Mr Alfred Irabor Okoigun was born in Ewu, Edo State. He attended Holy Trinity Catholic School, Ewu and Government College, Ughelli. Thereafter, he studied Mechanical Engineering at the Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun. He also attended a Senior Management Programme (SMP) at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Lausanne, Switzerland and several other management development programmes.

He joined the NNPC as a Material Management Officer in the Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) in 1978, after a one-year industrial training with Snap Progetti, a member company of ENI in Italy.

As a visionary entrepreneur, Mr. Okoigun resigned his appointment in 1980 and established Arco Petrochemical Engineering Company Limited to provide maintenance engineering and consultancy services to the Nigerian Oil and Gas industry. 

He was granted Agency representation by NuovoPignone – a 100% owned subsidiary of the ENI Group (now owned by General Electric) in 1980 when he was only 25.

Under his able leadership, Arco Petrochemical Engineering Company Plc metamorphosed into Arco Group Plc. The old company, now known as Arco Maintenance and Engineering Ltd, is one of the four current subsidiaries of Arco Group Plc.

The others are Arco Integrity Solutions Limited, Arco Marine and Oilfield Services Limited, and Arco Worldwide Services Ltd. 

Mr. Okoigun serves as the Group Managing Director of Arco Group Plc. His vision is to build a successful and sustainable company that would outlive its founder. 

An ardent scholar, he has written and presented several technical papers at both local and international fora.  Some of his papers are:

• Infrastructural Development as a Catalyst for Nation Building (October 2008) – A Paper presented to The Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers
• Chemical Engineering & the Actualisation of the Nigerian Vision 2020 (November 2008)  - A Paper presented to The Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers
• Entrepreneurship:  The New Direction for The Nigerian Youth (2010)
• Warri Industrial Park Project and its Impact on the Post-Amnesty Era (15 & 16 March 2010) – A Paper delivered at the Post Amnesty Dialogue held in Warri
• Surviving Ethically in Tough Environments (14 October 2011) -  A Paper presented at Lagos Business School
• Don’t Fret Over the Money (9 November 2012) – A Paper to Lagos Business School Executive MBAs 
• The Challenges and Opportunities of The Falling Oil Prices (Nigeria Oil & Gas Conference – 17 March 2015)
• Diversifying Nigeria’s Economy:  Paths to Accelerate Growth of Key Resources (2 June 2016) -  A Paper discussed at the Institute of Directors (IoDs) Nigerian Annual Directors Conference in Abuja
• Local Content Development: An Engine Room for Sustained Development and a Vehicle for Accelerated Indigenous Industry Participation (Nigeria Oil & Gas Conference – June 2016)
• Case Study at the Lagos Business School since 2003

Mr. Okoigun is a strong believer in the development of engineering services in Nigeria. Through ARCO, he has sponsored engineers, technocrats and energy correspondents for training programmes and facility visits to Oil and Gas equipment manufacturing firms and to exhibitions/ seminars on energy matters in Italy, Switzerland, USA, Brazil and Argentina. 

Also, to demonstrate his support for The Nigerian Academy of Engineering (NAEng), he recently inaugurated a Joint Committee known as the NAEng-ARCO Group Academia and Industry Linkage with the objective to identify viable engineering innovations by Nigerians and to assist in translating them into scalable commercial activities. 

In recognition of his invaluable contributions to the Nigerian Oil & Gas sector and society at large, Mr. Okoigun has been honoured with the conferment of Fellowships of a number of organizations namely: Fellowship of the Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun, Warri; Fellowship of the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers, and more recently, Honorary Fellowship of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE). 

Mr. Okoigun has also been designated as a “Role Model” by the Engineering Society of the University of Lagos. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Gamaliel and Susan Onosode Foundation (GAMSU).  

Just recently, he emerged amongst the top five (5) finalists in the Emerging Category of the 2015 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. 

He is a member of many professional and industry bodies and organisations, including the Institute of Directors of Nigeria, where he has presented papers and served as a panel discussant.

Mr. Okoigun is a philanthropist of the rare type who continues to invest in human capital development, endowments and community-related projects. He has endowed scholarships to the best Engineering students in both PTI and UNILAG. 

In 2001, he organized the Nigerian Excellence in Science and Technology (NEST) Award in the UK, to showcase bright, excellent and hardworking Nigerians. 

Mr. Okoigun is married and blessed with children.

SPECIALIZATIONS

• Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering