DPR celebrates years without fuel scarcity, Nigeria at 57

The Department for Petroleum Resources (DPR) on Tuesday celebrated Nigeria’s independence anniversary and almost three consecutive years of steady fuel supply.

The Head, Public Affairs Unit, Mr Saidu Bulama, told our reporter on the sidelines of the celebration in Abuja that in spite of challenges plaguing the nation, the celebration was worthwhile.

Bulama said: “For God keeping us as a team till today after 57 years, I think it’s worth celebrating.

“There’s no country that doesn’t have challenges and if we say because of challenges, we won’t celebrate, then we are not grateful.

“God has kept us up till now in unity. DPR has a lot to be thankful for.

“We spent three successive years without fuel scarcity, so for the oil and gas industry particularly the DPR, we think this reason and more are worth celebrating.

He said Nigerians should expect more of the “peaceful, product-scarce-free moments as DPR will see to that’’.

Bulama said the DPR owed its success at ensuring steady supply of fuel to government policies that sanitised the industry.

“Government’s enabling environment, ensuring that activities of individuals who carry out sharp practices are curtailed and so many other policies have really helped to sanitise the oil and gas industry.

“People no longer look at the oil and gas industry as a destination for corruption, they have turned elsewhere.

“That is why everything we are doing now is electronic: to register your filling station, to collect your permit, and so, on we have reduced person-to-person contact and that has really helped,” he said.

“We have eliminated to a large extent corruption and other illegal activities in the sector and this is a major success for the industry,’’ he said.

Also, the Zonal Operation Controller, Mr Abdu Abba, said prayers that were offered at the event were necessary to ensure the nation’s leaders paddled the affairs of Nigeria well.

“We are celebrating the independence of Nigeria at 57. We were not able to do it on Oct. 1 and we feel that God has blessed us with abundant resources.

“We are alive and you know where we are coming from, how we prayed for our President to be well and be back. We thank God and we pray for all our leaders so that they can paddle the affairs of the country,” Abba said.

Other organisations at the event were the in-house unions: NUPENG, PENGASSAN and the Petroleum Training Institute.