The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) has revealed that the newly renamed General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua University of Geological Science and Engineering Technology (UGSET), Kaduna, will play a central role in Nigeria’s ambition to build a one trillion dollar economy while reducing the country’s dependence on foreign institutions for technical education.
The Executive Secretary of PTDF and Chairman of the university’s Governing Council, Prof. Shehu Aliyu, made this known during a press conference in Kaduna, where he outlined the institution’s operational status, ongoing reforms, and strategic direction.
Aliyu said the university, recently renamed by President Bola Tinubu from its former name, the Centre for Petroleum and Energy Studies, was conceived alongside PTDF’s Centre for Skills Development and Training in Port Harcourt as part of a broader effort to strengthen Nigeria’s human capital base and develop world-class expertise locally.
He said the initiative aligned with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the 2026 to 2030 National Development Plan, particularly the target of growing Nigeria into a one trillion dollar economy.
“The university will serve as a strategic catalyst for Nigeria’s economic growth by building local technical capacity and conserving foreign exchange,” Aliyu said.
He noted that the ultimate goal was to build an ecosystem capable of supporting innovation, employment, and competitiveness, while positioning Nigeria as a major source of skilled energy professionals for the African continent.
The university currently focuses on postgraduate education and advanced research through partnerships with foreign universities. PTDF is also implementing a split-site doctoral programme allowing scholars to begin their studies in Nigeria and complete the remainder at partner universities in the United Kingdom, thereby maintaining international standards while reducing the cost of sending Nigerians abroad.
Aliyu said the institution’s programmes would be aligned with the requirements of major energy projects including the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano Gas Pipeline, the UTM Floating LNG project, the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, and several other key oil and gas developments across Nigeria.
The PTDF boss also disclosed that existing partnerships with organisations including the Independent Petroleum Producers Group, Algeria’s Sonatrach, Saudi Aramco, and Turkey Petroleum would support knowledge transfer, training, research, and innovation at the institution.
To drive the repositioning, the governing council has constituted an academic review committee headed by former Secretary General of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO), Farouk Ibrahim, to assess the university’s programmes, infrastructure, governance, and research capacity and recommend measures for its development.
Speaking on behalf of the committee, Ibrahim said Africa’s continued dependence on external sources for oil and gas technology was becoming a risk, particularly as developed countries shifted their focus toward renewable energy, while hundreds of millions of Africans still lacked access to modern energy.
He said UGSET could become a vital platform for producing the technical expertise Africa needs to control the financing, technology, and markets associated with its own energy resources while simultaneously preparing for the energy transition.
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