ACCOMPLISH MAGAZINE AUGUST 2023

INTERVIEW
very passionate about girls in STEM — women
in engineering, energy and entrepreneurship.
As a structural engineer, how did your passion
for the oil industry develop? What motivated
you to start your own oil service company?
My passion stemmed from being a
Physics and Maths student who loved solving
problems. So, as a problem solver that likes
Maths and Physics, l decided to go into
any of the Engineering disciplines; whether
it’s Chemical Engineering, Civil, Structural,
Mechanical, or Electrical Instrumentation.
The whole range of engineering activities. I
wanted to be an aeronautical engineer but
my late father told me that in my lifetime,
we wouldn’t be developing, designing and
building aeroplanes in Nigeria so I should look
for an alternative engineering type that would
benefit Nigeria. I opted for Civil and Structural
Engineering because I had seen my late father
work as a civil and structural engineer with
passion. When I graduated, my final year
project was in computing and developing
software for hydraulics, and I enjoyed
working on computers. My Ph.D. was based
on Computer-Aided Design, and I specialized
in 3D modelling of oil and gas facilities. When
I returned to Nigeria, I realized that the most
vibrant industry that required the knowledge I
had acquired during my Ph.D. studies was the
oil and gas sector, and I was very fortunate to
have a mentor and a role model engineer.
Tokunbo Shomolu introduced me to the oil
and gas industry. She was the one that gave
me my first opportunity in the oil and gas
industry. That’s how I got into the oil and gas
industry. The company which was registered
but didn’t have oil and gas as its priority
became very useful in the oil and gas industry.
Everything happened by destiny. I took so
many decisions because of the situations
that presented themselves, so I’m always very
particular about letting people know that my
journey in life has been God-defined (just like)
my journey with God, in terms of finding my
purpose and destiny.
Everything has been one thing leading to
another. Looking back now, I can only see
the hand of God and how I have journeyed
through my career.
Please, could you share with us some key
challenges you faced as a woman, knowing
fully well that males are more dominant in the
oil and gas industry? How were you able to
overcome this situation?
The first thing is understanding yourself.
I knew from training to become chartered
in the United Kingdom that I needed to be
more excited about site work and outdoor
activities. I loved working on my laptop, and
I loved working indoors. I focussed more
on my strengths. My strengths were solving
problems, and so on. So, I identified that the
major problem we had in the Nigerian oil and
gas industry was that expatriates were ahead
of Nigerians. Then, the curriculum in Nigerian
universities was not at the level where Nigerians
could even attempt to compete with the
expatriates. When I returned, there were hardly
any computers in the universities. Nobody
even knew how to use the kind of computers
that would be used for projects. So, I realized
that I could focus on bridging the gap, which is
domiciling, domesticating and democratizing
technology.
And how could I bridge the gap between
industry and the academia? By identifying,
developing and engaging clients. I realized
that my strength and purpose are training
and human capital development. The first
34
Accomplish Magazine