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She did not open with a quarterly earnings report or a production chart. Dr. Seinye O.B. Lulu-Briggs walked to the podium at the Chapel of God International Worship Centre on Forces Avenue and began, as she does every year, with gratitude.
That choice says something about how Moni Pulo Limited sees itself.
Nigeria's wholly indigenous oil and gas exploration company gathered staff, management, community representatives, government officials and partners on Feb. 28 to mark its 12th Annual Corporate Praise, the faith-driven anniversary tradition the company has held since dedicating its operations to God over a decade ago. The theme this year was "Unwavering Gratitude," drawn from 1 Thessalonians 5:18.
Lulu-Briggs, who serves as chairman and chief executive officer, traced the company's roots back to a decision that looked, on paper, like a bad one. When Moni Pulo's founder, her late father High Chief Dr. O.B. Lulu-Briggs, moved to acquire the company's pioneer asset in the early 1990s, the professional advice he received was blunt: the field was commercially unviable. He pressed ahead anyway.
Seven years later, on March 7, 1999, Moni Pulo struck First Oil, planting itself among Nigeria's earliest indigenous independent exploration and production companies.
"By conventional scientific and commercial projections, production from that pioneer field should have ended over a decade ago," Lulu-Briggs told the gathering. Operations, she said, have continued well beyond what anyone projected.
The company operates as sole operator of its OML 114 asset, located in the eastern lobe of the tertiary Niger Delta play in Nigeria's south-south region.
Beyond production, Lulu-Briggs pointed to a regulatory milestone that no other indigenous operator had reached before Moni Pulo: full compliance with the Petroleum Industry Act requirements governing the Host Community Development Trust. Through that framework, the company has funded health facilities, school renovations, civic halls, boreholes, solar lighting, sanitation infrastructure and livelihood programs in surrounding communities.
She also noted that no staff member was lost in the past year, and that the workforce grew.
Now the company is eyeing what comes next. Gas reserves discovered in areas previously written off as exhausted are being developed, Lulu-Briggs said, describing the effort as a new chapter that will require the right partnerships, technical depth and financial discipline.
"We have entered a season of increase," she said.
Rivers State Deputy Governor Prof. Ngozi Odu, who attended the event, said the state government has taken note. She commended Moni Pulo's sustained contributions to Rivers State's economic development and described the company's annual practice of corporate praise as an example other institutions ought to follow.
"Twelve years of consistent dedication to God, excellence in service and contribution to the growth of our dear State is indeed a remarkable milestone," Odu said.
Apostle David Zilley Aggrey, founding pastor of Graceland International Churches and the minister who first encouraged the company to hold the annual event, delivered the sermon. He preached from the biblical account of King David and the Ark of God, warning the congregation against the instinct to improvise when instructions are clear.
"Don't help God," Aggrey said more than once, recounting how a man who tried to steady the Ark died on the spot. He urged the congregation to stay obedient, even through difficult seasons, and reminded them that what looked like misfortune in the story of Obed-Edom turned into extraordinary blessing within three months.
The occasion closed with the presentation of gifts to female staff and the wives of male staff members.
Founded in 1992 with a vision of serving as a reference for excellence in Nigeria's oil and gas industry, Moni Pulo has spent more than three decades trying to prove that an indigenous company can compete, endure and grow in one of the world's most complex operating environments. Twelve years of unbroken corporate praise services suggest the company has no intention of letting that story end quietly.
