At 34, I Was Managing Number One Imaging Company in Nigeria

Are you looking for a life coach? The list is endless. Are you in search of a role model? Not a few abound. Are you caught in the web of life’s vicissitudes? You are not alone. Can you be a leader of men? He says yes as he sits across the table, unassumin

H ow will you describe your childhood?

(It was) tough and uninspiring. I grew up not knowing why I appeared on the planet earth. I never had anyone talk to me on purpose (of life). I never had any inkling of where I came from; why I came from where I came from. Life was boring being more of a routine: wake, prostrate for your parents, bathe, eat, go to school, come back; eat again, sleep, and wake up again. I considered myself an accident living just by the day; not understanding (the) purpose (of life). Growing under parents who with the benefit of hindsight were perhaps more confused than I was did not help matters. So, early in life there was no proper direction other than go to school and play with other kids and sleep. I grew up in an average family struggling all along, deprived of the good things of life. Just imagine the kind of mind I grew up with: vain, distorted, fearful, selfish, warped and damaged in all its ramifications, always wondering why some people had everything going for them while nothing was going for me. This mindset was to be serious battleground for me later in life.

How would you describe your parents, and what lasting lessons did you learn from them?

My parents never really came together and enjoyed their marriage as one. There was always an issue to grouch about; as much as they tried to hide them, I still got to know. Only one lesson stood out with my dad: he loved education and he took time to be my personal teacher and when it was time to go to secondary school, I was always on top of my common entrance examinations. He was tough, being a soldier. So I must do my homework. The great lesson from them really is more of how not to make my marriage fail. For instance, my parents were separated when I was 13 years old and now I see the tremendous damage that had on me and others. So I am smart enough, by choice, using the power of my will, coupled with God’s wisdom and grace, to keep my own marriage even though it is not immune from the challenges of the environment and intervention of the flesh and self. There are so many opportunities to separate or break up but my wife and I just refuse to take any. We have resolved to stick to it for life.

Do you see yourself in your children or vice versa?

I constantly see myself in all of my children both male and female. At times these include even our manner of speech. As a family, one of our values is not to speak negatively. One thing I make sure I do is to say and do things I know they will proud of at all times. For all of them, I am their first leader and model. My daughters will relate with their husbands in future based on what they see in me. To them I represent men.

Why did you choose a career in training and teaching?

I grew up with a huge dislike for mediocrity which is a direct by-product of ignorance. So very early in life I developed an uncanny thirst for knowledge, which spurred me on to read several books on why some people excel in life, and why some don’t despite having equal opportunities. I grew up knowing so much that I began to freely share the information I gathered with friends, colleagues and associates who were hungry for knowledge. The need to see people rise above average; above common, ordinary results in their performance and shun the comfort zone of life led me into teaching and training. By putting few principles into constant practice every man has an equal chance of success.

I am convinced that if any one desires success in any field or in any aspect of life, the minimum requirement is constant education. Problems or what we know as challenges of life remain until adequate knowledge is received about them. Everything remains the same until the force of knowledge is applied to it. I chose the part of leadership because from the beginning, man was designed to be a leader, to rule over all other creatures of God. The leadership potential has to be groomed, developed and cultivated through constant education and practice of knowledge; it cannot just bloom by itself. And we can see the dearth of leadership globally. No institution or corporate body can rise higher than its leadership. No nation can outgrow its leadership. So my joy and fulfilment is derived from coaching, counselling and mentoring young upcoming leaders. Most of this I do without collecting fees. I knew I was wanted to mentor people on leadership since I was 32 years old, as I was already a General Manager managing hundreds of employees. I was running a foremost printing firm in Nigeria, and by 34, I was managing the number one imaging company in the country. My major contribution then as a leader was to train and educate the minds of my colleagues. They saw and accepted me naturally and I was able to influence them because of the trust they had in me. In the process I helped many unlearn many wrong traits and habits, replaced with new ones.

How does one become a better leader?

Becoming a better leader starts from developing healthy thinking patterns and stable emotions, and this is hard work. Leadership is more of thinking than title. By deliberate actions, a leader must develop a sound and fertile mindset through reading and self-development. As we grew up we all have stored inside our memories or the subconscious mind, information that may need to be unfrozen and replaced with new information through constant, continual learning. No one assumes leadership position and makes anything out of it, who will not learn daily. It is Alfin Tofler who says that the illiterate of the 21st century will not be the man who cannot read or write but the one who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn. In addition to being better, a leader must develop