April 29, 1997
Only way is up for Hill
But Hill himself tells a different story, saying this personal trait grew out of a restless appetite for adventure in his rebellious youth. At the age of 14, Hill forged a pact with his Air Force colonel father, then stationed in Norway back in the Sixties, whereby the youngster could quit school in exchange for a one-year stint on board the Christian Radich, a Norwegian three-masted sailing ship dedicated to training young people. Hill says these early nautical adventures made a man of him, teaching him self-reliance and offering him a sense of direction. The Christian Radich was a formative experience... some of the hardest work I've ever done in my life, he adds, and I got to graduate with international seaman's papers! The teenager returned to his studies and has never looked back. He has since adhered to the values of family, education and hard work which he is now trying to instill in his own son, now also 14, presently schooling in Houston. Nobody enjoys being away from their family and Hill admits the Nigerian capital is not an easy place to live and work in with the power going out for four to five hours every day . But with the right attitude and a good circle of friends it can be a nice place, he adds. Hill prefers active recreation and lately has taken to deep-sea fishing. He is particularly proud of landing his first big prey -- a 109-kilogram Marlin, tagged and released directly 27 miles off Lagos, he beams. Tall and personable, Hill cuts an imposing figure, both on and off the podium, and it is evident that the man can enjoy himself most anywhere in this world. In Nigeria they call him Papa Oyibo -- the Big White Father. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Hill's cosmopolitan schooling took place in Belgium. Aside from being a keen sailor he is an accomplished jet pilot and has already logged more than 90 hours of commercial flight. On one occasion, he took the controls when the company jet began its descent to land at Ghana's Kotoka airport. Flying above the clouds is Hill's way of blowing away the cobwebs after a long week at the office. He is also fluent in French, Spanish (from his time in Latin America with Santa Fe Engineering) and Portuguese (picked up during his stint with ABB Brazil). Along the way, he has pocketed an engineering degree from Brown University as well as a Master’s in business administration from Boston, which is nice to hang on the wall but which did little to prepare me for the challenges that we face in Africa.
