By Sonny Atumah

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its workers recently exhibited their usual irremissible acts. Epileptic flow of imported petroleum products continually kept Nigerians at the benevolence of the national oil company in fuel queues. The recent shut down was at the behest of their two labour unions: NUPENG and PENGASSON over restructuring or unbundling.

Ordinarily disagreements are not new in corporate governance structures but management makes the difference. Improper communication, consultation, engagement or lacks of them were the issues. The unions’ action was of self- preservation which is the instinctive need to do what is necessary to survive danger. Perception problem may be.

But what is it to unbundle? In management unbundling means splitting a company or conglomerate into its constituent businesses especially prior to selling them off (Oxford Dictionaries Language matter). Unbundling is done for a variety of reasons but the goal is to create a better performing company. Would unbundling require the force of law? Some lawmakers felt the Minister’s action should have legislative blessing while others recanted.

To restructure in management or work place is to organise a company, business or system in a new way to make it operate more effectively. This type of corporate action is usually made when there are significant problems in a company which are causing financial harm and putting the overall business in jeopardy.

Preston Townley, a U.S. Business executive said: ‘’there are three forces driving restructuring: first the need to react to excess capacity; second, the need to lift profitability in the teeth of recession; and third, the availability of more competitive wage rates in the global labour pool.”

Really with excess baggage it was necessary the monster within the NNPC be killed. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources who doubles as Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu attempted restructuring but was believed to have touched the behemoth NNPC that had not been responsible to the Nigerian government and indeed the Nigerian people.

The action compounded the hemorrhagic economic woes of Nigerians teetering along oil glut. Nigerians clamour for transparency and accountability in running the NNPC and have variously accused petroleum resources managers of corruption, subsidy scam, oil theft, oil swap scam, no record keeping, no bookkeeping, looting among others. The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission recently alleged that between 2011 and 2015 the NNPC did not remit N4.9 trillion to the Federal account.

Kachikwu may have struck the wrong chord as workers felt the corrupt officials have not been punished other than removals from posts in what seemed like ecclesiastical absolutions to go with their loots and sin no more. To them Dr. Kachikwu’s action was frenzied and frantic to kill the cash cow, the NNPC rather than the thievish inside the corporation.

The Minister’s perceived wrong shot announcing unbundling or is it restructuring stirred the hornet’s nest. The spontaneity with which the two labour unions called their members for action occurred like a symphony orchestra, well-rehearsed and awaiting a command performance.

Many members of staff were not comfortable with his management style fraught with policy and counter-policy statements. They alleged Dr. Kachikwu was more of a sole administrator; being the GMD of the NNPC, arrogating board powers since there was none as well as being the Minister of State.

They asked why he called for investors to co-locate process plants within existing public refineries when interested companies can build theirs on sites outside the existing ones. They felt Kachikwu’s co-location plan was a ploy to sell the refineries and make staff members shape up prematurely to the saturated employment market.

The Minister gave a 90-day warning months ago to refinery managers to get the refineries on-stream. Experts believe that crude process plants that operate at high temperatures of over 300 degrees Celsius and shut down for years and at unusual room temperatures with accompanying corrosion would need a more technical evaluation before an ultimatum to process crude.

Is increasing the number of subsidiaries from 15 to 20 not creating another amorphous NNPC with bloated overheads? At the ministerial screening the Minister said the NNPC’s budget may equate that of about five states in Nigeria. There were also issues of appointing heads of these subsidiaries without interviews to determine their suitability for effectiveness and efficiency.

As consultation with stakeholders is still ongoing we should avoid having our cake and eating it. We know that the oil majors backed out of importation for foreign exchange and cash flow challenges. The Minister of State assured Nigerians that the corporation would engage the Central Bank of Nigeria for funds to get the super majors and independents back in products importation.

The Minister should rather explore the overseas processing arrangements option with the super majors that have been operating in the upstream since they discovered petroleum in Nigeria 60 years ago. He may not be a magician but the situation calls for ingenuity, sagacity, pragmatism and practicality rather than rhetoric to get us out of the quagmire.

ExxonMobil the biggest refiner in the world, Shell the biggest player in Nigeria’s upstream, Chevron, Total and ENI all super majors in the upstream can bail out Nigeria, with their refineries outside our shores even in non-producing consumer nations. The Minister was there with ExxonMobil which has 37 refineries in 21 countries. Nigeria needs the cooperation of super majors’ technical knowhow and managerial skills in downstream investments and not to source for funds for them to import products from their refineries.

Nigeria owes these same companies about $5 billion cash call for their upstream operations as joint ventures partners. The foreign exchange he hopes to get from the CBN to engage super majors could be used to rehabilitate and upgrade our existing refineries. One’s belief is that the problem of petroleum products imports could be solved.  Take that bold step, catch up with NNPC and stop the importation of products.