Chief Sena Anthony, the Coordinator, Corporate Secretariat and Legal Division of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC has made a triumphant entry into the Women Hall of Fame, a hall where Nigerian women that are first in their various disciplines are recognized and honoured.

The Hall of Fame which is located and under the auspices of the National Centre for Women Development (NCWD), Abuja is a sight to behold.

Chief Anthony was honoured for being the first African and the first female to chair the Section on Energy and Natural Resources of the International Bar Association.

The ceremony was performed by the Director General, NCWD, by Dr Aisha Usman Mahmud. The DG said that Chief Sena Anthony has also recorded various “firsts” in her discipline including being the first female to be appointed to a position as high and important as the Coordinator (GED), CSLD in NNPC; the first African to be appointed an Honorary Life member of the Council of the International Bar Association.

Chief Anthony sang a song of praise and thanks to the almighty God. She expressed her surprise in knowing about such a hall at the centre and impressed with what she saw. She said that the Women hall should be publicized.

She said when the invitation to receive the honour at the centre came, she was requested to come with close friends which was what she did. However, she introduced and recommended, amongst her close friends some candidates for the Women Hall of Fame most of which were female top management staff (GGMs, GMs) of NNPC.

Before the Coordinator, CSLD unveiled her plague and placed her portrait on the wall in the Hall of Fame, amongst the female Firsts and achievers the Acting Director of the centre read a brief citation which summarized her achievement.


Chief Sena Anthony is at present the Coordinator (Group Executive Director level) Corporate Secretariat and Legal Division as well as the Secretary to the Corporation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

She graduated in Law from the University of Lagos in Nigeria in 1973 and was called to bar in 1974. She then spent four years working with the Federal Ministry of Justice, before joining NNPC in 1978. Chief Sena Anthony was appointed the Group General Manager, Corporate Secretariat and Legal Division as well as the Secretary to the Corporation of NNPC in July 1999. She was promoted to the position of Group Executive Director on 6th May 2007. She is the first female to be appointed to such a position in NNPC.

She has spent the last twenty-nine years with NNPC working as an in-house counsel on various oil and gas projects which pertain to both upstream and the downstream investments in the Petroleum Industry including major projects like the Nigeria LNG project, the West African Gas Pipeline project, the Brass LNG project and the Olokola LNG Project.

In November 2003 she was appointed by the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to Chair the Committee to produce the Gas Policy for Nigeria which has been approved by Government.

Chief Anthony has also played a major role over the years in the development of key petroleum development agreements and legislation. These include the legislation on the Production Sharing Contract as well as the drafting of the 2000, 2005 and 2007 Production Sharing Contracts.

On the International scene, Chief Anthony’s expertise in Oil and Gas Law has received many accolades resulting in her being elected and serving as the Chairman of the Section on Energy and Natural Resources Law of the International Bar Association 2000 to 2004. She is the first African and the first female to chair the Section on Energy and Natural Resources of the International Bar Association. She is currently a member of the prestigious Nominations Committee of the International Bar Association, the committee which comprises past chairs and Presidents of the International Bar Association, screens all candidates who wish to contest for elections of any key position in the IBA.

She was on 29th September 2005, appointed an Honorary Life member of the Council of the International Bar Association. Again she is the first African to be so appointed.

Based on the international recognition of her expertise in Oil and Gas, she was appointed in the year 2000 as a fellow of the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law Policy, University of Dundee, Scotland, a centre that has produced many post-graduates in Petroleum Law. Again she is the first African to be so appointed.

Furthermore, in 2002 in a ceremony held in Germany, she received an award by an International US based institute – as the foremost woman in energy internationally amongst 50 key women in Energy nominated globally. Chief Sena Anthony is a member of National Executive Council of the Nigerian Bar Association. She is also a member of the Body of Benchers in Nigeria. Chief Anthony is also a UK chartered arbitrator and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators of the United Kingdom.

Chief Anthony was a director of Brass LNG Limited is also presently a director Napoil a subsidiary company of NNPC.

She has attended various international courses and seminars on and Oil and Gas Law and Policy including the Oxford University Oil and Gas Policy course for company directors and the Harvard Business School.

Chief Anthony is a devout Roman Catholic and is currently the second Vice Chairman of the Parish Pastoral Council Holy Cross Cathedral Lagos. She is also the Matron the CWO Holy Cross Cathedral, the Boys and Girls Brigade and the All Saints choir of Holy Cross Cathedral.

Finally Chief Anthony is a traditional Lagos Chief as well as an Egba chief with the titles of Yeye Olofin of Lagos, the Iya Oge of Itoku and the Asiwaju Iyamofin of Egba.