Society of Geophysicists and Computational Geoscientists (SGCG) has warned that data hoarding in Nigeria’s geoscience sector is stifling research, discouraging innovation, and preventing young geoscientists from contributing to national development.
Speaking at the SGCG’s second yearly international conference and exhibition, Geo-Spectrum 2025, themed “Advancing Geophysics and Computational Geosciences for a Sustainable Future”, Prof. Aaron Enechojo Auduson, president SGCG, said access to reliable data is critical for resource exploration, analysis, and characterization.
Auduson lamented that, unlike Europe, where companies freely collaborate with universities, Nigerian researchers face severe data restrictions.
“I studied in Europe, where companies provided software, data, and laboratories to support research. But when I returned to Nigeria to apply these tools to Niger Delta studies, I could not continue because the data provided was inconsistent and unreliable. I had to revert to overseas data,” he said.
He revealed that Nigerian hydrocarbon data withheld locally is freely accessible at foreign institutions like the University of Aberdeen.
Auduson urged the National Assembly to legislate that International Oil Companies (IOCs) and independent operators release data for academic use, arguing that confidentiality is not threatened by research.
“Confidential data can be protected, but no one can start drilling because they know field coordinates. Without data, Nigeria loses economically because our strength lies in the resources beneath the earth,” he stressed.
He highlighted geophysics’ wider applications, including detecting subsurface resources, predicting tremors and landslides, groundwater studies, pollution monitoring, and even forensic investigations.
Malami Uba Saidu, president of the Geological Society of Nigeria (GSN), called for a unified national data depository, better data governance, and adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital platforms to modernize geoscience practice.
“The National Geological Survey and NUPRC hold huge amounts of data, but they remain scattered and underutilized. We need a clear national data policy and centralized access,” Saidu said, urging partnerships with telecom operators to lower data costs for research.
