By Dipo Olowookere
An expert in the oil and gas industry, Mr Clement Isong, has been appointed as the new Executive Secretary (ES) of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN).
Mr Isong had previously worked at Total Nigeria where he held various senior management positions across the company’s Africa operations from Nigeria to South Africa.
He replaces the pioneer Executive Secretary of the association, Mr Obafemi Thomas Olawore, who retired after 17 years in office.
Mr Isong said his predecessor served MOMAN with zeal, placing it as one of the major forces in the oil industry.
According to him, Mr Olawore’s strides and achievements over the years creates a strong launch-pad for the next phase of the history of MOMAN and challenges him as the incoming Executive Secretary to, not only preserve the organisation’s enviable legacy, but to also up the ante in the quest of creating the right policy and market environment for the downstream sector in Nigeria.
Mr Olawore mounted the saddle as the first Executive Secretary of MOMAN at a time of great uncertainty. He however, was able to advance objectives of the group while championing its position at major policy dialogue sessions.
Following the successful acquisition of Agip Nigeria Plc, where he had worked for about 22 years and retired, he was requested by the committee of CEOs under the chairmanship of Mr. J.A. Tinubu, the MD of Unipetrol to form an association (as against the then Marketers’ operations Committee) which was named Major Oil Marketers’ Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) in 2001.
He superintended over the affairs of MOMAN – an Industry group comprising all the major players in Nigeria’s Downstream Oil and Gas sector which included; 11 Plc (formerly Mobil), Total, Conoil, Forte Oil, OVH Energy (trading as Oando) and MRS.
The idea behind the formation of the group, at the time, was to serve as a rallying point for these organisations in their quest to interact with government and the larger industry on policy and distribution issues affecting the downstream.
