SHELL has reiterated its commitment to maintaining the highest safety standards across its operations in Nigeria, as it hosted chief executives of contracting companies at its annual Leadership and Contractor CEO Conference in Lagos on August 18.
The conference, themed “Learn. Adapt. Improve.”, brought together Shell leadership and senior executives from contracting companies to strengthen collaboration around safe operations and reinforce a shared commitment to people, performance and safety.
Speaking at the event, Shell’s Executive Vice President and Country Chair, Nigeria, Elohor Aiboni, said the company was pursuing an extensive portfolio of projects and operations aimed at supporting Nigeria’s growing energy needs, creating value for stakeholders and contributing to national development.
She, however, stressed that the scale or importance of any project could not come at the expense of safety.
“Shell is delivering an extensive portfolio of projects and operations that will help meet Nigeria’s growing energy needs, create value for our stakeholders, and support national development,” Aiboni said. “We are advancing major opportunities, executing complex work, and pursuing ambitious goals. But no matter how significant the opportunity, no matter how important the project, our success will always be measured first by how safely we deliver it.”
She described the conference as important to sustaining that focus, particularly as Shell and its contractor partners undertake increasingly complex activities.
The forum provided an opportunity for participants to share operational experiences, discuss lessons learned and examine ways of improving safety performance. Activities included discussions and the cascade of learnings, an exhibition, as well as awards and recognition for contractors and individuals who demonstrated outstanding safety performance.
A major highlight of the conference was the signing of the “Leadership Charter”, jointly developed in 2025 by Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) and its contractor partners.
The charter is intended to provide a common framework for leadership behaviour and engagement between Shell and its contractors, while embedding safety commitments into day-to-day operations.
Speaking ahead of the signing, SNEPCo Managing Director Ronald Adams said the conference theme aligned closely with the objectives of the charter.
“This year’s conference theme, Learn. Adapt. Improve, connects strongly with the purpose of the Charter,” Adams said.
He explained that learning required openness about what had worked, what had proved difficult and what workers and operations were indicating about the effectiveness of existing approaches.
According to him, adapting would require leaders and organisations to change their approaches when workplace realities showed that improvements were necessary, while improvement would depend on ensuring that the commitments contained in the charter translated into everyday leadership and operational practices.
“To improve, we must make sure that the commitments in the Charter are not only discussed during conferences, but embedded into how we lead, how we engage, how we review performance, and how we support safe execution every day,” Adams said.
The leadership charter therefore represents an effort to move safety discussions beyond periodic conferences and into the routine management of operations, contractor relationships and performance.
Reaffirming Shell’s position on the importance of protecting its workforce and contractor personnel, Aiboni said safety remained a fundamental measure of the company’s success.
“Every person who works for Shell or on behalf of Shell deserves to return home safely to their family, every day, without exception,” she said.
The conference underscores Shell’s continued emphasis on collaboration with contractors as a key component of delivering its operations safely and efficiently in Nigeria, while promoting learning, adaptation and continuous improvement across the wider contracting community.
