By Kabir Usman Sami
Abuja, April 9, 2022 – When Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu was installed the 13th Odogwu of Onicha Ugbo, on August 28, 2013, little did he realise that becoming a War Commander in his community was going to take a wider significance of leading a battle to redeem the cash cow of national revenue generating institution that has become infested with a thousand demons.
President Muhammadu Buhari who seem to have scored a bull’s eye bringing in an accomplished technocrat with enviable professional and academic track record to thread in a territory where even the angels dread to step on, but the tasks is not insurmountable barring in mind Kachikwu’s background as a technocrat.
Dr. Ibe Kachikwu becomes highly recommended by his own pedigree in the industry to the extent that he enjoys the confidence of President Muhammadu Buhari who is not new to the intrigues that swirl round the oil sector to stymie its growth and the aspirations of the founders of NNPC.
Dr. Ibe Kachukwu has become a helmsman who has grown in the private sector where best business practices and corporate good governance are sine qua non.
With Ibe’s determination to clean the Aegean stable, there is no doubt that putting NNPC in the hands of an upright manager would be a key step in ensuring sustainability in the oil sector.
Ibe Kachukwu has indeed brought about the accounting and reconciliation system for crude oil revenues used by Government agencies which appear to be inaccurate and weak with significant discrepancies in data from different sources.
Kachukwu made sure that these problems were traced to poor corporate governance, resulting in losses of billions of dollars annually.
They therefore form the essential part of the challenges that Dr. Kachikwu will confront as he tries to halt selling of crude oil to politically-connected, ”carpetbaggers” that lack the capacity to perform as well as establish and ensure adherence to strong internal policies for vetting and choosing buyers of oil, and for apportioning cargoes of oil among buyers.
Dr. Kachikwu may have come from a privileged background, but his rise in life was paved with gold. By all standards, he is comfortable, his reputation and family name are priceless assets he would want to protect at all cost.
His late father, Justice Francis Kachikwu, built the reputation but Dr. Ibe Kachikwu would want to leave a legacy in his new office which he has described as a ‘national assignment.’
Dr. Kachikwu has also been passionate about empowerment of youths and has never failed to use every opportunity at his disposal to promote the ideas that the indigenes of the town that have been favoured should be in a position to assist.
His vision has been how to use his own advancement in life to impact positively on the lives of others.
Modest and humble by nature, Dr. Kachikwu is a man who would want to go about his job with less distraction and maintain his reputation as a technocrat.
MY NAME IS KABIR USMAN SAMI
kbzuru@hotmail.com
