…Bauchi governor mourns
Former Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Maikanti Baru is dead.
He died late Friday night at age 60.
Mele Kyari, the current Group Managing Director of the Corporation announced the death early Saturday morning.
“My brother, my friend and my mentor, Dr Maikanti Kachalla Baru, immediate past GMD of NNPC died late last night,” Mr Kyari wrote on Twitter. “He was of exemplary character and disposition. May Allah forgive him and have mercy upon him.”
Mr Buhari replaced Mr Baru with Mr Kyari in July 2019.
The NNPC in an official statement by its spokesperson, Kennie Obateru, expressed regrets over the sudden death of its former head, describing him as “a consummate Mechanical Engineer, (who) died after a brief illness,” Premium Times reports.
A long biography published by Premium Times is as follows.
Born in Misau, Bauchi State, Mr Baru attended Federal Government College, Jos for his secondary education where he graduated in 1978. He obtained his Bachelor of Engineering degree from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1982; a doctorate in Computer-Aided Engineering from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom (1987); Harvard Business School, Boston, USA; College of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Oxford University, UK; Columbia University Business School, New York; Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, USA; Wharton’s Aresy Institute of Executive Education, Pennsylvania University, USA; IMB, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Mr Baru was an oil marketer and the 18th Group Managing Director of Nigeria’s state oil firm, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) from July 2016 to July 2019, when he retired after attaining the statutory retirement age of 60 on July 8, 2019.
Before joining the NNPC, Mr Baru worked at the Jos Steel Rolling Company Limited between 1988 and 1991, where he occupied various positions, including the Head, Corporate Planning and Electrical Department.
At NNPC, he served in various positions, including as Engineering Manager, Nigerian Engineering and Technical Company Limited (NETCO)- May – November 1991; Manager, Operations of Procurement Management Services (PROMAS) -1991 -1993; General Manager, Gas Division, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) – 1993-1999; Executive Director, Operation, Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) -1999; Chief Technical Negotiator, NNPC, West African Gas Pipeline Project (1999-2004); Managing Director, Hyson (Nigeria) Limited – 2004-2006; Director, Carlson Services (UK) Limited, a NNPC trading subsidiary – 2004-2007; Chairman, NNPC Anti-Corruption Committee -2004-2007; Group General Manager (GGM), Greenfield Refinery project Division – 2006-2007; Group General Manager (GGM), NAPIMS -2007; Group General Manager (GGM) LNG Investment Management Services (LIMS); Group Executive Director, Exploration & Production, NNPC -2015; Technical Adviser (Gas Matters) to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (March 2016-July 2016), and Group Managing Director, NNPC (2016-2019).
Mr Baru was a member of several professional groups and organizations, including Nigerian Society of Engineers, where he was a Fellow; Member, Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria (COREN); Fellow, Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers; Member, Nigerian Institute of Mechanical Engineering (NIMechE); member, Nigerian Gas Association (NGA); Chairman, NGA Advisory Board; member, Institute of Directors of Nigeria; Member, Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN); Honorary Fellow, Nigerian Society of Engineering Technicians; Honorary Fellow, Nigerian Environmental Society (NES); Honorary Fellow, Nigerian Metallurgical Society (NMS); Honorary Fellow, Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE). Fellow, Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) in the UK.
•Governor Mohammed mourns Maikanti
Meanwhile, Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed has expressed shock over the sudden demise of former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC, Maikanti Kachalla Baru, describing the death as a great loss not only the people of Bauchi and Nigeria but to the whole world at large.
This was contained in a press release, issued and signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor, Comrade Mukhtar Gidado and made available to newsmen in Bauchi.
According to the statement, Maikanti was a great and patriotic son of Bauchi state who has contributed greatly in exploring oil in the North-East part of Nigeria.
“Bauchi state will never forget his landmark in building and renovating schools in some parts of the state in addition to the many empowerment Programmes he initiated.
“Late Maikanti has been very instrumental in leading reforms that help in the oil sector in Nigeria more viable, particularly ending long queues associated with fuel scarcity in the country.
“The Governor on behalf of his family and people of Bauchi state commiserate his family and Nigeria for his demise and pray for the repose of his soul and the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss,” The statement read.
