Engr. Charles Osezua is set to present his groundbreaking book, The Rise of Gas: From Gaslink to the Decade of Gas, on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) in Lagos.
Hailed as a monumental chronicle of Nigeria’s evolution as a key player in the global oil and gas arena, the book offers unparalleled insights drawn from Osezua’s illustrious career, notably at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and his pioneering venture, Gaslink.
His biographical account takes us from the initial prospecting of oil and gas in the Dahomey Basin all the way to Akata close to Eket where oil and gas was first discovered in 1953 and not Oloibiri in 1956 as has become the entrenched lore.
Engineer Osezua shares in his book the country’s chequered history of gas exploration, waste and utilization from the perspective of a ring-side participant and in so doing gives us a seminal book to enrich the scant literature which currently exists about the emergence and development of the Nigerian gas industry whether from a practitioner or policy maker’s point of view.
His recollections, reminiscences and insights cast a harsh searchlight on the years Nigeria spent burning money in the guise of gas flaring, outlines decades of ill-conceived government policies as well as policy summersaults while commending well-meaning efforts by leaders like President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Governor of Lagos, his cabinet members like Rauf Aregbesola and Muiz Banire as well as Muhammadu Buhari who declared the Decade of Gas.
The book and public presentation is expected to provide an avenue for deepening the ongoing conversations about energy transition and de-carbonisation in Nigeria as outlined in President Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda.
