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The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) have launched a $9 million professorial chair endowment programme across six Nigerian universities, aimed at producing commercially viable solutions to oil and gas industry challenges.
Under the Nigerian Content Research and Development (NC-R&D) Professorial Chair Endowment Programme, each university will receive $1.5 million to establish a specialised chair tied to agreed industry research priorities. The NCDMB’s Planning, Research and Statistics Directorate is supervising implementation.
The beneficiaries are the University of Ibadan, Rivers State University, Modibbo Adama University, Yola, Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology, Kano, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and University of Abuja (Yakubu Gowon University).
Each institution has a distinct brief. Ibadan will focus on natural gas processing, pollution control and environmental management, while Rivers State University will take on digital engineering, intelligent energy systems, automation and asset integrity. Modibbo Adama University will research energy transition and the environment, and Aliko Dangote University will work on sustainable energy innovation and climate-resilient food systems. Nsukka will specialise in green energy production and geoenvironmental engineering, and the University of Abuja will focus on geoscience and satellite intelligence for resilient gas infrastructure.
Speaking at the kick-off ceremony, NLNG’s Managing Director and CEO, Adeleye Falade, said the programme would strengthen Nigeria’s ability to turn academic knowledge into practical solutions.
He said the research would address operational efficiency, emissions management, safety, infrastructure maintenance and more sustainable industrial processes.
“In the energy industry, we understand that technology and energy systems are evolving and the requirement for sustained research cannot be overemphasised,” he said.
Falade outlined a “triple helix” model linking government, industry and academia through sabbaticals, exchange programmes, practical testing of research assumptions and joint postgraduate curricula.
He said the NLNG Research and Innovation Centre for Computer and Electrical Engineering (RICCEE) at Rivers State University is expected to coordinate collaboration among the universities. He added that Google, Cisco and MTN have shown early interest in supporting the initiative.
He urged the institutions to attract more grants and commercialise their intellectual property.
NCDMB Executive Secretary, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, described the endowment as a strategic investment in Nigeria’s research and innovation ecosystem, adding that it complements the Board’s investments in R&D Centres of Excellence across six universities.
Ogbe charged the universities to move from research for publication to research for application.
He said they must deliver clear research objectives, measurable outcomes, prudent use of funds and sustained industry collaboration.
The funding also covers minor civil works to convert identified spaces into research centres. The universities will jointly host an information management hub, and industry professionals will be able to pursue master’s and doctoral degrees while contributing practical expertise.
The programme supports NLNG’s recently approved NextGen Nigerian Content Strategy, whose theme is “Start Local, Go Global, Think Nigerian Content.”
