Again, Kyari Emerges Winner Of 2021 Vanguard Personality Of The Year Award

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd Mele Kyari has been awarded the 2021 Vanguard Newspapers Personality of the year award.

Kyari was given the award at an event held on Friday in Lagos alongside the President of the African Development Bank, Dr Akinwumi Adesina.

The achievements of the NNPC GMD have been recognized both locally and internationally.

For instance, before now, Kyari has won the Leadership Newspapers Group Chief Executive Officer of the year award for 2021; the African Energy Chief Executive Officer of the year award; the 2020 Zik prize for public service leadership; the Sun Man of the year award; and the BusinessDay energy executive of the year award among others.

In giving the award to the NNPC GMD, Vanguard Newspapers described his achievement as unrivaled in the history of the National Oil Company.

For instance, it said that Kyari was responsible for the Open Government Initiative that ushered in an era of transparency and accountability in the NNPC’s operations.

Kyari, according to the Newspaper, has kept his promise to the NNPC and Nigeria by increasing the nation’s oil reserves to 40 billion barrels, from 37 billion barrels.

The NNPC GMD has also assisted in resolving disputes around deep offshore bloc to further boost the nation’s oil production, and ensuring the successful flag-off of the construction of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline project.

The project has been described by President Muhammadu Buhari as a game changer for the oil and gas industry.

The GMD had on April 25 when he received his letter of nomination for the award said that the recognition is coming at a time when the NNPC is undergoing huge transformation in line with the Petroleum Industry Act.

Kyari said there was an urgent need to focus on gas investment, adding that as the economy is facing a challenging time, such investment will help to guarantee energy security for the country.

He had said, “The only way to recognize and solve the economic problem is to have sufficient energy, so the need to make energy affordable and accessible is key element.”

The GMD explained that the NNPC has been transparently run, adding that it remains the only company in the world that publishes its Monthly Financial Report.

He said with the Company having over 200 million shareholders, there is no room for the NNPC Ltd to be running its operations in secrecy.

He stated further that it was in line with the transparency and accountability principle that the NNPC has been releasing the volume of Premium Motor Spirit distributed to the federation within the last three months.