AJAOKUTA (CONVERSEER) – Five years of early mornings, dusty boots, long stretches away from home, and the resolve it takes to stay the course on a project bigger than any team or person.
When people talk about the AKK (Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano) Gas Pipeline project, they often talk about steel, kilometres, capacity, and national impact. All important aspects. All true.
But visiting Ajaokuta for the first time and standing over Kilometre Zero, what stayed with me were the people and how they connected to something, GCEO, Engr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari said with so much conviction that it became a chant:
“The safety of every staff. No matter the level. It is more important than the pipeline.”
For those of us listening, it sounded like compassionate leadership.
For those who have been on the ground, working this project from inception, like Japheth J. Charima, it sounded like a lived experience.
Japheth is from Lau Local Government Area in Taraba State. He joined NNPC in 2003 and has spent over two decades building technical depth across Nigeria and beyond, from Taraba and Benue to classrooms in the UK, US, and construction sites across Europe.
Today, he serves as Project Manager of the AKK Gas Pipeline and Deputy Project Manager for the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline (AAGP). These roles make him responsible for engineering assurance, disciplined risk and HSE management, schedule and cost control, contractor and consultant oversight, and ensuring full alignment with NNPC Ltd.’s gas commercialisation strategy, national energy security objectives, and economic development mandate.
Suffice it to say that Japheth is an asset to the company and the projects he oversees. He says the GCEO’s safety message deeply resonated with him because when he arrives on site each day, safety is not just a slogan on a wall.
AKK cuts through mountains and valleys, floodplains and farmlands, fragile ecosystems and living communities. Therefore, the strict HSE controls, environmental safeguards, and security protocols are not bureaucratic hurdles. They are daily reminders that progress must never come at the expense of people.
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“That’s what makes the work matter…Every decision must balance delivery with the safety of our teams and the protection of the environment,” he said.
Therein lay the proof of the GCEO’s words.
Because this project has not been easy. It demands long hours, discipline, and resilience under challenging conditions. There are technical complexities. There are huge security risks. And the potential for people not returning home. These realities sharpen the meaning of leadership that insists no milestone is worth a life.
Yet for Japheth, working on AKK is deeply personal and worth every gruelling experience.
“As a Nigerian engineer, contributing to infrastructure that will strengthen energy security, enable industrial growth, and support Nigeria’s transition to cleaner energy is deeply meaningful…and driven by the understanding that this project will outlive all of us and serve generations to come,” he said.
That is why safety is non-negotiable here. It’s why leadership clarity matters. And why, after five years, the people of NNPC are still showing up in Ajaokuta carefully, committed, and resolutely. Despite. Regardless of. Because of.
This is exactly how national infrastructure is built.
Not just with steel and strategy, but with people who know that the most important asset on any project is the human life standing beside the pipeline.
