- Abuja sets for NIPS Feb 19
BY EDMOND ODOK, ABUJA – The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu says the Federal Government is determined to ensure the long queues at filling stations nationwide disappear as Nigeria prepares to host this year’s Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS).
He said the government is seriously concerned about the lingering queues, considered by many Nigerians as embarrassing, and all efforts are geared at resolving the issue which is both a logistics and policy challenge for the country.
Kachikwu said the Ministry and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) are working hard to end the queues before the NIP Summit holding in Abuja from February 19 to 22, 2018. Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo is slated to declare open the Summit on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a media briefing in Abuja on Thursday, the Minister said expected at the Summit are Ministers, experts and participants from Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Non-OPEC nations, the West African sub-region as well as government institutions and big global players in the oil and gas industry.
According to him, with the Summit providing an avenue for the world to engage active players in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, key decision-makers, top government functionaries, experts from the Petroleum Resources Ministry, NNPC and international oil firms as well as multinational and multilateral organizations will be on ground to promote the nation’s potential in the sector.
He noted that a lot is happening in the country’s oil and gas industry, especially with lots of skill sets on display, adding that; “Nigerians are very active and productions of new technologies are taking place.”
“We are doing something unique. So, let’s show it to the world so that we can attract investments into Nigeria and other businesses to enable the businesses grow”, Kachikwu said.
He however challenged the Nigerian media to always dig up and present first-hand information to their foreign counterparts and investors on the existing potential in the nation’s oil and gas industry.
Urging the media to effectively cover to the Summit for a global audience, Kachikwu said NIPS is expected to attract huge investors given its capacity to stimulate and attract attention to the country’s oil and gas sector, even as he promised that investments are anticipated in areas of exploration, tracking, production, technology, gas flaring and refineries.
