JULIUS ADELUSI ADELUYI @80!

Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi is a man of many caps. He is a pharmacist, lawyer, entrepreneur, strategist and philanthropist. He is is the Executive Chairman of Juli Plc, the first indigenously owned/promoted company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Adelusi-Adeluyi has served in various positions in both the public and private sectors and is a leader extraordinaire. Respected and revered, Prince Adelusi- Adeluyi is a man of exemplary character and has received numerous awards for his contribution to both his profession and his service to the people of Nigeria. FUNKE BABS-KUFEJI recently caught up with the charismatic octogenarian who doesn’t look a day over 50 as he chats about his journey in life thus far. 80 years old and you don’t look a day over 50, what is the secret to your youthful looks and countenance?

The secret is there’s no secret!

I have learned over the years that godliness with contentment is a great gain. That doesn’t mean there won’t be moments or cares that could take their toll on you, but that understanding helps you to live at peace with yourself one day at a time.

You speak several languages fluently: English French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Latin and your native Yoruba. How would you describe your ability to master different languages?

It’s most likely inherited, a part of my DNA. But a combination of study and practice has also helped to make me more proficient in these languages.

I’m actually studying Greek now. I’m not studying Mandarin. They say it’s a language of the future, but for me, the future is now, rather short (laughter).

Would you say this gift of multilingualism been of most tremendous advantage to you?

It has been of huge advantage to me. There are many instances where my language skills have helped me in resolving conflict. When you speak to a man in his native language, he is more relaxed. His affinity towards you is enhanced. Language helps to open doors. If you went to Imo State as a Yoruba man or Kanuri man, but spoke very fluent Igbo to the people, they would respect you. And I assure you they would be more inclined to listen to you than if you went there speaking very good English.

Your first job in Nigeria was at Pfizer, one of the world’s premier and largest biopharmaceutical company as an AGM. What was the experience like?

I was headhunted for the position I got at Pfizer. My experience at Pfizer was quite fulfilling actually. I got into Pfizer as Assistant General Manage. My letter of appointment actually indicated that in five years, I would become GM, all things being equal. My adviser then was Dr. Kwaku Adadevoh, who would later become Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos. I was very fulfilled working for Pfizer and the company did a lot to make me comfortable. I lived in Airport Hotel in Ikeja for the first nine months at the company’s expense before I got a suitable accommodation. I had a standing steward in the hotel. But more importantly, Pfizer was a great learning environment. The company as at that time, much as it is today, was very involved in research and development. It was very research-driven, so you found out that you were availed not only of technical information about the various drugs and their competitors, but you were also regularly schooled on the mechanics of bringing a drug to the hands of the consumer. So you learnt budgeting, finance, selling, marketing, collaboration and there was plenty of exposure to what was happening in the world of pharmaceutical research as well as manufacturing in its various overseas manufacturing plants.

If your job was fulfilling why did you switch to entrepreneurship?

Everything became routine too quickly. There was also undue rivalry among the employees. I couldn’t really understand this. Some people were not quite happy with my position as a sort of heir apparent. I also did something which was not very smart. Occasionally, I would call those of us who were black, into a meeting and tell them that we needed to cooperate and work collectively to take over the industry from the white bosses who were really neither better qualified not more experienced than ourselves. But you know, some of these same colleagues of ours would go behind my back to report all that had transpired to the white bosses. Then one day, one of the white men called me and said I was bright but stupid and he relayed to me the proceedings of a meeting we held the previous day as reported to him by one of the attendees. Of course, there had been a lot of exaggeration!

But the routine was the biggest problem. I was almost getting bored.

You went on to establish your own Pharmaceutical Company, Juli Pharmacy, what did you set out to do differently that sets the pharmacy apart from all others?

I had become National Secretary of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria at the time and had been privileged to see how many retail pharmacy outlets looked. Many were, to say the least, quite conservative in outlook and fell far short of the standards I had come to expect given my exposure to such outlets in other parts of the world. I thought there was an opportunity for me to help raise the standards as a sort of torchbearer, if you will. Air conditioning was still relatively new in Nigeria in those days, but Juli Pharmacy was fully air conditioned from day one. It was a novelty at that time and there were many who thought it couldn’t be done, that the business was never going to be able to sustain having air conditioners in a Pharmacy. But we succeeded and others had to follow suit. I called the pharmacy, “Juli Pharmacy and Stores,” but quite a few of my colleagues were not very happy with the name because I had added “stores”. But we succeeded and soon many others were emulating what we had done. But I vowed from the onset that we would be distinguished by the service we provided. We provided 24hour services – we worked round-theclock. I don’t know if anyone else has matched that. It was a novelty at the time.

Juli Pharmacy was and is about reliability. You got whatever you wanted, promptly. That’s why our tagline was “the sign of service.” We’ve always striven to epitomize great service delivery. People still come to Juli Pharmacy from as far as Kano and other distant places in search of genuine drugs. I should add that Juli was also a great training ground for pharmacists especially those who would eventually go into the retail side of the business. We’ve always tried to provide a work place where employees would not only learn, and improve both as pharmacists and as managers but in addition, have fun and be fulfilled as professionals whether as health professional or human resource professional or finance professional or even as logistics and marketing professionals.

Juli Pharmacy had lots of branches in those days where communication wasn’t as easy as it is now. How where you able to run it successfully with the challenges of telephones and no internet connections?

I was young when we set out, and very determined to accomplish my dreams of having a model and modern pharmaceutical chain across Nigeria and possibly the West Africa sub-region. My target was to have 500 branches actually, although we succeeded in having 22 in total. We invested heavily in logistics. We had a fleet of Peugeot station wagons for distribution to ensure that no branch was ever out of stock of any medicine. We invested in our people too. As I said earlier, we did everything possible to ensure that our people found the job fulfilling.

Juli Pharmacy was the first indigenous company to be quoted on the stock exchange beyond raising additional funds, what was the motivation for going public and will you say it was a good decision?

Raising capital was key, because as I said, the goal was to take us to 500 branches. I also needed to show that these things were possible and that as black people, we could do them. I had seen the role that capital markets had played elsewhere in the world in helping businesses to transcend the “start-up” status and gradually move into the big league. I thought it was something that we could do here. As at the time I went to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, it was basically an exchange for multinational companies.

Juli Pharmacy was the first indigenously promoted firm to go the Stock Exchange, and I’m sure that doing so, helped to open the eyes of many local businesses to the fact that raising funds through the NSE was not as far-fetched as it may have seemed. It was a possibility. If Juli could do it, then, they could too.

In principle it was very good that I went public, especially, as I said earlier, we helped to demystify the exchange and encourage others to take the needed step. In practical terms, however, our experience was bitter-sweet especially as a result of the economic turmoil and instability that defined those days immediately following our listing.

Nigeria is one of the few countries in the world where you can obtain practically any medicine whatsoever, across the counter without a prescription. The implications of this are clear including the rising epidemic of drug abuse that we are currently contending with in Nigeria. What can be done to enhance pharmaceutical regulation?

I wouldn’t call it poor regulation. I believe the real problem is that the regulators are not sufficiently empowered. Regulation is about being methodical

I have learned over the years that godliness with contentment is a great gain. That doesn’t mean there won’t be moments or cares that could take their toll on you, but that understanding helps you to live at peace with yourself one day at a time.

and efficient, yes, but it is also a fairly expensive process. You need the manpower and the logistics. The manpower need to be well-trained and motivated to work. Recall for instance, the amount of work which the FBI put into arresting Hushpuppi and his cohorts recently. So these things need a good deal of investment. On the other hand, regulators must also be able to demonstrate the kind of value they bring to society. In our peculiar circumstances, this is very critical. Dora Akunyili was very talented at doing this. And because she was able to creatively demonstrate the wins of NADFAC, she always got a premium listening ear from the government and to a large extent, NAFDAC funding improved significantly. So, regulators also need to appreciate that because government has a need to distribute scarce resources across different areas, there is a strong competition for these and therefore there is some sense in the saying that the “squeaky wheel gets the grease”.

You also studied Law, what motivated this move and what did you do with your degree?

No indigenous businesses were covered by the

NSE laws. I believed that studying law would provide me with more robust insights as to the workings of the capital market and how law and regulation could perhaps be put to use towards enhancing the value, which local businesses in particular could derive from the stock exchange. Then of course, I also thought that the law profession would provide me with a strong platform with which to help the underprivileged. I do pro bono legal practice only. It’s called pro bono publico - that is, for the good of the public. It involves getting people in the prisons freed, especially those who have been there for 10 years and longer and who have not had any opportunity of legal representation. They probably have not had court attendance for those ten years and I have learnt a lot. That gives me humility and makes me give gratitude to God to be able to help in such a small way.

If you see humanity suffer so needlessly at that level, then who are you to say, “God, I asked for this and you didn’t give me that”? Those people suffering are also part of humanity.

Have you ever been tempted to practice the Law profession?

Legal drafting is one of my strong points. It comes naturally to me. I have helped some of my friends in this regard. But not everything needs to be monetized.

You have also devoted a great amount of your time to different causes in your lifetime. One of which is the Rotary Club and a member of the MTN foundation board. What drives your devotion to such causes?

It’s the ideal of service, gained from my mother, which speaks to service to the underprivileged.

You also learnt how to fly a plane many years ago, what did you do with this skill?

I thought flying a plane would enable me commute more conveniently across Nigeria. At that time, planes were not very expensive. And then the freedom of moving from the air is so comforting, it makes you feel so independent. Imagine flying from place to place without worrying about traffic jams or bad roads or bandits. But insurance in Nigeria was not particularly good at the time. Flying has its risks actually and I didn’t think that insurance in Nigeria made the exercise worthwhile. At some point, I had to discontinue.

Where you able to fly yourself to places or countries?

No I didn’t fly to other countries. I have flown over the Republic of Benin once or twice, though. What I have is a private pilot’s license, not a commercial pilot’s license.

You’re widely regarded as a very influential Nigerian and in your university days you were a top student leader, why didn’t you ever go into politics?

As a student I had actually planned that I would go into politics upon graduation. In fact it was one of my considerations when I became a scribe of the World Student’s Organization. I thought it would help me to prepare for leadership back home. It was while I was at the organization in Holland that the democratic leadership was overthrown and the first coup took place. Then before you knew it, the civil war broke out. It was all so devastating.

What was becoming of our beloved country? Why was the country at war, after a mere seven years of independence? This was a question I put to General Gowon when I led a delegation to visit him during the civil war. Those developments affected me very badly and I lost every inclination to go into politics. In any case, by the time my sojourn in Holland was over, the military had taken over control and partisan politics had been banned. I was never really able to summon much interest in politics after that and channeled all my energy into building Juli Pharmacy, and the organizations with which I was associated including the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, my local church which is Saint Leo’s Catholic Church, Ikeja, Rotary Club, the Lions movement, Boys’ Scouts and others.

But isn’t this a contradiction, coming from someone who encourages professionals to go into politics?

My answer to this is that you don’t have to be a swimmer to know the temperature of the water. But a good number of former student leaders did go into politics in those days, I remember. In fact, Olof Palme who later became Prime Minister of Sweden was the leader of the Swedish National Union of Students in the 1950s. In fact when he visited Nigeria on a state visit, quite a few people were surprised when he asked to see me and the late Ambassador, Olu Adeniji came looking for me at Juli Pharmacy. In any case, the circumstances have changed.

While I could have afforded to ignore politics in my time, I think there is now a much stronger imperative for young professionals and professionals in general, to join politics because our country is in urgent need of a rescue.

You’ve been married for almost 50 years to the same woman. What’s the secret of the longevity of your marriage?

It’s the grace of God. The truth is that I am a very fortunate person and I can’t explain it. I don’t deserve it. Lucky is the man who finds a good wife. You see, this thing called marriage is like a lucky dip. Meeting my wife, Julia, is perhaps the best thing that has happened to my life.

My family have played and are still playing very vital roles in my life. No other role has been more important to me than the role they have played. They are individually and jointly, a blessing to me. When you see a man going around looking calm, it is because there is a wife there for him that genuinely loves and cares for him and I have got all that. It’s not me but by the grace of God. That is why I said in the beginning, that I learnt prayerful humility.

God is using us to do certain things, in spite of us. So I thank God who has given me the best possible family that I could have had in marriage. The kids therefore, being products of love, sharing and mutual support, have grown to be a pride to us. That is why everybody in the family is called Juli. My name is Julius, my wife is Juliana, my first daughter is Julita; our first son is Julian; the next one is Julia and the last one is Julius. So everyone is Juli.

Looking back are there things you think you might have done differently?

To live looking back is hardly helpful. I live forward and learn from each day to make the next better. That helps me to live a life of gratitude rather than one of regret.

How will you describe your style?

Dignity in simplicity. I wear a lot of whites because white keeps you simple, clean and disciplined. And I like to match my cap to shoes because it’s a good combo for white and also an expression of my strong faith in the promotion of culture.

While I could have afforded to ignore politics in my time, I think there is now a much stronger imperative for young professionals and professionals in general, to join politics because our country is in urgent need of a rescue.