MAKON'S DAY OF GLORY
Makon Group Limited, a leading engineering and technical services company, rolled out the drums recently. On that day, it celebrated the ISO 2008 certification attained by the company.
It was also an occasion of stocktaking as the management reviewed its performance, plans and expectations for the future. The colourful ceremony, which held in Lagos was graced by friends, well- wishers and associates of the company. They came in their numbers.
The formal presentation of the ISO certification to the public and the unveiling of the company's new brand identity could be described as the highpoint of the occasion.
In his speech, the Group Managing Director of the company, Mr. Oluseyi Makinde, expressed satisfaction with the level of success attained so far by the organization. He, however, acknowledged that it is not yet Uhuru. According to him, the company cannot rest on its oars as it is looking forward to breaking new grounds in no distant future.
Makinde said: 'We are looking forward to turning the fortunes of this company around because whatever we have achieved so far, I can tell you that there is still room for improvement. We can do a whole lot better.'
He also said that the company is willing to cooperate with organizations, which shares its dreams and aspirations 'so that together we can develop the capacity to take up more challenges, especially within the oil and gas sector.'
He added: 'At this stage, we have a couple of Nigerian companies that we work together with. Certain expertise is domiciled within us and our experiences vary, basically in the upstream. We have people, who are working in the downstream that is being developed right now in Nigeria. So, we hope to take the experiences from all of those companies we have a working partnership with.'
Makinde regretted the lack of infrastructures in the country, stressing that these inadequacies constitute a clog in the progress of the country and its economic wellbeing.
The Macon boss volunteered that they 'are worried about the bad state of our roads across the country because you can imagine the man-hour lost due to breakdown of trailers on our highways. Of course, we are ready to contribute our quota because we know that the government cannot do it alone. We are here to partner with government, put proposals forward. Imagine, you see trailers still taking products through the roads and the potential danger they cause. If there is a pipeline conveying those products from the hinterland, you will have less trailers on the roads and less accidents as well. So, these are the kinds of things we are considering. We strongly believe that there is room for improvement and we hope to focus on that area.'
He said that the decision to take or not to enlist Makon in the stock exchange is the prerogative of its current owners.
According to him, 'we are not yet ready for the exchange. But when the time comes, it would be left with some of the current owners of the company to decide on that.'
Offering more insights into the ambition of the company and its investment portfolio, he said that Makon is presently involved in funding a gas plant project valued at $400 million in Warri and aPort Harcourt.
He said that part of the agreement demands that the company should run or oversea the project for three years before being it handed over to the federal government.
Other speakers also commended the company for the achievements it has made over the years, charging it to strive to remain in the top league.