43-year-old businessman and real estate developer, Dr Kennedy Okonkwo, is the Chief
Executive Officer, Nedcomoaks Limited. He shares his experience growing up and the
challenges of building a business empire, among other issues, with SEGUN KASALI.
Losing your father at the age of 16 must have been shocking ?
Yes, it was. A young 16-year-old boy whose father meant everything to him and that was the moment I felt I could no longer live and death could have taken me instead of taking my dad because dad was someone who believed so much in me to the extent that every education investment in me was never going to be a waste. Having to lose him at that particular point in time was devastating. He saw me as his retirement savings.
Retirement savings?
Well! I do not know what he saw. But, he gave everyone education for as long as his money could carry. But, one thing that was certain was that my dad always believed in my abilities. He saw me as a young guy who would devour every newspapers before doing any other thing. He would always tell us that he did not have a huge sum of money in the bank or somewhere. So, amongst my siblings, my dad felt I was the one who was more focused on education. And for me, education was paramount even if I was going to play.
Your background must have inspired intense focus on education?
You are correct. It was as a result of the kind of upbringing I had with my father, looking at him as someone who did not have much and he was struggling to pay school fees. At a particular point in time, he had to meet my uncle to tell him his son needed education. And my uncle told him to go and calculate what it would cost to train me from now till university. And my dad went to do that costing. When he got back to my uncle, my uncle threw the paper at him because he felt the bill was very heavy (laughs). But, dad felt even if nobody was going to support him to educate this his young brilliant son, he was going to go the extra mile to do all that was needed to get me educated. And so for me, what I kept reminding myself was that my dad was going through so much stress to get me educated. So, I was determined never to let him down. And so, for every exams, it was like I needed to make him proud.
How did the family pull through after your dad’s demise?
Yeah. when he died, what we could only do was to reach out to uncles, and cousins to see who would cater for my education. But, my elder sister and husband took care of my secondary education till the time I had my JAMB and WAEC. Thereafter, I relocated to my cousin’s place and he eventually took up the responsibility of sending me to the university.
Really?
Yes. I went to the University of Ibadan to study Psychology and after that, I went to Lagos State University for an MBA in Marketing. And I remember that graduating from Psychology was a shocker because while I was waiting for my results to come out in my final year, they were not certain if I would come out with 2:1 or 2:2 and this was because I had a very high 2:2. So, they were thinking whether they could approximate. Unfortunately, my result had been sent to Senate and it was not accepted as a 2:1. So, I eventually graduated with a 2:2. But, my name did not come out on the University Graduation List for that year. But, exams and records sent my name for Youth Service. So, technically I graduated, but my name was not just on the graduation list. So, my name appeared in the next, but I had already finished my Youth Service. So, why was I going back to do my convocation?
Rosy life after graduation?
After graduation, I started my first job doing marketing in a telecoms company, which was owned by my cousin. That was my cousin who sponsored me to school. So, I realised it was not about what I studied but what I wanted to be. And so, I chose to follow that path.
What path?
Real estate. So, in my first year after graduation from school, I was involved in a real estate transaction that I got about N280,000 commission. It was a lot of money for me being a corper earning N6,000 in 2001. So, in few months, it will be exactly 20 years I struck the first deal. So, this deal presented me money and gave me opportunity which I never understood
You never understood?
Yes. I was too young to manage the kind of money I had then. My salary where I was working at my cousin’s place was ridiculously low. And here was I having that kind of money. It was too much. So, I felt a car was priority and was the money finished thereafter. So, I never reinvested that money. And this was the period a plot of land at Sangotedo was less than N100,000. So, it was all gone.
How did you stage a comeback?
Afterwards, I went to work. So, in a particular year, I met my wife. I left paid employment to focus on my real estate business. After I had grown the real estate business to a certain level, I went back to work in a company for about four months and I left to focus on real estate business. If you do not have the financial intelligence to manage money, money would still never be enough if I give you all the money in this world. So, by the time I bought that car and everything, I began to work in a place called Excel Human Resource Outsourcing. So, I began to understand personal financial management- what I need and what I do not need. But, because I read a lot of leadership books, management books and entrepreneurial books, I began to understand the value of reinvesting more of what you make than squandering it. And with that knowledge, I was about to set up a traveling company, laun dry outfit (LaundryKing) which is still in existence till today, Car hire service, an IT Company called IPMax Telecoms. So, I built businesses while I was still going to attend my 9-5 job. For me, I didn’t see the car I was driving then as my personal car. There are days whereby I would have a client that would say they need a car and the Nissan Xterra is gone and others. So, I would say take this one I am driving. And I would hop on a bus. All I know is that I would have additional money by the time I get home. So, I was living my life on a N68,000-N70,000 salary a month. But then, my revenue was running into millions on a monthly basis because I was doing other businesses. But, I saw an opportunity to work there as an opportunity to learn and understand how businesses are run. To understand that business is not a one-man show
So, maybe my wife was my good luck charm. The truth of the matter was I had someone who I could share my dreams and aspirations with. I had someone who could tell me I had fantastic idea and could pat me on the back and say don’t worry you would never make a mistake and if you do don’t worry I would be here for you.
And the turning point was?
I think the turnaround started when I met my wife because it was that time I started doing some building at Oniru on build and transfer basis while working. So, when I did some of those development, I built bungalows at Oniru and started getting rents from there. So, it was about the same time I met my wife. And for about a year, I did not have a job because I decided not to work anymore so I could focus on my real estate business. So, I give kudos to her for being there for me anytime I need her.
What were the circumstances when you met your wife?
She was my tenant. She was squatting with my tenant as a youth corps member then. So, we became friends. We could go out and party together. Gradually, we became intimate friends.
What attracted you to her?
For me, friendship is everything. I met a woman who, no matter what, I would always want to be with. So, that for me was everything. I needed someone who was like the air that I breathe. I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to see her. I wanted to tell her everything that I had done and hear her say it is okay that you are on the right path. And that was what I was looking for. For me, it was not about the comfort I would get from her. I was quite an ambitious young man. And for me, my ambition was everything. I had this big dream that I would build a massive estate and change the industry where I operate. I was poised to be a different developer. For me, I wanted to have a woman I can comfortably leave the homefront for and come back seeing that the home is still intact. And so, that was important for me. So, I found all of those qualities in her that needed to shape my life. I have grown to teach my kids that if you do well, one day, one of you would take over part of this business. And what I keep telling them is that you need to work hard enough because soon you would start taking care of me.
You would have done that to your dad if he was alive?
Yeah. But, one thing I have tried to do is to immortalise him by, naming some kilometers of road after him in Anambra. I also wanted to do his 25 years remembrance at a time but we lost his brother at that time. So, I had to shelve it. But, one of the things I have also tried to do is to invest in education of youths. In my village and Lagos where I operate, I do a lot for the educational sector because I understand the value of education. When someone becomes educated, you have given the person the opportunity to read and that even becomes a major plus. Without education, you can’t have a meaningful conversation with someone who is not educated because their thinking is on a different level compared to yours. They always become highly defensive because they think you are about to intimidate them.
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