The Public Sector in Nigeria: An Exploration of the Role of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)

The paper explored the role of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), being a strategically important public corporation in Nigeria, established on April 1, 1977, with the main aim of optimally managing Nigeria’s naturally endowed oil resources with a view to contributing to its socioeconomic development, which is expected to have a positive bearing on the standard of living of Nigerians. The paper utilised the qualitative research framework, where secondary data were obtained through document analysis, and it adopted thematic analysis in analysing the data and discussing the findings. The findings include the state of the public sector in Nigeria, which has been found to be poor and the NNPC, even though it is beset by certain challenges, it performs certain strategic functions, which add value to Nigeria’s socio-economic development. The functions include management of Nigeria’s oil and gas resources, supervision of oil production and operations in the oil and gas industry, supply of oil products, investment in sectors that add value to the oil and gas industry and remittance to the federation account for even national development. The paper recommends that the public sector should be strengthened, so that it performs efficiently and effectively. This is achievable through enhancing the regulatory frameworks and encouraging PPP (Public Private Partnership). The paper also recommends that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation should have a better enabling act to enable it to continue to perform its functions and invest more in value-adding sectors and sustain its interventions in the national life of the Nigerian state, hence helping the state to address its socio-economic challenges.