By Adedapo Adesanya

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has warned that Nigeria risks massive brain drain in the oil and gas sector due to poor remuneration.

The president of PENGASSAN, Mr Festus Osifo, said at the end of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the union on Thursday in Abuja that the industry was facing challenges arising from Naira devaluation and inflation, noting that, oil and gas skills remained globally competitive.

Painting an example, he said, “A drilling engineer in Nigeria does the same job as one in the US or Abu Dhabi,” noting that the union must take steps to bridge the wage gap to prevent members from leaving the country for better opportunities abroad.

“If we don’t act, the brain drain seen in other sectors will be child’s play,” he said.

According to him, PENGASSAN has recorded significant gains through collective bargaining across oil and gas branches.

“We signed numerous agreements across government agencies, IOCs, service and marketing sectors,” he said.

He said the agreements brought relief to members facing rising costs of living, adding that, the association’s duty is to protect members’ jobs and enhance their pay.

Mr Osifo urged companies delaying salary reviews and those foot-dragging as a result of the prevailing economic realities, to do the needful.

He said the industry employed some of the nation’s best talents, making competitive pay critical to retaining skilled workers.

“This industry recruits the best. Companies must provide the best conditions,” he said.

On insecurity, Mr Osifo urged government to take decisive action against terrorism and kidnappings across the country.

“We are tired of condemnations. government must expose sponsors and protect citizens,” he said.

He urged government at all levels to prioritise tackling insecurity through better funding and equipment for security agencies.

Mr Osifo said PENGASSAN supported calls for state police to improve local security response, adding that decentralising policing will protect citizens better than rhetoric.

He also said economic indicators meant little, if food prices remained high and farmers could not return to farms due to insecurity.

“Nigerians want to see food on the table, not macroeconomic figures,” he said, urging the government to coordinate fiscal and monetary policies to ensure economic gains reach households.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria’s crisis-response bill seeking to establish a single, toll-free, three-digit emergency number for nationwide use passed for second reading in the Senate this week.

Sponsored by Mr Abdulaziz Musa Yar’adua, the proposed legislation aims to replace the country’s chaotic patchwork of emergency lines with a unified code—112—that citizens can dial for police, fire, medical, rescue and other life-threatening situations.

Lawmakers said the reform is urgently needed to address delays, miscommunication and avoidable deaths linked to Nigeria’s fragmented response system amid rising insecurity.

Leading debate, Mr Yar’adua said Nigeria has outgrown the “operational disorder” caused by multiple emergency numbers in Lagos, Abuja, Ogun and other states for ambulance services, police intervention, fire incidents, domestic violence, child abuse and other crises.

He said, “This bill seeks to provide for a nationwide toll-free emergency number that will aid the implementation of a national system of reporting emergencies.

“The presence of multiple emergency numbers in Nigeria has been identified as an impediment to getting accelerated emergency response.”

Mr Yar’adua noted that the reform would bring Nigeria in line with global best practices, citing the United States, United Kingdom and India, countries where a single emergency line has improved coordination, enhanced location tracking and strengthened first responders’ efficiency.

With an estimated 90 per cent of Nigerians owning mobile phones, he said the unified number would significantly widen public access to emergency services.

Under the bill, all calls and text messages would be routed to the nearest public safety answering point or control room.

He urged the Senate to fast-track the bill’s passage, stressing the need for close collaboration with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), relevant agencies and telecom operators to ensure nationwide coverage.

Senator Ali Ndume described the reform as “timely and very, very important,” warning that the absence of a reliable reporting channel has worsened Nigeria’s security vulnerabilities.

“One of the challenges we are having during this heightened insecurity is lack of proper or effective communication with the affected agencies,” Ndume said.

“If we do this, we are enhancing and contributing to solving the security challenges and other related criminalities we are facing,” he added.

Also speaking in support, Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno said a centralised emergency number would remove barriers to citizen reporting and strengthen public involvement in security management.

He said, “Our security community is always calling on the general public to report what they see.

“There is a need for government to create an avenue where the public can report what they see without any hindrance. The bill would give strength and muscular expression to national calls for vigilance.”

The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Communications for further legislative work and is expected to be returned for final consideration within four weeks.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The former chief of defence staff (CDS), Mr Christopher Musa, has been sworn-in as the new Minister of Defence.

The retired General of the Nigerian Army took the oath of office for his new position on Thursday in Abuja.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, confirmed this development in a post shared on X, formerly Twitter, today.

“General Christopher Musa takes oath of office as Nigeria’s new defence minister,” he wrote on the social media platform this afternoon.

Earlier, President Bola Tinubu thanked the Senate for confirming Mr Musa when he was screened for the post on Wednesday.

“Two days ago, I transmitted the name of General Christopher G. Musa, our immediate past Chief of Defence Staff and a fine gentleman, to the Nigerian Senate for confirmation as the Federal Minister of Defence.

“I want to commend the Nigerian Senate for its expedited confirmation of General Musa yesterday. His appointment comes at a critical juncture in our lives as a Nation,” he also posted on his personal page X on Thursday.

The former military officer is taking over from Mr Badaru Abubakar, who resigned on Sunday on health grounds.