By Chief Tunde Afolabi
It gives me immense pleasure, and indeed a deep sense of pride, to welcome you to this very important occasion the Final Investment Decision ceremony for the IMA Project.
Today represents much more than the approval of an investment.
It represents the fulfilment of a commitment.
It represents confidence in Nigeria.
And it represents what can be achieved when two companies, with different histories but a shared vision, decide to work together with trust, discipline and determination.
For AMNI, this is a particularly significant day.
But before I speak about today, I would like to take us back briefly to Houston in May 2024.
I had the privilege of meeting the Chairman of TotalEnergies, Mr. Patrick Pouyanné. During that meeting, we discussed what was then still an opportunity an idea whose potential we both understood, but whose journey was still ahead of us.
On May 25, 2024, we signed the Heads of Terms. After signing, we shook hands.
To many people, a handshake may simply be a gesture accompanying a signed document.
To me, that handshake meant something more.
It said: we have given each other our word.
The Heads of Terms contained our understanding, but that handshake represented the trust behind it.
I remember that moment very clearly because, having spent many years in this industry, I have learned that major projects are not built by contracts alone.
- They are built by people.
- They are built on relationships.
- They are built on credibility.
And, ultimately, they are built when people honour the commitments they make to one another.
Today, just a little over two years later, that handshake has become an FID.
And I think that deserves recognition.
I therefore wish to acknowledge TotalEnergies, its leadership and its entire Nigerian organisation for the professionalism, persistence and spirit of partnership that have brought us to this point.
There were undoubtedly difficult questions to answer along the way. There were technical and commercial matters, regulatory requirements and investment decisions that demanded careful consideration.
That is the nature of our industry.
What matters is that we worked through them together.
And we are here today.
Ladies and gentlemen, the significance of this project extends well beyond AMNI and TotalEnergies.
It speaks to a larger question confronting our industry and our country:
Can Nigeria continue to attract serious, long-term investment into its oil and gas sector?
Our presence here today provides one very practical answer.
Capital is disciplined.
Capital has choices.
And major energy companies today have investment opportunities competing for funding across many parts of the world.
Therefore, when companies take an FID in Nigeria, it sends an important signal.
It says that opportunities in this country can still be identified, structured, financed and developed successfully.
But we should never take that confidence for granted.
Nigeria possesses extraordinary hydrocarbon resources. Yet resources beneath the ground have little economic value until we create the conditions that allow investment, technology and human capability to convert those resources into production.
That requires cooperation among government, regulators, international energy companies, indigenous operators, financiers, contractors, host communities and our workforce.
Every part of that chain matters.
For AMNI, this project also represents something that has been central to our philosophy from the beginning: the capacity of Nigerian independent companies to participate meaningfully in the development of our country’s petroleum resources.
Indigenous participation should not simply mean ownership.
- It must increasingly mean capability.
- It must mean technical excellence.
- It must mean financial discipline.
- It must mean good governance.
It must mean building Nigerian organisations that can sit across the table from the world’s leading energy companies and establish partnerships based on mutual respect and complementary strengths.
The partnership we celebrate today with TotalEnergies is, in my view, an example of that principle.
TotalEnergies brings decades of international experience, technology, project execution capability and a long history in Nigeria.
AMNI brings its own experience as a Nigerian independent, knowledge of our operating environment, entrepreneurial commitment and, most importantly, a long-term stake in the success of this country.
Together, we have an opportunity to create something greater than either party could create alone.
And that is the essence of a good partnership.
As Chairman of AMNI, I am particularly conscious that reaching FID is not the end of the journey.
In many respects, it is the beginning.
From this point forward, the expectations become greater.
- We must execute.
- We must execute safely.
- We must execute responsibly.
- We must execute efficiently.
We must maintain the highest standards of technical integrity and environmental stewardship.
We must work constructively with our host communities.
And we must ensure that Nigerian businesses and Nigerian professionals participate meaningfully in the economic opportunities that this investment will create.
Ultimately, our success will not be measured by today’s photographs or speeches.
It will be measured by what happens after today.
It will be measured when engineering becomes construction; when construction becomes installation; when investment becomes production; and when production creates value for our partners, our communities, our employees and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
I would therefore like to use this occasion to acknowledge the many people whose work has brought us here.
To the management and staff of TotalEnergies EP Nigeria, I thank you.
To the management and staff of AMNI International Petroleum Development Company Limited, I thank you.
Some of you have spent countless hours in technical meetings, commercial negotiations, legal reviews and planning sessions.
Many of the people who make projects like this possible never stand on a stage such as this one.
But today belongs to you as well.
I also wish to recognise the relevant agencies of the Federal Government and our regulators for their important roles in creating the framework within which investments such as this can proceed.
And to our host communities and other stakeholders, we recognise that you are essential partners in the long-term success of our operations.
Our relationship with you must continue to be founded on dialogue, mutual respect and shared prosperity.
Ladies and gentlemen, I want to return, in closing, to that meeting in Houston.
When the Chairman of TotalEnergies and I shook hands in 2024 after signing those Heads of Terms, neither of us could simply declare that the journey was complete.
There was still considerable work ahead.
There were approvals to secure.
There were commercial arrangements to conclude.
There were technical decisions to make.
There was an investment case to establish.
And ultimately, there was a decision to be taken.
Today, that decision has been taken.
That is why this occasion is important.
It reminds us that in business and particularly in an industry as complex as ours relationships matter.
Trust matters.
Persistence matters.
And keeping one’s word matters.
The document we signed in Houston provided the framework.
The handshake expressed our intention.
The FID we celebrate in Abuja today demonstrates our commitment.
Now, our responsibility is to turn that commitment into reality.
I look forward to the day when we gather again not to celebrate an agreement, and not merely to celebrate an investment decision but to celebrate the successful delivery and production from the IMA Project.
On that day, we will be able to look back at Houston in 2024, Abuja in 2026, and everything that happened in between, and say:
- We made a commitment.
- We built a partnership.
- And together, we delivered.
On behalf of the Board, management and entire AMNI family, I thank TotalEnergies for the partnership and confidence you have demonstrated.
We acknowledge and thank the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for his Executive Orders that have underpinned, encouraged and facilitated the progress of this Project.
I thank everyone who has contributed to bringing us to this milestone.
And above all, I pray that this project will be executed safely and successfully and that it will create enduring value for our companies, our stakeholders and our beloved country, Nigeria.
Being the full address of the Chairman of AMNI International Petroleum Development Company Limited at the Final Investment Decision ceremony for the IMA Project in Abuja on Wednesday, September 23, 2026.
