… As NDE coordinator says FG tackling unemployment in Gombe***
President Muhammadu Buhari has urged the Board of the newly incorporated Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to ensure strict compliance with Corporate Governance principles that place a premium on doing business with the highest ethical standards, integrity, and transparency.
Inaugurating the Board chaired by Sen. Margery Chuba Okadigbo, the president charged them to focus on profitability and operate at par with its industry peers across the world.
Also read: Again, Buhari vows to tackle security challenges before leaving office
He said: ”I expect the NNPC Limited to be mindful of our commitments to our net carbon zero aspirations and to ensure total alignment with the global energy transition realities.”
Buhari reminded the Board members that they came on board as a result of the reforms put forward by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
According to him, the Act seeks to reposition the Nigerian petroleum industry to a commercially viable and competitive industry in line with global business dynamics and best practices.
”The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited is mandated to focus on profitability and continuous value creation beyond the simple fulfilment of legal and regulatory requirements.
”NNPC Limited is expected to operate at par with its industry peers across the world while acting as Enabler Company that will foster the development of other sectors of our Economy.
”The inauguration of this Board is a major step in the ongoing transition to a more viable petroleum industry that will attract investment to support our economic growth and generate employment to millions of our people,” he said.
The president directed that there should be full alignment and synergy between NNPC Limited, the Upstream Regulatory Commission and the Midstream & Downstream Regulatory Authority in compliance with the provisions of the law in all respects to deliver the onerous reforms envisaged for the energy industry.
”NNPC Limited is expected to operate at par with its industry peers elsewhere in the world while acting as Enabler Company that will foster the development of other sectors of our economy,” he added.
He thanked the leadership and members of the National Assembly for their seamless support in the journey towards a viable, accountable and transparent energy industry.
The President said he would count on the professional insights and ethical conduct of the Board members to ensure the delivery of his administration’s promises to Nigerians.
In his remarks, the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said under the present administration a lot had been achieved in the petroleum industry.
He said such achievements included the signing of the PIA, the registration of NNPC Limited as a CAMA company and the inauguration of the Board of the NNPC Limited.
”Mr. President this is history in the making because this is the first time any President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is inaugurating an independent board of an independent NNPC Limited.
”This, however, puts a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of those inaugurated and those of us in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources,” he said.
Those inaugurated are; Sen. Okadigbo, Chairman, Mele Kolo Kyari, Chief Executive Officer, Umar I. Ajiya, Chief Financial Officer, Dr. Tajudeen Umar (North East), Mrs. Lami O. Ahmed (North Central), Mallam Mohammed Lawal (North West) and Henry Obih (South East).
Others are; Constance Harry Marshal (South-South), Chief Pius Akinyelure (South West), Dr. Nasir Sani Gwarzo, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources and Aliyu Ahmed, Permanent Secretary, Minister, Finance, Budget and National Planning.
In the meantime, Mr. Hassan Mustapha, Gombe State Coordinator, National Directorate of Employment (NDE), on Friday said the federal government was addressing youth unemployment in the state.
Mustapha who stated this in an interview with the newsmen in Gombe said the government was concerned about the youth and how to engage them productively.
He stated that the federal government was empowering unemployed youths in the state with various skill acquisition programmes.
According to him, idleness leads to crime and drug abuse, making it imperative for youths to be engaged to make society crime-free.
“This is why the federal government through the NDE is empowering youths with skills, especially those without employment.
“The truth is the government cannot employ everyone; this is why we are empowering them,” he said.
The NDE coordinator said the federal government was also using the empowerment programme to reduce poverty amongst youths in the state, adding that with relevant skills, youth could make themselves self-reliant.
“In line with the mandate of the directorate, youths are being trained and given the opportunity to become assets to the society to contribute to national development while making crime unattractive to them,” he said.
Mustapha said the NDE empowered no fewer than 11, 000 unemployed youths in Gombe State in various entrepreneurial skills in 2021.
He stated that the youth were given different trainings such as vocational skills development, school-on-wheels training for rural dwellers, basic business and small-scale enterprise training (for graduates on how to run businesses) and the rural employment programme.
Mustapha stated that members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) were also part of the training under the entrepreneurship development programme in the state in 2021.
He added that some of the trainees were given starter packs of N800, 000 in form of loans to help them establish their businesses.
He said the era of white-collar jobs was over in view of the huge population of youths and the limited resources available to the government, hence he advised youths to embrace skills acquisition programme.
“We offer this training free of charge so youths should make themselves available to acquire skills, which will make them productive to contribute meaningfully to the society and the nation,” said Mustapha.
