GEO-SPECTRUM 2026: WELCOME ADDRESS BY PROF. AARON ENECHOJO AUDUSON

 WELCOME ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT, SOCIETY OF GEOPHYSICISTS AND COMPUTATIONAL GEOSCIENTISTS PROFESSOR AARON ENECHOJO AUDUSON

ON THE OCCASION OF THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE CONFERENCE TAGGED GEO-SPECTRUM 2026, AND TITLED; “SUSTAINABLE EARTH: GEOSCIENTIFIC SOLUTIONS FOR A ETTER FUTURE”

PROTOCOLS:

• His excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, President, Federal Republic of Nigeria and Gran Patron, SGCG;
• The Honourable Minister of the FCT, His excellency, Iyesome Honirable; Chief Host;
• The Very Special Guest of Honour, Hon. (Obongemem) Ekperikpo Ekpo, the Honourable Minister of Petroleum (Gas)
• The Chairman of the occasion, Chief (Dr) Amos Gizo Yaduksu, the Chairman, Governing Board of the Lower Benue River Development Authority and Coordinating Chairman, River Basin Development Authorities of Nigeria
• The Co-Chairman of the occasion, Hon. Uba Saidu Malami, President of the Geological Society of Nigeria (GSN)
• The Keynote Speaker: Professor Nnanyelugo M. Ike-Muonso: Director, Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Abuja
• Special Guest of Honour: Professor Hakeem Babatunde Fawehimi; Vice-Chancellor, University of Abuja
• Guest of Honour, Dr Olushola Segun Odunsanya: Director General, National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM), Abuja
• The Led Speakers;
• The Head, Department of Physics, University of Abuja; Dr Medina Umar
• The Head, Department of Geology and Gemology, University of Abuja; Dr Aminu Isyaku
• President Miners Association of Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria; Mr Dele Ayanleke
• The CEO, Rite Place, Dr Mezie Okolo
• Other VIPs and Invited guests
• Members of the Press,
• Ladies and Gentlemen,

I give all glory to God Almighty, as I count it a great privilege, to welcome you all to the Occasion of the 2nd annual international Conference and exhibition by the Society of Geophysicists and computational Geoscientists (SGCG), tagged Geo-Spectrum 2025, and with the theme “Sustainable Earth: Geoscientific Solutions for A Better Future”. One way to foster professional networking, collaboration and share knowledge and ideas for national progress and development is by convening experts and professionals during a conference.

About the Society of Geophysicists and Computational Geoscientists (SGCG)

Geophysics plays a major role in harnessing natural resources from the subsurface. From the surface of the earth, we can see what is on the subsurface of the earth and this is very key in the success of exploration.

Society of Geophysicists and Computational Geoscientists (SGCG) is a professional society comprising geophysicists, computational geoscientists, and interdisciplinary researchers who are committed to advancing geophysical exploration, environmental sustainability, and computational modelling. We are entwined practitioners of Geophysics, Physics, Geology, Computer Science, Geospatial Analysis, Mathematical Modelling, Statistics, Geoinformatics, etc, proffering innovative solutions to global problem. Our scope encompasses:

1. Core Disciplines of Geophysics

1. Exploration Geophysics: Application of seismic, electrical, magnetic, gravity methods, etc, in resource exploration and infrastructure development.
2. Global Seismology and Geo-hazards & Risk Assessment: Earthquake studies, seismic hazard assessment, wave propagation modelling, tsunamis, landslides, and volcanic activity prediction using computational tools

• Geodynamics & Tectonophysics: Investigating the dynamics and implications of Plate tectonics, mantle convection, lithosphere dynamics.
• Environmental & Engineering Geophysics: Groundwater studies, pollution monitoring, geotechnical assessments.
• Forensic and Agricultural geophysics: Advancing the type and design of geophysical data sets to be deployed in agricultural ventures and crime investigations

1. Computational Geosciences
2. Numerical Modelling & Simulation: AI/ML applications in seismic data interpretation, mineral prospecting, climate modelling; high-performance computing (HPC), robotics and geostatistical Data Analytics and modelling; Computational fluid dynamics (CFD), geomechanical modelling, forward and inverse modelling techniques.

1. Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning: AI/ML applications in seismic data interpretation, mineral prospecting, climate modelling.
2. High-Performance Computing (HPC): Parallel computing, cloud computing, big data analysis in geophysics.
3. Geostatistics & Data Analytics: Spatial data analysis, uncertainty quantification, and predictive modelling; Petroleum economics, volumetric estimates and risk assessments of earth resources.
4. Remote Sensing & GIS: Satellite imagery analysis, LiDAR applications, geospatial intelligence.

1. Interdisciplinary Areas
2. Climate & Environmental Science: Oceanography, cryosphere studies, climate change impacts using geophysical models. Combine geophysical data and models, to refine the understanding of how our climate functions
3. Energy Transition & Sustainability: Geothermal energy, carbon capture & storage (CCS), subsurface hydrogen storage, and emerging clean energy solutions.
4. Space and Climatic Science: Remote sensing, oceanography, and climate change impact assessments; Study of other planets, moons, and extra-terrestrial physical phenomena for better understanding of the interaction and relationship between the earth and Space.

4. Professional Development & Collaboration

1. Industry & Academia Partnerships: Joint research, funding opportunities, conferences.
2. Education & Training: Workshops, certification programs in Geophysics and computational Sciences.
3. Open-source & Community-driven Research: Open geoscience data, collaborative software development.
4. Mentorship of students and young professionals

Mentoring, guiding of and provision of platforms and opportunities for students and recent graduates and young professional

Core Values of the Society

1. To provide and promote geophysical research, robotic/computational geosciences innovation as a critical element of wealth creation in a digital economy; which shall be actualised by deploying principles of Geophysics, Physics, Geology, Computer Science, Geospatial analysis, Mathematics, Statistics, geodetic science, geoinformatics, and other such studies.
2. The promotion of Knowledge and practice of geophysics and computational geosciences, as well as champion the ethics of the profession amongst the practitioners locally and globally.

• Ensuring the core practice of the Society’s profession, which shall include, but not be limited to adapting to a seven-step framework for applied geophysics; practical applications, and the comparison of real-world problems surrounding geomechanics, rock physics and applied seismology; harnessing analytical skills to create effective and novel solutions to practical session of geology, geophysics and computational laboratories for advanced research.

1. The provision of unity amongst geophysicists and computational geoscientists in Nigeria and harnessing of potentials in a knowledge-driven economy.
2. To provide a forum for the identification and mentorship of young geophysicists; creating opportunities for guiding and growth of talented geophysicists in the Nigerian system.
3. To provide an entwined professional association for Core Geophysics (including agricultural, space, engineering, environmental, Forensic, geothermal, energy, etc), Physics, Geology, Computer Science, Geospatial analysis, Mathematics, Statistics, geodetic science, geoinformatics, etc, practitioners; proffering solutions to geoscientific problems.

• To provide welfare opportunities for members of the entwine professional association.

 Our Vision:

To be a reputable geophysical society that supports Nigeria and the global community with state-of-the-art geophysical and computational innovations and applications arising from the continent of Africa.

Our Mission:

To advance sustainable development through geo-resources exploration, support and inspire the global community in advancing geophysical and robotics/ computational innovations as critical elements of wealth creation in a digital economic world.

Societal engagements, Collaboration and Advocacy

The Society of Geophysicists and computational Geoscientists (SGCG) is a professional body that wants to be vibrant and tries to measure up to international standard of professional bodies. We feel that Nigeria is a large geoscience country, big and old enough to have an organization of Geophysicists that could do something at the level of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG), American Geophysical Union (AGU), European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE) and other high-profiled international professional bodies. The SGCG is to Nigeria, a version of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists as the Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (CSEG) is to the Canadians, the Australia Society of Exploration Geophysicists (ASEG) is to the Australians, German Geophysical Society (DGG) is to the Germans, etc. Just as these national geophysical societies enjoy various supports from the SEG as global partners, we seek support the SEG, and other older organizations with which we seek partnership and collaboration.

SGCG intends having presence and impacts all over Nigeria, West Africa and beyond; guiding our young, aspiring Geophysicists from the universities; organizing state-of-the-art international geophysical conferences; establishing different journal types/domains for dissemination of the knowledge. It feels good to announce that SGCG is now being coordinated in Australia. We therefore urge Nigerians, Africans and global geophysical and earth-related computational experts to join this dynamic movement in the business of exploration and exploitation for sustainable development, professional and career fulfilments/experience.

We intend having foundation (SGCG Foundation) that encourages and supports scientific, educational, and charitable activities of benefit to geophysicists: Experiential Learning, Social Impact, Professional Development, and Student Support – we aim to inspire and empower individuals to use geophysics in ways that will help Nigeria, Africa and the global community.

We enjoin the Federal Government of Nigeria and all other levels of governments in the county to support the society of Geophysicists and computational geoscientists. We are the brain behind exploration and exploration of geo-resources such as oil and gas, which form the bedrock of the Nigerian Economy in addition to solid minerals, groundwater, etc. For example, the Nigerian Government is clamouring for ramping up more volume of produced crude oil. This is a laudable quest, but cannot be realized without dedicating more funds and give supports for experts in the profession that is at the centre of exploration and production of the crude oil. We seek support for the geophysical community, we seek support for science and technological innovations, which we believe would propel us towards to the discovery of more resources in the Nigeria, realization of goal for reserve addition, increased production of hydrocarbon volumes, as well as realization of the dream of economic diversification via state-the-art technological application in exploration and production of critical minerals.

During this conference, we showcase the innovation and Technology of the geophysical sciences and seek to collaborate with partners around the world, in the effort to harness maximally the resources in the subsurface in Nigeria.

We intend to support scholars/students from diverse background for them to seek and maintain careers in the geophysical sciences; we seek to mentor students in the tertiary institutions and offer scholarship where necessary; to equip the geoscientists of the future, providing essential tools and resources that prepare students and young professionals for successful academic and long-term careers in geophysics.

Geophysical tool is what the government of Nigeria need to discover unharnessed resources especially with the dwindling and unstable price of petroleum product in the international market.

I enjoin you all to relax, and enjoy as we all learn together during this conference.

Thank you for your attention

Professor Aaron Enechojo Auduson (Ph.D., ir.)

President, SGCG