NNPC to unveil COVID-19 Contacts-Tracing App


*Deploys online petroleum products procurement solutions
Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it has developed a COVID-19 contacts-tracing software application that can be deployed in all its locations across the country.
In a statement made available to newsmen on Wednesday, the spokesman of the corporation, Dr Kennie Obateru said that the idea was in line with the Transparency, Accountability and Performance Excellence (TAPE) agenda of the present the leadership of the corporation.
According to him, it also shows the commitment to continually deploy Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for the purposes of operational efficiency and accountability within the corporation’s system.
He quoted the corporation’s Group General Manager, Information Technology Division (ITD), Danladi Inuwa, as saying that the novel app was part of the NNPC’s sectoral contribution to curbing the spread of the pandemic within its formations, ministries, departments and agencies of the government.
“The Contacts-Tracing Solution is ready to be deployed, all the technical testing have been done and the solution is ready to go live.
“Everywhere you go around NNPC locations will be covered by this novel application, which will reveal all information about persons visiting any official.
“Should there be any medical challenge, the NNPC Medical will be able to track from the information at the database all the contacts and advise properly,” Inuwa said.
He said the application could also be used by members of staff of the corporation to document their private visitors at their homes.
The group general manager added that the novel application would enable the workforce to adjust adequately to the ‘new normal’ way of living to minimize spread of the disease.
Inuwa further said the corporation had also deployed a Sales and Distribution application in the Oil and Gas Secondary Model Portal that would enable marketers buy petroleum products online.
This, he said, was to minimize human contacts in business transactions at the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a Downstream subsidiary of NNPC, in the face of COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the application, known as the Customer Express, would also enable marketers to register, validate and revalidate their Bulk Purchase Agreements online within a week.
He added that the portal would provide a dashboard that would enable the corporation to track every molecule of products being imported, transported and sold at every given time.
“The Portal shows what product is in transit in terms of volume, what quantity is in the jetty, what volume has gone into the pipelines, what quantity has gone into NNPC depots, private depots and refinery depots”, he said