Nkechi Obi, a distinguished recipient of the President of Nigeria’s Entrepreneurial Award (2002), is this year’s recipient of the Vanguard Female Entrepreneur of the Year 2022 Award.
She is the Founder and Group Managing Director/CEO of Techno Oil Limited, one of Nigeria’s foremost oil and gas companies. She is a visionary and an astute strategist who presides over Techno Oil Group, a diversified, privately held, wholly indigenous company which today, holds diverse portfolios of prime investments in oil and gas.
An alumnus of the Lagos & Harvard Business Schools, Obi had a distinguished career in ExxonMobil and then brought zest, professionalism and international best practice into the business space, positioning Techno Oil as a leader with staff strength of over 500.
Also the recipient of many global and local awards, Obi has for several years championed clean cooking through the Techno Oil Cook Safe Initiative, a CSR venture whose focus is to save lives, improve health, empower women and preserve the environment.
When you were visualising Techno Oil, did you envisage it would grow so big and so fast? And why?
I am not God, so envisioning what I am today is not my own to do. As long as you have the right values – hard work, honesty and the right attitude, and inculcating those values into whatever you want to do; that has been the driving force.
Tell us the story of Techno Oil.
My career started with Mobil Oil. That is where I did my youth service. I have always said my mentor is my mother. In fact, when I read all these books from the US, I can see my mum. Basically, she’s not well educated.
At the same time, she is a successful trader and I tried as much as possible during vacations to be around her and trade with her. I almost ended up my career there because I did very well but that’s not where she wanted me to be. She would always look at very successful ladies and say that is where I want you to be.
Consistently, she was saying that. Madam Ibru used to be one of them. She would always say, I want you to go and do attachment, vacation jobs with her. There were so many of them in the banks with deep pockets. When you see them, you know their husbands must have been taking care of them very well but not really the husbands.
Those are successful women on their own. She was basically the driving force. We had a friend in ExxonMobil and she said that is a good place to do your youth service. I would say their contributions were quite enormous, parents being able to guide their children. We obeyed our parents. Immediately they think of anything, we believe that is the best decision.
Children now have their own ideas of what life should be.
Does this business environment cherish all these values you speak about?
When you have those values inculcated in you, you are able to see opportunities confront you. Continuously, you want to pursue any assignment given to you.
Hard work is part of you. Things have changed but I still believe those things are there and some of the younger ones who have taken to them are getting it right.
Are you seeing those values in the women of Techno Oil?
I still remember a lady when I was in Mobil. She worked under me during NYSC. She was here for almost 15 years, went to the depot to be the Depot Manager.
She would have been a director by now. She did her work. When she was there, they thought it was Yoruba people that owned the company. They thought it was her relations that owned it because of the kind of dedication.
There are women with all kinds of attitudes because of our nature, being mothers, caregivers and wives and there are men too. I look at individuals on their own merit.
We need to respect the motherhood in us. You must go on your maternity leave.
In WAEC, most times it’s the females that beat the men but along the line, you will see women dropping and I just feel its motherhood. I like listening to the chairman of PepsiCo.
Women must put an extra effort, I will also advise that we must do our best and pray to God. It’s not a do-or-die affair. Because the men will network, 1a.m, 2a.m, there are limits to how far women can go and it needs to be respected.
There are natural limitations and there is nothing anybody can do about it.
What are the plans of your organisation towards Energy Transition?
You can see in Nigeria, there’s so much instability, security problems and all the things we have to contend with. For me, I am looking at global partnerships. We need collaboration to move a step forward.
What are your views of the Petroleum Industry Act?
I was in Abuja two days ago; I told them that I can’t wait for it to be implemented for things to work the way some other multinationals in other countries work. I can’t wait. The industry has to be deregulated. The competition is unfair, some people are getting exchange rate better than others.
If it works the way it’s supposed to work, the country would be the better for it.
It’s been on the table for so long. Is it still positioned to address modern-day challenges?
It is. The implementation is what has not taken place. NNPC has started by saying they have gone Limited.
What are the things you are looking at in terms of advocacy in order to prevent cooking gas explosions?
Part of our advocacy is also part of our CSR. We started out with training, creating awareness and subsidizing the kit for indigent women. We saw women cooking in very unhealthy conditions and said no, no, no.
For us here, business is not only about profit.
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