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INTERVIEW<br />
All Iron And Steel Must Obey Our<br />
Instruction - Prince R. Odubanjo<br />
eal HABITATS LTD.<br />
Chief R. Odubanjo, the CEO of R. Odubanjo Steel Works Limited is a man that rose from a humble background<br />
to an enviable height in business. In this interview, he attributes his success to a number of factors including diligence,<br />
perseverance, honesty and above all hard work.<br />
What influenced your choice of business?<br />
My elder brother was into welding and allied activities and that<br />
made me to develop interest in the trade from childhood. As a<br />
young person, I made up my mind to learn a trade and naturally<br />
welding was the preferred choice. My brother brought me to Lagos<br />
from my small village to learn the trade and to the glory of God,<br />
since I took that decision till today; I’ve had no regrets towing this<br />
path.<br />
How long did it take you to learn the trade?<br />
I was with my brother for six good years learning the trade as an<br />
apprentice. Upon my freedom, I worked with him for some years before<br />
his demise. It was when he died that I realized what awaits me<br />
because he had eight children with two wives. The burden of taking<br />
care of his family fell on me, but the Grace of God saw us through<br />
amidst difficult and life threatening challenges that we had to go<br />
through. I even had to reject an offer of travelling abroad because I<br />
was afraid of what will be the plight of the children he left behind.<br />
Despite the challenges, I took the business from a humble beginning<br />
to the enviable height it now occupies.<br />
What has been the most challenging experience in running this<br />
business?<br />
The biggest challenge that we face as entrepreneurs is getting the<br />
right human capital as most employees in Nigeria do not work with<br />
their minds. If you can get 20% of your employees to be committed,<br />
they will in turn motivate the remaining 80% but unfortunately you<br />
can hardly get 15%. Getting the right human capital has been the<br />
greatest challenge because most people are no longer interested<br />
in delayed gratification. Funding is also a challenge, what we did<br />
was that when we started, we relied on personal funds as the banks<br />
are not ready to give facility to start ups. We were able to overcome<br />
the challenge of funding by creating strong partnerships that was<br />
of great benefit to us.<br />
What are the critical factors for Business success in Nigeria?<br />
Passion is vital to the success of every enterprise. You also need to<br />
have an in-depth knowledge of the type of business you want to<br />
do. You can equally attend seminars to brush up your knowledge<br />
about the global business environment. Critical success factors are<br />
both internal and external, because to operate a business you need<br />
a lot of perseverance, resilience and determination because of the<br />
many high priority issues. Leadership especially, must be focused,<br />
visionary and passionate about achieving excellence. The quality of<br />
human resource is also a key competitive advantage and for us, we<br />
only engage the best people and I’m blessed to be supported by an<br />
excellent team.<br />
What are the unique factors that stand your organisation out of<br />
the competition?<br />
Our products are of the highest quality and can compete globally. R.<br />
Odubanjo Steel Works Ltd strongly believes in customers’ satisfaction<br />
and that is why we are keen on high-tech and development,<br />
quality materials, finishing and expert engineering design. We take<br />
time to do routine checkup of our clients and offer quick response<br />
if need arises and our works are strongly backed by standby generator/plants<br />
for prompt delivery. We believe that a trial visit to our<br />
company will definitely convince you. The need for a team of highly<br />
experienced, motivated and dedicated staff prompted the maintenance<br />
of our team of qualified engineers in the field of Design and<br />
steel structural works. All iron and steel, no matter the thickness<br />
must obey our instruction. This earned us the appellation - IRON<br />
MUST SURRENDER. Our equipment ranges from the steel guillotine<br />
which is both electrically and hydraulically operated, Rolling machine,<br />
Bending machines, Angle Cutting machine and Hole Punching<br />
machines and various Arc Welding machines, Power Drilling<br />
machines and Circular Bending machines respectively.<br />
How do you manage the apprentice?<br />
The challenge of getting apprentice who will be patient enough to<br />
stay is disturbing. Most young people are not patient these days to<br />
learn a trade. Some will come here and after learning how to weld,<br />
will claim to have known the work and go out and end up as quarks.<br />
The few who are patient to go through our tutelage can compete<br />
favourably with their counterparts anywhere in the world.<br />
What drives you?<br />
I derive my inspiration from God and nothing else.<br />
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