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Saudi Aramco’s latest financial results have reinforced the company’s reputation as the world’s most profitable national oil corporation, while at the same time placing Nigeria’s Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited under renewed scrutiny.

Aramco announced a dividend payout of more than $21 billion after posting a robust third-quarter profit of $28 billion, a stark comparison to NNPC’s failure to remit a single dividend to Nigeria’s treasury through the first eight months of 2025, despite earning over N1.06 trillion from oil production-sharing revenues within the same period.

Experts say the contrast has implications that reach beyond the financial performance of the two firms. It reflects the different roles national oil companies play in their respective economies and exposes the consequences of what critics describe as limited transparency and weak accountability at NNPC.

For a Nigerian government struggling with revenue shortages and rising borrowing costs, NNPC’s refusal, or inability, to remit projected dividends of more than N2.16 trillion is becoming a structural fiscal headache.

Aramco delivers profits

Saudi Aramco’s third-quarter (Q3) earnings show a company operating on a different plane from its global peers. It booked net earnings of $28 billion, benefiting from an increase in crude production after OPEC+ gradually unwound voluntary production cuts and from improved international prices. The company reported free cash flow of $23.6 billion and cash flow from operating activities of $36.1 billion.

Aramco’s average realised crude price rose to $70.10 per barrel during the quarter, compared to $66.70 in the previous quarter. Prices remained lower on a year-on-year basis, but the company compensated by increasing output.

Amin Nasser, chief executive of Aramco, highlighted Aramco’s ability to scale production ‘with minimal incremental cost,’ a characteristic that allows it to remain profitable even in downturns.

But the standout figure from the results was the dividend payout: a base dividend of $21.1 billion, plus a $200 million performance bonus.

For Saudi Arabia, Aramco’s dividends are not merely corporate disbursements; they are an extension of the government’s fiscal toolkit. These payments are essential to financing Vision 2030, the nation’s economic diversification programme, and they enable the kingdom to avoid excessive public borrowing.

While delivering dividends, Aramco is accelerating its investment programme. It has raised its gas production growth target to 80 percent by 2030 from 2021 levels, revised upward from the previous 60 percent goal.

The company’s marquee gas project, the Jafurah shale field, contains an estimated 229 trillion cubic feet of gas and 75 billion barrels of condensate and is positioned to become one of the largest unconventional gas operations outside the United States. Just weeks ago, Aramco signed an $11 billion infrastructure lease deal with Global Infrastructure Partners, monetising assets without relinquishing operational control.

In essence, Aramco is simultaneously paying record dividends and investing heavily in the future of Saudi energy.

NNPC records billions in revenue but remits nothing

In Nigeria, NNPC Limited disclosed in its August 2025 FAAC report that it earned N1.06 trillion from production sharing contract (PSC) profit oil between January and August. PSC profit oil refers to the portion of crude production that remains after oil companies recover their costs – the balance is then shared with the NNPC and ultimately the federation.

The revenue data shows monthly inflows that fluctuate sharply: N105.91 billion in January, N127.66 billion in February, and N204.96 billion in March. After a temporary decline to just N22.77 billion in June, revenues surged to N263.13 billion in August, the highest in the year to date.

Yet, alongside these revenue figures, the FAAC document includes a separate line titled ‘NNPC Ltd Calendarised Interim Dividend to Federation Account.’

The entry remains blank for every month. The company was expected to remit N2.168 trillion to the federation account during the eight months, but instead remitted nothing.

‘You don’t spend billions exploring oil we don’t know exists, while refusing to remit dividends from oil that already exists,’ said Aisha Mohammed, an energy analyst at the Lagos-based Centre for Development Studies.

The FAAC report shows that NNPC split the N1.06 trillion earned from PSC profit oil into three internal allocations: 30 percent as an NNPC management fee; 30 percent to the Frontier Exploration Fund, and 40 percent as the federation share.

In practice, the company retained N318.05 billion as management fees, transferred an equal amount to the Frontier Exploration Fund, and passed N424.07 billion to the federation. The funds allocated to frontier exploration are used to search for oil in prospective basins such as Sokoto, Benue, and Chad – areas where no commercial discoveries have yet been declared.

Meanwhile, the budget expectations tell a different story. Against a revenue projection of N1.58 trillion for PSC earnings, NNPC’s actual collections fell short by more than N518 billion. But the shortfall in PSC revenue pales in comparison to the missing dividend line: a deficit of N2.169 trillion.

Mohammed said, ‘NNPC wants to behave like a private company when reporting revenue, but like a government agency when spending money.’

Agora Policy, an Abuja-based public policy think tank that reviewed the FAAC document, warned that the situation is undermining the country’s fiscal stability. According to the organisation, NNPC has achieved only 15 percent of its projected revenue target to the federation, even though it has delivered 67 percent of the profit oil due to the government.

The transformation of NNPC into a limited liability company under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) was intended to create a commercially viable entity comparable to Petrobras or Aramco. Instead, NNPC still operates as a revenue gatekeeper, collecting earnings and distributing them through internal mechanisms that lack public visibility.

A comparative analysis of academic salaries across Africa has revealed that Nigerian university professors are among the lowest earners on the continent, taking home less than $400 (N550,000) monthly, about 13 times lower than what their South African counterparts earn.

The disparity, which education experts say is fuelling a massive brain drain in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions, highlights the deepening crisis in the nation’s university system, where poor remuneration, worsening economic conditions, and inadequate research funding have combined to erode morale and productivity among lecturers.

Despite holding some of the most advanced qualifications and responsibilities in the country, Nigerian academics say their pay no longer reflects the value of their work, especially when compared to peers across Africa.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has also raised the alarm over the worsening conditions of service for Nigerian academics, warning that the poor remuneration of university lecturers is accelerating the rate of brain drain and eroding the quality of higher education in the country.

Recent data comparing academic salaries across African countries show that Nigeria ranks among the lowest on the continent, with professors earning an average of just $366.66 (N550,000) monthly, according to ASUU salary summaries and media reports, a figure that pales in comparison to their counterparts in South Africa, who take home about $4,800, and Uganda, where professors earn around $1,166 monthly.

According to the analysis, Nigerian professors also earn 13 times less than their South African peers, while those in Kenya ($1,316), Ghana ($720.72) and Lesotho ($834) take home significantly higher pay, according to the University of Nairobi terms-of-service (professor band), Ghana media / university reporting estimates and World Salaries summary for Lesotho academic staff.

Even lecturers in smaller economies such as Malawi ($374), Seychelles (US$1,538.46) and Zimbabwe ($300) earn more than many of their Nigerian colleagues.

The study also revealed that while a South African professor earns an annual average of $58,044, a Nigerian professor earns barely $4,400, underscoring a deep gulf in academic compensation across the continent.

However, while analysts say the devaluation of the naira has contributed to worsen the Nigerian professor’s plight.

Olujimi Dada, chairperson of ASUU at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), described the situation as unsustainable and demoralising, lamenting that Nigerian lecturers now find themselves among the poorest paid in Africa.

‘The remuneration of academic work is not an individual matter; it’s a public document. Even without asking anyone, you can go online and compare what Nigerian lecturers earn with their peers elsewhere in Africa, not to mention in advanced countries. Our government is not doing the right thing. It expects better output from us, but what about the input?’ Dada said

He recalled that Nigeria once attracted academics from around the world due to competitive remuneration and world-class facilities but has now become unattractive to both local and foreign scholars.

‘There was a time when our universities were filled with expatriates from different parts of the world. That can no longer be said now. Today, a Nigerian professor earns less than $500, while others earn in excess of $2,000. How do you define that?’ he asked.

Dada also criticised government policies that, according to him, contradict domestic realities.

‘Let me shock you, the same Nigerian government that pays its professors less than $500 sends Nigerians to work in other African countries, spending around $2,000 on them monthly. How can you justify that? Do you think people will leave their comfort zones in Rwanda or Lesotho to come and teach in Nigeria? Nobody will come,’ he stated.

He warned that unless the government takes an urgent action, Nigeria’s tertiary institutions risk returning to the post-independence era when most of their teaching staff were foreigners.

‘We are already at the stage where our universities are losing experts. If you look at our departments today, many no longer have specialists. In the medical field, we hardly have people left. Everyone is leaving because they can’t survive on what they earn here,’ Dada said.

He noted that only fewer graduates are returning to academia, citing the unattractive pay and poor working conditions as major deterrents.

‘If our students can see that there’s no hope in our career, what do you expect them to do? They won’t come back. And when that happens is that you have average people doing the work of experts, and the quality of our graduates will continue to drop.

‘We have made too many sacrifices already. The question now is whether the federal government will seize this opportunity to fix the system, or allow our universities to collapse completely,’ he added.

Experts have repeatedly warned that the sustained neglect of the education sector will deepen the brain drain crisis, with long-term consequences for national development.

At the national level, Chris Piwuna, ASUU president, also reiterated the union’s demands for a comprehensive review of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, sustainable funding of public universities, payment of outstanding salary arrears and third-party deductions, and revitalisation of the tertiary education system.

Piwuna noted that although the union has temporarily suspended its two-week warning strike, it would not hesitate to resume industrial action should the government fail to address the lingering issues within the one-month window agreed upon.

He noted that ASUU had temporarily suspended its two-week warning strike following a marathon National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja but warned that the union could resume the strike if progress was not made within the agreed timeframe.

Echoing his concerns, a professor from Oyo State, who preferred not to be named, described the current remuneration of lecturers as depressing and said the worsening economy has further eroded the dignity of academic work.

‘Imagine a situation where someone at the peak of their career- a professor – is not earning up to £500. What you earn is a major motivator, and if that’s poor, it affects your mental health, your welfare, and ultimately your output,’ he explained.

He noted that the high cost of living, inflation, and lack of welfare support have made it nearly impossible for lecturers to live decently, let alone conduct research.

‘A professor is expected to fund part of their research from personal income, but when you can’t even feed your family, how do you fund research? Many lecturers can’t afford basic things. Imagine a professor unable to buy a fairly used 2006 Toyota Corolla worth about N10 million. It would take five years of savings to afford that. What do you expect of junior lecturers?’

He added that the poor state of pay is not just an individual problem but one that threatens the intellectual future of the country.

‘We train the nation’s professionals – doctors, politicians, academics – yet those we train now earn far more than us. It’s disheartening. The system must be regulated to reflect fairness and sustainability,’ he stressed.

Foreign airlines say that their continued sale of flight tickets in dollars is in line with existing agreements with the federal government and not an imposition on Nigerian travellers.

The clarification follows growing criticism from travel agents who say that despite the federal government’s clearance of trapped airline funds, some carriers still charge in dollars, thereby contravening Nigerian laws, worsening forex pressure, and undermining the naira.

Travel agents who spoke with BusinessDay mentioned three airlines currently collecting ticket sales in dollars to include Emirates, Delta and United airlines.

According to United Airlines, ticket sales in Nigeria are offered in both naira and dollars, noting that it has been selling tickets in both currencies since early October.

Delta Air Lines also offers its tickets in dollars. Justifying the rationale behind the action, Mary Gbobaniyi, sales manager for West Africa, Delta Air Lines, told BusinessDay that ‘Delta’s continued sale of tickets in U.S. dollars is consistent with the provisions of the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and the United States.’

As of the time of filing this report, Emirates had yet to speak on the issue as the airline could not be reached.

However, a source close to the airline told BusinessDay that the decision of Emirates to collect ticket sales in dollars was part of the agreement it reached with the federal government before resuming flight operations into Nigeria.

The airline resumed operations into Nigeria in October 2024, two years after it suspended flight operations from the country over trapped funds.

Kingsley Nwokoma, president, Foreign Airlines and Representative in Nigeria (AFARN), told BusinessDay that the decision to sell tickets in dollars is predicated on BASA – an agreement regulating the operations of air services between two countries.

‘These agreements are most times reciprocal agreements. If there wasn’t an agreement entered with the government, then the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) would have long sanctioned these airlines,’ Nwokoma said.

He explained that Emirates had previously suspended operations due to trapped funds, and if their BASA was reviewed before their return, it was aimed at enabling them to operate more efficiently and confidently while addressing their earlier concerns.

The AFARN president however hinted that the majority of the foreign airlines sell tickets in naira, and no airline will deliberately contravene the rules of the country.

Trapped funds’ measures

In 2023, when foreign airlines’ trapped funds in Nigeria reached $744 million, they introduced several measures to reduce delays in repatriating their earnings, which became a significant issue due to foreign exchange (FX) shortages and restrictions.

The measures included increasing ticket prices to hedge against future forex losses, selling tickets in U.S. dollars instead of the naira, and reducing the number of flights or seat inventory available in the Nigerian market.

Airlines also blocked low-ticket inventories, leaving high inventories to be sold in naira only, while the low-ticket inventories on most airlines’ websites could only be bought with dollar cards.

Nearly two years after the federal government cleared the trapped funds, some foreign airlines have continued to sell tickets in dollars.

Foreign airlines criticised

Susan Akporaiye, managing director and CEO, Topaz Travels and Tours, told BusinessDay that airlines still selling tickets in dollars have absolutely no reason to continue to do so. ‘Personally, it’s a total disregard and lack of respect for our country Nigeria,’ she said.

‘No reason to do so’

Akporaiye, who is also the former president of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), further said that the practice could result in market marginalisation and naira devaluation.

Yinka Folami, current president of NANTA, told BusinessDay that even if BASA agreements were signed in the past, these agreements could be reviewed in line with current realities.

Folami described it as anti-trade, disrespectful, and harmful to the nation’s aviation industry.

Folarin stressed that such actions have contributed to the rise in ticket prices, further straining passengers and weakening local travel businesses across Nigeria.

He called on the Nigerian government to assert its sovereignty by mandating airlines to accommodate naira transactions in their booking systems.

‘The naira is stabilising, and we must respect it. There’s no need for dollar-only trade in this market anymore,’ Folarin said. ‘The Central Bank of Nigeria is on top of the situation, and there’s liquidity and transparency. We should be congratulating the CBN and assisting the government to support the naira.’

Folarin also warned against potential job losses if the practice continues.

NCAA responds

Mike Achimugu, director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, NCAA, said the Director of Air Transport Regulations

has received similar reports of ticket sales in dollars and has commenced investigations into them. Achimugu said the director is writing to all airlines, noting that the findings will be made public.