The outgoing Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NLNG, Babs Omotowa, has been appointed by Shell International into the Global Upstream Leadership Team as Vice President (S&E).
Omotowa, who will be completing his time at the helm of affairs at NLNG on September 1, 2016, will report to the Upstream Director across Shell’s Conventional, Unconventional and Deepwater global businesses.
The outgoing MD/CEO hands over to the incoming Chief Executive, Tony Attah, who will be engaged in an on-boarding programme until September 1 when he would effectively take over.
Omotowa leaves Nigeria LNG Limited in a stronger position and well positioned for the next chapter of the company’s growth.
He will take great pride and satisfaction in his numerous achievements, including consolidating the company’s position as a reliable supplier of LNG and major player in the global LNG market, restarting the Train 7 expansion programme and with NLNG becoming ranked as the number one home-grown company in Nigeria.
Through sheer courage, integrity and transparency, he brought back credibility into the relationship with government at a very crucial time in the Company’s history, and his principled stand on payment of taxes yielded the now famous “Government bailout funds”.
During his tenure at Nigeria LNG Limited, the company earned in excess of $40billion in revenue and returned over $22billion to Nigeria in dividend, taxes, feed gas purchases, etc.
The company, under his watch, became the highest corporate tax paying organisation in Sub-Sahara Africa and a major contributor to the Nigerian economy.
The company under his leadership secured $1.6 billion financing for the construction and delivery of six very modern Dual Fuel Diesel Electric vessels, setting a new ground breaking standard for Nigerian Content with the training of 600 Nigerians in ship construction and repairs, ensuring Nigerian companies, for the first time, export $10 million worth of goods and services to Korea for the ship building, and facilitating a dry dock project by a Nigerian consortium.
From expanding and deepening domestic LPG market to building ultra-modern engineering laboratories across the country, launching of $1 billion NLNG Vendors Financing Scheme, providing Bonny Kingdom with a 25-year master plan and N3 billion yearly contribution for development, among others, Omotowa initiated several programmes that have garnered attention as both national and international models.
This is in addition to his securing N60 billion support of the Board to part fund the Bonny-Bodo Road linking Bonny Island to the mainland as part of the company’s CSR initiative.
Omotowa, who joined NLNG with a well-deserved reputation as a turnaround expert from his previous work in Europe, focused on improving the company’s operations through cost leadership management, assets rejuvenation, organisation culture alignment, change management, commercial creativity, innovative supply chain and procurement management and human capital development.
These programmes made NLNG not only more profitable but a strong brand with great momentum that can sustain its competitive advantages for years to come.
A tireless campaigner for high Health, Safety and Environment standards, the outgoing MD/CEO achieved over four years without fatality Zero Lost Time Injury Frequency and a record of over 35 Million LTI free man-hours.
Not surprising, as Vice President in Shell, he led a similar effort that drastically minimised fatalities in the company.
The Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply in 2014 appointed Omotowa as its Global President for 2014/2015.
In selecting Omotowa for the role, CIPS’ Global Board of Trustees said his appointment was based on self-recognition and his strong contributions to global procurement and supply governance and practice.
Omotowa, who was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria LNG Limited by the NLNG Board in December 2011, will be sorely missed for his uncommon vision, professionalism, compassion and commitment.
Babs Omotowa, who hails from Kogi State and studied at the universities of Ilorin and Leicester (in the UK), has a first degree in Industrial Chemistry and two postgraduate Masters of Business Administration qualifications that enabled him to specialise in Operations Research and Supply Chain Management.
He started his career as a teacher (at Bishop Smith College in Ilorin) and joined Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in 1993 as a management trainee and quickly, through hard work and cleverness, earned the confidence of his new bosses.
