By Our Correspondent

The Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, has called on Nigerian universities and the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, NASENI, to bridge the divide between scholarship and the market by transforming campus inventions into enterprises, employment and real-world solutions that can power Nigeria’s economic renewal.

The Minister made the declaration during a briefing for Vice-Chancellors, Directors of Academic Affairs, Directors of Postgraduate Studies and officials of the Federal Ministry of Education’s Directorate of University Education. The meeting focused on a proposed partnership model through the NASENI Campus. He said the model is designed to link researchers with state-of-the-art laboratories, prototyping hubs, industry players and funding sources, creating a clear route for ideas to travel from the lab bench to commercial use.

According to Dr Alausa, Nigeria must intentionally shift from pure research to commercial rollout if it wants to get full value from its people. He warned that research should not stop at journal articles or demonstration models. Citing the innovation cluster around Cambridge, Massachusetts as a reference, Dr. Alausa said Nigerian academics should be able to secure patents for their work, scale those inventions into sellable goods, and team up with investors to launch sustainable firms. That, he noted, is how intellectual capacity becomes tangible national progress.

To deliver this, he urged NASENI to deepen ties with universities located near its development centres. Universities, he said, hold a large reservoir of researchers, lecturers and students whose skills can strengthen the agency’s mandate. NASENI, he added, can fill the critical gap between academic work and business success by assisting with patent applications, linking innovators to venture capital, and helping to set up spin-off companies. He also tasked the agency to look into lithium refining and battery production as Nigeria ramps up renewable energy and industrial growth.

Reiterating government backing, Dr. Alausa said the Ministry will keep working with NASENI, universities and other partners to build a working pipeline from research and innovation through to investment, manufacturing and job creation.

Under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, he stressed, the goal is not just to generate more research papers, but to ensure Nigeria’s knowledge, skills and inventions become products, companies, jobs and lasting prosperity for citizens.

Earlier, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of NASENI, Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, outlined the agency’s push to close the gap between research and manufacturing, in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive to go beyond prototypes and reach full production. He said the planned NASENI Campus will sit inside a 100-hectare free trade zone and function as a fully integrated ecosystem where scholars, professors, prototyping units, industries and commercial pathways operate side by side. Several factories and industrial plants are already set up within the zone.

Giving a practical example, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Abuja, Professor Hakeem Babatunde Fawehinmi, said the school’s current collaboration with NASENI shows what the model can achieve. The partnership has delivered an integrated agricultural incubation centre, greenhouse units, automated poultry systems and tissue culture laboratories that serve both undergraduate and postgraduate research. He added that the university is prepared to expand the work into dairy science and renewable energy.

Also highlighting market-ready research, the Vice-Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, Professor Haruna Musa, said BUK is pursuing wider cooperation with NASENI in nanotechnology, vaccinology, toxinology and mathematical modelling. He revealed that two BUK projects have reached the final phase of NASENI’s research commercialisation grant scheme. The projects are a reusable sanitary pad and the industrial production of starch derivatives from sweet potatoes.

By Our Correspondent

In abid to enhance the nation’s revenue earnings,President Bola Tinubu just signed the Deep Offshore Oil and Gas Project Incentives (Tax Remission) Executive Order 2026, and it’s designed to do two big things at once: pull in up to $50 billion in fresh capital and add roughly one million barrels per day of crude and condensate from Nigeria’s deepwater fields.

Speaking Tuesday on NTA with Cyril Stober, Engineer Enorense Amadasu, Executive Commissioner for Development and Production at the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, represented the Commission Chief Executive.

Amadasu said the order sets up a clear, rules-based investment structure built for the next wave of deep offshore projects. The goal is to cut red tape so international oil companies can move from plan to payout faster.

Right now Nigeria produces about 1.7 million barrels per day of crude and condensate. Deep offshore still plays a smaller role: around 24% of total oil output and 19% of gas.

Amadasu credited the President for steering the sector forward.
“We are on the right path all thanks to Mr. President. It will be a huge leap. As of today, we have mined over 4.6 billion barrels from deep offshore assets. In cargo terms that is over 5,000 tankers,” he said. He added that the new framework now opens more room for growth in deepwater.

The volumes won’t appear from nowhere. Nine projects already have Field Development Plans worth billions approved by NUPRC. The next milestone is Final Investment Decision, and the EO is meant to speed that up.

“So, where will these volumes be coming from? Nine of these projects have approved FDPs so the next step expected is the FID in the near to midterm. The $10bn Bonga South will come in 2027 and within the next four to five years, we are expecting almost an additional one million barrels additional per day,” Amadasu stated.

The order isn’t just about wells. Amadasu pointed to the wider marine economy. To handle the coming surge, Nigeria will need to expand its logistics and marine base to support deepwater operations.

The broader ambition: position Nigeria as the go-to regional center for deep offshore projects in West Africa.

According to the Executive Commissioner, the incentives also deliver: Bigger reserves;:more oil and gas booked for the future,Technology and skills transfer, new expertise coming into local teams .New jobs, employment across drilling, services, and support industries.

In a statement issued by Head, Media and Corporate Comm, Eniola Akinkuotu the 2026 EO ties tax relief to tangible output, with $50bn in investment, 1 million bpd more production, nine shovel-ready projects, and a push to make Nigeria’s deepwater the hub for the region

By George Mgbeleke

Foĺlowing the on-going efforts by the Senate to recover all unaccounted funds by revenue generating Agencies of government, the Red chamber on Tuesday through its Public Accounts Committee , gave Seplat Energy , Network E & P Nigeria Limited and two other oil companies , 48 hours to appear before it to answer queries raised against them in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 audit reports presented by Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative ( NEITI) .

The two other oil companies given similar 48 hours ultimatum for appearance or risk invocation of legislative powers against them are All Grace Energy Limited and Aradel Energy Limited .

But Dubri Oil Company Limited that appeared before the committee , defended $’3.025million royalty and gas flare debts recorded against it in the audit report .

48 hours ultimatum against the affected four oil companies followed resolution adopted to that effect by the Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwabo led committee in line with displeasures expressed by some of its members .

First to call for sanction against the erring oil companies , was Senator Abdul Ningi ( Bauchi Central ) who described letter written by Network E & P Nigeria Limited to the committee that Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission ( NUPRC) is the regulatory body it reports to , as disturbing and provocative .

The Senate according to him as provided for in sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 constitution, can invite any body or agency .

” The Senate and by extension , the National Assembly, is the custodian of Nigeria law that has power to invite anybody or agency for explanations on issues raised against them “, he said .

In supporting Ningi , Senator Shehu Kaka Lawan ( Borno Central ) , called for invocation of constitutional powers against management of the affected agencies which made the Chairman to issue 48 hours ultimatum for appearance against Managing Director of Network E & P Nigeria Limited .

” Having failed to honour invitation of this committee two consecutive times , the Managing Director of Network E & P Nigeria Limited should appear before us unfailingly on Thursday this week or risk full invocation of legislative powers against him”, he said .

Similar ultimatums were also issued against Managing Directors of All Grace Energy Limited , Aradel Energy Limited and Seplat Energy when when their absence was noted by the committee.

But Dubri Oil that appeared , rejected $3.025million royalty and gas flare debts recorded against it .

NEITI in the report alleged that as submitted by NUPRC in 2025 that Dubri Oil owes $3.025million debt which include $2.378million debt for gas flare and $646, 605.55 for oil production

The query was however faulted by representative of Dubri Oil , Soyode Olusoji Clement who said the report was compiled when the oil company had reconciliation issue with NUPRC .

The reconciliation problem between Dubri oil and NUPRC according to him , has however been resolved without any debt hanging on Dubri oil .

He presented documents to that effect to the committee which according to the committee, would be studied critically before issuance of clean bill of health .