Nigerian First Female Oil Minister Embracing Technology

Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has decided to improve the flow of information on the important Nigerian oil and gas industry by setting up a variety of social networking accounts, including Facebook.

Mrs. Diezani Alison Madueke is fighting to make big changes to how oil and gas is regulated in Nigeria: changes that would clean up the industry and make it more beneficial to everyday Nigerian citizens.

Her campaign has earned her some powerful enemies – a few of whom continue to try to discredit her. The minister is also faced with the sometimes negative international perception of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

In this case, as with almost every other difficult PR situation, Madueke has found that the best answer is to provide easily-accessible, truthful and regular information to the world at large. The court of public opinion favours those who prove they have nothing to hide.

Nigerian oil and gas are therefore about to find a home on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube; allowing Mrs. Madueke’s sympathisers and political foes alike to keep abreast of how her work is progressing.

At the very least, Mrs. Diezani Alison Madueke hopes the new technology will help prove how hard she and her ministry are working to make changes to benefit everyone. But the ambitious secondary ambition is for the new technology to help open up the entire industry, improve its reputation and help stimulate sustainable foreign investment in Nigeria as a whole.

For more information Contact

Malachy Agbo
Senior Special Assistant, Media
Twitter: @diezanimadueke