By Hillary Asemota
One news that sets Nigeria’s oil industry abuzz on Tuesday, was the nomination of Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, as the incoming Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Nigeria’s Upstream Regulatory Commission by President Muhammadu Buhari, before his confirmation by the Senate.
As the news ricocheted, oil watchers, operators and stakeholders held their breath as Komolafe’s appointment, a man adjudged to be a round peg in a round hole is coming again this time around fully armed to overturn expectations and set benchmarks for the good of the industry and the country.
Brimming with several years of leadership experience at diverse levels of the oil and gas industry as well as the back-up of three degrees in three different fields of academic research, Komolafe, is again approaching the terrain with an innovative leadership genre as confirmed by an oil and gas expert, Mr. Aliyu Galadima: “The new CEO is coming fully loaded for the new challenges ahead.”
With fitting age on his side, the 57-year-old engineer from Ondo State, often referred to as a game changer has been previously involved in strategic policy formulation and implementation in the industry where clearly the records speak for itself.
According to Galadima, when Komolafe held sway as the Managing Director, Nigeria Pipeline and Storage Company (NPSC), he initiated the reform and business model for maintenance and operations of NNPC pipelines and depot infrastructure efficiently on a private Joint Venture (JV) basis.
“The PIA and burden of key appointments”, Galadima, noted that as an accomplished engineer, lawyer, and technocrat, Komolafe has operated at the highest levels of the downstream and upstream sectors, this was as contained in a recent treatise, Galadima, delivered.
The new CEO knows where the gaps are, he is no doubt imbued with the screws and nuts to tighten lose end. This becomes evident following his steering of various downstream regulatory agencies yielded reforms that facilitated efficiency and attendant huge monetary value for Nigeria,” he stated.
A Fellow of Nigerian Society of Engineers, Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria, COREN and member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), he posited that Komolafe’s expertise as a seasoned engineer and lawyer is required at this time to give the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) the needed impetus and a new lease of life.
With propensity to think outside fixed framework to deliver value addition, Galadima, opined that this is the time that PIA needs professionals of stellar qualities like Komolafe who have an exceptional grasp of how to translate the potential benefits of the PIA into actual wins for Nigeria and Nigerians.
The accomplished oil and gas expert, was said to have initiated and coordinated various policies that generated and saved the Nigerian federation billions of dollars in his various capacities and national assignments he was given.
As part of his trajectory in the sector, komolafe comes fully loaded with experience: He was Group General Manager, Special Duties at the NNPC, Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division and Executive Director (Commercial) Pipelines and Petroleum Marketing Company (PPMC).
In addition, he was General Manager, Operations, Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF), General Manager, Operations of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), among several others.
Aside being an engineer, Komolafe has degrees in law, industrial and labour relations and is a recipient of various awards.
An accomplished engineer and a savvy lawyer, Komolafe is an expert in institutional process study and designs to curb revenue leakages and attainment of optimum national productivity.
As Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division, he facilitated optimum revenue for the Nigerian federation and performed transparently as acknowledged by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) in its report within the period he served in office.
In the same vein, as Executive Director, (Commercial) between 2012-2014, he initiated strategic sales and retail plans and coordinated implementation of achievement of set revenue targets from downstream supply and distribution of refined petroleum products for nationwide consumption.
In PEF, he initiated operations policies for effective petroleum products supply and bridging to the inner parts of the country and price equalisation management nationwide and pioneered successful implementation of electronic tracking of petroleum products distribution nationwide.
This, it was learnt, resulted in transparent bridging of petroleum products and price equalisation management that saved government hundreds of billions of naira through institutional process expertise.
He also successfully coordinated seamless supply of petroleum products nationwide with multiplier sectorial effect in the Nigerian economy as General Manager, Operations in the PPPRA.
Komolafe was Assistant General Manager (Head, Kaduna Zone), Assistant General Manager, Planning Research & Development and Branch Manager, Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Warri.
Komolafe, graduated from the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Benin City, the Nigerian Law School where he obtained a Bachelor Degree in Law (LL. B) and BL respectively. He also attended the University of Ibadan, where he got a Master of Science in Industrial and Production Engineering, 1998 and same institution where he bagged a Master of Science in Industrial and Labour Relations.
At the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Komolafe obtained a Bachelor of Engineering and has attended several courses, including the International Petroleum Management Certificate Programme, Boston U.S.A, International Gas Business Management Certificate Programme, Offshore Training Conference (OTC), Houston, Texas and Petrotec Conference, among several others.
He has several research publications to his credit and was winner Presidential merit award, Nigeria Society of Engineers, was a Member, Presidential Investigative Committee on Crude Oil Theft (2015) and Member, Technical Committee on Downstream Petroleum Industry Deregulation (2009-2011).
There is therefore no doubt that given the run of his job experience, qualifications and his knack for teamwork among the diverse stakeholders in the industry, the new CEO is in familiar waters to surpass benchmarks and to deliver for the good of the nation.