My passion in life is gateway to my fulfilment —Imo Mike

For Michael Imonikhe Edorhe, otherwise known as Imo Mike, creating solutions to problems has been his main stay. As an entrepreneur and founder of popular record label, Imo Entertainment, the young man has won the hearts of many young and talented music stars through his platform. Imo Mike, who is also the founder of Sol TV, in this interview with SEGUN ADEBAYO, speaks about his driving passion and penchant for helping young people to maximise their potentials.

You seem to have achieved a lot for yourself at your age, what’s the secret of your success story?

There isn’t just one secret. For me, success is the uncommon application of common knowledge. Over the years in many businesses such as real estate and business development services, I have created a habit of finding solutions to people’s problems. I try to always have a vision and the capacity to translate my visions into reality.

Having graduated from a university of technology, how was life in school?

Life in the university wasn’t 100 per cent fair to me. I wasn’t the kind of person that concentrated so much on school studies. The education system in Nigeria is outdated and I couldn’t rely on it. We now live in the information age because the world is evolving so fast that something you learnt in the beginning of your university might be obsolete by the time you graduated. I knew what I wanted in life and I focused more on skill acquisition outside the university environment and kept updating my knowledge when necessary.

At what point in your life did you conceive the idea of having a music company?

The idea of the music company came at about the last quarter of 2016.

You have interest in other areas apart from the music business and you seem to be getting things going well, how have you been coping?

The journey so far has been fantastic. I love growth. I love growing both personally and professionally. I love seeing growth in people. I love seeing growth in organisations. In fact, growth is one of my values as well as one of the values in Imo group. My growth goal is one percent daily improvement. I know if I can improve just a little bit every day, that over time, my growth will be exponential.  Although through my journey over the years, there have been good times and bad times. But all were part of the learning and training process to achieve my visions.

You also have Sol TV and Sunset Park, tell us about your vision for these outfits?

Sol TV is a Channel from the stables of Imo Entertainment. It’s going to be a 24-hour urban and lifestyle channel that will promote Nigerian and African entertainment culture in music, drama, sports, fashion and tourism. Sol TV basically will inspire people’s passion towards entertainment.

Sunset Park is a recreational resort in Minna that will provide maximum satisfaction in leisure activity, sports, entertainment and lots of fun events for both adults and children. These kind of activities is lacking in the city and every one in the area will love to have it around.

For somebody whose interests are quite wide, how do you manage to handle everything without clashes?

I plan for everything. That way I take every process one step at a time without haste or confusion.

Tell us about your involvement in Instant Pick Up?

Instant Apartment and Instant Pickup are a partnership business between Ubi Franklin and I. Ubi proposed the Instant pickup idea to me back in mid-2017 and I liked it. I love investing in anything that provides convenience to people or anything that has to do with providing good service through the internet. These days, people want to get things done faster, delivered faster without stress. To cut the story short, as an investor, I made Ubi’s idea of Instant Pickup come to reality and same goes for Instant Apartment.

•  Entrepreneurship, most transformational tool for Africa —Dangote

You are also a philanthropist, what part of your growing up formed what you are doing today?

I believe that there is room for all human beings to succeed if we commit to giving others a chance. I am a philanthropist at heart and genuinely feel like my purpose is being fulfilled when I show love and kindness to others. Like I said before, I did not come from a rich baground, so I know what it’s like to be poor. Now that there is wealth around me, I feel sad when ever I see people go through poverty like I did. And what else can I do than to help people in such situation. My heart bleeds when I see that others around me are suffering or lack opportunities. I do seek charities and programmes that are designed to help others in need. I focus my philanthropy on anybody who is less privileged, whether they are children who need love, or adults who are unemployed and homeless. I receive a lot of joy from helping others. I feel like I am helping in the work of the Creator by taking care of those who are unable to take care of themselves.

How successful are you and do you think you are fulfilled?

I believe one’s success should speak. I do my best to work hard in silence and let my success make the noise. I’m on a path to fulfilment. I feel my passion in life is the gateway to my fulfilment.

As a philanthropist, do you ever get tired of helping people?

I know what it’s like to feel tired of helping people, believe me – and not just in the physical sense.The world that we live in is an exhausting place to be. It is wearing. It is thankless. It is endlessly trying and scarcely rewarding. Sometimes I’m tired simply because I live in it. Sometimes I’m tired of loving too much, caring too much, giving too much to a world that never gives anything back. Sometimes, I get tired of investing in indefinite outcomes. I get tired for all the right reasons. I’m tired because I’m human. I’m tired because I’m making a change. I’m exhausted for all the right reasons and it’s only an indication to go on. Ultimately, I do get tired of uncertainties.

But with my years of experience, after all this, I realise some parts of life happen quietly. They happen slowly. They happen because of the small, careful choices that we make everyday that turn us into better versions of ourselves. Sometimes, I have to allow myself the time to let those alterations happen.