Emeka Okwuosa is a seasoned engineer, administrator, entrepreneur and a visionary with over 35 years of experience in oil and gas engineering. He is the Founder and Group Chairman of Oilserv Limited, which is involved in pipeline/facilities engineering. He also owns Frazimex Limited, oil and gas engineering, drilling, exploration and production company. Other companies in the group are Frazpower Limited, Frazoil Ltd, Crown Energy Resources Ltd and Ekcel Farms Ltd. He attended the University of Ife, Ile-Ife, where he read Electronics and Electrical Engineering. Okwuosa set up Oilserve after working in Schlumberger Energy Services as an international engineering staff. His company is building the largest pipeline system in Africa (48-inch in diameter /67 kilometers from Southeast to West). A recipient of over 20 awards, including the National Productivity Order of Merit Award from the Federal Government, Okwusa holds an honorary doctorate degree in engineering from the Enugu State University of Science and Technology and in Business Administration from the University of Nigeria Nsukka. He a member of several professional bodies, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Society of Professional Well Log Analysts (SPWLA), Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), Pipeline Professional Association of Nigeria (PLAN), Nigerian Institute of Directors (IoD), Nigerian Society of Engineers (MNSE) and Society of Petroleum Engineers International (SPE). In this interview with JOSEPH JIBUEZE and NNEKA NWANERI, Okwuosa speaks on his childhood, civil war, philanthropic activities, and why he does not plan to join politics.
To have attained this height must been challenging. How did you manage it?
I did not set out to be where I am today. I did not set out to have challenges. It is just the way God has created me and the way I have reasoned about life. The bottom line is that I was lucky to have a good background with right values. I come from a family where strong Christian values were the foundation of family. It has shaped what I do and believe in. My paternal grandfather was the first catechist of CMS Church, now Anglican Church in Oraifite, Anambra State. As early as 1910, he was instrumental to the establishment of St Jude’s Anglican Church and then CMS Church in Oraifite. My maternal grandfather, Theopilus Okolama, as a catechist and a school teacher, established St Mathews CMS Church in Ezobulu in Ekwusigo Local Government Area. My parents were strong Christian believers and they trained us in that belief. We grew up knowing the good and the bad and knowing that the only way to succeed is to follow the Christian way and understand the meaning of Jesus in our lives and act in a way that reflects that, not just by talking about it.
What was your growing up like?
Growing up, we were taught clearly that to achieve anything, we must have education as a strong instrument. I did the best I could within the confines of the period. Of course I went through difficulties like most of us from Eastern Nigeria who were very young before the civil war started in 1967. I was born in Jos but we had to relocate to Anambra State during the war. After the war, we grew up with serious difficulties that helped us develop character. In developing character, we are able to face the challenges of life.
Can you tell us about your education?
I went to secondary school, and then university but we had limitations in our ability to fund higher education at that time. I proceeded to work. Fortunately, I got a job with Schlumberger International which took me through 12 different countries. I finally came back in 1993 to set up my own companies. So, looking at the foundation, it is one anchored in the right values, hardwork and belief in oneself; knowing that God has given you all the attributes you need to succeed. All you should do is use these attributes positively and develop oneself and the society. That has always been the foundation of my thinking.
What were the challenges?
There have been challenges, such as having to grow up in difficult times, having to go through a civil war as a kid and not understanding why the war was fostered on you; challenges of seeing people die every day and seeing hardship meted on people; bombs dropped on innocent people and not knowing why, and then growing up to understand what has gone on, and then having to live a life where I had to, day-by-day, ride my bicycle two to three kilometers to school because I was a day student and could not afford to live in a boarding house. I did that as a young boy in my teens, and I built on that character.
How were your days in Schlumberger?
Joining Schlumberger was the most defining moment of my life. The first major location I worked in was in Libya in the middle of the desert. I was 22 years. I managed people and systems, and I had to deliver on my job and report to bosses in Paris. I sometimes managed five to 10 people of different nationalities. I also learnt how to understand cultures across the world and work with others.
What challenges did you face when you returned to Nigeria?
Coming back to Nigeria, I had a lot of challenges. That was when the effect of Abiola saga was at its peak. The government was toppled by General Abacha, and country was in crisis with financial institutions of the world. It was challenging to access finance to develop the business I wanted to do. It took two to three years to overcome the difficulties of Nigerian isolation. But that, again, helped me develop character and build strong systems. In the 2000s, we had the problems of the insurgency in the Niger Delta. Almost every service company employee vacated Rivers and Bayelsa States. Oilserv Ltd, that I run, remained and maintained all the pipelines. We had to work with the militants and security agencies and took all the risk to ensure that oil flowed. That was one of the major challenges I confronted. As God would have it, all that has paid off because challenges develop character and character helps you to build better systems
.
Did your childhood experiences drive you to touch other people’s lives?
I believe in making a positive difference in any place I find myself. I also take delight in correcting wrongs and it delights me to know I can impact positively in the lives of people.
One of the gaps that I fill today is providing good educational background for young people. For anybody to grow, you have to acquire knowledge, and knowledge is built through structured education. I realised also that in the community I come from, which is Oraifite town, there are educational gaps, with people struggling to meet up with basic needs. Some who are quite smart cannot afford to go to school because their parents don’t have the money. That’s where I came in.
How have you helped such ones?
For the past 15 years, I’ve set up a scholarship scheme where I take people from primary school to university. Various batches have graduated. Others are still in the university and the programme continues. It has made a lot of difference in the lives of people. And I am happy that is the case.
Do you plan to expand your philanthropy by joining politics to touch lives on a larger scale?
Let me talk about widening the philanthropy. When I spoke about the scholarship scheme, that is not all. I used my foundation to develop water schemes in my town. I drilled boreholes and provided tanks. I reticulated the water in some sections of the town and adjourning ones. We also set up a garri processing factory to help farmers who plant cassava to be able to process and use them. Beyond that, I have built two major roads in Oraifite. And each of them was not only meant to provide access to the people but to help check erosion. The last one I built was a two kilometer road that had serious erosion problem that was virtually devouring enclaves. By building the road and channeling the water to a nearby river, the erosion menace has been permanently curtailed. That project alone cost me more than N200million three years ago.
Can you tell us about your foundation’s free medicare services?
We are currently building a standard hospital with modern facilities and quarters for doctors and nurses. It will provide primary health system and a center for kidney management, because I’ve seen the issue of kidney failure becoming a major one in our society. A lot of people cannot afford treatment. Again, for the past eight years, there has been a constant, yearly medical programme provided by our kith and kin that live overseas. I’ve been the major sponsor of that programme and making sure that we provide medicine and sponsor people to come in from Europe and other places once or twice a year to give healthcare services. So, the philanthropy continues, but beyond that, we have a yearly distribution of rice and oil to indigent people. Last year, we gave out 18,000 bags of rice and we have been doing this for the past 10 years. The philanthropy continues and we keep focusing on developing it.
Do you plan to join politics?
Coming to your question about politics, I understand my calling in life. I do not believe that my calling is going into politics. I do not have to go into politics to impact positively on people. I can support good political moves and individuals. When I see those who mean well for the society, I support them. But I will not at this moment think of going into politics myself.
You have won so many awards. What do these accolades mean to you?
It shows that institutions and people in Nigeria are beginning to recognise my contributions to the society. I have always been a believer than I don’t have to blow my trumpet and that your good works will show who you are. In the past year I’ve gotten more than 20 awards. For instance, the Enugu State University of Science and Technology awarded me a doctorate in engineering last November. It was followed by the University of Nigeria Nsukka with doctorate in Business Administration in January. I also had an award by the Federal Government – the National Productivity Order of Merit Award. There were only 15 of us given that award this year by the President, represented by Acting President Yemi Osinbanjo. I take them as recognition of the values that I believe in. I don’t ask for awards. For every award I accept, there are about five others I have always said no to. As early as early 2000s, I’ve had communities around Rivers, Abia and Akwa Ibom trying to make me one chief or the other based on my contributions to their development. But because of my beliefs, I didn’t accept that. Bottom line is recognition, but I’m not driven by these awards. I’m driven by a single purpose: that is, to make things better in the society I find myself.
