And because the issue of environment was getting a lot of mention the NGOs and all such graps now decided to found the Nigerian Environmental Society. I think I was number 12 on the register, and was offered a fellowship of Nigerian Environmental Society. That was around 1985 or 1986.

I had earlier been moved to the Operations department in the company where, in 1984 I was deployed to head Brass. I was the first Nigerian to do that. Two years thereafter, the gas plant was built by Agip; it’s still one of the largest plants in Nigeria.

The Decree 99 of 1989 made it compulsory for oil companies to stop flaring by 1999, and they had to submit proposals to government about their gas utilisation. At that time Agip decided that it would be injecting some of its gas, and was looking for outlets for gas supply. Eventually it got two gas projects. One was the production of NGL for Eleme Petrochemical, the other was to produce for the Nigeria LNG Export. By the time I was on that plant it was new and we were mainly focused on gas injection, with all the treatment facilities. I was the first to head that. From there I was moved to become the maintenance manager, responsible for the maintenance of all the outlets in the company. And it was at this time too, as a manager in the department, that we introduced computerised maintenance management system. This meant that we could predict foresee things and prescribe actions to take to minimise some unfavourable developments in operations.
Computer usage was new then, and it was quite exciting to do that. I did that for another five years, and by 1994 there was another new challenge in the industry. Agitation and militancy was coming up. This was the period of the Kiama Declaration. Kiama is a village in Bayelsa where the Ijaw Youth Movement met for the first time and decided that they were going to pursue resource control and their participation in the industry on a more aggressive note. It was there that the militancy of kidnap, shutting down plants, forcibly taking over facilities came up. And because I had this experience of more or less working in most areas of the company, I knew quite a lot of the boys who were involved. So I moved from Operations to become the Divisional Manager for Community and Public Affairs. That was in 1994.

Apart from knowing these people, I come from a background, a household where people value human relations. This helped me a lot. At that time, while most of the operations of the oil companies were shutting down, Agip managed to keep on producing. This continued until 1999.

But every good story has an end, good or bad. In 1999, when politics came in the political class felt that I was too visible. They talked to my top management that they wanted me removed. At the period when I was Community and Public Affairs manager I went through kidnappings, through hassles and pains of walking without shoes when taken by these militants and you kept on trekking long distance as directed by those small boys. However, I was never kidnapped for more than 48 hours at a time, and we would talk all through the nights. We usually found a way to negotiate with the boys at the period.

But by 1999, I was witnessing the downside of all these things. And the security agencies also picked up intelligence that my life too was in danger. I had to be moved to Lagos where our head office was. There were not really any operations jobs in Lagos, and I was made general manager, Government and Public Affairs. I spent most of my time shuttling between Lagos and Abuja. In 2006, I was made the Deputy Managing Director. And I went on retirement in 2007, after 35 years of service in Agip. Since then I have been trying to put a few things together, investing in asset ownership and in the service industry. And God has been faithful.

Were there any individuals or circumstances that influenced your choice of career?

Two people really affected my career. My working with Agip was inspired by Chief M.O. Ferede of blessed memory, who was one time secretary-general to OPEC and was at another time the head of Department of Petroleum Resources. Actually, he was the founding head of the department. He was an inspiration and I liked him, his attitude, his carriage and the fact that he was a quiet and effective person, even under a lot of pressure.

Some things he did were beyond explanation or the usual. All his life, he must have visited me more than I visited him. Whereas he was the superior and the older person. He was one person that I really admired. And I also had a boss who was my friend then.

There was a time the oil industry was not as flamboyant as it is today, and was not the choice place to be. This was in the period of “essential commodities”, when people selling beer and selling cement were instant successes on the street. I felt I should also try it out. Then I applied to Coca-Cola, and they offered me a place. The salary was not too far from what I was earning. But then, the glamour of parties, not myself going to the parties, but every Nigerian appeared crazy about parties then; it was the in-thing, and things were in short supply.

So, if you were the one who would make their parties happen you became a society person. A celebrity. And I almost turned in my letter of resignation. But my boss who was my friend said “Akin, are you crazy? How can you be thinking of leaving the oil company?’ Honestly, I was just carried away with the glamour of that period.

Your wanted to leave oil for Coke?

(Laughs) Yes, that was the irony of that period. Then, when you got a job in the breweries or served there, you were very successful in Nigeria market. I thought it was the place to be. However, I had a few of my friends who did that. And I don’t know any of them that are now the better for it. It was just a bit of luck for me, and a narrow escape.