Wale Tinubu Celebrates 30 Years of Oando Success

Energy tycoon Adewale Tinubu affects the candour of a General and the passion of a poet as he leads a revolutionary phase of Nigeria’s upstream evolution.

Tinubu, described as ‘The King of African Oil’ by Forbes magazine and one of the top 10 CEOs in the world by AskMen, is a name that requires no introduction.

The consummate hard-working Group Chief Executive, Oando Plc, is building a billion-dollar company in Africa and delivering on the tough things, diversifying and leading his company into a new era of success and sustainability.

As Oando has evolved, so has the landscape in which it operates. International oil politics, domestic challenges like crude oil theft—which negatively impacts national revenue—and the divestment of upstream assets by several of the five major International Oil Companies (IOCs) have all posed significant hurdles. Yet, despite these headwinds, a bright ray of hope has emerged on the mottled landscape of the Nigerian economy, and it is visible to all.

Gradually, the man fondly known as JAT, has turned dynamism and a boots-on-the-ground leadership style into an art form. He is restoring hopes in the Nigerian upstream petroleum sector with his concatenation of innovative intervention and ingenuity in promoting vibrancy and capacity utilisation in the industry.

Tinubu and Oando’s growth has been nothing but organic. Oando is like a huge book with many chapters and Tinubu feels incredibly grateful to play a significant part in the story. Before he turned 30, he had already built for himself a reputation as a market leader in Nigeria’s emerging oil and gas sector at the time.

In 1994, Tinubu co-founded Ocean and Oil Services Limited —he teamed up with Omamofe Boyo and Onajite Okoloko— originally as a trading company with extensive operations exporting Nigerian petroleum products.

As the head honcho of the company, the trained corporate lawyer turned that small oil trading company into Africa’s leading indigenous energy solutions provider listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the first African company to have a cross-border inward listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

From that humble beginning, Tinubu has gone to carve for himself an enviable position as one of Nigeria’s most venerable dealmakers and inserted himself atop the pecking order in the league of major Nigeria’s oil industry. Evidence abounds.

Since 2000 when he struck his first gold with the acquisition of Unipetrol, he has been involved in many deals considered audacious that only the man known as champion extraordinaire could have taken such.

Thus, many industry analysts and admirers consider it ludicrous to typify the oil tycoon as a favoured nephew of Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu. To his inner circle, they will not hesitate to tell you about Tinubu’s prodigious traits. His Uncle might be the leader of the country, but there is no iota of evidence that the Oando boss is receiving special favours.

Society Watch gathered that come December 2024, Tinubu will celebrate three decades of Oando success amidst pageantry and glamour.