11042018 - Buhari’s ‘one term’ offer in 2011 no longer applies

36 — VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2018
WITH CHARLES KUMOLU
midweekpersonality@gmail.com
08052140865 (sms only)
NDIDI OBIOHA: From
whizz-kid to serial
entrepreneur
TODAY’s edition offers an enriching insight into the life of someone, who
early in life, started spending every moment thinking about the next
business to create. This capacity for creativity saw her spending a decade
in the banking sector, establishing one of the most successful fashion houses
in Lagos, and setting up a flourishing event outfit among others. This is the
untold story of the Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of Enthyst Group, Mrs.
Ndidi Obioha.
Achieving whatever I want
Iam a serial entrepreneur. I
am also a free-spirited
person, who attended Federal
Government Girls College,
Owerri. I attended
ObafemiAwolowo University
where I studied International
Relations. I had a stint in the
telecoms industry, banking
sector, and advertising before
becoming an entrepreneur. I was
born in Germany in a family of
five. I am happily married and I
have three amazing children.
One of the things that brought
me this far in life is that my
parents made us believe in
ourselves. And that made us
have confidence in ourselves. I
grew up believing that I could
achieve whatever I want to
achieve.
My parents taught us to be
very outspoken. We used to have
an annual family get-together
where we aired our views. My
father used to ensure that we sit
together as a family after New
Year eve service. It was a forum
where we appraised our
relationships to see where we
offended ourselves. It was to
ensure that we didn’t take any
bitterness into the New Year.
Such training helped me because
I can work into anywhere and
air my views confidently. I am
very glad we learned that while
growing up.
High and low points
I was a very reserved person
also. I was my daddy’s girl. I
could do no wrong as far as my
father was concerned. We were
from a middle class family and
my parents taught us to be very
contented. My father taught us
that one can never buy a good
name. And it has been guiding
me in life. In everything I do,
integrity is my watchword
because I know I can never buy
a good name. I consider that an
amazing lesson that I learned
while growing up. Attending a
boarding school made me to
become independent early in
life. That is why I don’t need to
depend on anybody today. I am
a risk taker. I am never afraid of
taking a risk. I believe in going
for what I want and if I fail, I dust
my feet and move on. These are
the things that helped me to
become a serial entrepreneur
today. When I have a plan, the
joy of moving ahead even if I fail
keeps me going.
Finding my strength
The things I have said so far
do not mean that my life has been
smooth all along. I had my low
moments. One of them was when
I lost my child. That was the worst
that could ever happen to me. But
I found so much strength in that.
I feel that it happened to make
me a stronger person. It was a
very low moment for me. And it
got me very spiritual.
Therefore, I can say that losing
my son made me the spiritual
person that I am today. Whatever
life throws at me now, I am ready
for it. The spiritual strength that
I didn’t know I had was what I
took out from it. If my mother
was here, she would say that I
had entrepreneurship skills right
from my childhood. I don’t like
being idle. Because of that, when
I passed out from secondary
school, I told my father that I
needed a loan to start a business.
He gave me N300 which I used
to start baking. The joy of selling
what I had produced to people,
made me realise that I could be
an entrepreneur. That was when
my entrepreneurship spirit
started manifesting. At that time,
my father was saying that even
with that business, I was a
liability to him. Knowing that I
could convince people to buy my
product, gave me the feeling that
I could conquer the world.That
was all I needed to believe in
myself. In my first year at the
university, there was a strike by
the Academic Staff Union of
Universities,ASUU.
The fear of boredom
The fear of boredom made me
look for a job. That was when I
got my first job in an advertising
company. I did pretty well to the
extent that the owners of the
PERSONALITY ETHICS
*I don’t reduce my
standard for anybody,
anything
*I add a twist to the
things I do
*Killing the fear of
unknown is
important
*People should
surround themselves
with the right people
*People should invest
in themselves
*Think it, do it
company, Yomi Odunowo, and
Yomi Dada were impressed. They
gave me my first account which
was Unilever. I am a very creative
person and advertising brought
out the creativity in me. When I
was leaving, they said anytime I
was on holiday I should come
back. That was how I started
working there anytime I was on
holiday. Before then, I had
worked with a woman who was
an entrepreneur. I courageously
approached her that I needed a
job. She gave me a job and made
me a supervisor three weeks after.
All her workers were reporting to
me and enjoyed it. I just like
being busy all the time. In
anything I do, I am always
passion-driven. I like anything
about creativity. The idea of
making people look good used to
give me so much joy. When I left
the university I worked with STV
Macan after which I moved to the
banking industry. But I became
bored 10 years after. I felt I needed
to do things that would be more
challenging. I tell aspiring
entrepreneurs to do things they
have a passion for because it is
the passion that will drive them.
When I was in the bank, people
thought I had a personal salon. I
used to go to the Island to make
my hair. I asked myself what was
missing in the mainland that
made me go to the island to
make my hair. At that point, I
realised that a conducive
environment was missing. That
was how I opened a high-class
salon in Yaba where people can
get what is obtainable outside the
mainland. I like doing
businesses with a difference even
if such businesses already exist.
What I do is to add twist to the
things I do. Two months after I
opened the salon, we got a deal
to become the official salon for
the Most Beautiful Girl in
Nigeria, MBGN, pageant. And
we did that for three years. And
that arrangement put the name
of the salon, Haircraft out there
to the extent that people thought
we had been in business for a
long time. I brought my
advertising knowledge to the
business. We partnered bridal
magazine which made us the
official hair salon for models and
that made us popular as a bridal
hair salon. That was how the
event aspect of my businesses
started.
Think it, do it
When I was in school, I did a
show called chronic in my first
year. It was my concept but I
brought three guys on board.
What I wanted to do was a
pageant because I used to watch
MBGN and thought something
was missing. I wanted to show
them what was missing. That
was when I was young at the
university. My motto is: think it,
do it. It was difficult getting the
sponsors I needed for the
pageant. I had to change it to a
music concert. We had four Disk
Jockeys, DJs, who were the best
in Lagos. We had DJ Fresh, DJ
Wave, DJ Jimmy Jatt, DJ Galaxy
and one other person. The rap
artiste from the University of Jos
at that time, Dr. Fresh was
among the artists that performed.
The concept was just to present
club life in form of an event. I
remember going to different
universities in the South to
publicise the show. We held the
show at the Conference Hall in
Ife and it was the best. However,
I lost money but I was happy. I
remember telling a bride how I
planned my wedding and she
asked me to plan hers. I planned
her wedding which brought
three other weddings. That was
how the event planning business
started.
Short-lived ideas
The first thing I tell people is
to believe in themselves because
someone cannot market what he
does not believe in. If someone
has an idea which he does not
believe in, that idea can’t see the
light of the day. Unfortunately,
certain ideas require capital and
I tell people to start from
somewhere. There are some
ideas that do not require capital.
Some may have an idea but the
fear of unknown makes them not
to take steps. People should be
ready to take risks. Anybody who
is not a risk taker cannot be a
successful entrepreneur. When
one believes in himself, it
confirms that the person is ready
to invest in himself. Anybody
who has not invested in himself
should not expect anyone to
invest in him.
Read full interview on
www.vanguardngr.com