Award, BREAKING NEWS
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Andrew Yakubu, group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, and 13 others become fellows of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering while seven others got the academy’s life achievement awards
| By Anayo Ezugwu | Jul. 7, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT
ANDREW Yakubu, group managing director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has added another feather to his cap. On Thursday, June 19, he was inducted as a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering, at the academy’s 2014 lecture held at the main auditorium of the University of Lagos. Apart from being the youngest of the inductees, Yakubu is the first serving GMD of the corporation to be inducted as a fellow of the academy.
The ceremony saw seven top old-time engineering professionals honoured with the Life Achievement Awards, while 14 persons were inducted as fellows. Among those honoured with the Life Achievement Award was Joseph Akpieyi, pioneer managing director, Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, WRPC; Olawale Ige, former minister of communication; Edet James Amana; Olusegun Adedeji; Lanre Fisher; Joseph Ibukunle Folayan; Olufemi Lalude; Raifu Salawu; and Joseph Shojobi.
Among the 14 engineering professionals inducted as fellows of the academy were Afolabi Oladele, group general manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services, NAPIMS; Musibau Salau; Christopher Okoro; Ibikunle Ogunbawo; Emem Ufot Nwa; and Abidoye Ayoola. Others were Stephen Layokun; Habu Ahmed Gumel; Adewunmi Desalu; Eli Jidere Bala; Suleyman Adeyemi; Usman Otaru Aliyu, and Otis O. T. Anyaeji.
Speaking on behalf of the inductees, Yakubu expressed gratitude to the academy for finding them worthy to be honoured with the fellowship of the highest professional engineering body in the country. He urged the academy to explore avenues for greater collaboration with all sectors with a view to providing engineering and technical support necessary for economic development while assuring that the new inductees would offer their support for the promotion of the values and objectives of the academy.
“I am glad that I am coming into the academy as a sitting Group Managing Director of the NNPC. This is the first time it is happening. That means it is the beginning of creating a mutually beneficial synergy between the wealth of experience of our elders and other stakeholders to add value to oil and gas,” he said.
Yakubu promised to bridge the gap between the oil industry and the academy. He expressed his readiness in reinvigorating and increasing the domestic consumption of liquefied natural gas otherwise known as cooking gas across the length and breadth of the country. The NNPC boss stated that as part of efforts to reduce the pressure on kerosene consumption, the NNPC is refocusing its strategy to encourage and aggressively grow the consumption of LPG which provides a cleaner and cheaper energy alternative.
“NNPC’s footprint in the domestic gas market has attained unprecedented growth. With the commissioning of the NPDC’s 100 million standard cubic feet of gas per day Oredo gas processing facilities and the acquisition of new assets, the NPDC is now the biggest producer and supplier of gas into the domestic market, contributing over 400 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.”
He stated that the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, was being repositioned to become a medium-sized independent exploration and production company with a production capacity of at least 250,000 barrels per day by the year 2015. According to Yakubu, today, the NPDC asset-base has grown with the assignment of new oil mining leases stressing that the management under his watch was determined to further pursue new strategies to grow production to the target of 250,000 bpd by 2015 from the current level of 130,000bpd.
The NNPC helmsman said in line with the strategic direction to support the Federal Government to increase national crude oil reserve and productivity to 40 billion and 4 million barrels per day. He said “there is aggressive exploration campaign in offshore, onshore and the inland basins of Chad, Anambra, Benue, Bida and Sokoto Dahomey. We are as well carrying out infield developments which have resulted in increased reserve and with the intensified approach, including the expedited action on new projects like Egina etc the reserve and production targets is realisable,” Yakubu said.
In his speech, Raifu Salawu, president of the academy, said that Yakubu’s induction into the prestigious academy along with other eminent engineering professionals was in recognition of his track record of excellent professionalism and meritorious service in the oil and gas industry.
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