Asagr owingchi

ld,Iwasi
nc r
easinglycur
iousabouttheabundanceof'
worldal
teri
ng'r
esources
buri
eddeepwi t
hintheEar
t h'
scrus tandhadwonder edwhyamoneymagnets uchaspet r
oleum
wouldbes ofarfr
om ourreach. I
r ememberi
ndulgi
ngmys el
final
lki
ndsoffantas
iesand
ref
lec
tionsaboutthemyst
er i
ousr eser
voi
rundergr
ound,andI i
magi
nedthatsomedayI wouldbe
abletounvei
lit
svari
ousmys ter
ies.

Thi
sgreataff
ini
tyforpet
rol
eum andall
thatitr
epres
ent
s,hadpropell
edmyc hoi
ceofst
udyin
myundergraduateprogr
am,int
opurs
uingadegr eei
npetr
oleum engi
neer
ing,
inoneofNiger
ia'
s
ol
destacademicinst
it
uti
ons
,renownedforherexcel
l
enceinengi
neeri
ngstudi
es.

Regar dlessofthelapseinyears,
thebl ackpetroleum c
ontinuestoholdmefascinatedand
spellboundwi t
hitsinfi
nit
eattr
ac t
ions.Inordertounder s
tandpetrol
eum bet
ter
,Ic onsi
deri
t
nec essarytotr
avel t
otheothersideoft hePac ifi
cOceanf oramas t
ersdegr
eepr ogram i
n
petroleum engi
neer i
ngorrel
atedf i
elds,toimpr ovemyknowl edgeandexperti
seinpetrol
eum
research-Adr eam thatmybel ovedc ountr
y, cannotatthisti
meaf f
ordme.

Ipr
idemys el
finhavingamindsetofexc
ellenc
e,andthi
shasbeenacor
efactori
nmypursui
tof
successthr
ough5year sofdedi
catedacademicef
for
tsatt
heFeder
alUniv
ers
ityofTec
hnol
ogy,
Ower r
i(FUTO),Nigeri
a.

Likethephysici
stwoulds ay,"Foreveryac t
ion,therei sanequal andoppos i
tereac t
ion".The
rewar dofmyhar dwor kanddedi cati
onbeganpayi ngof fevenf r
om myf i
rstyearof
under gr
aduatestudi
es ,
asI wasr ewardedwi t
hqui teanamazi ngresultattheconc l
usionofthat
ac ademicsess
ion,atr
endt hatcontinuedev ent i
l
l myf inalyear ,
wher eImademybes tresul
ts
yet,incorepet
roleum engineeri
ngc oursesl
iker eservoirengineeri
ng,petrol
eum Pr oduction
engineeri
ng,dril
l
ingfl
uidst echnologyandpet roleum ec onomic s
.

Asidesthecl
ass
rooms,ext
ens
ivepractic
al l
aboratorysessi
onsandf iel
dtripsinthecour
sehelped
met odevel
opkeenobserv
ati
ons ki
ll
s,alongsi
depr act
icalexper
iencesinthef i
el
d.Oneofsuch
experi
ence,
isi
ntheareaofdr
il
li
ngt echnology,whereIlearnedhowt oprepareoilandwater
basedmudswhi chweremeasuredfortheirspeci
fi
cgrav i
tyandot herrel
ev antcor
eanalys
is.

Withav i
ewtosolvi
ngprobl
ems,
formydegreeresear
chprojectasanundergraduate,I
dev
elopedacastoroil
basedmud,whichhol
dshighpotent
iali
nf l
uiddri
l
li
ng,asac osteff
ect
ive
andenvir
onmentall
yfri
endl
yal
ternat
ivet
oothercommer c
iall
yproduceddri
ll
ingfl
uids.

Bei
ngalov erofnatureandtheoutdoors
,themotiv
ati
onforthisproj
ects
temmedfrom my
st
rongcareergoalofensur
ingac ons
ider
abledecl
i
neinthelevelofavoi
dabl
eecol
ogic
althr
eat
s
assoc
iat
edwi thunfri
endl
ypetrol
eum engi
neeri
ngacti
vi
ti
es.

Also,thedemandf orsustainableener
gys ourcesisgrowingt r
emendous l
y.Thei ndus t
ryalone,
overthepas tf
ewyear shasempl oyedov er17%oft hewor l
d'spopulat
ion.Venturingintothisarea
woul dnotonlyhelpinallevi
atingtheugl
ypowerc ris
isweexper i
encehereinAf ri
c aasar esultof
rel
yingtoomuc honpetroleum product
sf orpowergener ati
on, i
tcoul
dalsohel pr educethe
i
ncreas i
ngrateofunempl oymenti nmyc ountry,asAnadv ancementinther enewabl eenergy
sector,i
ssuretobri
ngnumer ousjobopportunit
iesi
ni t
'swakef ortheAfri
canyout hs.

Ac
cor
dingt
otheSDG7
,by2
030
,ther
eshoul
dbeexpandedi
nfr
ast
ruc
tur
eandupgr
aded
tec
hnologyf orsuppl
yi
ngmodernands ust
ainabl
eEnergys er
vic
esforalli
ndevel
opi
ngcount
ri
es
i
nac cordancewi t
hthei
rres
pec
tivepr
ogramsofsupport.I
f60-70%ofthi
sgoalshoul
dbereac
hed
bythes pec
ulateddate,
thenaclears
trat
egyforrenewableenergyfors
ustai
nabl
edevel
opment
mus tbepursued.

Thegrowingc l
i
mat i
cdi st
ort
ionshavebec
omeac oncerntodayinmyc ount
ry.
Gas esarefl
ared,
envi
ronmentisexperienci
ngdegradati
on,ac
idrai
nintheNigerDelt
a,peopl
earedyingasa
res
ultofhighcarbonemi ssi
ons.I
beli
evet
hesemis
hapsc anbemiti
gatedbyact
ingont hepl
ansin
ali
gnmentwi t
hthes ustai
nabledevel
opmentgoal
s.

Iwil
lseetoi
tthatstudent
saretr
ainedi
nruralr
egi
onstofos
terandmakecheapr
enewabl
e
ener
gy,inpar
tners
hipwithther
enewableener
gyassoc
iat
ionofNiger
ia(
REAN)

Meanwhi le,
inthecour
seofmyi nt
erns
hipprogr
am, Is
toodononeoc casi
on,asthes
ole
repr
esentati
veofal
lthei
nternsoft
heorganizat
ioninanint
erv
iewc onduct
edbyShellBP.
.
.An
experi
enceIwouldn'
tfor
getinahurryasitwasoneofmypr oudestmoment sasan
undergraduate,
andhaslargel
yfuel
edmyi nspi
rat
ionsi
nthefi
eldafter
wards.

Havi
ngalwaysmaintainedas t
rongleadershi
ppr es
ence,IwaselectedandappointedSecret
ary
ofmyCDSgr oupduringmyNat i
onalYout hservi
ceCorps(Amandat oryoneyearofservi
ceto
myfather
land)
,anhonourt hathadmes pearheadingdif
ferents
ens i
ti
zati
onprogr
ams ,s
omeof
whichwere;
Adequatec ust
omers er
vic
edel i
veryi
ns chool
s,governmentparast
atal
sandt he
danger
sofroadsi
dephar macyout l
ets
.

I
str
onglybel
iev
ethatt
heseafor
ement i
onedexper
iencesandmoti
vati
onswouldmakemea
v
aluabl
eas s
ettot
heinst
it
uti
onsIam appl
yi
ngto,especi
all
yint
heareaofpos
sibl
esoc
ioc
ult
ural
i
mpactati
on.

ShouldIendupbec omingabenefact
oroft hePTDFs cholars
hip,Ihopetoreturntomyc ountry
Nigeri
a,attheendofmys t
udyprogr
am andi nfl
uencegreatl
yt heenergysectorwit
hallthatI
mus thavelear
ned,es
pecial
lywit
hintheareasofAlter
nativeenergysources,Automateddr i
l
li
ng
faci
li
ti
es,Advancedwelll
oggingt
echniques,andNanotechnologyi npetr
oleum engi
neer
ing.

Furthermore,asbeauti
fulastheworl
di s,
therei
ssti
l
lmuc hmor etobringtoli
ghtandt hi
siswhat
Ihopet oachievewit
hthehelpoflearnedandac compli
shedprofessorsi
nthefeil
dofpet r
oleum
engi
neer i
ngthattheseschool
sIhavec hosenarer
eputedfor,I
am c ert
ainofsati
sfyi
ngmy
academi c,r
esearchandc ar
eeri
nter
ests,t
hroughfi
eldtr
ipsandresearch-i
ntensi
veprogramsin
thes
ei nst
it
utions.

Ibel
ievethatcomparedt
oNiger
ia'
sMas t
ersdegr
eeprograms,aMast
ersdegr
eepr
ogram i
nany
ofthec ours
esthatI
haveshownint
eres
tin,fr
om ei
therofthes
esc
hools,
wouldbethemost
frui
tful
.