By Stephanie Daniels
TotalEnergies has stressed that Nigeria’s present and future energy sustainability does not just rest on the abundance of hydrocarbons in the country but also on the need for sustained and methodical attention to human resources development.
The Deputy Managing Director, Deepwater Asset, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria, Victor Bandele said this during a panel session with the theme, “Governance and Structuring Human Resources Strategy For Sustainable Energy Future” at the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) 2025 NAICE conference in Lagos
He said one of the pillars upon which more than 63 years of its footprint in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry rests was on the importance it has attached to human resources development.
According to him, sustainability in the company’s operations came from nothing else but through and by its deliberate inclusion of people as critical tools in meeting today’s energy requirements while preparing for future energy needs and targets.
He said: “Over the years, TotalEnergies has kept the IPES alive through financial sponsorship. And as we speak, all our directors are mentors at the institute where graduates are trained as professionals. About 40 graduates of the school are currently employees of TotalEnergies, while others work in other companies in Nigeria. Some of them are even expatriates outside the country. This is because we believe so much in people, and we keep adapting learning at the school to meet today’s energy challenges, while also preparing them for the future.”
“At TotalEnergies, we believe that sustainability does not rest on only old knowledge. We also have to configure past knowledge to sustain us in the future, and that is why training the youths must be at the heart of national development. The oil and gas industry must look inwards to see that youths are carried along.
“Our educational policies must be tied to energy transition because it is not the skills needed now that will be required in the future.”
Speaking earlier, the chairperson, SPE Nigeria Council, Engr. Amina Danmadami said a sustainable energy future requires a holistic leadership approach that is intentional.
She said: “Nigeria has found itself at a crossroads where, through bold leadership, the energy landscape could be reshaped.
“The future of energy is neither here nor there. It is neither leaner nor predetermined. It will be shaped mainly by investments and sound leadership. It must be repositioned to be inclusive of all stakeholders, and must be deepened through strategic engagements across boards and the globe.”
With the theme, “Building a Sustainable Energy Future: Leveraging Technology, Supply Chain, Human Resources, and Policy”, this year’s conference attracted a great assembly of industry operators and regulators, financiers, oil and gas interest groups, the media as well as other categories of energy industry observers.