By Sam Otuonye 

The Federal Government has expressed its readiness to collaborate with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the private sector, and development partners to mobilise investment and create sustainable economic opportunities in communities affected by displacement across Nigeria.

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, stated this during a meeting with the UNHCR team, led by its Representative in Nigeria, Mr Arjun Jain, to discuss the proposed Leadership Alliance for Enterprise, Acceleration and Prosperity (LEAP), an initiative to mobilise private investment for displacement-affected and fragile communities.

Senator Bagudu said the initiative was particularly relevant to Nigeria’s development priorities because displacement disrupts livelihoods, weakens local economies, and can deepen poverty if affected populations are not reintegrated into productive economic activity.

According to him, people forced to leave their communities because of insecurity or natural disasters often abandon farms, fishing grounds, livestock and other sources of livelihood, making the restoration of economic opportunities critical to sustainable reintegration.

He said: “Displacement, by its very nature, involves disruption. When people are forced to leave their communities, whether because of natural disasters or insecurity, their economic activities are automatically interrupted.”

The minister stressed that efforts to return displaced persons to their communities must be complemented by measures to restore livelihoods, address poverty and create opportunities for productive enterprise.

He said the LEAP initiative aligned with Nigeria’s long-term development aspirations, particularly the objective of building a more productive, inclusive and investment-driven economy.

“Our objective is therefore clear: the $1 trillion economy we aspire to build must be inclusive and create opportunities across communities,” he said.

Senator Bagudu noted that prolonged displacement could undermine family structures, social cohesion and economic productivity, and stressed that rehabilitation and reintegration ultimately require jobs and sustainable economic opportunities.

He recalled his experience as Governor of Kebbi State during a border delineation exercise with the Republic of Benin, following the implementation of a World Court judgment, in which some communities were relocated across the border.

The minister said the experience demonstrated that displacement was not merely a question of where people lived, but also of the quality and scale of the economic opportunities available to them.

He explained that a woman in one of the relocated communities had told him that the farms available to the men on the Nigerian side were significantly smaller, leaving them with limited productive work after returning from the farm.

Senator Bagudu said the Federal Government was therefore seeking to localise development planning and to gain a clearer understanding of the needs and opportunities across Nigeria’s 8,809 wards.

He said such an approach would help identify communities experiencing displacement, those hosting displaced populations, and the specific economic and infrastructure challenges they face.

According to him, both displaced and host communities can face significant pressure, making coordinated intervention involving the Federal, State and Local Governments, the private sector and development partners essential.

The minister described LEAP as a novel initiative aligned with the Ministry’s thinking on locally driven development and stressed the need to address the risks that deter private investment in vulnerable communities.

He noted that investors entering displacement-affected communities often face multiple challenges, including insecurity, inadequate infrastructure and disruption to the productive activities on which businesses depend.

Senator Bagudu said the government therefore had a role to play in developing practical de-risking mechanisms to encourage responsible private investment.

“If a private-sector player wants to invest in a community facing security or infrastructure challenges, it is legitimate for the government to use public resources to help de-risk that investment,” he said.

He identified security support, access roads and other critical infrastructure as areas where public intervention could unlock private investment, adding that the National Credit Guarantee Agency and insurance mechanisms should also be explored to reduce investment risks in vulnerable communities.

The minister further highlighted existing World Bank-supported programmes, including initiatives targeting internally displaced persons and resilience-building programmes such as NG-CARES and Nigeria for Women, as potential instruments to support private-sector partnerships and investment.

He urged stakeholders to adopt an approach that goes beyond an initial selection of 10 states, stressing that the objective should be to develop a model that can be replicated across Nigeria.

“Displacement and vulnerability are not confined to one part of Nigeria,” he said, noting that various forms of displacement, insecurity and historical community tensions affect access to land, investment and enterprise development across the country.

He said every state and every governor should be encouraged to explore ways to support a private-sector-led approach to investment in communities where security, infrastructure and other concerns may otherwise deter investors.

Senator Bagudu expressed the Ministry’s readiness to work with UNHCR and other partners to identify practical projects that could serve as proof of concept.

“We should perhaps identify three, four or five projects where we can work together and demonstrate what is possible,” he said.

He identified agriculture, including oil production, sugar, and other commodities, as areas with potential, while urging stakeholders to consider agricultural models suited to communities affected by insecurity.

Earlier, the UNHCR Representative in Nigeria, Mr Arjun Jain, said the organisation was seeking to move beyond traditional humanitarian assistance by promoting sustainable livelihoods, self-reliance and private-sector investment for displaced and host communities.

Jain said that UNHCR’s engagement with displaced communities had consistently shown that people wanted opportunities to rebuild their lives, particularly through employment and sustainable livelihoods.

He noted that Nigeria hosts millions of internally displaced persons, alongside refugees and asylum-seekers from other countries, creating an urgent need for solutions that go beyond short-term humanitarian support. UNHCR’s current operation in Nigeria likewise identifies more than 3.7 million internally displaced people and over 140,000 refugees and asylum-seekers in the country. 

According to him, UNHCR has intensified its engagement with the private sector, state governments and development partners to develop practical economic solutions for communities affected by displacement.

He cited the organisation’s partnership with Tropical General Investments (TGI), which is expanding agricultural livelihood opportunities in Benue and Cross River States. 

In June 2026, UNHCR announced that the three-year partnership would support more than 5,000 farmers and create more than 10,000 jobs, with refugees, internally displaced persons and host communities among the intended beneficiaries.

Jain said the organisation was also exploring additional financing mechanisms with development finance institutions and commercial banks to provide affordable finance to farmers, displaced populations and other vulnerable communities.

He said that UNHCR was equally implementing community-based early-warning and early-response mechanisms to provide timely information on security developments and to facilitate responses by relevant authorities.

According to him, such systems could also help improve investors’ understanding of the actual conditions in communities often perceived as too risky for investment.

He explained that although certain areas may be broadly perceived as high-risk, conditions can vary significantly from one local government area or community to another, creating opportunities for more targeted, evidence-based investment decisions.

Jain said the proposed LEAP initiative was designed to build on these experiences by bringing government, private-sector investors, development finance institutions and development partners together.

He said the initiative aims to mobilise $10 billion in investment over five years across 10 states facing displacement and fragility.

According to him, achieving that ambition would require private companies to identify viable investment opportunities, development finance institutions to provide suitable financing, and governments and development partners to help address risks that could otherwise discourage investment.

He said UNHCR had already engaged institutions, including British International Investment and the International Finance Corporation, on the proposal, adding that the organisation was seeking a collaborative approach to reduce the risk exposure for individual investors and financiers.

“The only way we can succeed is to bring everyone around the table,” Jain said.

***Says N70,000 minimum wage no longer adequate 

*** Admits high cost of living has eroded workers purchasing power 

*** Calls for FG, Labour meeting over new wages 

By Sam Otuonye 

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN,  has called on the federal government to interface with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) to agree on a new minimum wage to confront the lingering hardship in the country.

Keyamo, a former minister of state for Labour and Employment said the current N70,000 national minimum wage is no longer inadequate to meet the economic pressures confronting Nigerian workers.

The minister,who made the declaration when he spoke at the 2026 National Pre-Retirement Summit organised by XEM Consultants Limited, said the rising cost of living had eroded the purchasing power of workers, adding that there is an urgent need for an upward review of wages in the country.

Keyamo also accused some state governments and other agencies of treating their workers poorly, alleging that they ignore priorities like workers welfare, while senior officials approve large sums for international trips.

He said, “I will have none of it. Without these workers, we will not have a country,” he said.

“It’s not the machines or everything that you [have]; it’s the human factor. Without that, no machine will move.”

The minister stressed that national development depended on prioritising the welfare of workers, describing the human factor as central to productivity and effective public service.

He argued that issues affecting workers’ welfare and productivity should receive priority over bureaucratic considerations, urging ministers and heads of government agencies to make workers’ interests a priority.

Earlier in his remarks, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, called on the Federal Government to use increased oil revenues to cushion workers and other Nigerians from the impact of rising fuel prices.

Ajaero noted that the recent increase in international oil prices had created additional revenue for oil-producing countries and urged the government to deploy part of the gains to support citizens facing higher transportation and food costs.

“As one of the oil-producing countries, they are making trillions because of the problem in the Strait of Hormuz. You can see that oil was pegged at maybe $70 or whatever dollars. It’s $100, so they are making an extra $30 or $40.

“Now, can’t you use this money to embark on some interventionary measures like other countries where this is affected, so that we’ll now be alive till the time when they will say minimum wage?”

The NLC president emphasised that minimum wage negotiations should focus on workers’ real purchasing power rather than nominal figures, taking into account inflation, fuel prices, food costs and other economic factors,  saying that a nominally high wage could lose its value if the prices of basic commodities rose sharply.

“Assuming one naira is equal to $1, I would advise Nigerian workers to remain at ₦70,000 because that would be big money for them, but you can see that you can equally get one million naira and a bag of rice is ₦500,000, so what of that? What happens?

“Unless you index it either based on cost of living index or inflation, immediately inflation goes like this, automatically it will adjust to this, as it is affecting pension, so it affects salaries; and those are some of the things that will enable us to agree on something.”

On minimum pension, the NLC president said it should be negotiated alongside the minimum wage because workers and pensioners were both affected by prevailing economic conditions.

He explained that the next minimum-wage review was expected around March or April, stressing the need for an urgent government discussion with Labour over a new minimum wage

According to him, labour’s immediate concern was how workers could cope with the current economic pressures before the next review.

“This minimum wage is supposed to expire March–April, so the conversation ought to start early. That’s a three-year cycle,” he said.

“But now we are more concerned on ‘give us this day’ — how to survive today before that time. Because these policies of the fuel going up, jumping up, and the Nigerian government is making a whole lot of money from it.”

Ajaero also questioned the effectiveness of government measures designed to reduce transportation and energy costs, including the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) programme.

“Are we even producing enough in terms of food, reliance on food? Now, between that time and now, the most troublesome problem for a worker, which happened to be transportation — the CNG policy, did it work? Where and where can you refill your tank? How many vehicles have been converted to CNG? How many electric vehicles are on the road?” he queried 

He advised further that controlling factors such as inflation, transportation costs, food prices and currency pressures would make it easier for workers to cope with prevailing economic conditions.

The Chief Executive Officer of XEM Consultants Ltd. and convener of the summit, Dr. Eugenia Ndukwe, said the event was designed to equip senior professionals with strategies and skills for a productive and fulfilling retirement.

…say focus should be on energy justice 

By Sam Otuonye 

As energy experts gathered in Abuja on Thursday, September 24, 2026, to participate in the 2026 Annual Conference of Association of Energy Correspondents Abuja FCT (AECAF), one of the major consensus was that fossil fuel would not disappear at the emergence of energy transiting to gas, solar, electric, water, and wind.

They argued that no level of transition could extinct crude oil exploration, exploitation, and production, at least, not in the near future, highlighting that the focus of the entire emerging energy ecosystem should bother on the World achieving energy justice, such that every aspect of the mix enjoys global support and advancement.

“Crude oil is not going anywhere. You can’t compare electric, water energy, to what fossil fuel is doing,” opined Dr Billy Gillis-Harry, President, Petroleum Products Retail Owners Association (PETROAN).

Aligning, Executive Director, Green Growth Africa, Dr Adedoyin Adeleke, stated that energy transition is not an event but a process, noting that the couch of ‘Energy Transition’ is not entirely appropriate, rather, ‘Just Energy’, where the energy mix is encouraged and protected.

“Energy transition is not an event but a process. Just Energy should be the name, not Energy Transition, where justice is enshrined in the energy administration, allowing the mix to develop sustainably and differently,” Adeleke postulated.

Gillis-Harry also noted that the Nigeria oil and gas industry was not transparent, a situation, he claimed has kept petrol price high.

“Oil and gas industry is not transparent. That is why we are paying much per litre of petrol,” Harry declared.

Further more, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) used the forum to urge energy journalists to look beyond announcements and hold the industry accountable for turning approved investments into actual production, as officials reported that the country’s crude output has stayed above its OPEC quota for four straight months.

Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, Commission Chief, represented by Joseph Ogunsola, Director Surface Development, said the Commission has approved Field Development Plans worth more than $57 billion since 2024, with 22 offshore projects planned between 2026 and 2030 carrying an estimated $30 billion to $50 billion in further investment. But she stressed that approvals alone mean little without execution. 

“The priority now is execution. Approvals and investment commitments are important, but their real value is realised when projects move and new volumes come onstream.”

She put Nigeria’s proved and probable reserves at 37.01 billion barrels of oil and condensate and 215.19 trillion cubic feet of gas as of January 1, 2026, and framed regulatory predictability, decarbonisation planning and gas commercialisation as the levers the Commission is using to keep Nigerian assets competitive against global capital.

Also, speaking on the AECAF Conference theme: “Sustaining Oil and Gas Investment in Nigeria Amid Energy Transition,” Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, said the government’s priority is proving to investors that policy will be consistently implemented, not just legislated.

He pointed to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 as a foundation, but cautioned that “legislation alone is not sufficient” without follow-through on project delivery.

Represented by his Senior Technical Adviser, Abel NSA, Ekpo described gas infrastructure projects such as the AKK and OB3 pipelines as central to shifting Nigeria’s gas sector from an export-first model toward greater domestic use in power, manufacturing, fertiliser and transport.

He also called on energy correspondents to help build investor confidence by reporting “with accuracy, professionalism and a strong appreciation of the opportunities and challenges facing the sector.”

Also, the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF) disclosed that it leveraged ₦671 billion in public funds to attract ₦1.6 trillion in private investment for Nigeria’s midstream and downstream gas infrastructure, supporting 31 projects and 205 infrastructure assets nationwide.

The fund said the projects, when fully operational, are expected to supply about 475 million standard cubic feet (scf) of gas daily to the domestic market.

MDGIF Executive Director, Oluwole Adama, represented by the Director of Strategy, Research and Deal Origination, Engr. Elvis Duruji, Adama said the achievement reflects MDGIF’s core mandate of deploying public funds to reduce investment risks and attract private capital into the sector.

Delivering a keynote address titled, “Derisking Domestic Gas Infrastructure – The Missing Link to Private Investment, explained that MDGIF was created as a catalytic institution rather than a passive funding agency, with the responsibility of making commercially difficult but strategically important gas projects financially viable.

He said that the Fund is a public fund, “and we see platforms like this as an opportunity to come and give account.”

According to him, the fund has already mobilised private investment worth about 2.4 times its own contribution, demonstrating the effectiveness of its risk-sharing model.

“As we speak, MDGIF has used its own fund to mobilize 2.4X of the private counterparties. We’ve been able to use the fund we have to reduce investment barriers, attracting more private investors to partner with MDGIF, and this is the success story,” he stated.

Adama said the projects in the fund’s portfolio could increase Nigeria’s domestic gas supply by about 25 per cent if fully completed, based on the country’s current domestic production of about 1.9 billion scf per day.

“As of today, if all the projects, about 30 partnership projects and 205 ongoing infrastructure assets, are completed, they will deliver about 475 million scf of gas per day into the domestic market,” he said.

He identified high financing costs, inadequate infrastructure, regulatory uncertainty, and technical and commercial risks as the major obstacles discouraging investment in the country’s midstream gas sector.

On gas flare commercialisation, Adama disclosed that MDGIF had partnered four flare-out awardees, whose projects are expected to monetise 444 million scf of gas daily that would otherwise be flared, while eliminating about 2,845 metric tonnes of emissions every day.

He further revealed that the fund has partnered 30 unincorporated joint ventures and one incorporated equipment leasing company, covering 20 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) mother stations, more than 80 CNG daughter stations, as well as 75 additional daughter stations through the leasing company.

Among MDGIF’s flagship interventions, Adama highlighted the 5 million scf mini-LNG plant being developed by Topline Limited in Delta State, describing it as Nigeria’s first indigenous mini-LNG project.

He said the project had spent three years searching for financing before MDGIF’s equity investment unlocked an InfraCredit guarantee, paving the way for its completion.

“That particular project had gone around looking for funds for three years but couldn’t secure any. After partnering with MDGIF, the facility is now expected to be commissioned within the next two to three months,” he added.

Other projects supported by the fund include CNG infrastructure across 20 universities, Ibile Oil and Gas in Lagos and Rolling Energy in Abuja.

Duruji said MDGIF’s long-term objective is to absorb part of the early risks associated with gas projects, making them bankable and more attractive to lenders and private investors.

“The missing link is vulnerability. MDGIF’s catalytic role is to price and absorb part of the early risk, turning uncertainty into bankability, bankability into private investment, and investment into operating gas infrastructure,” he said. 

Earlier, in his welcome address, AECAF chairman, John Ofikhenua traced two decades of shocks to Nigerian oil and gas investment, from the U.S. shale boom to COVID-19 and the more recent divestment pressure tied to net-zero commitments.

He argued that global crises, including the Russia-Ukraine war and the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict affecting the Strait of Hormuz, have driven renewed interest in Nigerian crude and gas even as transition rhetoric persists.

Ofikhenua said the conversation among major economies has increasingly moved from “energy transition” to “energy mix,” and pointed to strong investor demand for the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals IPO and NUPRC’s licensing rounds as evidence that sentiment toward Nigerian hydrocarbons is turning.