.Academic review c’ttee gets terms of reference
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) yesterday said the newly renamed General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua University of Geological Science and Engineering Technology (UGSET), Kaduna, will play a strategic role in supporting the federal government’s ambition to build a $1 trillion economy.
The Executive Secretary of PTDF and Chairman of the university’s Governing Council, Prof. Shehu Aliyu, stated this in Kaduna during a press conference on the institution’s operational status, ongoing reforms and strategic direction, stressing that it will also reduce capital flight associated with overseas education and technical training.
Aliyu said the university, alongside PTDF’s Centre for Skills Development and Training in Port Harcourt, was conceived as part of efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s human capital base and develop world-class expertise within the country.
Aliyu said the university’s development was consistent with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the 2026-2030 National Development Plan (NDP), particularly the target of growing Nigeria into a $1 trillion economy.
He said PTDF was positioning itself to contribute to that ambition by developing the knowledge, skills, research capacity and institutional infrastructure required to support sustainable economic growth.
According to him, the ultimate objective is to build an ecosystem capable of supporting innovation, employment and competitiveness while positioning Nigeria as a source of skilled energy professionals for the African continent.
The two institutions, he said, are expected to enable Nigeria to provide internationally competitive education and technical training locally, thereby reducing dependence on foreign institutions and conserving foreign exchange.
The university, which was recently renamed by President Bola Tinubu from the Centre for Petroleum and Energy Studies, is PTDF’s degree-awarding institution and currently focuses on postgraduate education and advanced research through partnerships with foreign universities.
Aliyu said the institution’s programmes would be aligned with the changing requirements of Nigeria’s energy sector and major projects that would require highly skilled professionals.
Among the projects highlighted are the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline, UTM Floating LNG project and the proposed Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, as well as emerging opportunities around Bonga Southwest Aparo, Owowo, Zabazaba-Etan, the OB3 Gas Trunk Line, Olokola LNG and the expansion of indigenous oil and gas operators.
The executive secretary pointed out that the PTDF was also implementing a split-site programme under which scholars could undertake part of their doctoral studies in Nigeria and complete the remainder at partner universities in the United Kingdom.
He explained that the arrangement would help domesticate training while maintaining international standards and reducing the foreign exchange burden associated with sending Nigerian scholars abroad for the entirety of their programmes.
“The university will serve as a strategic catalyst for Nigeria’s economic growth by building local technical capacity and conserving foreign exchange,” Aliyu said.
He added that PTDF’s objective was to create a workforce that could be trained in Nigeria, employed locally and eventually exported to meet the needs of the wider African energy industry.
The PTDF boss also disclosed that the agency was accelerating the digitisation of the university to improve administrative efficiency and facilitate blended learning, while strengthening partnerships with industry and international institutions.
These partnerships include collaborations with the Independent Petroleum Producers Group, African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO), Algeria’s Sonatrach, Saudi Aramco and Turkey Petroleum for knowledge transfer, training, research and innovation.
Against this background, the governing council has constituted an academic review committee headed by former Secretary General of APPO, Farouk Ibrahim, to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the institution and recommend measures for its repositioning.
At the event, the committee was mandated to review the university’s mandate, vision and strategic objectives, as well as assess its infrastructure, laboratories, research facilities, digital systems and technological capacity.
It is also expected to examine the relevance and competitiveness of existing academic programmes in relation to national priorities and global developments in petroleum, energy and allied sectors.
The committee will assess the institution’s governance structure, administrative processes and overall performance, while identifying operational constraints, inefficiencies, institutional risks and opportunities for growth and collaboration. Other areas of its mandate include evaluating research activities, industry engagement, innovation initiatives and partnerships with local and international institutions.
The committee is also expected to determine the feasibility of expanding the university’s academic programmes and institutional structure beyond its existing split-site arrangement.
Speaking on behalf of the committee, Ibrahim pledged that members would approach the assignment as a national and continental responsibility. He said the decision by PTDF to establish the institution more than a decade ago demonstrated foresight, particularly in view of the changing global energy landscape.
Ibrahim argued that Africa’s continued dependence on external sources for oil and gas technology, financing and markets could become increasingly problematic as developed countries shift their attention towards renewable energy.
He noted that Africa still possesses substantial hydrocarbon resources while hundreds of millions of Africans lack access to modern energy.
According to him, the continent therefore needs to develop the capacity to control the financing, technology and markets associated with its oil and gas resources while simultaneously preparing for the energy transition.
He said the university could become an important platform for achieving that objective by producing the technical expertise required to develop Africa’s energy resources, assuring the PTDF management that the committee would produce recommendations capable of being implemented.