The management of Oculus Pharmacare Limited, Lagos, recently held a retirement party in honour of the company’s outgoing managing director and chief executive officer, Sir Clifford Nzimako. Abdul Lateef Musa chaired the event at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja.
Captains of industry and prominent Nigerians, especially from the pharmaceutical industry, were on hand to felicitate with him. It was an evening of fun and good music, as friends and colleagues extolled Nzimako’s virtues in management and leadership. Guests were treated to a buffet and choice wines. The celebrant, accompanied by his wife, Lady Chinwe, was presented with cakes and parting gifts.
He started his career at Lever Brothers Plc, now Unilever, as a management trainee before he joined Swiss Nigeria Chemical Company Limited in 1983 and held management positions in distribution and operations. Prior to the merger of CIBA and Sandoz to form Novartis, he was acting head of the pharma division of CIBA.
Nzimako, whose experience in the industry spanned about 30 years, pioneered the affairs of Oculus Pharmcare since its establishment in 2000 as the managing director and CEO.
Recalling his years in service, Nzimako told Daily Sun that, from inception, the company was poised to do things in a professional way.
“We had a board that thoroughly supervised what we did from inception. We also had an external auditor and a robust accounting system. Our board meetings were held quarterly. We presented our results and sent to the board, where they asked questions and we provided answers. We did everything in such a way that the system was in place and we hired staff professionally,” he said.
Speaking about the challenges of doing business in Nigeria, the former CEO outlined lack of adequate power supply as a major issue: “One of the challenges is that, if you want to go into manufacturing, you have to provide your own power.”
He also noted that it was difficult for even a small company to start up because the little resources that should have been put into marketing or promotions and other things would be spent on providing electric power.
He, therefore, called on government to provide the enabling environment so that businesses can thrive in Nigeria.
Sir Valentine Ezeiru, who succeeds him as the new managing director/CEO, holds a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and is a fellow of the West African Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria. Ezeiru, who also joined Swiss Nigeria Chemical in 1983 as a sales representative, was at various times area manager, Lagos West zone, and sales manager.