Renowned philanthropist and Chief Executive Officer of Seahorse Lubricants Industries Limited, Ebuka Onunkwo, has been named the Industrialist of the Year.
The humble and smart-working Ihembosi, Anambra State-born entrepreneur bagged the award on Saturday at the just-concluded Sun Newspapers Awards held at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos.
The management of the respected media outfit had noted that in awarding the Industrialist of the Year investiture, the Editorial Board of the newspaper and the committee looked at an individual, who has etched his/her name in gold in the business world in Nigeria, especially manufacturing sector.
The paper said Onunkwo emerged winner ahead of other persons earlier nominated for the award for the phenomenal success of Seahorse Lubricants Industries Ltd. in the year under review.
Seahorse CEO
It lauded the industrialist for blazing the trail through a dint of hard work despite not being born into a rich family.
In his brief citation, The Sun recalls how Onunkwo rose “From selling spare parts, he forayed into importing lubricants and later batteries into Cotonou, Republic of Benin and later Nigeria. Before long, his business expanded beyond his imagination.
In February 2015, his partners in Turkey went bankrupt and stopped production. He lost a lot of money, $3.2m already remitted for his goods.
“Born on December 3, 1970, Onunkwo’s slow and steady journey to wealth is a soothing story to encourage any budding entrepreneur that diligence and perseverance pay. “He was not born into a rich family where his kernels were cracked for him by benevolent spirits.
However, by dint of diligence, he has etched his name in gold in business, especially manufacturing.” The award was presented to him by Amb. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, widow of the late Eze Ndigbo, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.
In his speech shortly after receiving the award, Onunkwo thanked the management of The Sun for deeming him fit for the honour. He promised not to relent on his oars, adding that the award would spur him to “keep pushing.”
He dedicated the award to his wife and members of his staff for believing in him and giving him the time and support he needed to work to attain this height.
Seahorse Lubricants Industries Ltd. is situated in Ozubulu, Anambra State, South-East, Nigeria. With the approval of the Department of Petroleum Resources, it started operation in 2017.
The Company boasts of products such as multigrade motor oil, automatic transmission fluids, (ATF) manual gear oil, diesel engine oil and synthetic motor oil.
It also effectively implements a quality management system following the requirements of the ISO 9001:2015 International Standard
