Kachikwu: A Prophet Home And Abroad By Bukar Raheem
Nigeria’s wounds are self-inflicted; but there are some Nigerian professionals who have refused to be part of the national morass. There are many more patriotic Nigerians committed to the national cause. Before the ascension of President Muhammadu Buhari as leader of Nigeria, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) or the whole oil and gas industry in the country was enmeshed in years of total mess. There was the seemingly intractable problem of mindless militancy in the Niger Delta that disrupted crude oil exploration and exportation. Kidnappings/abductions of oil workers and blowing up of oil facilities by militants badly hampered Nigeria’s progress; hence its mono-economy depended on oil revenues to thrive. Funeral dirges were bellowed for all refineries in Nigeria.
More than ever before, Dr. Kachikwu sauntered on the management scene of Nigerian oil and gas sector at a time insecurity in the Niger Delta had reached its apogee, with militants blowing up and vandalizing oil facilities. Oil theft reigned supreme and cumulatively affected national crude oil production, as it consecrated Nigeria on the path of an inevitable economic retardation.