03082019 - Worsening Insecurity: Suspected herdsmen kill Catholic priest in Enugu

40—SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 3, 2019
From poverty to
affluence; My story
•Nwogu
— Dr Kelly Nwogu
•How Nigeria can be economically viable
By Ishola Balogun
Dr. Kelly Izuwa Nwogu, the Managing Director/CEO of Livelihood Homes,
owner of Blue Sea Estates, tells his story from poverty to affluence. The
vibrant and popular property merchant who started his real estate
business with N30,000 has become a billionaire, who owns over 23 estates in
various locations in Nigeria. He shares ideas with Saturday Vanguard on how
Nigeria can use agriculture to eradicate poverty.
Doing business at a tender age
As a young boy, I faced a lot of challenges
that could have decimated my life completely,
but I was able to sail through. Dropping out
school was a nightmare to me and I did
everything possible including taking up
menial jobs to survive.
Every morning I set out early enough,
jumped on a ‘molue’ bus to beg for a space on
the laps of passengers, many of whom were
on their way to work. Some belligerent
passengers would throw jibes at me thinking
that I might have spent my transport fare on
unnecessary small chops. Others would just
lend a helping hand without raising any issue
as to whether I got transport fare from my
parents or not.
At 11, I devised a plan to overcome my
predicament by ingeniously starting a small
venture-bicycle rental. I approached an Igbo
boy who was serving as apprentice under his
brother, who sold foodstuffs in the
neighbourhood, but liked riding bicycle. I
approached him and told him I could get him
a bicycle to ride for free only if he could give
me the sum of N250. He gave me the money
and I approached a nearby bicycle technician
to purchase a bicycle without the front tyre. I
took the bicycle to the boy and he complained
of the missing tyre.
But I told him that I had brought the bicycle
to him to prove to him that I was not lying. I
told him that it would require another N250
to fix the trye which he quickly handed to me
and that was how I got a bicycle without using
my money to buy it. I gave him the bicycle to
ride whenever his boss was not around for
free. In the evening, I would take the bicycle
to my house for rentals. I later bought another
bicycle from the profit I made from the
business. With the business, I was able to
support myself in school; pay my transport
fare and eat good meals.
Dropping out of school
The misfortune which my father’s lack of
job threw our family into refused to abate. The
family again lost the chance to retain our
rented accommodation at Egbe. The only
option available to him was a small apartment
in a muddy house in Odogunyan area of
Ikorodu. It was not a befitting accommodation,
yet, it was the only place my father could
afford due to his financial problem and
because of the relocation, I could not sustain
my rental business and so, going to school
from Ikorodu to Mushin was very difficult.
The situation forced me out of school just a
few weeks into SS 3 class. I then made up my
mind to look for a job. I parted ways with
education and concentrated on how to survive
the hard times.
How I stowed away in a vessel
Eventually, I got a clearing apprentice job
at Tin Can Port. On my first day at work, my
boss was shocked to see me in a well-tailored
dress and he wondered whether I was ready
to the job. I later realised that his reservation
was because other apprentices in the
dockyard were not properly dressed. You could
see that in their worn out sandals.
Unfortunately, my eye-popping dresses soon
drew the wrath of my boss who began to feel
uncomfortable having me around him. He
believed that clients and people around would
not be able to tell who was the boss between
me and him. I was fed up with the turn of
events at work and felt it was of no use
continuing with the job. I was therefore
looking for an opportunity to stow away in a
ship to Europe in my quest to succeed in life at
all cost.
The opportunity to stow away came on a
certain day in 1995, when a vessel owned by
a Russian company was preparing to sail on
the sea again. The destination of the ship was
unknown to me and I did not bother to find
out. I had a misguided conviction that the
vessel in question was heading to Europe and
my mind was made up to sneak into it to any
Western country it was heading to. I never
knew the vessel was sailing to Cameroon. I
bought N5 garri (cassava flakes) and N5
sachet (pure) water. I was able to beat the
security mounted around the vessel and hid
myself in the RAM (the door area) of the
vessel. The ship sailed smoothly and none of
those on board knew or suspected that a boy
of my age was hiding somewhere in the
vessel. By the third day, my garri and water
had finished. I launched into silent prayers
asking God to send down help so I could have
water to drink after which I slept off. By the
time I woke up it had rained and that was
when it dawned on me that God answers
prayer. I disregarded the colour of the water
and drank until I had enough fill.
On the fourth day of the journey, a member
of the crew found me out. I pleaded with him
not to inform other members of the crew but
he declined. He alerted his colleagues who
rushed down to where I was hiding in a bid
to apprehend me.
My mind was made up, I was prepared to
kill to evade arrest by threatening to attack
whoever dared to arrest me. However, I was
eventually subdued, handed over to
Cameroonian law enforcement agents and
detained for days in a cell. I regained my
freedom a few days later and I was given the
sum of N11, 000 to return by air to Nigeria,
which was the first time I travelled by air.
Upon my return, I used part of the money to
launch into travel documents procurement
through some Liberians I had met inside cell
in Cameroon when they locked me up for
stowing away in a vessel. The Liberians had
linked me up with their countrymen who lived
in Lagos and worked as travel agents. A few
months later, I got some travel documents and
travelled with Liberian passport to several
African countries including Libya in 1998. I
did menial jobs in Libya; I returned in 2001. I
travelled to seven different African countries
but had nothing to show for it.
Overcoming different challenges
At a point I met one Pastor Elijah Okebiorun
and worked as a freelancer in his outreach
ministry. I wasn’t paid a dime for seven
months but I kept on the job and executed
several serious assignments for the ministry.
I was later employed and made a team
leader on a salary of N9,000. From the money,
I organized a monthly contribution of N5,000
with four of my colleagues, which fetched me
the sum of N20,000 from which I paid for a
one-room apartment at Liasu area of Idimu, a
Lagos suburb, because I was prepared to leave
my father’s house at Ikorodu where I was
putting up upon my return from Libya.
After a few years of being on the job, I
resigned on a certain day when I had the sum
of N3, 700 on me. I got a place to establish a
tutorial centre for children, Brain Science
Kiddies School at Idimu. I collected N50 from
each of the pupils as tuition. The money made
from the ‘business’ kept my body and soul
together for a few years before providence led
me into real estate business.
While I was still running the school, I
veered into street marketing of music CDs of
Nigerian hip-hop artistes in 2006. I would
abandon the school and hit the streets with
CDs of singers like Olu Maintain who sang
Yahoozee. The business was bringing
additional income but it affected the school I
established, so much that a number of
disappointed parents who had seen me
dancing to music on the street withdrew their
children from the school citing lack of
seriousness on my part.
A few weeks later, I secured the sum of
N150,000 loan from a man I least expected to
bail me out of my self-induced problems. It
was the money that I used to secure a new
accommodation for the school somewhere in
the community (Idimu). Surprisingly, the
former school building collapsed the night we
moved out and this drew sympathy from
residents. I managed the school till 2010 when
God inspired me to plunge into real estate
business. It is however instructive to note that
the period marked a turning point in my life
as it afforded me the opportunity to have a
shot at education again by writing the
National Examination Council and General
Certificate in Examination Ordinarily Level
examinations and I passed in flying colours.
I then delved into real estate business. It was
a time I was battling with my rent arrears and
I felt that it would be a difficult task for me to
actualise.
On a certain day, I set aside shame and told
my landlady that I needed an acre of land.
She laughed at me when I told her that I had
the sum of N40, 000 on me. She later
suggested a man called Pa Adeleye, who had
a large expanse of land to sell in the Itori area
of Ewekoro Local Government Area of Ogun
State. She said that the amount I had can only
get me land in that part of Ogun State.
When she took me to the man, I was shocked
that the man agreed to show me the land.
Although he told me the value of the property
was N3 million, but he gladly
accepted N30, 000 I offered as
instalment. The value of the 30
acres of land translated into
N100, 000 per acre. I signed
an agreement with the man
and hit the ground running by
canvassing for buyers.
I started by selling a plot for
N135, 000 and kept taking the
money to Pa Akinleye, who
commended my diligence and
vowed to sell his other landed
property to me. There was a
particular day I gave him
N300, 000 within a few hours.
On my way to his village I had
an accident on a motorbike
and I suffered bruises on my
arms. But the old man was so
happy about the money I was
making for him that he brought
out liquor and prayed for me.
He asked me to forget about
the incident and move on
assuring that I would soon
forget about the accident by the
time I made millions of naira
from the business. In no time, I
finished the instalmental
payment on the land and made
enough money to further
acquire more acres of land from the man,
which put me on a good stead in the business
to date. The man is late now, but his children
have sustained the relationship and I am still
doing business with his family.
Providence has increased the scope of the
business that I started with little or nothing
beyond my imagination. I buy in hectares and
sell in plots. At times, I would buy land for
N1.5million and sold for N6 million leaving
me with a huge profit margin. Without being
immodest, I make bold to say that today, I
have about 24 estates spread across the states
of the federation. Ikorodu, Badagry, Ewekoro,
Ajah, Ibeju Lekki, Owerri, Ofada, Mowe,
Ibadan, Benin, Awka, Enugu, Aba, Umuahia,
Port Harcourt, Obigbo (Rivers State). Now, I
have offices in Liberia and South Africa.
There’s no real estate firm all over the world
that does not have its challenges, but the point
is that we are growing bigger and stronger
every day. I know that growth, expectedly would
come with challenges, but the important thing
is to tackle the challenges. Apart from the
property business, I have established other
business concerns including oil and gas,
tourism and automobile outfits. I moved from
a N700 apartment to a N700, 000 threebedroom
apartment in an estate opposite
Diamond Estate along Isheri road from where
I moved into an exquisite apartment in Lekki
and I am planning to move to Banana Island.
I have never borrowed or took loan to finance
my businesses.
About his family
Another opportunity presented itself while I
was still dating my wife. She was already a
Master’s degree holder in Petroleum
Engineering when we met and I was still
carrying about three different GCE results.
We were two worlds apart. While she was living
with her parents in the eyebrow Lekki area of
Lagos, I was struggling with life in a one room
apartment in Idimu, a Lagos suburb. I just
summoned courage and told her she would
be my wife. She marvelled at my guts and
accepted me. She later expressed her concern
about my poor educational background. Not
long after, she took me to the University of
Lagos to write an entrance examination for a
degree programme in
Business Administration
through the university’s
As a young boy,
I faced a lot of
challenges that
could have
decimated my
life completely,
but I was able to
sail through
distance learning
programme. I finished in
2015 and I just gained
admission to study for a
degree in law in a United
Kingdom-based university.
My wife is a director in my
company.
Advice to the youth
Real estate business is the
way out of the economic
recession confronting
Nigeria, and the youth can
take advantage of the
opportunities in the sector to
turn around their lives and
add value to the society
because the sector is yet to
be fully tapped. However,
young persons or adults
going into the business
should be honest because
only honesty can sustain
one’s relationship with
business partners and
customers. Make yourself
available and accessible. I
have workers and managers, but I still relate
with customers even in a N10, 000
transactions. Not less than 99 per cent of
criminals are youth because they do not know
what to do to earn legitimate money. There
will always be difficult times, but when life
ebbs, we can sway in prosperity through
creative thinking, focus and sense of honesty.