Murray-Bruce To Tinubu: Nigeria Needs More ‘Mad Men’ in Government

By Sabiu Abdullahi

Former senator Ben Murray-Bruce has called on President Bola Tinubu to appoint more officials who are willing to challenge established interests and pursue measurable results.

Murray-Bruce made the call while urging the president to make the rehabilitation and commercially viable operation of Nigeria’s government-owned refineries a top priority.

His comments followed Tinubu’s recent statement that his administration remained committed to restoring the nation’s refineries to productive capacity and ensuring that they become profitable.

In a post on X on Tuesday, Murray-Bruce used the expression “mad men” to describe officials who would confront ineffective systems, challenge powerful interests and take difficult decisions in the national interest.

“Mr President, Nigeria needs more mad men in your government,” he said.

“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.

“We need people who wake up every morning obsessed with results. We need people who are prepared to become unpopular in Abuja if that is the price of becoming useful to Nigeria.”

The former senator said such an approach was particularly necessary in the petroleum sector, where he wants the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries revived alongside efforts to increase crude oil production.

“Mr President, make the rehabilitation and commercially viable operation of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries a national obsession,” he said.

“And 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.”

Murray-Bruce also advised the Federal Government to explore alternative ownership and management arrangements if such options would make the refineries efficient and profitable.

“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,” he said.

“But whatever model is chosen, the objective must be brutally simple: MAKE THE REFINERIES WORK.”

He pointed to the Dangote refinery as proof that large-scale petroleum refining could operate in Nigeria. The facility has a nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.

According to him, the three government-owned refineries should aim for at least half of that capacity, which would amount to about 325,000 barrels per day, as reliable and commercially viable output.

The former senator further called on Tinubu to appoint a person who could drive the administration’s target of increasing crude oil production to four million barrels per day by 2030.

“Find somebody who considers 1.5 million barrels unacceptable when the national ambition is 4 million,” he said.

He said such an official should be prepared to tackle crude oil theft, bureaucratic obstacles and other challenges that limit production while also attracting fresh investment and unlocking dormant assets.

“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.

Murray-Bruce named Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Olayemi Cardoso and National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu as examples of the type of officials he believes the president needs.

“Two mad men are not enough for a country of more than 200 million people,” he said, urging Tinubu to bring more officials into government who are “obsessed with results”.

“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,” he added.