Oil & Gas
By Anthony Isibor
JAMES Shindi, Project Director Nigeria International Energy Summit, NIES, and Chief Executive, Brevity Anderson, has dedicated the 6th edition of the summit as a valedictory edition for President Muhammadu Buhari.
Shindi said in his welcome note to the 6th edition of NIES on Monday in Abuja that President Buhari’s administration blazed the trail and gave Nigerians a truly Made-in-Nigeria energy summit that has evolved into a pan-African world-class event that has grown consistently bigger and better year-on-year.
Commending President Buhari and Timipre Sylva, former Minister of State for Petroleum, for their unrelenting support in making this event possible, Shindi promised that the summit has come to stay, and will continue to drive the decisions towards sustainable energy future.
“As we use this opportunity as an industry to bid President Buhari a well-deserved goodbye, we want to assure him that the NIES brain-child of his administration has come to stay.
“We will keep the fire burning beyond May 29, 2023. It might interest you to note that the date for the next edition has been fixed, planning has already began and we will be honoured to welcome President Buhari in his private capacity as special guest for NIES 2024.
“In the current global geopolitical context, energy security and energy relations have never been more important than they are today. Nigeria continues to create the platform to demonstrate her seriousness about investing in trusted, reliable energy partnerships and providing the linkage between Africa and the global energy sector. ‘That in a nutshell perfectly describes the platform which Nigeria International Energy Summit represents,” he said.
According to him, some of the remarkable outcomes from the NIES have been embraced by the government, policymakers and the industry as a whole.
“We are indeed very proud to remind event guests that this summit is not just a Nigerian affair. While the summit has evolved into a think tank for ideas and policies, many of which have shaped government policies within the country, the event has quickly become a global rallying point for cross pollination of ideas from some of the global thinkers in the current energy space.
“The NIES has been used as showcase to demonstrate government’s current drive in facilitating inward investment into the sector and has also keyed into ongoing industry reforms and technological developments.
“But more importantly, the NIES has advertised Nigeria in the best possible light as a leader of thought in the global energy space in addition to becoming the platform for major industry deal signings,” he said.
Shindi also expressed gratitude to the speakers and all the resource persons for their time and dedication in putting together the materials for this event.
“Please let us not forget that the entire members of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, also put in a lot of work collectively with Mr. President to institutionalize NIES through an Official Gazette which effectively turned the vision into a reality thereby making the Nigeria International Energy Summit the only Federal Government of Nigeria official energy industry event with the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and all its parastatals, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Ltd, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRO, Nigerian Midstream & Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NPRA, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, Petroleum Technology Development Fund, PTDF, and Petroleum Training Institute, PTI, as joint hosts.
“They deserve commendation for the mutual cooperation that has kept the summit running seamlessly from inception in 2018.
“We are not forgetting all the sponsors, exhibitors, delegates, visitors and the. media. Without you all, we would not have achieved the level of success we have consistently delivered.
“Finally, I wish to thank the various teams from both the government and our conference staff, who have worked and continued to do so tirelessly to ensure the continued success of this event. Particular mention has to be made of the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, His Excellency, Ambassador Gabriel Taminu Aduda for his dedication and professionalism.
“We wish you all a very successful participation and look forward to welcoming you back in 2024.” he added.
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