Have you encountered Usman, the only member of Diezani Madueke's team who was neither invited by the EFCC nor imprisoned by the ICPC?

In the Petroleum sector where President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the Minister as had been with past heads of state, this is the only time that appointments to the board of the nations hydrocarbons is professionalised, having the likes of Yusuf Usman who had hands-on experience given his professional training.

With Usman on the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, having garnered global experiences working in oil and gas as well as policy sectors which require requisite training in such portfolio management in modernised joint ventures with International Oil Company like SPDC, It is worth mentioning that he started his stint in the sector from Shell Development Company where he joined as Facilities and Projects Engineer where he headed many departments.

He was later to switch to the NNPC where most notable projects in both oil and gas came under his duties which he discharged exceptionally.

Given the pedigree of people like Usman, we can safely say that Daniel has come to judgment and that the light we were expecting at the end of the tunnel has met us at the entrance.

As is common knowledge and with the push by advanced countries for alternative sources of energy which de-emphases petroleum products, the best thing to have happened is to pick people like Usman who has seen it all and can chart a route to the best use in exploration and exploitation so that the country can leverage what it has for the best development.

Usman, a detribalised man, religiously devoted, socially pervasive, economically adroit who is a study in management of human and material resources that stems from being superlatively cerebral now has the tender baby on his laps to nurse into a budding being.

The Chemical Engineer from Ahmadu Bello University, Zarai is always locked on performance without minding where any individual is from because he sees intelligence and performance and not where is from, almost ethnic blind which makes him a true Nigerian to the core. 

 Usman superintended over many projects, including the EKPE Gas Compression Station for EXXON Mobil JV in Houston, France & Nigeria, AMENAM/KPONO Oil and Gas Development for Total JV in Dubai, France & Nigeria, FEED of Brass and Olokola LNG Gas Supply Projects for CNL JV in Houston, USA, Gbaran/Ubie Central Gas Processing Facilities for SPDC/NNPC Joint Venture in UK and Nigeria, Dry Dock of MV Oloibiri for Texaco Overseas/NNPC JV in Greece, Usan FPSO Project for Total/NNPC Joint Venture in France, South Korea and Nigeria among others. That makes him a mobile encyclopedia in the field of his present call to duty.

The question is not whether he knows what to do to get the best for the nation but whether the powers that be would approved his fast-paced style in a sector he has spent all his life in.

His appointment to the boards solves a besetting problem for Nigeria since the hydra of corruption is known to hold the country's development on the jugular but with Yusuf who is as clean as pin, almost to the point of one thinking rightly that he doesn't like money, he is not one to take a kobo that is not proven to be rightly his which many may think is due to his well developed career line that rewarded him with wealth and beer in life, enough to keep him comfortable through life, but no, the reason is that his life principles abhor filthy lucre. He lives simply and way below his known means and the rest, he invests in humanity.

Yusuf started his career as Facilities/Project Engineer with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Warri, from 1987 to 1993. In 1993, he joined the Services of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as Facilities Engineer. Between 1993 to October 2007, he rose to become the Technical Assistant to GGM NAPIMS. His postings have armed his with the needed capacity to contribute meaningfully in turning things around from a position he is no longer bound by rules of his superior, so he will fearlessly serve without such encumbrances.

He redeployment later in his career to Nigerian Gas Company as a Superintendent ETSD, responsible for the Upgrade of Afam Metering Station Project saw a positive turnaround before he was later redeployed to Exploration and Production (E&P) Directorate, Abuja as the Technical Assistant to GED E & P in October 2007, with core responsibility of reviewing all submission from NGC. LNG & Power, NCD, IDSL, NAPIMS, NPDC and IVO. He also managed ring fenced Domestic Gas Supply budget implementation, and reported challenges to GED where again he left indelible footprints.

So both in the organised private sector and on leading the pack on oil and gas entrepreneurship, he has seen it all and will definitely bring all his years of experience and exposure to drive through and position the gold mine of oil and gas to ensure that the elusive growth and yeilds expected from there touches Nigerian where the soothing effects shall be mostly felt.

A total and balanced man with stable family, he doesn't always emerse himself in oil matters alone but sets time apart to play and relax which he does by reading widely.  

Most gas projects across the country and solutions to gas supply issues were resolved by him.

Prior to this present call to service, he had laid out plans on what needs to be done in terms of staffing and operation for quick turn around for the company to go in the direction of global best practices. His papers are close to global adoption on how things should be done while some projects he was running with before retirement have stalled from either ineptitude or politics. The time is now for him to reactivate and rebirth his drive in the sector.

An exceptionally intelligent and accomplished individual has been named to the newly formed NNPC board. Congratulations Engineer Yusuf Usman. Welcome to the new Nigeria that we all envision through the transformation of the oil and gas industry.

Comrade Bamidele Atoyebi is a philanthropist, social commentator and developmental activist is of the BAT Ideological Group and wrote in from Abuja