By Chinelo Obogo
Kennedy Okonkwo is an Estate Developer and Managing Director, Nedcomoaks Limited. In this interview, he reflects on his journey to entrepreneurship and gives insight on how youths can leverage on their intellectual capital to be successful.
You clocked 39 years recently. Do you have any regrets; are there things you feel you could have done in life that you are yet to achieve?
When I look back to when I graduated and where I am today, I have no cause to regret. But what I wish I could do more, is empowering young people. I wish to invest more money than I have done at the moment in creating more employment for people, because if I do that, I won’t have to worry about whose rent I pay and whose school fees I pay.
What factors shaped your upbringing?
My late father always ensured our school fees were complete and he could tell me then that he was not going to make money for anybody and that all he would do was to educate us. He believed that if you are educated, you are empowered, so I can’t forget this .
There was also a time my mother was thrown out of the shop that we called our home and the church took us in. We lived in the church even while I was in the university. My education was sponsored by Chief Sylvester Okonkwo. I knew at that point that when I graduated, I wasn’t going to be like every other guy. From day one, I had my target that my family would relocate into a befitting home for a start. But I think the major turning point of my life was when I left my job as the Strategy Advisor to the MD/CEO of a big company. I knew at that point that if I could channel my energy to what I was doing that time, I was going to make a lot more money and impact on society in business.
So, has the society benefited from you?
My company has employed over 2,000 people directly and indirectly, so the society is benefiting. Through our charity programmes, we have done a lot for people. We have paid tuition fees for lots of students and many people have been empowered through us. There are families that have benefited from the fact that our company is running.
I will tell you a story. There was a time I was ill and needed to travel out of the country for treatment, so, I went to each of the major sites, met with the foremen and I told them that I was going to stop all our projects because I don’t need to be signing cheques while I was on my sick bed. But they met and came to me and said it was better that they continued working because there would be hope that when I came back, they would be paid. Some of them came from Ibadan, Osun State and Abeokuta. They said they didn’t want to go and sit at home for six weeks, but preferred to continue working with the assurance that there was money somewhere to be collected. I shared this story with my wife and she advised that we should no shut down the sites. Also, we do not owe salaries despite the economic situation of the country.
We are a team of young people and the oldest member of my staff is about 35 years old. I prefer it this way, because the youths are the future of our country.
What lessons should young people learn from you?
I always tell people that opportunities abound everywhere; it is just for us to open our mind to recognise them when we see them and take advantage of them. I don’t believe that “my uncle or my brother can do this or that for me”. I believe in what I can do for myself.
For instance, before you move from one street to the next, you would see dirt in the gutters; when you get home, you can write a proposal to that street association to clean the drainage. Entrepreneurship starts from there. If you wake up and see weeds in your environment, you can write a proposal, asking to be given the job to clear the bush. I tell people all the time that you can only be successful if you provide value.
Problems abound in our society and people are looking for solutions. For me to take your money, I must know how to polish your shoes. A woman at Mile 12 market in Lagos brought up the idea of washing other people’s feet and now there are thousands of people washing feet at Mile 12 market. It is for you to understand the problem that a society has and look for a solution to that problem.
Do you think government is doing enough to help start-ups and entrepreneurs?
You must not have capital to start a business, because your brain is sufficient, but it is how to use it that matters. If I waited for capital, I could never have started off. While I was still in paid employment, I sacrificed my salaries which was N84, 000 monthly to build a house. One day I walked up to my boss and told him I needed a loan of N500, 000 because I was building a house. When I took him to the site, he was agape. When he saw the place, he lent me that money and I paid back in record time. So, your brain is intellectual capital. Going to school also broadens your horizon.
You are from Anambra State and many businessmen from the state have ventured into politics. Do you plan to venture into politics?
I do not have any iota of political inclination and I don’t need any political position to solve my people’s problems. It is only successful businessmen like Peter Obi, that could steer the state into profitability. But the truth is that not all of us are inclined towards politics. We can be involved in politics without even contesting. We can be involved in the selection of candidates for the different offices.
For me, philanthropy in my home town and in Lagos is what I do because I have benefited from society and society must also benefit from me.
What were some of the challenges you faced before you became successful?
The challenges I faced are the same challenges everybody faces. Poor infrastructure and dearth of financing. When you start up a business and that business is growing faster than you envisaged, you realize that for you to do more, you will need more financing. You need to expand, you need more manpower and additional land because if you are building four houses, five houses, you will realise you need to think of building in hundreds. When you take loans, banks charge double digit interest rates whereas in other parts of the world interest rates are single digits.
At 39 you are already successful but Nigeria is 56 and it is already facing economic recession. How can the country get it right?
Nigeria has at some point, produced Africa’s richest man, so, if you think Nigeria is unsuccessful I will say no. Nigeria is just facing some challenges just as my organisation is facing but then, it’s the people that make a country. A country does not exist in isolation. We make up Nigeria and we should work towards making it the Nigeria of our dreams.
I want to also commend the leadership of this country. It is not easy to govern a family not talk of a nation. Even at home, you and your wife can have divergent opinions, but because you chose her from among all others you have met in your life, you have to find a way to live peacefully. Unfortunately for us, we don’t have a choice over where we were born. We were born Nigerians.
The problem of Nigeria is our problem and we must work for her success, because if you leave Nigeria, it becomes a geographical space. So, do you think you are the problem of Nigeria? If you answer this question, you will know that Nigeria is even going through the challenges of many organisations. I was privileged to be in Togo and I bought bottled water. I realised that maybe it is the problem of Nigeria that is affecting other West African countries because as Nigeria is being hit by recession, we underestimate the impact of our economic stability and growth on the West African coast. If we are not doing well, other African nations suffer too. We all need to put our hands on deck and change our orientation.