Quintessential Abiola Awosanya is many things rolled into one. She’s a woman of many exciting parts. This seasoned administrator and an accomplished manager of both human and material resources currently sits atop the affairs of Bocas Oil & Gas Co Ltd. Her foray and exploits in the business world has, no doubt, left many awestruck.
In an era, where many women in Nigeria were relegated to the background, got saddled with playing the second fiddle and confined to overseeing domestic chores alone, Awosanya took the bull by the horns and dared all odds. Today, she is a celebrated icon in corporate business, towering above her peers and contemporaries.
In areas and frontiers that even men are afraid to thread and have sometimes faltered, this Amazon has made a success of it. Awosanya is a graduate of Accountancy from the Yaba College of Technology. She had her further studies at the Indiania University-Purdue University Indianapolis, USA, and she is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria.
I expect that women should be given priority in some environment and the workplace. But no, women have to compete with the men and we have had situations where women have had to work harder and keep longer hours to prove
With painstaking efforts, diligence and commitment to values, Awosanya has built an enviable career for herself and contributed significantly to societal development, and in the process, even earned fortunes and fame.
Awosanya is an experienced management consultant with a demonstrated significant record of working in the leisure, travel and tourism industry. She is skilled in strategic and financial planning and has competence in financial analysis and business process improvement, which are traits that have distinguished her in business and catapulted her to the zenith of her career.
Apart from her exploits in the leisure, travel and tourism industry, Awosanya has a major stake in the oil and gas sector, where her company, Bocas Oil & Gas Co Ltd, which she established in February 2002, has been known to have successfully executed and handled major state and Federal Government oil importation transactions without disputation or traces of corruption.
The Managing Director of Bocas Oil & Gas Co Ltd is also the Managing Consultant, Eassociates Consulting, an educational tour and itinerary management company she founded in June 2011, as well as the Managing Partner, Abiola Awosanya & Co.
These thriving and flourishing business concerns place enormous and daunting responsibilities on the shoulders of this erudite administrator, but she has proved that she cannot be cowed or even buckle in the face of great challenges. From an obviously humble background, she has risen to the pinnacle of her career and raised the bar in the different fields of endeavour she is engaged in.
Before venturing into private practice and owning a chain of thriving businesses, she had worked as the Chief Financial Officer at Union Petroleum Services Ltd. Her commitment and the experience garnered in this place of work was the launch pad she needed to star and grow her businesses, when she finally decided to go her own way.
Today, Awosanya easily comes across as an accomplished and celebrated woman of substance, who has made it to the top of her career. She’s, however, quick to tell anyone that the road to the top was, indeed, rough and not an easy one. She recalls that the tortuous road was fraught with challenges, but she was able to saunter through it and overcome through painstaking efforts and determination.
This amazon notes that although the competition from her male contemporaries was daunting, with perseverance and by dint of hard work, she was able to surmount all challenges on her way to the top.
She discloses that most of the challenges she encountered centered on balancing the demand of the home front with that of work.
“Balancing the home front as well as the challenges of work was tough because you have to ensure that you maintain the home front effectively. You have to make sure you monitor the children and what I decided to do at the end of the day was to bring my office to my house. I have an office in my house and that made it a little easier for me,” she says.
The seasoned frontline administrator says what makes things difficult for women is the fact that there appears not to be an effective government policy to encourage enterprising and resourceful women desiring to make a mark in their chosen profession, as most career women have had to compete with men, and sometimes work even harder to prove their mettle.
“I expect that women should be given priority in some environment and the workplace. But no, women have to compete with the men and we have had situations where women have had to work harder and keep longer hours to prove their efficiency,” Awosanya says.
Due to her busy work schedule, she hardly has time for social outings as she’s committed to ensuring the continuous growth of her businesses. But when it comes to family engagements, Awosanya is usually constrained and obliged to attend such social functions.
She advises young ladies desiring to achieve success in their chosen careers to remain focused, diligent and trustworthy, adding that these are the key ingredients for career growth and expansion, which have seen her doing well in business.
