Ben Ezechime, Enugu
Professor Joy Ezeilo, SAN, says it is wrong for the management of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited to go to the media and announce that the Port Harcourt Refinery would commence production in two weeks, by March 28th, 2024.
She said that rather than going to the media, the Corporation should have waited until the refinery begins operation proper.
Using her official X handle, the legal luminary and activist-academic wrote: “If I were Mele Kyari, CEO of NNPC, I wouldn’t announce when the refineries will resume operations.
“Instead, I would wait until they start and bring in the media to show live that the refinery is now refining crude oil, and trucks are loading in real-time.
“This will convince Nigerians with a lot of mistrust in the state of affairs at the NNPC.”
Ezeilo said that it was no longer difficult to refine crude oil with modern technology especially when nations have “successfully sent missions to the moon and beyond by utilising advanced technologies.”
“Even during the Nigerian civil war, it was said that Biafrans were able to refine crude oil and produce “nuclear weapons,” yet today, we seem to be stuck in the past as a nation,” she said.
The Professor of Law further said that Nigeria’s problem persisted because of lack of patriotism, failure to act in the national best interest, lack of meritocracy, weak followership divided along ethnic and religious fault-lines, pervasive hydra-headed corruption, and inefficiency in the public sector, among others.
“I pray that the March 28 promise will be kept and that I may have something good to celebrate for my birthday (27 March) about Nigeria and being a Nigerian,” Ezeilo said.
