April 14, (THEWILL)- The well groomed faces of men and women in the tiered hall of Nigeria Institute of International Affairs Victoria Island on 9 April 2024 could only have come from the Oil & Gas industry. Their skin glowed, many in bespoke jackets with expensive watches encircling fleshy wrists. Their faces had the confident look of those whose only worry is which European capital to spend the next vacation, which Ivy League institution to parcel off their wards and not the mundane things about life that bother the rest of us.
GMD of NNPC Nigeria Limited Mele Kyari sent Mrs. Toyin Olumuyiwa ED Corporate Communications. Former Minister of Petroleum Don Etiebet sat in the front pew, so with Austin Avuru former MD/ CEO of Seplat Petroleum. There were more than a dozen MDs and CEOs of as many O&G companies, from Gas Link to Platform. Though Chairman and founder of Tony Elumelu Foundation promised to spend a little time at the event, he sat all through from start to finish. So, what was the reason for that mid-morning gathering of moneybags from the O&G sector?
It was the public presentation of a first of its kind book on gas The Rise of Gas: From Gaslink to the Decade of Gas by Charles Osezua. The man himself is the quintessential Gas Man, dubbed so by one of the most influential figures, late Aret Adams, in the sector in Nigeria. The day in question was a public holiday but attendees turned up nonetheless, chauffeured to the venue by deferential drivers and Mobile Police escorts in starched uniforms and well-buffed boots.
Starting off a little before 11, the MC Tony Kan, writer PR man promised it wouldn’t last more than two hours considering that some of the guests have other engagements. But first a prayer session led by Father Theo Akanya and then, as it happens at such public functions in Nigeria, the national anthem. The MC duly recognised many of the distinguished guests at the event but not before inviting to the podium the chairman of the day Basil Omiyi, Engineer Afolabi Oladele, Gloria Osezua, followed by her husband and author Charles, then Olumuyiwa ED Corporate Communications of NNPC.
Starting with the chairman’s opening address, the event was as much a congratulatory affair as it was a condemnatory session. Omiyi began by thanking the author for doing the sector a great service by writing a book on what stakeholders have generally overlooked focusing instead on crude oil. Along with Adams, Omiyi was sort of a mentor to Osezua at NNPC where the latter began his career as a youth corp member. “I am proud of you to have written a book on gas which no one has done before,” Omiyi said looking at the author the way a proud teacher will an outstanding student.
But the chairman didn’t think the perennial energy crisis besetting Nigeria is something to be proud of despite the vast crude and gas deposit. Coincidentally, long queues of vehicles started forming in filling stations across the country just that week, not to mention the skyrocketing price of domestic cooking gas. “We have this energy challenge in our country,” Omiyi said, insisting that we have never really sat down to address it properly. “All we have had is conversation, we still haven’t agreed because at some point we have to agree.” To move forward and for effective leadership, “we have to agree what our national development philosophy is” because leadership is “managing the welfare of the people.”
On his part, Engineer Oladele who wrote the Foreword to the book read a short excerpt to guests as well as reminiscences of his time with the author at NNPC where they both worked. “I have always known that he was going to distinguish himself in the industry from the onset,” Oladele said of Osezua, recalling his wholehearted commitment to the job.
Of the book itself, Oladle opined that Osezua “gives a magisterial account of Nigeria’s entry into the comity of oil and gas producing nations beginning not from Oloibiri as many historians of that sector like to note but from the Dahomey Basin and then Akata, close to Eket all the way to the country’s chequered history of gas exploration, waste and utilisation.”
Proud of the author as Chairman Omiyi, Oladele spoke glowingly of not only Osezua’s dedication but his overall interest in the industry. “Engineer Osezua’s story began with what now seems like a prophetic utterance when late Aret Adams ran into the young man in Kaduna and called him Gas Man. Aret Adams was speaking in prophetic tones given Engineer Osezua’s pivotal role not only in policy formulation driving the development of Nigeria’s gas resource, but more as a serial entrepreneur who has invested in the entire spectrum of gas production and utilization. For these reasons, the name Charles Osezua wil be written in bright lights.”
Speaker after speaker said as much about the author whose interest in gas was piqued by a visit to a Shell facility in Ughelli as a teenage student of Annunciation Catholic College Irrua in Edo state. As the book reviewer Toyin Akinosho told guests, young Osezua saw, for the first time, a gas flare at the facility and was fascinated. His review was equally congratulatory (to the author) and condemnatory (of Nigeria’s missed opportunities in tapping early enough into the sector.) A Geologist with a vast knowledge of the O&G industry in Nigeria and beyond, Akinosho’s review elicited smiles, laughter and sighs from the audience familiar with the government’s lukewarm attitude to exploiting gas.
Elumelu, a former neighbour of Osezua, told guests how he willingly offered the author a loan to start up his private business. “We were neighbours and I knew how committed he was to the gas industry. So, when he approached us for loan, I did not hesitate in approving it for him.” To demonstrate his support for his former neighbour, the chairman of Tony Elumelu Foundation made the highest purchase of some copies of The Rise of Gas: From Gaslink to the Decade of Gas for N10 million at the public presentation.
NNPC where Osezua started his career shelled out N2 million. “We thank and appreciate you for writing this book on gas,” Olumuyiwa said on behalf of GMD Kyari who was unavoidably absent. “We recognize your contribution to the sector and this launch today is a demonstration of your commitment to the industry.”
More purchase followed from sundry executives in the O & G industry, with many of the buyers picking up copies for themselves, university libraries and institutions on O & G. Gaslink which Osezua himself set up put down N5 million. An 18 carat Esan man who was first President of Association of Esan Professionals in Lagos, his clansmen did not disappoint at the event: they bought copies of the book for N5 million. One by guests took turns at the lectern to praise the man and buy up copies, many in millions of naira. Overwhelmed by this demonstration of affection from former colleagues, friends and townsmen, Osezua stood with his wife at the lectern and thanked all for attending the public presentation. “Today is a holiday and I know you ought to be resting at home, but you found time to honour this invitation.”
Osezua had special appreciative words for Chief Ifeanyi Ochonogor who approved a loan of $3 million to start off Gaslink when it seemed that no one was ready to bank on him, ditto for Elumelu. Final word was for Gloria, his wife who made the publication possible without which none of the guests would have made that mid-morning trip to NIIA.
Michael Jimoh is a Nigerian journalist with many years experience in print media. He is currently a Special Correspondent with THEWILL.
