MEET SOLUDO’S COMMISSIONER NOMINEE FOR PETROLEUM AND SOLID MINERALS

MEET SOLUDO’S COMMISSIONER NOMINEE FOR PETROLEUM AND SOLID MINERALS

Professor Charles Ononuju Ofoegbu is a globally respected applied geophysicist, scholar, and administrator with over four decades of distinguished service in energy, solid minerals, academia, and public policy. Born on October 31, 1954, he began his career with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation as a Geophysicist after earning his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He proceeded to the University of Durham, United Kingdom, where, admitted to a two-year MSc programme in Applied Geophysics in 1979, he completed both his MSc and PhD in under three years. His doctoral thesis defense, lasting barely thirty minutes, was described by examiners as “four PhD theses in one” for its exceptional breadth and depth.

Despite an offer of a lecturership overseas, Prof. Ofoegbu returned to Nigeria in June 1982 at his father’s instruction. Within two years he became a Senior Lecturer in Applied Geophysics, and he has been a full Professor for over thirty-five years. In that time he has supervised scores of MSc and PhD students who today hold key positions in industry and government, including Professors and Vice-Chancellors.

Prof. Ofoegbu’s public service record is extensive. He has served as Special Adviser on Mineral Resources and Environmental Protection in Abia State; Head of Exploration Research at NNPC Research and Development; and Director-General/CEO of the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute. He chaired the National Think Tank on Solid Minerals and has been Project Director/Vice Chancellor of Veritas University, Adjunct Vice-Chancellor of Stella Maris University Port Harcourt, and Gaste Professor of Mathematical Geophysics at Freie Universität Berlin. He was Professor of Geophysics and Director, Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources, Nasarawa State University, Keffi.

In Anambra State, his leadership has been pivotal to the resource sector. He is Managing Director/CEO of the Anambra State Solid Minerals Development Company Ltd, Chairman of the Anambra State Petroleum and Energy Resources Company Ltd, Chairman of the Mineral Resources and Environmental Management Committee (MIREMCO), and Chairman of both the Technical Committee on Oil and Gas Development and the State Mining Reform Committee. He serves as Consultant to the State Government on Solid Minerals Development and sits on the Advisory Committee on Oil and Gas Development.

A Past President of the Nigeria Institute of Physics and Council Member of the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society, Prof. Ofoegbu is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London, the Royal Astronomical Society, the Nigerian Institute of Physics, the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society, the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists, the Nigerian Association of Hydrogeologists, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. He is a Life Member of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists and a Professional Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Society of Mining Engineers and Exploration, among numerous other national and international bodies.

His expertise has been sought on critical national and international technical committees, including the Presidential Committee on Earth Tremors, the National Technical Committee on Earthquake Phenomena, the Core Committee of the Technology Summit, and the Steering Committee for the Revision of the National Science and Technology Policy. Internationally, he has served as International Secretary of the Steering Committee on Earthquake Prognostics and as a member of the International Scientific Committees for Earthquake Prognostics seminars in Berlin and Bangkok.

In the private sector, he was Executive Director of A-Z Petroleum Ltd, overseeing oil blocks in Kenya, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Ghana, and Senegal, and Executive Director of Rico Mining Co. Ltd, with operations in gold, iron ore, and diamond across Sierra Leone and Nigeria. He has also served on the Board of Directors of African Continental Bank Plc.

A recipient of numerous awards and honours, Prof. Ofoegbu has authored over 160 scientific publications and books. Nominated by Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo as Commissioner for Petroleum and Solid Minerals, he brings to Anambra State unmatched technical authority, global exposure, and decades of proven leadership in unlocking the value of Nigeria’s energy and mineral resources for sustainable development.

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