Ben Murray-Bruce  ·  OON  ·  Former Senator, Federal Republic of Nigeria

Consultant.
Connector.

Founder of Silverbird Group. Former Senator for Bayelsa East. Ben Murray-Bruce brings four decades of political capital, relationships, and judgment to broker oil and gas partnerships between the United States and Nigeria.

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Washington  ↔  Abuja Oil & Gas benmurraybruce.org

The Opportunity

Nigeria holds some of the world’s great crude reserves — yet for years it exported crude and imported the products refined from it. Ben Murray-Bruce has spent his public life arguing that this paradox is a choice, not a fate.

Today he brings that conviction — and the relationships built across four decades in business, broadcasting, and public service — to the deal table, connecting American capital, technology, and expertise with Nigerian opportunity in oil and gas.

1980
Founded Silverbird Group with a ₦20,000 loan from his siblings
1999–2003
Director-General, Nigerian Television Authority
2015–2019
Senator, Bayelsa East — the “Common Sense Senator”
2014
Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON)
Ben Murray-Bruce, former Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Ben Murray-Bruce — Founder, Silverbird Group; former Senator, Bayelsa East.

About

A life built at the intersection of business and public service.

Benedict Murray-Bruce was born in Lagos in 1956 and educated in the United States, earning a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Southern California in 1979. He returned to Nigeria and, in 1980, founded Silverbird Group — building it from a magazine into one of Nigeria’s defining media and entertainment companies: Silverbird Television, Rhythm FM, the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria pageant, and Silverbird Cinemas.

From 1999 to 2003 he served as Director-General of the Nigerian Television Authority. In 2015 he was elected to the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, representing Bayelsa East, where he became known nationally as the “Common Sense Senator” — a voice for practical, results-driven governance. He was married to Evelyn Murray-Bruce for 41 years until her passing in 2021.

In 2026 he stepped back from day-to-day leadership of Silverbird Group to open a new chapter: putting his political capital and his network to work in the energy sector.

Founder & former ChairmanSilverbird Group (1980–2026)
Director-GeneralNigerian Television Authority, 1999–2003
SenatorBayelsa East, Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2015–2019
National honourOfficer of the Order of the Niger (OON), 2014
EducationB.A. Marketing, University of Southern California, 1979
Continental roleCo-Chair, Afreximbank Creative Africa Advisory Group

The Energy Mandate

The mandate: make Nigeria’s energy work.

The position is public, on the record, and unambiguous.

In August 2026, Murray-Bruce called on Nigeria’s leadership to make the rehabilitation and commercially viable operation of the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries a national obsession — pointing to the Dangote Refinery as proof of what Nigerian refining can achieve, and challenging the country to aim higher: reliable throughput from its state refineries, crude production of four million barrels a day by 2030, and a future as Africa’s refining hub — not just its largest crude exporter.

650,000
barrels per day — Dangote Refinery nameplate capacity, the benchmark for what Nigerian refining can achieve
325,000
barrels per day — his proposed combined target for the three state refineries
4M
barrels per day — the national crude production ambition for 2030
3
state refineries at the center of the plan: Port Harcourt, Warri, Kaduna

What He Does

Political capital, put to work.

No company. No venture fund. One man, four decades of relationships, and a reputation for getting things done.

01

Strategic Advisory

Counsel for investors and operators entering or expanding in Nigeria’s energy sector — grounded in how decisions are actually made in Abuja, not how they look on paper.

02

Government Relations

Trusted access and navigation across Nigeria’s political and regulatory landscape, built over decades in public life — from the Senate floor to the presidency’s orbit.

03

Deal Origination & Facilitation

Connecting American capital, technology, and expertise with Nigerian assets and opportunity — and staying at the table until deals close.

04

Public Advocacy

A credible, independent voice making the case for a working Nigerian energy sector — in the press, on the record, and in the room where it matters.

Legacy

Four decades of building.

1956Born in Lagos, Nigeria — to Mullighan and Margaret Murray-Bruce, of Akassa, Bayelsa State.
1979B.A. in Marketing, University of Southern California.
1980Founds Silverbird Group — beginning with Silverbird Magazine, launched with his wife Evelyn.
1983Promotes Miss Universe Nigeria, then the Miss Intercontinental pageant.
1986Launches Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria — the pageant that would produce Africa’s first Black Miss World in 2001.
1999–2003Director-General, Nigerian Television Authority.
2004Silverbird Television launches — Nigeria’s first family entertainment channel.
2014Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON).
2015–2019Senator, Bayelsa East — the “Common Sense Senator.”
2026A new chapter: energy — consultant and connector between the United States and Nigeria.

In His Words

“Make the rehabilitation and commercially viable operation of our refineries a national obsession.”
— Ben Murray-Bruce, open letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, August 2026
Ben Murray-Bruce

Contact

Start a conversation.

For advisory engagements, partnerships, and introductions in the US–Nigeria energy space.

info@benmurraybruce.org

Press and speaking inquiries to the same address.