Nigeria Gas needs  deliberate workforce development – Minister

Nigeria Gas needs deliberate workforce development – MinisterThe Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), MrEkperikpe Ekpo, has urged professional trainers to prioritize human capital development in the oil and gas sector.The Minister made the call on Thursday in his keynote address presented at the ongoing Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria (OGTAN) Human Capacity Development Conference and Expo 2026.The minister was represented by Chief Geologist/Technical Assistant to Director, Gas Department, Ministry of Petroleum Resources.The three-day event which commenced on Wednesday was held at the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State.The themed of the event is: “Empowering People. Driving Performance. Shaping the Future of Oil & Gas”.Ekpo said that the human capacity development should be at the centre of Nigeria’s Decade of Gas initiative to address skill gap.The minister warned that the infrastructure ambitions driving the country’s gas expansion could not be realised without a parallel investment in the people who would build and run it.Ekpo described the theme of the OGTAN conference as one that was very apt.He said that the theme aligned with the Federal Government’s determination, under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, to reposition Nigeria’s energy sector as a catalyst for industrialization, investment, job creation and sustainable economic growth.The minister posited that Nigeria’s vast oil and gas endowment alone could not guaranteed prosperity.He said that people transformed natural resources into national prosperity.Speaking on the Decade of Gas (2021–2030), the Minister described it as more than a policy initiative.He described it as a national development strategy that recognised natural gas as a critical enabler of Nigeria’s industrial and economic transformation.Ekpo said that government’s ambition includes deepening domestic gas utilisation, improving power generation, expanding cleaner cooking and transport fuels.The minister added that the ambition also strengthened Nigeria’s position in regional and global energy markets.Ekpo warned that infrastructure investment alone would not deliver on this ambition. “As Nigeria expands gas processing facilities, pipelines, LNG and CNG infrastructure, LPG distribution networks and petrochemical plants.”We must simultaneously develop the people who will design, finance, construct, operate and maintain these assets.”Infrastructure creates opportunity, but human capacity converts opportunity into sustainable value.”Human Capacity Development must therefore remain at the centre of the Decade of Gas and Nigeria’s broader energy transformation,” he said.The minister observed the pace of change in the global energy sector, driven by artificial intelligence, automation, digital twins, data analytics and rising cybersecurity demands.He said that the implications of these technological innovations, meant that those skills that have carried Nigeria’s oil and gas sector thus far would not, by themselves, take us into the future.Ekpo, therefore, called for a workforce equipped not only in traditional technical disciplines, but also in AI, digital technologies, automation, cybersecurity, gas commercialisation, carbon and emissions management, project finance, contract negotiation and energy economics, alongside soft skills such as critical thinking, adaptability and communication.The minister called for a shift in how training was measured, saying that capacity development should not be reduced to attendance figures or certificates issued.”The true measure of training is not the number of courses attended or certificates issued. It is the measurable improvement in competence, productivity, safety, operational efficiency, innovation and organisational performance,” he said.Ekpo credited Nigeria’s growth in building indigenous capacity to the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act 2010.He specifically acknowledged the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) for its role in advancing indigenous participation, skills development and technology transfer across the industry. Ekpo noted that Nigerian professionals and indigenous companies were increasingly taking more complex roles across the upstream, midstream and downstream segments of the industry.He called for a deeper collaboration among the government, industry, academia and training bodies such as OGTAN working in concert, rather than in isolation to sustain the above momentum. He described OGTAN as having an important responsibility to continue evolving as a strategic human-capital development partner for Nigeria’s energy transformation.The minister said that the association was tasked with anticipating future skills need and preparing Nigerian professionals to compete globally.Ekpo called on universities to produce more industry-ready graduates.He urged industry to expand internships, apprenticeships and mentorship opportunities, and pressed training providers to keep programmes aligned with actual industry demand. The minister also called for greater inclusion of young Nigerians and women across technical, commercial and leadership roles in the sector.He reaffirmed the Ministry’s committment to supporting a globally competitive petroleum workforce, through continued industry-academia collaboration, technical and vocational education, professional certification, research, technology transfer, and the establishment of centres of excellence.The minister argued that the country’s workforce strategy should be extended beyond meeting domestic needs alone.He, however, emphasised that Nigeria should not only export energy resources, but increasingly positioned herself to exporting energy expertise, technology, innovation and professional services.