Eulogies have continued to flow in honour of the late oil and gas billionaire and founder of Tonimas Group of Companies, Chief Anthony Obiagboso Enukeme, who died on Monday, June 8, 2020, aged 76.
The latest tribute came from the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO} which described the popular industrialist and businessman as a self-made entrepreneur who by dint of sheer hard work built a large conglomerate of companies that excelled in various sectors of the economy.
In a statement titled Tribute to A Fallen Hero, NARTO said Chief Enukeme, a Knight of St John International{KSJI}, was not only a distinguished member of the association, but also one of its patrons, a charismatic leader and “a role model for all.”
The transporters’ body said the news of his death devastated its leadership and members across the country.
Signed by the National President, Alh. Yusuf Lawal Othman, and the National Operations Coordinator, Alh. Kassim Ibrahim Bataiya, NARTO said the late patron was an excellent player in the transportation business whose vast knowledge of industrial relations and conflict resolution helped to achieve stability in the association and the industry generally.
The NARTO statement read in part, “Late Chief Anthony Enukeme was hard-working and enterprising. He possessed vast wealth of knowledge in different fields, particularly in transportation and in the oil and gas downstream sector.
“His passion to contribute to the development of the sector drove him to form Tonimas Nigeria limited, a conglomerate of the companies whose areas of operation include Tonimas table water, Tonimas Aluminum, White Castle Hotel, haulage and shipping, among others,
“Until his death, he was a distinguished member of NARTO embodied with great charisma which positioned him as a role model for all. His contributions to NARTO were enormous and unsurpassed. As a huge investor in transportation, he brought to bear on transporters’ relationship with other industrial unions, his good knowledge of industrial relations and conflict resolutions.
“Worthy of note was his contribution which led to the successful conduct of NARTO elections in January, 2020. Due to his exemplary lifestyle, late Chief Enukeme was bestowed with KSJI, Knight of the Order of St Gregory the Great {KSG} and traditional titles, among which are the Ezeana Aku-Uvom, Onowu of Neni, Enyl Abia (Elephant of Abia), Ogbata Onuo Akwaeze and an national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger {OON}.
The NARTO leaders recalled that during the period he associated with the body, the late business mogul impacted a lot on its activities with innovations and ideas that improved and enhanced the members’ transport businesses.
“We indeed lost a man who was a bastion of wisdom, a genius, an amiable stalwart, a self-made entrepreneur, philanthropist and also a true nationalist,” the association said.
Born on the January 21, 1944, the late Tonimas Group Chairman will be buried this month in Umudioka village, Neni, in Anaocha Local Governmenty Area of Anambra state, according to a funeral programme announced by the first son, Akuebube Azubuike Enukeme.