‘Ojulari Unedited,’ Platforms Africa publishes word-for-word the rousing speech the embattled Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the NNPC delivered to excited participants at the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) annual conference in Lagos
Tonight, I won’t do so, but thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to have this lecture. It is an honor and a privilege to address you today at the defining moments in the global energy landscape. We find ourselves at a critical inflection point where the imperatives of energy security, environmental sustainability, and economic development must be reconciled.
Through bold leadership, our collective innovation, and our shared responsibility. As we gather under the common cause of advancing our industry, we must recognize the singular truth. The future of energy is neither linear nor predetermined.
It will be shaped by the decisions we make today, by how we intentionally engage, how we strategically invest, and how goodly we embrace innovation. In this regard, the oil and gas sector, apart from being a sunset industry, must be repositioned as a cornerstone of a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient energy future. At the heart of this repositioning, ladies and gentlemen, lies the urgent need to deepen strategic engagement within our borders and across the globe.
The challenges before us—climate change, capital fights, technology gaps, and supply disruptions—are too complex to be addressed in silos. We must foster robust, transparent, and constructive dialogue among all stakeholders—governments, industry players, financiers, multilateral institutions, technology leaders, civil society, and critically our youths. Through meaningful partnership, we can unlock new opportunities.
We can shape policies that reflect our realities and align our national priorities with global goals. To put it in context, large resources and infrastructure will be required to quench the energy thirst of the large and vibrant African population and industries. This creates opportunities for the energy sector, and particularly the oil and gas sector, that provides the largest share of energy resources.
For all of us in Nigeria and in the Middle East, this means strengthening cross-sector and cross-border alliances to secure access to energy and affordable investments, not just for oil and gas infrastructure, but for emerging technologies that will define the next chapter of our economy. This includes carbon capture, utilization, and storage, hydrogen development, AI-enabled exploration and smart grid systems, modular and mobile gas solutions for which we are already seeing a lot of impact with CNGs across the country. Such innovations must be embraced, not as buzzwords, but as strategic enablers that will allow us to meet our next global commitment without compromising energy access or industrial competitiveness.
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Distinguished participants, while the global capital pool is vast, its direction is inferiorly shaped by ESG principles, market perceptions, and regulatory clarity. Africa must, therefore, not only compete for capital, it must make compelling claims for why its energy story is fundamental, sustainable, and globally relevant. To this end, ladies and gentlemen, we must urgently work to de-risk our environment by improving governance, de-mining regulatory frameworks, honoring contracts, and ensuring transparent fiscal systems.
We must also leverage instruments such as blended finance and climate-resilient funds to attract investors with long-term commitments. This is a call for joint stewardship, where governments and industries co-create investment environments that are credible, attractive, and future-focused. If we succeed, ladies and gentlemen, the result will be a pipeline of well-founded, technologically-enabled, and socially inclusive energy products and projects.
Projects that not only generate profit, but build resilient and uplift communities. Your Excellencies and colleagues, let us be clear. Energy transition must not be imposed, it must be negotiated, it must be contextualized, and it must be just.
While the government’s aspiration moves, many in the rural South are yet to attain basic energy access. We cannot ignore this reality. Our approach must, therefore, be balanced, anchored on energy justice and equity.
This means recognizing natural gas as a transitional fuel for Africa, scaling clean-cooking technologies to displace biomass, deploying CCSUS to decarbonize heavy industries, using revenue from hydrocarbons to fund renewables, infrastructure, and education. In doing so, we will create a pathway where hydrocarbons and clean energy co-exist, each playing a role in building the resilient modern energy system for Africa. But transition is not just about a fuel, stated a gentleman, it’s about people.
If people’s recognition cannot be achieved without the hearts, minds, and hands of the next generation, we must actively engage our youths, our tomorrow’s leaders, our tomorrow’s innovators, and our tomorrow’s custodians of sustainability to understand the energy narrative, to share it, and to build it. Let us invest in STEM, education, energy literacy, green skills development, and entrepreneurship. Let us empower our youths, our young people, to see energy sector not just as a place of education, but a space of invention, inclusion, and global resilience.
Distinguished guests, we stand today at the intersection of legacy and transformation. What we do next will define not only the fate of our industry, but the future of our planet. Let us deepen our partnerships.
Let us mobilize capital. Let us embrace technology. Let us empower our youths.
Let us lead the transition on our terms and in our context, with our people at the center. This is the moment to act, not to hesitate. But with convention, not with isolation, but with cooperation, together we can build an oil and gas industry that is not only profitable, but purposeful.
Not only efficient, but enduring. Not only relevant, but revolutionary. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your attention and congratulate the Society of Petroleum Engineers for its success in NIAS 2025.
I wish us all participants fruitful deliberations as we engage in this discussion. Let us remember that our goal is not just to meet energy needs of today, but to build a sustainable energy future that will generate and benefit generations to come. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your attention.
Platforms Africa
