Kaduna: President Bola Tinubu is expected to inaugurate the newly licensed College of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Kaduna (CPESK), later this month, Governor Uba Sani has announced. The governor made this disclosure during a meeting with the Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), Ahmad Galadima Aminu, at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House in Kaduna.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Governor Sani expressed appreciation to President Tinubu for granting a provisional license for CPESK to operate as a private post-graduate university. He emphasized that this initiative is a significant step toward enhancing local capacity in the petroleum sector. “We cannot make progress in a fast-changing and complex society if we fail to develop local capacity. This college, if well supported, has the potential to develop manpower that will transform Nigeria’s petroleum industry,” Governor Sani stated.
The governor further assured the PTDF of his administration’s support to ensure the successful commissioning and operation of the institution. He encouraged the PTDF to seek assistance from the Kaduna State Government as needed to ensure the college’s success.
During the visit, PTDF Executive Secretary Ahmad Galadima Aminu briefed the governor on the progress towards the college’s establishment. Galadima revealed that the college plans to admit its first batch of PhD students in September 2025, with 3,702 applications already received under the Split-Site PhD Programme. He mentioned that screening and interviews were underway, with successful candidates to be admitted into five faculties.
The college will initially operate with three faculties and six departments, offering 19 academic programs. The initial faculties will include the Faculty of Computing and Telecommunications Technology, the Faculty of Earth and Applied Sciences, and the Faculty of Energy Law and Management Sciences. The National Universities Commission (NUC) has licensed CPESK as a private postgraduate institution.
Galadima also disclosed that PTDF had established strategic partnerships with the University of Strathclyde, Robert Gordon University, and the University of Portsmouth in the UK. These partnerships are intended to support the delivery of split-site postgraduate programs, allowing students to study primarily at CPESK in Kaduna, with short academic visits to the partner universities in the United Kingdom.
He recounted that PTDF initiated the process of establishing CPESK in 2009, aiming to train senior technical, managerial, and executive personnel for Nigeria’s energy sector.
