The 1st Citizens Engagement Conference (Northwest) has thrown its weight behind President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s oil and gas reforms, describing them as courageous and necessary steps toward ensuring Nigeria’s long-term economic sustainability despite their initial hardships.
Mallam Nasir AbdulQuadri, co-convener of the conference stated this on Monday in Kaduna during the event themed “The Positive Impacts of Oil and Gas Reforms by President Ahmed Bola Tinubu Administration.”
He said the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 and the removal of fuel subsidy had provided a “legal, fiscal, and institutional rebirth” for the petroleum sector.
AbdulQuadri admitted that the reforms had caused “temporary discomfort” but said they demonstrated “uncommon courage” and were “steering the country toward long-term economic sustainability.”
He noted that deregulation had opened opportunities for private investment, refinery rehabilitation, and modular refining, while new regulatory agencies — the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) — had strengthened oversight and transparency.
He further highlighted the growing role of gas as a transition fuel and the benefits being extended to host communities through the Host Community Development Trusts (HCDTs).
AbdulQuadri also called for national unity and citizen participation in supporting the reforms, urging Nigerians to act as “co-authors of progress” rather than “detached observers.”
“For reforms to succeed, citizens must see themselves as co-authors of progress, not as detached observers,” he said, warning against external influences that could exploit internal divisions.
He stressed that his call for unity was not an endorsement of “blind loyalty” but a reminder that responsible citizenship meant demanding transparency and accountability “from a place of national consciousness, not anger without direction.”
AbdulQuadri concluded that the reforms were not only about fuel or finance but about faith in Nigeria’s capacity to reform and evolve, urging citizens to “guard our sovereignty with wisdom, drive reforms with unity, and sustain hope with discipline.”
Speaking earlier, Professor Usman Muhammed of Kaduna State University raised questions about the long-term sustainability of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda beyond 2027.
The academic explained that while Nigeria is richly endowed with an estimated 37 billion barrels of crude oil and 209 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, inefficiencies in governance, policy inconsistency, and infrastructural decay have limited the sector’s contribution to national development.
“Despite being Africa’s largest oil producer, Nigeria continues to struggle with declining productivity and fiscal leakages,” he noted.
The study highlights that between 2019 and 2024, Nigeria’s crude oil production averaged 1.4 to 1.67 million barrels per day, below its OPEC quota of 1.8 million barrels, while inflation soared above 22 percent and unemployment remained around 33 percent.
