Stakeholders from all seven of Nigeria’s North-West states have showered President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration with praise for its audacious efforts to restructure the oil and gas industry, praising the changes as the next step toward economic recovery and national cohesion.
Participants at the present three-day 1st Citizens Engagement Conference in Kaduna called on the federal government to build on these successes by increasing oil production in order to meet urgent citizen demands in the midst of ongoing transitional difficulties.
With the theme “The Positive Impacts of Oil and Gas Reforms by the Asiwaju Administration,” the conference, a ground-breaking civic forum that brought together traditional rulers, academics, policymakers, civil society leaders, and entrepreneurs from the states of Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara, began on Monday.
The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which was organized as part of a national series covering Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, was emphasized as a pillar of operational efficiency and regulatory clarity.
Mallam Nasir Abdulquadri, a co-convener, highlighted the PIA as a significant turning point and credited it with bringing clarity to the sector’s regulatory structure.
Abdulquadri praised President Tinubu’s “uncommon courage” in implementing deregulation and the elimination of subsidies, actions that, in spite of immediate difficulties, are attracting private investment, reviving refineries, and utilizing Nigeria’s enormous gas reserves for industrial leapfrogging.
He pointed out that “these reforms are not without temporary discomforts, but every meaningful reform carries the pain of transition” and urged caution against outside manipulations that might take advantage of internal divides.
With the theme “Amplifying President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda Through Regulatory Excellence and Upstream Oil and Gas Performance: Catalyst for Sustainable Economic Prosperity Beyond 2027,” Professor Usman Muhammed of Kaduna State University’s Department of Political Science and International Studies also praised the President.
The professor presented empirical data that showed a strong link (r=0.74) between GDP growth and oil output, with regulatory quality having a considerable impact (β=0.517) on economic performance.
He commended Tinubu’s administration for real progress, such as increased openness and host community empowerment through the Host Community Development Trusts (HCDTs), which promote economic diversification and local involvement.
In order to strengthen institutions, the professor recommended a comprehensive push toward digitization, integration of renewable energy, and full PIA implementation based on comparative analysis.
He stated, “National prosperity is central to regulatory excellence.” “The Renewed Hope Agenda will be amplified beyond 2027 by sustained institutional reform, innovation, and transparency, ensuring that reforms translate into jobs, affordable energy, and equitable growth for all Nigerians.”
However, the people of the North-West challenged the government to maintain these hard-won victories by emphasizing institutional accountability, using cutting-edge technology to prevent oil theft, and rapidly increasing upstream oil production to meet the country’s growing energy needs, stabilize fuel prices, generate millions of jobs, and guarantee that the advantages of a revitalized oil and gas sector directly raise the standard of living for average Nigerians.
