By Ingram Osigwe
Thomas Etuh, a silent achiever and multifaceted industrialist is a year older today. Born December 21st, 1965, Etuh’s birthday presents an opportunity to tell the story of a man who could not be held down by the storms of life, who is today one of Nigeria’s job creators through unparalleled strides in the agro-sector of the economy.
Etuh is one of the world’s great men who were baked by adversity and later rose to great heights from the furnace of visctidutes. This underpins W Clement Stone’s assertion that “every great man, every successful man, no matter what the field of endeavor, has known the magic that lies in these words: every adversity has the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit”
After his crashed dream of becoming a pilot because of his parents’ inability to afford his N14,000 tuition fee at the Nigeria College of Aviation, Zaria, his disastrous first export attempt- pepper export to the UK-and some other failed investments, including the ill-fated Idoroma saga which almost rendered him bankrupt, Etuh, like the proverbial Phoenix, later rose from ground zero to become Nigeria’s foremost fertiliser baron.
Sitting atop Notre Ltd, an integrated agro-allied and chemicals facility as Chairman, Etuh can safely be described as Nigeria’s Fertiliser czar. He has helped revolutionize the production of fertiliser and adistribution of the same to Nigerian farmers, improving yields. If there is one player in the agro-sector of the Nigerian economy who is practically keying into President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda in terms of helping to scale up agricultural production to boost food security, that person is Etuh.
For over a decade, he has been involved albeit quietly in broadening the scope of Agro- economy, through innovative fertilizer distribution to farmers using his TAK group.TAK Group of companies comprised Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited, Aero-TAK Limited, TAK Asset Management Limited, Superphosphate Fertilizer and Chemicals Limited, Funtua Fertilizer & Chemicals Limited and Tak Agro & Chemicals Limited.
As Chairman of Notore Chemicals which parent company is in Mauritius, Etuh has ensured a seamless, cheap and equitable distribution of fertilizers to the real people who them- farmers. Notore operates the only urea fertiliser plant in sub-Saharan Africa.The company is a dominant player in the agro sector, dutifully playing the role of advocate for African Green Revolution.
Etuh’s road to becoming Nigeria’s doyen of fertiliser industry started from his father’s friend’s fertiliser plant 36 years ago when he acquired a 10 percent stake in the plant. 16 years later, precisely in 2004, Etuh upped his game by buying up all the stakes to assum sole ownership of the plant.
Foresighted and shrewd, Etuh, an indigene of Kogi state, North central Nigeria was to grow the plant, birthing three different fertiliser plants out of it and thus emerged the biggest importer of fertiliser and the biggest blender of fertiliser in Nigeria, with the brand name, TAK.
During the late President Musa Yar’Asia’s administration, Etuh became a major supplier of fertiliser to the federal government and made history by delivering 22,000 trailers of fertilizers in three months to over 700 local governments areas. The fertiliser project was then worth N52 billion.
However, supplying that magnitude of fertilizers to government was to become Etuh’s undoing as he slipped into massive debt following the government’s failed to pay the N52 billion, 70 percent of which he had borrowed. This caused him to lose majority shareholder of TAK to Indorama, selling his 51 percent stake of TAK to Indorama to settle his debt.
His Notore trajectory was not a one-step movement, it was a process that began in 2005 and climaxed in June 2024.
In 2005, Etuh was named as a reserve bidder for Notore. In June this year he achieved a monumental milestone when he partnered former Chief of Army Staff, General Theophilus Danjuma’s TY Holdings to acquired Notore for $150 million.
Etuh is not loud. And is not voracious for headlines reason former President Muhammadu Buhari didn’t know an Agro-industrialisatist of his his calibre exist; it actually took the then Nigerien President for Buhari to know him. Impressed by his achievements in the fertiliser sector, Buhari in 2016 tasked Etuh to come up with a solution to Nigeria’s fertiliser woes. He proffered a number of solutions, including partnering with Russia and Morocco in making fertiliser available to farmers. This partnership would latere bring down the price of a bag of fertiliser by half-from N10,000 to N5,000.
As described earlier in this piece, Etuh is a multifaceted business mogul and industrialist hence, apart from fertiliser, he also has his hand on other pies. His other business interest span banking, Insurance and telecommunications.
Etuh’s foray into the telecom industry started with Mafab.He had raised $273.6 million in 72 hours to get a 5G licence, with $100 million of his personal money as part of the sum. He was however, bought out of the deal.
The unsavoury Mafab debacle didnt dampen Etuh’s moral and enthusiasm for the telecom.Last year, in conjunction with his business partners, Etuh acquired 9Mobile, one of Nigeria’s network providers.
Etuh’s foray into the Banking sector saw him become chairman of a bank. He was the Chairman of the board of directors of Unity Bank. He was also the Chairman of the board of directors of Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc from 2017 to 2022 and Lighthouse Capital Limited.
Etuh is also involved in medical humanitarian out in the memory of his late wife, Jennifer Ramatu Etuh who died of breast cancer in 2020.On her sick bed, Mrs Etuh had made a wish that six hospitals be built in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country to cushion the pains and health challenges people, especially the downtrodden, face.
With the Jennifer Etuh Foundation (JEF) which he is the Chairman, Etu has ensured that the memory of his darling wife with whom he had four wonderful boys remained alive, this he did by championing several health and life empowering projects across the six geo- political zones.
An astute administrator, an accomplished business mogul, goal-oriented corporate strategist, a team player; celebral, urbane and detribalised leader, Etuh holds an MBA from the Business School, Netherlands, a diploma in Banking from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and an advanced diploma in Public Administration from the University of Jos. He also has a postgraduate diploma in Management from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi.
He has attended many business and management courses and trainings at home and abroad including the Chief Executive Program at the Lagos Business School, the Advanced Management Program at the University of Navarra, Barcelona and the Leadership Program at the London Business School.
As Etuh, Nigeria’s Mr fertiliser and an accomplished boardroom icon turns 59 my fervent wish for him is that his 65th earthly existence and another 365 cycle covered be a melodious blend of old favorites and new hits, with every day striking the perfect chord in his heart’s song!
– Ingram Osigwe,CEO of Full Page Communucations Ltd writes from Lagos.
