Jubril Adewale Tinubu’s visionary leadership of Oando Plc reshapes Africa’s energy sector, earning him accolades and global recognition.

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]f bells could ring for every achievement, Jubril Adewale Tinubu’s would chime ceaselessly.

Also read: Oando: The transformative power of ’30’ in Wale Tinubu’s empire

In fact, it has become a tradition that any time Tinubu, the Group Chief Executive of Oando Plc, appears on the scene, the bells sound impressively in honour of the extraordinary oil and gas mogul, whose impact will resonate for generations to come.

He is one of Nigeria’s business moguls redefining the tapestry of the African economic sector, particularly the oil and gas business.

Many are aware that Tinubu had a background in law. But sometime in the early 1990s, the Lagos State-born serial entrepreneur found the allure of oil and gas so irresistible, making him abandon his first love, law.

Thereafter, he followed his heart’s desire by founding the Ocean and Oil business organisation.

Today, the business has not only earned him fame and wealth but has also contributed greatly to the economic development of Africa and beyond.

Again, Tinubu shone brilliantly during the recently held Africa Energy Week (AEW), which is the African Energy Chamber’s annual event uniting African energy leaders, global investors, and executives from across the public and private sectors.

Quite expectedly, all eyes were on him at the recent interactive conference, exhibition, and networking event held at the Cape Town International Conference Centre (CITCC).

In a category comprising other high-profile deals in the sector and across Africa, Oando won the award in recognition of the company’s recently completed landmark $783 million acquisition of Agip from the Italian energy firm Eni on 22 August 2024.

The Deal of the Year award, it was gathered, recognises the most transformative and impactful deal in the energy sector – honouring excellence in negotiation, strategic alignment, innovation, and collaboration while celebrating deals that drive advancements in energy and economic growth.

Receiving the award, a visibly excited Tinubu said: “I am delighted and honoured to receive the ‘Deal of the Year’ award from Africa Energy Week.

“This award is more than just an accolade for a successful deal closure; it represents a public acknowledgement of the culmination of 30 years of grit, hard work, resilience, and sheer belief in our vision. It is a testament to my belief that with the Humans of Oando, impossible is nothing. I’d like to thank the dream team, the Humans of Oando, our financiers, and partners for their belief and role in making this award a reality,” he said on the occasion.

The acquisition is the culmination of a decade of preparation, strategic planning, and unwavering commitment to a vision of becoming Africa’s first indigenous international oil company.

This development, no doubt, bears testimony to the fact that the outgoing year has been remarkable on many fronts for him and the company.

First, the company marked its 30th anniversary recently. Thereafter, it concluded its strategic plan to acquire its second IOC in a decade, Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), and stepped up to the role of operator.

Indeed, the year 2024 has been a good one for the oil and gas mogul.

Entrepreneurial and deal-making skills are two special gifts the energy tycoon is blessed with. As a young man, he worked as a lawyer at his father’s firm to hone his skills, but it was not for long as a very pliable young Tinubu soon became restless. Although he was generating a decent income from his small business, the young lawyer actively sought bigger challenges and opportunities.

However, the landscape shifted in 1994 when Tinubu and his two friends — Mofe Boyo and Jite Okoloko — founded Ocean and Oil Services, a small trading company in the business of supplying diesel and Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO) to various shipping firms and offshore exploration companies in Nigeria. A few years into their operations, the three partners bought their first vessel, MT Carolina, anchored in Bonny, to supply diesel to offshore companies from the Port Harcourt Refinery. In six years, Ocean and Oil Services had grown its fleet to seven ships.

Within that short time, Tinubu emerged as the new face among the oil and gas elite and caught the attention of the business world, piquing the curiosity of many eager to learn more about this rising titan. Tinubu’s meteoric rise is fuelled by the massive success of Oando’s expansion. The cornerstone of this success? Tinubu stumbled across an even bigger opportunity when, in 2000, he landed a blockbuster deal with the acquisition of the government’s controlling 40 per cent equity in the defunct Unipetrol Plc, an integrated downstream oil marketing company. The three friends made an audacious bid for the company.

For an upstart like Ocean and Oil — an oil trading and shipping company trying to find its feet in the downstream sector — to make the move to acquire a controlling interest in an oil and gas behemoth was indeed daring! Stumbling blocks dotted their paths as a result of their youthful age (they were all less than 33 at the time). But Tinubu eventually won the confidence of all the varying factions — the investing public, labour unions, employees, and the government. Along with his team, he developed a solid business plan and a blueprint for the company’s strategic direction. Tinubu focused squarely on rejuvenating the ailing petroleum marketer.

With the gravitas you might expect of a Booker Prize winner, Tinubu, two years later, took another bold step as he led the largest-ever acquisition of a quoted Nigerian company with Unipetrol Plc’s purchase of Agip Nigeria Plc.

Thereafter, with another giant brand on their roster, the group rebranded as Oando Plc. Today, it has become Nigeria’s largest non-government-owned company in the energy industry, with its market value soaring to record highs from N74 billion in 2023 to N1 trillion.

Oando is one of the many success stories coming out of Africa’s corporate space. Despite a load of challenges while growing Oando, Tinubu has silently contributed to the economy and cemented his standing among the global financial elite, to the extent that Forbes magazine, recognising his impressive impact, dubbed him the ‘King of African Oil’.

Tinubu’s latest deal marks a pivotal shift in Nigeria’s energy sector.

Last August, Tinubu and Oando recorded a historic milestone with a monumental deal with the Italian energy giant, ENI, for the acquisition of 100% shares of Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited.

Also read: We’ve put in place definitive measures to bolster our production, Wale Tinubu says

The $783 million deal, sealed and signed at a glittering ceremony held at The Peninsula Hotel in London, cements Oando’s position as Nigeria’s leading indigenous energy solutions conglomerate.