Nigeria oil sector operators must get set for Electric Car era or become moribund – IPMAN Chief
The Managing Director/CEO Jacycal Ventures Ltd and former Independent Petroleum Marketing Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Secretary-General, Barr Chinedu Onwuatuegwu has said that the Nigerian business environment is bedeviled by multi-taxation, power infrastructure deficiency and lack of political will to execute extant laws.
He stressed that unless efforts are made to remedy the situation the economy will continue to wobble.
The CEO was speaking on the eve of his 28years milestone in the nation’s Oil and Gas sector and 50th birthday celebrations within the week said we need to eradicate the errors before we can make a head-way.Even as he challenged the oil &gas sector to brace for the fast advancing electric car era which he said will moderate activity in the fuel and diesel segment of the business.
As he indicated, Joe King Petrol Ltd will by the next five years must have moved well into the gas and renewable energy services segment on the energy industry in order to survive the changing technology development in the sector,adding that you have to think ahead and execute efficiently to be on top of the business game in this 21 century.
According to him its the obvious lack of political will to do what needed to be done that made many people to concur that the problem of Nigeria is the lack of good leaders or credible leadership.
He therefore called on the powers that be to ensure that the electric power infrastructure is uplifted in the overall interest of the nation,saying that without power that there is not much that industrialists can do to create jobs or put the nation on the map of great economies.
As he suggested there is need for the state governments and the federal government to meet and rationalize the taxes paid by the private sector,saying that incidents of multiple taxation is killing a lot of businesses.
Speaking to us he said that within the next 15 years that the oil and gas industry will be revolutionized as the plan by EU countries to phase out fuel propelled cars by 2030 means that renewable energy is the way to go in the near future,thus his position that his company would be going into the provision of gas infrastructure that would be needed as the electric car era emerges.
On the needed business and entrepreneurship skills to survive in the nation’s business environment,he posited that an executive needs to have ardent focus and financial acumen to survive,maintaining that good cash management ability is vital to succeed because inconsistent policies of government,multiple taxation and poor infrastructure meant that businesses must ensure that mistakes are reduced drastically to survive the harsh business climate.
He said he was gladdened by his performance in the sector as well his contribution so far in the legal profession,saying that he intends to keep on with his philanthropic interventions both personally cum as a business concern as a way of giving back to society and expressing thanks to God almighty who gave him the opportunities in the first place.
According to him it was the tragic death of his mother as a youth that forced him to join the world of business and that even though he thought he had lost the opportunity to qualify as a lawyer that fate also ensured that he today owns a legal practice.
He disclosed his bounced back”started when i returned back to school to do a diploma in Law programme from there i decided to get the degree it was not easy but I was focused on what i wanted and had no time for frivolities.
He added however that it was the skills he learnt managing the busines that helped him to complete his Law studies -capping it with the Law school.at Enugu.
Thus he is hinting that no matter the situation you find your self in life never ever lose your dream.
Onwuatuegwu holds a degree in Law from Benue State University. Apart from being a former Secretary-General of IPMAN, he is currently the Treasure of Nigeria Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO ).
