It was a moment of honour and pride for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) last weekend when six members of its management staff were conferred with the Fellowship of the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE).

During its 44th Annual Conference/Exhibition and Annual General Meeting held at the Imo Concorde Hotel, Owerri, the NSChE conferred its fellowship on twenty four chemical engineers drawn from across various organisations in the country, a quarter of whom were members of the NNPC family. The Corporation’s Group Executive Director, Engineering & Technology, Engr. Adebayo Ibirogba; Managing Director of Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), Dr. Bafred A. Enjugu and Executive Director Operations (EDO), PHRC, Engr. Vitalis A. Ugochukwu were elected Fellows of the NSChE, the apex recognition for chemical engineers in the country.

Others are the Group General Manager, National Petroleum Investment & Management Services (NAPIMS), Engr. Jonathan K. Okehs; Manager, Nigerian Content, OKLNG, Engr. Mohammed Amin Umar and Deputy Manager, Production, Kaduna Refining & Petrochemical Company (KRPC), Engr. Umar Usman. Speaking at the investiture, the National President of NSChE and former Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Engr. (Dr.) Abubakar Lawal Yar’Adua said the awards were in recognition of the fellows’ selfless service and dedication to the chemical engineering profession over the years.

L-R: The Managing Director of Port Harcourt Refining and Petrochemical Company (PHRC), Dr Bafred Enjugu; Executive Director Services, PHRC, Mr Ralph Ugwu; Group Executive Director, Engineering & Technology, Engr. Adebayo Ibirogba; and Executive Director Operations, PHRC, Engr. Vitalis Ugochukwu displaying their NSCheE Fellowship certificates.

Engr. Yar’Adua who described chemical engineering as a noble profession also charged the new fellows to rededicate themselves to excellence and use their professional expertise to meet Nigeria’s quest for industrial revolution.

“I enjoin all the new fellows and awardees to sustain the standard of excellence and performance for which they are honoured today,” Engr. Yar’Adua added. On his part, the Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha who was represented by his deputy, Mr. Eze Madumere congratulated the NSChE for a successful AGM, even as he commended them for “recognising the awardees’ hard-work, professionalism and selfless service to their fatherland.”

In their various responses, the new fellows, who were all visibly elated, commended the NSChE for finding them worthy of the award, noting that it was an opportunity to do more towards promoting the chemical engineering profession for the benefit of the NNPC and the nation. Engr. Ibrogba said: “Every time you receive an award of this type, it is an encouragement for one to work harder, to achieve more and for us to have a greater impact on the immediate environment where we work.

“By achieving the pinnacle of the profession, it means that when I get back to my desk, I will also impact and enforce the highest standards of professionalism amongst my colleagues –chemical engineers- in the Engineering and Technology Directorate and the NNPC as a whole,” Ibirogba added. Ibirogba further observed that he was not surprised that out of the 24 new fellows by the NSChE, six were from the NNPC.

This is because according to him, “the NNPC is the only oil and gas organisation in Nigeria that covers the entire value chain: from prospecting, production, conversion into retailing. So, it is not unexpected that we have a fair number of recipients.”

Also responding, the MD PHRC, Dr. Bafred A. Enjugu said: “The recognition is appreciated, the six members of the NNPC family so recognised were deserving of the honour. It simply underscores what NNPC is to this profession.

“The NNPC continues to extract the very best minds. And the best engineers in the country are being attracted into the industry and they are being utilised in that respect,” Dr. Enjugu observed.

For the EDO PHRC, Engr. Vitalis A. Ugochukwu, the award is a call to fellowship among the best.

“I am now one among the others. When others are playing in the arena of fellows, I will be there confidently. It is not like before when you are pushed backstage. That means you are now going to engage with the best brains among the NSChE,” he stated.

The three-day NSChE Conference also witnessed plenary sessions, technical sessions, sector-based presentations, exhibition and the AGM which climaxed with the election of Prof. Emenike N. Wami as the new President of the society.