The managing director and chief executive officer of ARCO Group PLC, Mr Alfred Okiogun is thrilled about his firm, ARCO Engineering Limited, being nominated as the LEADERSHIP Oil & Gas Local Content Champion of the Year 2024.
Okiogun, while receiving the nomination letter of the award from the Vice Chairman of LEADERSHIP Group Limited, Mr Michael Okpere, at the weekend, said the award is a testament to the giant strides that ARCO is making in the oil and gas industry.
He said ARCO strives to position itself as a billion-dollar-rated company by 2035.
The CEO, who received the team with other company directors, said they were not initially aware of the LEADERSHIP award nomination, but one of their partners informed them that their efforts were being acknowledged, and ARCO had been announced as one of this year’s award recipients.
Okiogun said, “This award is well deserving as we didn’t even know until one of our partners informed us about this award. I had to do my investigation as we, as a company, are not moved by awards but by our factual contribution to the industry’s oil and gas and local sub-sector content. We try not to be dissuaded based on awards. Being nominated for this award shows people are monitoring our development, and we want to thank LEADERSHIP for this as we will honour it”.
Speaking on behalf of LEADERSHIP Group Limited, the Vice Chairman, Mr Michael Okpere, noted that this year’s edition of LEADERSHIP Awards, which holds on April 8, 2025 at the Banquet Hall, State House within the Aso Villa, will be attended by who is who in the political and industrial sectors of the nation, and including Chief Aliko Dangote who received the ‘Person of The Year’ award and the Vice President, Kashim Shetima who is the special guest of honour and keynote speaker.
Also, LEADERSHIP Director Mr Abraham Nda-Isaiah shed more light on why ARCO Group PLC was nominated, saying that having demonstrated the capacity to lead Indigenous strength in the oil and gas industry, ARCO is the Oil and Gas Champion of the Year 2024.
Excited about the award, Mr Okiogun went down memory lane about how, as a youth, he developed an interest in being a solution provider, having passed through the prestigious Government College Ughelli.
He noted that he heard speeches from Nigerian leaders of yore on how to be a champion in life and useful to one’s nation and family, and this spurred him to prepare to be the best.
He was one of the first set in the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) located in Warri, trained by expatriates from the Soviets, and went on an internship abroad. All this formed his life and passion in the oil and gas sector and made an impact in his field of endeavour.
All this, as well as other encounters, led him to establish ARCO, which has also been honouring Nigerians doing well in Science and Engineering in the diaspora since 2020, tagging the ARCO Excellence Award in Science and Technology.
The CEO expressed his desire to attend the LEADERSHIP Conference and Awards, which is scheduled for April 8, 2025, in Abuja.
