| Nigerian market faces
worst price regime in 30 years’
Human resource, key to vision 20-2020 - Soludo, Soyinka
By OBIDIKE JERRY Email:pajerry@yahoo.com
Saturday, May
3, 2008
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•Emesiofor
Photo: Sun News Publishing |
| |
The life of Chief Israel Ogbonna Emesiofor the Chairman and
Chief Executive officer, Chetkin Investment Limited is a story
of one man’s determined will to pull himself out of
the depths of despair to the glorious heights of success.
Chief Emesiofor is one man who knew where he was going even
as a young boy. At that point in his life, he was full of
determination and passion for business. Many of his childhood
friends would readily testify to his love for business.
His vision then was to cater for people’s requirements,
which will one day set him apart from others in the field.
“I wanted to be on my own and touch people’s lives
in my own way”.
Like his dream, it turned out to be very exciting and challenging
after passing through family business, Emesiofor Industrial
Company Limited, Marketers of iron rods.
Sources of goods
We are major distributor to Delta Steel Company and other
notable steel companies across the country therefore, we buy
locally. This is because Nigerian produced iron rod is not
just better off in quality but also standard in gage length
size. Most builders do not understand this great difference
between imported rods and the locally produced. To them rod
is rod, but like I use to advice my customers, I will want
to use this medium to say it loud and clear that locally produced
rod is the best.
I encourage prospective entrepreneurs not to wait to have
millions of naira before going into business. In life, one
must have a starting point. The most important aspect is for
one to discover his or her talent. Where you trade on your
talent irrespective of how small and humble the beginning
may be, God will use it as a channel to bless and promote
you in life. Once the fear of beginning is conquered, progress
will be made in life. Again, I will advice that people should
do business with fear of God. The builder builds in vain if
God is not there according to the Holy Book.
DIY management
I am a do-it-yourself (DIY) kind of person. I am not an office
person and that is the reason people always see me outside
involved with the day’s activities with my workers.
I go into my office only when I have serious discussions or
business transaction with people. I believe in leadership
by example. It always make my staff, happy when they see me
in their midst working and it inspires them a lot.
In Chetkin, we run a decentralized system of management. Every
department has a head that ensures that good decisions are
made while policies are properly implemented. At the same
time, we do have our normal weekly meetings to handle changes
and adjust to continuous business challenges. Moreover, our
staffers are paid at the right time while complaints from
both customers and staff are freely entertained. When I am
not around, like if I travel for business and other engagements,
the departmental heads take responsibilities of the daily
business and submit report to me when I am back. In fact,
it is a free and open administrative style.
Motivation
As a matter of fact, I was motivated to go into business because
of the love to cater for people’s requirements, which
will one day set me apart from others in the field. I wanted
to be on my own and touch people’s lives in my own way.
Another factor was the nation’s bad economy situation
that made me an active thinker. I was restless, the desire
to succeed was too much in me and my preparedness to work
harder helped me in achieving my goal as a big time marketer
of iron rods and general merchant. Be that as it may, I will
always remain grateful to my good friend and brother, Chief
Emmanuel Bishop Okonkwo, of Ekulo Group, for his tremendous
support in fact, he remain my mentor in business.
Crashing cost of iron rods
With my over three decades experience as marketer of iron
rods in Nigeria, I have never witnessed the kind of ups and
downs as regards price increase that is now a daily occurrence
in the market. You pay N1,000 per tone of rod now, the next
moment it is N3,000.
This is where the federal government as a matter of urgency
should do something like it did on cement. The government
should drastically reduce the high import duty on raw materials
to enable the steel rolling mills import more of the raw materials
to at least be able to meet 70% of market demand. This will
make up for the shortfall in supply, given the escalating
and unstable price of iron rods in the country in the last
couple of years.
Iron rods like cement are the most vital in the building sector,
be it for residential, commercial and other infrastructure
project. Therefore the government should assist by providing
for the steel mills an enabling environment to operate for
the benefit of all.
Another serious virus that is causing the low turn-out in
market demand is the nation’s energy crisis which as
a matter of fact affects the steel millers production wise.
By the time they off their machines to switch over to generator
due to power failure, it will take hours if not the whole
day and that, in production is a big delay and deduction in
production. |
