NNPC’s human resources chief says artificial intelligence, automation, the energy transition and an ageing workforce are widening the technical talent shortage across the industry…..
Nigeria could struggle to take full control of its emerging energy economy if it fails to urgently address a growing shortage of skilled technical workers, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has warned.
The warning came from NNPC Limited’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Kazachiyang Nuhu, who said the country’s energy industry was undergoing rapid changes that were creating demand for specialised skills faster than the workforce could develop them.
Nuhu spoke on Thursday at the Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria Human Capital Development Conference and Expo in Warri, Delta State.
According to him, a combination of the Petroleum Industry Act, Nigeria’s Decade of Gas agenda, the increasing role of indigenous operators and the global shift towards cleaner energy is fundamentally changing the skills required across the sector.
He warned that without a deliberate effort to retrain and reposition Nigerian workers, the country could end up watching others take advantage of opportunities emerging in its own energy industry.
“Reskill, reposition or risk becoming a spectator in our own industry,” Nuhu told participants at the conference.
Energy industry facing new skills reality
Nuhu said the traditional oil and gas workforce was being challenged by a rapidly evolving operating environment shaped by technology, changing markets, government policy and the expectations of younger workers.
Artificial intelligence, automation and digitalisation, he noted, are shortening the lifespan of many existing skills, while investment is increasingly shifting towards liquefied natural gas, cleaner fuels and low-carbon opportunities.
This means that workers who were trained for yesterday’s industry may not necessarily possess the expertise required for tomorrow’s energy projects.
He identified an ageing workforce and the migration of skilled Nigerians abroad — popularly known as “japa” — among the major pressures worsening the situation.
Another major concern, he said, is the disconnect between educational institutions and industry, with graduates often lacking the practical skills employers need when they enter the workplace.
From classrooms to the field
Nuhu argued that Nigeria needs to fundamentally rethink how it develops technical talent.
Rather than relying on generic training programmes, he said human capital development should be tied directly to the realities of oil and gas operations, including production efficiency, plant safety, equipment reliability and cost management.
Training programmes, he added, should also be measured against international standards and make greater use of technologies such as simulators, digital twins, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence.
The objective, according to Nuhu, should be to ensure that money spent on training produces measurable improvements in the workplace.
“Every naira spent on training must translate to a safer plant, a skilled employee, and a stronger balance sheet,” he said.
NNPC changes approach to training providers
NNPC Limited is also set to raise the bar for organisations providing training to its workforce.
Nuhu said the company would increasingly work with trainers capable of preparing employees for the direction in which the industry is moving rather than focusing solely on traditional oil and gas practices.
“We will partner only with trainers who teach the industry we are becoming, not the one we are leaving behind,” he said.
He disclosed that NNPC was already developing its workforce through professional development programmes, career pathways, industry exposure, mentorship, leadership development and structured knowledge transfer.
The company, he said, wants Nigerian workers to move beyond simply participating in major projects to acquiring the expertise needed to lead them.
Local content must go beyond hiring Nigerians
Nuhu also challenged the industry to rethink how it measures Nigerian content.
In his view, the success of local content should not be determined simply by the number of Nigerians employed on a project, but by the level of expertise Nigerians acquire and the responsibilities they are capable of assuming.
“Not how many Nigerians were hired, but how many world-class Nigerians led the project.”
He said the future workforce would need capabilities extending beyond conventional petroleum engineering.
These include renewable-energy integration, gas-to-power, artificial intelligence, predictive maintenance, energy economics, carbon markets, sustainable finance, adaptive leadership and systems thinking.
Industry faces multiple technical challenges
The skills shortage is occurring alongside several operational challenges confronting Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
Nuhu pointed to weaknesses in safety culture, oil spills and gas flaring, pipeline vandalism, crude theft, surveillance and metering gaps.
He also cited difficulties involving the supply of quality materials and equipment, ageing infrastructure, reliability problems and project cost overruns.
Other areas requiring stronger technical capacity include digital oilfield operations, environmental, social and governance practices, refinery operations, petroleum product quality, LPG safety and trade finance.
The breadth of these challenges, he suggested, makes workforce development a strategic issue rather than simply an employment concern.
OGTAN calls for industry-wide collaboration
President of OGTAN, Chris Osarunmewense, said closing Nigeria’s skills gap would require cooperation among stakeholders across the entire energy value chain.
He said government agencies, regulators, oil companies, training providers, universities and technical institutions could not tackle the problem independently.
“The challenges before the industry are too complex for any single organisation to solve,” Osarunmewense said, stressing the need for collaboration across the sector.
He explained that the conference was designed to sustain discussions around developing a workforce capable of meeting the evolving demands of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
Why Warri was chosen
The decision to hold the 2026 conference in Warri was also deliberate, according to Osarunmewense.
He described the city and the wider Niger Delta as central to the history of Nigeria’s petroleum industry, pointing to the region’s longstanding role in exploration, production, processing, technical services and community development.
He said the organisers wanted international participants to see the Niger Delta not simply as a centre of oil production but as a region with significant technical talent, institutions, businesses and untapped human-capital potential.
The partnership with the Petroleum Training Institute further strengthened Warri’s suitability as the host location, given the institute’s longstanding role in technical and professional training for the petroleum sector.
For Nigeria, the message from the conference goes beyond filling vacant technical positions. As the country’s energy mix evolves and technology transforms how projects are designed and operated, the ability to develop and retain world-class talent could determine whether Nigerians lead the next phase of the industry — or merely provide the labour for it.
