Of Masters Energy Group, detractors and the Nigerian economy
By Tony Iji
Dr. Sampson Uche Ogah, president/founder of Masters Energy Group, is one of Nigeria’s leading, patriotic, visionary, and risk-tolerant entrepreneurs today. Since leaving office as Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development in 2022, the former senior banker-turned businessman and politician has been channelling all his time, energy and financial resources to repositioning his company for the future.
His objective is to grow his conglomerate, made up of over 15 subsidiaries with interests in multiple sectors, including oil & gas, aviation, real estate, transport, logistics, consumer goods, etc, to the point where it could add significant value to the national economy. Dr. Ogah was neck-deep into the pursuit of this dream when the removal of subsidy on petrol and floating of the Naira mid-last year threw virtually all economic variables and businesses off balance. While many other existing businesses scaled down their operations, shelved expansion plans, or closed shop altogether, the Masters Energy Group founder forged on. Where others bemoaned the problems, he saw prospects and profits. Instead of being deterred by the immediate negative fallouts of the fuel and foreign exchange policies, Dr. Ogah was propelled into action by them.
Thus, early this year, Dr. Ogah convened a Masters Energy Group Senior Leadership Strategy Retreat under the theme: “Innovation, Exponential Revenue Growth by Cost Management and New Product Introduction.” The essence of the retreat was for senior and top-level workers at the leadership cadre to deliberate and strategically decide on innovations and initiatives the organisation was implementing to enhance its business operations.
“Masters Energy Group is positioning to expand its business, increase presence in the Nigerian market and ultimately achieve an exponential revenue growth through massive investment, partnerships, and new products,” Dr. Ogah told reporters at the end of the retreat. “We want to go into a lot of business that we haven’t been before; that is why we are having this retreat for us to come together to discuss, to strategize on how this year will be better than last year,” Mrs Patience Dappa, the Group Managing Director of Masters Energy, explained. “We all know that subsidy is out of the way, so we need to look at how we can survive and sustain our business without the presence of subsidy.”
Pushing against the odds facing the economy has been the focus and preoccupation of Dr. Ogah ever since.
Unfortunately, it is obvious that some people are not comfortable with his bold and strategic repositioning of Masters Energy Group to expand its frontiers and support the growth of the economy. They appear resolved to do whatever is possible to distract his attention, sabotage, and, possibly, bring down the Group’s businesses.
One of such heinous acts was the recent re-circulation of a nearly 10-year-old video in which the company was wrongly accused of importing expired rice into the country. A source attributed unearthing of the old 2016 video to one Lauretta Onochie, who started circulating it as a new video, presenting it like the company intentionally smuggled in an expired rice into the country to sell.” Ms Onoche, for those who may have forgotten, was the same woman whose nomination by President Muhammadu Buhari as INEC Commissioner was rejected by the Senate following public protests by Nigerians. Later, she was removed from office as Chairperson of NDDC after serving for only few months. Both incidents arose from questions over her integrity.
The management of Masters Energy Group has set the records straight. In a public statement, the company categorically denied this claim, describing it as baseless and a falsehood calculated to damage its reputation. The statement said: “Our company ordered some quantity of rice in 2016 with the value of the consignment duly paid. The consignment was inspected and passed by a reputable international inspection agent prior to shipment to Nigeria. However, by the time the consignment arrived Tin Can Island Port Lagos, the restriction by the federal government of Nigeria on the importation of certain goods (among which is rice), famously referred to as Ban on 41 items, had taken effect; so we were unable to clear the containers from the Customs.”
“We made various appeals and representations to the Central Bank of Nigeria and Nigerian Customs to grant us a window to clear the consignment; but our efforts were of no avail. The consignment was eventually seized by the Customs in August 2016.”
“In 2019 – more than three years after the consignment has been seized – during a working visit to the Tincan port, the then Customs C.G. (Comptroller-General) discovered the abandoned shipment within the premises, which had since deteriorated due to long exposure to heat in the container and other environmental elements. This was first thought to be a fresh import, but further investigation revealed that the containers have long been at the port and the goods degraded due to over-stay at the port. Our company was absolved of culpability.”
The company reaffirmed its commitment to upholding the highest quality and ethical standards and full adherence to all import regulations. “At no point did we import, intend to import, or distribute expired rice to the Nigerian market,” it said. The company has assured that it will not be distracted by the schemes of saboteurs from pursuing its expansion programme, which has been progressing smoothly.
Indeed, the Nigerian economy is beginning to benefit from Masters Energy Group’s expansion programme as it has given birth to new and enhanced operations as well as new products and services. One of them is the Joint User Hydrant Installation 2 (JUHI-2), Nigeria’s largest aviation fuel depot with a storage capacity of 15 million litres of Jet A1 fuel, which was commissioned this October. The state-of-the-art depot is a partnership between Masters Energy Oil & Gas Ltd, Eterna Plc, Techno Oil, Quest Oil, Rahamaniyya, Ibafon Oil, and First Deep Water Limited. The facility, which spans 46,000 square meters, is set to revolutionize aviation fuel logistics, offering unparalleled efficiency, safety, and cutting-edge technology.
The company’s new services in the aviation sector are not limited to airline operators. The company has also extended personalized airport protocol services and exceptional hotel reservations and tour packages to passengers and tourists through its Cardinal Points business arm. It is also offering energy independence to consumers via Masters Energy solar panels. The solar energy services it provides include expert solar installations, supply of premium solar panels and inverters.
Masters Energy Group has also expanded its business into logistics and interstate travel services with the launch of Alsa Logistics Limited, marking a significant milestone in its commitment to delivering comprehensive and reliable services across the country.
In the area of manufacturing, the conglomerate is also looking to introduce new product lines like household products, with a projection that, by the end of this year, Masters Energy products would be in every household in Nigeria. The company is also considering exploring opportunities in the export business to enable them to overcome challenges associated with high exchange rate.
Similarly, the Group is expanding its footprint in the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) business. In 2023, it performed the flag-off of the Masters Energy 40,000 metric tonnes LPG storage facility in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. It hopes to complete it before the end of next year.
The company is planning to take the oil and gas downstream market by storm with its massive investment, new products, and innovation. Masters Energy presently has about 300 retail outlets across major cities in Nigeria with not less than 50 more outlets scheduled to come on stream before end of this year.
Dr. Ogah is not only focused on growing the company but is also developing its management capacity and capabilities.
Only recently , he completed a prestigious leadership programme at the University of Oxford with Honours. The remarkable achievement demonstrates his dedication to personal and professional growth and earned him invaluable insights and advanced skills that will, by extension, greatly benefit the company as it strives for innovation, growth, and success.
In the face of all these efforts by Masters Energy Group to support the growth of the Nigerian economy and impact the lives of Nigerians, it’s disheartening seeing some dubious individuals trying to roll back the gains made by patriotic entrepreneurs like Dr. Ogah.
