The Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation and other stakeholders on Wednesday relived the
memories of five colleagues and four family members that were killed in
the Dana crash that occurred on June 3 in Lagos.
Group General Manager, Public Affairs
Division, Dr. Levi Ajuonuma; Manager, Pipelines and Depot Projects, Mr.
Kayode Okikiolu; Assistant Director and Abuja Zonal Operations
Controller, Department of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Anthony Nwaokeagbara;
Deputy Manager, Planning, Mr. Inusa Ahmed-Abba (and his son, Faysal),
and Deputy Manager, Mr. Ibrahim Nagidi all died in the crash.
Mr. Lanre Fatokun of the NNPC’s
Transformation Office in Abuja also lost his wife, Anjola; son, Olaoluwa
and daughter, Ibukun, in the crash which claimed the lives of 153
passengers and crew as well as other persons at the site where the
aircraft crashed.
At a commemoration ceremony held at the
Amphitheatre of the corporation in Abuja, NNPC Group Managing Director,
Mr. Andrew Yakubu, said the passing away of the former colleagues had
been a harrowing experience, not only for the NNPC, but for the entire
oil and gas industry.
Yakubu said, “If it had been like this
for us, you can imagine what it had for their immediate family members.
There is no day that we don’t remember them. We share in your sorrows
(addressing family members), and we would do everything possible to
stand by you.”
Speaking on the DPR staff that died in
the crash, an Assistant Director at the organisation, Mrs. Chioma Njoku,
said it was regrettable that Nwaokeagbara whom she described as
“meticulous” could die as a result of somebody’s negligence.
Former GMD of NNPC, Mr. Funso Kupoloku,
described the late Ajuonuma as a man who stuck to friend and colleagues
even when they had departed from the service of the organisation.
He narrated how he convinced Ajuonuma on
the propriety of deregulation before he joined the NNPC, adding that
the former spokesman ran with the idea with zest once he was convinced
that it was the right thing to do.
Kupolokun said, “I knew all five but I
knew one very well. It was in the cause of appropriate pricing of
petroleum products that I met him. I was going round the country, to
television houses, to talk about appropriate pricing.
“Ajuonuma did not believe in what I was
doing. We sat down for one hour in his office. After one hour, I
convinced him. From the moment he was convinced, he carried the idea on
with zest until we brought him here.
“He is one man that would remember his
former colleagues. I remember that he loved big shoes. There are big
shoes I have in my house today and he bought them. He would call to
remind me that it was my birthday. He had time for everybody. We should
stand by the family they left behind.”
Family members of the deceased were present except Fatokun who was said to be too devastated to be at the commendation ceremony
No comments:
Post a Comment