- Forbes award to Baru is as objectionable as the one to Diezani three years ago
If the first time was a mistake, how shall we explain the second? In October 2014, this newspaper took umbrage at the so-called international award Forbes handed Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, the then Minister of Petroleum Resources.
The US-based magazine had announced Alison-Madueke as winner of the Certificate of Distinction as Forbes Best of Africa Award in Leadership. And this was at the peak of official corruption and infamy in Nigeria’s oil industry.
Though not one allegation had been proved then, the public space reeked of tales of malfeasance against Alison-Madueke, including alleged dubious oil lifting contracts, favouritism and outright give-away of government assets to cronies.
In one instance, she had been accused of spending about N10 billion on chartering private jets mainly for junkets. There were flight data records to support this allegation. But she blatantly disregarded invitations by the Senate, using the Presidency and even the courts to block all attempts to have her give account of her actions.
The allegations against her were difficult to dismiss. Indeed, the then Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, publicly announced that over $20 billion earnings from the state oil firm, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which Alison-Madueke controlled, may not have been remitted to the treasury.
This was the context in which Forbes gave her a most dubious award. And since her exit from office, the anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has exposed sleazy actions allegedly perpetrated during her tenure.
We had thought once was odious enough and the lessons had been learnt but alas, early December, Mr. MaikantiBaru, current Group Managing Director of the NNPC, was awarded 2017 Africa Oil and Gas Man of the Year by the same Forbes.
The magazine said it was celebrating an embodiment of hard work, integrity and intelligence in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry and beyond. According to the citation, “Baru is admired and celebrated nationwide and internationally. He is a credible and courageous man with high moral virtue.”
We dare say that this award by Forbes is an affront to Africa’s oil industry and the Nigerian people in particular. First, Baru has been in office for barely one year; so if he had any vision and objective, he is yet to articulate them, not to talk of actualising them.
On the contrary, he has been embroiled in controversy with his immediate boss, Dr. IbeKachikwu, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, accusing him of abuse of power and sharp practices in contract awards.
Baru is currently appearing before the National Assembly for allegedly hiding a whopping N58 billion earnings from the treasury. There has been no response yet to Nigeria’s crippling problem of petroleum products importation. NNPC can neither repair existing refineries nor build new ones.
Nigeria must be the only major oil producing country that still massively imports about a dozen petroleum by-products. And it has done this for about three decades. Currently, perennial petrol scarcity has returned across Nigeria’s cities, slowing down economic activities and inflicting hardship on the citizenry.
It is noteworthy that while NNPC has continued to regress over the years, Algeria’s SONATRACH and Angola’s SASSOL, for example, are making great strides. SONATRACH, which boasts 100 drilling rigs, will drill 290 wells this year, while SASSOL and its partners are completing a $16 billion Kaombo Ultra deep water mega project, which comprises six fields, 32 blocks and 59 subsea wells. When completed in the first quarter of 2018, the Kaombo project promises 230,000bpd and has a total reserve of 660 million barrels.
Indeed, we must question how Forbes decides whom to honour with its awards. It is no credit to the magazine that its award to Baru is unjustifiable.
