21022018 - APC CRISIS LATEST :Governor demolishes senator's house

36 — VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2018
WITH CHARLES KUMOLU
midweekpersonality@gmail.com
08052140865 (sms only)
OKEOWO: Lessons from my
billionaire father who had 3
pairs of shoes
WITH the lessons learnt from his wealthy father, Managing Director of Environ
Technology, Mr. Desmond Okeowo, narrates how he built the third leading
internet hardware company in Nigeria. Okeowo notes how he combined the
experiences he garnerd from his privileged background with the lessons he
learnt from the Chairman of Globacom, Chief Mike Adenuga to achieve
greatness as an entrepreneur. Currently, he aspires to be Nigeria's President.
In the beginning
I am the last son of the late
Chief H.G Okeowo, who
owned the first engineering
firm in Ogun State. My father
worked with federal and state
governments. He constructed
Allen Avenue, Aromire, Oba
Akran, Awolowo Way, and
Abeokuta/Shagamu Express
Way among others. The roads
are still valid till date because
quality job was done on them
by my father’s firm. Since I
grew up, I am yet to see the
roads in state of decay.
He was a civil engineer
during the time Chief Obafemi
Awolowo was the Premier of
Western Region. My father
had me when he was 65 years.
I grew up in an atmosphere of
excellence. I studied
Philosophy at Ogun State
University.
When I came back from the
UK in 2003, I worked with the
only indigenous telecoms firm
in Nigeria, Globacom. I worked
with Otunba Mike Adenuga,
who I learnt doggedness from.
I left Globacom in 2007 to start
my own technology firm,
which I named Environ
Technologies. We are doing
very well and have about 900
staff. We are not just the first
directory company in Nigeria,
we are the leading directory
firm in the country. We have
been working across the nation
since 2007.
Next major influence
After God, my father was the
next major influence in my life.
His lifestyle was Spartan. I
knew my father for 40 years
and in those years, he didn’t
have more than three pairs of
shoes. And he was a billionaire
in the 1970s. One of the shoes
was for work, one was for
church while the third one was
for social outings. That showed
the kind of person he was
despite his wealth.
We had an extremely big
mansion that was well
furnished. Mercedes Benz
cars took us to school. But amid
that affluence, my father was
very frugal with everything. He
trained all us in such a way
that we must be working at all
times. He was a disciplined
person, who ensured that we
were disciplined any time we
erred.
There was a time my maternal
grandmother visited us and was
cleaning her teeth with a
chewing stick. I liked it and
asked for it which she gave me.
I decided to use it and my father
found me doing so one day. He
disciplined me to the extent that
I thought he wanted to kill me.
The greatest sin in our house
was to be idle. It is a sin to find
someone watching television
even though there were
television sets in each room. I
learnt how to read voluminous
books between the age of seven
and 10. My father had a library
where we cultivated the habit
of reading. At the age of 21, I
had authored a book. I didn’t
stop there as I have written so
many books since then. My
father made us realise that we
have to be productive every
minute of our lives.
It was such that immediately
anyone in my house left
secondary school, the person
would get a job. I was paid
N200 monthly in my first job
while my father subsidized it
with N400 monthly to ensure
that I did not stay idle at home.
It was also mandatory for us to
join our church choir. The
choirmaster came weekly from
Ibadan to teach us. All these,
shaped my life because I apply
them in my daily life. I have
more than 12 brothers who are
successful. With such a
background, I had no option
than to become naturally
successful as well.
I sold my two cars
just to raise money
to start the
business; I was a
big boy in
Globacom at that
time but I became
nobody and was
riding Okada for
three months
PERSONALITY ETHICS
*Being idle is a sin to
me
*There are things one
should not die for
*No mountain is too
high for me to climb
Ijebu Ode Grammar School
I was sent to a boarding school
early in life. I had Mr. M.
Adedeji, who was another
influence in my life. We were
about 400 students at Ijebu Ode
Grammar School and he knew
everybody’s name. Ijebu Ode
Grammar School prepared
many of us for greatness. That
is why I am not surprised that
many are doing well. It was like
a military school with a system
that made us responsible.
Leaving Globacom and
becoming an entrepreneur
My meeting with Otunba
Mike Adenuga was a lifechanging
one. He is an enigma,
a mobile and living
encyclopedia of words. He does
not believe that there is a
mountain that is too high to
climb. I studied him for three
years. I studied his company
and concluded that there is
nothing he was doing that I
cannot do. But that was not why
I resigned. I was the GPRS and
Data Manager in Globacom. It
was a time when the internet
was not common.
We used a technology called
GPRS. We were just two GPRS
experts in Nigeria and I was the
number one expert. I used to
train all Globacom staff
nationwide. At that time, the
internet was gradually
registering its presence in
Nigeria. I asked myself that if
Globacom is deploying internet
services, who are the firms that
would provide the hardware
that people will need to support
the internet? After coming up
with that key question, I
resigned. Before doing that, I
had done my feasibility studies
and had practised discreetly
while I was still working for
Globacom. After my resignation,
I set up a technology
distribution company. We are
doing very well and we are
ranked number three in the
country after Zinox and
another company. When it
comes to distribution, there is
no company in Nigeria that we
have not worked with. We
have even worked with the
Federal Government to the best
of our ability and our work
speaks for us.
Excelling within a short
space time
The unending hunger for
knowledge has been central to
our success. When I left
Globacom, I only saved money
to buy 10 computers. An uncle
also had some money with me
which I used. I sold my two
cars just to raise money to start
the business. I was a big boy
in Globacom at that time but I
became nobody and was riding
Okada for three months. I did
that to ensure that I built a
vibrant brand.
I couldn’t have bought
another car early enough until
I saw that my complexion had
become so dark after three
months. My face was so dark
that I decided to stop riding
Okada. At that point, I decided
to take some money out of the
business to care for myself. I
took a taxi to Beger, where I
choose four cars. Two were for
the office while the remaining
two were for the house. The
seller drove the cars to my
house on a Friday and I paid
on Monday. However, I will
say that I have not really
suffered in life or experienced
difficult times. I am just a
product of a disciplined
background. When I started my
business the economy was
good and it made us enjoy
rapid growth.
Generational change
My passion for the country
stems from the need to awaken
the spirit of excellence in us.
When I was working in
Globacom, our monthly
expenditure on diesel was N2
billion. If eight telecom
companies were spending such
an amount monthly on diesel,
it would amount to N16 billion.
Such a huge amount of money
can be used to fix certain areas
in the power sector in order to
generate electricity. But our
current crop of leaders are not
thinking in that direction. With
due respect to the President and
his cabinet, I doubt if one can
sit down with them and have a
meaningful discussion on 21-
century matters. I am talking
about calculus, artificial
intelligence and sound
computing knowledge that
drive the 21 century. These
leaders are just there watching
as the world leaves us behind.
The President is still talking
about stolen funds instead of
connecting us to the 21 century.
People should not die of
hunger because the President
is fighting corruption. If a man
cannot feed his family, he
would lose his family which is
his pride. We cannot leave the
destinies of Nigerians in the
hands of people, who are old
and are not in touch with 21-
century realities. If we allow
our fathers to continue to lead
us, we will be left behind
because this generation is a
digital one. It costs nothing to
have an electric train in
Nigeria. The basics should be
provided by government at all
levels the way it is done in
other places because there are
things that men should not die
for. I am referring to the things
contained in Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs.