-By Danlami Nasir Isah
Engr. Sarki Auwalu, who was born in 1965, is a chemical engineer by training. Before joining the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Auwalu had a good record of sterling academic accomplishments. He attended the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria where he bagged a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering in 1989. He, thereafter, proceeded to the Bayero University, Kano where he earned a post-graduate Diploma in Management in 1993. Auwalu proceeded to the Chevron Academy where he was awarded a certificate in Oil and Gas Handling, Facilities Maintenance and Troubleshooting in 1999.
Auwalu, who did not restrict his education to Nigeria, left for PETRAD, Norway where he got a Diploma in Drilling Risk Assessment in 2000. Two years later, he got another Diploma in Petroleum Policy and Management from the same institution, before leaving for PetrolSkill USA where he obtained a Diploma in Offshore Technology in 2006. He went back to PETRAD Norway in 2007, and earned yet another Diploma in Petroleum Policy and Operations. In 2017, Sarki Auwalu attended the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos.
He joined the DPR in 1998, and has held some key positions as he rose through the ranks to the position of the assistant director. Between 1998 and 2002, Auwalu, as the principal chemical engineer, successfully supervised a number of collaborative projects of the DPR with oil giants such as Chevron and Shell, among others.
Obviously, the current Director for the DPR must have prepared himself for his present position – a fitting helmsman at the DPR, one would say. So, when, on Wednesday, December 18, 2019, his appointment was announced in a statement signed by the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, it hardly triggered a shock in the minds of many ardent watchers of that critical oil and gas regulatory agency. On the contrary, it was one invigorating piece of news to those that have always desired a new dawn. This was because Auwalu, who joined the DPR in 1998, had been a driving force of the agency ever since.
Auwal, a highly respected figure among his colleagues was recently decorated as a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.