Story by Iyiola Ayomide
Honourable Jude Chukwuemeka Omobowale Idimogu, the immediate past lawmaker representing Oshodi/Isolo Constituency 02 at the Lagos State House of Assembly, has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for kicking out the former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation, Mele Kyari.
The ace lawmaker gave the commendation in a press statement on Thursday, April 3, 2025. He added that the Petroleum sector helmsman should have been sacked long time ago, but commended the president for doing the needful at this time.
He said he love Tinubu as a man who is not afraid to take bold decisions even as he said some people feel they are untouchable, but that Tinubu is touching them.
He said “This is one of the best decisions Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the president of Nigeria has made, sincerely, I want to commend him for that.”
The former lawmaker said Nigeria which is endowed with crude oil has not enjoyed commensurate benefit from oil due to bad management and therefore thanked the president. “The issue is that we have oil and sincerely crude oil, but at the end of the day Nigeria doesn’t benefit from it. That is just the truth.
“For me it has to do with the management, the management team of NNPC has been the issue, Mee Kyari has been there for a long time, if not overdue, 10 years now. He has been there for a while and nothing has changed. See what Nigerians are experiencing and it has to do with management,” Idimogu stressed.
He added that management is important in any organisation. “Management plays a very important role in every aspect of life in an organization, in a country, if your management team is not focused, and they don’t know what to do, sincerely, you will get it wrong and I tell you, well I will say Mele Kyari has done his bit, he should be grateful to God he has been there for a while, yet we suffered, look at the issue with Dangote, the issue of Naira for crude oil, and stuff like that, so we need a change. In fact that is one thing I always tell my people, Asiwaju is one person I know that always like to take bold decisions. And look at, he has done it.
“If you look at it, Kyari has been untouchable, but he has touched him for the interest of Nigeria, for the interest of the wellbeing of Nigeria, for the interest of crude oil and oil activities in Nigeria.
“This is what we want, at least, when somebody has been at the helms of affairs for too long, and Nigerians are complaining, I think for me he has no more other things to prove, he has lost ideas or the way out, so I think this time around, I will say, the president, you have done well, Idimogu stated.
He maintained that no single decision is capable of satisfying everybody, but this particular has the potency of satisfying the majority. “Yes, every decision may not favour everybody, but this one, I believe majority of Nigerians including my self, I applaud him for this. Mele Kyari should go and rest. He has tried, let’s have a new person.
“Let’s have a new fresh blood and a new fresh idea, who will be patriotic, and I know, for the president to have appointed the new man at the helms of affairs, I know you have gotten a full dozier about him for you to have made that decision, and say okay, it is high time we make a change, and I believe that this change will be a good one for Nigerians, a good one for investors in the oil sector, he said.
Hon Idimogu who commended the president for ensuring the appointment of the board members has national outlook also advised the new GMD and his Board to avoid negativities. “And from the little CV I read about the new Group Managing Director, he has worked in Shell before, so for that, I think he has the pedigree, he has the qualification, he has the experience, and I believe, with the new members of the board, that covers the six geopolitical zones, of the country, I think for me, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, my president, you are excellent in this one, yes, indeed people that thought they are untouchable, he has touched them, because it is your Government, whatever happens, good or bad, is on your table. So I would say, kudos to you.”
“My advice to the new board members is prove that the appointment given to you by our president is not a fluke. Prove that you deserve that appointment by ensuring that you put the nation first and focus on the best interest of that oil wealth God has given Nigeria, it is a gift even though we have not been able to manage it well, going forward, let’s manage it well. Let Nigerians get the reward, let Nigerians be grateful for having crude oil.
“It is not every country that has crude oil, a lot of countries don’t have it, but Nigeria has, so let Nigerians have benefit of this crude oil so that at the end of the day we can always say, yes thank God for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, thank God for the new board.
“For the new GMD, it is not business as usual. “For the GMD, even though I do not know you too well but the little I have read , for him to have given you the appointment , all the negativities the former NNPC helmsman has done, he should avoid them, be patriotic and ensure that Nigeria’s interest comes first.”