Engr. (Dr.) Okechukwu John MBONU : Dr. Okechukwu John (OJ) MBONU was awarded a Shell-BP Overseas scholarship to study Mechanical Engineering at the University of Manchester, UK. In 1977, he was awarded a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc. degree, with first class honours and four academic prizes). In 1978, on completion of his National Youth Service with Shell-BP, he returned to the UK. At Manchester University, UK, he was awarded the prestigious Manchester University Noel Philip Bedson Research Scholarship which in 1982 led to the award of a Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering.

OJ started his career as an engineer with Nigerian Breweries Plc in 1982. After his training programme, he held several engineering positions (including, Chief Engineer, Aba and Chief Engineer, Lagos). In 1989 he was posted to Heineken Technical Services (HTS) in The Netherlands for a one-year development programme. He returned from The Netherlands in 1990 and was appointed the Engineering Manager of Nigerian Breweries Plc in 1990. The first Nigerian to be so appointed.

In 1996, he was “seconded” by Nigerian Breweries Plc to Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) on contract. Whilst in SPDC, he successfully designed and commissioned a “green field” and tailor made pre-recruitment Special Intensive Training Programmes (SITP-1 and SITP-2) located in Warri and Port Harcourt respectively. After the contract with SPDC, he returned to Nigerian Breweries Plc in January, 1999 and was elevated to the Board of Nigerian Breweries Plc as the company’s Human Resource Director (HRD) in November, 1999. He was appointed as the Customer Service Director (CSD) of the company in November, 2001. In March, 2005, he was “seconded” by Nigerian Breweries Plc to Sierra Leone Brewery Limited, Freetown as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company.

In August, 2009 OJ retired from the services of Nigerian Breweries Plc and joined the services of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Nigeria Limited as a Director in their Consultant Practice. As part of his career development, OJ has attended several local and international learning events including courses at INSEAD France; Stanford USA, WHARTON School USA; IMD Switzerland, and Heineken University Holland. He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (FNSE), a Fellow of the Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers (FNIMechE) and a Fellow of the Sierra Leone Institute of Engineers (FSLIE).