……Senator cites Cardoso, Ribadu as examples, demands working refineries and 4m bpd target
Former Bayelsa East Senator, Ben Murray-Bruce, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to recruit more “mad men” into government, officials obsessed with results and ready to confront entrenched interests, to drive Nigeria’s petroleum sector and broader economy.
In a statement posted on his verified Facebook page on Monday, the media entrepreneur and businessman said support for the administration must not become sycophancy, and that the President needs appointees willing to be unpopular in Abuja in order to be useful to Nigeria.
Murray-Bruce pointed to two current appointees as models of the kind of leadership required.
He cited CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, saying that “whatever disagreements anybody may have with individual policies, there is no question that the institution has undergone a serious reset. Discipline and credibility have returned to monetary policymaking.”
He also praised National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, noting “a seriousness, coordination and strategic direction in the national security architecture that deserves recognition.”
“Mr President, two mad men are not enough for a country of more than 200 million people,” Murray-Bruce said.
The former senator said Nigeria urgently needs similar leadership in the oil and gas sector, describing the country’s current situation as “a poor country sitting on the assets of a rich country.”
He urged the President to make the rehabilitation and commercially viable operation of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries a “national obsession,” and to end what he called years of excuses around turnaround maintenance and committees.
“If government cannot operate them efficiently, find the structure that can. Bring in world-class technical partners. Introduce private capital where necessary. Restructure them. Concession them if that produces the best outcome. But whatever model is chosen, the objective must be brutally simple: MAKE THE REFINERIES WORK,” he stated.
Referencing the Dangote Refinery with a nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, Murray-Bruce proposed an audacious benchmark for the three government refineries: target at least 50% of that capacity, about 325,000 barrels per day and push beyond it.
He added that Nigeria’s ambition should extend beyond domestic sufficiency to becoming “a refining powerhouse for Africa and a major exporter of refined petroleum products.”
On crude production, Murray-Bruce backed the administration’s stated goal of 4 million barrels per day by 2030 and called for an appointee who will treat anything less as unacceptable.
“Find somebody who will fight oil theft, confront bureaucratic paralysis, reduce production costs, unlock dormant assets, accelerate approvals, attract billions of dollars of investment and sit on the neck of every agency standing between Nigeria and increased production,” he said.
“I don’t want another committee chairman. I want a mad man.”
The former senator issued a direct charge to all appointees:
“If you cannot deliver, leave. If you are afraid of stepping on toes, leave. If protecting friendships is more important than protecting Nigeria’s interests, leave. If bureaucracy frightens you, leave.”
He concluded: “Mr President, you have demonstrated that you can take politically difficult decisions. Now take another one: Recruit more mad men. Give Nigeria a mad man for petroleum production. Give us another mad man whose only obsession is refining. Give them measurable targets, presidential backing and deadlines, and then get out of their way.”
“Cardoso is doing his job. Ribadu is doing his job. Now find us two more. Four million barrels per day. Working refineries. A Nigeria that refines its own crude and exports petroleum products to the world. No excuses. No clowns. No passengers. Only results. Mr President, this is a request. And it is not negotiable.”
