Murray-Bruce says Nigeria needs “men and women obsessed with results” not committees, not excuses — to revive the nation’s oil sector and end the fuel import dependency
Former Senator Ben Murray-Bruce has issued a fiery call to President Bola Tinubu: stop appointing committee chairmen and start hiring “mad men” — officials crazy enough to confront powerful interests, challenge bureaucracy, and deliver results no matter the political cost.
In a post on X Tuesday, Murray-Bruce urged Tinubu to make the rehabilitation and commercial operation of Nigeria’s three government-owned refineries — Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna — a “national obsession.”
“Mr President, Nigeria needs more mad men in your government,” he wrote. “And before anybody deliberately misunderstands me, let me explain what I mean by mad men.
“I mean men and women who are crazy enough to confront a broken system, step on powerful toes, offend entrenched interests and refuse to accept mediocrity simply because mediocrity has become normal.”
‘No More Excuses’
Murray-Bruce’s remarks came two days after Tinubu reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to restoring the nation’s refineries to productive capacity. But the former lawmaker made clear that Nigerians are tired of promises.
“Please, no more excuses. Nigerians have heard enough explanations about turnaround maintenance, contractors, technical reviews, committees, timelines and billions spent. We want products coming out of those refineries,” he said.
He challenged the government to explore alternative ownership and management models if state operation proves ineffective.
“If government cannot operate them efficiently, find the structure that can. Bring in world-class technical partners. Introduce private capital where necessary. Restructure them. Concession them if that produces the best outcome,” Murray-Bruce said.
“But whatever model is chosen, the objective must be brutally simple: MAKE THE REFINERIES WORK.”
The Dangote Benchmark
Murray-Bruce pointed to the Dangote refinery with its 650,000 barrel-per-day nameplate capacity — as proof that large-scale refining is achievable in Nigeria. He proposed that the three state-owned refineries should target at least 325,000 barrels per day 50 percent of Dangote’s capacity — in reliable, commercially viable throughput.
He also urged Tinubu to appoint a “mad man” to drive the administration’s ambition of raising crude oil production to four million barrels per day by 2030 a dramatic leap from current levels.
“Find somebody who considers 1.5 million barrels unacceptable when the national ambition is 4 million,” he said. “Somebody who will confront oil theft, bureaucratic delays, and every other obstacle standing in the way.”
‘No Clowns. No Passengers. Only Results.’
Murray-Bruce praised Central Bank Governor Olayemi Cardoso and National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu as examples of the kind of results-driven officials Tinubu needs — but said two were not enough for a nation of more than 200 million people.
“I don’t want another committee chairman. I want a mad man. I don’t want somebody who will spend four years explaining why something cannot be done. I want somebody crazy enough to do it,” he said.
“Four million barrels per day. Working refineries. A Nigeria that refines its own crude and exports petroleum products to the world. No excuses. No clowns. No passengers. Only results.”
