Feature/OPED
Kyari, Breaking the Jinx, Creating Prosperity for Nigerians at New NNPCL
By Femi Aderotimi
The historic payment of interim dividend by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited into the Federation Account less than three months into the stoppage of payment for fuel subsidy by the Federal Government has proven that Mallam Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPCL is indeed working for the good of Nigerians and the sustainability of the Nigerian oil and gas sector.
On July 7, 2019, when Kyari assumed the position of Group Managing Director of the now-defunct Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the corporation was in a near comatose state. It was laced with many challenges ranging from grievous oil pipeline vandalism, corruption, incessant oil thefts, low production levels and lack of transparency.
For instance, a 2010 joint report by Transparency International and Revenue Watch Institute found that NNPC had the poorest transparency record out of 44 national and international energy companies examined.
These scenarios fundamentally put Kyari on the spot.
Kyari’s appointment, which, however, came as a game-changer with a clear mission – to revitalize the struggling corporation and send an unequivocal message that the corporation’s lukewarm governance narratives of the past are gone for good.
There was a lot of mess to clear, but Kyari was ready, and he came in with his sleeves rolled up, and expectedly, he didn’t disappoint.
With a vision boldly anchored on the principle of Transparency, Accountability, Performance and Excellence (TAPE), Kyari, under the defunct NNPC, demonstrated a fundamental grasp of what fossil energy means and the imperative of effective governance of the giant national oil company.
In June 2020, for the first time in 43 years, the Kyari-led NNPC released the 2018 Audited Financial Statements, and subsequently 2019, to the public for scrutiny, earning plaudits for the corporation from members of the public.
Significantly, in August 2021, the NNPC declared a N287 billion Profit After Tax (PAT) for 2020 for the first time in 44 years. Kyari’s magic wand played out as the corporation reduced its losses from N803 billion in 2018 to N1.7 billion in 2019 and the eventual declaration of a net profit in 2020. By fiscal 2021, the corporation’s profit grew to a profit level of N674 billion. Until this period, NNPC has been a loss-making entity renowned for anomalies, undue political interference, and shades of burden.
Despite the numerous challenges, Kyari grew its production to an enviable level. As at February 2023, the NNPC crossed 1.6 million barrels per day of crude oil and condensate combined.
The achievements of Kyari under the now-rested NNPC were numerous.
Amongst his other major landmark achievements was that he successfully flagged-off construction of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project. The project, which is near completion and described as a game-changer, is an integral part of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline (TNGP) with a capacity to transport about 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas per day. Mallam Kyari also led the NNPCL to achieve a $300 million reduction in the cost of the AKK Gas Pipeline contract via contract renegotiation from the initial $2.8 billion.
Another of the most impressive accomplishments of Kyari’s stewardship at NNPC was the flag-off of the Kolmani Integrated Development Project in Bauchi State in November 2022, marking the commencement of efforts to commercially exploit oil in the Northern part of Nigeria. It was deemed as one of the most massive projects. The Kolmani Oil Field, estimated to have a reserve of about one billion barrels of crude oil, OPL 809 and 810, lies in the Gongola Basin of the Upper Benue Trough, straddling Bauchi and Gombe States. The project will have the capacity to transport two billion standard cubic feet of natural gas daily to power plants in Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, and various gas-based industries, boosting the nation’s socioeconomic growth.
Mallam Kyari also touched on the downstream operation of the NNPC with the introduction of Operation White, which has helped streamline petroleum products’ importation, supply, and distribution across the country.
As the then sole importer of petroleum products in the country, NNPC succeeded in keeping the nation well supplied.
The New NNPCL
Arguably, the signing of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in August 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari was however a major breakthrough for Kyari as it opened the door for more significant changes in the national oil giant.
It is noteworthy that Kyari worked tirelessly to ensure the passage of the PIA, an initiative which is aimed at overhauling the country’s energy laws and creating a deregulated environment, freeing the oil sector from government control and unbundling the oil company.
The passage of the PIA gave birth to the new, refreshed, and rejuvenated Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
The birth of the NNPCL in 2021 wound up the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, after 46 years of operation.
The PIA empowered NNPCL to operate like every private company in Nigeria with exemption from the Fiscal Responsibility Act, Public Procurement Act and TSA in order to ensure there are no excuses for failure.
Following this milestone, Kyari, who is now the GCEO of NNPCL, initiated new investment benchmarks to further rejuvenate the once ineffective company.
At the launch of the new NNPCL, Mallam Kyari explained the ABC of the new oil company stressing that every Nigerian is a shareholder of the company.
According to him, “I’m happy to say this moment that this country is changing. And by the way, I can tell you we are the competition. We are NNPCL. We don’t create rules anymore. We are the competition.
“We will pay taxes; we will pay royalties like anyone; we will also pay dividends to our shareholders, which many of you are. So, we are in business, and business means competition. We are a private sector – forget about the fact that we are owned by the government 100 per cent.
“By the way, you are also aware; we are going Initial Public Offer (IPO) very soon, and we’ll sell a part of our equity. It’s in the law, and once that happens, we will not be any different for any of you, and it will be a very different business environment.”
In June this year, NNPCL, in a major landmark, signed four memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with five African countries as part of the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline (NMGP) project.
The deal was sealed with Morocco, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Benin, and Guinea. The NMGP is a 5,600km gas pipeline project traversing 13 African countries. The project would create an opportunity to monetize Nigeria’s abundant hydrocarbon resources by expanding access to energy to support economic growth, industrialization, and job creation across the country and beyond. The project will contribute to accelerating access to energy for all, improving the living conditions of the Nigeria populace, integrating the economies of the sub-region, and mitigating desertification.
In a major step towards bolstering Nigeria’s energy security and promoting the utilization of its abundant gas resources, the NNPCL and UTM Offshore Limited recently signed a Heads of Terms (HoT) agreement for the construction of the nation’s first indigenous Floating LNG project.
The oil company had explained that apart from significantly cutting down on gas flaring and supporting the country’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions, the project would also create over 7,000 job opportunities, contributing to the nation’s economic growth and development.
In his resolve to put an end to the business of oil thieves, Kyari introduced the “Crude Theft Monitoring Application” (CTMA) to check the theft of Nigeria’s oil. The CTMA, which has been helpful in preventing oil theft, has application options for reporting incidents with prompt follow-up and responses. Additionally, the portal included a feature for validating crude sales documents.
Most recently, Kyari has continued to unclog the pores of the company by combating illegal refineries. His efforts at combating crude oil theft and illegal refineries were positive, leading to a significant spike in daily oil production, reaching 1.6 million barrels per day.
In the last weeks, in addition to several other breakthroughs, the NNPCL announced it busted 240 illegal refineries and pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta region. A few weeks ago, a private security contractor engaged by the national oil company also intercepted a vessel conveying 800,000 litres of stolen crude oil at an offshore location. The vessel was heading to Cameroon. It was later destroyed.
This is, however, a testament to Kyari’s resolution to completely eradicate the business of oil thieves in the country.
All of these recent achievements and breakthroughs have stemmed from the leadership of the resilient man who is leaving no stone unturned in transforming Nigeria’s oil and gas sector via transparency, and accountability-driven policies.
Overall, the implementation of the PIA and NNPCL’s consolidation deals has set Nigeria’s oil and gas industry on a transformative path, unlocking opportunities for growth and prosperity in the sector.
Aderotimi, a public affairs commentator, wrote from FCT, Abuja
By Isah Kamisu Madachi
The news that the Nigerian businessman, Aliko Dangote, plans to expand his business interest into steel production, electricity generation, and port development as part of his broader ambition to accelerate industrialisation in Africa deserves a quick reflection on the promises it carries for Nigeria. It is coming from Dangote at a time when many African countries, including Nigeria, are still struggling with below-average industrial capacity. This move speaks to something important about how prosperity is actually built.
In their Influential book ‘The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty,’ Clayton Christensen, Efosa Ojomo, and Karen Dillon argue that countries rarely overcome poverty through aid, policy declarations or resource endowments alone. According to them, the effective engine of prosperity has always been market-creating innovations by private and public enterprises that build new industries, generate jobs, and expand economic opportunities for ordinary people.
Even though their theory focuses largely on creating something new or producing it exceptionally, Dangote’s new industrial ambition seems closer to the latter. It is about producing essential things at a scale and efficiency that the existing system has failed to achieve.
Take, for example, the electricity sector in Nigeria. Since the beginning of the current Fourth Republic, billions of dollars have been allocated to power sector reforms, yet electricity supply remains unstable, and many Nigerians still depend heavily on generators to power their homes and businesses. The situation has continued to deteriorate despite the enormous resources committed to the sector by the coming of every new administration.
This is not surprising. In The Prosperity Paradox, the authors explain how nations and even international organisations sometimes keep investing huge resources in certain activities only to realise much later that they were simply hitting the wrong target. The problem is not always the lack of funding; sometimes it is the absence of a functioning market system capable of producing and distributing essential services efficiently.
Seen from this perspective, Dangote’s move into electricity generation may mean more than just an investment. It could be an attempt to tackle one of the most critically lingering bottlenecks in Nigeria’s economic development. If I were to be asked to decide which sector Dangote should begin with in this new industrial plan, I would unhesitatingly choose electricity. It is the most embattled, deeply corrupted and seemingly jeopardised beyond repair, yet the most important sector for the everyday life of citizens.
Stable electricity has the power to transform productivity across every sector. When power supply becomes reliable, small businesses are created, productivity is boosted across all sectors, and households enjoy a better quality of life. Nigeria’s long-standing energy poverty has been strangulating the productive potential of millions of people for decades. Fixing that problem alone would unlock enormous economic possibilities more than expected.
Beyond the issue of productivity, Dangote’s entry into these sectors could also stimulate competition. Healthy competition is one of the most effective drivers of efficiency in any economy. The example of the refinery project already shows how a large-scale private investment can disrupt long-standing structural weaknesses within a sector. A similar dynamic in the proposed sectors could encourage other investors to participate and expand industrial capacity.
Nigeria, by 2030, is projected to need 30 to 40 million new jobs to absorb its rapidly growing population. The scale of this challenge means that the government alone, especially in the Nigerian context, cannot create the necessary opportunities to fill this gap. Private enterprises will have to play a major role in expanding productive sectors of the economy. If supported by the right policy environment, they could contribute significantly to narrowing Nigeria’s widening job gap.
Of course, no single business initiative can solve all structural challenges in the economy. But bold investments of this nature often serve as catalysts for broader economic transformation. With the right support and healthy competition from other investors, initiatives like these could help push Nigeria closer to the kind of industrial foundation that many developed economies built decades ago.
In the end, the lesson is simple: prosperity rarely emerges from policy debates alone. It often begins with large-scale productive ventures that reshape markets, unlock productivity at both small-scale and large-scale businesses, and create direct and indirect economic opportunities for millions of common men and women.
Isah Kamisu Madachi is a policy analyst and development practitioner. He writes via is***************@***il.com
Weddings have always held a special place in African culture. They are more than ceremonies; they are declarations of love, family, identity, and tradition. From the vibrant colours of aso-ebi to the rhythmic sounds of live bands and the emotional exchange of vows, weddings represent a moment of cultural heritage.
In recent years, weddings have gone beyond physical venues. What was once an exclusive gathering for family and friends has transformed into a shared experience for wider audiences. Social media first opened the door, allowing guests and admirers to witness love stories in real time through Instagram posts, TikTok highlights, and YouTube recaps.
And now, television platforms are taking this even further, giving weddings a new kind of permanence and reach.
High-profile weddings, like the widely celebrated union of Adeyemi Idowu, popularly known as Yhemolee (Olowo Eko) and his wife Oyindamola, fondly known as ThayourB, captured massive public attention. Moments from their wedding became a live shared experience on television (GOtv & DStv).
From the high fashion statements to the emotional highlights, viewers were able to feel part of something bigger, a reminder that weddings inspire not just both families but entire communities.
This shift reflects a broader reality: weddings today are content. They inspire conversations about fashion, relationships, lifestyle, and aspiration. They preserve memories in ways previous generations could only imagine. For Gen Z couples, their wedding is no longer just a day; it becomes a story that can be revisited, celebrated, and even inspire others planning their own journey to forever.
Broadcast platforms like GOtv are playing a meaningful role in this transformation. By bringing wedding-related content directly into homes, GOtv is helping audiences experience these moments not just through social media snippets but in real time.
One of the most notable offerings is Channel 105, The Wedding Channel, Africa’s first 24-hour wedding channel, available on GOtv. The channel is fully dedicated to African weddings, lifestyle, and bridal fashion, showcasing everything from dream ceremonies to the realities of married life. Programs like Wedding Police and Wedding on a Budget, and shows like 5 Years Later, offer a deeper look into marriage itself, reminding viewers that weddings are just the beginning of a lifelong journey.
GOtv is preserving culture, celebrating love, and inspiring future couples with this channel. It allows viewers to witness traditions from different regions, discover new ideas, and feel connected to moments that might otherwise remain private.
With platforms like GOtv, stories continue to live on screens across Africa, where love, culture, and celebration can be experienced by all.
To upgrade, subscribe, or reconnect, download the MyGOtv App or dial *288#. For catch-up and on-the-go viewing, download the GOtv Stream App and enjoy your favourite shows anytime, anywhere.
Nigeria is entering a timing-sensitive macro set-up as the oil complex reprices disruption risk and the US dollar firms. Brent moved violently this week, settling at $77.74 on 02 March, up 6.68% on the day, after trading as high as $82.37 before settling around $78.07 on 3 March. For Nigeria, the immediate hook is the overlap with domestic policy: the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has just cut its Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 50 basis points to 26.50%, whilst headline inflation is still 15.10% year on year in January.
“Investors often talk about Nigeria as an oil story, but the market response is frequently a timing story,” said David Barrett, Chief Executive Officer, EBC Financial Group (UK) Ltd. “When the pass-through clock runs ahead of the policy clock, inflation risk, and United States Dollar (USD) demand can show up before any oil benefit is felt in day-to-day liquidity.”
Policy and Pricing Regime Shift: One Shock, Different Clocks
EBC Financial Group (“EBC”) frames Nigeria’s current set-up as “policy-lag arbitrage”: the same external energy shock can hit domestic costs, FX liquidity, and monetary transmission on different timelines. A risk premium that begins in crude can quickly show up in delivered costs through freight and insurance, and EBC notes that downstream pressure has been visible in refined markets, with jet fuel and diesel cash premiums hitting multi-year highs.
Market Impact: Oil Support is Conditional, Pass-through is Not
EBC points out that higher crude is not automatically supportive of the naira in the short run because “oil buffer” depends on how quickly external receipts translate into market-clearing USD liquidity. Recent price action illustrates the sensitivity: the naira was quoted at 1,344 per dollar on the official market on 19 February, compared with 1,357 a week earlier, whilst street trading was cited around 1,385.
At the same time, Nigeria’s inflation channel can move quickly even during disinflation: headline inflation eased to 15.10% in January from 15.15% in December, and food inflation slowed to 8.89% from 10.84%, but energy-led transport and logistics costs can reintroduce pressure if the risk premium persists. EBC also points to a broader Nigeria-specific reality: the economy grew 4.07% year on year in 4Q25, with the oil sector expanding 6.79% and non-oil 3.99%, whilst average daily oil production slipped to 1.58 million bpd from 1.64 million bpd in 3Q25. That mix supports external-balance potential, but it also underscores why the domestic liquidity benefit can arrive with a lag.
Nigeria’s Buffer Looks Stronger, but It Does Not Eliminate Sequencing Risk
EBC sees that near-term external resilience is improving. The CBN Governor said gross external reserves rose to USD 50.45 billion as of 16 February 2026, equivalent to 9.68 months of import cover for goods and services. Even so, EBC views the market’s focus as pragmatic: in a risk-off tape, investors tend to price the order of transmission, not the eventual balance-of-payments benefit.
In the near term, EBC expects attention to rotate to scheduled energy and policy signposts that can confirm whether the current repricing is a short, violent adjustment or a more durable regime shift, including the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook (10 March 2026), OPEC’s Monthly Oil Market Report (11 March 2026), and the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting (17 to 18 March 2026). On the domestic calendar, the CBN’s published schedule points to the next Monetary Policy Committee meeting on 19 to 20 May 2026.
Risk Frame: The Market Prices the Lag, Not the Headline
EBC cautions that outcomes are asymmetric. A rapid de-escalation could compress the crude risk premium quickly, but once freight, insurance, and hedging behaviour adjust, second-round effects can linger through inflation uncertainty and a more persistent USD bid.
“Oil can act as a shock absorber for Nigeria, but only when the liquidity channel is working,” Barrett added. “If USD conditions tighten first and domestic pass-through accelerates, the market prices the lag, not the headline oil price.”
Brent remains an anchor instrument for tracking this timing risk because it links energy-led inflation expectations, USD liquidity, and emerging-market risk appetite in one market. EBC Commodities offering provides access to Brent Crude Spot (XBRUSD) via its trading platform for following energy-driven macro volatility through a single instrument.
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