Marinho applauds Oniwon's choice as NNPC's GMD

PETROLEUM industry veteran and pioneer Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Chief Festus Marinho, has described the recent appointment of Austen Oniwon as the GMD of the corporation as a welcome development and a pointer to the government's commitment to the transformation of the oil and gas industry.

  Marinho gave this affirmation recently when he paid a courtesy call on Oniwon in his office at the NNPC Towers, Abuja.

  Marinho disclosed that Oniwon was part of the succession dream of the corporation and revealed that 25 years ago when he was the GMD of the corporation, Oniwon won the GMD's merit award along with other former GMDs of the corporation.

“Oniwon is a fine professional that has the intellectual capacity to take the NNPC to the next level. He is one of the few staff of the corporation that you can call upon at any time and who would respond to the task assigned to them. There is no way you can hide people who are good on their jobs. For me, Oniwon is a round peg in a round hole.”

  He urged Oniwon to use his office to impact positively on the corporation noting that as a professional and a person who has spent several years with NNPC, he has all it takes to transform the Corporation.

 Marinho called on the Federal Government to continue with the reform in the oil and gas sector saying that was the only way that conducive business environment could be created for the country to become an investors haven.

 He said that his recent book- Nigeria's Petroleum Industry: A Maverick Pioneer was his humble way of presenting the past to heal the present.

 Responding, Oniwon commended the pioneer GMD for committing his wealth of experience into a book revealing that the management of the corporation was planning to organise a forum for all former GMDs .