By Abdullahi Sabiu
The appointment of Mr Femi Soneye as the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) About a year ago was not initially more striking than the appointment of any person to oversee the affairs of any government establishment or any of its departments or units.
What is, however, striking about Soneye coordinating the discharge of the duties, responsibilities and every other activities within the broad gamut of the corporate communications role of NNPC Limited, the goose that lays the golden egg for Africa’s leading economy, is the imperative for his appointment to that capacity; the state of the company’s corporate communications when he assumed duty; the mounting challenges of the company in the economy; and, therefore, the urgent need to rebirth the department and chart a more relevant course for it according to the existing imperatives of the Nigerian economy.
On assumption of duty, Soneye found himself immersed in the severe indolence of a virtually comatose corporate communications department, a situation that created a devastatingly yawning disconnect between the company and the public, for whom the entire system of government and governance exist.
Consequent upon the lack of the required strategic communications that should create the required understanding, appreciation and goodwill between the company and the public, gross misconception and ill will with regard to NNPC’s statutory roles, corporate responsibilities, goodwill and position on the country’s economic policies and programmes gained a steep rise.
NNPC virtually became one of the readily-available punching bags for the public whenever any form of economic hardship heats up the polity.
Several times, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Malam Mele Kolo Kyari, OFR of the NNPC over the recent years has had to come out on the news media to explain the company’s position on key economic policies, and exonerate the company of any blame. The GCEO has also severally had to blow the trumpet of the company on its corporate responsibility accomplishments, a duty statutorily assigned to the corporate communications officer.
For a clear understanding of NNPC’s statutory mandate and responsibilities, the public have to be educated on the various subsidiaries under its coordination, as well as their duties and responsibilities.
Such subsidiaries are: NEPL, NNPC Trading, NNPC Retail, NUIMS, NGML, NNPC Academy, Enserv, NNPC Foundation and several others. Each of these subsidiaries has its own duties and responsibilities. The cumulative roles and responsibilities of NNPC and these subsidiaries enabled the company to achieve the unprecedented feat of making a profit of N3.297 Trillion in 2023 which was published in 2024.
This is a key duty of the corporate communications department. Such public education was completely lacking when Soneye assumed duty. This situation plunged company into a sticky mire of public misconception and ill will, a situation that negatively impact on the desired NNPC-Public cordial relationship required for the economy to prosper on the scale of the country’s resources.
Mr Femi Soneye, on assumption of duty, came face-to-face with this stark, scary reality. As the film maker would say, the hard way, the only way. He, therefore, found himself having only one option, which he had to take, however hard it would be – clear the mess, pick up the pieces of the virtually shattered department, restore to it all its hitherto lost functions and activities, and chart a new course for the purposeful discharge of the department’s duties and responsibilities in consonance with the statutory mandate of NNPC.
Among the first key steps he took was publicizing the demarcations and separate roles of each subsidiary. This is with the purposeful aim of enabling the public charge every subsidiary to take credit, and take responsibility, for its actions.
Soneye and his team have the credit of enlightening the public about the statutory difference among NNPC, NMDPRA, NUPRC according to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
Soneye soon assumed the full duty of the spokesman of NNPC in a carefully designed fashion of strategic communication according to every emerging need. By so doing, he soon earned the utmost confidence of his boss, the GCEO, who would now have a sound sleep, as against the troubles and heartache he encountered òver the years due to the need to step out of limits to perform some of the duties of the department – going to the news media.
With a carefully coordinated strategic communication through the news media, Soneye steadily laundered the hitherto filthy public image of the NNPC by clearing all public misconceptions about the roles of the company in the economy with every necessary facts and figures.
He has very notably upscaled the corporate social responsibility activities of the company by spectacularly organizing regular football matches for the Super Eagles veterans and paying sympathy visits to such veterans like Tijjani Babangida, who recently sustained fractures in a ghastly motor accident.
One of the the most-specular accomplishments of Soneye and his corporate communications team is the groundbreaking education of the Kannywood actors on the statutory roles, duties and responsibilities of NNPC. This is a landmark communication strategy aimed at equipping the film actors with the required enlightenment to relay the message of the company through their films with the purposeful aim of intensifying and broadening public goodwill.
Perhaps, the most-remarkable corporate communications accomplishment of Soneye and his team is the translation of every message meant for the public from the company in Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Kanuri, Fulfulde and several other key Nigerian languages. This is in keeping with the GCEO’s reiteration that NNPC belongs to all Nigerians, who should, therefore, be adequately enlightened on its activities and achievements.
Femi Soneye possesses an enviably rich character. He is said to be incontrovertibly incorruptible. It is unheard-of that he receives any inducements from anyone for performing any duty to him or her in his capacity as the Chief Communications Officer of NNPC.
Against this background, it has become imperative for me to congratulate Mr Femi Soneye as he celebrates his silver jubilee.
Soneye is a member of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Guild of Corporate Online Media Publishers, the Society of Professional Journalists and National Association of Black Journalists.
He was the president of the Nigerian Media Practitioners, Washington D. C.
Sabiu is the publisher of THE REPORTERS Nigeria
He can be reached on 08031322577 (WhatsApp)
Email: sabiuddeen2012@yahoo.com
