Our Board of Directors

Mr. Greg U. Ogbeifun is the Managing Director/CEO of Starzs Marine and Engineering Ltd. He is also the Chairman of Starzs Investments Company Limited (SICL), a marine logistics company whose activities include: ownership, operation, management and maintenance of vessels and the Managing Director/CEO of Starzs Marine and Engineering Limited (SMEL), the first privately owned indigenous ship repair yard in Nigeria in operation since the year 2000.
He is a qualified Marine Engineer with First Class (Combined) Certificate of Competency, a member of the British Society of Marine Consultants and Ship Surveyors, the American Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, the Institute of Directors (IoD) as well as the Pioneer President of the Shipowners Association of Nigeria (SOAN). He also sits as a member of the Advisory Board of the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC).
Mr. Ogbeifun’s counsel is most sought after by leaders in the Maritime Industry on both Federal and State levels due to his clarity of vision and in-depth professional experience and he has served in different federal, ministerial and state committees.
His companies have built a strong reputation in the Nigerian Maritime Industry by guaranteeing excellent service delivery, zero unscheduled down time and zero lost time injury. With a competent workforce, these enterprises continue to exceed clients’ expectations while contributing significantly to the growth of the Nigerian Maritime Industry.
He has received many awards which include ‘Immense Contributor to Manpower Development’ in 2006 by the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron. ‘Trailblazer’ in 2016 by the All-African Students Union in recognition of his contribution to the welfare of students across West Africa and ‘Manager of the Year’ by the Europe Business Assembly in 2016. He has presented many papers within and outside Nigeria on crucial maritime issues.
Mr Ogbeifun is a man that is very committed to helping the less privileged. Worried about the high unemployment rate among the Nigerian youth, he incorporated Eaglewatch Security Limited which today has over 800 Nigerians on its payroll.
Despite the demands of his professional life, Mr. Ogbeifun is a family-oriented man and always finds time to bond with his wife Victoria and eight children, out of which two are already mariners.

Dr Engr Gregory Omosigho Ero was born on 1st July, 1947 in Benin City. His primary and secondary education were at St Luke Primary School and Holy Trinity Grammar school respectively, both in Edo state. His tertiary and postgraduate education spans across noble institutions from University of Ibadan to Imperial College, London and Oxford University in the United Kingdom. He also had additional academic stints at the Graduate School of Business, University of Columbia and at the Institute of Management Development, Lausanne in Switzerland. He is a seasoned Engineer, having begun his public service career in the federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), spanning a period of over 30 years.
After retirement in October 1999 from the Public Service, Dr Greg Ero founded Arkleen Oil and Gas Limited in March 2000, where he is the current Executive Chairman. The company provides drilling fluid engineering services and drilling/completion products, as a full-service operation, to players of the Nigerian oil and gas industry on land, swamp, shallow, deep and ultra-deep offshore.
Apart from formal duties and responsibilities, he performed many adhoc assignments both in the public and private sectors over the years. These functions included chairmanship /membership of Boards of Government parastatals and private sector companies such as Member, Economic & Finance Committee of the Federal Government (1985-1986), Board Member, First City Monument Bank Plc (2013- To date)
He is also a member and fellow of numerous professional bodies and societies/clubs including the Nigerian Academy of Engineering (Fellow), Nigerian Society of Engineers (Fellow), Member, Oxford & Cambridge club of Nigeria and Member, Metropolitan Club, Lagos, to name a few.
He is happily married with children.

Professor Dew Mayson is a Liberian, born in March 1949. He was educated at George Town University Washington D.C., USA where he obtained a B.Sc. Degree in International Affairs and Economics in 1969. He went on to University of California, Los Angeles, USA and obtained his Masters and PhD degrees in Economics and African Studies in 1971. Prof. Dew Mayson has served variously as Professor of Political Economy at Cuttington University College, Liberia from 1976 to1980. Chairman and Minister of National Investment Government of Liberia from 1980 to 1983 and Ambassador of Liberia to France, Spain, Switzerland, Algeria and UNESCO between 1983 to 1985. Presently, he is a businessman with interests in shipping iron ore, oil trading and oil services.

AVM Joe Ehigie is a Nigerian, born in 1944. He joined the Nigerian Air Force as an Officer Cadet and was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in 1966. He attended courses in the U.K (1968 – 90), West Germany (1979); the Netherlands (1985) and USA (1992) specialising in Communications and Electronics. He also attended Command and Staff courses in the USA (1976 – 77) and in India (1980) where he obtained an M.Sc. in Defence Studies. AVM Ehigie has held staff and command appointments both within and outside the military including Chief of Communications for the Armed forces, Director of the Nigeria Airports Authority and Principal General Staff Officer at the Presidency. He retired from the Air Force in December, 1994 with the rank of Air Vice Marshall. He is presently the Chairman/CEO of a trawling company and owns many deep-sea trawlers.

Engr. Charles Osezua is a foremost Nigerian Gas Engineer that holds a B.Sc. in Natural Gas Engineering from the Texas A&M University in 1979, and obtained an M.Sc. in Engineering with a split Minor in Business Administration and International Law in 1981.
He championed a number of the early efforts in the development of gas policies in Nigeria. With 35 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, he has advised at the highest levels of government and the industry, on technical and policy issues.
An entrepreneur and a social engineer, Charles Osezua has promoted and founded a number of businesses and NGOs including; the Owel-Linkso Group – a multidisciplinary service provider to the oil and gas, power and construction industries in Nigeria; Gaslink Nigeria Limited - Nigeria’s foremost gas utility company; Gas Train Limited - a gas development company, building gas infrastructure for gas utilization/monetization in the Niger Delta Region.
At different times, he was appointed Special Assistant to the Head of State on oil and gas matters, Technical Adviser to the Chairman, NNPC Board, and a Member of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Board of the Nigerian LNG. A onetime Past President of the Nigerian Gas Association (NGA), and a member of the Global Gas Policy Council of the International Gas Union (IGU).
He Chairs a number of Boards including the Governing Council of the Pan Atlantic University; Educational Co-operation Society (ECS) – the founder of the Lagos Business School (LBS); the Institute for Work and Family Integration (IWFI); Cordros Capital Limited, Vallourec Oil & Gas Nigeria, to mention but a few.
He has received a number of national and international honours including the title: Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), from the Federal Government of Nigeria for his professional excellence and contributions to the development of the Nigerian oil and gas industry; he was honoured with the European title of the Right Honourable Cavalier of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, by the Pope. He is married with children.

Born 27th February 1945 in Zaria where he attended primary school in St Patrick’s and St Theresa’s schools. He attended secondary school at St John’s College Kaduna and Higher School at College of Immaculate Conception, Enugu. Graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Birmingham, England in 1968 on a Shell scholarship and joined Shell in Nigeria as a Petroleum Engineer same year. Worked both in Nigeria and internationally (UK and The Netherlands) and rose to the position of Deputy MD of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria a position he held between March 1997 until February 2002. Has been a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) since 1973 and was a founding member in Nigeria. He was made a Distinguished Member of SPE International in 1999 and Honorary Member (The highest SPE award) in 2011. He was Chairman of SPE Nigeria Council 1986. He served as the first Regional Director for Africa on the SPE board between October 2000 and 2003 and became the . Worldwide 2013 President of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. He has attended numerous internal and external technical and management courses. He was awarded a National award of Commander of the Order of the Niger, CON, in November 2011; an honorary Doctor of Science degree by University of Port Harcourt April 2012 and an honorary Doctor of Science degree by University of Uyo in December 2014. He was awarded a Papal Knighthood of the Knight of St Gregory the Great, KSG in July 2020. He has served on various boards: Shell Petroleum; GTB; First Hydrocarbon Nigeria, Afren Plc. He is currently on the boards of InvestmentOne, Starzs Marine and Beta Ventures. He is a very keen golfer.

Izarene Aret-Adams hails from Jamaica, West Indies. She moved to England as an adolescent, and eventually trained as a nurse, there obtaining her State Registered Nursing Certificate. While working as a nurse and a midwife in Glasgow, Scotland, Izarene met her husband, a graduate of Glasgow University. They moved to Port Harcourt during the war where her husband served as a Petroleum Engineer for Shell Petroleum Company.

In Nigeria, she was employed as an Industrial Nurse with Shell BP, first in Port Harcourt, next in Warri and finally in Lagos where she attainted the position of Assistant Matron before resigning to better cater for her family of four children.

Mrs. Aret-Adams is an active member of the International Women’s Society, Nigerwives Lagos branch, The Nigerwives Widow’s Group, The Nigerian-West Indian Association, The Nigerwives Braille Society, and the Spinal Cord Association. She has served on various committees within these organisations and has been particularly active in the International Women’s Society as a member of various committees, as Chairperson of the Day Nursey and Scholarship Committees, and was the 59th President of IWS, Nigeria.

Izarene is an active member of the Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON). She is also an avid gardener, would present her plants and flowers to the elderly confined to hospitals, as well as to her designated charity, The Holy Family Home for the Elderly.

She is a director of Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc for the past 12 years, a director of Multinational Expertise Limited for the past 18 years and a director of Starzs Marine and Engineering Limited for the past 18 years.