NNPC will give full scholarship to late PENGASSAN president’s children – Baru

The Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru has assured that two children of the late Union Leader, Mr Francis Johnson will get full scholarship to study at any level of their choice.

Baru disclosed this when he paid a condolence visit to the family with other members of the NNPC management team in Abuja, on Monday.

Our correspondent reports that Johnson before his death was the President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Associations of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).

He died in the wee hours of May 31st after a brief illness in Abuja.

“Beyond what we have as NNPC corporate policy for supporting deceased families, we want to do more.

“NNPC will be supporting the children to whatever level of education they want to aspire.

“We have policy we follow and which we have been doing for our deceased staff families but this time, we have to do more for late Johnson for the children he left behind.

“Even if they want to get to doctorate degree, we will give them full scholarship to any level of their education,“ he said.

Commenting on deceased’s leadership skills, he said that Johnson was exceptional in carrying out his duties as a leader and unionist.

He said that he created a high level union that was appreciated by the entire industry and was able to bring everybody together in the industry for greater achievement.

“Through his tact and innovation we were able to understand more where workers’ interest lie and by so doing achieve positive results.

“We praise him for how he has set the way unionism should be in Nigeria, for us in the oil and gas sector, we appreciate him because he brought a lot of harmony among the workers, management and industry operations,“ he said.

He prayed God to comfort and console the family that he left behind.

Mr Isa Inuwa, NNPC Chief Operating Officer, Corporate service said that Johnson would be missed for his commitment and humility.

“My Friendship with him goes back to when I joined NNPC in 2005 when he was a junior unionist.

“We fought many battles together from Chevron, to Mobil, to Total and in all of these, Johnson would always be outstanding with sense of commitment.

“He will always come out visibly because of his humility. He was a humble person and was loyal to his boss.

“He understood his role as a leader, not just for the union but for the betterment of Nigeria. “Johnson is my personal friend and ally; may his soul rest in peace,” he added

Mrs Ladipo Oyeyemi, Group General Manager, Group Human Resources said that the department had lost a colleague that would be difficult to forget.

“We must confess that we have lost a brother, friend and colleague. He was loyal to a fault, he cared for his fellow comrades.

“We will miss him but you have us as a family, please be consoled,“ she said.