Kemi Ajumobi 
“Why? Why did he decide to go into politics? This man can’t play “dirty,” he has a thriving business, isn’t he enjoying his peace?” The questions kept coming. People wondered why, but he would often say “If everyone is saying politics is dirty, who is going to clean it? We all can’t sit back and do nothing, it starts from somewhere, it starts from me and you.”
His decision to go into politics has been one that many speak of till date. The company he co-founded, Sahara Group is thriving; many believed he should have kept on with his work as co-founder, doing what he loves to, which is pursuing global opportunities and positioning the organisation as he was known for, but the man from Abonnema, the riverine town, a part of the Kalabari Kingdom governed by the principle of primus inter pares, Tonye Patrick Cole, mni, had other plans. He was willing to dare and dare he did.
In 2018, he resigned from Sahara Group to contest for political office. In 2018 and 2023, he contested as the gubernatorial candidate for the office of Governor of Rivers State under the All Progressives Congress (APC). Through the journey, he connected with his people, learnt more about the intrigues of politics and lives to tell the stories of impact, purpose, guts and grace. Is there more to his political endeavours? Time will tell.
Tonye is passionate about mental health. Late last year, he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with his son and a team of other participants to raise funds to provide free therapy and coaching for 1,000 Nigerian youths.
Tonye is a merit honours graduate in Architecture from the University of Lagos and served in Osun State for his National Youth Service. He is a Member of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, a Fellow of the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford and an alumnus of Harvard Business School.
From 1990 to 1992, Tonye worked with architectural firm Grupo Quartro SA in Goiania, Brazil. On his return to Nigeria, he was employed by Brazilian engineering firm Empressa Sul Americana de Montagens S.A. (EMSA) from 1993 to 1996 before co-founding Sahara Group in 1996.
The Sahara Group is an energy conglomerate present in 42 countries, employing over 5,000 people, with an annual turnover of US$15 billion. Tonye led the Group’s global expansion and upheld its corporate governance values as well as setting up the Sahara Foundation.
He is a recipient of numerous awards, owns various thriving entrepreneurial ventures, sits on boards, has various international roles, big on philanthropy, a motivational speaker, ordained minister, and published author. Tonye is married to Dr. Sylvia Cole and they have three children.
We celebrate him for his good deeds and passion for governance, and at IWA, we acknowledge his commitment to his children, and since IWA is about women, we celebrate him for being a mentor to his daughters, Vanessa and Serena, who are doing outstandingly well in their chosen fields. While Vanessa (Chef Vee) made a First Class in Fashion Business from Istituto Marangoni London, she also trained at the prestigious Chef Academy London and at 2 Michelin star restaurant, Bibendum, in South Kensington London. Serena studied Medicine and was the first Black female President of Trinity College Students’ Union (TCSU), Cambridge.