by Emeka Obasi
Business continues to look up for oil and gas giant, Oilserv as new frontiers emerge even in a highly competitive and irregularly inclement global environment.
The Nigerian conglomerate is deeply involved in huge projects spanning the West African Sub Region up North to Morocco and across the seas to Europe.
The war in Ukraine has turned Western Europe away from gas supplies through Russia. The import is that eyes will be on markets elsewhere. Oilserv is fully prepared to be in the mix, providing services from across the Mediterranean.
Chairman of Oilserv, Sir Emeka Okwuosa is an international. The stars prepared him for this nascent development. He has worked in West Africa, lived in North Africa, served in Europe and operated in Asia.
Okwuosa said : ” The project that is actually hot now and is on board in terms of process is the Nigeria – Morocco Pipeline which will run offshore, from West Africa to North Africa. It will go all the way from Niger Delta to offshore Lagos.
” It will then go through all the countries on the Coast of West Africa until it gets to Mauritania. And then it goes on land through Morocco where it crosses the Channel until it gets to Spain.”
The stage was well prepared. Morocco had been looking for a way to do business with West Africa through ECOWAS. King Mohammed embarked on shuttle diplomacy across Sub Saharan Africa to open trade deals in what is tagged South – South cooperation.
Morocco and Nigeria have come a long way even when there was a lull in diplomatic ties. King Mohammed’s father, King Hassan, was friends with Brigadier Zakari Maimalari. Both men, now late, were among the first four Africans to be commissioned by a British Military Institution.
The King and Maimalari passed out from the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst ( RMAS) in 1950 as Lieutenants. The latter rose to the rank of Brigadier in the Nigeria Army before his death in 1966.
King Mohammed visited Nigeria in 2016 and in 2018, as a follow up, the two nations signed an agreement. The Nigerian National Petrol Corporation Limited and Morocco’s National Office of Hydro Carbon and Mines ( MNOHM) signed a Memorandum of Understanding ( MOU ) in September 2002.
Okwuosa is ready; ” Oilserv has built several pipelines in difficult terrains. Some on land, some in swamps, some on mountains and some across rivers. So I am delighted that a Nigerian company can develop the necessary skill sets and capacity that would enable development of oil and gas facilities of world class standard.”
Beyond the Coasts, ” the Trans Saharan Gas Pipeline ( TSGP) is actually one of the two major International projects, being envisaged. The pipeline is the one that will take off from Kano and go through Niger Republic and Algeria and end up in Europe”, the Oilserv boss told journalists during a Media Chat.
This reminds me of the Trans Saharan Trade of yore when goods and services were exchanged between North and West Africa. The beauty of the TSGP is that it is safer and better organised to benefit Nigeria.
Okwuosa elaborates on this : ” What is key for us as a company is that almost every set of our operation is entirely run with local capacity.
“Oilserv is not all about North Africa and Europe. The company stands ‘ gidigba’ in Nigeria. It built Oando’s first pipeline in Lagos which at 128 kilometres, is the longest gas transmission pipeline in Nigeria. It was commissioned in 2001.
In host communities, Okwuosa said, ” what is important is that in the course of anything we do around the communities, we employ people from the locations. We have workers that earn income to feed into the communities, to create positive economic impact.
” We also employ the security people from host communities because the most primary aspect of security is local security. When you have the community working with you and they are happy, it is easier to secure what you are doing.”
It is therefore no surprise that Sir Emeka Okwuosa was recently honoured with the Commander of the Order of Niger, CON by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.
Emeka Obasi is CEO Fastrac Logistics.
