November 2020 Edition

Valedictory Note
(cont’d)
NAPE PRESIDENT,
Alex N. Tarka, CPG, FNAPE
industry. The Pre- Conference theme:
Levers for Optimal Costs Reduction in
Nigeria's Oil and Gas Production:
Positioning for a New Normal, was
chosen as NAPE's Contribution to
realizing the Federal Government's
aspiration of $10 per barrel production
cost benchmark by end of 2021.
The objective of the Pre-Conference
workshop is to identify the challenges
facing the Nigerian oil and gas industry in
this dispensation of the new normal with
regards to mitigating operational costs in
the face of plummeting oil prices and
demand occasioned by the COVID-19
pandemic.
As is our custom, at the end of the
Workshop, a communique of the
proceedings will be issued and
presented to the Federal Republic of
Nigeria as our expertise contribution
towards the actualization of the deadline
for the attainment of $10 per barrel
production cost benchmark.
I am happy to state that the Vice
President, Federal Republic of Nigeria,
His excellency Professor Yemi Osinbajo,
SAN, GCON will be attending our
Conference as the Special Guest of
Honour. He will be receiving the
Communiqué oh behalf of the Federal
Government of Nigeria.
“
I believe we
succeeded because
we tried our best, we
reacted positively to
the challenges that
confronted us, and
we adapted to the
new normal.
”
Also billed to be at the Opening
Ceremony on Tuesday 17 November are
our Host, the Executive Governor of
Lagos State, His Excellency, Mr. Babajide
Sanwo- Olu; Guests of Honour, the
Group Managing Director NNPC, Mele
Kolo Kyari, FNAPE; the Director/ CEO,
Department of Petroleum Resources
(DPR), Engr. Sarki Auwalu, MNSE;
President of NMGS, Engr. O. S Nkom,
FNMGS; SPE Nigeria Council Chairman,
Engr. Olatunji Akinwunmi; and Registrar/
CEO, COMEG, Professor Zacheus
Opafunso.
The keynote paper will be delivered by
Chief Dr. Tunde Afolabi, MFR, FNAPE
Chairman, Amni Petroleum Development
Company Limited on the theme: The
Future of the Nigeria Oil & Gas Industry,
2021-2025.
Chief Dr. Tunde Afolabi, FNAPE will also
be receiving NAPE's most prestigious
Award, The Aret Adams Award, at the
Opening Ceremony.
This year three illustrious members of our
Association will be conferred with the
Fellowship Award, namely, Mr. Elliot Ibie,
of SPDC, a past Publicity Secretary and
Vice President of NAPE; Mr. Bashir
Koledoye, a past Publicity Secretary of
N A P E a n d M a n a g i n g D i r e c t o r
Dharmattan Limited and Mrs. Nonny
Nwogbo of ExxonMobil.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is my
valedictory President's desk.
In my inaugural speech as President of
our great Association on Thursday
November 21, 2019, I quoted Barack
Obama, former President of America who
said at his inaugural speech that “I stand
here today humbled by the task before,
grateful for the trust you have bestowed,
mindful of the sacrifices borne by our
ancestors”.
I want to once again express my gratitude
for the trust you have reposed in me to
serve as your president for the 2019/2020
tenure.
M y d e e p a p p r e c i a t i o n s a n d
commendations go to the many men and
women who helped me in one way or the
other in navigating the affairs of our great
Association in the past one year.
In closing, please permit me to quote the
famous author Ron Lizzi, who wrote ''Life
rarely follows a straight line. Success is a
process of trying, reacting and
changing''.
I believe we succeeded because we tried
our best, we reacted positively to the
challenges that confronted us, and we
adapted to the new normal.
All Glory to the Almighty God
Thank you
Alex N. Tarka, CPG, FNAPE
NAPENEWS | NOVEMBER 2020 | 06