October 01, (THEWILL) – Gbenga Komolafe, the CEO of Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) had planned a lavish 60th birthday celebration, which was scheduled to take place on September 30, although the birthday proper was September 26.
Komolafe had planned to celebrate with his friends, family and associates by starting the day with a thanksgiving service and ending it with a lavish reception party. Invitations had been sent out, vendors to handle the different aspects of the party had already been contacted, souvenirs had been arranged for and packaged. Money had been and was still being spent to make the party a memorable one. Then, in what seemed like a last-minute effort to avoid the ‘hangman’s noose,’ he decided to cancel the planned celebration.
He claims that the mood of the nation, what with people struggling to weather the economic storm and the concerted efforts to halt the slide in the economy, prompted him to halt the celebration at the last minute. Perhaps he should have considered that initially when the thought of a grand celebration struck his mind. He could have shut it down immediatly without allowing money go to waste and more so, considered the gloomy mood of the nation which has lingered for so long without reprieve in sight. Instead, he allowed preparations to go on until just days to the celebration, when he realized that it would be in bad taste and shut it down.
Besides the reason that Komolafe gave for cancelling the party, he obviously realised that being in the bad books of President Bola Tinubu, more so as a public servant, would be the last thing he would want. And what’s more, having only been at his job for two years, he figured it would be better not to jeopardise his chances of staying longer on the job with his actions.
