It is on record that only six trucks were used to calibrate the new loading gantry and the product was not a new refined product from the old refinery. Also since its much publicized takeoff, NNPCL has only dispatched six trucks which represents the existing stock at the Port Harcourt Refinery.

Kyari also told Nigerians that the old Warri refinery is now fully automated, producing 1.4 million barrels of litres of petrol per day. This is ridiculous. How can an automated refinery, capable of producing 1.4 million barrels per day load only four trucks of product for a whole day, starting from 7 am till about 8 pm of the next day. Even in those years of manual loading system, it took less than 45 minutes.

Equally ridiculous is the claim that the refinery is operating at the capacity of 70 per cent but can only load four trucks for a whole day, one truck staying under the loading gantry for more than six to seven hours. This is deceit taken too far and a shame.

Nigerians are told that the facility refines with products derived from Naphtha. Nigerians want to know where they are getting it from. Nigerians are interested in knowing about NNPCL distillation units. This is because they want to understand the options that NNPCL is using, either getting Naphtha from somewhere, including import, which means the refinery has been turned into a blending plant, or they have fired on the distillation unit, introduced crude oil and have produced Naphtha.

Nigerians urge the NNPCL to tell them where its feedstock (crude oil) is procured from and the company supplying it. If we want to get better, we have to change our pattern.

Kyari has woefully failed to exhibit demonstrable and fundamental grasp of what he needs to do to reposition the oil sector after several years of being in the saddle. This is basically because, Mele Kolo Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited is a serial liar, an abysmal failure, and a crook who can tell you a hundred things and only one could be true.

Let us not try to know the distribution pattern or logs or even query the implication of the NNPCL accepting that Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) is still running but the operations of the depot is shut down.

Nigerians have been infiltrated, insinuated, intimidated and must re-create to survive. Mele has told us many lies.
In May 2023, after spending a whopping 11 trillion naira on rehabilitation of the refineries, nothing still has happened.
In October, 2023, Kyari promised quick-fix has failed to fix even one refinery several months after while billions of Naira has gone down the drain.
The promise made in December, 2023 for the rehabilitation of the Warri refinery by the first quarter of 2024 and the Kaduna refinery by the end of December has yet to see the light of the day.
In March, 2024, Kyari promised that the Warri refinery had received crude oil and would begin operations in April, which never happened.
On 15th July 2024, the NNPCL in a deliberate platitude, promised a revised commencement date for the Warri refinery and Kaduna refinery, with the promise to commence operations in early August and Kaduna in December that too has not been achieved.
On 7th August 2024, the Nigerian Senate alleged economic sabotage in the Nigeria’s petroleum industry and expressed concern over the failure of the government owned refineries to function despite the billions of dollars committed for its rehabilitation yearly. The list can go on and on.

The NNPCL under Kyari has failed to deliver on all its promises right from the first day of his assuming office till date. He has only instituted systemic failure and endemic collusive corruption in a cesspool of monumental opacity, and always leading consistently from the rear of the oil and gas sector in the comity of nations.

His Transparency, Accountability and Performance Excellence (TAPE). Has only remained a tape – an instrument of symbolism and propaganda, without any form of viable and measureable functionality. He has been unable to achieve any goal, priorities, performance standards and criteria even with the very huge disbursement. His policies has only led to more corruption which has led citizens into unmitigated economic hardship, extreme suffering, misery and poverty.

He is inefficient, lackluster, greedy and selfish. He has exhibited strong resistance to the system of public scrutiny, transparent processes and a system of well-defined operation, and has compelled the company not to operate within the framework of a cost structure which will guarantee value addition and sustainable profitability but instead good in churning out data and favourable reports which has no direct bearing on the practical evidence and the welfare and prosperity of the nation.

Mele Kolo Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, is incompetent and lacks sincerity and has lost touch with morality and the natural Law of Retribution. Nigerians are daily frustrated as a result of ceaseless myriads of unfulfilled promises from him. He is a perpetual, habitual liar, turning round and round, in a circle without an exit point.

Okeme wrote this piece from Abuja.