REDEFINING NIGERIA’S POWER AND PURPOSE
Heirs Energies is making a difference, reckons DAN AIBANGBE
A seismic shift is vibrating through the sprawling onshore fields of the Niger Delta. In January 2021, a $1.2 billion landmark deal sent a clear signal to the global markets: Heirs Energies had arrived. By acquiring a 45% stake in OML 17 from Shell, Total, and ENI, the company did more than purchase an asset; it planted the flag of Africapitalism in the heart of Nigeria’s energy landscape. The message was clear—Africans must not only have a seat at the table but must own the future of their natural resources.
At the center of this revolution is Tony Elumelu—a consummate investor-banker, philanthropist, and a fierce believer in African capacity. Elumelu has consistently championed the creed that for foreign investors to take Africa seriously, Africans must first demonstrate world-class operational excellence in high-stakes ventures. Heirs Energies was founded to shatter the fallacy that Africa cannot manage its own wealth. Today, that myth is being systematically dismantled and consigned to the dustbin of history.
The path Elumelu chose initially appeared high-risk. To the uninitiated, acquiring “brownfield” assets—mature fields often viewed by oil majors as declining—seemed a precarious move for a new indigenous player. But it proved to be a masterstroke of strategic brilliance. Within just 100 days of taking operational control in July 2021, the “miracle” began. Under the leadership of a seasoned indigenous CEO, Osa Igiehon, production surged from 27,000 barrels per day (bpd) to over 50,000 bpd.
Heirs Energies achieved this growth by focusing on disciplined brownfield optimization, rehabilitating and restoring existing wells and facilities, as well as maintaining an unwavering commitment to safety and operational excellence.
This feat is even more remarkable considering the operating environment. Battling the twin shadows of the COVID-19 pandemic and systemic oil theft, Heirs Energies achieved the impossible.
Through strategic intervention, Heirs Energies stabilized its operations and significantly reduced theft-related losses from a staggering peak of 97% to less than 10%.
While reviving crude output, Heirs Energies simultaneously ignited Nigeria’s gas ambitions. In November 2021, only six months post-takeover, the company delivered first gas from the Agbada Non-Associated Gas (NAG) Plant—a project that had languished for over a decade under previous operators. This success provided the critical pulse for the national “Decade of Gas” initiative, immediately necessitating the commencement of Agbada Train-2 to meet domestic demand.
By its third anniversary, the results were undeniable. Heirs Energies had moved to a gold standard. Today, the company produces over 50,000 bpd and approximately 120 million standard cubic feet of gas per day ( MMscf/d), supplying up to 100 MMscf/d of gas into the domestic market and enabling more than 300 megawatts of power generation.
The momentum reached a fever pitch in December 2025. Heirs Energies signed landmark Gas Flare Commercialization Agreements (NGFCP),with five flare gas offtakers, marking a decisive victory for environmental responsibility.
By partnering with these gas offtakers, the company is accelerating flare reduction and gas monetization, effectively turning waste into economic value, directly supporting Nigeria’s green energy transition.
Simultaneously, Elumelu leveraged his profound financial influence to secure a $750 million financing package —one of the largest funding arrangements ever secured by a locally owned African producer, the same way he facilitated a strategic $500 million acquisition of a 20% stake in Seplat Energy. This move represents a powerful horizontal and vertical integration, reminiscent of the historic merger that created today’s UBA. Elumelu does not merely acquire; he creates synergy, infusing every venture with world-class governance and a “winning” culture that turns challenges into blueprints for success.
The Heirs Energies story is a narrative of renewed hope for the continent. The industry is winning, the Niger Delta is winning, and the environment is winning. Through the “Decade of Gas” policy, Nigeria is witnessing an energy revolution that creates thousands of jobs, reduces carbon footprints, and maximizes ROI through the revitalization of existing fields rather than the risky over-drilling of new ones.
These results are a magnet for global capital.
Where Tony Elumelu leads, confidence follows. Nigeria is no longer just a participant in the energy sector; it is a leader. The Giant of Africa has not just awakened—it is fueling the future.
Aibangbe is a Media & Public Relations Consultant
Letter
AJAOKUTA, ACCOUNTABILITY AND THE LIMITS OF CONFRONTATION
The recent heated exchange between Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and the Minister of Steel Development, Prince Shuaibu Audu during the joint budget defence session of the National Assembly has once again drawn national attention to the long-suffering Ajaokuta Steel Company. While robust oversight is a constitutional duty of lawmakers, the tone, framing, and substance of the senator’s intervention raise important questions about method, motive, and maturity in public discourse.
No one disputes that Ajaokuta Steel Plant is a national tragedy of stalled ambition. For over four decades, successive governments have pledged to revive it. Billions of dollars have been expended with little to show. It is therefore understandable that emotions run high whenever the plant is discussed. However, passion must not eclipse prudence, especially in a forum as consequential as a joint budget defence session.
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s comparison of Ajaokuta’s funding needs with the proposed 750-kilometre coastal road project—reportedly costing ₦15 trillion—was rhetorically striking but fundamentally flawed. National budgeting is not a zero-sum emotional contest between projects. Infrastructure priorities are determined by strategic economic frameworks, sectoral projections, financing structures, and long-term development plans. The coastal road, whether one agrees with it or not, is a transportation and logistics infrastructure project expected to unlock coastal economies and attract private capital. Ajaokuta, on the other hand, is a heavy industrial project with complex technical, legal, and financial entanglements spanning decades.
To juxtapose both projects as though one automatically undermines the other oversimplifies Nigeria’s economic planning process. It creates a false dichotomy and fuels public resentment rather than constructive debate. Ajaokuta’s revival requires clarity of ownership, technology partnerships, commercial viability studies, and credible financing models—not rhetorical comparisons designed to inflame.
Furthermore, questioning “the government’s real intention” in reviving the plant suggests bad faith without presenting concrete evidence of sabotage or insincerity. Oversight should interrogate timelines, procurement processes, and measurable deliverables. It should not descend into insinuations. When lawmakers imply hidden motives without substantiation, they risk eroding public trust in institutions rather than strengthening them.
The senator also criticized the committee for holding meetings and engaging with the media, suggesting that these efforts have yielded minimal impact. Yet legislative oversight often begins with consultations, stakeholder engagements, and policy reviews. A project as legally entangled as Ajaokuta—especially after arbitration disputes and international contractual complications—cannot be revived by fiat. It requires deliberate restructuring. Public hearings and media engagements are part of democratic accountability, not evidence of inaction.
Perhaps most contentious was her reference to the 2019 Nigeria–Russia bilateral agreement, under which $1.45 billion was reportedly pledged for Ajaokuta. Her caution that the minister should not “mislead Nigerians” implies that he may have misrepresented the status of that agreement. While transparency is essential, such accusations should be supported by documentary clarity rather than delivered in confrontational soundbites.
International agreements are often subject to renegotiation, feasibility assessments, and sovereign guarantees. A pledge is not the same as disbursed capital. Many bilateral memoranda of understanding never translate into cash-backed commitments. If the Russian facility remains contingent or conditional, it is legitimate for the minister to explain its current status without being accused of dishonesty. To frame policy complexities as deception risks politicizing what should be a technical discussion.
There is also the matter of decorum. Budget defence sessions are not campaign rallies. They are structured engagements where ministers present fiscal plans and legislators scrutinize them. Heated exchanges may generate headlines, but they do little to foster collaborative solutions. Nigeria’s steel sector has suffered not just from funding deficits but from policy inconsistency and political theatrics. What it needs now is stability.
It is worth noting that Minister Shuaibu Audu assumed office within a broader reform agenda aimed at repositioning the mining and steel sectors as pillars of economic diversification. His tenure, still relatively recent in the lifespan of Ajaokuta’s decades-long stagnation, cannot be solely blamed for historical inertia. Demanding immediate transformation of a project that has been dormant for over 40 years ignores the structural realities involved.
Constructive oversight would involve requesting detailed implementation timelines, insisting on performance benchmarks, and proposing legislative support mechanisms such as special purpose vehicles, concession frameworks, or public-private partnerships. It would not rely primarily on dramatic comparisons or adversarial posturing.
Moreover, public confidence in Ajaokuta’s revival depends on unified messaging from political leaders. Investors—local and international—observe these proceedings. When they see discord framed as distrust between legislative and executive arms, it reinforces perceptions of instability. Industrial mega projects require investor confidence anchored in predictable governance.
This is not to suggest that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan should remain silent. On the contrary, her constituency in Kogi Central has a legitimate interest in Ajaokuta’s success. Her advocacy for the plant is understandable and commendable in principle. However, advocacy must be strategic. Effective lawmakers build coalitions, engage quietly where necessary, and apply pressure through structured channels. Confrontation for its own sake may win applause in partisan circles but rarely accelerates complex industrial reforms.
The revival of Ajaokuta demands less grandstanding and more governance. It requires technical audits, credible investors, dispute resolution mechanisms, and political alignment. It also requires acknowledging that no single minister or senator can single-handedly fix what decades of mismanagement created.
In the end, Nigerians deserve transparency, realism, and responsibility. They deserve leaders who debate vigorously yet respectfully, who challenge figures with facts rather than insinuations, and who recognize that economic transformation is a marathon, not a media moment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan’s passion for Ajaokuta is not in question. What is in question is whether her approach during the budget defence advanced the cause of steel revival or merely amplified political friction. At a time when Nigeria seeks industrial rebirth, the country needs statesmanship more than spectacle.
Ajaokuta is too important to become a stage for antagonism. It must instead be the arena for collaboration, clarity, and credible commitment. Only then can the promise of Nigeria’s steel dream move from perpetual debate to practical delivery.
Musa Wada,
Abuja
