A former presidential aspirant, Mr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has raised the alarm over Nigeria’s diminishing gains from its oil and gas sector.
Olawepo – Hashim warned that fossil fuels would be globally irrelevant within the next two decades.
Speaking in a promotional clip from “The Bridge Podcast” ahead of the show’s sixth episode’s release,
Olawepo Hashim urged the Nigerian government to take swift, strategic action to extract maximum value from its petroleum resources before global energy markets shift irreversibly.
“Oil and gas will be irrelevant in 20 years. We must maximise the benefit of our resources now, while they still matter in the global market,” he said.
He decried Nigeria’s lack of meaningful investment in the sector over the last two decades, pointing out that more than half of the nation’s current oil output still depends on infrastructure developed during General Ibrahim Babangida’s military era.
“Over 50% of our oil production is from investments made under the Babangida regime. What have our democratic leaders done in the last 20 years?” he asked.
He attributed Nigeria’s underperformance in the sector to inefficiency, corruption, and poor management, arguing that the country has failed to convert its natural wealth into meaningful economic gains.
“It’s not just about having resources, it’s about how you manage them. And we’ve failed in that regard,” he added.
Olawepo Hashim called for urgent reforms in energy governance and a bold commitment to economic diversification, cautioning that Nigeria risks being left behind if it fails to adapt to the rapidly changing global energy landscape.
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