Sopuruchi Onwuka
Brief interactionwith him alters stereotype. He mirrors candour, humility and compassion; yethis acute sense of articulation, attention to details, shrewdness and bubblingenergy are unmistakable. These attributes mark out Dr. Chris Odinaka Igwe as exceptional success that stands tall in the midst of distant peers.
Dr. ChrisIgwe plays with kids, works with field employees, chairs board meetings and goes to dinner with kings. Across his vast network of connections, he inspires courage, innovation and diligence. He simplifies complex issues and straightens out intricate puzzles into discernible strands. He confronts issues with dignity and integrity; leaving no room for anxiety. He resolves questions and finds business opportunity in evolving solutions to problems.
Armed with basic education, wits and immense energy, Dr Chris Igwe walked wet and drygrounds along the rough roads to success. With faith and tenacity he powered against head winds, scaled hurdles and dislodged obstacles to create immense space for himself.
Born asprince, Chris has through hard work and value creation, earned other titles. He is now a knight, honorary academic doctor, multiple chieftain and award reaper.
Today,Chris sits on the board of several companies but he finds excitement and prideonly in the companies he created, nurtured, groomed, developed and firmlyestablished. He places emphasis in establishing enterprises because, accordingto him, the businesses solve problems, earn revenues and create employmentsthat provide income for families.
Withdifferent fingers in separate enterprises in various sectors of the economy, DrIgwe has across the years become a versatile businessman that delivers numeroussolutions across full industry cycle. In the energy sector, he is the ManagingDirector of Mainland Oil and Gas Limited, and Chairman of Newcore Energy NigeriaLimited.
With robustinvestments in facilities and fixed capitals, these companies have since becomedomestic energy supply factors that support the efforts of the NigerianNational Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in delivering on the mandate of domesticenergy security to keep the wheels of the Nigerian economy rolling.
In commerceand industry, Dr Chris Igwe announceshimself as Group Managing Director of Chrisnak Ventures Limited, aninternational trade facilitator with field offices across the world’s major tradecenters. Chrisnak Group with affiliate business units in aviation, maritime,logistics et cetera, helps Nigeria build trade ties, services Nigeria’s bilateralrelations, creates capital inflows and provides services that support growth inthe domestic economy.
Dr. ChrisIgwe’s investment portfolio also hosts enterprises that leverage ongovernment’s economic diversification programme to propel innovations inagriculture, organized retail chains, infrastructure development andmanufacturing. Through his numerous companies, Dr Igwe has provided employmentto over 2000 men and women who make enormous contributions to the nation’sgross productivity.
However themost amazing part of journey is the starting point.
At 50 yearstoday, Dr Igwe recalls with nostalgia how God has piloted his destiny throughuncertainties until he went through mentorship by his master and gotcompensated with N10,000 (Ten thousand Naira) to start a new life; a situationwhich left him in a complicated fix and greater uncertainty.
“Sometimeswhen I recollect my journey in the past 50 years, I come to the belief that itis by the grace of God that I passed through those difficult stages. Theexperience helps me to strongly believe that it is only God who sits in heavenand controls the affairs of men that could lead one through risks anddifficulties to safety and comfort,” Chris says.
He alsorecalls the frustration of halting his education to be apprenticed. Heremembers hawking soap on the streets while running fever. But these difficultiesdid not break or weaken him. Instead, they solidified his resolve to exit poverty.And with N10,000 seed capital, he launched into the market with insufficientcapital; then relocated from Owerri to Onitsha where he encountered destinywhile working diligently under the coverof God’s grace. God provided the wisdom to take opportunities in timely manner,a strategy that drove him into the paths of success, he points out.
Chris, also called Odinaka, drove his trade with so much heart and energy that he adopted astrategy of assisting his associates sale their wares in order to satisfy andretain his clients. The strategy of selling for his competitors, consideredweird by others, turned out to be a launching pad for his growth. It also endearedhim to merchants that benefited from his endeavours. He also took theopportunity to leverage credit supplies that enabled him muster the critical bulksrequired to start international supplies.
“The moneywas not enough to start anything; but I started applying the Walmart strategywhich entails that I had to market for other people who had larger stock. Sothey started giving me goods on credit: but they would always entrust me withhard brands that were difficult to sell. But then I took advantage of that to amass products and hedge them against inflation. So with large stock of goods Imade more money whenever there was price jump.
“Again it was with the hedge goods that I started international business. I buy cheap oncredit and stock until price tripled before I sold. With that strategy Iquickly built my capital and actually counted my first million Naira within oneyear I arrived Onitsha! Since that time, I have never had a better yesterday.Although challenges come once in a while, God always sees me through,” Dr Chris recalls.
With boisterous restiveness, Chris had driven his businesses from strength tostrength until it became clear that diversification had become inevitable.
“Above all God gave me the wisdom to do theright thing at the right time. And when I look back today at the age of 50, wehave conglomerate of companies from that little seed capital. We have thousandsof workers. We are in many industries: oil and gas, logistics, property, shipping,farming and a lot of it.”
All affiliates of Chrisnak Group stand out in their turfs, he points out.
Dr Igwe lives out the consciousness of his humble beginning every day; he sees andrecognizes people passing though same difficult lane; he empathizes with thosesuffering the pangs of poverty; from a distance he spots youths displayinginstincts for innovative strategies and diligent commitment to achieve results.Thus, he has adopted a horde of mentees that he grooms hands on with practical participation in the operations of his businesses.
“I always tell them to live for something and fix a life vision. Vision propels you to results. They must also develop self fitting strategy for actualizing their set objectives. Then, they must thoroughly execute that strategy to the letter. Insimple terms I tell my mentees to set goals, devise workable strategies to actualize the goals and thoroughly execute the strategies.”
These success tips he serves his mentees and interns are also discernible in the growth pattern of the Chrisnak Group, explaining how a N10,000 seed capital could establish big businesses in some of the most capital intensive sectors. Chris reveals that he adopted achievable goals, adopted the strategy of scalable growthto de-risk operations. He explains thatlosses and risks deliver less impact at cradle stages.
“It isalways better to start small and scale up across time,” he declares.
“You knowthere is always that risk: there is always that mistake to be made: there isalways that learning process,” he points out, explaining that mistakes costless when the business is small scale while turnover an margins propel growth tolarge scale after all lapses have been addressed.
With thesebusiness strategies, Prince Igwe has negotiated critical success curves tointegrate with eminent business magnets for whom he holds immense respect. Hesays that he still submits to learning from those ahead of him in the game. Healso emphasizes that knowledge sharing with mentors, mentees and family ascritical sustainability factor.
Continuousself development, voracious reading and business research have all becomeintegral part of his success strategy. They also combine to provide Prince Igwethe right set of exposures that offer business intelligence and long termoutlook for investments.
Dr ChrisIgwe is also driving social responsibility programmes that target to improvingthe life of the underprivileged. Through his Chris Odinaka Igwe Foundation, thebusiness magnet has spent millions of Naira on scholarship schemes, housing forwidows and youth empowerment programmes.
Thefoundation has also spent far much more on infrastructure projects that benefitbroader spectrum of the society: roads, security patrol vehicles, waterboreholes and many more.
At home,Prince Igwe adores his wife and children. He grooms his children to fit intothe tradition of hard work by guiding them to resolve issues and providesolutions to simple tasks. Children of the house have no privilege of house helpor domestic employees.
“I am afamily man to the core. When you see people who say they don’t have time fortheir family, it simply means their family is not their priority. For me, myfamily and God are priority. So, when I am not in business, I relax with myfamily because of the importance I place on my family members.
“I stillassist my children do their homework, I teach them to iron their dresses, and Ispend time with them. So, for me, family is key. What you value, you createtime for it. The qualities of hard work, vision and discipline are now familycreed. From the year my last child reached four years, we saw no more need forhouse help. I told my children that they own the home and must keep it themselves.”
The contributions of Prince Igwe and his business footprints in the economy of thecountry are clear and palpable, receiving recognitions by communities,institutions, the church and even government. These led to conferment ofinnumerable recognitions.
Earlydemise of his father does not rob him of blue veins. The prince also holdsseveral recognitions from communities and Abia State government. He is a Knightof John Wesley; Business Key man of the Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry,Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMMA), and holds honorary Doctor of BusinessAdministration (DBA) degree.
At 50,Prince Igwe stands tall as eminent businessman, social leader, political leaderand philanthropist.
“But properplanning means that no side of my personality affects the other,” he explains.