Mr. Egbert Imomoh
THIS PART OF THE PAGE IS DEVOTED THIS WEEK TO ANOTHER ROLE MODEL I KNOW SO WELL. IT IS A STORY OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH
Long after he left from the Shell Group, Mr. Egbert Imomoh is still flying high. And he is drawing heavily on the qualities some of his subordinates like me noted him for. At the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria and later at the London office of the Group, he was someone subordinates found difficult to read. Not even with my background in psychology and interest in body language. But his strong leadership qualities were obvious.
Oga Egbert, as we called him, had a stable mood, not one to display strong emotions. We said then that he was the most difficult boss to offend because you wouldn’t know you did. It would not show in his body language, but of course for a disciplinarian, offences were not ignored. He could be playful but very firm. He had this quality-combination teachers are taught – fairness and firmness. A teacher must be fair and firm, they say.
But there were also some visible qualities that must be serving him well in the boardrooms now. Thoroughness, courage, and keeping within the limits of law and order. It is not surprising that between 2005 and recently, he was as a director on to the board of GTBank as chairman of the risk management committee, chairman of board’s remuneration committee and member of the board’s human resources and nomination committee.
He now chairs the board of the bank. Mr. Egbert Ulogo Imomoh, the fifth Chairman of its board of directors replaced Mr. Oluwole Oduyemi. When that was made public some people were surprised. Mr. Imomoh is a visibly an oil and gas man. But for sure in an industry that thrives on confidence, banks will always have the need for integrity, thoroughness and respectability, all of which he has.
If the involvement of the former Deputy Managing Director of Shell Nigeria in banking was news, the fact that he co-founded Afren Plc, couldn’t have surprised many people even as big a story as it was. He has been in the industry nearly all his adult life. Oga Egbert, a founder of Afren Plc, was previously Managing Director and Executive Chairman of Afren Energy Resources Limited. According to the firm, he successfully led the growth of Afren’s Nigerian asset base, established a number of successful indigenous partnerships and achieved the First Oil milestone at the Okoro Setu project. All that is public information.
There is something else. I was close enough to also know his passion for the industry, particularly the need to put the country’s abundant gas resources to economic use. It was a popular refrain in speeches we discussed for me to write. And this little but important point: always when I reported back to him in his office, his desk was clean. No files waiting unnecessarily. And if you wrote him an email, his response was quick. Even now, with his hands into many things, he responds to SMS promptly.
From his passion for the oil and gas industry and his wealth of experience, it wasn’t surprising to hear that Mr. Imomoh is the first black and African to become the President, Society of Petroleum Engineers International. He has served on its board as Regional Director for Africa.
From his passion for the oil and gas industry and his wealth of experience, it wasn’t surprising to hear that Mr. Imomoh is the first black and African to become the President, Society of Petroleum Engineers International. He has served on its board as Regional Director for Africa.
His current profile goes like this: “Born 68 years ago in 1945, Mr Imomoh is a towering corporate figure in the petroleum industry. He has some 45 years of distinguished career in the industry, beginning in 1968 when he joined the Shell group of companies in Nigeria. He worked 36 years in various senior positions with Shell and rose to become deputy managing director of Shell Petroleum Development Company (Nigeria).
“He is the non-executive chairman of Afren Plc, an oil exploration and development company he founded in 2004. Afren was, by year-end 2012, producing 453,000 barrels of oil per day. The multi billionaire company has expanded beyond Nigeria to Ghana, Gabon, Sao Tome & Principe, Republic of The Congo and Iraqi Kurdistan.
“Mr Imomoh is the current President of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) worldwide and is director on the board of First Hydrocarbon Nigeria Limited.”
If you wanted some more details, then you could add that: He hails from Agenebode in Edo State. He attended St Patrick and St Theresa Primary Schools, in Zaria, Kaduna State. He graduated from the University of Birmingham in 1968 and he bagged a Doctorate Degree of Science from the University of Port Harcourt in 2012. He is a Knight of the Order of the Knights of St Mulumba.
And if you asked his sister Mrs. Gloria Aiyegbusi for more she would tell you how they lost their father at a tender age and were educated by an illiterate mother. “All I can say is that with God, all things are possible,” she added.
She spoke at a dinner to honour Oga Egbert recently. A lot more was said about him.
Former Minister of Petroleum Chief Don Etiebet, who has been a friend and colleague of Oga Egbert since their primary school days, was there. He said “His future was predicted by the headmaster of Immaculate Conception High School, Enugu, because he was studious and intelligent. The prophecy has come to pass.”
Former Minister of Petroleum Chief Don Etiebet, who has been a friend and colleague of Oga Egbert since their primary school days, was there. He said “His future was predicted by the headmaster of Immaculate Conception High School, Enugu, because he was studious and intelligent. The prophecy has come to pass.”
Chief Executive Officer of ARCO Petrochemicals Alfred Okoigun, who hosted the dinner said, “He has distinguished himself in the true sense of it, considering what the world thinks of Nigerians. He has exhibited his nationalism and changed the industry to be of world class through his intellectualism…”
Okoigun said “it took Imomoh six months to agree to the dinner date.”
The word for that is Oga Egbert’s humility. In his response to his friends and associates at the dinner, it was obvious that his profile was rising perhaps as fast as he was physically doing in the air. “People now call me VIPP- meaning Visa in Previous Passports. I have gone to places I never dreamt of and met people I never thought I will meet. I have no home; I sleep in hotels and aeroplanes. All I do is seek good and do what is right.”
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