ADEGBULUGBE: A SCHOLAR'S UNIQUE INVESTMENT FOR NIGERIA @ 65

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ADEGBULUGBE: A SCHOLAR’S UNIQUE INVESTMENT FOR NIGERIA @ 65

By: Martins Oloja

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will continue celebration of Nigeria’s 65th Independence anniversary on October 8, 2025 in Rivers State with formal commissioning of Nigeria’s first indigenous oil export terminal in 50 years at Ikuru Town, Andoni Local Government, Rivers State. So, what is the news here?

An indigenous firm, Green Energy International Limited has completed an onshore crude oil export terminal at Otakikpo, Rivers State, which is aimed at reducing crude evacuation costs and addressing bottlenecks that have hindered Nigeria’s crude oil production targets for years. The commissioning of the oil facility by Nigeria’s leader will be the second breakthrough launched this year by a professor turned strategic investor in the oil and gas sector, Anthony Olusegun Adegbulugbe.

First, on Tuesday March 18, 2025, the day emergency rule was imposed on Rivers state, the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, commissioned the first Otakikpo LPG Extraction Plant and 20Mw Gas-to-Power Project on behalf of the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The special pioneer energy project is the brainchild of the First Otakikpo Midstream Limited, chaired and managed by the distinguished scholar, Anthony Adegbulugbe, a professor of Nuclear Materials Engineering/Energy Management System. The Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) extraction plant already completed and producing utilises the associated gas from the field to produce LPG products namely, Prospane Butane gas. Besides, it produces Condensate, a low-density mixture of hydro-carbon liquids that are present as gaseous components in the raw natural gas produced from many natural gas fields.

Ekpo who commissioned the 12 Million Standard Cubic Feet (mmscf) LPG Extraction Plant and the 20 Mega Watts Gas to power plant built by the Otakikpo joint venture (comprising Green Energy International Limited, the Operator and Lekoil, the Technical Partner of Otakikpo field PML 11, Rivers State said the government of President Bola Tinubu was elated by the development. Just like Jim Simons, the scholar has become a significant investor whose investment will certainly supply electricity to various communities for the first time in the areas of operations.

Here is the strategic importance of the new crude oil terminal to be commissioned by the President on October 8: operators in the oil and gas sector have identified evacuation challenges as a major barrier to achieving the Federal Government’s goal of producing three million barrels of crude oil per day. It is understood that the president and oil industry investors are upbeat about this because the new terminal, with an initial storage capacity of 750,000 barrels expandable to three million barrels and a loading capacity of 360,000 barrels per day, is expected to support the government’s objective to produce 2.06 million barrels daily.

The $400 million worth of facility is intended to lower the industry’s high production costs, which currently range between $25 and $40 per barrel in Nigeria, significantly higher than production costs in countries like Saudi Arabia, where it averages about $10 per barrel.

At the test-run of the facility the other day, the Otakikpo Oil Terminal managing director who would not like his name in print yet described the terminal as a cost-saving solution, particularly beneficial to marginal field operators whose wells remain idle due to limited evacuation infrastructure. He compared the savings to carpooling: “If you stay in Lagos and drive your own car to work every day, you spend more. But once you decide to carpool, you start saving. This is exactly what this facility brings to the market. It provides an option to store crude and eliminates evacuation challenges.” The CEO, an engineer added that the terminal would reduce capital and operational expenditures by allowing producers to store crude locally instead of depending on distant or costly floating production systems. He added: “It should be realised that instead of spending on multiple float stations, this facility offers a home-grown alternative. When oil is stored in tanks, it lowers the cost of production per barrel significantly… This facility will ensure that the costs will drop by at least 40 per cent…”

Board Chairman of Green Energy, Professor Anthony Adegbulugbe said the terminal is the first onshore crude oil terminal built by an indigenous operator in Nigeria, noting its logistical advantages with access by truck, barge, sea, and pipeline. “What we have achieved here is not just a storage solution, but a game-changing national infrastructure that has opened a new pathway for about 40 stranded oil fields to finally contribute to the economy,” he said. He praised the King of Ikuru Town, the Okanama of Ikuru for mobilising local artisans who supported the civil works, and acknowledged the offshore technical expertise of West African Ventures, a Nigerian marine firm.

Professor Adegbulugbe also lauded the local community and project partners for delivering the terminal under difficult conditions. His words: “The last 24 months have been tough. We laid pipes under adverse weather, with 24 to 25 days of delay at times while paying $250,000 per day in standby rates. Several barges sank. What was scheduled for 14 days took six months. But not once did our contractors back out. Together, we weathered the storm and delivered…We are local and flexible. No other terminal in Nigeria has this level of logistical access. This project shows what Nigerian companies can achieve with resilience and vision.”

When Professor Anthony Olusegun Adegbulugbe marked his 70th birthday on Wednesday April 2, 2025, here is an excerpt from a tribute on this page: “…we need to note that we are honouring a remarkable individual who has left an indelible mark in the academia and industry. Not many scholars have successfully migrated from the classroom to the boardroom as an investor, like Adegbulugbe. He has curiously done so in the likeness of the iconic Jim Simons – (James Harris Simons (April 25,1938 – May 10, 2024), an American mathematician who did well as a hedge fund manager, investor and philanthropist. The Cambridge Massachusetts-born investor, Simons did his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, did his M.Sc, PhD at the University of California, Berkeley. The Oswald Veblen laureate and founder of Renaissance Technologies developed the Chern-Simons form (with Shiing-Shen Chern), and contributed to the development of string theory of providing a theoretical framework to combine geometry and topology with quantum field theory. In 1994, Simons and his wife, Marilyn, founded the Simons Foundation to support research in mathematic and fundamental sciences. At the time of his death in May, 2024, Simons’ net worth was estimated to be $31.4 billion, making him the 55th richest person in the world.

It is clear that Professor Adegbulugbe has been influenced by the creative spirit of this scholar and investment guru, Simons who began too from MIT, Massachusetts where Adegbulugbe too obtained his D.SC in Nuclear Materials Engineering.

Doubtless, the Nigerian scholar has imbibed the Simons’ effect as a scholar and a successful investor in the cognitive discipline that made him (Adegbulugbe) a contributor to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Reports, which won for the IPCC the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with former Vice President, United States, Al Gore.

Born in Ibadan on April 2,1955, Adegbulugbe whose parents hail from Ondo town in Ondo state, had his secondary education at Loyola College, Ibadan where he passed with Distinction. He then moved on to the University of Ife now OAU where he studied Electrical /Electronic Engineering and he graduated with B.sc (Hon) in Electrical Engineering (First Class) with a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 5.0 on a scale of 5.0 in June 1976, a feat only few have matched.

For his postgraduate education, he bagged a university scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Mass: U.S.A and obtained a D.SC. in Nuclear Materials Engineering, minor programme in Energy Planning and Management in June 1981.

After his first Job as Pupil Engineer, at NEPA later PHCN in 1976-1977, he crossed over to the Academia as a Graduate Assistant, later Senior Research Lecturer of the Obafemi Awolowo University Centre for Energy Research & Development from 1977 where he rose not only rose to become a Professor of Energy Management and Planning but was its Director /Chief Executive for a record of 13 years. He was a much sought after academic all over the world for his profound intellectual contributions in the area of Energy policy, planning and climate change. He was therefore on several national and international assignments such as member and chairman Sub-Committee on Information Technology, Expert Group on Technology Transfer (EGTT), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), etc.

Prof Adegbulugbe has been involved in the development of Universities at the highest governing level such as Member, Governing Council, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, 1997 – 1999, Member Governing council of the University of Abuja 2012-2015, member Board of Trustees, Joseph Ayo Babalola University (JABU), Arakeji.

What is more significant, when the nation was hunting for solutions to critical challenges in the power sector, President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005 appointed Adegbulugbe as his Presidential Adviser on Energy Matters. He at the same time was made Chairman Gas-to-Power Project, a World Bank project designed to prepare a workable interface between the power, the oil and gas sectors. The administration had then realised the need for the development of gas to drive the Power sector as a way of solving the Energy problem. Behold, Adegbulugbe came to the rescue with a series of policy initiatives that would have made Gas available for the power turbines, which Nigeria invested billions of dollars in bringing to Nigeria.

In addition to his portfolio as Special Adviser to the President, Adegbulugbe was a Member, Economic Management Team, Member of Presidential Council on Mambilla Hydro Project, Alternate Chairman, Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority, Chairman, National Multi-sectoral Energy Access Committee. Perhaps it needs be noted his spirited effort to revive the then moribund Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission, which he saw as a veritable source of coordinating efforts to use nuclear reactors for power generation for the country. To him as a nuclear expert, Atomic Energy also offers a good source of power in spite of fears over its possible negative uses. Indeed he led the Nigerian Delegation to the International Atomic Energy Agency conference in 2006 where Nigeria was re-admitted into the fold.

One other sterling attribute in the life of the genius is that despite his strings of achievement in several areas of endeavour, he exudes uncommon humility and friendliness, which endears him to all. He is eager to help people in need through his philanthropy, quite like the role model, Jim Simons. The significant scholar is also quite active in the household of faith. Despite his busy schedules, Adegbulugbe, has been quite active as a fulltime Pastor of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC).

Let’s borrow some brilliance from a scholar and investor who has demonstrated to the intellectual powers and people of the world that first-class scholars too can trigger significant business innovation and success in their areas of specialisation.