Ambrosie Orjiako, a co-founder of Seplat, was appointed as a director on 14 December 2009 and as Chairman on 3 March 2010.
After obtaining an M.B.B.Ch. degree in 1985 from the College of Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, Nigeria, Dr Orjiako trained as a General Surgeon at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, and later sub-specialised in orthopaedic and trauma surgery and became a fellow of the West African College of Surgeons in 1996.
Whilst still practicing at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos, Dr Orjiako established and managed various companies in the upstream, downstream and services sectors of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. These include Abbeycourt Trading Company Limited (with which he traded crude oil and refined petroleum products with, amongst others, Glencore UK Limited), Abbeycourt Energy Services Limited, Zebbra Energy Limited and Shebah Exploration and Production Company Limited. He also has other business interests in construction, real estate development, pharmaceuticals and shipping.
Dr Ambrosie Orjiako went into full-time business in 1996 after eleven years of active medical practice. He co-founded Seplat in 2009 and became the Chairman, spearheading new business development and fundraising as well as providing leadership on strategy and stakeholder relationships. He is also the chairman of Neimeth Pharmaceutical International plc, which is listed on the NSE, and a director of MPI, which is listed on NYSE Euronext Paris.
Consolidating his firm commitment to philanthropy, Dr Orjiako founded the Daniel Orjiako Memorial Foundation (‘‘DOMF’’) in 1996 in honour of his late father, Chief Daniel O. Orjiako. The DOMF is committed to breaking the poverty cycle in rural Nigerian communities through education, healthcare services and economic empowerment through agriculture. The DOMF runs scholarship schemes for indigent students across the spectrum of education in Nigeria and has to date assisted towards the education of over 10,000 pupils in primary schools, over 200 in science education in post-primary schools and over 200 university graduates especially in medicine, engineering, pharmacy and geology. The DOMF also provides free care services to the elderly and micro-credits to rural farmers, particularly rural women. He further supports education and medical research through an endowment of a professorial chair in orthopaedics and trauma at the University of Calabar, Nigeria.
Between 2004 and 2006, Dr Ambrosie Orjiako attended Harvard Business School’s Owner’s and President’s Management Course and obtained a Certificate in Business Management in 2006.
In recognition of his services to humanity and the Roman Catholic church, Pope John Paul II in 2003 bestowed on him a Knighthood of the Order of St. Gregory the Great (KSGG), an award which earned him the title ‘‘Sir’’. In addition to receiving a KSGG from Pope John Paul II in 2003, he has also received numerous other awards including the Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International for Philanthropy, Distinguished Alumnus Award and Doctor of Sciences (D.Sc. Honoris Causa) by the University of Calabar, Nigeria (2001), Doctor of Business Administration (DBA Honoris Causa) for entrepreneurship, Anambra State University, Nigeria (2006), Life Member National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria which he led in 1994/95 and Platinum Award of the West African College of Surgeons for Support of Medical Research and Training. In 2012, the President of Nigeria conferred on him National Honours as an Officer of the Federal Republic (‘‘OFR’’).
