From Oloibiri to Bonny

About the book:

Dr Ihetu joined the Nigerian petroleum industry as a Shell-BP trainee technician at 18 (1959) and retired aged 59 (1999) as a Group Executive Director, Engineering and Technical Services with NNPC; he went from ‘shop floor’ level to top management. This makes him the most qualified to reveal, in this full-career biography, the early government missteps before the incorporation of NNPC and the truth behind the ‘missing ₦2.8 billion’ rumour of 1979. It offers his opinion on the DPR’s delayed autonomy, how the overbearing government stifled NNPC’s growth, ‘borrowed’ funds that delayed the NLNG project, and accepted up to $152 million in bribes from Halliburton and its affiliates, leading to the prosecution of its company executives in the US. From Oloibiri to Bonny tells all, in clear, easy-to-read narration. In this book, Godswill S. Ihetu shares his remarkable journey from entering the petroleum industry as a trainee technician to his rise to leadership as Managing Director of both the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) and the Nigeria Gas Company (NGC). The book narrates his early life of impressive academic success, pioneering roles in the different institutions that shaped the Nigerian petroleum industry and includes a historical account of its overall development, culminating in his life after retirement, different business ventures, social and community support, and role in the founding of the Petroleum Club, Lagos.

About the author

Godswill S. Ihetu

Godswill S. Ihetu was attracted to the petroleum industry from the moment he saw the first oil shipment leave the shores of Nigeria in 1958. He joined Shell-British Petroleum a year later before starting his engineering training at the now College of Technology, Yaba, and graduating with a BSc and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. He joined the NNOC Engineering Department as one of the foundation staff in 1974, and at its merger with the Ministry of Petroleum in 1977, was appointed the first Head of Engineering, later becoming the first Head of the Pipelines Operations Department. During his tenure, he supervised the commissioning, staffing, operations, and maintenance of the nationwide petroleum products, pipelines, and depot facilities. He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, and since retirement, has become Chairman of Chorus Energy and pioneered the Petroleum Club, Lagos, an industry policy advocacy association that has earned recognition in Nigerian professional society. He enjoys golf and good music.