Timeless Person | Oil Titan | OPEC President | First Class Monarch
BIRTH AND ROYAL LINEAGE
His Royal Eminence, King Dr. Edmund Maduabebe Daukoru was born on the 13th October, 1943, into two of the most prominent royal lineages in the ancient treaty Kingdom of Nembe. His preparation for leadership started early.
EARLY EDUCATION – THE FOUNDATION OF EXCELLENCE
He attended St. Luke’s Primary School, Nembe, a very old Anglican mission school of great veneration, which until as late as the 1960s catered for a catchment area covering over half of the present Bayelsa State. He passed out with distinction.
He thereafter gained admission into one of the top-most secondary schools in the country at that time, the prestigious Government College, Umuahia (GCU), on competitive scholarship. He passed out of this veritable cradle of academics and leadership in just 2 years for the HSC and 4 years instead of 5 years for his WASC, earned by superior academic performance. He is still fondly referred to by old boys as among the top academic performers of his time.
It was thus no surprise that he gained admission to another world-famous institution, the Imperial College, London, where he gained a B.Sc Special in Geology in 1967 and a PhD just 3 years after, in 1970. The normal requirement of an intermediate Masters Degree or PGD was waived for him as for students of outstanding originality and potentials. As he was a Government scholar at GCU, so was His Majesty an SPDC (Shell) scholar at Imperial College, London, through a highly competitive scholarship selection process.
OUTSTANDING CAREER IN SHELL PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY (SPDC)
Consistent with his specialization, his first substantive job was with Shell Petroleum Development Company in the Oil sector, where he rose to the very peak, both locally and internationally.
Key positions held in ascending order of seniority:
- Team Geologist – 1971
- Wellsite/Operations Geologist – 1975
- Senior Production Geologist – 1977
- Chief Geologist – 1978 – 1st Nigerian in the Industry
- Area Geologist, Shell International, The Hague, Netherlands – 1981
- Technical Manager in charge of Exploration, Petroleum Engineering and Computer Services – 1983
- General Manager, Western Division (one of the two operating divisions accounting for almost half of SPDC production and assets) – 1984
- Executive Director (ED) Exploration and Deep Water – 1989-1992 – 1st Nigerian in the Industry
As Chief Geologist, Senior Production Geologist, and later ED Exploration, His Royal Majesty is still remembered for the outstanding wild-cat drilling success rate, which added billions of barrels to Nigeria’s oil reserves. The most outstanding are the famous Bonga Field in deep offshore currently producing some 200,000 b/d, and the Nembe Creek Field On-Shore. As Bonga has the largest reserve in deep offshore, so is Nembe Creek the largest and biggest oilfield onshore after Forcados/Yokri.
As Divisional GM, he oversaw the construction and commissioning of the Utorogu Gas Plant in 1987, as the largest standalone domestic gas plant in Nigeria, with a capacity of 270 mmscfd, dwarfing all others such as Sapele, Ughelli, Oben, Afam, Obigbo etc. It continues to this day as the primary source of gas for the Egbin Power Station which accounts for about 33% of Nigeria’s power generation capacity.
MANAGEMENT AND INTERNATIONAL EXPOSURE
As part of his career development, he attended all key management courses at:
- Irish Management Institute, Dublin, Ireland
- Len Bury Club, London
- Swiss Management Centre (SMC), Vevey, Switzerland
- Colgate Darden School of Business Administration, University of Virginia
His tour of duty in Shell took him beyond Nigeria’s shores to The Hague in the Netherlands in 1978/79 and again in 1981/82 from where he manned the desk responsible for coordinating the exploration and production activities of Shell in Southern Europe, covering France, Ireland, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Spain, Offshore Libya and Egypt.
PUBLIC SERVICE – NNPC AND THE BIRTH OF NLNG
In 1992, President Babangida appointed him Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), his first appointment in the Nigerian public service. Though his tenure was short – serving a succession of 3 Ministers in less than 18 months – his impact was outstanding.
Four enduring legacies from his tenure as GMD:
- The NLNG Take-off: The take-off of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, was concretized by reassigning to Shell, Elf (Total) and Agip, the British Petroleum (BP) exploration JV equity, earlier nationalised by General Murtala Mohamed’s administration. This was to meet the Government equity obligation. He can thus claim major credit for the billions of dollars in dividends accruing to the nation from the NLNG, Bonny.
- The PTF Funding: For his frontline role in the fuel price deregulation debate of 1992/93 against Organised Labour, he can take significant credit for the funding of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), which implemented many commendable projects under General Buhari’s chairmanship.
- NNPC Mega Stations: The NNPC Mega Stations which now dot the urban landscape were the brain-child of His Royal Majesty as GMD, Alhaji Harman Tukur as then Permanent Secretary, and Dr. C.S.P Okongwu as Minister. They were planned as part of a major national strategic initiative including a national strategic petroleum products reserve.
- Downstream Reform and Strategic Review: He implemented the Justice Belgore Tribunal report, arising from the NNPC shakeup of 1992. The structures from his effort have survived to the present day. He also championed the strategic business review report titled “NNPC Resource Gap” which comprehensively analysed the deteriorating business position of NNPC with far-reaching recommendations for corporate growth, independent of government funding. Its relevance was vindicated 20 years later by the issues the PIB seeks to address.
His technical publications were a benchmark in the two decades spanning the 1970s and 1990s: His analysis of the geostatic phenomenon called “Overpressure”; the co-authored papers “The Geology of the Niger Delta” presented at the Tokyo World Petroleum Congress in May, 1975; and “The Niger Delta Hydrocarbon Kitchen” remain of historic interest.
GOVERNMENT APPOINTMENTS AS MINISTER
While still with Shell, he was appointed to the Governing Council of the Rivers State College of Science and Technology, the Board of Rivers State Rubber Corporation, and at the federal level, the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) as Oil and Gas Sector representative.
In 2003, he was appointed Presidential Adviser on Petroleum and the Alternate Chairman of the Corporate Board of NNPC. By mid-2005, he was appointed Minister of State, becoming full Minister of Energy (Petroleum and Power combined) by end 2006.
He thus became the only person to have:
- Become Group Managing Director, NNPC from the private sector
- Become Petroleum Adviser, Minister of State and full Minister under the same Administration
- Held the combined portfolios of Federal Ministries of Power and Petroleum
- Held the positions of Group Managing Director, Board Chairman of NNPC, and Minister of Energy in a career span
INTERNATIONAL STATURE – OPEC
He represented Nigeria so effectively that by end-2004, he was unanimously elected by his OPEC colleagues as Alternate President for the year 2005. The next year, 2006, he became both President and Secretary General, a combined position that vested on him the full administration of the OPEC Secretariat in Vienna, as well as being the global spokesman. The hosting of the end-2006 Conference of OPEC was conceded to Nigeria ahead of others.
His policy thrust was to create a linkage where those willing to invest in oil and gas must also commit to developing infrastructure. He popularized the slogan, ‘we use what we have to get what we want’.
He had direct interactions on energy diplomacy with:
President Ahmadinejad of Iran, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, President Roh Moo-hyun of S. Korea (Late), President De Menezes of Sao Tome and Principe, President John Kufuor of Ghana, President Umar al-Bashir of Sudan, and President Dos Santos of Angola.
He represented Nigeria in: OPEC, APPA (African Petroleum Producers Association – President once), AGPA (African Gas Producers Association), Nigeria/Sao Tome JDC (Joint Development Commission – Co-Chairman), WAGPC (West African Gas Pipeline Commission – Chairman once), IEA (International Energy Association), GCERT Gas Consumers and Exporters Round Table, and Chaired the two-yearly OPEC Seminar.
These achievements earned him an Honorary Doctoral Degree in Economics by the University of Seoul, S. Korea and an Honorary Citizenship of the City of Calgary in Canada.
HONOURS AND AWARDS
- Fellow of Imperial College, London (Only two Africans so honoured to date, the other being Dr. Rilwan Lukman)
- Fellow of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists
- Fellow of the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society
- Fellow of Federal School of Surveyors, Oyo
- Member of the Hall of Fame, Nigerian Petroleum Sector (highest category along with five others including Chief Philip Asiodu, Dr Rilwan Lukman and Alh Shehu Ali Monguno)
- Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) in 2007
FAMILY LIFE
In line with Nembe custom and royal institution, His Royal Majesty is a polygamist, presiding over a large royal household ensuring continuity of the Mingi dynasty.
PUBLIC SERVICE SCRUTINY – THE HALLIBURTON PROBE
For completeness, as reported by Vanguard: The five-man inter-agency panel investigating the Halliburton scam under Mike Okiro in Abuja quizzed Dr. Daukoru as Minister of State for Petroleum during second term of President Olusegun Obasanjo. He was invited from Port Harcourt, arrived Police Force Headquarters about 11:45am, left about 1:30pm after about two hours and was allowed to go, told he may be recalled if need be. He was accompanied by a personal assistant. At the time he was Amanyanabo of Grand Nembe.
Same report stated panel also summoned former GMDs Dr. Jackson Gaius-Obaseki (said to be abroad) and Mr. Funso Kupolokun, and former Ministers Obot Don Etiebet and Chief Dan Etete, over allegations of sharing $190m (not $180m) bribe money for third phase of $1.9b LNG contract. Panel sources also mentioned alleged involvement of two former Heads of State, former number two man, former national security chief, brother of former Head of State, former IGP, heir to throne of prominent Northern emirate, and former MD of second generation bank – all invited to defend themselves. The report was investigative; no conviction has been publicly recorded against His Royal Majesty from that inquiry.
His lifetime contributions to economic development, peace and harmony have kept him in public eye for almost two decades.
THE THRONE – MINGI XII
Shortly after that, His Royal Majesty ascended the throne of the Ancient Kingdom of Nembe as the Mingi XII, in a dynasty founded by Mingi the Great in the early 1700s after the overthrow of a rival claimant, already established by their common ancestor, Kala Ekule. The Nembe Kingdom dates back to the 13th Century.
The Amanyanabo of Nembe Stool has been a First Class Stool since 1958. In the Eastern Region it was one of only eight stools on Schedule A (along with the Obi of Onitsha, Obi of Oguta, Eze-Aro of Arochukwu, King Jaja of Opobo, King Amachree of Kalabari, and King Perekule of Bonny). These eight were the only ones recognized as pre-1914 (amalgamation) Treaty Kings. It is worth recalling that the sack of the Royal Niger Company’s trading station at Akassa in 1895 by King Koko, the 8th Mingi of Nembe resulted in the review of British Colonial Policy.
The Stool has been graced by such renowned names as King Boy Amain (Mingi IV), who paid the ransom to free the Lander Brothers from King Osai of Aboh; King Constantine Ockiya (Mingi VI) who first accepted Christian missionaries into what is now Bayelsa State; and lately, by the late Justice Ambrose E. Alagoa (Mingi XI), a former Chief Judge of Rivers State.
REIGN AS AMANYANABO
Since ascending the throne after meritorious service in Government, HM has been involved in various activities for national unity, peace and progress.
He is now for the third year, the Chairman of the forum of senior traditional rulers in the six States of the South-South geopolitical zone, which he helped found in 2009. Membership of over 180 includes the Obong of Calabar, the Olu of Warri, the Orodje of Okpe (vice-Chairman), the Asagba of Asaba, King Jaja of Opobo, King Amachree of Kalabari, the Oba of Benin (represented), and many others.
Under his leadership, three very high profile annual retreats have been held in 2009, 2010 and 2011 addressing security, national unity, grass-root development, and the proper role of royal fathers in a democratic dispensation.
Close to the 2011 General Elections, the Forum undertook an unprecedented national tour to dialogue with virtually all prominent traditional rulers including The Ooni of Ife, The Sultan of Sokoto, The Shehu of Borno, The Lamido of Adamawa, The Emirs of Gwandu, Zazzau, Katsina and Kano, as well as the Obi of Onitsha, and many senior rulers in the South-East convened by HRM Eze Ilomuanya.
He has equally been at the forefront of the initiative to gain recognition for Traditional Rulers in the Nigerian Constitution. He led a delegation of South-South Monarchs to the National Assembly in 2010 to submit a memorandum, and is presently a member of the Steering Group of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria, NCTRN led by HRH Alh (Dr) Yahaya Abubakar CFR – Etsu Nupe.
He is a member of the National Council of Traditional Rulers.
Within his domain, His Royal Majesty has brought enduring peace and stability, where once there was persistent strife occasioned by violent youth activities and primordial rivalries. This is very significant for the national economy, as the Nembe Kingdom contributes immensely in oil production. The Nembe Creek oil field and others within the Nembe Kingdom boast of over 1 billion barrels of oil reserves and a combined production potential of over 250,000 bbls of oil per day, besides contributing gas to the NLNG. The asset value of the evacuating systems runs into almost a billion dollars.
His immense life time contributions to economic development, peace, and harmony have kept him in the public eye for almost two decades, and still counting.
ROYAL SALUTATION
Kala ekule-ama Obolo ama’ Se
Kala ekule-ama!
Otita Kain
Etemeteme wari igbema fia’ gha’ fina’
Ama’ bara Ikologo, Ere’ bara Ikologo
Ama’ bara Ogidi, Ere’ bara Ogidi
Akana bo gha, Akana korogha
Omoni’ mangi’ gha Pele
Igirigi Igirigi Igirigi
Ama’ yana’ Mindi’ ya na!
