“The virtue of angels is that they cannot deteriorate. Their flaw is that they cannot improve. The virtue of man is that he can deteriorate. But his virtue is that he can improve.” This Hasidic saying has seen the light of day in the life and times of Uju Ifejika, the indefatigable oil madam who remains in a class of her own.
Any ambitious female in the Nigerian corporate corridor must overcome two barriers: the dominance of men in the same industry, and the sky-piercing excellence of other women in the same corridor. Against these barriers, one can only say that Ifejika is doing well. Even now, she stands out as the first and only boss of an indigenous oil company, and not one that is still wallowing in obscurity either.
How does one go about introducing this woman? Ifejika is known first and foremost as the Chairlady and CEO of Brittania-U Nigeria Limited (BUNL), one of the prominent petroleum companies of Nigerian origin with vested interests in upstream exploration and production. With this identity, Ifejika has laboured with other overlords of the oil industry to upgrade the standards of living for Nigerian communities which border the sites of exploration and production, providing job opportunities, advocating cleaner environments, and offering options for better-quality livelihood and welfare. In truth, Madam Ifejika is more than this.
A native of the renowned Opobo area of Rivers State, Ifejika climbed into the ranks of oil-sector nobility after years and years of hard and smart work. Her corporate experience from her years as a junior legal practitioner for Texaco in 1987 to the present are shouldered by a Diploma in Law and an LLB from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, her membership of the Nigerian Bar Association and the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN), as well as the laudable insignia identifying her as a fellow of the Institute of Arbitration and Conciliation.
Despite all these, it is Ifejika’s vast ambition and unyielding spirit that keeps pushing her forward. Against the traditional odds of male dominance and the emerging blockade of female control, especially in the banking corner of the Nigerian corporate block, Ifejika’s momentum remains unstoppable.
Without question, she is doing well.
