Nigeria's oil and gas sector must shift focus from volume-based metrics to delivering measurable economic value, according to energy expert Wumi Iledare. Speaking Friday in Lagos, the professor emeritus of petroleum economics at Louisiana State University made the call following President Bola Tinubu's appointment of Shu'aibu Aliyu as executive secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF). The appointment comes after Ahmed Aminu resigned to contest the 2027 Adamawa governorship election. Mr Iledare acknowledged PTDF's role in training professionals and reducing reliance on foreign expertise through scholarships and technical programmes. But he stressed that in a changing global energy landscape, the agency must prioritise outcomes over headcounts. "The key question is no longer how many people are trained, but how much value each trained professional brings to the sector," he said. He urged alignment of training curricula with industry needs, regular updates for technological and transition-related shifts, and stronger collaboration between PTDF and energy operators. Success, he argued, should be measured by job creation, innovation, and economic contribution, not just numbers of graduates. Mr Iledare likened the needed shift to the evolution of Nigeria's local content policy, which now emphasises value retention over mere participation. He called for leadership focused on accountability, performance tracking, and transparent evaluation of investments. The agency, he said, must evolve to remain relevant and impactful.
Wumi Iledare's critique exposes a long-standing flaw: PTDF has measured success by bodies moved through classrooms, not by how those bodies move the economy. With Shu'aibu Aliyu stepping into leadership, the real test is whether training translates to jobs, innovation, or local industrial growth. If the fund keeps chasing graduation numbers while the sector bleeds talent and relevance, the change in chair won't mean anything. This isn't about new faces—it's about new results.
