Femi Soneye: The Quiet Force Making a Difference in Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Industry

Femi Soneye’s name rarely makes headlines. Yet, for 20 months, he controlled how Nigeria’s national oil company explained itself to the public, serving as Chief Corporate Communications Officer at NNPC Limited during one of its most scrutinised periods. Soneye took on that role carrying a journalism background built across three continents, having worked in Nigeria, Australia, and the United States before settling into Nigerian public relations, a breadth few domestic communicators can claim. Before NNPC, he had already built his own media platform, founding and publishing Per Second News, a multimedia outlet that gave him firsthand experience running a newsroom rather than simply advising one. That record earned recognition. In 2025, the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations named him Spokesperson of the Year, beating communications heads from Shell, NIMASA and the Nigeria Police Force for the title. His standing extends beyond Nigeria. Soneye holds membership in the National Association of Black Journalists and the Society of Professional Journalists in the United States, alongside the Nigerian Union of Journalists at home. Colleagues trace his working style to ‘Omoluabi,’ the Yoruba standard of integrity and good character, and to his Ijebu Igbo roots, a calm disposition that stood out inside an industry known for aggressive public relations tactics. The clearest marker of that discipline came in June 2025, when Soneye resigned from NNPC after 20 months in office, choosing to return to journalism and make more room for his family rather than extend a powerful state appointment. Few communications executives walk away from that kind of post voluntarily. For Soneye, the spirit that drove that decision is the very same instinct that built his reputation in the first place: measured timing over visibility. Clearly, the man, unlike many on the same path, knows that credibility in communication is built through consistency and restraint rather than constant presence in the news. Little wonder he is outstanding.