Nigeria, Aug. 28 -- When I wrote that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is an animal that eats its curator for lunch, it sounded like a stretch. But so far, the tenure of Bayo Ojulari as group chief executive officer is proving it. This might not be obvious if you look solely at Nigeria's current crude oil sales.

The figure has climbed from about 1.6 million barrels per day when Ojulari was appointed last April to about 1.9 mbpd now. That is good news for a cash-strapped country plagued by oil theft, weak infrastructure, divestments and thousands of barrels in swap deals.

The bad news is that Ojulari's preemptory comment about the fate of Nigeria's moribund refineries could endanger his early success. He is in enou...