Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa did not only traverse the corporate world like a colossus, he also bowed out honourably. One of Nigeria’s most venerated pharmacists, he exited his position as the immediate past boss of Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc without any blemish. Currently enjoying his retirement, YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine Publisher/Editor-Chief, AZUH ARINZE visited his Shonibare Estate home in Ikeja, Lagos weeks back where they had the fruitful discussion below. Enjoy…
How is life in retirement?
I will say that it’s been quite exciting for me, even though there are several aspects. First is that in terms of availability of time, I don’t think that I’ve gotten to that point where I have time that I don’t know what to do with it. So, maybe it’s part of the carryover from when I was fully engaged. So, I’m still busy, but the basic thing is that I now do things at my own chosen time and also the burden of Neimeth is no longer there.
What and what do you do now to keep yourself busy?
I have three things that I’m doing. First is, I have my NGO (non governmental organization) – The Sam Ohuabunwa Foundation for Economic Empowerment, which is an NGO directed towards mentoring young people to be able to set up their businesses; young entrepreneurs. And also helping other people and organizations that are willing to collaborate to see that, as we say, everybody has the ability to be economically empowered. We are focused on empowerment. And in our country now, the greatest area is among the young people. So, that is why our focus is on how to change their psyche to now adopt a new paradign – rather than looking for job, you are thinking about creating jobs. So, we do a lot of activities in that area. Number two, I also have a consulting firm in the area of business development, governance and health care and thirdly, I have a ministry. I am allowing myself more time to be able to do it for God. So, those three things keep me fully occupied.
What do you miss most about Neimeth?
Really, I don’t know whether it’s miss. It’s just that, like I was trying to say earlier on, the thing that has really changed is the removal of the burden of responsibility for Neimeth. It was a big burden. Because in retirement, you deal with your issues first; your share responsibilities and also you have a little more time. That is why I said that in terms of sharing responsibilities, that is the relief that I have. I don’t have to worry about Neimeth, I don’t have to worry whether this month is ending, are we meeting target, are we meeting all our obligations and all that? Report to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, report to the Security and Exchange Commission, shareholders’ wahala (laughing). All that is gone, and it’s a big relief. But like I said, I still occupy myself fully being useful. Because, first is, I’m not tired. Actually, what motivated me to retire was just to retire from Neimeth because I had been there long enough. After you’ve served a company, from Pfrizer to Neimeth for 33 years, 18 of which I was at the CEO level, I don’t think there was anything else left. And I believe I’ve taken the company to a point where it needs an opportunity for a new focus. That was why I told my board I wanted to retire and they graciously approved. What do I miss most? Em…as at now, I’m really missing nothing. I’m just happy that I can organize my life in a quieter manner because when you’ve worked in a company for 33 years, 33 active years, there was no period of interregnum and you can say there was no break. It was continuous, from one challenge to the other. At the time I was a sales man, I got promoted two, two years, and I was taking new responsibilities. So, there was never a dull moment. So, I’m not missing anything. I’m just happy that I can take it a little bit easier now.
What would you describe as your greatest achievement in Neimeth?
First, the greatest thing I think God enabled me do was to be able to hold the company, especially from the time it did its transition from Pfizer to Neimeth. The company could have died after that because the moment the transaction was completed on May 14, 1997, after Pfizer diverted. The day the Nigerian Stock Exchange, this whole country knew this had happened, the banks withdrew their support because hitherto Pfizer Inc. in New York will give a letter of comfort. The letter was withdrawn because they no longer owned shares. The banks withdrew their money. The company could have just died at that moment. Because we didn’t anticipate it, we didn’t know and we didn’t reckon with that and so many other things. We didn’t sack anybody. People just retired and left. For me, that was the highpoint. The other point which you could also say was the second point was that when Pfizer divested in 1997; we were one hundred percent dependent on Pfizer. We had two licenses. First is what they call supply license, which enabled us to get raw materials. Then, we manufactured under licence. The other one, we had an exclusive distributorship. Those products we were not doing locally, we had to import them on an exclusive distribution basis. So, we were paying royalties for the brands we were using; buying raw materials from them and generally just working for Pfizer. But by the time I was retiring, I had completely changed the business. We were no longer doing any business for Pfizer; we had developed our own indigenous brand. I started a very aggressive R & D (Research and Development) that enabled us to indigenize our brands. So, today, we have totally Neimeth brands owned by us, no license, no agreement. For me, perhaps, that’s also as important as the first.
You are one of the few people who exited the corporate world without stains. What must one to do to triumph in the corporate world and also exit without stains?
First is that you must try and endure. Even though God’s grace is not merited, you have to try and work in a manner that you can enjoy His grace, because I think that I enjoyed the tremendous grace of God. That was the major reason I was able to overstep obstacles and landmines without them exploding on my face. That was why some of the mistakes we made, He covered them and He didn’t let us get unduly punished for them. But the other factor, talking as a human being, will be that we determined among our core values in the company to apply ourselves in the best manner, to obey God, because the fear of God, as they say, is the beginning of wisdom. So, it is part of our corporate value to fear God and in that process there are a couple of things you cannot do. Again, with due modesty, I am a man who is not driven by rewards or material things, so that enabled me not to pander to my selfish needs. As a matter of fact, the last thing I know how to do is to ask anything for myself. I’m ready to fight for other people. Because I’ve found out that most of the things that run people into trouble come especially when you are doing things out of self interest. When we divested Pfizer, I owned nearly 40 percent of the company. But by the time I was leaving, I owned like 5-6 percent of the company. I was divesting, bringing more people into the company, to strengthen the company financially and otherwise. So, I believe that that ability to make sacrifices, not to be too selfish and self-seeking, trusting that God in His mercy will provide for your needs and also believing that if people see your work, they might provide for you; I believe that helped in walking the tight rope to maintain corporate image and integrity.
What must one do to climb the corporate ladder successfully?
One is that you must be productive. Productivity is the first thing because every company employs you, pays you salary and you generate some expenses. They expect you to bring income and that income must be sufficiently strong enough to write off your own expenses and make a return. So, if you are productive, that is your first assurance in any good organization. Then, the private sector. It will help you climb, and it helped me because when I joined the company, I had what I called ‘My Armour Against Fate’. And I had a policy that if you asked me for one, I gave you two because I was afraid that you could discount one if I gave you one and it will not be up to one and therefore you will say I didn’t meet your expectation. So, even if you discounted it, it will probably be one and I would have still met your expectation. So, productivity is one. The other is of course loyalty. You must be loyal to the company that you work for. And the other is integrity. I mean, at certain levels of corporate, you might get raised, you might be promoted and when you get to a particular level, integrity becomes a major issue. So, hard work and productivity, loyalty and integrity can drive you to the utmost.
Climbing the ladder of success, where do most people normally miss it?
There are two sides to it. I’ve talked about loyalty and integrity. Now I want to talk about character, because productivity and hard work is one segment. The moment people remain strong with productivity, they would be moving. But then character comes in and I think that that is usually where the problem is – it’s in the character. Either because they are doing it, they are being productive, they now may get swollen – headed and they no longer show respect or discipline. Secondly is, they may be driven by other motivations which derive from their character. So, they now start cutting corners or start taking more than is due them. Those are the two things that can cause people to slip. The moment they become undisciplined and lose character or they start thinking about themselves. How do I benefit from this business? Those two can cause problem.
With the benefit of hindsight, why do most businesses fail?
Well, there are about five reasons a business will fail. First is where it has cash flow challenge; where it’s not able to meet its obligations as they come due. That is what can lead to insolvency and then maybe the creditors will take over the business or it can go down. So, cash flow is number one. Managing the in-flow and out-flow. The second is profitability. Because profitability is what sustains the growth. And if the company is not making profit, then it will eat up its capital and then die. The third is business conduct, and these days, it’s becoming a critical issue. The conduct of the owners of the business, the board, the management. Most of the crisis we’ve seen in recent times is about conduct. Either the CEO becomes something else or the board begins to fail in their duties, so that’s the third. The fourth of course is governance generally, both corporate governance and corporate management. And the final is what I call the spiritual environment of the business, because everything that happens on this earth had already been decreed, they had already been settled in the spirit before they manifest in the flesh. So, if you are operating in an environment that has a foul spiritual environment, or the system of operation of the company impinges on the spiritual well being, that can also bring the company down.
What is the greatest mistake that most young business people make?
I believe that the greatest mistake they make is making too many assumptions. They assume that just because one brand has done well, the other one will do well. They assume that just because one market, one segment of the market is doing better, then that will continue to be so. They assume that we are doing well this year, next year, we will continue to do well, so they can extrapolate cash income; they might even begin to take benefits in anticipation that the business will go further. They look at their cash flow, money is flowing and they think it will continue to flow. They don’t realize that every business has a cycle. There’s always a cycle. As the Bible says, there’s always a season. A season to grow, a season to decline, a season to expand, a season to decrease, a season to make profit, a season to make loss. So, I think it’s assumption. That’s what I like to call it.
Why do most people find it difficult to set up businesses of their own?
Because business is a risk. That is one. The other thing is that to minimize that risk involves very hard work, from inception to planning, to execution, to management, to continuity. They are hard work. I mean, if you work for a guy, you can do your best and just do your own side of the job. You don’t bother about the other ramifications. But if you are running your own business, you must become your own financial man, you must know how to manage HR (Human Resource), you must know how to manage operations and so on and so forth. You must be a marketing person, sales. That is where the trouble is! Ability to either know how to do all that can cause fever. Whereas you could just go do your bit, write your stories, submit your stories on time and it’s published. You don’t care whether the man goes to borrow money or whatever happens to him. But when you are now going to run your own business, you have to deal with everybody. So, that realization frightens people, and they will rather stay in their comfort zone.
Why do most people give up in life?
People give up in life largely because they have no understanding of their purpose. If people have understanding of their purpose, then they are likely not to give up. Many people don’t know why they are here. They just beat about the bush or just hope that somehow they will find their way. And when they don’t find their way… So, people must have purpose for living. If somebody has purpose for living, that then drives you and you won’t give up until that purpose is accomplished and when that purpose is accomplished, a new one is set.
What are the most important things that anybody who wants to succeed in life must do?
If you want to succeed in life, there are a couple of things you must do. First is that you must have a vision for yourself, for your life, for your business, for your family, for your career. Everything you do, you need to determine where it’s going to lead you to. That’s number one. In fact, the major driver. Having a vision. The second is of course being able to plan. If you have the vision, then you plan. You must plan how to accomplish that vision. People who do not plan have problem achieving their goals, because they do trial by error. And it’s only when they have gotten home they remember they ought to have stopped to get something on the road. So, plan. Thirdly, you must walk the plan. So, the willingness to labour, to dirty your hands, not soiling your hands. You dirty your hands. That’s critical. Any success achieved by luck will also depart by luck. Success is achieved by sustained hard work. So, vision, plan, work. And I will like to say there is the fourth one, which is the faith to believe. And I like to see it like this: You need vision to see, you need courage to do and you need faith to believe. When you have faith that you can achieve those things that you have set your mind on, then you are on your way.
A lot of marriages have failed in recent times, what must people do to sustain their marriages?
The point again is that people need to understand that marriage was set up by God. If you go back to the beginning, you will find that Adam didn’t tell God he wanted to get married. He didn’t even know that he needed to be married. God determined it and therefore set up the rules for the game. So, the reasons marriages fail, first, is that people have not left where they were coming from. They’ve not left mother, they’ve not left father, they’ve not left other things and become one with their spouses, both from the female and from the male side. It’s the major reason marriage is failing. People still have attachments; they still have things that call attention. But the idea is you must leave everything and join and two of you will become one flesh. One! Not two. And nobody else will be more important to you than yourselves. The relationship is that after God, the next person is your wife. After God, the next person is your husband. The moment people are able to get that, marriages will work. The other one of course is people do not sufficiently love, and the love that we speak in marriage is not the popular love. It’s not the Valentine love. It is the love described in Corinthians chapter number 13. It is the sacrificial love.
It’s obvious that the Almighty God has been extremely nice to you, what more do you want from Him?
The first is for God to keep me on the right track; that I do not derail, that nothing takes me away from being in His good book, in doing His will and dwelling in His kingdom and going to heaven. That’s priority one. Priority two is that I still have a burning desire to influence development in the country. I am still not happy that our country is not performing at the rate it should be performing. I believe this country can do better and I’m willing to give of myself to do anything that can change this country, to move it from the third world to first world country. That’s my passion. And if God gives me that opportunity, I will be glad.