Precious Okolobo
Lagos — The third Dr Alirio Parra Lifetime Achievement Award in the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry for 2022 was awarded to “an elated but surprised” Managing Director of The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria (SCiN), Osagie Okunbor, as the media characterised his reaction to the conferment at the end of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition in Abuja this month. I know Mr. Okunbor; modesty wouldn’t have allowed him to react otherwise. But I also know that this 30-year veteran who has played the game in the United Kingdom, Brunei and The Netherlands, stands tall in the industry in Nigeria, and fully deserves the pleasant embarrassment in Abuja.
Though just three years old, the Dr Alirio Parra Lifetime Achievement Award is unique for the memories it evokes and for the hopes it raises. Dr. Parra, a Venezuelan, was the Methuselah of the oil industry in South America, if not the world. He witnessed the founding of OPEC in Baghdad in 1960, and was Venezuela’s Minister of Energy and Mines from 1992-94, at the same time, serving as President of the OPEC Conference. On retiring after a long and distinguished public service, the man refused to rest and joined the Board of CWC Associates Limited, organisers of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, a role which brought him to Nigeria regularly. I had the privilege hearing him at NOG sessions in Abuja, and although his concession to aging was becoming more pronounced over the years, his thoughts were nevertheless lucid and relevant. Finally, he took an eternal bow on March 9, 2018 at the age of 90, and CWC has taken the right step to memorialise his strides through the award. The latest awardee, Mr. Okunbor is in good company. The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) received the maiden award in 2018 while the now-late Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru was the recipient in 2019. Winners are nominated from online votes by industry participants at the conference.
Mr. Okunbor was honoured for outstanding achievements in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. Since joining SPDC in June 1986, the Business Administration graduate of the University of Benin has risen through the HR ranks at the country and international levels until he joined the Board of SPDC in 2006 as Human Resources Director. After serving as Vice President, Infrastructure and Logistics for Shell Nigeria, and Vice President Human Resources, Sub-Saharan Africa and in further postings abroad, Mr. Okunbor was appointed Managing Director of SPDC on March 1, 2015, the third Nigerian to hold the post. The award goes beyond Mr. Okunbor. It is an acknowledgement of the pioneering role of a company whose operations pre-date the founding of modern Nigeria. It raises fresh hopes for an industry that must reform, reposition and reset to remain a key development factor in a country that produced an average of 1.238 million barrel of oil per day in June alone. Shell, from its presence in Nigeria through SPDC, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) Shell Nigeria Gas (SNG) and Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) has pioneered oil and gas production on land, swamp, and offshore, distributed gas to manufacturers and helped to catapult Nigeria into the league of major players, that accounts for 7% of global LNG production.
SPDC, SNEPCo and SNG have identified with Nigeria in practical terms. Those who pay taxes know how difficult it is to please tax collectors! They always want more. So when, Nigeria’s tax collector, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) named Shell as a “leading tax compliant organisation in Nigeria for 2021,” we knew something was wrong positively! The three companies paid a combined $6 billion in direct taxes between 2015 and 2020 to the government, in just one aspect of their support for the development of Nigeria. Shell companies in Nigeria also won the award for “remarkable performance in the remittance of various taxes” in the same year. The Executive Chairman of the FIRS, Mr. Muhammad Mamman Nami, said the companies showed “commitment to paying all government taxes hence the two awards.” in another demonstration of commitment, Shell companies in Nigeria awarded contracts worth $800 million to Nigerian companies in 2020, while also providing nearly $1.5 billion in loans to 764 Nigerian vendors under the Shell Contractor Support Fund, since 2012.
As we celebrate these notable contributions which provided the basis for the Dr. Alirio Parra Lifetime Achievement Award for Mr. Okunbor, Nigeria must begin to think seriously about the next phase of the game – the energy transition. The world is not waiting for Nigeria, and excuses will not work. Mr. Okunbor bared his mind on the matter at the 51st Founders’ Day lecture of his alma mater in Benin. His words: “Nigeria as a developing oil and gas exporting country is clearly at the crossroads with respect to the ongoing transition. Not only do we require increasing levels of energy due to our population increase, industrialisation and economic goals, we also generate over 90% of our external foreign exchange earnings from the sale of oil and gas resources. The planned, gradual, global transitioning, away from oil and gas is therefore cause for quick strategic thinking and collective action.” A successful energy transition for Nigeria will be a fitting tribute to Dr. Parra and another lifetime achievement for the Okunbors of the industry.
*Precious Okolobo, a retired staff of Shell, lives in Lagos.
