Sopuruchi Onwuka

With unveiling of a new corporate logo, the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited weekend declared a new vision for its business operations and social investments after 35 years of incorporation, 25 years of operations and 20 years of unbroken sponsorship of its signature prizes designed to promote scientific innovation and literary creativity.

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At a grand Grand Award Night which pooled the company’s stakeholders in a great event staged at Eko Hotels, Lagos, the company threw in a mix of celebration, social networking and intellectual discourse on the future of the business, the country and the world; bringing delegates to the sudden consciousness of some components of the prevailing woke culture of progress and empathy.

Managing Director of the company, Dr Philip Mshelbila, told guests that the new logo of the company plugs directly into NLNG’s transformation program for the future:  Toruku, and Ibani. He stated that future has no alternative and must be determined by careful planning and thouhgtful actions.

Managing Director of NLNG Limited, Dr Phillip Mshelbila

Dr Mshelbila pointed at the company’s updated corporate strategy for safe, optimal and growing operations. He stated that focus would now be on how to future-proof the business.

“Through Toruku, we aim to maintain market leadership with operational excellence, while advancing plans in six key areas—people, energy transition, processes and technology, future opportunities, brand, and identity. These six pillars will form the foundation of NLNG’s future growth and sustainability. We are not just building for today—we are building for a future where our successors, 35 years from now, we will gather to celebrate even greater achievements than those we mark today,” he declared.

Dr Mshelbila told the guests that NLNG envisions a new but uncertain future of opportunities, hopes, fears and anxiety in the face of new technology, volatile geopolitics, and threats of war. He pointed at advances in nuclear weaponry, spreading poverty across regions, artificial intelligence and climate change.

Driving forward amidst all the challenges, he emphasized, would require careful planning, taking the right actions, forging partnerships and social investments in order to determine individual future. He noted that each challenge, threat and fear that stand against the future also presents an opportunity for those who deliberately demand a better future.

In declaring that the company is actually in the future, he narrated how the company has navigated cancel culture in the operating environment by building trust among stakeholders through social investments, respect, teamwork and resilience.

He particularly acknowledged the maturity with which the leaders of the company’s host communities in the Niger Delta have approached and resolved issues with the company amicably. He also paid tribute to the company’s contractors, staff and their families for enabling the company mop up over 3.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day from oil companies’ flare sites in the Niger Delta for conversion into economic benefits for the entire country.

Former Director General of the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ikekweazu, who delivered the keynote address at the event, described the company as the beacon of hope for Nigeria’s economic future as inspiration for a new generation of NIgerians.

In pointing at the NLNG’s Nigerian prizes, he extolled the time and efforts writers invest in their works and also pointed out that a society that does not appreciate science is vulnerable to negative consequences.

Dr Ikekweazu who narrated his experience at the NCDC restated the need for the country to latch onto the global movement towards innovation, technology and best practices. He warned the country’s youths now have more choices on where to reside in the global community.

In calling for a new mindset on how systems and processes operate in the country, he called on the country’s institutions to embrace digitization, stressing that the world is now at new beginning that artificial intelligence presents.

The event also featured presentation of awards to the winners of the 2024 Nigerian Prize for Science, the Nigerian Prize for Literature and the Nigerian Prize for Literary criticism.

In unveiling the company’s now logo, Dr Mshelbila described it as key element of the company’s rebranding initiative and a “significant step in our journey towards a sustainable future.”

“We have a responsibility to influence—not dictate—the course of our destiny. Our focus is on taking deliberate actions now to shape a sustainable world … Since our incorporation in 1989, we’ve pursued the dual mission of harnessing Nigeria’s gas resources for economic value while reducing gas flaring,” he narrated.

He added that adaptability, resilience, and innovation are the foundation of NLNG’s success.

“From one of the world’s fastest-growing LNG companies to becoming the fourth largest globally, we have stayed resilient, competitive, and innovative—even as market dynamics and players have shifted around us.”