To “Kill NNPC” or To “Kill Corruption”, Which Way Forward?An Insider’s Candid Perspective For The Attention of President, Muhammadu Buhari
Even prior to the inauguration of President, Muhammdu Buhari, to date, the media is a washed with screaming, unpleasant headlines about NNPC. Few amongst these legitimate outcries were:
- “Buhari vows to probe ‘missing’ NNPC $20 billion”
- "Kill NNPC" - Governor, El-Rufai cried out loud!
- “Split NNPC into Two, IPMAN Advises Buhari”
- “Nigerians will not understand the corruption in NNPC – Buhari”
This article was originally titled: "To 'Kill' or Not To 'Kill' NNPC" to set a tune for an intellectual debate that would hopeful provides the Government of the day with quality superior arguments/options to aid in resolving the NNPC leadership and operational challenges.
As an insider who had been working in NNPC for over 23 years, as a trained change agent (business analyst and system builder) and as a Nigerian who cherished the freedom to patriotically utilize the privileges of being a good and active Citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, particularly, in advocating and living good governance and leadership principles. And without sounding merely defensive for NNPC, I believe, like other Nigerians who had held an opposing views regarding this great Corporation, I have equal rights by law and by qualifications, to sincerely and respectfully, advise our great leader (PMB), whom I so much adore and cherish for being, not only incorruptible and astute, but also for being a great “level 6” leader and a statesman of the highest quality he has been, and overall - a model to be followed. In case you are wondering who or what a level 6 leaders are or means, please avail yourself of my previous article titled: “Level 5 Leaders, elixirs to General Muhammadu Buhari Quest to "fix Nigeria" ” which is available of on a Facebook page I dedicated to advising PMB's administration to contribute towards helping to build the great Nigeria we've all been craving to see. (The article's URL is: http://on.fb.me/1fHiVf0 ) You can also read the four agenda, I proposed for PMB to (amongst other strategic goals) charge whoever he would appoint to lead NNPC to see to their effective implementation.
(You may wish to read the four agendas here:https://www.facebook.com/salihu.garba/posts/10152959121122849 )
As an insider who had been working in NNPC for over 23 years, as a trained change agent (business analyst and system builder) and as a Nigerian who cherished the freedom to patriotically utilize the privileges of being a good and active Citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, particularly, in advocating and living good governance and leadership principles. And without sounding merely defensive for NNPC, I believe, like other Nigerians who had held an opposing views regarding this great Corporation, I have equal rights by law and by qualifications, to sincerely and respectfully, advise our great leader (PMB), whom I so much adore and cherish for being, not only incorruptible and astute, but also for being a great “level 6” leader and a statesman of the highest quality he has been, and overall - a model to be followed. In case you are wondering who or what a level 6 leaders are or means, please avail yourself of my previous article titled: “Level 5 Leaders, elixirs to General Muhammadu Buhari Quest to "fix Nigeria" ” which is available of on a Facebook page I dedicated to advising PMB's administration to contribute towards helping to build the great Nigeria we've all been craving to see. (The article's URL is: http://on.fb.me/1fHiVf0 ) You can also read the four agenda, I proposed for PMB to (amongst other strategic goals) charge whoever he would appoint to lead NNPC to see to their effective implementation.
(You may wish to read the four agendas here:https://www.facebook.com/salihu.garba/posts/10152959121122849 )
As for the motion to senselessly "kill NNPC", I hereby respectfully and confidently posited that PMB should not "kill NNPC", without first killing what had made NNPC and many other business organs of the Nigerian Government to be perceived as a kill-able institutions - and that is corruption!
Let the World know that NNPC, as far as Nigerian business organs are concern, is one of the best run organization, in terms of quality man power and systems. No doubt there are lot of waste and other operational issues that need to be addressed to make the Corporation more effective. PMB knows who are corrupt in the system and those giving the Corporation and Nigeria a bad name. These people should be made to face the music, so as to pave way for re-organizing, re-engineering and refocusing NNPC for better performance.
If we senselessly “killed NNPC”, without firstly “killing corruption” as PMB, memered during one of his campaign interview with Christian Amanpour of CNN and also “killing” the prevailing retrogressive culture of "national cake", we are going to end up (may be in another four years and after spending huge resources and energy) creating another National Oil Company that could inherit the same culture of corruption and impunity, being that the new company would invariably be run by Nigerians.
Our priority should be about building strong and sustainable Institutions – rather than painstakingly shopping for saintly people to run systems that had stale, weak and vulnerable processes, policies and poisonous-culture which could aid in subtly, corrupting even the most saintly professionals we could appoint to lead/manned them.
Our priority should be about building strong and sustainable Institutions – rather than painstakingly shopping for saintly people to run systems that had stale, weak and vulnerable processes, policies and poisonous-culture which could aid in subtly, corrupting even the most saintly professionals we could appoint to lead/manned them.
To this end, PMB should know that corrupt leaders who abuse and corrupt powers vested on them, happen to thrive in most of their fraudulent deals, mostly, due to Institutional decays which encourage the mind bugling-wholesale-corruption we’ve been uncovering recently, amongst which is the $6Billion alleged to have been stolen by only one minister in the last "failed" administration.
It should be known that when an institution is weaken by either outdated policies and procedures and or it lacks adequate qualitative corruption-prevention and corruption-resistant policies, processes and procedures - then that system would continue to suffer exploitation from corrupt individuals. We must rebuild and or re-engineer our Government's Institutions/MDA tenaciously and judiciously, so as to serve as a strong and lively guard and guide that would proactively prevent its leaders or any other employee from exploiting and or corrupting it’s perpetually re-engineered/updated and guarded systems' policies, procedure and processes.
When I said a system, I am referring to its professional/technical meaning (i.e. judiciously selecting and deploying the right caliber of quality people, guided with the right laws, policies; and assisted by a qualitative information technologies, business tools, machines, processes and procedures; which must all be synergised towards achieving the overall strategic goals of an Institution - be it of the oil and gas/power industry, armed forces, education, finance and other revenue generating organs).
Consequently, PMB needs to bring on-board, technocrats with adequate domain knowledge, skills and experiences, guided by professional business analysts and business modelers with extensive contextual knowledge of our specific business and economic peculiarities/needs and in harmonious perspective with international economic realities. These are the set of people that should be entrusted with the onerous task of holistically scrutinizing, analyzing and suggesting better ways our Government’s Ministries and MDAs can be effectively and sustainable rebirth, re-aligned and re-invigorated for greater value addition and or creation, and also making them highly corruption-proved/resistant, thereby eliminating or neutralizing the side effects of accidentally appointing people who might on the surface (as mortal beings) appear saintly, but then, as time passes by “display lack of conscience and patriotism” after assuming the position of leadership and running our vulnerable institutions/systems, as PMB often, rightly acknowledged in his interviews.
As a system person, I often site this example I am about to share, with my colleagues, as an epitome of building a corruption-free or fraud/corruption-resistant system.
Back in 2004-2007, when I was undergoing my studies in London, I used the students’ London “Oyester card” for my travels within London city. The smart card was customized with the eligible card holders’ name and passport-size photo printed on it. The card allows it's holders to “top-up” (add money) whenever they needed to. Also, the card is used, not only for gaining access and exiting, most of the train stations (within the city), it is also used to meter and record passengers travels and where about. This is achieved via the Oyester card’s readers installed at entry points of most of the train stations, and on Buses and trams too. How the system interacts was: a passenger “touches” the top of the card reader with his/her valid Oyester card, then the card reader beeps, flashing a green light, and then the gate/barrier bars slide-open or swing-open to admit or discharge passengers in and out of the station, respectively.
The ingenious fraud resistance/preventive aspect of the system’s process was consciously and deliberately built into the London Oyester card billing system.
Experience had indicated that some passengers using the smart travel card, might forget to, or deliberately avoid touching-in and or touching-out their Oyester cards on the card reader, thereby “beating” the billing system and denying the "Transport for London" company its due service charge for that fulfilled-journey. By this unusual incident of touching-in, but not touching-out, for instance, the Oyester’s card billing system might assumed that the passenger had not embarked on the initiated, but “uncompleted” journey, since it cannot determine the end-point of the journey, and in such case, the passenger had traveled for free – thereby invariably, denying the "Transport for London" its due services charge for the embarked journey. The solution to that system’s loophole which can deliberately or not, allow a passenger to intentionally or unintentionally defraud the London Oyester card billing system and its parent company, was to come up with the following two basic system's procedure (use case) modifications and enforcement:
Experience had indicated that some passengers using the smart travel card, might forget to, or deliberately avoid touching-in and or touching-out their Oyester cards on the card reader, thereby “beating” the billing system and denying the "Transport for London" company its due service charge for that fulfilled-journey. By this unusual incident of touching-in, but not touching-out, for instance, the Oyester’s card billing system might assumed that the passenger had not embarked on the initiated, but “uncompleted” journey, since it cannot determine the end-point of the journey, and in such case, the passenger had traveled for free – thereby invariably, denying the "Transport for London" its due services charge for the embarked journey. The solution to that system’s loophole which can deliberately or not, allow a passenger to intentionally or unintentionally defraud the London Oyester card billing system and its parent company, was to come up with the following two basic system's procedure (use case) modifications and enforcement:
1) When a passenger touches-in: the Oyester billing system should deduct the maximum (capped) amount for a whole day journey which was then about GBP3.5 for students and depending on the zone and period one is making his/her journey.
2) When the same passenger touches-out, at the point of arrival, then the system would calculate the correct amount for the fulfilled journey, in most cases GBP1.00 then, (depending on the zone and or peak-period or not) and refund the balance to the Oyester card –holder’s card account.
With these changes, the Oyester card system is able to cater for itself - by itself, against any intended or unintended revenue fraud that might be initiated by an eligible passenger.
This is just one out of many examples we can site on how near-perfect systems can be built – free from fraud or other means of corruptions.
I am of the candid view, that whoever cannot clearly mention the good side of an organization and be able to make a contrasting “like” for “like” analysis of its weaknesses and strengths, has no credible business in calling for its destruction.
NNPC, apart from the leadership challenges it has been facing which has been usually inherited from its parent-body - the Nigerian state and its top leadership, the corporation has crop of young and bright professionals from various fields/background, whose skills and pedigree are World class and un-matchable to other peers, working in other business organs of the Nigerian government. NNPC had fairly good systems and followed some World class practices in its internal operations and dealings.
It is therefore my candid believe that, when PMB harnessed the brighter human capital resident in NNPC (by appointing an astute level 5 incorruptible leader (driver) to effectively drive the entire oil and gas industry and the corporation in particular, with the right passengers (young leaders) positioned in their respective/right seats – then voila -- sustainable positive Changes shall continue to happen in NNPC.
Therefore, killing NNPC is not a good option as it might appear to those calling for its destruction. However, what is needed to get NNPC back on track as the greater engine for greater revenue generation (through efficient and sustainable productivity that ensures value addition/creation for achieving optimum developmental goals of the Federal Government of Nigeria), is restructuring and culture re-orientation of the industry and its work force, so as to position it, to become one of the leading World-class National Oil Corporation that is transparently run as a business, with less interference from politicians. Refurbish, the refineries, build new green refineries and enforce local contents laws.
Conclusively and instructively, as we have so far briefly analyzed, "killing NNPC" should not be a valid option, but killing corruption is surely the way forward for NNPC and for the Nigerian state at large. At the end of this debate, however, after diligently, considering all the superior/beneficial options, and if “killing” the Nation’s Oil Corporation and building a new one - from scratch happens to be the most appealing option, then by all means -- be it! And PMB, should follow suit in that regard, in the most ethical, justly and sacrificial manner that would ensure great tangible benefits to all Nigerians (of this generation and the unborn generations).
Be just, for being just is nearer to piety!
May God Almighty in His infinite mercy and grace continue to bless Nigeria, and Nigerians, the more!
Salihu Garba
29th July 2015
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