The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Alhaji Maikanti Baru, has said the corporation has concluded arrangement to mobilize heavy and sophisticated equipment to resume oil exploration in the Lake Chad Basin of Borno state.
He said the resumption which will be done in the next six months was based on military assurance of adequate security, relative peace and the degrading of Boko Haram sect in the North East sub-region.
Baru stated this when he led top management staff of NNPC on a courtesy call on governor Kashim Shettima at the Government House, Maiduguri on Monday.
Represented by the Chief Executive Officer, Gas and Power, Engineer Saidu Mohammed, said they were in the state to sympathize with government and people of the state who had suffered devastating attacks and destruction by insurgents, so as to explore areas where NNPC will come in and assist as part of its Corporate Social Responsibilities.
His words; “We are here in Borno to express our full alignment to the ongoing Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement process by government in all the liberated communities.
“Therefore, NNPC want to appeal and seek where it can come in and assist, because, the rate of devastation is worrisome.
” We are also in the state to inform you that in the next 6 weeks, we are going to redeploy our team of experts back to Maiduguri to resume oil exploration with better technology in the Lake Chad Basin.
“This is necessary with our renewed efforts in harnessing Oil, Gas and Power to increase the economy of the nation, in line with the agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari in job creation and economic diversification.”
Responding, governor Shettima thanked the team for the visit and NNPC’s resolve to resume oil exploration in the region.
He said his administration will partner with NNPC to actualize its mission, as according to him, the exploration when concluded will not only generate revenue, but create employment opportunities to the people across the country, particularly, north east region.
He, therefore, appealed to NNPC to assist the state government in reconstructing and rebuilding thousands of schools and furniture hitherto destroyed by insurgents, stressing that the education sector remains the only means of fighting poverty, that associated with emergence of boko haram.
The team also paid courtesy on the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Garbai El- Kanemi in His Palace, where the Monarch equally solicited support of NNPC in the ongoing reconstruction and resettlement of millions of Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs back to their liberated communities.