Rountrip

Stakeholders from across the seven states of Nigeria’s North-West region have poured accolades on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration for its bold strides in overhauling the oil and gas sector, hailing the reforms as the right step for economic revival and national unity. At the ongoing three-day 1st Citizens Engagement Conference in Kaduna, participants urged the federal government to double down on these gains by ramping up oil production to alleviate pressing citizen needs amid lingering transitional pains. The conference, a groundbreaking civic forum drawing traditional rulers, academics, policymakers, civil society leaders, and entrepreneurs from Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara states, kicked off on Monday under the theme: “The Positive Impacts of Oil and Gas Reforms by the Asiwaju Administration.” Organised as part of a nationwide series spanning Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 was highlighted as a corners...

  By Charles Matthew    The name Engineer Gbenga Komolafe keeps resonating with technical precision, depth of influence, and administrative innovation in the growing narrative of Africa’s quest for sustainable development and global relevance within the petroleum ecosystem. As the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), his emergence as a central figure in today’s global energy reforms stems from dedicated years of institutional knowledge, regulatory rectitude, and unassailable patriotism.    It is no surprise that the Nigeria of today has repositioned itself prominently on the global energy map under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu. The recognition the Pan-African Parliament bestowed upon him in a recent session was not an act of vain appraisal, but the formal acknowledgment of a man who has become an intellectual lighthouse guiding the continent through a complex energy transition era.    When AFR...

By Adamu Adamu Senator Mohammed Sani Musa, fondly called “Senator 313” in many quarters, is one of the few public servants whose names are spoken with casual familiarity and mentioned as one of the rare statesmen whose footprints on the soil of their constituency read like a map of care, competence, and custodianship. His political persona is not a mere parade of campaign rhetoric but an architecture of visible interventions: boreholes that bring water to the thirsty, vocational centres that resurrect hope for young people, rehabilitated clinics that restore dignity to the sick, and targeted empowerment programmes that seed economic agency in households. To know Senator Sani Musa is to see how a legislator can transpose empathy into policy and philanthropy into long-term community transformation. Born on 11 May 1965 in Minna, Niger State, Musa’s formative years traversed local schools before he entered the portals of advanced management training and public-leadership programmes. He stu...

Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, has been honoured with the Global Sustainable Leadership Award at the Global Sustainable Education and Leadership (G-SEL) Conference 2025, held at the House of Lords, Palace of Westminster, United Kingdom. The two-day event, which drew senior policymakers, business leaders, and diplomats from across the world, recognised Komolafe’s exceptional leadership in steering reforms under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and positioning Nigeria as a credible, transparent, and competitive energy investment destination. Since assuming office, Komolafe has been instrumental in deepening Nigeria’s upstream regulatory transformation. Under his watch, the country’s rig count surged from just eight in 2021 to 69 as of October 2025 — a growth of more than 760 per cent. Revenue performance has also consistently exceeded government targets, with the Commission achieving surpluses of 18.3 per cent in 2...

Education Minister, Tunji Alausa   A group of Concerned Citizens in Ekiti State under the leadership of Mr Soyombo Israel, has called on Tunji Alausa, minister of education, to take action on a committee’s report which allegedly uncovered financial inconsistencies amounting to ₦387,231,000 at the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE).   The group urged the minister not to overlook the committee’s findings, which it said pointed to irregularities under the leadership of the outgoing management of the institution.   They expressed concern over what they described as recurring cases of corruption within the university since the beginning of the tenure.   In recent years, Abayomi Fasina, vice-chancellor of the institution, has faced various public allegations and criticisms. The group said the latest development — the discovery of the committee’s report — has further heightened public scrutiny of his administration.   The report, titled “Report of assessment committe...

Gbenga Komolafe, Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), has been listed among leading continental experts invited to address the Sixth Ordinary Session of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) in November 2025. The invitation — extended to Komolafe in his capacity as both NUPRC Chief Executive and interim President of the Africa Forum for Petroleum Regulators and Frameworks (AFRIPERF) — marks a rare recognition of Nigeria’s leadership in upstream oil and gas reforms under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The Bureau of the Pan-African Parliament, in a letter dated October 17, 2025, invited Komolafe to deliver a paper on ‘Legislative Frameworks for Sustainable Upstream Regulation in Africa’s Oil and Gas Sector’ during the upcoming session. “This topic explores how robust legislative reforms can advance sustainability in Africa’s upstream oil and gas operations, inviting insights from your leadership at NUPRC and as Acting Chairman o...

By Daniel Kingsley  A Headline on the Punch Newspaper on Monday, the 3rd of November, 2025 "CPC blacklist: 12 Nigerian governors, other officials may face US sanctions" has really captured my attention. On Friday, Trump, in a post on Truth, lamented that thousands of Christians were being killed in Nigeria and asked Congressman Riley Moore, together with Chairman Tom Cole and the House Appropriations Committee, to immediately look into the matter and report back to him. The Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, sponsored by Republican Senator Ted Cruz, designates Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” for religious persecution. The bill proposes direct sanctions against public officials and religious authorities accused of promoting or tolerating violence against Christians and other religious minorities Trump is simply saying there are killings in Nigeria, which is true.  Stop it, and that ends it.  Under whatever bill it may be, Trump is right and ...