The triumph of self-belief –AZUDIALU-OBIEJESI

Among other things, the story of Dr. Ernest Azudialu- Obiejesi,
Group Managing Director of the Obijackson Group and The
Sun Businessman of The Year 2014, reconfirms one empirical
fact: there is no limit to what creative imagination, hard work,
a supportive wife, and trust in God can accomplish.
Born without the proverbial silver spoon, and a childhood
temporarily taken off track by the Nigerian civil war, the
younger Obiejesi had every excuse to fail or, at best, aspire to
simply survive. But he had other plans. Starting out bright and
early, he dreamed dreams, drew a new rainbow and followed
his rainbow.
Today, as the Okija-born business phenomenon confirms in
this interview with The Sun , records have come tumbling, new
frontiers have been conquered, and the dream is still growing.
Excerpts:
In the beginning…
I spent my childhood mostly in Anambra State. Before I was
10 years old, I had experienced the devastation of a bloody
civil war. Like many parents in post-war Anambra back then,
my parents were petty traders – not formally educated – and
had little material resources to offer their firstborn – me,
except to infuse me with values like discipline, a strong work
ethic and a self-belief that I could go on to fulfill a destiny
that was greater than the circumstances of my early years. At
the start of my education, I combined my studies with my
parents’ petty trading business and excelled in both. Partly
through my efforts, my family was able to achieve some
measure of financial security.
Even with relative business success at a young age, I never
lost sight of the importance of education. I was a diligent
academic student, and gained admission into the highly
selective Dennis Memorial Grammar Secondary School as the
best student from New Bethel Primary School Onitsha, even
though I was in Primary 5 – a year short of the traditional
school-leaving Primary 6. At Dennis Memorial Grammar
School, I was again the best student in my class in Economics
and Mathematics. Ultimately, I graduated from the University
of Benin with a B.Sc in Accounting and was later awarded an
honourary doctorate of Business Administration from the
University of Nigeria.
Generally speaking, growing up had its ups and downs, but I
feel blessed to have gone through that journey with the family
I have. My father passed away a few years ago, but I am
grateful that my mother and siblings are still alive. I owe them
a lot.
How did the story of Obijackson start?
The Obijackson Group started over 30 years ago with
Obijackson West Africa Limited, which was a specialist in
commodities trading. By 1990, the company had grown into
an international trading company with presence in Onitsha,
Lagos, Aba, Maiduguri and Benin Republic. My team and I
nurtured the group from inception and diversified it with an
extensive investment in property, haulage and distribution,
commodities importation and estate development. At the same
time, my interest in adding value to the economy in a broad
sense began to slowly develop. The mainstay of the Nigerian
economy apparently was the oil industry and I knew that a lot
of money was being spent in Nigeria on the production of oil
and gas, but incidentally, I could not find major Nigerian
companies involved in oil production – very few Nigerian oil
servicing companies existed. So, I identified an opportunity to
create value in the oil and gas sector. At the time in 1991,
indigenous companies in oil & gas were very rare. Nestoil
eventually outperformed all expectations for an indigenous
company and its operations led to our creating more
companies under the umbrella of the Obijackson Group.
Basically, the group has expanded by identifying business
opportunities from industry needs that were either not
available or sufficient in-country solutions did not exist. We
then went about creating well-equipped companies to meet
those needs. In other words, these other companies were
initially created to provide for needs that arose during
Nestoil’s execution of their projects. Today, these companies
have become authorities in their respective fields.
Look at the results. The Obijackson Group has become one of
the most diversified business conglomerates in Sub Saharan
Africa, with operations in Oil and Gas Exploration and
Production, Pressure Vessel Fabrication, Power Generation,
Dredging and Marine Logistics, Aviation, Civil and
infrastructural construction and Telecommunications.
We employ over 3,000 people across four continents, in
companies that include Nestoil Limited, Energy Works
Technology Limited, B&Q Dredging Limited, Neconde
Exploration and Production Limited, Hammakopp Consortium
Limited, Gobowen Exploration and Production Limited, Century
Power Generation Limited, IMPAC Oil & Gas Engineering,
Nesthak HDD Services Limited, Shipside Dry Dock Co Limited,
Nesto Aviation Services Limited (NestAv) and Scorpio Drilling
International.
The Obijackson Group’s story is evidence that anything is
possible if you believe enough, and are resourceful enough.
The journey at times seemed long and tough – I assure you
that I have many stories to tell about that, but looking back, it
is remarkable what has been achieved. And we did this by
sheer focus and tenacity and hard work. Most importantly, we
put Almighty God first.
What’s your vision, or better still, what would you consider to
be your driving force?
The interesting thing is that I still find myself guided by the
same mindset I had as a nine-year-old: I continuously ask
myself how do I achieve better results, or create value. And
everything I have accomplished in my professional life has
been as a direct result of asking different variations of the
same cardinal question: Why should this be like this? How can
I get better results? How can I create value?
Which of your investments gives you the biggest joy?
To be honest, it’s not possible to single out one thing
because we try to be proficient in everything we do. I am
really, really proud of our activities as a group – and also very
proud of the work the Obijackson Foundation is doing to
improve welfare and promote self-development through
cultural programmes and sports.
Do you think Nigerians have what it takes to take over the
Nigerian oil sector?
Absolutely! The ownership structure in Nigeria’s oil and gas
industry is changing very quickly. With growing financial
backing from our banks, our indigenous oil and gas companies
have expanded, capitalizing on the government’s drive to
boost domestic control over the oil industry.
More acquisitions by indigenous players have resulted in rising
production levels and increased significance of local
companies in an industry that has been long dominated by
International Oil Companies (IOCs).
According to reports that I have read, the major divestments
by IOCs since 2010 have transferred something like over five
billion barrels of oil reserves and resources and 20 trillion
cubic feet of gas resources to indigenous players. At this rate,
Nigerian oil companies would account for about 25 per cent of
oil production in five years.
These figures represent fresh opportunities and challenges for
Nigerian companies.
There is no doubt that the oil and gas sector, like the Nigerian
economy in general, has huge upward potential, and from the
bottom of my heart, I genuinely believe there is NO OTHER
indigenous company in the country which has worked harder
to raise the standard of indigenous companies in general, than
the Obijackson Group companies. By virtue of the broad
experience we have across several industries, over time, we
have been able to build on our technical expertise and acquire
assets which has distinguished us from our competitors.
What’s your take on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB)?
The proposed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) will become the
most radical and comprehensive legislation in the industry
when passed into law. It came into being following the
attempt by the present administration to undertake a reform
process of the oil and gas industry in order to improve on the
general efficiency of the petroleum industry. It seeks
principally to overhaul and harmonise the clutter of numerous
laws in the industry, establish a new framework for good
governance and best practice, enhance government revenues
through a robust new fiscal regime. That the bill is a step in
the right direction is hard to dispute. It is perfectly legitimate
and indeed long overdue to overhaul, simplify and harmonise
some of our obsolent petroleum laws severely weakened by
changing dynamics. It is something I have repeatedly spoken
about. We need a well drafted law which clearly sets out the
licensee’s rights and obligations, that streamline the various
regulatory institutions and agencies with clearly defined
mandates to implement specific policies, and clarifies the
applicable tax regimes within the oil and gas sector. A look at
the proposed law before the National Assembly also shows
that the PIB provides for a legal, fiscal and regulatory
framework for the industry by creating regulatory institutions
and commercial entities for the upstream and downstream
sectors which are bound by the provisions of the Nigeria
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Act of 2007. A
well thought-out and implemented petroleum legislation would
encourage mutual trust between all the players in the industry,
create stability and enhance value for both investors and the
governments. However, to get it right, a wider consultation
from all stakeholders should be done before its passage. A
good legislation will create a conducive environment to
accelerate our development of the petroleum industry by
encouraging greater foreign and local investments and at the
same time ensure that the country gets appropriate revenue
for the general development of the country, as our economy is
still largely dependent on oil revenue. Again, the PIB will make
the industry more organised, transparent and functionally
efficient when passed with the right level of consultation.
You will agree with me that the oil and gas is a global
industry and because capital is mobile, competitiveness of
petroleum policies and regulations will impact significantly on
capital flow across the industry. Most often, companies make
investment decisions based substantially on the international
competitiveness of petroleum fiscal systems and
environments. I think the uncertainty surrounding the passage
of the PIB perhaps partly explains why Nigerian crude proved
reserve estimates have remained stagnant in spite of the high
oil prices obtainable in the international market until the
recent down – turn in the prices of crude. Therefore, the key
point of note is that until the PIB is passed a number of
upcoming projects and prospective investments will be
delayed or eventually diverted to other countries with better
legal, fiscal and regulatory regimes, and this will adversely
affect the overall economy, naturally. The reality is that the
PIB will need to be passed for there to be stability and
certainty in our petroleum industry, and until this is attained,
our quest for improved power generation might remain a
mirage. Sufficiency of gas supply is a pre–requisite for
sustainable generation of electricity.
The Sun Award…
I am grateful to Almighty God, without whom nothing is
possible, and to The Sun newspapers. It feels good to be
recognised, and I accept it with humility, and as an
encouragement to further devote myself to making a
contribution to society. But this award is not about me alone
– it is also in recognition of the achievements of the
companies which we founded and nurtured. It is a tribute to
the Obijackson Group – which has grown from its inception
over three decades ago.
There are many people who deserve thanks for their
contributions to our cause. It would be virtually impossible to
mention all of them, but I acknowledge with gratitude the
opportunities given to us by the IOCs. I am also eternally
grateful to my wife, Nnenna and our children, who anchor me
every day of my life. Not least, I am grateful to the entire
Obijackson Group team: those inspired people who toil
tirelessly day and night, whose quiet acts of dedication and
competence have redefined what is possible times without
number. Their effort is invaluable. Our collective story is just
beginning…