By Enyi Ejike-Umunnabuike Jr, Chrtistie Ndukwe & Hajia A. Galadanchi
By December 13, 2023, all accredited delegates from the 21 depots and five zones that make up the nationwide electoral constituency of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria {IPMAN}, would converge in Abuja to elect who becomes the association’s new National President.
The new National President of IPMAN, would no doubt , inherit lots of pressing challenges, which are however, amenable to being resolved amicably and peacefully, by all stakeholders, for the progress , growth and development of the association, which came into institutional existence in the year 1978 by decree in the Military administration of General Olusegun Obasanjo.
Alhaji Balarabe Ismail pioneered the national leadership of the association as National President while late Eze Vincent Ogbulafor, of blessed memory was the first National Secretary of IPMAN. After the tenure of the pioneer National President of IPMAN, came Alhaji Haliru Abdullah.
Through a steady journey of commitment and doggedness, IPMAN was later to be formally incorporated by the Corporate Affairs Commission in the year 1983. The story of IPMAN, is an interesting one, full of puzzles, intrigues, power-play, power-game and high-level political interests-aggregations, that you may not find Nigeria’s main partisan political contestations.
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Several eminent Nigerians had presided over the national leadership of IPMAN as President. Such prominent citizens as Alhaji Iron Baba, Dr Bestman Paul Anekwe, credited with the founding NIPCO Plc and generally referred to as the father of modern IPMAN, given the business concept that he shared with the current Chairman of the UBA Nigeria Plc , who through his defunct STANDARD TRUST BANK Ltd , successfully brothered the emergence of NIPCO Plc , which is today , the pride of IPMAN.
After the tenure of Dr Bestman Anekwe , his former National Vice President, Alhaji Habu Jajere, became National President. Subsequently, Engr Segun Runsewe , Chief Tunji Adeniji, emerged and individually served as IPMAN National Presidents. For the amiable gentleman of Corporate Communications and key player in Nigeria’ s corporate world, Alhaji Aminu Abdulkadir Abubakar Mbamba, who doubles as the Executive Director Corporate Services, NIPCO Plc and 11 Oil {Old Mobile Oil, recently acquired by NIPCO Plc}.
He had a very functional effective tenure , that had a touch of panache and flamboyance, while he was the National President of IPMAN. Alhaji Aminu Abdulkadir Mbamba was succeeded as National President of IPMAN by Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo, who against all odds, demonstrated the fullest sense of discipline, loyalty, commitment and hardwork as the National Vice President of IPMAN.
Like it is often said, one good turn deserves another and Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo, eventually became the National President of IPMAN, on December 14, 2014 after democratically conducted polls at the Asokoro Command Guest House. As Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo, was about to settle down to work, some meddlesome interlopers from some decrepit, uncivilized environments, emerged from the blues and started laying false claims to a factional leadership.
Given his high level EQ & IQ, alongside his balanced cognitive capacities, Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo, deployed all the potent arsenals in his intellectual property armory to work and engaged the best of legal brains, who truncated all the efforts of his “political enemies”, and defeated up to the Supreme Court of Nigeria . However , the BOT of IPMAN, having carefully considered that the Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo Led National EXCO, was not given a breather to carry out its mandate and perform the business of leadership, due to in-fighting , decided to give him another five year extension, which would be terminating on December 14th , 2023.
The outgoing National President, Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo, is credited with the conceptualization of the now trending concept of the Presidential CNG Initiative. He has championed this all important national project in conjunction with Brian Amuonu, the MD/ CEO of Gas Analytics Solutions Nigeria Limited, IPMAN consulting partner on CNG. All these noble men of honour and industry who had had the rare privilege and experience of becoming past National Presidents of IPMAN, had all made their individual and collective contributions to the growth and development of IPMAN and Nigeria.
Before now and just as it is normal with any democratic process, whether in establishment circles of government or in the organized private sector, electoral ambitions and interests are bound to be expressed. This spirit of contest is what makes the emergence of a winner credible. In a going type of way, elderly wisdom, discretional values and instinctual reasoning of elders in any associational groupings, for the most part , play very important roles or key functions in exploring and providing very quick-interventionist solutions to issues, values and norms of political interests-aggregation, regarding the consensus or optional choice of who becomes the winner of an electoral contest. This scenario appeared to have played out in the case of Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, the current National Vice President of IPMAN.
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In aligning with this noble political line thought, the elders of IPMAN, in their uncommon wisdom , having reviewed the individual profiles of those , who had indicated interests in the IPMAN prime job and after careful as well as thorough considerations, have decided to persuade with utmost humility and respect, all interested aspirants to the National Presidency of IPMAN, to step down for Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi.
Amongst other considerations, the elders of IPMAN, who like the learned gentlemen of the legal profession , can be likened to members of the Inner Bar Or Body Of Benchers, reckon that Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, on the basis of the official recognition of his outstanding performances in national economic development ideals and contribution to Nigeria’s Growth Domestic Products { GDP } , has not only made the nation proud but the association, which he has served with open heart , commitment , faithfulness and sincerity.
These elders , are also on the same page with the generally expressed views across the rank and file of the IPMAN national leadership that , the presidency of the association , having been zoned to the North-West, would be best run and managed by the ever smiling gentleman in his late adulthood, having clocked 55, years of age.
He was born on October 19, 1968. Above all other conditions, used in evaluating his leadership capacity is the fact that he had dutifully, diligently and faithfully , served his outgoing Boss , Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo, who raised the leadership tempo in IPMAN national leadership. Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo, is adjudged by industry players in the three tiers of Upstream, Midstream and Downstream, including the NNPC Ltd , management as having gone down in history as pioneering unique solutions provider to associational crisis and up scaling the legal rights in the association, which culminated in the Supreme Court judgment of December 14, 2018.
The December 14, 2018 Supreme Court judgement, according to the official judicial records as contained in pages 66 down to the February 19th, 2019 edition of the Weekly Nigerian Law Reports, validating his electoral victory. This Supreme Court judgement, brought an instant closure to all issues, relating to factionalizations within the body of IPMAN, irrespective of the unstructured deviant behavioural dispositions of some members, who choose to stoke the embers of crisis.
It is perhaps , against this background that, every member of IPMAN, who had suffered some form of financial loss , deprivation or want , in the name or guise of fighting a senseless and misguided “war” , against real or imagined oppositions, after thorough retrospective thinking, are now ready to seek for peace , progress and growth of their individual and collective businesses as bonafide IPMAN members, who painstakingly, laboured to pay for as well as obtained their Bulk Purchase Agreements with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, { NNPC Ltd } with their hard earned finances.
From very reliable privileged information, the animated nationwide crisis that almost paralyzed the functionality of the outgoing National Executive of IPMAN had crippled most Marketers, almost throwing them out of business. These Marketers, having a renewed and spirited hope that, if not for any other thing, the emergence of Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, will open up new vistas of increased businesses, trading and commercialization, in sale and distribution of CNG products and service, will equally, help them to exploring fresh options on how to bounce back to functional daily streams, under a reconciliatory-premised new National Presidency.
Signs that Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, is a man of action and prompt responses to business stimuli, is understood from his unique personality and disposition, which is not given to multiple talks but swift actions as his key to rapid business response on matters of urgent national importance, affecting the esteemed members of IPMAN, whose reach, cut across the 774 Local Government Councils in Nigeria.
The easy-going urbane man of all seasons and gentleman with accommodation , whose wears eminent titles of royalty from two ancient Emirate Councils of Kebbi State, namely, Shettimman Dakingari and Jakadan Gwandu, before his present position as the National Vice President of IPMAN, had served as a tested and trusted Depot chairman, at NNPC Minna Depot. This earlier call to service, had perhaps, served as a preparatory platform for higher national leadership roles for him.
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As a man quick-intuitive reasoning and balanced cognitive calculations, the ongoing nationwide ground swell endorsement for Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, would no doubt , bring his wealth of experience , knowledge-base and business expertise to bear in the national leadership of IPMAN, when elected on December 13, 2023.
Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi is highly gifted in the basic value-chain businesses of the downstream and midstream sub-sector of the oil and gas industry that, taking up the task of sourcing for as well as marketing of petroleum products, including its components and accessories, would be a simple assignment for him to accomplish for all IPMAN members.
Described as a silent achiever and high-flying captain of industry by his associates, business partners and significant others in the establishment circles of Federal and State Governments, Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, apart from being an amazingly graceful financial mogul, who has shown and demonstrated visibly huge capacities in the oil and gas industry, has large business portfolio investments in the building, construction, pharmaceutical and furniture industries, respectively.
A man of simplicity, calm and balanced personality development, Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, is a product and good ambassador of the famous Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. His peers, friends and business associates, describe him as the last word in humility. His national, continental and international connections are most enthralling, to say the least.
His first assignment, when elected the new National President Of IPMAN, therefore, will be to bring together members under one, strong, vibrant, indivisible, umbrella, as Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, as everybody, who is somebody in IPMAN, would speak with one voice, achieving full reconciliations with all presumably aggrieved parties.
Encouraged by the new federal government’s energy policy direction of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led administration, Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, when elected National President of IPMAN, will partner with the Federal Government in the full implementation of the Compressed Natural Gas draft- plan as an alternative source to the premium motor spirits {PMS} for usage in all ranges of motor vehicles in Nigeria.
This , Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi would do by providing windows of opportunity to all IPMAN members, nationwide who will act as catalysts to the successful implementation of the policy thrust of the Federal Government . It is also the good intention of Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, to make sure that the facilities at the various fuel service stations owned by IPMAN members, ars upgraded to accommodate the uncommon structural designs, that would facilitate the local fabrication of CNG Retail outlets, for all category of clients , desiring CNG product services to power their businesses.
Apart from ensuring that the new National leadership of IPMAN , works assiduously towards maintaining the most cordial of relationships in their business partnership roles, Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, is very optimistic that the needed harmonious rapport between NNPC Ltd and IPMAN , would be sustained and further enhanced, offering relational cooperation , where it is required as same goes for the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Nigerian Midstream & DownStream Petroleum Regulatory Authority as well as the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, respectively.
According to Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, working towards the attainment of financial and products availability for all IPMAN members, nationwide, at all times and under conducive atmosphere investment – trading, would form one of the top priority items on his new leadership agenda, re-enacting the well known traditional slogan of “IPMAN, PROGRESS, PROGRESS, IPMAN”, to herald a bright new era in the national leadership of IPMAN with Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, Jakadan Gwandu and Shettimman Dakingari, as National President.
As all bonafide IPMAN members, nationwide, would amongst other projected expectations, desire that the new face of IPMAN, Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, would help the association to key into President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s energy policy thrust to the extent that the fullest compliance of the policy implementation by the new management team of the NNPC Ltd, would bring about a transparent, result-oriented and cost effective trading partnership in the routine payment for products, instant allocation, distribution and seamless transportation of such products to their various destinations, nationwide.
IPMAN members, also expect that the emergence of Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, would further deepen the relationship profiles between the NNPC Ltd and IPMAN to help revitalize a majority of IPMAN members, whose businesses, are on the verge of total collapse, to the extent becoming extinct or moribund. Above all , the new IPMAN leadership when constituted , must create a functional working relationship with the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led administration to shares critical thoughts and worries as they affect the ability of the average marketer to keep afloat and remain relevant in the midstream, downstream oil and gas value-chain in Nigeria.
