By Clara Nwachukwu

His professional colleagues describe him as a ‘smart guy’, although no exactly clear why, but Mr. George Abiodun Osahon, has been smart enough to clinch juicy petroleum industry jobs at the least expected of times.
And so he did on Wednesday, when President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, approved his immediate appointment as the Director of Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, the regulator of the industry.

The suddenness of Osahon’s appointment came as a big shock to the industry; especially he was formally retired from the system four years ago as the Group General Manager, Nigerian Content Division, NCD, then a unit under the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, where he had held numerous appointments.

Quick succession
With the exception of Mr. Tony Chukwueke, who served as DPR Director under former President Olusegun Obasanjo for four years between 2005 and 2009, all other subsequent directors have had short-lived tenures.

The appointments and removals of the directors came in quick succession, with little or no explanations from the Federal Government.

As with the case of Osahon, news filtered in early Wednesday about his appointment, which other industry agencies contacted for confirmation described as “rumours”, until Presidential Spokesman, Mr. Reuben Abati, issued a statement on it.

As has become the trend in recent times, no explanations were given for the removal of Mr. Osten Olorunshola, who had acted in that capacity since November 15, 2011.

Abati’s statement only said that Osahon is expected to reposition the DPR and enhance the department’s ability to address the critical challenges of regulating the upstream and downstream sectors of Nigeria’s petroleum industry, and enforcing the provisions of the country’s petroleum laws.

Other such appointments in the past included:
•Mr. Andrew Obaje, appointed April 26, 2010 and retired November 15, 2011

•Mr. Billy Agha, appointed October 28, 2009, and redeployed April 26, 2010 to NNPC

•Alhaji Sabon Binni, who acted briefly after Chukwueke’s exit before he was retired

An industry operator, who pleaded for anonymity, noted that “The Nigerian oil and gas industry is portraying a picture of being very unstable; and this is not particularly good for the investing community who look for continuity of programmes for sustainability of investments.”

Our source further argued that “As with NNPC, where the GMD (Group Managing Director) is being changed every other year, government appears to be toeing the same line with the DPR, and this is not too good for the industry, especially one that is supposedly undergoing reforms.”

Another source noted that with the anticipation of the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, one would have expected that Olorunshola would have steered to ship to this period, given the role he played in the drafting of the bill.

“With the appointment of a new man at this period, even one who has put in the length of service that Osahon is said to have put in, the learning curve would be too expensive during this transition time,” he said.

The source added that the successive appointments smirked of lack of seriousness on the part of government, saying, “In the developed world that we said we are trying to emulate, such key appointments are first made public before the actual take-over. By the time of the takeover everybody is already aware of what is happening and why, who is taking over, his background and all that. But here, government just springs the appointment on the industry.

“This causes a lot of hiccups and additional costs, especially because everything is put on hold. As the regulator, the new man would want to understand what is happening, where the agency is and where he wants to take it to. If there are pending negotiations or approvals, they would have to be done all over again, and these are part of the costs.”

The DPR, which is yet to issue any official statement on the appointment because it does “not have a complete profile of the new director,” defended that the appointments cannot be compared with the NNPC GMDs because “some of the directors were retired after attaining the rightful age of 60.”

Suitability of appointment

Opinions are divided on the suitability of Osahon’s appointment. While his associates at the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists, NAPE, are excited about his appointment, other stakeholders are not overly so.

NAPE, where Osahon is the current president, has already issued a statement on the appointment posted on its official website, expressing its support. But sources in the association were anticipating the appointment but at the Nigerian Content Development Management Board, NCDMB.

“This is because, he started the whole process of Nigerian Content at the NNPC, so we were expecting him to head the agency,” they noted.

With regard to his leadership of NAPE, the association said he will run out his tenure, which expires in November, except Osahon chose to relinquish his presidency, which is expected in the light of the latest development.

However, some critics of the appointment are not so generous, asking, “Is government saying that no other person in the industry is qualified enough for this job, except to go and bring back a retired professional?

“It is high time government stopped this practice of recycling old hands, because it is not giving others the opportunity to also move up in the industry. If someone has retired after 30 years in practice, he should be left alone so that others can also get a chance.”

Osahon, who has been going back and forth between public and private practice, which may have earned him the description of a “smart guy”, returned to public life following his appointment as a member the Special Task Force on PIB.

The eight-man task force, in which Osahon served as a member headed by Sen. Udo Udoma, and was set up in October last year by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke. The team was expected to, “… put up all the indices in place to redefine the bill, look at certain sections and include strategic aspects so that we can get it right.”

The man Osahon

Mr. George Osahon, who is a fellow of NAPE, brings in over 30 years of oil and gas industry experience to his new assignment. He is the Managing Director of Geo-Concepts Technical Limited. He has been in that position since he left the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) in 2009.

Before then George was Group General Manager in charge of Nigerian Content Division in the NNPC responsible for promoting value creation/addition in-country through domiciliation and patronage of locally sourced goods and services.

Osahon graduated from the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria with a Bachelor’s degree in Geology in 1974. He holds a Master’s of Science degree in Petroleum Geology from Imperial College, London. He joined the NNPC in 1976 and rose to the position of Chief Geologist in National Production Development Company (NPDC).