Founder of Silverbird Group and former Senator representing Bayelsa East, Ben Murray-Bruce, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to appoint more result-driven and unconventional officials who are willing to confront Nigeria’s entrenched problems, declaring that the country “needs more mad men” in government.

Murray-Bruce, in a statement addressed to President Tinubu and shared on his X account on Tuesday (August 18, 2026), clarified that his description of “mad men” refers not to mental illness but to men and women bold enough to challenge broken systems, confront powerful interests and reject mediocrity in public service.

The former lawmaker, who declared himself a supporter of the Tinubu administration, stressed that supporting a government should not prevent constructive criticism, arguing that telling leaders uncomfortable truths could sometimes be the greatest service supporters render.

“Mr President, Nigeria needs more mad men in your government,” Murray-Bruce stated, explaining further that: “I mean men and women who are crazy enough to confront a broken system, step on powerful toes, offend entrenched interests and refuse to accept mediocrity simply because mediocrity has become normal.

“We need people who wake up every morning obsessed with results. We need people who are prepared to become unpopular in Abuja if that is the price of becoming useful to Nigeria.”

Murray-Bruce identified Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, and National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, as examples of the type of public officials he believes Nigeria needs.

According to him, irrespective of disagreements over individual monetary policies, the Central Bank under Cardoso has witnessed what he described as a “serious reset”, with discipline and credibility returning to monetary policymaking.

Turning to national security, the former senator acknowledged that Nigeria still faces serious security challenges but said Ribadu deserves recognition for what he described as improved seriousness, coordination and strategic direction in the country’s security architecture.

“Mr President, two mad men are not enough for a country of more than 200 million people,” Murray-Bruce said, and particularly called for similar aggressive, results-oriented leadership in Nigeria’s petroleum industry, arguing that the country should no longer accept the paradox of possessing enormous crude oil reserves while struggling to maximise the economic benefits of its petroleum resources.

He urged Tinubu to make the rehabilitation and commercially viable operation of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries a national priority. According to the Silverbird founder, Nigerians are tired of explanations involving turnaround maintenance, contractors, technical reviews, committees, timelines and expenditure without the desired results.

“We want products coming out of those refineries,” he declared, adding that, “If government cannot operate them efficiently, find the structure that can. Bring in world-class technical partners. Introduce private capital where necessary. Restructure them. Concession them if that produces the best outcome. But whatever model is chosen, the objective must be brutally simple: MAKE THE REFINERIES WORK.”

Murray-Bruce cited the Dangote Refinery as evidence of what could be achieved in Nigeria, noting its 650,000-barrel-per-day nameplate capacity, and consequently challenged the Federal Government to target reliable and commercially viable throughput from the three government-owned refining complexes equivalent to at least half of Dangote Refinery’s nameplate capacity, which he put at approximately 325,000 barrels per day.

The former senator said Nigeria’s ambition should go beyond satisfying domestic petroleum product demand to becoming a major refining hub for Africa and an exporter of refined products, as he called for greater ambition in the upstream petroleum sector, referencing the administration’s target of moving Nigeria towards crude oil production of four million barrels per day by 2030.

“Mr President, find the mad man who will deliver it,” Murray-Bruce charged. “Find somebody who considers 1.5 million barrels unacceptable when the national ambition is 4 million.”

Murray-Bruce maintained that Nigeria requires public officials prepared to challenge conventional thinking, disrupt inefficient systems and accept personal or political unpopularity where necessary to produce measurable results for the country.