The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, says President Muhammadu Buhari is the only president not to have interfered in the running of the corporation.
Kyari made the statement on Tuesday via the NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr Kennie Obateru who represented him in Sokoto while delivering the Usman Danfodiyo University’s 2021 First Quarter Public Lecture Series.
His words were that the current crop of management “was so privileged to have a President who never interfered in what the NNPC does as a corporation”.
He stated: “That is very unprecedented, and it has gone a long way to help us deliver on our mandate, especially the drive towards domestic gas utilization”.
Kyari tasked governments and institutions on the African continent to adopt technology and innovation to achieve energy sufficiency and its economic multiplier effect on their people.
“African Governments and institutions must rise to the occasion to leverage technology and innovation to support energy sufficiency, industrialization, job creation and economic growth”, Kyari emphasized.
“NNPC has set the necessary machinery to lead Africa in the transition to low-carbon energy and renewables. We are taking a firm position in this transition by institutionalizing the necessary enablers for success,” he stated.
He added that in line with this drive, NNPC has established a Renewable Energy Division and completely transformed the NNPC Research and Development (R&D) Division to NNPC Research, Technology and Innovation Centre as part of its key initiatives to transit to an Energy Company of Global Excellence.
He also said the oil industry alone cannot drive substantial innovation without sustained collaboration with universities, research institutes, manufacturers, policymakers and regulators.
He said NNPC welcomes beneficial relationship with the academia and industry experts who demonstrate a capacity for productive research and innovation in the energy sector.
