Emeka Obasi
Wealth means nothing if it is all about living big, cruising about town in wonders on wheels and doling out handouts to bands of praise singers. That is the Emeka Okwuosa philosophy.
This gentleman remains largely unheralded even when he is creating a clutch of millionaires all over Africa and showing the globe that Nigeria is not all about wrong-headed individuals who build empires abroad and oppress the masses with stolen commonwealth.
Here we have a polished, accomplished compatriot doing more for younger Nigerians than some of those whose avowed key responsibility is to make our clime a better place for citizens.
According to Okwuosa: “I have helped people who worked for me set up their own companies and sub-contract work to them, which builds capacity.”
This sounds strange. Some others who are so well endowed in business would rather enjoy the uncanny sport of watching others lick their cleats, bow to the master’s kids and remain in perpetual servitude.
For all his ideals, God has been good to Okwuosa, who today sits on top of the conglomerate, Oilserve Group Nigeria Limited. His concerns span from pipeline facilities/maintenance to domestic gas distribution, exploration, agriculture and engineering.
His life is a book that those who think big must read. Okwuosa was not born into a gold card family. As a boy, he saw the bloody Nigerian Civil War, which disempowered everybody in the only community he knew and grew up in. He certainly did not eat the best of meals back then.
What a coincidence that this Irefi, Oraifite boy went into oil and gas. It is interesting because the town served as the tactical headquarters of a Biafran Army formation commanded by Col. Joe Oseloka Achuzia. Whatever he and his men did in those days oil was the critical factor.
Achuzia’s troops knew how strategic oil was to Biafran war efforts. Known as Hannibal, soldiers under him stormed oil wells located in Kwale, Mid-Western Nigeria.
Okwuosa survived the war, attended Boys Secondary School, Oraifite, and proceeded to the University of Ife, Ile-Ife, to study electronics and electrical engineering. He graduated in 1982. At that time, Ife had not been renamed Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU).
Events, acronyms and place names would later play huge roles in the evolution of the brand, Emeka Okwuosa. Yes, the name opens doors today in Africa, Europe, Asia, America and beyond. The young engineer became a world citizen early enough. Schlumberger offered a job that exposed him to the globe.
Here was the son of a schoolteacher who did not have to rely on one swashbuckling politician or an overbearing godfather to survive. It was all about destiny, brains and drive. Schlumberger took him to the North Sea. This field engineer also operated in France and Scotland. The company is the world’s largest oil field services company and employs over 100,000 workers. Okwuosa worked and mixed with the very best from all climes and cultures.
The job continued in Libya. It was interesting because the historical Carthage was indeed in nearby Tunisia. That was the home of the original Hannibal. Okwuosa was in the Maghreb as an expatriate.
He was home with the oil fields in Sharara, El Feel and the Wafa gas field. He must have been touched by the name Tobruk. That was where a detachment of Nigerian soldiers, under the West African Frontier Forces, saw battle during the Second World War.
The technical manager’s job in Indonesia was another experience. The country, like Nigeria, was a multi-cultural society, with over 300 ethnic groups. With Islands splattered with intriguing geographical features, Indonesia must have been a tourist’s dream. But first the job had to be done.
Okwuosa moved around the world, sharing values and ethics as well as sharpening his skills and broadening his vision and perspectives. Whether in Java or Sumatra, this Nigerian took keen interest in some place names. There was a town called Bali. They also had Banda. These were also place names in the Middle Belt of his country.
Africa taught Okwuosa a whole lot. He was in Mauritania, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Benin Republic. Beyond West Africa, Schlumberger took him to the Central African nations of Cameroon, Gabon, Congo and Central African Republic. The man also served in Angola. What a tour of just one life! At just 58, still powering on.
After such a whirlwind working tour of the world and a thorough appraisal of the challenges and opportunities out there, Okwuosa returned to Nigeria bubbling and brimming with ways, means and ideas, ready to contribute to national development. Time and application of his ideals has so far portrayed him as an oil and gas entrepreneur, human development expert, philanthropist and social engineer.
He set up Oilserve in 1992. The company commenced operations in 1995 but, over these few decades, Nigeria and indeed Africa have been through quite some social turbulence. Privation grips more savagely and the likes of Okwuosa cannot stand the sight of Nigerians taking risks across the Sahara to be humiliated in Libya, where he earned respect as a hardworking professional.
Stories from Indonesia turned his insides out. Compatriots would arrive Jakarta Airport with hard drugs concealed in body recesses. Many were not spared by President Joko Widodo, who would not listen to pleas by world leaders.
Okwuosa has established a legion of companies to accommodate workers in the bid to decongest the labour market and show the world that there are Nigerians who can compete favourably with other nationals in the global economy. He is the founder, group CEO of Oliserve Group Limited. Companies under this conglomerate include Crown Energy Resources, EKCEL Farms, Fraz Power, Frazoil Exploration and Production and Frazimex Engineering.
Okwuosa is indeed a goal-getter. He built Oando’s first pipeline encircling Lagos in 2001. The 128-kilometre pipeline is the longest gas transmission pipeline in southern Nigeria.
He said: “Even at the height of militancy, when there were bombings and sabotage, we were the only company with the capacity to move into the swamps with all facilities.
“We built coffer dams, salvaged a 28-inch pipeline within a few days to enable oil flow again and restore the production of 120,000 barrels of oil per day.”
This was possible because Okwuosa is as close to the grassroots as he is to the top. His philathropy and community development endeavours are well documented. He knows his way round the people and they trust him.
Okwuosa turned 58 on August 19.