The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has called on researchers to focus their studies on proffering sustainable solutions to the myriad of challenges confronting the country’s oil and gas industry.
PENGASSAN President, Comrade Festus Osifo, made the call during an inspection tour of the College of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Kaduna (CPESK), alongside members of the union’s Central Working Committee (CWC) and National Executive Committee (NEC).
Osifo noted that the establishment of CPESK would provide indigenous oil and gas professionals access to world-class training locally, bridging the huge funding gap for foreign courses.
He stressed that research must address practical issues in the sector, such as oil theft, corporate fraud in the Niger Delta, and environmental degradation.
“The area of research should be those that will clearly impact the Nigerian oil and gas industry. For example, oil theft, corporate theft in the Niger Delta, and how to mitigate against environmental degradation. When results come up, it becomes easier for industry to adopt and implement them,” he said.
Osifo likened the role of CPESK to institutions supporting Silicon Valley in the United States, which provide human capital and research to solve real-world problems.
He added that sending workers abroad for training was costly, noting that with the same funds, more professionals could now be trained in Nigeria without compromising quality.
He said: “People are commencing PhD here by September. The area of research should be areas that will clearly impact the Nigeria oil and gas industry; they should carry out researches on areas that are affecting the industry.
“For example, oil theft could be an area of research, corporate theft in the Niger Delta could be an area of research. We could pick how to mitigate against environmental degradation as it’s happening today in the Niger Delta. It could be an area of research. So when the result comes up, it is easier for industry to adopt them and to implement. That is what is happening all over the world.
“Silicon Valley is thriving today because there are institutions that are built around the Silicon Valley area that are supplying the human capital resources and also are carrying out research that are affecting solving today’s problem. So all we don’t want is to let the researches not be outdated, let them be researches that are affecting today.
“But knowing PTDF, we know very well that all the PhD students we have sponsored before, even to different parts of the world, have actually been responsible for solving some of the industry problems and industry challenges.
“Let’s assume you have, let’s say, N20 million to send two people abroad but with that same money, you could send may be 10 people to this college and they would have the same quality of education they could have gotten abroad here.:
On his part, Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), Ahmed Galadima Aminu, revealed that over 2,000 applicants had already been screened to commence PhD programmes at CPESK when it opens in September 2025.
He explained that CPESK was licensed by the National Universities Commission (NUC) as a private postgraduate institution to run 19 academic programmes across six departments and three faculties. The college, he said, has forged strategic partnerships with three UK universities — University of Strathclyde, Robert Gordon University, and University of Portsmouth — to deliver a split-site postgraduate model.
Aminu added that more than 15,000 Nigerians have been sponsored abroad by PTDF for training in the past, but the high cost of foreign education necessitated the establishment of the Kaduna-based institution.
He maintained that CPESK has the potential to become Nigeria’s own “Silicon Valley” for energy research, driving innovation and capacity building in the sector.