PANA Holdings has canvassed for the deployment of data technology to tackle the country’s challenges, particularly in the oil and gas ecosystem.

The company, which is one of the leading indigenous oil and gas firms, stressed that the need for data democracy and well-structured data to solve Nigeria’s pressing social and economic problems cannot over-emphasised

Speaking at the just concluded NOG Energy Week held between June 29 to July 3, at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja, in a strategic panel session themed “Technology as a Business Strategy” the Group CEO of Pana Holdings, Dr. Daere Akobo,  highlighted the critical role of data platforms in driving technological evolution and industry growth.

Dr. Akobo took a historical dive through the industrial revolution age of first to fourth generation, starting from the  manual labor in the 18th-century textile industry, through mass production in the second, automation in the third, to the current fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0, which integrates automation with data intelligence. He emphasised that Nigeria must build data platforms to harness the full potential of this revolution.

“A platform, Dr. Akobo explained, “is the end-to-end framework that maps the entire value chain, helping us understand interrelationships between activities — a major challenge in Nigeria’s development, adding that data without structure or “parentage” lacks cultural context and leads to inefficiencies.”

He used agriculture, such as crop patterns in Maiduguri and Nasarawa, to illustrate how integrated data can prevent resource wastage and promote community cooperation through data democracy, noting, “If we understand data dependencies, we can leverage the strengths of different regions and communities.”

Akobo introduced PANA Holdings’ creation of an industry architecture platform designed to facilitate data interdependencies across oil and gas sector. He drew an analogy to building a house, stating the need for “plumbing lines” — foundational infrastructure for data flow — to enable smooth operations and informed decision-making.

He stated that the company’s integrated platform and structured data approach provide Nigeria with the clear direction and solutions it needs to overcome current challenges and unlock its full potential.

He lamented the current lack of comprehensive data, citing the absence of retiree databases in Nigerian oil companies, unlike what is obtained in some developed countries where retired workers remain engaged on part-time basis.

“Without proper data, knowledge is lost, and data becomes an orphan,” he said.

He also highlighted the role of advanced technology, likening the country’s need to a medical process that reveals what is invisible to the naked eye, emphasizing the importance of time-based data analysis and frequency detection.

Dr. Akobo urged stakeholders to comply with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) mandate to establish a secure national data bank, even as he encouraged international oil companies to contribute their data for analysis and insight generation.

PANA Holdings’ operates at different levels of oil and gas value chain, through Synergy E&P, specializing in reservoir exploration using unconventional technologies; PE Energy, focusing on flow control and measurement; and a digital systems academy that functions as the “brain” of the operation.