In the mafia-esque oil and gas industry, with its unwritten and understated Omerta, the multibillionaire director of Sahara Energy, Tonye Cole has finally burned through his euphoric spells of fantasy to chance on cold, brutal reality; the oil sector is in trouble. We do not expect it to be cannon-fodder for the blogs and tabloids anyway because Tonye is a primus inter pares in the oil and gas industry. Because of his meteoric rise on the ladder of billions, many say he is the kind of guy that you give a rope and he automatically wants to become a cowboy. Obscenely wealthy, Tonye is versed in the art of putting money to good use for the enjoyment and pampering of self and to the benefit and betterment of humanity.
Sadly,Tonye has not had a breather since President Buhari came to power and the much talked about Oil probe. Consequently, Tonye, the erstwhile sinewy and athletically-built dude is losing sleep over this-so we heard. He has lost so much weight in the last couple of months, his eyes are sunken and his cheeks have lost their rosy glow. He's running hither, thither to help the situation.
Although many of his business associates and subordinates initially passed his weight loss off as a deliberate effort by Tonye to keep fit, now they know better. This is exactly what you ‘face’ when you are the face of a big organization like Sahara Energy Group.
However, like an errant squirrel scurrying into its hole from imminent danger, Tope Sonubi, the head honcho of Sahara has gone into anonymous cocoon. Better known as one-third of the Sahara Energy triumvirate including Tonye Cole and Ade Odunsi, Tope was one of the few oil magnates who benefited immensely from former petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke sleazy administration. Until his encounter with Diezani, Tope was a taxi driver in London, United Kingdom (UK). Soon he met a top shot of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Haruna Abubakar, who would make Tope his choice driver whenever business or pleasure took him to the UK. Abubakar would later invite him back home and introduce him to the oil business. Business was good and before long, Tope became a looming fixture among the jet set of the nation's oil sector.
Then, in 1996, alongside Tonye and Ade, they started Sahara Group which incubates companies like the Sahara Energy Field, Sahara Gas, Sahara Farms, and Sahara Trade and Sahara Bulk Storage Facilities among others, all of which have their core fields of endeavour centered within the oil and gas industry and its associated sub-sectors. Like a newborn baby who exposes the identity of their mother, Sahara Energy has now put Tope and his associates on the front burner of national discourse.
The emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to power threw Tope and cohorts in perpetual fear. Consequently, Tope is not in the country as you read. Sources close to him, revealed that Tope, who owns a private jet among other extravagances, is taking his time before coming to Nigeria. With ego deflated, faith flagging and his treasure trove depleting to maintain his highflying lifestyle and the concomitant excesses, Tonye has turned mushy and subservient before some power brokers like Rotimi Amaechi and co.
By Yetunde Iluyomade
Tha Capital Ng
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