Fair Weather Friends! How Lobbyists, Favour Seekers Scrambled for Maikantu Baru’s Attention During Sallah Celebrations
If he could, Maikanti Kacalla Baru would disappear into thin air, like the early dew under the beams of the morning sun. The new Group Managing Director ( GMD) of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation ( NNPC), is currently unsettled by the flurry of attention he is getting as the new substantive boss of the NNPC. Baru, who was recently appointed as NNPC head honcho by President Muhammadu Buhari, suddenly became the bride and heartthrob of major stakeholders, lobbyists and favour seekers in the Nigerian oil industry. So intense is the attention being given Baru that he is secretly wishing he hadn’t been appointed the new NNPC boss. And the reason is not far- fetched: Baru could not rest throughout the Eid- el- Fitri celebrations and public holidays as he was constantly badgered by very annoying phone calls. His phone constantly buzzed to his chagrin; hence he could not enjoy a moment’s rest.
But unfortunately for favour seekers, Baru is a very modest man without a chip on his shoulder. No security, he drives his Toyota car by himself, unlike many top government officials. Until his appointment, Baru was the Group Executive Director, Exploration & Production of the corporation. Despite the pressure being mounted on him even before he commences real work in his new office, the new NNPC boss is expected to cleverly and firmly repel the overtures of his overnight admirers and desperate stakeholders seeking one favour or the other from him. If he intends to maintain a clean record all through his tenure, he will scorn the overtures of the usual elements afflicting the nation’s oil sector with sleaze, so argued pundits.