Many only see Senator Iyiola Omisore as a Politician. You can’t blame them. He has been a Deputy Governor and a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. But he is more than that. He is an Engineer and he has a Ph.D. in his area of specialisation. He is also an intellectual who now spends more time with the academic community delivering lectures at various seminars in many universities. Not only that.
Without mincing words, Sen. Engr. Iyiola Ajani Omisore’s success in business, over the years, can be attributed to the right orientation and superb training he had during his growing up years in and outside the shores of this nation.
Indeed, this combination culminated into creating a focused and result-driven professional, whose technical know-how in Engineering is a testimony of the quality of projects executed by his firms, Mechelee Consultants Ltd. and Chrisore Engineering Ltd.
Omisore, holds a Ph.D. in Infrastructure Finance and he specialises in Public-Private Partnership from the International School of Mangement, Paris, and France. He is equally a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, England and Wales. Courses he has undergone to sharpen his knowledge to include Advanced Budgeting at the George Town University, Washington DC, USA; Appropriations and Public Finance at the ABS Academy, Athens, Greece, Advanced Leadership at the University of Carolina; and Innovation and Leadership Course at the West London College.
He also went ahead to take the Public Finance Course at the Harvard University and the Aid Effectiveness and Donour Harmonisation Course at the Internationale Weitherbuilding and Entwieklung, GmbH, Germany.
A highly certified professional, Omisore is a fellow of Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, Association of Cost Engineers, Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Institution of Electrical Engineers, England and Wales, Nigerian Society of Engineers, Institute of Public Administration of Nigeria. Others are: Chartered Engineer with Engineering Council, a Registered Council of Engineer of Nigeria, COREN, and Chairman, Board of Fellows, Institute of Public Administration of Nigeria.
Sen. Omisore started his early professional life with the firm of Drake and Cordham, while abroad.
He received on the job training and rose to top Management positions. The same firm, Drake and Scull (Nig.) Ltd. seconded him to Nigeria where he worked on major Engineering projects; it was while working at Drake and Scull that his professionalism blossomed.
At Drake and Scull, he was Project Manager, supervising the construction of 19 airfields including the Makurdi Air Force Base. He also supervised other projects such as the Sokoto and Makurdi Rice Mills, Taraka Oil Mill and the Sokoto University Teaching Hospital. In recognition of his performance, Omisore was elevated to the post of the General Manager in 1987. During that time, he handled such projects as the Federal Mortgage Bank Headquarters Building, Onitsha Flour Mills, Bank of The North (now Unity Bank) Building, Podium Secretariat, Port Harcourt, Eternit, Sapele, World Bank- Assisted Health Projects for Plateau, Benue and Nasarawa States and the Imiringi Rural Electrification project now in Bayelsa State.
Other projects he handled include, the CBN Governor’s/Deputy Governor’s Lodges; UACN Commercial Complex, Abuja; Union Bank (Stallion Plaza); UBA Headquarters; EIB Headquarters; Afribank Headquarters; British High Commission, Abuja and the imposing Brawal Shipping Lines Office Complex.
He later established his engineering firms; Mechelee Consultants, an Engineering Consultancy Outfit and Chrisore Eng. Ltd. an Electrical Engineering Firm in 1989.
On the consultancy side, Omisore was involved in the execution of several World Bank- assisted projects and ADB/ADF- assisted projects in virtually every part of Nigeria. Chrisore Engineering Ltd was involved in the execution of many projects for Blue Chip Companies, Banks, Embassies, Shipping Companies, just to mention but a few.
The Engineer is quite successful in his professional endeavours. He continues to diversify and today has interest in several areas of the economy. He was in the process of taking Chrisore Engineering to be a major engineering outfit before the duties of elective political office beckoned on him. But this was not before proving his companies’ competence in some projects.
These include the UACN Commercial Complex, Apapa, the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor’s residence and those of its 5 deputies; Afribank Headquarters; Eko International Bank Headquartersl UACN Abuja Complex in addition to the Union Bank of Nigeria Headquarters.
Other projects executed successfully within the period include African Development Bank financed projects in Enugu, Kaduna, Niger, Sokoto, Bauchi, Kwara and Imo States; World Bank Health System Fund II in Lagos State; World Bank Assisted Lagos Urban Transportation Project and the Pakistani Suppliers’ Credit on Rural Electrification in Ondo and Niger States.
Omisore, while at the upper chamber of the National Assembly, was actively involved in presiding over some committeess and passing inportant Bills. As Chair of the Committee on Appropriations, Senator Omisore fought very actively to ensure that there was greater alignment of forces to ensure international flow of funds for development.
He was keenly engaged in the mutual accountability work in health scheme supported by WHO, the World Bank WB and other development partners in the International Health Partnership Plus. He further initiated efforts to align the budgetary and allocation process, increasing the accountability of international resources provided to Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDA) to the appropriation processes. He supported a Senate-wide dialogue on the critical accountability issue, commissioning CHESTRAD International with support from the International Health Partners International to conduct an internationally acclaimed tracking study on domestic and international flows in Nigeria.
As someone who has made his mark in the engineering profession, he has some awards to show for this. He was conferred with the Nigerian Society of Engineers Presidential Merit Award for Support and Contribution to the Development of the Society in 2007. Also, when the NSE was celebrating its Golden Jubilee in 2008, he was honoured with the Prime Award for Remarkable Contribution to the Growth of Engineering.
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