Chinedu didn't waste time. He knew that before approaching anyone — communities, government, or even potential partners — he needed structure. Oil was not a gamble to play loosely; it required precision, capital, and a framework that spoke the language of regulators and financiers.
At the next Imperial Holdings board meeting, he unveiled a bold new division: Imperial Upstream Limited.
"Farms, retail, entertainment — they feed people, they inspire them," he told the room, his tone steady but edged with ambition. "But oil fuels nations. If we control part of that chain, every other arm of Imperial strengthens."
Tunde leaned forward, scanning the documents. "So this is not just a company. It's a fortress. Engineering, logistics, compliance, environmental safeguards… you've built everything into the design."
Chinedu nodded. "Because oil doesn't forgive mistakes. We won't walk in as amateurs. We'll walk in as professionals who already look bigger than we are."
The first hires were not farmers or entertainers. They were engineers from Port Harcourt, former NNPC compliance officers, and oil finance analysts who understood how to navigate the treacherous waters of Nigeria's petroleum sector. Imperial Upstream's offices took shape in Enugu, modest on the outside but buzzing within like the command center of a war campaign.
Chinedu also reached out discreetly to banks. His reputation made the first doors open — but it was his plan that kept them talking. A financing model that combined debt, state bonds, and Imperial Holdings' own reserves. The banks were cautious, but intrigued. Oil, despite its risks, was still the heart of Nigeria's economy. And if anyone could turn a struggling field around, the young man who had already built an empire from buses and maize stood a chance.
Even before negotiations began, Imperial Upstream had blueprints for refinery tie-ins, modular processing plants, and security contracts with ex-military units. To outsiders, it looked like Chinedu already owned the oil field — his machinery and maps spread across tables, his engineers drawing up flow diagrams as if drilling would start tomorrow.
But he knew structure alone wasn't enough. The heart of this deal would not be signed in banks or boardrooms. It would be signed in dusty villages, with chiefs and youth leaders who had seen too many promises broken.
That, he decided, would be the next battlefield.
And so, with Imperial Upstream's skeleton standing firm, Chinedu prepared to step into the fire of negotiation and politics, where money alone could not win.