The Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Mallam Mele Kyari has bagged the “The Sun Man of The Year Award”, the biggest recognition by The Sun Publishing Comapany Ltd, publishers of The Sun Newspaper titles.
Kyari received the award in a ceremony attended by eminent Nigerians at the Eko Hotel & Suites, Lagos on Saturday.
They include the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe; Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu; Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki; Former Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu; captains of industries and seasoned public servants.
Speaking on the award, the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Sun Publishing Newspapers Ltd, Mr. Onuoha Ukeh said Kyari was honoured for his doggedness and resilience in the way he managed the operations of the NNPC during the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
The pandemic saw the economies of many countries across the word struggling for survival.
Explaining further, Ukeh said: “Take Mele Kyari and dissect. In addition to the record breaking N287bn profits posted for 2020, the best since inception 44 years, the NNPC which he heads published the Audited Financial Statements (AFS). It was trailblazing and a whiff of good fortune in a beleaguered entity and time.”
In his response, the NNPC GMD stated that the Corporation remains ever committed to conducting its operations with transparency and accountability.
He attributed the successes recorded by the Management Team of the NNPC to the freehand and support accorded him by Mr. President who has never interfered in the affairs of the NNPC.
“What we have done in recent years is to ensure that we take out all the opaqueness in NNPC. We also ensured that we represent Nigerians and work for them,” the GMD added.
While thanking the publishers of the newspaper for finding him worthy of the award, Kyari described the honour as a huge responsibility and a privilege which will spur him to do more for the benefit of the over 200 million Nigerians.
