Engr. Clement
Adeyinka Oke, a Mechanical and Gas Engineer/Manager, a past Acting Chairman of
the Presidential Task Force on Power, was born in Jos on 24th
November 1950. He graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria in June 1973 and obtained a Master’s degree in Gas Engineering
and Management from University of Salford, UK in June 1991.
After National Youth
Service in 1974, he commenced his career with NEPA in design, construction,
training, operation and maintenance of power plants. He supervised the
completion/start-up of Sapele Power Plant where he became the first Efficiency
Engineer and to displace the expatriate Engineer he understudied. During the
construction, he identified flaws/errors in construction and operations, and
recommended changes. On leaving in mid-1981, he worked for SPDC as Construction
Engineer.
By late 1981, Engr.
Oke joined the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as Project
Manager on Petroleum Products Pipeline and Depot projects and on the Escravos
Lagos Gas Pipeline (ELP) project where he saved Nigeria over 20 million pounds.
He managed the most technically sophisticated element of the ELP network where
he had the responsibility of the “Engineer”. He headed Business Development and
Maintenance units of Nigerian Gas Company where he pioneered the conversion of
vehicles to run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), also designed and fabricated
components that were not available from scrap materials.
Between 1998 and 1999,
he led the Feasibility Study for the first Public/Private sector International
Gas Pipeline venture, West African Gas Pipeline Project, across four developing
countries (Benin, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo) and was subsequently appointed as
Engineering and Construction Manager from 2000 to 2004. From 2005 to May 2006,
he was General Manager Operations for a new West African Gas Pipeline Company
to start up and manage the International pipeline company in Ghana.
He returned to NNPC in
2006 to monitor implementation of Independent Power Plants that NNPC was
involved in and was seconded as Senior Technical Assistant to Minister of
Energy in 2007. He became Project Director for the proposed Trans Saharan Gas
Pipeline Project and Project Coordinator for the Olokola Pipeline Project
(OKPL) in addition to monitoring NNPC interests in IPPs and gas supply
projects.
He represented NNPC in
2008 Presidential Power Reform Committee and coordinated the National Domestic
Gas supply technical teams with representatives from the oil and gas industry.
He retired from NNPC as Group General Manager in 2010 and as Acting Chairman,
Presidential Task Force in March 2016. He received NGC Managing Director’s Award
on WAGP and GMD’s Awards for best citation/overall candidate in Chief Officers Management
Course.
Engr. Clement Adeyinka Oke is married to Dr (Mrs) Yetunde Adenike Oke and has a daughter Iyanuoluwa. He is COREN Registered, a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Chartered Engineer (UK) and Fellow of The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (UK), The Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers (UK) and the Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
