Professional colleagues honour Makinde in Ibadan

STAKEHOLDERS in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, on Sunday, converged on Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, to celebrate one of their own, Mr Seyi Makinde, on his emergence as the governor-elect of Oyo State in the last general elections

Makinde, who is the Group Managing Director of Macon Group Limited, an oil and gas company, was honoured at an event tagged “Engr. Seyi Makinde’s Oil and Gas Industry Stakeholders’ Reception,” held at Ilaji Hotels and Sports Resort, Akanran.

The host of the event, Chief Dotun Sanusi, the Chief Executive Officer of TNL Drilling and the owner of Ilaji Hotels and Sports Resort, attributed Makinde’s electoral victory to his resilience, doggedness and “never-say-die attitude,” which he described as the hallmark of an average oil and gas person.

“A proper look into the mindset of an average oil and gas person would reveal a mind filled with focus and resilience just as Orison Swett Marden stated in his quote: ‘to go down thousands of kilometres into the earth crust just to bring out the treasure preserved there by nature can only be done by focused and resilient mind,’” Sanusi said.

He stated that having been at the heart of the country’s finances, Makinde’s election as the next governor of Oyo State would bring about the utmost management of the wealth gotten from the exploration of crude oil.

“It is no doubt that our country’s economic mainstay is crude oil, the liquid gold, which we in the oil and gas business toil day and night to bring out from where nature hides it. But we have never had the opportunity, not until now, that one of us will now be in charge of the revenue gotten therein,” he added.

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The entrepreneur, who expressed confidence that Oyo State people would experience a government with a difference in the next four years, pledged the support of the oil and gas industry players for the incoming administration of Makinde to ensure his success in his next assignment.

In his response, Makinde thanked his colleagues for throwing the honour and pledged to work hard to increase the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state.

He reiterated his commitment to improving on what he would meet on ground, noting that he desired to work differently so as to get results that were different from what the citizenry were used to.

“I can assure you that I will not disappoint you. This is why we shall not hesitate to listen to ideas that will drive the state forward. I can’t afford to disappoint you because I emerged from among you and I know that at the completion of this assignment, I will return to your fold,” he said.

Other dignitaries in attendance at the event included former Deputy Senate Whip, Hosea Agboola; former House of Representatives member, Babatunde Oduyoye, oil magnates, captains of industry and members of the Chinese and the Lebanese communities.