By Olise Onwusando

As the late Chief Mike Eloka Arinze, the pioneer African Executive Director of Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) was buried weekend in Asaba, Delta State capital, many people would remember him for leading an exciting and fulfilled life. He was a pacesetter, administrator, humanist, devout Catholic, sports enthusiast, and community leader.

Born on September 28, 1929, into Obi Okonkwo Arinze family of Umunkwo village, Umuezei, Asaba, at a time Nigeria was an outpost of British colonial empire, he was educated, first, at St. Joseph’s Catholic School, Asaba, and later,   at Government School, Bamenda, Cameroon. It was at Enitonna College, Port Harcourt, that he obtained the Cambridge School Certificate Grade II in 1951.

In his quest for higher education, Chief Arinze chose an unusual path, probably influenced by the decision of the eponymous character in ‘’The Road Not Taken’’, a 1915 seminal poem by Robert Frost. So, rather than hold on to the jobs he had at the United African Company (UAC) and the civil service for seven years, he sponsored himself for further studies in the United Kingdom in 1958. His graduation with a bachelor’s degree in economics from London University helped pave the way for the heights he would attain in later years.  

He returned to Nigeria in 1964 as an employee of former Bank of British West Africa, now First Bank, but a year later, he joined the British Petroleum Nigeria Limited as a Junior Executive. However, the outbreak of the Nigerian civil war in 1967 compelled him to pick up a job as an Administrative Officer at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu.

As the end of the conflict in 1970 opened a fresh vista for Nigerians, Arinze took up a job at N.A.O.C as General Service Assistant in Lagos. His rise to senior management positions was meteoric, the climax being his elevation to the post of first African Executive Director on the company’s board. Prior to that, he was General Manager, being the very first African to be so appointed.  

On retirement in 1987, he remained on the board as non-executive director for over five years even as he leveraged his experience in the upstream and downstream sectors to establish Seric Impianti with a foreign partner that specialised in oil service and waste management. That company, which he later sold off to Consortium Nigeria in 2009, was the first of its kind in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

In retrospect, Arinze was instrumental in the major achievements of the company in Nigeria, namely the commissioning of two Gas Recycling Plants in Nigeria, first at Obiafu/Obrikom in Omoku, Rivers State, and later at Kwale/Okpai, Delta State. Besides being a signatory to the NNPC/Shell/Agip/Elf Joint Venture in 1989, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Green River Project under which peasant farmers within Agip’s areas of operation in Rivers, Delta, Imo and Bayelsa States were trained on modern farming techniques and provided with simple tools and improved seedlings.  

A Roman Catholic and a patron of many church organisations, Arinze,   a former chorister and alter boy, exemplified true commitment to the Church’s ideals. His reward included admission into the order of Knight of St. Mulumba (KSM) in 1985, Deputy Grand Knight in 1995, a Grand Knight and member of the Supreme Board of the Order in 1997, and the Metropolitan Grand Knight of Calabar Ecclesiastical Province.

As a socialite, he was a member of Ahaba 88 Club, Falcon Club of Nigeria, Asaba, Port Harcourt Rotary Club, and Paul Harris Fellow, and patron of Asaba Ladies League of Nigeria. He was into sports as he played lawn tennis, squash, golf. He won trophies and sponsored golf tournaments under the Agip’s platform. He loved swimming too.

Married to the Late Lay Patricia Obiageli Arinze and survived   by five children, 19 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren, he loved jazz, classical and traditional music, particularly Aguba royal dance.

As we bid farewell to him, we would take solace in Steve Quigg’s ‘Fading Away Like Stars of the Morning’ lyrics which remind us that after death, we would only be remembered for the good things we have done on earth.  

Adieu Chief Mike Arinze.

Vanguard News