News

5 Things To Know About Bayo Ojulari, Former Shell Chief Now NNPC GCEO

Published

9 months ago

April 2, 2025

Editor

President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday appointed Bayo Ojulari as the new Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited.

This followed the sack of the board including its GCEO Mele Kyari and board chairperson Pius Akinyelure.

Below are five things to know about Ojulari:

1. Ojulari is an indigene of Kwara State and is a seasoned Nigerian engineer with expertise in petroleum, process and production engineering.

2. He graduated from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria after studying Mechanical Engineering between 1985 and 1989.

3. Ojulari worked at Elf as a fresh graduate from September 1989 to October 1991.

4. He joined Shell in November 1991 as an Associate Production Technologist at Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), after he left Elf Petroleum Nigeria as a Fields and Process Engineer.

5. He worked at Shell for over 24 years, rising to become the Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) in November 2015, a position he held until July 2021.

Other things to know about Ojulari are:

After joining Shell in 1991, he rose to become a member of the Integrated Studies Team at Shell headquarters in the Netherlands in June 1994, a position he held till October 1995.

Between April 1997 and November 1999, he was the Head Planning Economics and Budgeting at SPDC Nigeria, from where he rose to become the Asset Leader and Head Production Technologist at Shell in Oman from December 1999 to September 2003.

He became the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Planner at Shell headquarters in October 2003 and held the position till December 2004.

From January 2005 to October 2008, he was the Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy at SPDC Nigeria during which time he also briefly held the position of Asset Production Technologist from November 2006 to March 2007.

At Shell, he remained in Nigeria from then on, becoming the Manager, Asset Development (Onshore and Shallow Water) SPDC Nigeria from October 2008 to October 2010.

From January 2010 to October 2015, he was the Development Director at SPDC Nigeria, after which he rose to become the Managing Director of SNEPCo from November 2015 to July 2021 when he left the company.

He established the BAT Advisory and Energy Company Nigeria Ltd in September 2021 and served as its board chairman. One of the main tasks of the company was to provide consultancy services to firms in the oil and gas/energy sector.

He was appointed the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company in January 2024, a position he held until his new appointment as NNPC chief.

He joined Renaissance at a time when the company was concluding its purchase of a Shell asset in Nigeria.

News

Trump’s Airstrikes: Halt Military Cooperation With US Immediately – Sheikh Gumi Tells Tinubu Govt

Published

4 hours ago

December 26, 2025

Editor

Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has called on the Federal Government to immediately halt all military cooperation with the United States following reported US airstrikes.

Gumi warned that American involvement could worsen Nigeria’s security challenges and undermine national sovereignty.

Gumi made the call in a statement posted on his Facebook page on Friday.

He said while Islam permits the fight against terrorism, such actions should only be carried out by what he described as “clean hands,” arguing that the United States lacks the moral authority to lead such efforts because of its global military record.

According to the cleric, Nigeria made a mistake by allowing foreign powers to play a role in its counterterrorism operations, insisting that “terrorists do not truly fight terrorists” and that such interventions often result in civilian casualties and hidden political motives.

Gumi warned that allowing Nigeria to become a theatre of war would attract anti-US forces into the country, further destabilising it.

He also cautioned that US involvement, particularly under claims of protecting Christians, could polarise the country along religious lines.

The cleric further argued that airstrikes alone cannot defeat terrorism, stressing that effective counterterrorism requires strong ground operations, which he said Nigeria has enough personnel to carry out if properly organised.

“This is the mistake Nigeria has made. Terrorists don’t fight terrorists in truth; they may only kill innocent people and have ulterior motives behind the drama of fighting ‘terror’.

“As a principle, no nation should allow its land to be a theater of war. And no nation should allow its neighbors to be their enemies.

“If Nigeria wants military assistance, China, Turkey, and Pakistan can do the job effectively,” part of his statement reads.

News

Shehu Sani Reacts To Trump’s Military Strikes In Nigeria

Published

4 hours ago

December 26, 2025

Editor

Former lawmaker, senator Shehu Sani, has reacted to reports of United States military strikes on terrorist targets in Nigeria’s North-West, saying foreign powers cannot permanently handle the country’s security challenges.

Sani made the remarks on Friday via his X handle while responding to a post by the United States Africa Command, AFRICOM, which indicated that the strikes were carried out in coordination with Nigerian authorities.

According to him, if the reported strikes were indeed a joint operation with Nigerian security agencies, then such action was justifiable, given the threat posed by terrorist groups in the region.

He described terrorists operating in parts of northern Nigeria as “cancerous cells,” stressing that they survive through violence and should be confronted decisively.

Sani also dismissed narratives suggesting that terrorist attacks target only one religious group, describing such claims as false and misleading.

He said: “If actually, the military strikes against the terrorists targets in the North Western part of Nigeria were a joint operation with the ‘Nigerian Authorities’ as posted by the US AFRICOM on their verified X handle, then it’s a conscionable action.

“Terrorists have become cancerous cells in our part of the country.They live by the sword.The narrative that the evil terrorists only targets one faith, remains absolutely false and misleading.

“Again, the ultimate security and peace in our country lies with ourselves and not with the US or any foreign power. They can complimentarily or unilaterally strike, but they can’t eternally fight our battles.”