By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been applauded by the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) for stabilizing the supply and distribution of petroleum products and for crashing the price of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) otherwise known as diesel across the length and breadth of the country.
NSE President, Engr. Otis Anyaeji, gave this commendation when he paid a visit to the Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru, in Abuja on Tuesday.
Engr. Anyeaji said the NSE was proud of the NNPC for its scholarship programme, its various social investments in the promotion of healthcare and for its various interventions to boost the Nigerian economy, urging the Corporation to keep it up.
He praised the NNPC for the engagement of indigenous Engineering Construction, Manufacturing, Chemical and Processing Firms in its various operations enjoining other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to emulate the Corporation in the promotion and engagement of local content service providers.
In his response, NNPC GMD, Dr. Baru, assured Nigerians that the Corporation under his watch would continue to ensure efficient supply and distribution of petroleum products, stressing that the fuel queues were gone for good.
Dr Baru applauded the in-house unions of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and other associations in the petroleum industry for partnering with NNPC in stabilizing supply and distribution of petroleum products.
He described the engineering profession as the cornerstone of the Oil and Gas Industry, adding that the profession had a lot of input in terms of technology both for production of human goods and making life easy for all Nigerians.
Dr Baru pledged to partner the NSE in the areas of patronizing engineering companies, consultancy, advocacy and development of standards and codes to promote the Nigerian Content drive.
The NNPC helmsman said the Corporation under his leadership was committed to transforming the NNPC from an Oil and Gas company to a world energy company that would contribute immensely to the energy landscape of the country.
He noted that already, the NNPC was partnering GE to build power plants across the country with the capacity of 4,000 megawatts, adding that the GE was ready to give the Corporation all the required technical support to achieve the strategic plan.
Earlier, Dr Baru, who received the Vice Chancellor of the University of Abuja, Professor Michael Umale Adikwu, described education as the bedrock of any nation, saying it had the capacity to boost the capacity of citizenry to grow and develop its economy.
He said through the knowledge acquired from the Ivory Towers, NNPC was working round the clock in collaboration with others to end the recession.
Responding, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Adikwu, applauded the NNPC for touching the lives of Nigerians in several positive ways especially in the area of steady supply of petroleum products.
