BENIN STAND STILL FOR

 CAPT HOSA OKUNBOR

It’s going to be difficult for friends and businessman associates of the billionaire businessman Captain Hosa Okunbor  to come to terms with his new status as a beaded Benin Chief. For about three decades, this gentleman and philanthropist with a heart of gold has simply been known as Captain by all and Sunday, now their dilemma will be whether to call him Captain, which the majority can flow with or Chief his new title or Chief Captain...am not sure it’s my role to solve this riddle that comes  with elevation and change of status..they will all just have to find a way around it or maybe Captain will, this is strictly for laughter, take out an ad to tell his friends  and associates how he wants to be addressed....laugh your heads off. That’s his problem, not mine.

Anyway, last weekend was great fun in Benin City, the Edo State Capital. Dignitaries and friends from far and near, with a cascade of private jets and chattered planes stormed the city, first on Friday, to rejoice with Captain Hosa wells Okunbor, who was being honoured with a bead by the Oba of Benin at his palace, which is one of the greatest honour for any Benin man, though a lot of folks said this honour had been long overdue. The chieftaincy ceremony, which is another kettle of fish will come sometime later.

The next day the galaxy of stars and the money bags and politician and Niger Delta who s who gathered at his sprawling residence to attend the commencement of marriage rites for his beautiful and respectful daughter Ivie,  whose beau, Shola, son of the Olu of Warri and his royal entourage came knocking for her hands in marriage.

For most of the people it was to pay homage to a great man who had empowered a lot of people across the Niger Delta and who as they say, in Benin, Continues to ‘make big boys’ every day by his unique style of empowerment. It perhaps explains why most of the big boys present stayed back to give moral support and ensure the guests who kept arriving from the morning of Saturday and flowed through the night. The question people asked and i did too was what kind of entainment the wedding proper will witness if the Introduction is this grand... they all will have to wait and see or go ask the man. Dem wan tell am how to spend him money?

The entertainment, which was quiet simple, since it was just an introduction, though a lot of people said, Captain does not do small or simple things, and they must know. Anyway, the food was sumptuous and lavish. I had starch and banga which came with a super big snail, cat fish and the biggest cut of  stock fish, panla i have seen served at a party.  Of course there was Chinese and the variants of rice and small chops which came with prawns and lots of other eatables and to help the flow of food ,the big boys had to decide what brand of champagne was most suitable, Moet, Rose or  Dom Perigon  or for those who love had liquor, VSOP, Red Label, Black Label or Blue Label depending on how really big you are.

Each time Captain Hosa Okunbor moved about, i heard his boys, shout, The Lion, i guess that’s his new title. It further compounds what the jolly rich fellow will go by; Captain, The Lion or Chief. I had fun and so did a lot of the guests who attended the two day celebration and merriment.

                                                        
He is ebony black, handsome and hunky; the kind of guy that would have
made a career playing pro basketball in the NBA. He is also calm,
humble, intelligent, introspective, soft spoken - a gentleman. Welcome
to the world of Chief Dumo Owukori Lulu Briggs; lawyer, businessman,
technocrat, politician and philanthropist.
Dumo makes no pretentions about being a rich man’s kid. His father
Chief O .B lulu Briggs is easily  the richest man in the Niger Delta.
His company Moni Pulo Ltd drills and exports crude oil;  He is an
elder statesman, politician and legendary philanthropist whose name
and goodwill opens doors all over the country. He was also national
vice chairman of the defunct National Party of Nigeria, NPN.  His dad,
Dumo says has been an inspiration for most of the things he has done
in life and he is appreciative and proud of this great and illustrious
pedigree.
At first meet, he is not your regular spoilt and pampered rich man’s
child. Dumo is confident and out going. He is well suited to discuss
any subject and he speaks with deep introspection, and reverence,
respecting the sensibilities of all. He is also street smart and
alert; he attended public schools and he can hold his own anywhere.
‘My dad has always been an inspiration. My foray into maritime
industry, and oil and gas was because he was also in that business. He
has a larger than life image. Considering the circumstances of his
birth, he has achieved outstanding success in business and politics
and he has a large heart when it comes to helping society.  He is
truly one of the great men of his generation’.
But make no mistakes, Dumo has learnt well. Under his dads tutelage he
has carved a niche for himself as a prolific corporate player,
technocrat and grassroots mobilizer.
Dumo is a lawyer. He obtained his law degree from the Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria in 1985, which he describes as a great institute of
learning and a citadel of excellence. In 1987, he crowned it with a
master’s degree from the University of London. He has also fortified
himself with executive courses at Harvard University and Southern
Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, USA.
He talks about his motivations for studying law,
Growing up, my father was very strict… I am a lawyer today, even
though I didn’t originally want to become a lawyer. But of course, at
that time when we were growing up, we couldn’t break from our parents.
What you wanted as opposed to what your parents wanted would always be
secondary. So my father insisted that I must read law. And that
training has also helped me to take on other challenges outside of the
legal profession. Into oil and gas; am also into entertainment. And
whatever field I find myself in, I see my law background has been very
helpful.  I am also into politics.’
Fifty on June 13, Dumo joined Moni Pulo ltd, an indigenous oil
exploration company founded by his father in June 1998 as company
secretary and legal adviser. From inception the company was under
expatriate management. In 2002m he was promoted to executive director
and the year after, he was appointed managing director purely on
merit. At this time the company’s fortunes had dwindled and Dumo saw
his elevation as a divine opportunity to prove his capacity and
capability as a manager of men and resources.
Under his watch, Dumo says he was able to turnaround the operations of
the company, re-focused its operations  and permanently  established
Muni Pulo Ltd  as a dynamic corporate entity ,
‘ We streamlined  units around a coherent commercial and operational
worldwide strategy, resulting in profitability, revenue gains, winning
market share in its strategic emergence as a major independent Oil and
Gas exploration and production company.’
Today , Moni Pulo is one of the most successful indigenous oil exploration companies in Nigeria and it continues to play a major role in shaping the industry and encourage local talents and growth.

It’s a classic turnaround story in Nigerian corporate history, the likes of which are used as case study in Business schools.  In Dumo’s unassuming carefreeness he shrugs it off and says,’ we did what we had to do’. I stalled for a few moments for him to revel in self accomplishment…spew forth a few words of praise…I could ‘nt grudge him that, but none was forth coming. it did not seem his style to wallow in self praise and ego tripping. It was not my job to change a fifty year old man, I had to stick to the business at hand and move matters forward.