Nigeria at 65 and the Wunti factor

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By Usman Abdullahi Koli

Every Independence Day is a double-edged ritual, celebration and self-examination. At 65, Nigeria cannot afford to merely wave flags and sing anthems. It must ask what it has done with its vast blessings and why so many burdens still remain. Few resources drive the nation’s economy apart from oil. Discovered in Oloibiri in 1956, it was heralded as the golden ticket to prosperity. Instead, it became both the lifeblood of our economy and now an affix to our failure.

Yet within that story of waste and disappointment, there is another truth. Oil has also revealed the capacity of a few individuals who refused to surrender to decay. Dr. Bala Maijama’a Wunti is one of them. He retired from service in May 2025, but his mark on the industry lingers like a stubborn footprint in the sand. For more than 30 years, he stood as a quiet reformer, proving that Nigeria’s toughest spaces could still reward competence, discipline, and integrity.

Wunti’s personal journey is as compelling as his professional one. Orphaned at the age of five, he carried scars that could easily have crushed his future. Instead, he turned them into fuel for resilience. Rising steadily through the ranks of NNPC Limited, he became refinery trainee, Group General Manager of NAPIMS, Managing Director of PPMC, Chief Upstream Investment Officer, and later Chief HSE Officer. He was not simply a bureaucrat, but a technocrat who earned global recognition, listed among the 100 Most Reputable Africans. His life is proof that even in Nigeria, talent and integrity can overcome patronage.

From managing Nigeria’s oil and gas investments to reforming the petroleum products supply chain and later safeguarding health, safety and the environment at NNPC Limited, Wunti’s leadership consistently blended competence with accountability, leaving behind systems stronger than he found them.

The crown jewel of his service remains Operation White. For decades, the downstream petroleum sector was the shame of the nation. Billions disappeared into fake subsidy claims. Ships docked on paper but never in reality. Nigerians lined up at fuel stations while officials swore supplies were plentiful. The system was a swamp of fraud. Operation White drained much of that swamp. With digital monitoring and real-time tracking, every vessel was verified, every litre accounted for, every claim tested against data. Suddenly, corruption had fewer hiding places. For ordinary Nigerians, it was the first time they could glimpse accountability in a sector long defined by impunity.

What makes Operation White unforgettable is not just the technology but the morality behind it. It was proof that governance can be honest, that systems can be built to serve people, and that institutions can endure beyond the individuals who create them. It did not fix every problem, but it destroyed the myth that nothing could ever change in Nigerian oil. That alone is a monumental shift.

In truth, Wunti’s entire career was a fight for what can best be described as black gold independence — freeing Nigeria from the captivity of its own oil wealth. He understood that crude oil could either be a master that enslaves us through corruption and dependency, or a servant that funds development with transparency and discipline. His reforms, from NAPIMS oversight to PPMC restructuring and the cleanup of subsidy claims, were part of a broader war to wrestle the industry away from cartels and shadow networks. In doing so, he waged one of Nigeria’s fiercest anti-corruption battles in a sector where billions could vanish with the stroke of a pen. That struggle was not just about barrels and revenue; it was about restoring sovereignty to a nation long held hostage by its own resource.

This is the essence of the Wunti factor. It is not about one man saving a nation, for no man can. It is about one man showing that change is not fantasy. Independence is not measured by parades or slogans. It is measured by accountability, by leaders who deliver what they promise, by systems that protect citizens instead of exploiting them. Wunti offered Nigerians that glimpse, and in doing so reminded us that independence is not about survival alone but about dignity.

The larger question is whether Nigeria will multiply this factor across its public life. Can we cultivate more leaders who embody competence instead of patronage. Can we design institutions that do not collapse when one good man retires. Can oil, long a curse, finally become the blessing it was meant to be. At sixty five, these are no longer rhetorical questions but matters of survival. If we fail, independence will remain a hollow ritual. If we succeed, independence will become freedom in truth.

The story of oil is the story of Nigeria itself. Oloibiri began in hope, just as independence did. The years that followed brought both wealth and waste. But every breakthrough, however brief, proves that failure is not the only destiny available to us. Operation White stands among those breakthroughs. It is a reminder that nations are not only defined by their scandals but also by the few who rise above them.

As the flag rises again this Independence Day, let us not mistake ceremony for progress. True independence will be measured by the reach of accountability, by leaders who insist that not a litre of fuel and not a single public kobo should go unaccounted for. At sixty five, Nigeria has endured, stumbled, and survived. At 65, the question will be whether we have finally learned.

If the Wunti factor is multiplied across the country, then independence will no longer taste of irony. It will taste of triumph.

Koli can be reached at [email protected].