Peter Uzoho
The Board of Eterna Plc has announced the appointment of renowned oil executive and economist, Mr. Abiola Lawal as the new Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company, effective today, April 15, 2024.
Lawal succeeds the outgoing CEO of Eterna, Mr. Benjamin Nwaezeigwe, who resigned his position after two years of service to the downstream oil and gas firm.
In a statement made available to THISDAY, the marketing company said the new CEO has a proven record of positive performance in executive leadership at multiple C-Suite level roles locally and internationally.
A global executive with over twenty-five years of management executive experience in private and publicly listed companies across diverse industries, Eterna stated that Lawal has expansive experience in the oil and gas sector and a proven record of value delivery in several aspects of executive management.
Lawal most recently worked with Eroton Exploration and Production Company Limited as Deputy Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer.
Prior to this, he served as Group Chief Strategy Officer of Oando Plc during its transformation from downstream to upstream and gas. While at Oando, he oversaw the successful implementation of Oracle ERP technology as a game changer to transform the operations of the company.
He also served as Executive Director of Oando Gas & Power as well as Gaslink (now known as Axxella) during the rapid growth and expansion phase of the then subsidiary.
Lawal was the Pioneer Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of Camac Energy Inc in the USA (later known as Erin Energy), the first Nigerian owned energy company to be listed on the New York Stock exchange.
He has served in multiple executive roles in other companies, including CAMAC International Corporation and ExeQute Partners, Inc., both in Houston, Texas USA.
He served as MD/CEO of eWorldtrack Mobile Technologies USA, a Senior Manager in SAP AG America, as Management Consultant and Transformation Manager at Mr. Abiola Lukman Lawal Ernst & Young LLP and as Senior Financial Analyst at The Walt Disney Corporation in California, USA.
Lawal recently completed a Certificate course in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, he holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a concentration in Finance, Strategy, & Technology from the University of California Irvine.
He was an Outstanding Dean’s Fellowship Award Recipient from the Paul Mirage Graduate School of Management, University of California, Irvine (UCI) California, USA and graduated from University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria with Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Economics with a Minor in Finance.
He is a member of various professional associations including the Chartered Institute of Directors Nigeria, African Energy Chamber, The Nigeria Economic Summit Group and National Association of Corporate Directors USA.
However, the Eterna board thanked Nwaezeigwe for his significant contributions to the company during his tenure.
