Today he heads a billion-dollar oil business headquartered in the United States. But 30 years ago, he was just the first person in his family to travel abroad to the US. Kase Lawal is not one to talk about himself, nor seek out any form of public adulation for himself or his business. In any case as he refrains often, “our business is not retail.”

On the other hand, i.e. the airport,  5 years ago, in September 2001, Kase Lawal was appointed by former Houston Mayor Lee P. Brown to serve on the board of directors for the Houston Airport System Development Corporation (HASDC) and is now that board’s vice chairman.  Through HASDC, Mr. Lawal works to establish partnerships with airport systems throughout the world.  The Houston Airport System is the sixth largest airport system in the world and fourth largest in the United States. 

Besides, in 1999 he was named to the United States Trade Advisory Committee on Africa, an advisory group to the president of the United States and the United States trade representative on trade policy in Africa. 12 years ago, Lawal was a finalist for the 1994 United States Entrepreneur of the Year Award and also received the Houston 100 Award for the fastest growing company in Houston.

Question: If you were asked who is Kase Lawal, what drives Kase Lawal, what inspires Kase Lawal, what will your response be?

Kase Lawal: What drives me is to be able to be thankful every single day that I wake up and I can walk and I can go to work and do whatever that I need to do, and knowing that you are blessed trying to do the best you can at all times. This is enough motivation for me.

Question: So, how would you describe yourself as a business man?

Kase Lawal: Well, business in itself is very broad. As a businessman, I try to be focused and in an area I try to do a good job in it either is by producing services or by providing leadership. I try to organize groups of people that can manage and have the expertise, have the knowledge and share the vision and the philosophy of our organization. So in terms of business, I try as much as I can to be focused, and to put a good management team together because at the end of the day, an organization is as good as the people who manage it.

Question: Before we started you were talking about how you started in oil in 1989, do you want to recall that story?

Kase Lawal: Well our business started in late 1985 when I met a professor of mathematics who originates from Cameroon and studied at Sorbonne. I was in the plane when he talked about setting up a cigarette manufacturing plant in Cameroon. He said he had a partner in Hamburg, Germany- Rheemsan. This is the biggest cigarette manufacturing company in Germany. He said he wants to know whether we can assist him in obtaining credit and sourcing tobacco from the US and that is really how I got interested in business.

Question: What were you doing then?

Kase Lawal: At that time I was a vice president of a real estate firm with SunCrest, having obtained my engineering degree working for Shell Petroleum at the refinery in Houston. For my MBA I went into the business world and I was a Vice President for Suncrest.

Question: Tell us about how the federal government of Nigeria started the idea of indigenous oil lifting which was how you started your oil exploration business.

Kase Lawal: It was at the encouragement of the leadership of President Babaginda, backing up his ministers, Dr. Rilwanu Lukman and Prof. Jubril Aminu to get Nigerians who are capable to get involved in the Nigerian oil industry, which essentially started the indigenous program in 1989.

So the credit needs to go to the leadership at that time especially those three men because they encouraged indigenous participation in the oil industry. So that was how it really started and I was invited because I lived in the US because they thought I could bring some value to the table may be in terms of my relationship with the oil company in the US combined with my knowledge.

All the local landscape in Nigeria a combination that I believe Song Bird could be useful in nurturing after and with government support are bringing partners to join up on this program.

Question: You did say that four of you were initially given the opportunity.

Kase Lawal: my understanding was four, I was told that Late MKO Abiola of Summit Oil, Chief Olorogun Ibru, Michael Ibru, Mike Adenuga of Consolidated and ourselves.

Question: Of course you would still be in touch with some of them like Mike Adenuga who, as we can see he is focusing more on communication and he is making it. It is like a revolution.

Kase Lawal: Yes, it is incredible I am so proud of him, very proud of him, we need more in Nigeria.

Question: It is also good to know that you have also taken up the oil industry here. So, I would like to talk about your connections with Nigeria do you have any plans for Nigeria in the future or whether you are continuously engaged with Nigeria at a general level. What do you think about the country? I mean that was where you were born, before you came here. What is your impression and what direction do you think it is going. I want your Nigerian story.

Kase Lawal: Having left Nigeria about thirty years ago, I will continue to keep in touch and maintain a close relationship because Nigeria is endowed with a lot of leadership qualities on the continent and indeed on the world stage.

And at no better time than now could Nigeria count itself as blessed and lucky to have a leadership of the current (calibre of) president Obasanjo who is a statesman in his own right and on the world stage. An individual that is a visionary and is detribalized and continues to seek and attain higher heights for Nigeria and Nigerians.

On that point I do think it is a right time to talk about Nigeria. When you do have a leadership with the qualities and the vision that the president has, you can’t help but to do your best at whatever level you are whether in the country or outside the country to contribute in any way that you can or God gives you the ability to do in elevating and complementing what the leadership is giving to the country.

That is the role that I play, the role that I strive to play and the roles that I would continue to play and those roles do not need to be on the front page of any news paper or magazines, we do it because it is the right thing to do. Whether it is setting up a partnership with UNICEF which we are co-chairing (himself and his wife, Eileen) right now to raise three hundred million dollars to cure HIV/AIDS in Africa which we have taken a leadership role in that.

Nigeria plays a very big role in terms of the resources we make available in that drive and whether it is education, providing scholarships, endowments to people to get education. The future Nigerian leadership will have to continue to emulate the current leadership in terms of education, because without education we cannot attain these heights and goals that the leadership of Nigeria has for Nigeria tomorrow.

So for us, education is very important, aside from health which is eradicating this scourge called HIV/AIDS. Education, comes right behind it. So in those two areas, it is really very critical for us as individuals and as an organization to play our role and to give back to the communities and the Country of Nigeria that has helped us to be what we are today.

So, our ties to Nigeria is something that is continuous and we take it very seriously but we don’t talk about it, we do something about it. It may be small based on the small resources but we encourage everyone else individuals and organizations to do their own small part so that at the end of the day we can come to support the bigger things that the government is doing.

Question: What happened to you in Nigeria while you were growing up that you can point to that contributed or continues to contribute to your business acumen.

Kase Lawal: You know Laolu, there is something I need to mention at this stage; some people don’t understand that when we were growing up the people that go overseas to study be it Europe or US are not necessarily the smartest people indeed. This is very interesting. It is only when you do not get the course that you applied for in the university then you start looking to go international.

Not in all cases, but in my case if I had been admitted into the local university to study medicine or engineering in the local university in Nigeria instead of being admitted to study chemistry which I was, chances are I probably would have stayed in Nigeria. I probably wouldn’t have had the exposure I have.

I need to say that because the standard of education when I was growing up in Nigeria was second to none looking back and reflecting on it now. My motivation to come to America was really inspired by the news media, the movies … played tremendous roles. But the most important part of it was the Civil Rights Movement at the end of Vietnam that was just happening about the same time. That made me to go and study more about the US especially southern United States to know more about the Civil Rights Movement. The marches in Atlanta, Georgia, Alabama and everything that was going on and the things we saw on TV then I wanted to be a part of that movement, to be a student of it and to learn more about it.

So I became the first in my family to ever travel and indeed come to the US. So in my readings from the United States Information Services, USIS, I was able to read everything I could put my hands on about US, and in particular the Southern US where the Civil Rights movement was actually taking place.

Question: That is great. So let me switch to talking about some local bio of yours. Where did you school in Nigeria?

Kase Lawal: I schooled in Nigeria at a boarding school. As you know I come from a very big family and at an early age of six, I was at the preparatory school which was called the Wesley College boarding school and my other siblings too.

From there I went to Lagelu Grammar School Ibadan. From there I went to Federal High School of Science in Onikan for my Advanced level. From there I came to the US- Georgia- to go to the university. So that is really my educational background. I ended up working for Shell as a young engineer in Houston. While I was working, I got my MBA which Shell paid for, the rest as you people say is history.

Question: Can you tell me when you were at Lagelu?

Kase Lawal: I was in Lagelu, 1966/67 until 1970 I believe. And I remember that I was a sprinter and also played soccer in the school. I won't tell you my nickname-we played in the Academicals of those days.

Question: What else do you remember about Ibadan

Kase Lawal: Growing up in Ibadan, my father was very much involved in the independence movement. He was very close to Akintola the former Premier of the Western Region. He was a close friend of my father, we used to go the government house in Iyaganku, and we were dropped off in their house. So growing up, I was very happy and religion played a very important role in our lives even before we went to the preparatory school we had to had finish memorizing the Koran, we went to the Islamic school, I can’t remember but I know that at the age of three you start going to the Koran recitations that was very important and every time you finish a chapter they kill a chicken and if you finish the whole thing a goat.

So it was really fun and really spiritual and I think that helps us to understand the value of giving and the value of blessing and the value of life.

So when you asked me what drives me and what motivates me, what motivates me is just being blessed to be able to wake up and being able to do the normal things see, hear and be able to be a blessing, so that motivates me and I don’t take them for granted. I think my religious background has a lot to do with that.

Question: are you still active in religious practices now?

Kase Lawal: Well, religion is between you and your God and I continue to be very active because I know without the blessings it would be impossible for us to do what we are doing.

Question: Do you remember any of your teachers or people that might come to mind as people who might have impacted you by their style. Like you said in the days that you were going to school the education provided in Nigeria was top notch. Do you remember any of your teachers in Wesley, Lagelu or Onikan?

Kase Lawal: You know in Wesley, I have to remember my headmaster Mr. Ogunbade I don’t think I can recall his face now but remember vividly how he was very passionate in terms of looking after us and making sure that we focus to the very essence of us being in the preparatory school.

In Lagelu there were a lot of people who were responsible but one that stands out very much so because I remember when we went over to the school for the very first time with our parents driving us over in the car, the man that they handed us over to look after me was a man called Lam Adesina, who was my house master and as you know he became the governor of Oyo state. We used to call him Lam Ade. He was such a disciplinarian and he was also my guardian he was the one who reported to my father when my father called him to ask if I have been good or if I had caused trouble. So I remember that. I am looking forward to seeing Lam Adesina one of this days to pay tribute to him

Question: You have not met him since then?

Kase Lawal: I really haven’t even when he was governor I didn’t. I understand that he has asked of me and I have been asking of him also hopefully one of this days we will get together.

Question: That is actually cool…

Kase Lawal: To be honest with you this actually the is first time anyone has asked me something so deep so close, not the global world events or business. It is kind of nice for me to remember some of this things.

Question: Is there any other thing that is striking in your childhood as you grew up in Nigeria?

Kase Lawal: You know we were a very close family and my father was a great disciplinarian, and even when we came back from school for holidays we didn’t have time to mix much.

Even when our father’s car was coming back from work we always rush to pick up our books as though we had been studying all day. Although we had been playing soccer in the compound. So those were the things I remembered reflecting back on it. I think it was really fun.

Now, my children when they have been playing basketball all day and they hear my car come in they all rush in to pick their books and I tell them I did the same thing when I was growing up but you know they are in US now they can continue with their basketball.

(Chuckles)

Question: Let us talk more about business, what you do basically is oil lifting, exploration and development. So where are your installations are they in Africa, US, or all over the world. I understand that you don’t do retail. What do you do?

Kase Lawal: We started out as an agricultural commodity company selling tobacco to Cameroon which essentially gave birth to Cameroon American Corporation which is CAMAC today.

Over the years from about 1985 to 90 we went into agricultural commodities, we were actually selling. We were doing the procurement for Unilever in Nigeria and in Ghana.

The invitation to join the indigenous program in 1989/90 that pretty much changed things. Over the course of the next three years we sold the agricultural companies to management and then exchanged shares with our partners in Cameroon where we did the cross share- holding.

So the agricultural commodities company was sold to management led by Harvey Hickman, at that time and they continued doing that and again I need to lay emphasis on the essence of management. When we set up the agricultural commodity company, the very first thing I did with the little money I had was to poach people from Cargill, Conagra, Texas Rice-(businesses doing similar trade) Conagra is probably the third largest agricultural commodities company and Texas Rise.

We got about four people who helped us to set this thing up. At the same time, as you know Africa always needs credit and at that particular time that was one of the biggest things they need, the money to pay for the commodities upfront. They needed to have to sell it to be able to repay the money back. So what we did was we went to Washington and New York there was an organization called FCIA in those days which is the Federal Credit Insurance Association which is a group of insurance companies that get together to provide security and guarantees to export of US goods, they worked closely with the Import/Export bank of US at that time. So, with that the guy that was retiring from Exxon at that time Lugard Lonny, was our consultant.

Knowing fully well that we don’t know FCIA or Exxon but he knows them and he was in charge of West Africa so that way we can tap into the financing and that honestly was how we were able to get an excess of one hundred million dollars going to agriculture in financing going to Nigeria at that time when foreign exchange was very difficult. In the era of 1985-88 when the IMF program was introduced to Africa. So that was how it started.

Question: and that was CAMAC

Kase Lawal: It was Cameroon American Corporation, then it changed the acronym to CAMAC when we went into oil business because it was no longer applicable to Cameroon. And then of course the opportunity, as I mentioned earlier was given by the government of President Babaginda and the two ministers I mentioned earlier also.

We were invited and my role essentially was to bring in foreign partners. So it took us about nineteen companies and all of them dismissed us they said they have been there before they have been burnt and they did not want to go there and at the end of the day we were able to partner with CONOCO, that was the advent of our exploration of production business

Question: Was it is only you that partnered with CONOCO?

Kase Lawal: No the four of us did.

Question: So before you partnered with CONOCO nineteen other oil companies said no?

Kase Lawal: Yes, I mean from Europe to Canada and US. So we were spending a lot of money doing presentations, doing everything and they said no we would pass, thanks.

Question: That is a lot of persistence, I mean Nineteen?

Kase Lawal: We believed that it was worth it. There were times we wanted to give up and there were times it was frustrating but we thought for us to choose the alternative that is to try and raise the money for exploration was even suicidal.

Because no one would give you that. So we thought and we chose the path of looking for a major or intermediate oil companies that would believe our story and believe the government’s initiative of getting our own indigenous people involved in the oil business, and that are willing to partner with us and provide the technical and financial resources to be able to carry out the obligations of the nine phases .

Question: I see, in CAMAC especially, you stressed about partnership a lot, you talked about strategic partnerships. Do you want to talk about how that affects your own business style?

Kase Lawal: Laolu, the life we live and the world we live in is a life of partnership.

I was lucky in so many areas, one of those that comes to me right now was the opportunity to have been invited by the president of the US in 1988 march. To travel with him on the Air Force One to Africa and that was in all measure, the height of being given an opportunity to represent one’s heritage and origin in Africa and at that point., I found out.

We visited five African countries but we were never able to get to Nigeria because of the crisis at that time. I remember flying from Accra to Entebbe and there was a discussion about why they were not stopping in Nigeria and I prayed that Nigeria would take its place and the next president would visit Nigeria.

Lo and behold President Clinton visited Nigeria again before he left office. So to me that was very important. So to me we all have a role to play all of us.

We believe that if you can spend time which you can never get back again in forming a relationship that will last for ever because others will benefit from it whether it is in the country that you are exploring or you doing your business. Respecting those local people as your partners, they know more than you do. Living there, understanding their language and culture and landscape actually takes you time and money if you are lucky enough to have a good partnership.

The same thing here in the US, for us we believe that investing in the partnership or having a major oil company is an instant credibility for us. Rather than spending the rest of our lifetime applying to banks from countries to countries from Europe to America and knowing fully well that nobody is going to give you a single penny for oil exploration we chose the path of partnership.

Partnership is a key watch word for our organization because partnership has helped us. Partnership has given us opportunities that otherwise we could not access. Partnership gave us the platform upon which we evolved and the power partnership can never be over emphasized within our organization. Thus, we believe in it. And the right partnership for that matter.

Question: That is quite powerful. I can see that comes from deep within you. Which companies did you partner with?

Kase Lawal: Well, we have partnered with Fortune 10 companies of the world to invest billions of dollars. The most notable amongst them are the CONOCO-(Conoco ranked up there-) and DuPont and we have been very lucky. Because it is not even easy to get an audience not to talk of investing billions of dollars in you. It is because they believe in you and they believe in your ethics and your approach to business and it has to be transparent. It has to be honest. They have to see you as focused and even when you have difficulties they are your partners they help you and work with you.

At the very beginning in 1990/91. They stood by us through the problems of indigenization. But we also had the huge support of the government at that time because we were like a baby they had to nurture it.

Whereas we had a problem with the major oil companies at that time who did not believe in it and did not even want it to succeed. CONOCO stuck by us and they invested in excess of one billion dollars between 1991-2004. And it was very successful for them and they had more opportunity in the deeper water subsequently.

So CONOCO profited from that relationship which went on for thirteen years until they decided to concentrate on deep water only in Nigeria. Then of course you have to talk about BP coming back to Nigeria in 1992. In 1993 we became their partner, a major partnership that lasted the next six years with BP and with STATOIL of Norway.

Thereafter we have had partnership here in the US with the Reliance Energy and Constellation Electric in Maryland. And of course lately, we are partners with ENI- AGIP that spans even more than oil exploration and extraction into areas of mutual interests.

If you look at this companies they are in the top five in their industry globally. The power of partnership resonates throughout our organization we believe in it and we will continue to pursue partnership where appropriate.

Question: There is an issue you mentioned, you said that after the Ebony magazine stories about you and your company, you got a lot of letters from Nigerians who were saying all kinds of things. What is your own opinion about the issue of image. I mean people-I mean the western media- says this is what Nigerians do and all the kind of stuff you see on CNN and the media?

Kase Lawal: Well, Nigeria is a big country, America is a big country if you isolate an area that only ten people out of a hundred and fifty million people are involved in as a representative of Nigeria that is a distortion of that country.

I haven’t read any of those stories or come across it but to the extent that I heard of it and read it in the letters I received that must have been the case whichever media outlet that are printing or are saying anything negative about Nigeria.

So to me, I believe that whether it is Nigerians or other people you need to conduct yourself and be a good ambassador of your country of origin no matter where you are, no matter where you come from. So while there would be some bad eggs from any country, it cannot be the overall image of that particular country and media needs to be very careful when they report this things because it can have an adverse implication especially in the area of direct foreign investment in those countries that is the way I look at it.

I am so proud to have been born and originated and to have been a Nigerian and I know the best of Nigeria is yet to be known in the world stage, it is still evolving. So long as we continue to have effective and visionary leadership as the current leadership. I honestly believe that sooner than later Nigeria would take its place and would be a part of the global countries that is leading us into the next century.

Robot  # 1 | 01.07.2006 22:29

BY LAOLU AKANDE, in Houston, Texas....Read the full article.

Odinaka  # 2 | 02.07.2006 09:46

This tastes like the famous NTA sunday sunday tonic anchored by Sunday Olise. One can't help admiring success through hard work and creativity. The truth is that if most Nigerians residing abroad decide to be aggressive in working towards improving their statues, we will have more of this success story (not necessarily of this magnitude). By the way this is coming from houston were Nigerians are nothing but pickpockets :wink:

Multioption  # 3 | 02.07.2006 10:14

More grease to your elbow, Mr Kase Lawal.

Naija for life  # 4 | 02.07.2006 11:35

=Odinaka> By the way this is coming from houston were Nigerians are nothing but pickpockets :wink: And CNN, naturally, is nowhere to be found. Wonder if it is because this Nigerian is doing something positive?

gwobezentashi  # 5 | 02.07.2006 12:54

Apparently Kase Lawal is among the "decent and law abiding" 60% of Nigerians in Houston.

emj  # 6 | 02.07.2006 14:13

Ogbeni, ogbuefi Laolu---good one on Kase Lawal---could do with more space in btw the questions and response---was tough on my eye-sight. Anyways, good to know that Kase and his wifey Eileen are making a difference in the place they call home and he still remembers his roots. Good job Laolu akande.

nallanah  # 7 | 02.07.2006 17:32

Mr Akande, Well done! I thoroughly enjoyed the interview with Kase Lawal. He is a great role model and an inspiration to a lot of the younger generation back home. .....before I forget, I wish a certain publisher of a "photo magazine" who delights in splashing birthday parties,weddings and palatial homes of serving government officials, and even those who have left power all over the pages of his magazine, would borrow a cue from you. The youth in Nigeria, need role models; men and women of integrity, with visible means of livelyhood; not these rogues who have plundered our economy and left us all impoverished! ..Thanks again, O jare!

Son of the Delta  # 8 | 03.07.2006 03:03

This Lawal of a man is also part of Nigeria´s problem.He is one of those Obasanjo used to rob the Niger-Delta of her oil resources.He is worse than most criminals you talk of because he has helped to cause death and poverty in the Niger-Delta.I wonder if he would ever be happy whenever he remembers that the oil he is selling was stolen from the Ijaws and other minorities!

Bimbola  # 9 | 03.07.2006 08:41

Dear Mr. Laolu Akande, Your interview with Dr. Kase L. Lawal was read and enjoyed.It was like a motivational tonic for willing young Nigerians. My interest lies on the ways, this our Nigerian business- icon can assist the needy Nigerians that might be in need of his asistances educationally, medically etc.Is there any Scholarship programmes or grants from this our business mogul? Laolu , your response is needed via my e-mail address:goldwine2002@yahoo.com Thanks for a job well done!

Mindfool  # 10 | 03.07.2006 09:25

Laolu- Just hope that you did your job and good verification of the background of this subject before this massive publicity again. You were responsible for packaging Prof. Oyibo in the Guardian and he was eventually invited to Nigeria as bigtime "scientist" only for us to find out later through elendureports that he was at best a bi-polar patient in New York. We never read your rebuttal or regret since the other story broke. Also remember your many portrayal of Chief Harry Akande as on of the world's richest Nigerian. Happened that he too was a hussler from whom you too was hustling money for your defunct 'Ovation-type' magazine. Let's hope this is not quid pro quo!

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