In life and in death, Mr. Cajetan Oleforo, the new MD of DMT Mobile Toilets, has remained a true friend to late Mr. Isaac Durojaiye, aka Otunba Gadaffi. Determined to keep the flag of the business flying, as well as to surpass the achievements of the founder, who died in March 2012, the jolly good fellow shared some of his ideas with our Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, AZUH ARINZE, during a visit to their corporate headquarters in Isheri, Lagos.
How has it been since the demise of your friend, Mr. Isaac Durojaiye, aka Otunba Gadaffi?
Well, there’s no gainsaying that given his stature and exposure and his passion for the business, there is indeed a big vacuum. And no one, I repeat, no one can do this business like Otunba Gaddafi himself because he ate, dream, slept DMT. So, I will not be presenting a good picture by telling you that things are the same.
So, how have you been coping, how have you been trying to step into his shoes and oversee things in his absence?
I think that one good thing that Otunba did for himself was to have brought me in. The other thing he did was to have let go reasonably when I took over as MD in 2009. He opened up to me, he laid everything bare and that made the learning curve shorter for me. It also created room for a systematic take over, because he actually planned total withdrawal next year. So, he created room for me to systematically take over gradually, and to that extent, stepping into his shoes wasn’t too much of a big deal. But that is not to say the vaccum is still not there.
What do you miss most about him?
Oh! You will miss a lot about Otunba. Otunba was a very humorous person and so he was very quick to turn situations to a joke. The other thing is that he was always there for me to consult. He was readily there for me to consult at any situation, anytime. Even in the middle of the night, I could call him to say something just came up, what is your idea about this? So, I will miss him for a very long time to come. The jovial ambience that permeated this very company when he was there. I will miss in a long time to come his ready advice on the way forward; I will miss in a long time to come his companionship.
What was the greatest thing that you learnt from him?
The greatest thing that I learnt from him was promptness. Otunba had several ways to approach any complex situation, and so will always look at things this way – we have our point A, point B and point C. Even in some cases point D. So, we had an upward of three, four options to address any situation. I would miss that.
What has changed about DMT Mobile Toilets since the exit of Otunba?
What has changed mostly is professionalism. Otunba was a businessman and a businessman in most cases is not a professional in the line of business. He had the business ideas, he had the money, he had different ways of approaching things, which in most cases may not be professional. And so, what has changed now is that professionalism has come to reign in the business. We are doing it now as professionals, not as a business or as businessmen. The businessman wants his money quickly; the professional knows that money will come and then there are stages to follow. The businessman believes a lot in relationships; the businessman is looking at, I want to spend N1 million and I want N1.2 million tomorrow. That’s what has changed.
What are the other new things that you have also injected into the business since you took over fully?
I have recreated one or two of our products…
(Interruption) – What are these products?
I have made them to look a lot better. I brought them out when he was there, but because of the investment; marginal as it is, he didn’t quite welcome the idea, because he knew that you had to put some kobo on the amendment. I have gone ahead to do it without pushing up the prices. But our customers that used to go for those two products have seen the changes and they are happy about that. Particularly as there hasn’t been any price change. They have come to even buy more! There’s a particular customer that wanted to buy a conventional toilet, because that is one of the products I decided to change and when I told him the changes we had done and at the same price, he wanted to buy one, but he placed an order for three. We haven’t made so much noise about this, but over time, people are beginning to see these changes and they are happy about them.
What is the next level for the business, with you as the overall boss?
The next level for the business hasn’t changed from what Otunba had in mind, which is biogas. The little draw back we have now is finance. Bill Gates was talking to us and they were going to invest about ten million dollars into the biogas project. But I can tell you that since the demise of Otunba, they have backslided. But we won’t let that deter us. We are re-structuring the board. We took the first initiative some weeks ago. We are bringing more people into the board; influential people that have the financial muscle and if the only thing we would do for Otunba is to get that biogas up and running, we are committed to doing it.
Besides the biogas project, were there other plans that Otunba had which you intend to take up?
Yes! The principal one is the DMT Foundation. He had done so much for this, but he could not bring it to life when he was alive. So, we intend to do that as soon as the new board is up and running. Besides the biogas, we intend to get the DMT Foundation up and running. The DMT Foundation is basically going to run like a charity organization to take care of most charity homes. Charity was uppermost in his mind, alongside the biogas project.
Talking about you and Otunba, how did your paths even cross?
It’s a long story. I was the first tenant in their family home at No. 2, Isheri Road, Lagos. I used to work for Xerox. And then my job took me overseas at very, very short intervals. So, on one of the occasions that I was going to the UK, I called mama and said ma, there’s this your son in the UK that you always mention. Give me his contact. This was about 1989. And readily, she gave me the contact. When I arrived at Heathrow Airport, I called him, introduced myself. Apparently, he’s also heard about me from his parents. And I told him, I was in the UK for one week officially. But after that, I had a couple of days to look around town and he said okay. I gave him the date I will finish my official assignment and pronto, he was there in the hotel to pick me. He took me to his house, we spent one night together and that was how we clicked. Since then, we’ve been together. When he was constructing that first wagon (points to a DMT toilet), there was no light; NEPA did their thing and I quickly turned on my generator for him. He tapped light from my meter and he was so impressed that I could do that. The generator ran for a very long time. In fact, it was a small generator at that time and when the fuel got exhausted, I saw him calling people to go and buy more, I said no, I have reserve and give him the reserve. The interest just built up like that and then once in a while I looked into his business, offered advice where I could and support. But, I never thought I could work for DMT. No! It never crossed my mind I would work for DMT. But I ran into him somewhere in the first quarter of 2009 and I said what has happened to you- your huge frame? He told a whole lot of stories that had to do with his health challenges and so on and so forth and we never got to talk about it again. But about August 2009, I recall he gave me a call at about 9pm. He said Egbon, like he calls me. This thing that I want to suggest to you is heavy for me o! (General laughter). But I will say it. He said have I ever thought of working for DMT? I said no; I’ve never thought about it. He said, will my business permit me to do like two days, three days with DMT? I said there’s no way I can answer these questions now. But if you call me in another week, I probably would have a word for you. Exactly one week after, he called me again. He said if I thought he wasn’t going to call me, he’s been counting the days and hours and minutes; that he was back with his question: Have I thought of working for DMT? So, I said in what capacity? He said in whatever capacity I wanted; in fact, that if I wanted him to start staying at home by the time I come on board, he was ready. And I said no, if you stay at home, how would I learn the ropes? You will not stay at home. It will be easier for me when you are there, so that I can just walk across to your office and we share ideas, than for me to be calling you on phone or to be looking for you whenever. I said okay, but we cannot conclude this discussion on telephone; let me come over. I think it was a Monday. I said I would come on Wednesday…
What year was this?
2009. This was like August 2009. So, on that Wednesday, I came here and he gave me an overview of the business. I didn’t even know that the business was that deep. It was at that time just plastics and then he had this vision about biogas. He also came up with the VIP toilets. I remember asking him, is it beyond going to ease yourself? (Laughs). What is VIP about toilets? (More laughter). So, he showed me pictures and so on and so forth. And I was interested! I said okay, but I will still not give you a reply now. We need to re-visit some of these ideas. I need to really have a full understanding. There was a project coming up in Osun State and I said I would like to visit Osun State with him. Perhaps that would help. But when I saw how his health was failing him on that occasion, I could not but budge. I said look, whatever sacrifices I need to make for my business, I will. Not only will I come here five days in a week, I will even do more. I have good hands that are running my business, so I will. I will come on board. He was so happy. He stood up and embraced me. And two days later we were there in Oshogbo and that was it.
Let’s talk about Mr. Caje Oleforo. People don’t know much about you…
I was born some 59 years ago in Lagos. I will actually be 60 on August 15, 2013. I come from Owerri in Imo State. Married to Omolola, a Yoruba, from Bamgbose, St. Matthew Daniel family in Lagos. I have six children. I’ve worked in a couple of places: Nigerian Export Promotions Council, Federal Ministry of Trade. But I spent 23 years working for Xerox. I rose to become the first indigenous Sales Director of Xerox and had to leave in 2003 to pursue my own dreams. I have a toilet roll manufacturing company, Standard Anchor. I also have Boca Ventures. We sell automobiles, cars. I have background in advertising, marketing and sales and branding. That’s me.
Is any of Otunba’s children or wives interested in the business?
Right now, they are completely out of it. Otunba never wanted his family members to run his business – and that was why he was setting up that foundation. He never wanted his family in his business. Unfortunately, none of his children is even ready to come in now. His two grown up children are still in the university – Babcock University. They should be graduating in another two years and maybe after their youth service, or a couple of years after that, they should be ripe. Because, with his demise, there is no way, even if it will run contrary to his wish, we won’t bring them in. Because if you don’t bring them in, they will keep thinking that there is a lot of money in it and then what is happening to this money? There is a huge amount of money in this compound and they are giving us peanuts. His two immediate younger brothers are up to about 10-15 percent part of the business. In fact, they have only come here once to look at what we are doing. I think what I have going for me is the trust the family has for me. All his younger brothers grew up in my arms and I was always there to give them support when they were in school. I was always there to advice them. In fact, none of them can look at me in the eyes (Laughs). None of them can. So, they are relaxed and comfortable wherever they are, believing that everything is going on well. Believing that whatever I tell them is exactly how it is and I’m not about to betray that trust for anything! And maybe because they also know my background and also know that hey, this man is not going to tamper with our kobo, they are okay with me here. As I said, they have only been here once to look at what we are doing – and this was like three months after he died. Since then, they have never called me to ask what is coming in, what is going out. They know that we have some heavy loans to service, and maybe because business is running and no bank has come here to say hey, we want to recover the things you have on loan… They know that the loans are being serviced as at when due and the business is running. And whatever obligations Otunba had for his family, none has slipped. The children have continued to go to school, we’ve continued to give them the allowances due to them and all these things have come to be done promptly.
At the end of your tenure here as the MD of DMT Mobile Toilets, what would you like to be said about you or remembered for?
My tenure will definitely come to an end someday; sooner than later. I will want to be remembered for one, as someone that moved DMT to another level. I will like to be remembered as that person that made sure, and to a large extent, that Otunba’s dream survived him. I will like to be remembered as someone who did not neglect any member of Otunba’s family, be it his children, be it his ex-wives, be it his mother and family members at large. I will like to be remembered as somebody who did this business as Otunba would have wanted it to be done in his life time.
NB: First published May 2013