From left: President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Eze Anaba, shakes hands with Charles Ebereonwu, as Hector Igbikiowubo, Publisher of Sweet Crude, looks on.
Lagos, Nigeria — President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Eze Anaba, has called for more specialised, evidence-based and investigative reporting of Nigeria’s energy sector, warning that the complexity of the industry requires journalists to move beyond official announcements and provide deeper scrutiny of policies, investments and systemic challenges.
Anaba made the call while delivering the keynote address at the inaugural seminar of the Society of Energy Editors (SEE), themed “Reporting an Evolving Energy Industry: The Nigerian Experience.”
He said Nigeria’s oil and gas industry was at a critical juncture, facing simultaneous challenges ranging from international oil company divestments and declining upstream investment to oil spills, pipeline vandalism, artisanal refining, energy poverty and the impact of climate change.s
According to him, the emergence of the Dangote Refinery, the removal of petrol subsidies, persistent domestic gas supply constraints and repeated national grid collapses have added new layers of complexity to the country’s energy landscape.
Anaba argued that the scale of these challenges makes specialised energy journalism increasingly important for policymakers, investors, businesses and the public.
NGE: Energy reporting must go beyond press releases
The NGE president acknowledged that Nigerian journalism has played an important role in exposing corruption, environmental degradation and other problems associated with the country’s natural-resource sector.
However, he said significant gaps remain in the depth and sophistication of energy reporting.
He noted that journalists sometimes report announcements without sufficiently examining the policies behind them, questioning official claims or seeking independent expert perspectives.
Anaba said the establishment of the Society of Energy Editors could help address the knowledge gap by creating a platform for editors, journalists and energy-sector communications professionals to deepen their understanding of the industry.
He described the Society’s broad membership, which includes traditional media editors and corporate communications executives in the energy sector, as an important pool of expertise that could strengthen public understanding of energy policy and investment.
Dangote Refinery crude supply deserves greater scrutiny
Anaba singled out the Dangote Refinery as one of the developments that could significantly reshape Nigeria’s industrial and energy landscape.
He said the refinery’s operations and its challenges in securing adequate crude oil supplies deserved more sustained media attention because they have implications beyond the fortunes of an individual company.
According to him, the availability of crude for domestic refining raises fundamental questions about Nigeria’s industrialisation strategy, domestic value addition and the effectiveness of the Petroleum Industry Act.
He urged journalists to examine the structural factors affecting crude supply to domestic refineries rather than simply reporting production announcements or disputes between industry stakeholders.
The Dangote Refinery, one of the world’s largest single-train petroleum refineries, has become a major component of Nigeria’s strategy to increase domestic refining capacity and reduce dependence on imported petroleum products.
Grid collapses require deeper investigation
The NGE president also criticised the tendency to treat recurring national electricity-grid collapses primarily as isolated news events.
He said journalists should investigate the underlying factors contributing to the instability of the power system, including inadequate transmission infrastructure, gas supply shortages, ageing networks, vandalism and weaknesses in system control.
“ We must not just report that the grid collapsed; we must interrogate why and hold those responsible to account,” Anaba said.
He argued that persistent electricity-sector failures have consequences for businesses, households, investors and Nigeria’s wider economic competitiveness.
For manufacturers and other energy-intensive businesses, unreliable electricity increases operating costs and can discourage investment, making the performance of the power sector a broader economic issue rather than solely an infrastructure story.
Media urged to scrutinise energy reforms
Anaba also challenged journalists to critically examine government claims about the economic impact of energy-sector reforms, including the removal of petrol subsidies.
He said the media must distinguish between genuine policy outcomes and political messaging by independently assessing whether projected benefits are translating into improved infrastructure, energy security, investment and social welfare.
The challenge, he said, is particularly important as Nigeria seeks to balance fiscal reforms with the economic pressures facing households and businesses.
Society of Energy Editors to raise journalism standards
Anaba commended the Society of Energy Editors for establishing a platform focused specifically on the country’s rapidly changing energy industry.
He welcomed plans by the organisation to provide researched historical guidance on energy issues and publish a quarterly “Nigeria Energy Outlook.”
He said understanding the historical development of Nigeria’s energy sector was essential to properly analysing its current problems, including abandoned projects, policy failures, investment gaps and missed opportunities.
He also called for sustained training and retraining of journalists to improve their ability to interpret technical, financial and regulatory developments.
According to Anaba, modern energy journalists should be able to analyse financial statements, understand energy-market structures, interrogate the economic assumptions behind government policies and explain complex technical issues in language accessible to the public.
Editors have responsibility to protect public interest
The NGE president further urged editors to exercise their gatekeeping responsibilities with greater diligence.
He said editors must resist sensationalism, vested interests and the uncritical reproduction of official statements while ensuring that energy stories are supported by facts and presented within their proper context.
He stressed that the media’s responsibility extends beyond objective reporting to agenda-setting on issues that are critical to national development.
As part of that responsibility, he said journalists should scrutinise the decisions of government agencies, regulators, lawmakers and private-sector operators whose actions influence Nigeria’s energy future.
Nigeria needs stronger energy security strategy
Anaba identified the absence of a coherent national energy security strategy as one of the major concerns confronting the sector.
He said the combination of upstream investment challenges, domestic gas constraints, refinery crude supply issues, electricity-grid instability and the gradual transition towards renewable energy made it necessary for Nigeria to adopt a more integrated approach to energy policy.
The energy transition, he added, should not be treated in isolation from Nigeria’s development needs, particularly the country’s requirement for reliable and affordable electricity and energy to support industrialisation.
He called for stronger collaboration among journalists, industry experts, regulators, policymakers and other stakeholders to ensure that debates about Nigeria’s energy future are informed by evidence rather than political or commercial interests.
A new era for energy journalism
The inaugural Society of Energy Editors seminar comes as Nigeria’s energy industry undergoes significant structural changes, from petroleum-sector reforms and domestic refining expansion to electricity-market reforms and growing interest in renewable energy.
Anaba said the stakes were too high for the media to continue relying on simplistic coverage of the sector.
He pledged the Nigerian Guild of Editors’ support for the Society of Energy Editors and urged its members to contribute to a more informed public debate around Nigeria’s energy future.
“The era of simplistic energy reporting is over,” he said, stressing that issues such as oil-sector divestments, subsidy reforms, the Dangote Refinery, electricity-grid failures and the energy transition are fundamental to Nigeria’s economic future.
He urged editors and journalists to use their platforms to demand accountability, explain complex energy developments and ensure that decisions affecting the country’s energy security remain subject to sustained public scrutiny.