Islanders Magazine

OLOROGUN OTEGA EMEHOR AND WIFE, RITA REMEMBER LATE SON...THANK GOD FOR HIS BLESSING

 

Death, we have since come to accept, is man’s most inevitable end. But when it does happen, it leaves in its trail anguish and sorrow. It is even worse in families where the heir apparent is the one death stings. That was the fate that befell Olorogun Otega Emehor, the ebullient chairman of Standard Alliance Group whose handsome son, Ijamani was brutally murdered by some unscrupulous brigands eight years ago. Apart from the fact that Ijamani was very brilliant, he was also well-loved and cherished by all. Some weeks back, Olorogun and his wife, Rita remembered their darling son, Ijamani with special prayer session for the repose of his soul, at the family house in Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos. 
Indeed, in spite of this irreparable loss, God has been good to the bereaved family. Emehor and his wife has since been blessed with a set of twin boys. Also, they have also been elevated to the class of grandparents, courtesy of their eldest daughters- Ufuoma Ashogbon and and Rhe Uwuagwu. 

 

The chief executive of the French oil company Total, Christophe de Margerie, was killed when a private jet collided with a snow plough at Moscow’s Vnukovo international airport on Monday night.

 

“Tonight a plane crashed when it collided with a snow-clearing machine,” said airport spokeswoman Elena Krylova. “Three crew members and a passenger died. I can confirm that the passenger was Total’s head De Margerie.”

 

The oil company said in a statement: “Total confirms with deep regret and great sadness that chairman and CEO Christophe de Margerie died just after 10pm (Paris time) on October 20 in a private plane crash at Vnukovo airport in Moscow, following a collision with a snow removal machine.”

 

The collision occurred just before midnight as the Dassault Falcon business jet attempted to take off bound for Paris.

 

De Margerie, 63, was on a list of attendees at a Russian government meeting on foreign investment in Gorki, near Moscow, on Monday. Hours before his death he had met the Russian prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, at his country residence outside Moscow to discuss foreign investment in Russia, the Vedomosti business daily reported.

 

The Vnukovo airport said in a statement that the Falcon Dassault business aviation jet crashed as it prepared to take off for Paris with one passenger and three crew on board. “During run-up at 11.57pm there was a collision with the airport’s snow plough. As a result of the crash the passenger and all the crew members died.” 

 

The airport said that visibility was at 350 metres at the time of the accident. Moscow saw its first snowfall of the winter on Monday. A fire broke out after the crash and was extinguished by airport firefighters.

 

Moscow transport investigators said they had opened a criminal probe into breaches of aviation safety rules causing multiple deaths through negligence. French authorities would be invited to take part. The plane’s black boxes had been removed for examination.

 

The airport was closed temporarily to clear up the scene of the accident but resumed normal operations at 1.30am.

 

With his distinctive bushy moustache and outspoken manner he was one of the most recognisable figures among the world’s top oil executives.

 

De Margerie, a graduate of the Ecole Superieure de Commerce in Paris, became chief executive officer of Total in February 2007, taking on the additional role of chairman in May 2010, after previously running its exploration and production division.

 

De Margerie said in July that he should be judged based on new projects launched under his watch, such as a string of African fields, and that Total would seek a successor from within the company rather than an outsider. Philippe Boisseau, head of Total’s new energy division, and Patrick Pouyanne, who was tasked with reducing the group’s exposure to unprofitable European refining sectors, have long been seen as potential heirs.

 

A staunch defender of Russia and its energy policies amid the conflict in Ukraine, De Margerie told Reuters in a July interview that Europe should stop thinking about cutting its dependence on Russian gas and focus instead on making those deliveries safer.

 

He said tensions between the west and Russia were pushing Moscow closer to China, as illustrated by a $400bn deal to supply Beijing with gas that was clinched in May.

 

“Are we going to build a new Berlin Wall?” he said. “Russia is a partner and we shouldn’t waste time protecting ourselves from a neighbour … What we are looking to do is not to be too dependent on any country, no matter which. Not from Russia, which has saved us on numerous occasions.”

 

Total is one of the major oil companies most exposed to Russia, where its output will double to represent more than a tenth of its global portfolio by 2020. 

 

Total is one of the top foreign investors in Russia but its future there grew cloudy after the 17 July downing of a Malaysian passenger airliner over Ukrainian territory held by pro-Russian rebels. The disaster worsened the oil-rich country’s relations with the west and raised the threat of deeper sanctions.

 

Total said in September that sanctions would not stop it working on the Yamal project, a $27bn joint venture investment to tap vast natural gas reserves in north-west Siberia that aims to double Russia’s stake in the fast-growing market for liquefied natural gas.

 

De Margerie said then that Europe could not live without Russian gas, adding that there was no reason to do so.

 

Total is the fourth largest by market value of the western world’s top oil companies behind Exxon, Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron. Russia accounted for about 9% of Total’s oil and gas output in 2013.

 

The oil company had forecast in April that Russia would become its biggest source of oil and gas by 2020 due to its partnership with the Russian energy company Novatek and the Yamal project.

 

Total SA is France’s second-biggest listed company with a market value of €102bn.

 

Like other big oil companies Total has been under pressure from shareholders to cut costs and raise dividends as rising costs in the industry and weaker oil prices squeeze profitability.

 

De Margerie was the son of diplomats and business leaders, and the grandson of Pierre Taittinger, founder of Taittinger champagne and the luxury goods dynasty.

 

“His death is a big loss for the global oil/gas industry,” said Gordon Kwan, head of Asia-Pacific oil and gas research at the financial company Nomura.

 

Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report the prayers of the minority shareholders.
The judge also awarded the sum of N15.7 million as damages against Ibrahim and also gave an order stopping further publications of Newswatch Daily.
Buba held that the respondents could not prove that they paid up for the shares as the petitioners gave evidence to show that the second to the third respondents totally failed to pay for the shares of the company.
Shortly after the judgment, Ibrahim and the senior management staff of the newspaper publishing house, went into a meeting.
The major consideration at the meeting, it was gathered, was how to approach the judgment, especially with the failure to challenge it or obtain a stay of execution before the close of court business on Monday.
It was learnt that it was eventually agreed among senior editorial staff of the newspaper that one of the major stories in the newspaper should run with the headline: “Court halts Newswatch publications, newspaper appeals ruling.”
The story was eventually titled: “Conflicting judgment, Newswatch heads for Appeal Court.”
This was in spite of the fact that the ruling was yet to be appealed.
Steps will only be taken in that direction on Tuesday morning.
Staff of the newspaper were said to be rejoicing on Monday afternoon when the details of the judgment filtered in.
Their major grouse with the company was that they are being owed four months salary.
They are also against the abrasive managerial style of Ibrahim.
The founding Editors of Newswatch Communications Limited – Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese, Yakubu Mohammed and Soji Akinrinade – are reported to have been “quite happy” about the development.
Ibrahim was said to have breached several parts of the agreement reached on the sale of the company, the basis of the court ruling.