In a moment of banter and fun, print, online, and community newspaper journalists gathered in Port Harcourt with Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) media friends to discuss issues bothering the oil and gas sector in Nigeria.

The media parley which was meant to create a synergy between reporters from the South South saw the reporters proffering suggestions on how they can help the NNPCL achieve their communication mandate to get to the masses in the various areas they cover in reporting.

The event provided an opportunity for journalists to listen firsthand to reforms carried out by the NNPCL, including their core duties, since the PIA came into effect. Solomon Oseagah, one of the media parley organizers, pleaded with the journalists to beam their searchlights on the NNPCL but to be factual in the process of doing so.

In the media round table was the Akwa Ibom NSCDC PRO, Supol Ekerete Friday, who dissected the various roles of NNPCL, NMDPRA, and the NUPRC, which is mostly misunderstood by journalists in the course of their reportage by ascribing the regulatory powers of the NMDPRA to NNPCL, thereby giving the company a larger than life image.

Mr Solomon explained the NNPCL’s position regarding the rumor of it being broke, noting that the company has only pulled out of intervening for Nigerians since the subsidy was removed and can no longer sustain it to avoid them going into debt. The media round table revealed to the journalists that NNPCL plans to be listed on the stock exchange market next year and will need a clean financial record to enter the stock market where Nigerians will buy shares.

The also mentioned that the Port Harcourt has started skeletal operation, and will be reopened/recommissioned before the end of this quarter.

Journalists who spoke at the event asked that such discussion between NNPCL and the media should be held often in order to stop the negative impression Nigerians have about the company, due to its lack of communication to the public through the media, with assurance of fair and balance reportage.