By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation have pledged to work together leveraging on their respective expertise to revive projects critical to the nation’s economic development.
The two organizations came to this resolution when the National President of the NSE, Mr Adekunle Mokuolu, led the leadership of the society on a courtesy call on the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr Maikanti Baru, in Abuja on Thursday.
During the visit, Mr Mokuolu said there was need for NNPC, with its highly competent and experienced engineers and a rich track record of project delivery, to work closely with the NSE and other stakeholders to salvage important national projects like the Ajaokuta Steel Company which progress has not been encouraging.
He said NNPC and the entire oil industry stood to benefit greatly from the speedy completion of the Ajaokuta Steel Company as it would reduce dependence on imported steel for the manufacture of pipes and other hardware required in the industry.
The NSE president also commended the GMD for entrenching transparency and accountability through the regular publication of NNPC’s monthly financial and operation report as well as restoring normalcy to the downstream sector through regular and uninterrupted supply of petroleum products.
Responding, Mr Baru said NNPC saw the development of local content as a national call, adding that the revival of projects like the Ajaokuta Steel Company would go a long way in accelerating and deepening the local content policy.
He said his management placed high premium on accountability and transparency as that was the surest way of averting failure and attracting investment.
Adedapo Adesanya