NIGERIA Buhari’s oil diplomat Orji Kalu returns to grace

摘要

The founder of Slok Holding, a conglomerate active in oil trading, shipping, banking and the media, Orji Kalu has thrown himself into his new role as senator with diplomatic visit after visit. After meeting with the former South African president Thabo Mbeki in Johannesburg in April, the millionaire travelled to Caracas to catch up with the Venezuelan head of state Nicolas Maduro, who congratulated Kalu and President Muhammadu Buhari on their electoral victories. In both cases, while the visits were private, the senator used the opportunity to tout the merits of going into partnership with Nigeria in oil and other industries. His words will not fall on deaf ears in US-sanctioned Venezuela. These trips are also a way for Kalu to impose himself as a political heavyweight as he seeks to become the deputy senate president. After serving as governor of Abia from 1999 to 2007, he lost a presidential run in 2007 and was hit by accusations of corruption (AMI 202). The case has still not been resolved. The entrepreneur also owns Nigerian newspapers Daily Sun and New Telegraph and boasts a vast international network that could help the APC: Slok is a member of the Nigerian Chamber of Commerce-USA and its trading arms does business with China’s Sinopacific Shipbuilding.