The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) believes it is past time for Nigeria to start on a journey of rebirth and reorientation as a country to address the various difficulties it faces.
An effective reorientation campaign is imperative to complete the process, oil officials said, stressing that the country is at a crossroads that has posed difficult situations for many of its residents.
Festus Osifo, President of PENGASSAN, made his statement in Port Harcourt at the meeting of the organization’s National Executive Board (NEC). He said Nigeria wants to get rid of corruption, give the most sensible priority to education, interact with young people and inculcate a sense of unity, patriotism and national pride for its other peoples to start the process of achieving a genuine renaissance and meaningful reorientation.
He said schooling is the key to awakening the minds of Nigerians, fostering thinking and cultivating a sense of patriotism.
According to the head of PENGASSAN, this can be achieved simply by selling the country’s history, celebrating its varied cultural heritage, and strengthening its national emblems.
Osifo warned about the failure to comply with the obligations of the Petroleum Industry Law (PIA) for the host communities, among other problems of national importance.
According to him, most companies have not yet contributed 3% of last year’s operating expenses to the fund, as required by law.
He urged all stakeholders to ensure that the clause is fully implemented, highlighting that it will especially contribute to solving the many disruptions affecting cities that host the oil and fuel industry.
According to Osifo, the Nigerian government invests in renewable energy to increase power generation capacity and solve the country’s electric power problems.
He said that apart from unbundling the national grid, the government also wants to rebuild and repair the infrastructure.
He says the national grid will have to be broken down into smaller elements spread across the states of the federation.
“PENGASSAN demands, for the umpteenth time, that the federal government take ambitious steps to inspire local crude oil refining. Now is the time for us to realize our full perspective and seize the energy future. We want to continue repairing the existing refinery system,” he said.