Her name rings a bell in the oil and gas industry, having put in many years in the practice. Indeed, when she talks, many fall over themselves to listen to her because of her wealth of experience.
But if you think this is all about Nkechi Obi, Vice Chairman, Techno Oil, you will be underestimating the power of this beautiful entrepreneur.
 Penultimate Thursday in Lagos, Obi, who graduated with a B.Sc. degree in Economics from the Lagos State University (LASU) in 1988, proved to all that she is equally a great and charming orator. She wowed at the National Company of the Year event organised by Junior Achievement Nigeria, JAN, or secondary school students in Nigeria.
Obi, whose company was one of the major sponsors of the event, held her audience spell-bound, as she shared her experience with the students on the occasion. She took them on a voyage around her growing up when she learned the business of selling textiles under the tutelage of her mother at the ever-bustling Balogun Market in Lagos.
In her remarks as keynote speaker, she urged the students to develop the latent entrepreneurial skill that God had deposited in them.
For Obi, the journey to the enviable height in the oil industry has been laced with thorns and roses. In the beginning, it was tough, but she held on to her beautiful dream. She started by marketing lubricants and later ventured into the sale and distribution of petroleum products.
Over the years, she has sown in sweats, so it is not surprising that she is now reaping in bountiful harvests. From her humble beginnings, Obi was able to nurture Techno Oil as a leading indigenous oil and gas company in less than a decade. Her immense contribution to the sector has earned Techno Oil a dominant role in the distribution of petroleum products across the country.
She is usually driven by an abiding quest to change the lives of her compatriots for the better. Besides, no one would tar her with the brush of a wheeler-dealer in her day-to-day business activities.
