Nigerian philanthropist, towering moral and political figure who is impacting the Oil and Gas industry, says her father’s concern for the less privileged did much to inspire her.
In this interview to commemorate her 60th birthday, the former Member of the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says women must tell their success stories.
She comments on the viability of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) as a regulatory instrument for continuous improvement of the sector, and encourages new entrants to take advantage of the investment opportunities afforded by the Compressed Natural Gas initiative of the Federal Government.
Excerpts.
Congratulations, madam, you are 60 today! How do you feel?
Yes, today I am 60, and I am celebrating. I am very happy and very grateful to God almighty that has given me life and deemed it fit to keep me healthy up till this time. I believe that in His infinite mercies, He will grant me many more years in good health and prosperity.
Tell us about your early life and upbringing.
My childhood was very eventful, and it made a lot of impact in my life.
As part of upbringing, I was thought to be hard working. Together with my siblings, we worked with our parents to weave the traditional cloth. We had our own weaving stand where we weaved our own clothes alongside our parents. The women weaved the clothes, while men were responsible for marketing the product as part of teaching them how to trade.
Our parents taught children to be charitable at heart. We saw how our parents reached out to the poor. Our father was so generous to the poor that I thought he was the king of the village. He was kind to all, and was particularly kind to old women and widows. I was always sent on errands to deliver financial support to a needy member of the community. As such, the children learnt to give.
Kindly share the details of one such scenario.
When I was in Primary Four, I had cause to appeal to my father to pay the school fees of a friend of mine. My father always paid his children’s school fees promptly. He asked me why I made the appeal on behalf of my friend. I explained to him that my friend was always being flogged because she was yet to pay her school fees. My father heeded my appeal; he came to our school and paid my friend’s school fees and I was very proud of him. In later life, I have learnt to emulate him.
However, he explained to me that he does not have so much, and that he is only trying to support the various needy people.
I was greatly inspired by my parents who told us that we should dream big and pursue great achievements. So, for me, dreams are the propellers upon which our energies thrive.
What values would you say prevailed during your upbringing that have been eroded by the new civilization?
As a growing child, we were taught many values. A child must respect his or her parents and must work hard and participate in the task of the family.
It was very important to have listening ears and obey the instructions of parents and elders. At that time, we lived as a community of expanded families. Within the expanded family, is your immediate community in which you grow. It was commonplace at that time even though a child has his father and mother, but he was also trained by the elders of the community. So children were also answerable to their uncles, aunts and elders within the community.
A child is taught that a good name is the most important asset he or she could ever have, and that the name must be protected. Therefore, the child is constantly reminded to lead a good child by engaging in noble thoughts and actions that will bring honor to his or her name. A child must be honorable in word and action, and must be hard working, charitable at heart and must exude love. We were told to care for neighbors and protect them.
We deeply loved our grandparents, and we desired to be with them.
It is sad that these values are now being eroded. When I was a child, parents were hard working yet had time to personally take charge of the training of their children. The parents are the first school of children. Parents are the first religious teachers and first friends of their children. The situation has now changed. These days, parents hardly create time to take care of their children. The comfort given to children by parents have been eroded and replaced by things that are devoid of emotions. Children are now taken care of by products of technology that cannot give emotion. These days, a child can stay in his room without talking to anyone; they could choose their friends from strangers across the continents and get influenced by strange lifestyles. So, technology has eroded many great values.
In the olden days, a man or woman who gets married does not abandon his or her parents. The married couples must continue to visit their parents to ensure their wellbeing. They must ensure that parents are not hungry and must be responsible for their health and upkeep. But these days, some children who work in the city literally abandon their parents in the villages. This is sad and strange. We must bring back lost values. And it must be correctly understood that technology has its good use.
Do you have mentors or people whose success stories inspired you?
Yes, there are people whose stories inspired me. I read a lot and I love to read inspirational books. I also love to follow people who have shown deep commitment to making a difference in their own world.
I am highly inspired by our own Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala. She is an icon that I desire to emulate and I regard her as a mentor. In fact, I love to read about her and what she is doing. When Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala stands as a woman in front of you, she stands as an embodiment of hard work, commitment, resilience and the winning struggle to make a difference. For a woman to advance to the level that she has attained, I am sure that you will agree with me that if men had run two paces at a time, she had taken ten fold in order to be at the same level with the men.
Looking at her today, you may never know the challenges she has faced, the tunnels she had to fight through, and the mountains, pitfalls, valleys and thunderstorms, and the torrential rains through which she journeyed. As the world knows, she is standing tall as an icon of inspiration to women, not only in Nigeria, but all over the world. Her life is a message to mankind.
Another lady I deeply admire is Cleopatra. I love the positive energy around Cleopatra. I love her for her struggles and because she is able to channel her energy for the realisation of great goals and vision.
I admire various people who are determined to give back to society. One of them is Melvin Jones who founded Lions Clubs International in 1917. The Association is currently one of the largest Non-Governmental organisations in the world.
Jones was motivated to found the club in order to encourage people to give back to society and take care of the less privileged. Melvin Jones’ mantra is still very relevant today.
In your home State of Kogi and native homeland of Ebiraland, you are a moral and political force to reckon with. Don’t you think you should institute an initiative by which the younger generation would learn from your laudable value, and positively impact society?
I belong to several organisations and associations where we mentor children. This is not to say that we are meeting the mentorship needs of all those in need, but we have been able to reach out to a handful, and we want many more people to join us in executing the onerous task.
The point to make is that we should mentor the younger generation and prepare them for the future, especially the girl child. We should imbibe in them the knowledge that they can aspire to great heights, and that they can achieve their aspirations. If only they can dream it, then they can pursue it and achieve it.
We can inspire the younger generation by telling them the stories of our own challenges and successes. When we share our experiences with them, they will derive inspiration and direction and find solutions to their own challenges as women. We need to tell every girl child the story of how we earned eminence. The girl child needs to realise that some older women have faced the challenges that they are facing, and that there is hope.
So I am putting in place a structured way to mentor the younger generation. I must confess that I have painstakingly struggled to live my life in a way that I can impact people so that they can do even better than me.
God has enabled me to mentor a lot of younger people – male and female. The role of a mentor is not just to hold the hand of the mentee, but to lead, guide and empower the mentee to be able to stand on their own.
You have made your mark in the Nigerian Oil & Gas sector. What was the inspiration and how did it all begin?
I started my work life with the National Oil and Chemical Marketing Company (NOLCHEM) as a young girl, and it was before my marriage. At various times, I worked at several sections in the company.
We transited to CONOIL. I have worked in NOLCHEM and CONOIL. At some point, I was a Sales Representative and was required to move around the country and supervise the downstream aspect of the Oil and Gas industry, particularly the retail aspect. As such, I have served in the downstream aspect of the Oil and Gas sector particularly the retail aspect. I made sure that I added value wherever I go. My zero tolerance for laxity has led me to become a successful dealer after I left CONOIL. Currently, I manage one of their biggest filling stations in Nigeria precisely in Abuja.
I was further privileged to make my mark when, as a result of God’s grace, I was appointed Member, Board of the Nigerian National Corporation (NNPC) as it then was, by the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari.
When NNPC became a limited liability company, I was also privileged to contribute my quota to the transition process. While on the Board of the NNPC, I did my best to add value to the development of my country. It was a very rewarding experience for me, and it was the hallmark of my career in the Oil and Gas industry. I joined the industry as a young girl on a very small table and rose to become part of the industry regulator. When I joined NOLCHEM, I never knew that I was going to be on the Board of one of the biggest national oil companies in Africa.
My experience at the NNPC Board exposed me to how the whole industry works. I realised that the assumption of the public may not always be true.
The NNPCL system is blessed with the most formidable management staff, and the leadership is always committed to the nation. Serving on the Board was like icing on my career cake. I commend the highly esteemed personalities with whom I served on the NNPC Board. At some point, we were led by the revered Senator Margery Chuba-Okadigbo who was Chairman when I was on the Board.
As a consummate business professional in the Oil and Gas sector, what is your advice to new entrants or prospective entrepreneurs in the sector?
The Federal Government recently declared that gas is the transition fuel. As a matter of fact, the Oil and Gas industry is expanding day by day. The industry has expanded and there are opportunities for new entrants along the industry value chain. More Nigerians should study the sector and invest in it.
The use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as fuel for transportation provides an opportunity for investors.
Traditionally, we used to have only the filling station where petrol, diesel, kerosene and aviation fuel are sold. But that is changing. Currently, people are encouraged to use Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) instead of firewood in order to preserve the environment and stop desertification.
New entrants should calm down and study the market, get all required licenses and documents from the relevant regulatory agencies, and ensure that they are driven by the desire to add value to end users. If new entrants are driven by this desire, they will be able to pay attention to detail and every other thing that has to do with the industry. For example, in dealing with gas, the investor must prioritize safety. This he must do by ensuring strict adherence to safety rules governing the handling of the product.
Every product in the Oil and Gas industry has so much to do with safety. So, investors must be safety driven and must prioritize the safety of the public.
What policy measures would you say may be put in place to complement the effort at maximising productivity of the NNPCL?
The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) provided great opportunities for the growth of the industry, and gave opportunities to new entrants and investors. It took several years to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill into law. For me, the PIA broke the jinx, it moved us from where we were to where we are now. It is the best thing that ever happened to the sector.
I have always said that whatever Act we have might not be perfect, but it will definitely be useful in making us progress from one point to another. It can only be better. We had nothing to review when we didn’t have it. Now that we have it, we are making continuous progress.
So, there is always room for improvement of laws and policies. We can review it while it serves as a law guiding the operations in the industry. All over the world, policies are working documents and are always subject to review while in use.
You have admirers and supporters. Among them are people who look up to you for political direction. In this regard, what are your political aspirations?
Every human being is a political animal. I aspire to constantly and intentionally add value to people, to help the poor and improve the quality of life for the people. This is what I stand for. I have been a volunteer all my life. I will continue to do my best for society and community. I will support the efforts of the government and good spirited members of the public provided that the efforts will lead to the advancement of humanity.
