Why Jide Omokore will never forgive Jim Ovia

When the axe fell on the bond between former friends and collaborators, Bashorun Jide Omokore, multibillionaire owner of Energy Resources Group of Companies and Zenith Bank chairman, Jim Ovia, it cut so deep that the wound may take a lifetime to heal. Respected for his Midas Touch that has seen him grow an indigenous company, Energy Resources, into a thriving conglomerate, playing comfortably in the international oil and gas circuit, and revered for his closeness to President Goodluck Jonathan who he is alleged to front for, Omokore had (still does) friends in high places, one of whom was the diminutive but bewilderingly successful banker, Ovia. They struck many deals together and also navigated the social scenes hand in hand. Alas, some years back, Omokore ran into troubled waters and he ran hither, thither in search of a bail out. But, instead of bailing a friend in need out, Ovia turned a blind eye and struck the man down even more viciously. He confiscated many of Omokore’s properties which he used as collateral for some unserviced loans. Many of their friends intervened but Ovia reportedly told them off coldly and ruthlessly that in business, there are no friends. Omokore cried like a baby, wondering at the magnitude of his friend’s callous indifference when he needed him the most. A few years down the line, Omokore, whose Energy Resources Group, Forbes magazine once described as one of Nigeria’s largest privately-held conglomerates with interests in oil trading and exploration, haulage services, steel, dredging engineering and property development with an estimated $400 million annual revenue, has bounced back even bigger, controlling more cash reserve than many Fortune 500 companies put together. Recently, and perhaps to underscore how rock-solid he has further become, he shelled out, without breaking a sweat, $500, 000 for a Rolls Royce for his American TV star mistress, Porsha Williams. He has been on other spending sprees that leave many in open-mouthed bewilderment. He now even chooses his friends carefully. Despite the intervention of friends and associates to mediate between him and Ovia, the 60 year old Kogi State native has sworn by his ancestors that nothing would make him have anything to do with Ovia again.