By Adewole Kehinde
I recently came across a publication in a major newspaper titled “Anger As NNPCL Hires Expatriate To Head Subsidiary.”
NNPC Limited has not breached any law by employing expatriates into the services of the Company.
NNPC Limited is now a multinational company like any other, and every multinational company operating in Nigeria has a duly approved expatriate quota from the Nigerian government for good reason.
Multinational companies deal with business partners from different countries across the globe, and to facilitate international business, they may need the services of non-indigenous manpower.
This is in addition to the fact that a truly commercial company is expected to be more concerned with recruiting the right skills than issues of nationality or ethnicity.
As long as a company has not exceeded its expatriate quota, it is well within its rights to recruit qualified people from wherever they may be found.
It is time for the general public to realize that NNPC is now a limited liability company and expect certain decisions to be made for purely business reasons.
Those who have chosen to take issue with NNPC Limited’s new hires should ask themselves at what point NLNG started having a Nigerian as head or demand why MTN Nigeria is headed by an expatriate.
The present focus should be on getting NNPC Limited to operate efficiently and as profitably as other global energy companies.
I have gone through the Company and Allied Matters Act, and I can say that NNPC Limited complied with the expatriate quota. Due to the technical nature of the position, Jean-Marc Cordier is the right person to manage NNPC Trading Ltd.
There is doubt that Jean-Marc Cordier will instill higher productivity, improved net profit, better efficiency, and operational effectiveness in NNPC Trading Ltd.
Adewole Kehinde is an energy fellow at the Policy Center, Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He can be reached at kennyadewole@gmail.com
