Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for petroleum resources, has revealed that his acceptance to serve the country cost him “at least a million dollars every year”.
Speaking in Abuja on Sunday, Kachikwu said although his former job was more rewarding financially, he decided to serve Nigeria for the love of his fatherland.
He said all hands must be on deck to build enduring institutions that would secure the future of the country and improve on the standard of living of Nigerians.
“The call to public service for me was unique. I was vice-president of Exxon Mobil West Africa and I was suddenly called to serve,” he said.
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“In serving, I lose a lot of money, if not at least a million dollars every year by virtue of being a minister, but the thing is, I am directed by the voice of God.
“I believe that this country needs help. I believe that it is about time we began to perform for the young and upcoming. I believe that the sheer capacity of this country is unimaginable.
“I do not know of any country in the world with our population, our resources, our intellect, our flamboyance, our family nexus, everything is together.”
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Kachikwu said with the right leadership, the current economic crunch in Nigeria could be surmounted.
He said Nigerians would not feel the impact of the challenges posed by drop in the price of oil if government properly harnessed other natural resources.
“Everything in this country is together; the only thing that is not together is leadership and in God’s name; we are bound to change that,” he said.
“In every little space that you have, and in my own case petroleum, you have to make an absolute change and so I am not worried about price of oil.
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“It can be five dollar for all I care. I am worried about the direction of the industry; I am worried about changing things the way they have never done before.
“I am worried about creating opportunities that exist; I am worried about improving the standards of living; I am worried about encouraging opportunities in the sector. I am worried about opening up those opportunities that have existed for years.”
Kachikwu, who is also the group managing director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), called on Nigerians to embrace the new philosophy of the present administration geared towards charting a new course for the country.
He asked the people to bury their differences and contribute their quota to the development of the country.
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7 comments
Oga Kachukwu how true is this? You’ve been in this job for less than a year now, when did your loss become yearly? Before you got into government?
To serve is a privilege and sacrifice, many are also giving their all for the sake of Nigeria, a lot more than you’d imagine and say nothing. If this job is too much of sacrifice that Nigeria get ear bashing of, then the choice is clear…give it up!
@Mamman. Your case is that of poor education. The man said the cost to him being a minister is $1m/yr. He did not say he lost $1m already. You don’t have to comment when you obviously cannot comprehend.
My people, lets be objective without sentiment. Yes, he hasn’t spent a year but just saying, his income and benefits in a a year would have amounted to that. Simple! Because someone else hasn’t spoken that way doesn’t mean he can not and that he should resign. It’s a sacrifice to serve in Nigeria and in any country for that matter. God bless you!
What a joke! Does this guy think any Nigerian, other than the ill-informed, takes him seriously? Yes, maybe he accepted a pay cut to be Oil Minister. But it’s an open secret that many NNPC staffers make millions of dollars on the side while pretending to be poor civil servants. Cut out the nonsense; I, for one, am not impressed by this cheap shot.
I thnk president buhari reached for the sky while he was there e grabbed a star. This guy was VP of one of the most influential oil and gas company in the world. His further educational background speaks for itself in runninG NNPC.
He sounds to be ba very humble and caring man in a society full of people in leadership positions in various careers who are there to steal billions of taxpayer money while the public starves and boko haram murders tens of thousands.
That is all we call for in Nigeria. We should all try to contribute our own quota no matter how small and watch how we develop within the twinkle of an eye. We have great men/women who are capable of doing this. We can achieve this feat iof only we forget our political differences and come together as one. Thank u kwachuku for ur sacrifice and I hope u won’t see this as an opportunity to enrich urself while u the innocent citizens suffers?
Dr. Ibe Kachikwu is what I will say is a success story. His claims of losing $1M yearly is a conservative estimate of what he will actually loose. He is already a well made billionaire before President Buhari chose him to superintent the NNPC & the petroleum ministry, & is versatile in this industry. I think President Buhari made a very wise decision in appointing him. Kachikwu has chosen to render service to our dear country & to sacrifice the income he will earn inorder to get things right & working in the oil & gas sector of our economy. However my fear for this man is that he comes out at the end of his service unscratched. In this sector are many indigeneous cabals & neo colonial mafiaso whose interest he will either trample on or join in their old ways of raping this ministry. In NNPC, there are so many corrupt civil servant billionaires who will go out of their way to gag & find a loophole they will use to blackmail him. I pray for him to succeed in this his call to service to our motherland. He has to prudent in his policy decisions, be firm in the implementation, watch his back & those around him. By his revealation of the income he stands to loose because of his call to service; he has invariably informed us that he is not ready to soil his hands with corrupt money because he is already rich. I think we should all give him a chance to help in reforming this industry & bring the needed midas touch that will make things to work there.