Chief Charles Ndubuisi Mba, (CEO) of CDV Group, is the brain behind CDV Properties & Development Ltd, a frontline real estate firm with properties spread across Nigeria. The construction magnate behind 34V Engineering Limited, Chief Mba hails from Orba in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State. An alumnus of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he studied Microbiology, he is a fellow of several professional bodies including Chartered Institute of Public Resources Management & Politics, Ghana (CIPRMP) and a member of Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN). Dr Mba is a notable philanthropist whose humanitarian acts and deeds have brought considerable succour to many. He has also won many awards and honours.
In this interview, Dr Mba, one of the biggest players in the real estate sector in Nigeria who marks his 50th birthday today, shares the heart-warming and exciting story of his life’s journey, his philanthropic endeavours, why youths should stay away from drugs and what his greatest achievements in life are as he joins the club of quinquagenarians.
You have a deep passion for philanthropist, always putting smiles on people’s faces and giving back to the society. What would you say actually motivated you to start doing that?
You see, where I grew up from, when we were growing up, I saw all those things that confronted people. I saw poverty. I saw intelligent people that couldn’t go to school because their parents could not afford it. I saw smart kids that dropped out and today they are riding okada and Keke Marwa (commercial motorcycles and tricycles), not because they are not smart but because there is nobody to take care of them. I saw people that were held back in hospitals because they couldn’t pay hospital bills. I saw all those things, so nobody needs to tell me that I need to go back and give to those kind of people those basic things that they need. It is always a nice feeling to give back to the society.
We started providing scholarships to qualified students to study professional courses in the university. We have a board whose duty is to conduct the interviews, verify the students and make sure the student is really worthy of the programme and is also willing and ready to go to school. Then we would give the person a scholarship and the company will be paying. At a time we had one terrible experience. That was about five years ago, when one of the beneficiaries got admission to study Medicine at the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus. This guy’s result was excellent. The guy enrolled for Medicine, we trained him first year, second year and third year. We didn’t know the guy failed the second MB and dropped out of school. We were still paying and sending money to him. Eventually, one day, one of the classmates called me. I did not know how she got my number. She told me that this boy was no longer in school and that she noticed that the boy had been collecting money from me. I quickly called my coordinators and they went to his school and they verified. It was true; this guy was out of school for almost two years and we had been running bills on him for those two years, waiting for him to graduate and become a full-blown medical doctor. So that was how we stopped that payment.
But that notwithstanding, it did not make us change our attitude to others but now we have put a stiffer means of checking that kind of people. When we are training anyone anywhere, we put proper checks and balances to be sure that he or she is truly going to school and is still doing well in the school. So it gives me joy to see people go to school and come out because that is the first investment and first capital every human being needs. That is someone’s first start-up capital. Once one has education, that knowledge makes the person versatile and he will excel once he is focused and committed.
You have just clocked 50 today. How does it feel to have attained the golden age?
It is great to be 50. Fifty, as they say, is the golden age. It is half time. Even in the Bible, 50 is golden. Attaining 50 means a lot of experience and a time that someone could say that he has reached enough and reasonable maturity in life. I feel great at 50. But at heart, I feel as if I am still 40 years. To me, I don’t feel I am 50. My birth certificate is 50 years. When I reason, I reason more than 50 years old but when I act, you see me act like 40. God has granted me good health at 50; I don’t have any kind of underlining ailment. I have no issues. So, I feel great to be 50.
At 50, would you say you are a fulfilled person?
I feel fulfilled as a person. I am so grateful to God, first of all, for keeping me alive till 50. I have lost some friends; even at the age of 40, they died. I have lost close friends who didn’t get to be 50. But for me, the most precious thing God has done to me is keeping me alive and healthy to attain 50 years, and I know He will continue keeping me to make 100 years. But at 50, I feel so fulfilled too. I have achieved a lot. I have done so well in my area of discipline, and even in other areas. God has been so kind to me and things have been working so perfectly well at 50.
You said you have recorded some achievements. Could you tell us some of these achievements?
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively. So, achievements generally could not necessarily be achievements in terms of material things. There is a way I look at achievement; how many people have you impacted in life? How have you changed situations around you? These are where and areas I call achievements. We have been able to give scholarships to different people, especially indigent people. We have been able to train people who are graduates today, fending for themselves. Some are employed in our establishment, working for us and earning a living. These are civil engineers that went through reputable universities. We have been able to take care of people; the sick and the needy. We have also been able to provide amenities for our community. We have been able to do roads. As we speak, we are building a church. These are what I call achievements, not personal but helping people and the community. But in terms of growth, we have also done well. We have grown our company, CDV Property and Development Limited too. We have grown the company from scratch to where it is today. And by the grace of God, it is one of the outstanding building and real estate companies in Lagos. We have delivered a lot in the industry.
What would be your advice to young people?
My advice for young people is to stay away from drugs. Drugs are ruining our kids of these days. Our younger generation should stay off drugs so that they would be normal and act like normal human beings. What I see on the streets now is horrible and if not properly checked, it might ruin the nation in general not only the immediate society. A lot of young kids are going into hard drugs.
Do you think the drugs menace could have been triggered by frustration due to the state of the country’s economy?
If the country is frustrating you, would you further frustrate yourself by going into drugs? It doesn’t make sense for you to further frustrate yourself. You should try and find a way to come out of the frustration by yourself by being self-reliant and being focused on what you can do to bring a change. There is no job that doesn’t give returns. Take for instance, you see a welder with nothing, but before you know it, he buys a car, buys land and builds a house because he is committed to his job and he is focused and he knows the job is steady, just like bricklayers and carpenters. Tilers come all the way from Cotonou; they come here and before they go they would buy cars and build houses for themselves in the country they come from, all that from what they make in Nigeria. But when you are on drugs, you can’t do all these kind of technical works. So, I appeal to the youths of today to stay off drugs and be committed to whatever they are doing. Be focused and you would get whatever you wish.