NLNG, TotalEnergies, Others Set Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Benchmark at SAIPEC

Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), TotalEnergies, Shell, and other industry giants set a new benchmark for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at the Sub-Saharan Africa International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (SAIPEC) 2026, with NLNG achieving 35 per cent female representation on its management committees as part of a broader push for women and youth in leadership roles.

Head of Diversity & Inclusion at NLNG, Ijeoma Onyenobi, in a the panel discussion at the just concluded 10th SAIPEC Conference in Lagos, detailed the company’s data-driven DEI strategy that includes a dedicated function, executive sponsorship, and a board-approved policy focused on inclusion, people with disabilities, and gender balance.

She highlighted measurable outcomes like steady increases in female workforce representation across entry to senior levels, driven by mass recruitment, ambitious targets, and practical upgrades such as two-piece coveralls for female engineers in the traditionally male-dominated sector.

Onyenobi emphasised NLNG’s benchmark status – from gas flaring reductions and GDP contributions to capacity building – while tying DEI to innovation through cognitive diversity, noting Nigeria’s 50-50 gender split demands untapped talent for competitiveness, with ongoing audits linking initiatives to business performance without simplistic causation claims. People surveys now track DEI metrics organisation-wide, ensuring leadership accountability via data analysis and engagements, framing the effort as a “marathon, not a sprint” aligned with core values like excellence.

Shell Nigeria’s senior operations manager for Bonga deepwater assets, Bolanle Odunayo-Ojo, reinforced the momentum by showcasing the company’s global Women’s Performance Network and robust talent programs. She pointed to milestones like the 2021 appointment of a female managing director – her predecessor at Bonga – alongside women in co-directorship and asset management roles, asserting that “a homogeneous leadership organisation does not succeed” amid industry shifts like cash discipline, with inclusion embedded in safety, efficiency, and overall performance.

Also speaking, TotalEnergies’ senior talent development specialist, EruViano Obrike, closed with ambitious “stretch targets” exceeding head office goals, reaching 17 per cent women in senior leadership en route to 20 per cent in 2026 across all cadres, including sites.

She said tactics include early talent spotting via annual reviews, high-potential development plans with international assignments, female talent pools yielding four site managers since 2019, and four mentoring programs – from new hires to executive coaching with the MD – plus the TWICE network’s “The Life” initiative mentoring 22 women since 2023.

Obrike stressed reinventing roles for competent women and replicating successful career paths to prepare them for C-suite positions.

The SAIPEC panel underscored top-down C-suite commitment as essential for DEI success in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, from tweaking contractor pre-qualification for five per cent female-led firms to mitigating structural biases, positioning diverse leadership as key to Africa’s energy future.